Carnival in Grenada

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   Our second marvelous experience was Carnival in Grenada. Six of us flew there, Linda and Mike from "Casa del Mar" and Kathleen and Roland from "M'Lady Kathleen" and ourselves, after a six hour delay at the airport in Trinidad. Our hotel was the location of the judges for the big parade and close to all the action. A group of huge speakers were set up across the street and Soca music played all day and most of the nights. The noise level was the only downside - it was deafening really. They had a indoor/outdoor cafe overlooking the street and we spent a lot of time there, eating, drinking and watching the constant activities outside. The venue for the evening events was only a five minute walk away.
Our first evening was "Panorama" where the top eight pan bands on the island played. This is a big spectacle with up to 80 percussionists in each band and up to 140 instruments. They play, dance and do comic routines, all in colorful costumes and ome with a coordinating sets. The second evening was the presentation of the eight kings of queens of each band in competition for the overall king and queen. The costumes were very elaborate with the poor queens in particular often having to be helped off the stage after their presentation. This was followed by a Calypso competition.
The third night was the participatory parade - it felt like a good proportion of the island was there. On our arrival we purchased a "package" for the Cable and Wireless team. This included a T-shirt, baton with LED multicolor lights dancing up and down, whistle with LED lights, drink coupons and hard hats. We met with our team and practiced elementary movements to the theme music and then hundreds strong joined the masses dancing through the streets from other teams. Every team had a long speaker truck and dispensed beer and soft drinks. Each presented for the judges in front of our hotel. This was a raucous and fun time for all. We got only a few hours of sleep that night before waking up at 4 AM for Jouvay, this is a morning ritual involving motor oil, paint and costumes.

Thousands all over the island roam the streets, many dressed in devilish costumes, rubbing the first two items mentioned all over their, in many cases, scantily dressed bodies. All continue to drink the beer and rum which flows continuously. Stands with food and drink line all the streets. Grenadians are lovely people and there were no serious incidents of crime during Carnival. We all felt very safe on the streets, even at night. People did not grab you but asked permission to dance or hug. We wore old disposable clothes and joined in - fairly decorously. The foreign medical students were very obviously having a marvelous time - they hung around our area as the school is far away.

After another few hours of sleep it was time for the big parade. This is the last day of Carnival and the culmination of a year's work for . many areas of the island. Eight groups, each with a main theme, presented a series of costumed men, women and children, along with music and performers. Most groups had hundreds of participants, all elaborately dressed and all having a marvelous time. We had rooms in the front of the hotel with balconies and had invited a number of cruiser friends to join us. We set up a hospitality bar and snacks and watched the hours long parade. Each group did a special presentation in front of our hotel so we had a great view. Carnival was wonderful and we feel so lucky to have seen it here, where security isn't a concern.

We also had a lovely day out with a number of boat friends anchored at Prickly Bay, including a great BBQ on the beach. Our flight back was on time and it was a relief to us all to find our boats all safe and - yes, blessedly quiet.

More Grenada Carnival Pictures

Men and women like this fellow above right play to the crowd as they march along. Others are team players and stay in line.

Carnival is such a fascinating and colorful time that one entry simply doesn't cover it! Here are more pictures from our trip to Grenada's Carnival in early August, 2006. Each area of the country had it's own theme and their candidates for King and Queen were dressed to reflect this. I've included several representatives here.
The picture taken at night is rather dark of course but The Blue Men show up much better if you enlarge it by double clicking on the photo. At Jouvai, and throughout Carnival, men (occ. women) cover themselves in motor oil or paint. They sometimes carry a pail of it as well. It's pretty hard to avoid getting some yourself so we dressed in throw away clothes for Jouvai.

We saw these "King" and "Queen" candidates on the second night of the Carnival at the outdoor stage. In some cases their costumes were even more elaborate. They had to pare them down to walk in the parade! One advantage of a simpler lighter costume is that allows the person to dance and engage the crowd. This "angel" Queen Candidate is a good example. The superstructure of the outfit is supported by a harness around her midsection. She's probably trying to take some of the weight off her shoulders with her arms - but still smiling and strutting.

One theme was "African Sunrise" seen here just above right and to the right. Another, "T'ings We Love", with flowers and butterflys etc. is shown in the top left picture for a group shot. This featured more children than all the rest and had one particularly adorable "bee", about 2 years old, above left.

