Touring Grenada

We met Cutty, our tour guide, at the Tiki Bar at 9:00 to explore Grenada. This small island is extremely photogenic with lovely beaches, flowers galore, and lush rainforests. We visited Annandale Falls and Grand Etang, a crater lake.  The monkeys that live in the rainforest there were hiding so we didn’t see them but we did spot the Grenada Dove; the state bird only in residence here.  Our tour took us to the Grenada Chocolate Factory located in small building but still able to produce 1000 bars per day. We sampled bars that are 100% cocoa, 82% and 71%. The cocoa beans are grown at nearby Belmont Estate and then processed using solar-powered, handmade, or vintage machinery.  The Salt-i-licious is heavenly and unlike any other chocolate I’ve ever tasted.  It is exported to the US so all you chocoholics need to keep an eye for it.

We had a fabulous buffet luncheon at the River Antoine Rum Factory where fish, chicken, green salad, pumpkin, rice, plantain, breadfruit and yams were on the menu. We stuffed ourselves and followed lunch by waddling off to visit to the factory itself where strong (150 proof) white rum is made using a giant water wheel from the 1800’s to crush the sugar cane. The liquid is then heated in in a series of huge cast iron bowls, allowed to ferment naturally in open tanks, and then distilled. 

Stopping frequently along the way, Cutty introduced us to local flora including banana, papaya, mango, cashew, lemon grass, breadfruit, cocoa, cotton, tangerine, coriander, turmeric, dasheen, callaloo, avocado, West Indian pumpkin, soursop, star fruit, French cashew (plumrose), and especially nutmeg. Grenada is known as the Spice Island and was a leading producer of nutmeg prior to Hurricane Ivan in 2004 that destroyed 90% of the trees. The nutmeg industry has not yet fully recovered and it will be another 10 years before they get back to pre-2004 production levels.  I am dreaming of a garden filled with every one of these plants plus a lime tree to accompany the Rum & Cokes.

It is not that difficult to understand why people come here to visit and never leave.

Thanks for following

Richard and Kay

Nutmeg

Nutmeg Factory

A few sailing pics off Bequia

Grenada ..... we made it to the 11th Parallel

Atalanta under full sail off Bequia

 Once again, it has been a while since we have been able to post to the blog due to limited WIFI availability.  Since we last shared with you, we have moved from the Leeward Islands, to the Windward Islands, the Grenadines and Grenada (not part of the Grenadines… go figure).  We are now safely anchored in Pricky Bay, Grenada.

Hiking the indian River

While in Dominica, we were joined by our good friend Paul Birnholz.  Our first night with Paul on board, Atalanta’s mooring line broke loose and we drifted through a crowded field of boats without touching another boat.  Once 50 yards from a rocky shore, we somehow attached ourselves to the last boat before shore.  This woke us up at 3:00 AM and saved us from going up on the shore.  Fortunately, Atalanta did not have any damage and the other boat only a minor issue.  In the end, it was a lucky night for us.  We returned to our mooring and finished our night’s rest.  We LOVED Dominica.  It was in many ways the same as it has been for many years, unchanged by tourism.  We explored the Indian River, hiked, rented a car and toured the island.  It was both remote and beautiful. 

Alexis, our river guide

Indian River, Dominica

Fort Shirley, Dominica

Upon leaving Dominica we sailed south to Martinique.  We had a beautiful sail and anchored close to shore.  Our anchorage afforded us a front row seat to the festivities on shore celebrating “Abolition of Slavery Day.”  Mount Pelee dominates this small-island and erupted killing 30,000 in 1902.  There were two survivors, one of which was a convicted murderer.  There are ruins throughout the area, a reminder of this islands history and trials. 

St. Lucia and Rodney Bay were a pleasant day’s sail from Martinique.  St. Lucia has a reputation for not being the safest of Caribbean islands.  We generally had a positive experience and were impressed with how friendly most were.  Unfortunately one boat vendor felt a need to threaten us when we did not buy his offerings.  Incidents of this nature will certainly enter into our thinking when we come this way in the future.  Soufriere is a town down island from Rodney bay and offered us a safe anchorage for the night.  We were at the foot of Grand Peton, a magnificent mountain and inactive volcano.  Its slopes were steep and dropped down to the water’s edge. 

