Whales and storms. You might not think that this is a marriage made in heaven, but let me tell you, it definitely is. We were heading up to Carriacou on Sunday from Grenada when we were blown well offshore by the easterly winds that we initially thought would herald the onset of the trade winds - already two months late and conspicuously absent. How wrong we were. The combination of the tide and the winds pushed us further and further away from our destination, but the silver lining in the cloud was our first sighting of a whale a mere 20 yards ahead across our bow. We stopped in our tracks to get the best view of the whale, probably 20 feet in length, a browny colour with a snub nose. Not being whale officianados, we hazarded a guess that this was a right whale (it certainly wasn't a wrong whale!) which having crossed our bow, turned and swam parallel to our boat for a period of time, blowing water through its blowhole close by. As things have turned out, we googled it and found it was actually a Sperm Whale. Eventually we lost sight of it and continued on our not so merry way for the last hour and a half of our journey crashing through a storm to drop the anchor in 5 metres of water in Tyrrel Bay just before the sun sank beyond the horizon.
During the night, the wind increased to 35 knots (according to our resident weather expert, David on "Fandango") but with 40 metres of chain we didn't move an inch. It didn't stop Debra and me from getting up every hour or so to check we weren't dragging, but that's the pleasure of being in charge of the boat. On Monday, we tied up to a mooring buoy at Sandy Island off Carriacou to do some swimming and to have our feet 'refreshed' by the fish nibbling at our toes in the lagoon on the Caribbean side of the island. Returning to the boat in time for cocktails, we sat and watched a terrific storm brewing over the island before it hit us with a vengeance. Weathering the storm on standby in case we dragged our mooring, we realised that the moorings were much stronger than we imagined, and we went to bed secure in the knowledge that we were safe for as long as we wanted to be.
10 Jan 2011
8 Jan 2011
[Cruise News] Le Phare Bleu Marina, Grenada
Well we've welcomed our first guests on board this week. We decided to surprise them and meet them at the airport before all travelling back to the boat in a rackety red minibus, suitcases and all. We're all now happily ensconsed on Pandora sharing the daily jobs and enjoying the delights of Grenada. Have to say it's lovely to have friends from home join us.
We've not done that much sailing since we returned to Grenada just before New Year - just two or three days sails. All of which makes me think that we're adapting to the cruising lifestyle of staying in places for a few days and not feeling the compulsion to sail somewhere new everyday - it makes for a far more relaxing time. That said I still can't get my ahead around the long-term cruisers who stay anchored in the same bay for weeks on end. The number of boats we see still in the same spot when we return to various places is incredible, but I guess it must suit them so each to their own.
In the spirit of our new more relaxed approach we decided to extend our stay in the marina last weekend so that we could go along to a dinghy concert with some new friends we've made. The marina had anchored an old tug boat in the middle of a neighbouring bay and installed a folk band on board (Madison Violet) to entertain anyone who could get there by dinghy. Thirty or so dinghies of yachties (plus various ship's dogs) turned up to enjoy the music in the setting sun, all aided by rum punch and ice-cold beer.
It was a great way to spend the late afternoon but it's a good job we'd gone along in our friends' dinghy: The rum punches, made with the local "Jack-Iron" brew, were somewhat lethal and poor Paul was knocked for six. It's a good job he wasn't needed to navigate our way back through the narrow channel across the reef to the marina! We all ended up laughing out loud when he fell into the water getting out of the dinghy .... a very wet and bedraggled man wandered down the dock back to Pandora. And all on only 3 rum punches .... as I say, lethal stuff indeed and a lesson learned.
We became steel band groupies last night when we jumped in the car to follow a fabulous steel band from one venue to another .... they were that good and we were all loving the calypso rhythm and atmosphere. The second venue was the posh hotel Paul & I stayed at back in 2003 so it was nice to visit it again, albeit it has changed almost beyond recognition following the devestation of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The two venues couldn't have been more different: The first very casual and lively whereas the second was far more formal and reserved. But we thoroughly enjoyed the music in both places and were even treated to an impromptu lesson on the basics of steel drum playing and construction. All very interesting.
Well we're off to the north of the island today to visit a cocoa plantation and re-visit the old rum distillery. And we've now got our other camera out here and so photos will be following very soon. Keep checking in to see what we're up to!
We've not done that much sailing since we returned to Grenada just before New Year - just two or three days sails. All of which makes me think that we're adapting to the cruising lifestyle of staying in places for a few days and not feeling the compulsion to sail somewhere new everyday - it makes for a far more relaxing time. That said I still can't get my ahead around the long-term cruisers who stay anchored in the same bay for weeks on end. The number of boats we see still in the same spot when we return to various places is incredible, but I guess it must suit them so each to their own.