Leatherback Turtle Laying & Hatching

Two terrific experiences occurred during August. The first was a three day trip to Grand Riviere on the Northeast Coast to see the leatherback turtles laying their eggs and the baby turtles hatching. We rented a car and drove four hours through the center of the island and along the coastline. The views, especially on the north coast were lovely. The road runs right along the water.
Mt. Plasir Hotel is a small charming place directly on the beach run by an Italian, Piero Guerrini.   We slept under mosquito nets listening to the waves crashing thirty feet away and ate some wonderful meals.  The first night we discovered our own turtle around 2 AM and watched her climb up the beach, dig a 5 foot hole, lay her eggs and cover them up. We were careful not to disturb her in any way and therefore could not take any pictures. The second night we saw two turtles earlier in the evening with a local guide and he explained the whole process and their life cycle.  This was a remarkable and moving experience. This small village is at the end of a long road from the developed end of Trinidad and has avoided the "Americanization" rampant there. There are plans to continue this road someday around the coast to Chaguaramas but everyone we spoke to there opposed it. We hope they are successful. Local boys and girls patrol the beach during the day to protect the hatching baby

   turtles from the vultures which circle. We were able to take some pictures of them that you see with this entry. We arranged a guide to take us into the rain forest to a waterfall. This was a wonderful hike and we enjoyed talking to our guide so much. We met his wife and family at their home in the forest. His children were all born deep in the woods without any

medical assistance and luckily not needing any. We swam in a lovely pool at the bottom of the waterfall. The next morning we regretfully drove back to the boat.
Our second terrific August event is featured in our next two entries - Carnival in Grenada!

Trinidad stay

We are now back in in Trinidad after a five week visit home to see family and friends. "Scott Free" is at the Crew's Inn Marina tied up in a slip and the boat will probably be here until November 1. We are only a few miles from the Venezuelan coast but it doesn't look like we're going to get there. We have many more work projects going on than we expected and all are in various stages of completion. The biggest surprise was the results of our rigging survey, done just after our arrival here on June 22. Our bow sprit (the picture here shows our bow stripped of its' bow sprit) and dinghy davits were both damaged and needed to be replaced. This is a big steel fabrication job and it looks like they will be finished by mid October. We can't safely move the boat until this work is completed, so we'll be here at least until then. This will give the riggers time to complete the rigging replacement also being done. Our transmission was hauled, inspected, cleaned and replaced. We are replacing and/or repairing our canvas work and stripping, sanding and revarnishing a lot of our wood work, exterior almost done, interior to go. Then there's the cleaning and polishing of the exterior fiberglass and stainless steel. Scott has also spent days cleaning up the dinghy.

So it's lucky that we're here for awhile. There are excellent workers and shops for all our projects and the rates are reasonable. The marina is very lovely and has a good pool (we can do laps), small grocery store, and nice restaurant. The harbor is chockfull of marinas, marine industry companies, and cruisers. We're part of a tight knit community of widely assorted people here and there's lots going on. Although the majority are probably American, Canadians, British, French and other mostly European countries are all well represented. Trips by "maxi taxi" (vans seating about 12 persons) go out every day for shopping and sightseeing. On Tuesday mornings I board at 9:30AM for a supermarket, mall, fruit and vegetable stand, meat market and book store. We're back at 12:30 with lots of packages.
On Wednesday we joined a group who went into the center of town to the fabric shops and lunch. On Thursdays the seamstresses come, one for general clothing and curtains, the other for bathing suits. I've had a sundress made and have ordered a tunic and pants of burnt orange raw silk I bought.
We are replacing the beige curtains that are permenantly stained with a soft green. Friday we did an all day trip down south to the Pitch Lake and 2 Hindu Temples (Trinidad is 40% African descent, 40% India Indian descent and the rest Chinese, European and Latin American. Saturday we had a group of friends over for pot luck appetizers and drinks by the pool. On Sundays we play Mexican Train Dominos, and on Mondays there's bridge. Thursday nights there's a pot luck BBQ by the pool and every restaurant has a special evening once a week. Doesn't it sound like we're living in a retirement home?