Pictures by Kenny
Bequia

St. Vincent is another island that most cruisers are avoiding these days due to safety concerns.  We sailed by it and landed in Bequia (pronounced: beck way), an island just south of St. Vincent.   Here we anchored in the town of Port Elizabeth.  We found this island to be lovely and one of our favorite stops.  With lots of interesting walks, local bars and restaurants.  As we entered the harbor, “Kenny” the boat photographer was out in 5-6 foot seas in his inflatable.  He took some amazing pics of Atalanta that are included in this posting. 

Fort Shirley
Portsmouth, Dominica

The biggest concern that cruisers in the Caribbean have this time of year is hurricanes.  They tend not to be a significant issue in Grenada and south.  Therefore we plan to be hovering at around the 10th parallel until next November when the hurricane season passes.  We will have a number of options that we can consider for that time.  One is to volunteer in Grenada and stay put.  The other is to visit Trinidad, Tobago, and maybe the ABC’s (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao).  Another possible option is to link up with other cruisers that will be going to (English) Guyana in South America.  This would be about 300 miles south and put us below Venezuela.  Time will tell what we decide.

Now we are looking to Grenada.  Unfortunately bid goodbye to Paul on this morning after a wonderful two weeks together. 

Much more to come.  Thanks for following.

Richard and Kay

Iles des Saintes

What a wonderful surprise Guadeloupe and The Saints have been. 

May 3, we were “on the road” by 9 headed to Iles des Saintes (The Saints).  Less than 10 miles south of Guadeloupe are a group of 8 islands discovered by Columbus on all Saints Day in 1493.  Europeans ignored The Saints until France ordered settlers there in 1648 to prevent the British from colonizing it.  The 1815 treaty of Paris gave The Saints to France.  Fort Josephine was constructed on Ilet a Cabrit and Fort Napoleon on Terre de Haute to defend their interests. 

Iles des Saintes

Iles des Saintes

Fort Napoleon

The majority of residents of Terre de Haute are descendants of Breton fisherman and close ties to the Brittany coast of France remain.  Since the island is arid and the soil poor, no slaves were ever imported. 

At 2:30 Kay helmed us up to a mooring ball and we hooked on for the next six nights.  Green hills are picturesquely sprinkled with white red roofed buildings.  The days flew by while here and The Saints quickly became one of our favorite places.  Le Bourg is VERY French but spiced with creole influence.  It is charming and quaint with fine dining and interesting shops catering to the many that ferry here from Guateloupe.  We enjoyed dinner at Ti Kaz-la with two other couples, one American and one British.  We hiked to the museum at Fort Napoleon with Murray and then spent the evening with two young woman from Oslo who have just circumnavigated and are on their way back to Norway. 

While snorkeling off the many reefs in this area we have enjoyed the great variety of plant and fish life that feed here.  For the first time in a few months we were entertained by a pair of dolphins that came into the mooring area.

Now that we are close to the equator (15º) we have been on the alert for seeing “the green flash” as the sunsets.  While Richard is yet to see it, Kay witnessed her first while Richard was mixing rum and cokes below.  

While we would love to Stay in the Saints longer, we need to provision in Pointe a Pitre on Guadeloupe in preparation for Paul joining us in Dominica.

Du Bourg Harbor

While at the marina (first time at a dock in 4 months) in Pointe a Pitre, we have a few days to get Atalanta cleaned up and back into semi-Bristol condition.  Living aboard puts a great deal of wear and tear on a boat but then that’s what there for. 

Fort Napoleon

As we head to Dominica, we will be leaving the Leeward Islands and entering the Windward Islands.  We are now close to entering the Grenadines and the islands just south.  Once there, we will be just south of the hurricane zone, safe and sound for the summer season.

Thanks for following our journey.

Richard and Kay

Murray's new friend