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Larry's LogThe next day we wanted to take a hike up to a small hill to see the view. We went over to Kristali and asked if they wanted to come along and they said sure, and we also met Kajsa and another boat, Windsome, as well. We went to the yacht club dinghy dock and started to walk up at around 10am, we went most of the way and came to a slight impasse, two large hogs (about 300 pounds - fortunately tied) were sort of blocking the path. Actually, the path was just within "striking" range if they decided to get nasty, but they seemed to be fine with us and we just sauntered "quickly" past them. The view from the top was very nice and we could see Grenada about 15 miles away as well as the smaller islands between Carriacou and Grenada. There was another dirt path leading away but since it looked rougher than the first part, Kristali, Diane and I decided not to go. Kajsa and Windsome went since they had better footwear (we just had sandals). When we saw them later, Patrick said we didn't miss much, the path went around some small hills and they wound up in Hillsborough and walked back from there by the main road. After leaving them, we went back down the path to the road above Tyrell Bay and walked back to the yacht club by way of the beach, and enjoyed the walk. After that, we went back to the boat and had lunch. After lunch though, we took a dinghy ride into the mangrove lagoon just north of the bay, really an offshoot of the bay itself. It was interesting and we saw some egrets and herons there, one that I think was a Tricolor Egret, supposedly rare in the Lesser Antilles. Kristali and Akila, a boat with Jessica and Dione from South Africa who had been cruising for a number for years in the Caribbean, also went into the mangroves. We looked around a bit and then went back. An interesting area and a great contrast to the beachfront near it. That evening, we had been invited to Lady M III, a boat from Canada that we had met previously, with Jim and Pat aboard. They had originally invited Kristali and us when we were all in the Tobago Cays, but they had left when the weather started to turn a bit. We had all caught up here so they called on the radio that morning and asked Kristali and us to come over that evening. We went at about 4:30 and had a very nice evening. We had started cleaning the boat bottom after we got back from the mangroves, in preparation for leaving tomorrow, but maybe we'll stay another day now. Saturday we decided to stay a day or so more since the weather report was mixed and we were not really ready to go anyway. So Diane did some hand laundry and I worked on updating the web site. Other than that, we just relaxed. (It's a tough life but somebody has to do it!) Later in the afternoon, I drove Diane over to Kristali so Diane could return a cookbook. Of course, she borrowed another one right after that. Connie was alone on the boat and we had seen Steve and Mike on Akila just chatting. We went aboard Kristali and talked for a while. It was interesting as we sat in the cockpit looking out over the anchorage that there were a lot of dinghies zipping around. Each anchorage seems to take on a certain unique social dynamic as boats settle in. Of course, the dynamic changes as boats come and go. Its kinda fun to watch. Early Sunday we saw Kajsa leaving and we thought about leaving too but we weren't really ready so we waved to them and said we would see them somewhere in Grenada. We said we were going to Mt. Hartman Bay tomorrow and they said they would probably wind up there as well. See you later guys. Most of Sunday we did odd jobs on the boat; Diane cleaned and oiled most of the teak below and I repaired the sail cover where about 2 feet of stitching had just disintegrated from the sun's UV. We then went to see Steve and Connie on Kristali to return a book and to say goodbye and that we hopefully we would see them somewhere down the road. Their plans were not quite firm, but they thought they would go to Grenada and then like to see Tobago. Possibly they would then go to the Venezuela offshore islands, like Isla Margarita and Los Aves. They weren't going to spend much time in Trinidad at all, since the water was not good for swimming and they weren't going to spend much time in a marina. We'll stay in touch guys, good luck. That evening, we got the boat ready by bringing the outboard on the stern rail and hauling the dinghy on the fordeck. I would have to finish lashing it down in the morning otherwise we wouldn't be able to open the forward hatch to get some air while we slept. We also invited Dione and Jess, from Akila, over for drinks. They were originally from South Africa but had lived in the States for many years. We had a very enjoyable time talking about boats and such - they used to own a business that refurbished boats and had a great amount of knowledge about all things nautical. After a quick dinner, we did some emails and then to bed. We wanted to leave fairly early in the morning. And we did leave early; the anchor was up at 7:15 and the mainsail was up at 7:30. Footloose also left at the same time and we talked on the radio several times during the passage. We had said we would go down the windward side since we were going to Mt Hartman Bay that is on the south coast of Grenada and is actually easier to get to from windward. As we left, we could see several large rainsqualls ahead of us on the south side of Carriacou, and it certainly did rain very hard! Fortunately there was not much extra wind associated with the squalls and we just kept motor sailing. Also, very strangely, the wind was about 15 to 20 knots from the South! It's not supposed to be that way. The seas were only 3 to 5 feet except as we got to the group of islands between Grenada and Carriacou. These islands tend to force the already strong Equatorial Current in the area to go even faster as it passes the islands and creates nasty seas that can get even worse when the local and tidal currents are included. Although they were not pleasant, we got past the area with no problem. There is also an underwater volcano nearby that is always erupting to some level. Luckily we were on the wrong side of the islands to notice any effects. Part of this group of islands is a large rock, really a volcano itself, called Kick 'Em Jenny. Supposedly this is going to be the next site of a major eruption, a la Mt. St. Helens. Hopefully not too soon!! Soon after we passed these islands though, the weather cleared, wind changed direction, I unfurled the jib and we turned off the engine. Really nice conditions: 15 knots of wind from the east and 3 to 5 foot seas. |