Sandy Island and PSV

Off of Sandy Island

11.18.12

5:30 am

Rain tap-dances on the deck.  Wayward Wind gently rocks.  Radio crackles as some ship’s captain hails the Grenada Port.  Black sky turns to gray as dawn arrives punctuated by others’ anchor lights.  The day begins.

Early morning after the rain fall at Sandy Island

 

Early Tuesday morning, we left Mt. Hartman Bay, rounded the southwest corner of Grenada and headed north with buddy boats Celtic Rover and Alibi.  The wind was right on the nose and we were happy that WW pointed better than she ever had before owing to the fact that the seas were fairly mild with no “wave-stoppers.”  When we were in the lee of the tall Grenada mountains, the wind died down so we motor-sailed a bit.  Just beyond the small, rounded rock island known as Kick’em Jenny where the waters are often turbulent, Jenny was kind to us making it easy to land a jumpy little bonito, which made a tasty meal later that evening.  Thank you, bonito.

Thank you, bonito.

 

We anchored in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, for the night then rounded the point and picked up a mooring at Sandy Island not far from the town of Hillsborough.  Aptly named Sandy Island is a small stretch of white sand dotted with palms and protected on its windward side by a long berm of coral piled about four feet high.  Apparently several years ago, Sandy Island was almost washed away by Hurricane Lenny.  Subsequently locals planted trees and beach plants which may be all that are holding the island together.  At mid-day, Darrell on Alibi made a call out to the dozen moored boats to invite everyone to a little beach BBQ that afternoon.  We re-met the Finnish couple we’d met at Halloween, Arja and Henrik on Serena.  And yes, they did sail her from Finland.  In fact, on their boat card is a photo of Serena blanketed with snow and the caption, “Our start from Finland!”  Henrik strummed the guitar and sang a perfect Eagles' “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” among other songs while we all enjoyed the sunset and each other’s company in this magical setting.

Beach BBQ

 

Serena at anchor, all the way from Finland

The next day we snorkeled the reef on the windward side of the island.  Saw a juvenile yellow and black striped juvenille spotted drum fish swishing its long upper and lower fins as if doing a mesmerizing scarf dance.   Here's a link, if you're inclined to look:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciaenidae



Sandy Island with Union Island in the background

The day before yesterday, we motored over to Petite Martinique (PM), the third main island of the country of Grenada, but the anchorage was crowded with lovely, well-maintained fishing boats, so we wandered a half-nautical mile across to Petit St. Vincent (PSV), part of the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  PSV is privately owned by an exclusive though visually low-key resort, so from our viewpoint, ‘twas another lovely beach setting anchorage.  Apparently the resort has stone cottages nestled among the palms, and to summons room service, the guests hoist a flag.  Cruisers and others are allowed on the grounds to stroll and dine. 

Resort on Petit St. Vincent

 After we dropped anchor, we dinghied back to Petite Martinique for a little provisioning.  For some unknown reason, PM sells alcohol at low prices.  So we replenished our rum and vodka stores as well as fresh tomatoes.  Our friends got cases of Hollandia beer for 20 bucks each, which is a good deal here.  

It rained on and off all day

 Yesterday morning, Ann and Darrel took off for an overnight sail straight to Martinique.  As mentioned earlier, several islands have overly stringent rules regarding dogs, so Alibi must bypass these islands.  Thanks to an abundant adoration of pets, fortunately the French islands are dog-friendly.  Alas within an hour of their departure, their main halyard broke so down fell their main sail causing them to return to this relatively calm anchorage for the repair.  We had an extra line so after making a tricky eye splice, Darrel went up the mast to repair the halyard.  So they leave a day later.  So what.

Darrell up the mast to replace a broken halyard on Alibi

 Late in the afternoon, a boldly colored local motor boat cruised by with several Rastafarian types.  “Must be the band,” says I.  Sure enough, not long after dusk, the marimba band began playing easy-listening tunes calypso style that later lulled us to sleep.  The day ends. 

 

Rastafarian band (sorry about the blurriness)

 

Good night