Grenada to Trinidad

We had a wonderful sail from Carriacou down the east coast of Grenada on June 16th. We anchored in Prickly Bay off a lovely beach. Our friends and ourselves rented cars and spent a day touring the island. Grenada is a lush and hilly island and grows most of the world's nutmeg along with many other spices. We visited an organic chocolate factory powered by solar panels and a traditional rum

distillery. Our guide book had recommended a beautiful restaurant at the north end of the island but when we finally found it, it wasn't in service. I guess we should have realized there was something wrong when we couldn't find any signs. Still we toured the grounds and took pictures. We pulled into a very small local eatery starved to death and happily surprised the cook/owner by ordering eight full meals. The whole family got into rustling us up some food.

The capital St. George is built on steep hills around a small protected harbour lined with stone quays and fishing boats. Grenada was hit by two Hurricanes in a row after fifty years without one and suffered greatly. We saw lots of signs of recovery but there is still much destruction. The three large churches on top of the hills in town still lack roofs. I've included a series of photos showing some of the damage. At the bottom a forlorn couple sit in a charming little house with no roof or windows..We were so impressed with this lovely island and its' people that six of us decided to fly back from Trinidad in August for the Carnival. We made reservations at a small motel right on the parade route.

At 6PM we sailed off south for an overnight trip to Trinidad. It was a squally night and there were a lot of big ships moving around the channel from the off shore oil rigs so it was quite stressful. Scott and I didn't get much rest. That next morning, 4.5 miles from the Boca Channel and the Trinidad coast, we collided with a small fishing boat. This was the worst experience of our trip so far (hope nothing comes that tops it).
The visibility was poor with 6 ft rollers, there was a 2.5 knot current sweeping us sideways (so we were going a different way than it looked) and the fisherman's outboard was not working. Luckily no one was hurt and we were able to tow the boat into Trinidad with us. That's he and his 22' boat below with Scott in the dinghy when we brought him back.

Chaguaramas Bay where we checked into customs and our marina, Crew's Inn, was a major base for us during the last world war and over 30, 000 Americans used to live here. There were major shipyards among other facilities. It is now a national park, which aims at combining park areas with eco-friendly economic activities. We were pleasantly surprised at how pretty the bay is - densely vegetated hills on three sides and a group of small islands on the other. It had been a long night and day since we'd left Grenada and we were relieved to be tied up at the dock at the marina about 7 PM

We only had a few days before flying back to the States for five weeks visiting family and friends. We met with a number of contractors and took our sails down to be cleaned and repaired. Roland and Kathleen on "M'Lady Kathleen" had volunteered to keep an eye on our boat
while we were gone and security is excellent at the marina so we left feeling comfortable. Our visit home was wonderful but rushed by so quickly. Still we got to see almost everyone, our three sons, Scott's dad and brother, and my sister - plus of course all our closest friends. Highlights included a big Fourth of July weekend in Vermont and a trip down to Washington DC. We flew out to California for the last week to see our daughter Zoe and family and then flew back directly from there. When we return home in December we will have two more grandchildren - Josh and Michal are having their third, another daughter, and Zoe and George are having their second, another son.

Carriacou

Just a reminder that these photos can be better seen by clicking on the image and enlarging it!
We left the next morning at 6 AM and again had a lovely sail - not as rough but plenty of wind down to Tyrell Bay in Carriacou. We're really moving now and skipping some incredible cruising territory - the Grenadines, including the Tobago Cays, which we will enjoy next November. We had decided to spend some time here and get some boat chores done and just relax. Another wave was on it's way bringing more squalls and this is a very protected spot. Old and new friends were there in the harbor too so we had lots of socializing over the next week. Scott bought oysters from a fellow and enjoyed them so much that he made it a daily ritual! Above you can see them and the oysters ready to consume.


The main reason for the longer stay though was really to get Scuba PADI certifications. We went in and spoke to Connie and Georg at Arawak Divers the next morning. It would take four days but unfortunately my high blood pressure prevented me from taking the course until I could speak to my doctor and get a letter. Scott however had a wonderful and hard-working four days and finished off the last day with two dives in a row. He saw turtles, manta rays and most unusual - a yellow sea horse. It curled it's tail around his finger! And of course he saw lots of fish, coral, underwater canyons etc. I went along and snorkeled - and saw my first shark (and if it were up to me, my last).

