St Georges, Grenada
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Sun 5 May 2013 21:11
12:02.65N 61:44.88W
Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 May 2013
Distance Run 33 nm
On Thursday we left the mooring off Sandy Island at
8.30am, about half an hour after Nutmeg and at the same time as another
catamaran for the 5 hour sail down to St Georges, the capital of Grenada.
We were pleased to be catching Nutmeg at one point but we were no match for the
other catamaran once the wind got up. She took off rather
impressively. Catamarans have never appealed as they never seemed like
'real boats' but as we get older, and following the Atlantic crossing, the idea
of a boat which doesn't heel and has plenty of space appeals more than it
did!
St Georges viewed from the cruise ship
dock:-
More of St Georges:-
We want to hire a car to inspect the two boat yards
in Grenada so decided not to anchor outside St Georges harbour but go in to the
recently built Port Louis Marina. The approach to the allocated
berth should have been an easy one but this didn't prevent me making a
right mess of it as I slowed the boat down too much and lost
steerage. I decided to abort, reverse out and start again but had to
overcome the objections of the very nice guy from the marina who felt I
should continue and was hanging on to one of our mooring lines until
my words calls (ie shouts!) finally persuaded him to let
go. He was only trying to help but this was a test of my
patience, and I failed! The second attempt was fine but there
wouldn't have been any tension had I not messed up one of the simplest
approaches we had had all year.
Having tied up nicely the second time and checked
in with the marina office we went to the marina pool to cool
down.
We went for dinner that evening at the marina
restaurant and had a lovely dinner in nice surroundings. Dave and Angela
were there again, having come in from their boat at anchor, so we again had a
drink together afterwards.
The hire car arrived on time on Friday and we set
off to explore the south coast of Grenada. We called first at True Blue
Bay which we remember as a small, idyllic bay surrounded by mangroves with a
small wooden bar and restaurant overlooking the water. It is now a small
bay surrounded by the new University and the rather larger True Blue Bay Resort
and 'marina'. The bay was choppy and muddy and the mangroves are
largely cleared away. Not the same at all so we had a quick coffee
and left.
We spent time checking out both Spice Island Marine
and Grenada Marine. The former is nearer to all the facilities but
we felt that the people at Grenada Marine might be better
equipped to handle the repairs to the deck woodwork we need done to the boat
over the summer. Dave and Angela had recommended a place called La Sagesse
near Grenada Marine so we went there for lunch to discuss our options and
afterwards we booked Grenada Marine where we will haul out sometime in
June. This means we do not need to get down
to Trinidad so we will potter around Grenada for the next few
weeks.
At La Sagesse where we had a simple and cheap lunch
with a lovely view of the small bay:-
On Saturday and Sunday we toured the other bays on
the south coast of Grenada and checked out a number of places as potential
venues to spend a few days ashore for our 20th wedding aniiversary later this
month and my 60th birthday in June. |