Wednesday 29 January to Thursday 6 February 2014

 

Even though Palm Tree Marine couldn’t do any work on the windlass just yet we were pleased that they wasted no time getting it off to the welder so some progress could be made.  In the meantime we settled down to life at this very pleasant marina. 

 

It is very small and in a nice setting with two restaurants and a pool but difficult to get anywhere by road without a car (far from the local bus routes).   For shopping we ‘dinghied’ around to Clarkes Court Marina in the next bay and took the twice weekly shopping bus with ‘Shademan’ – a similar service for cruisers to that offered by George in Secret Harbour Marina.  He advertises on the daily VHF radio net and explains that all you have to do is turn up and there is no need to ‘reservate’ your seat.  Lovely, and he is a nice,helpful man.

 

We did a few more repairs around the boat and used the pool and restaurants.  We also visited the nearby Whisper Cove marina, one of our favourites, when coming back from shopping for cheap lunches and to use their laundry facilities.

 

 

 

Lin at work at Whisper Cove.  The tall basket belongs to somebody else:-

 

 

 

 

 

The view from the bar overlooking the marina and the bay.  A lovely spot:-

 

 

 

 

The South Grenada Sailing Regatta was being hosted at three locations, one of which was Le Phare Bleu marina and we spent a happy couple of days watching the boats cross the finish line and soaking up the buzz as they all squeezed into the Marina.  It took me back to my dinghy racing days which are over 30 years and 50 lbs ago.  On Sunday there was a ‘rest day’ and various activities were organised including a ‘Dinghy Concert’.  They set up a raft with a bar in the bay and a small band play on the raft.  Electricity for the amplifiers is provided from a generator on a tug.  We all turn up in dinghies and tie up to eachother and join in the fun and a lot of people had come over from the other bays.  It was a great atmosphere helped by the fact we now already knew a lot of the people in the dinghies.

 

 

 

The photo is blurred but you can see people on the raft and in their dinghies.  The yacht belongs to the owner of the marina.:-

 

 

 

 

 

Looking for a space to tie up:-

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere under that canopy is the band:-

 

 

 

 

 

Also whilst we were at this marina 5 boats arrived at the end of their ‘Atlantic Odyssey’.  This has been organised by Jimmy Cornell and started in Lanzarote and finishing at Le Phare Bleu.  Jimmy Cornell is quite famous in the cruising world because he set up the first ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) 26 years ago.  He eventually sold the ARC which is now a much more commercial operation but he has started to set up new rallies around the world for sailors who want to cruise in company rather than race, in much the same way as the ARC started out.  There were only 8 entries and only 5 made it to Grenada but it was quite a thrill to greet each of them.

 

 

This is the smallest boat in the rally, a Feeling 346.  This is only two feet longer than our first boat, a Feeling 326 (32 feet).  They are very lightweight and definitely not something we would like to cross an ocean in.  Apparently their autopilot broke about 1000 miles from the finish, and then so did their spare so the two guys on board were very tired at the end:-

 

 

 

 

The captain steps ashore for the first time in 3 weeks:-

 

 

 

 

They were greeted with rum punches and a basket of Grenadian products from marina staff and to cheers from their fellow participants.  Jimmy Cornell is on the right:-

 

 

 

It reminded us of our own Atlantic crossing and this time last year we were on our way to the Cape Verde islands from the Canaries