In the spirit of our new more relaxed approach we decided to extend our stay in the marina last weekend so that we could go along to a dinghy concert with some new friends we've made. The marina had anchored an old tug boat in the middle of a neighbouring bay and installed a folk band on board (Madison Violet) to entertain anyone who could get there by dinghy. Thirty or so dinghies of yachties (plus various ship's dogs) turned up to enjoy the music in the setting sun, all aided by rum punch and ice-cold beer.
It was a great way to spend the late afternoon but it's a good job we'd gone along in our friends' dinghy: The rum punches, made with the local "Jack-Iron" brew, were somewhat lethal and poor Paul was knocked for six. It's a good job he wasn't needed to navigate our way back through the narrow channel across the reef to the marina! We all ended up laughing out loud when he fell into the water getting out of the dinghy .... a very wet and bedraggled man wandered down the dock back to Pandora. And all on only 3 rum punches .... as I say, lethal stuff indeed and a lesson learned.
We became steel band groupies last night when we jumped in the car to follow a fabulous steel band from one venue to another .... they were that good and we were all loving the calypso rhythm and atmosphere. The second venue was the posh hotel Paul & I stayed at back in 2003 so it was nice to visit it again, albeit it has changed almost beyond recognition following the devestation of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The two venues couldn't have been more different: The first very casual and lively whereas the second was far more formal and reserved. But we thoroughly enjoyed the music in both places and were even treated to an impromptu lesson on the basics of steel drum playing and construction. All very interesting.
Well we're off to the north of the island today to visit a cocoa plantation and re-visit the old rum distillery. And we've now got our other camera out here and so photos will be following very soon. Keep checking in to see what we're up to!
[Captains Blog] Phare Bleu Bay
This last week has been an interesting one in terms of handling the boat in rough weather. The wind has regularly been gusting at over 25 knots which is bad enough on its own, but worse when I have to negotiate narrow passages between reefs that would rip the heart out of the boat if we touched, and shoehorn Pandora into tight, seemingly impossible to access spots in very small marinas and boatyards.
Having said that, the invention of the bowthruster has been something of a saviour to hard pressed helmsmen who are required to perform 'handbrake turns' to avoid running aground in shallowing waters that have less than 20 centimeters below the keel whilst turning around a 5 feet wide jetty to park alongside it on the other side. We've had to manage it on a few occasions in the past 3 days as we've had aborted journeys around the coast to go to the boatyard where they are trying to repair the genny ready to install back onto Pandora. The upside of some skilled handling of these manoeuvres is that we have earned the respect of Kevin, the dockmaster at the marina we are staying at who clearly doesn't suffer fools and he is now only too pleased to offer help and information wherever he can. Very useful indeed!
We are still without said genny - the parts have finally arrived from Italy (only 4 weeks in transit) only to find that there was an oil leak as well and in the process of trying to repair this, the engineer broke a cylinder gasket. Guess what? We don't have a spare here, and a new part has to be sent from the UK. Another 3-4 weeks before we get another chance to fix the problem perhaps? In the meantime, we take the stoical view and continue on managing as best we can with the limited facilities available to us.
Having said that, the invention of the bowthruster has been something of a saviour to hard pressed helmsmen who are required to perform 'handbrake turns' to avoid running aground in shallowing waters that have less than 20 centimeters below the keel whilst turning around a 5 feet wide jetty to park alongside it on the other side. We've had to manage it on a few occasions in the past 3 days as we've had aborted journeys around the coast to go to the boatyard where they are trying to repair the genny ready to install back onto Pandora. The upside of some skilled handling of these manoeuvres is that we have earned the respect of Kevin, the dockmaster at the marina we are staying at who clearly doesn't suffer fools and he is now only too pleased to offer help and information wherever he can. Very useful indeed!
We are still without said genny - the parts have finally arrived from Italy (only 4 weeks in transit) only to find that there was an oil leak as well and in the process of trying to repair this, the engineer broke a cylinder gasket. Guess what? We don't have a spare here, and a new part has to be sent from the UK. Another 3-4 weeks before we get another chance to fix the problem perhaps? In the meantime, we take the stoical view and continue on managing as best we can with the limited facilities available to us.
