[Cruise News] Princess Margaret Bay

We finally left Grenada on Tuesday this week sailing over to Union Island and clearing customs into the Grenadines.  And then on Thursday we sailed up to Bequia where we've anchored off Princess Margaret Bay - so named because she used to swim here when staying on neighbouring Mustique.

I have to say The Grenadines feel far more cosmopolitan than Grenada .... but have the prices to match!  

We enjoyed our first "jump-in and BBQ" on Thursday night at a restaurant on the waterfront with a steel band playing along.  We were invited to join a "lime" by two Trinidadians .... really just an informal get together and chat ....or chill session I guess.  All very sociable.

Planning on spending the next couple of weeks in The Grenadines but will zig-zag our way around as most of the islands are only a couple of hours apart and it's hardly worth getting the sails up for that distance!

[Captains Blog] Carriacou

We had the generator removed from the boat on Saturday and transported to the boatyard workshop where it can be worked on with reasonable space around it (unlike in the lazarette) and so that it can be fully tested and working before it gets put back in place on board. Quite frankly, I'm glad to see the back of it for a while. It means that we are free to go further afield for a few weeks, and only need to return to Grenada after Christmas.

We set off from Prickly Bay this morning and sailed all the way up to Carriacou, setting a course from just off the north Grenada coast, past Kick 'em Jenny the underwater volcano, which thankfully was quiet today, and straight into Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou. A fine piece of navigation and sailing if I say so myself!

Sitting on deck with a sundowner, we were entertained by 20+ pelicans diving for their supper right alonside Pandora. It was quite an amazing spectacle.

Tomorrow we clear out of Grenada, and will sail across to Union Island, and check into St Vincent waters. We will then feel that our journey has truly begun and we will be free to explore the Grenadines proper. Watch this space!

[Captains Blog] Grenada

The ongoing technology saga has us back YET AGAIN in Grenada, this time at least at a new anchorage. It does seem that this has been sent to try our patience. However, we hope to get the generator fixed today (but I won't be holding my breath) which will mean that we can set off northwards once again and hopefully be able to stay there. Friday night is music night over here, and we might, if the repair is successful, be able to go round to where one of the steel bands are playing. Otherwise it's a quiet night in with dinner and a movie on board. We did have a nice surprise yesterday though, we were expecting to have to clear out of Grenada by Monday as we were told that we were allowed a month (time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana) but when we looked in our passports, they had given us 3 months instead. Pressure off. We might even make the Grenadines proper in that timeframe!  

[Cruise News] St David's Harbour, Grenada

We finally escaped Grenada in the last week to the southern-most island in The Grenadines: Petit Saint Vincent, a privately owned island and luxury resort in the most incredible coloured water we've seen to date.  We didn't go ashore as we were technically "in transit" but enjoyed a BBQ on deck and rum cocktail or two.  Life seemed perfect then ..... the dinghy was stolen!  More of which on Cap'n Peewit's blog.

So after our taste of paradise (?!) we sailed back down to Grenada and are at anchor in a pretty little bay awaiting yet more repairs to the generator and watermaker - a good time to catch up on communication.

Well we've now been out here for 4 weeks and it seems like a good time to review our first month.  I think it's fair to say it's not lived up to our expectations - whether they were too high in the first place is hard to say but the reality is we've sailed a lot less than we'd imagined for a number of reasons.  My "broken" toe put paid to anything too adventurous in the first week but since then the impact of having to return to Grenada twice for spares/repairs and the odd day of bad weather has curtailed our activities rather more than we'd hoped.  

On the plus side we are getting to grips with the lifestyle and understanding more about how Pandora handles (very well indeed - fast, responsive, sails very close to the wind and is supremely stylish to boot!), and the warmth and sunshine, plus regular swimming, have vastly improved the discomfort of my knee and elbow.  We've also met a few nice people and enjoyed drinks and chats with them.  So it's not all a tale of woe but we're both hoping December will be a better month!

Roll on The Grenadines!

[Captains Blog] Grenadines

Last night we actually made it up to the Grenadines, dropped anchor in a most idyllic spot, had a celebratory barbecue, sundowner cocktail, and then someone stole the dinghy at 7:30 pm. We called for help from our nearby sailing neighbours, Swedes who also nearly lost their dinghy, but for the fact that their outboard was temperamental. We gave chase and scoured the area by torchlight trying to find the thieves (yes plural since the guy who stole our boat couldn't get our engine started, and was towed away by his accomplice) and take the boat back. We got it back after nearly an hour of searching - someone had 'found' it, probably expecting to get a reward, which they clearly didn't. Paradise lost.