We did a lot of walking on the island. One day we went to Paradise Beach, which we had to ourselves, brought a picnic and swam. Ten of us also hired a very nice
guide, Philip, and he drove us all over the island. The views from the hill overlooking the east side of the island was spectacular.
We also visited the boat building town Windward. There I had an interesting chat with a local man and his huge machete (I'm sorry it's not visable in the picture of him below!) One day and night we hunkered down in the boat (Scott did go out for his scuba lessons) while it poured and blew. Luckily we have lots of good books on board.

We arrived on Carriacou on June 9 and left June 15 at 7 AM with "Nereia", "Casa del Mar", and "M'Lady Kathleen". The seas had calmed down and so had the wind: it was a motor sail down through a group of little islands to the south end of Grenada at Prickley Bay. Here we anchored off yet one more lovely beach and had the small bluefish Scott had caught on the trip for lunch.

Martinique to Bequia

Scott and I left Anse Mitan, Martinique at 5 AM, before the sunrise but with good light. Our friends on "Que Rico" had overslept (seen here the night before!) so we circled them and beeped the horn until they appeared. With the music and fireworks going till 4 am ashore, no one got a good night, but it wasn't long before we saw their sails behind us. It was calm until we left the lee of the island and entered the channel. We had 15 - 20 knots of wind and 5 - 8 foot swells both from the east. This wasn't that bad as we were on a beam reach, a very comfortable point of sail, and the swells were far enough apart and regular so our boat mainly rose and fell with the waves - altogether a nice brisk sail - and a short one as we tied up to the marina at 10:15 AM.

The Rodney Bay Marina in St. Lucia is a very inexpensive but nice place to spend some time. A colorful flag draped boat cruises the harbor each morning with fresh vegetables and fruits - very convienent! A tropical wave was coming through the next few days bringing gusty winds and rain (we clocked 38 knots max during it) and it was nice to be tied up to a dock. It had a pool which we used everyday, several nice restaurants, a good book exchange, and a laundry service. Do it yourself laundries haven't existed since the U.S. Virgin Islands. We drop off our laundry and get it back all folded, for a mostly reasonable price - about $8 a load.

There were a lot of boats here that we knew, including "Lioness III", another boat we left Georgetown with and hadn't seen since April 4. We had a big pot luck at the pool one night and exchanged visits with another Nauticat 43 "Woodfield II" John and Dee King from England - a delightful couple that gave us lots of information and advice about the countries ahead of us. They've been in the Caribbean for 17 years and were headed back to the Med this summer.

After two nights at the Marina we left at 10:15 AM for an easy sail down to Soufriere Town in the south of St. Lucia.

We picked up moorings off the beach in the shadow of Petit Piton, one of two dramatic towering thin mountains that rise up directly from the sea here, both around 2500 feet. We had a lovely early dinner and wine sitting in our cockpit with the wonderful view and sunset. We went right to bed afterwards because at 3 AM all five boats dropped our moorings and headed out to sea, the still visibly looming pitons against the stars. It was windy and rough again in the channel but the boat handled so well, under reefed sails but averaging over 7 knots -
very exhilarating. We had to turn the motor on for a while in the lee of St. Vincent as the wind alternated between howling through the mountain passes and dead calm when directly behind them. By this time it was light out and we enjoyed the beautiful green coast of the island. Next fall we will stop there and see it but now we have to make tracks. Once into the next channel the waves were wild again but the wind steadier. We had been warned to take our sails down before entering Admiralty Bay in Bequia gusts of wind up to 38 knots hit us as we rounded Devil's Table.

Due to this, we spent a bit of time anchoring and made sure we were well dug in. This lovely big bay is surrounded by white beaches and a charming red roofed town, Port Elizabeth (view from the town). We were off Princess
Margaret Beach among many boats. This is a popular spot for cruisers. We found our friends Luis and Natalia from "Vagamundo" here and spent the next day with them. We had breakfast at a small cafe and then walked up to the fort for a beautiful view followed by an exploration of the town. Several craft artists have studios and shops here. One makes beautiful boat models, shown here. Our friends from "Dreamtime" arrived and came over for the evening. We won't see these two boats and "Diesel Duck" until we return in August to Trinidad because we need to make tracks south. We have plane reservations home in late June from Trinidad.