2 Jan 2011
[Cruise News] Le Phare Bleu Marina
Happy New Year to everyone! We spent our last day of 2010 in Prickly Bay and had a great night drinking rum cocktails, eating pizza and listening to a really good steel band. The players have such amazing rhythm and really throw themselves into their music - they were fantastic. Fireworks over the bay rounded off a great night.
Earlier in the day we'd had a half-day tour of Grenada visiting places we hadn't seen before, including a spectacular drive from Gouyave (the main west-coast town) up into the mountains. We drove right across the middle of Grenada, through verdant agricultural lands - former plantation lands with so many different trees growing: Nutmeg, Bread Fruit, Cashew, Avocado, Mango .... a real hotch-potch. The plantation is long gone now and the older generation have small parcels of this fertile land. According to our guide, the younger generation are not prepared to put in the hard work to maintain the land.
Yesterday we motored around to our favourite little marina - it was too windy to sail and the direction we needed to head was straight into the wind anyway. As last time, Paul brought us in beautifully and familiar faces were there to welcome us back - it really is very friendly here, and beautiful to boot. I can quite see why some of the people who moor their boats here never leave. We've been invited aboard a catamaran for cocktails tonight - a young couple who live not farm from Paul's parents by coincidence.
The weather this last two weeks has been very blustery because of low pressures in the north and this has led to some "big seas", probably measuring up to 15 feet peak to trough. But with the right amount of canvas out, some great sailing is to be had. That said we're still hoping it will calm down a bit before our first visitors arrive - wouldn't want them to be scared off on their first day out!
So on that note I'll sign off and go and start thinking about what preparations we need to make to welcome them aboard .... or maybe I'll just laze on deck with a good book and rum cocktail!
Earlier in the day we'd had a half-day tour of Grenada visiting places we hadn't seen before, including a spectacular drive from Gouyave (the main west-coast town) up into the mountains. We drove right across the middle of Grenada, through verdant agricultural lands - former plantation lands with so many different trees growing: Nutmeg, Bread Fruit, Cashew, Avocado, Mango .... a real hotch-potch. The plantation is long gone now and the older generation have small parcels of this fertile land. According to our guide, the younger generation are not prepared to put in the hard work to maintain the land.
Yesterday we motored around to our favourite little marina - it was too windy to sail and the direction we needed to head was straight into the wind anyway. As last time, Paul brought us in beautifully and familiar faces were there to welcome us back - it really is very friendly here, and beautiful to boot. I can quite see why some of the people who moor their boats here never leave. We've been invited aboard a catamaran for cocktails tonight - a young couple who live not farm from Paul's parents by coincidence.
The weather this last two weeks has been very blustery because of low pressures in the north and this has led to some "big seas", probably measuring up to 15 feet peak to trough. But with the right amount of canvas out, some great sailing is to be had. That said we're still hoping it will calm down a bit before our first visitors arrive - wouldn't want them to be scared off on their first day out!
So on that note I'll sign off and go and start thinking about what preparations we need to make to welcome them aboard .... or maybe I'll just laze on deck with a good book and rum cocktail!
[Captains Blog] A new year, a new adventure.
We have started the ball rolling with the insurance people to get Pandora looking back at her best, and will be seeing another boatyard tomorrow to get them to assess the cost of repair. That said, the biggest delay is likely to be getting the paint from wherever we can source it, to the Caribbean. We are trying to be realistic by estimating that we won't be starting anything for several months.
Now. Back to the flying fish I promised to talk about before my last blog. As we ply the waterways between the islands, we never cease to be amazed at how far these fish actually fly. Some of them are sizeable fish, but they leap out of the waves and soar across the surface of the sea escaping from predators. Occasionally they will give a 'flap' of their wing-like fins to gain themselves an additional 50 or so metres extra distance between them and their pursuers. It's a wonder any of them ever get caught. We have seen the odd shoal deciding to take flight and that really is impressive.
Sadly, no sightings of dolphins or whales yet. I keep scanning the horizon to be able to shout 'There she blows' but I won't be holding my breath...
Now. Back to the flying fish I promised to talk about before my last blog. As we ply the waterways between the islands, we never cease to be amazed at how far these fish actually fly. Some of them are sizeable fish, but they leap out of the waves and soar across the surface of the sea escaping from predators. Occasionally they will give a 'flap' of their wing-like fins to gain themselves an additional 50 or so metres extra distance between them and their pursuers. It's a wonder any of them ever get caught. We have seen the odd shoal deciding to take flight and that really is impressive.
Sadly, no sightings of dolphins or whales yet. I keep scanning the horizon to be able to shout 'There she blows' but I won't be holding my breath...
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