Tobago Cay, Union Island, Carriacou

May 2 - 6

Tobago Cays

over looking Horseshoe Reef

The Tobago Cays: a marine park located east of Mayreau a mile or so.  A few small uninhabited  tiny  islands and Horseshoe Reef.  Boats can anchor safely on the west side of Horseshoe Reef or take a mooring ball.  The curved reef, about a half mile long helps to diminish the swells and waves from the open atlantic, water depths decreasing rapidly up to the reef and it’s shallows.  The area is a sanctuary for sea turtles, snorkelers enjoying close encounters.   

With no shortage of good spots, we spent several relaxing days at anchor.   The harbor big enough to accommodate many dozens of boats during high season, now less than 12 boats staying nightly, although day charters come and go every few hours.  The boat vendors dismayed that the season is winding down, the cruisers heading out of the hurricane belt.  The snorkeling was good and if you ventured out farther into the reef the fish grew in size proportionally.    The current and surge a small deterrent, our recent shark catch another… 

Our supplies were getting low, Mayreau did not having a fresh market to stock up so we were down to can goods and a bit of fresh fish brought by the vendors. Time to move on…  

Happy Island

May 6 - 11

Union Island 

Happy Island   

The passage was a bit wet, the wind kicking up a nasty chop, but is was short.  3 miles.  We anchored behind the outer reef.   The town Clifton off our stern, Happy Island off our bow.  Happy Island was hand build by Janti on the reef, initially out of conch shells, later reinforced with cement.  Less than an acre, Janti (aka King) resides there and runs a beach bar complete with a few palm trees and speakers (half the size of the island).  His electrical needs supplied from solar panels and 2 wind generators stored in 18 batteries.   While enjoying a cool beverage as the sun dropped behind the piton of Union Island, we were treated to a few wind surfers getting a few more passes in before nightfall, jumping, spinning and catching some air as they passed by.   One of the surfers coming within a few feet of the cement shore of Happy Island.  Someone in the know, held out a beer for the surfer, who slipped by and snatched it from his hand…. a few passes later, he returned the empty bottle to the same out stretched hand… pretty cool show. 

Ashore we headed to customs and immigration, having overstayed our month clearance, we needed an extension, which was gladly given.  We lunched on roti’s: chicken and conch.  Another day pizza.  We made purchases at the well stocked fresh market and found frozen meat to replenish the stores.   The island is small, the people kind.  A ferry comes regularly from the ‘mainland’ (St. Vincent) with supplies and passengers.  There is an airport, tourists coming and going daily, en-route to charter boats or Palm Island were there is a resort.  

catching some air and a beer...

Jim needed his hair cut badly so we got the clippers out, tossing the cuttings into the sea.  One of the boat vendors, Skipper, spotted the activity and asked about the possibility of purchasing a set of clippers from us…  So many things here (all the islands) are out of the financial means of the locals… add VAT tax and customs fees … impossible to afford.  I had packed a new set of clippers before leaving the states, assuming the old ones would ‘give it up’ at some point… So, we struck a deal with Skipper… trade us a fish for the clippers… however they need 120 current … Skipper was thrilled and set off to find us a fish… within an hour he had returned with 2 small Snappers and the exchange was made.  We could have just given him the clippers, our cruising kitty still has a good cushion, but he wasn't asking for charity….

downtown Union Island

fresh produce stands

run aground in the mangroves 

Carriacou, Grenada: one of the three islands of belonging to Grenada

May 11 - 19

no green flash but pretty lovely anyway

Carriacou in Carib means Island surrounded by reefs… and it is. 

We anchored in Tyrrel Bay in 15 feet of water, the bottom nearly all sand, good holding.  A large harbor able to accommodate a couple hundred boats, just make sure you read the charts; Bareboat Alley has claimed a lot of charter boats over the years.  

The island is about 4 miles wide and 5 miles long.   Fishing, farming and some tourism make up the lifestyle here.  In Windward (town and place) they still make wooden boats according to the old ways.  After settling in, we took a cab to Hillsborough, the largest city on the island in hopes of getting info about the Regatta taking place on Petite Martinique this weekend.  We had a walk around, collected some brochures about Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.  Our trip back to Tyrrel Bay was aboard Blessings’ bus, a few detours along the way… The old saying getting there is half the fun… with Blessings, it was most certainly true.  Blessings is quite a hustler.  Before leaving Hillsborough, we made 2 trips around the main drag to pick up stuff…

Blessings pulled over and dashed into a snacket for a to-go package, then circled the block again… another package was dashed to the car from a different vendor… Back on the road to Tyrrel, we stopped to pick up a propane bottle and dropped it off a bit down the road along with a bucket of veggies then… continuing on… a shout out to a passing truck, both of us coming to a halt, Blessings jumps out and grabs a HUGE fresh fish from the cooler in the truck bed… the woman sitting behind the drivers seat pulls out a plastic pan.  Blessings pops the fish into the pan and jumps back into the bus… we are off again.  Fish smells wafting through the air.   Like most other busses, Blessing’s horn, LaDeeDeeDah, LaDeeDeeDah, communicates to those up ahead of his presents.   We dodge goats and a few sheep, the most we have seen on any of the Caribbean islands.  We pick up and drop customers as we make our way back down to Tyrrel Bay.  LaDeeDeeDah, LaDeeDeeDah joyously touting our location.    

Tyrrel Bay has a fantastic pizza / pasta restaurant The Lazy Turtle were we met friends several times for dinner and music.   We spent happy hours going between Inishnee and s/v Tumbayo: Pascal and FrauFrau, live aboards from France.  Pascal’s Petite Punch (french rum punch) is now a standard evening beverage aboard… rum being nearly all either of us have on board.  

We hired Blessings to take us all to Windward to catch a ferry to Petite Martinique for Sundays Regatta festivities.  Windward is on the north end of Carriacou and a short shallow ride from Petite Martinique.

Petite Martinique, Grenada…

Petit Martinique 

The ferry was an ‘old’ cabin cruiser from the states, possibly a left over from the U.S. invasion.  The one and only town of any kind on Petite Martinique was asleep… Sundays nearly everything is closed on all the Islands and this is a holiday weekend… Whitsunday.  

The beach was a flurry of activity however.  Lots of double-enders: handmade wooden sailboats from several of the surrounding islands, many of which we recognized including Eclipse from Bequia.  We big race took the competitors north to Petite St. Vincent and through the reefs, no casualties this time.  They then returned to the beach area were they came about and did leg two of the race heading south toward Carriacou then back again to the beach.  

The sun was relentless and there was almost no shade or anywhere to sit except on the sand.  With the help of a few Stags, the local beer, we were able to endure the blistering heat.  The shore festivities did not start till well after dark, the highlight at 3 am where participants celebrated ‘carnival style’ by donning masks and painting bodies and faces… We unfortunately had to head back early afternoon as our clocks would hold out that long and the busses quit running by dark for the holiday including Monday…  LaDeeDeeDah, LaDeeDeeDah met us at the ferry dock and returned us home.  

This last month we endured 5, FIVE! consecutive days without any sunshine …  Clouds a constant on the horizon, looming over us.  Rain spitting at us on and off.. it was brutal.  But, winter has has departed and like ‘up north’ we are reveling in the return of summer!  The winds have been relentless the last 2 weeks. The wind generator shorting itself off in gusts over 25… For the first time in months our batteries are full to overflowing.  All devices are charged and still the wind keeps blowing, the sun bathing the solar panels with more than they can consume.  

next up.... Grenada ! the spice island