12:27.36N  61:29.30W

 

Tuesday 9 to Monday 15 June 2015

 

We discovered that the fridge had defrosted overnight.  Oh golly gosh.  I tested various components with the multi meter and Lin emptied the fridge to mop out all the water.  I couldn’t find anything wrong but the sea water cooling water pump wasn’t always running when it should.  We ran the engine to charge the batteries in case the voltage was too low and Lin restocked the fridge.  The pump was running again.  Fortunately we have very little in the small freezer section at the moment so little was at risk.

 

We motored the 4 or 5 miles over to Clifton Harbour on Union Island and anchored off the ‘Happy Bar’ which has been built on the reef.  As we left PSV we passed Mopion, a little sand bar on a reef with an umbrella for visitors.  It’s a shame it’s such a grey day as this can look quite stunning:-

 

 

 

 

We cleared out of St Vincent and the Grenadines ready for departure the next day and bought some fruit and veg from the various stalls.  Being paranoid I checked the fridge pump throughout the day and all was well.

 

On Wednesday we had a very nice sail in a beam wind for the 11nm to Tyrrel Bay in Carriacou. 

 

 

 

Looking aft from under the protection of the bimini, Union Island to the left, Palm Island at right:-

 

 

 

The bay is often crowded but, again, many boats have already moved down to Grenada or Trinidad so there was ‘room at the inn’.  Clearance in here is now straightforward as Customs and Immigration are in the same building and I checked into Grenada, which includes the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique before returning to the boat for a nice quiet night at anchor.

 

The following morning we woke to find the fridge had started to defrost again.  There was even less in the freezer now but it was frustrating to empty the fridge again, mop out, dry the food and reload.  The pump had again stopped running although it was getting enough voltage.  We carry a spare so swapped the old pump out and, a few plumbing and electrical connections later, everything was running properly again.  I dismantled the old one and despite having a pre filter the pump chambers were full of clag and quite a few barnacles.  Barnacles do like to grow wherever water flows quickly so I imagine a water pump is just about ideal for them.  After digging out the barnacles and generally cleaning up I put it back together and did a test across the house batteries.  Et voila.  Le pump est working!  So that goes back into stock as a spare.  Not low voltage at all.

 

That night a Cruisers Pizza Night had been arranged at the Iguana Bar beside the boatyard and we joined ‘Smart Move’ and met Becky and Dave on ‘Seas the Moment’, Richard and Lavinia on ‘Partners’ and Les on ‘Go Lightly’.  These are all names we have been hearing over the VHF over recent weeks and it was good to put faces to voices.  The Iguana Bar was slightly overwhelmed by the number of customers and the food arrived piecemeal but was very good.  Another very pleasant evening in good company.

 

On Friday we went ashore for breakfast at the Gallery Cafe (and used their internet of course).  This was started by two English ladies about 18 months ago and seems to be doing quite well although one of the ladies has given up and returned to England, the difficulties of trying to get things done in the Caribbean apparently proving too frustrating.  Lin dropped off some laundry down the road and trawled the various fruit and veg stalls and small ‘supermarkets’ for some provisions.

 

We had drinks in the evening with Becky and Dave aboard ‘Seas the Moment’, their 50 foot Voyage catamaran.  This is the first catamaran I have been on with adequate airflow in the saloon and aft deck.  Feeling lazy, we went ashore afterwards for dinner at ‘The Lazy Turtle’ and tried some Lionfish which were lovely.  It is said that some Lionfish were accidently introduced to the waters off Florida from an aquarium tank that was damaged in a storm.  They breed at a heck of a rate and have overrun much of the Caribbean.  Unfortunately they eat the reef fish which keep the coral clean which in turn helps it to grow.  Consequently Lionfish are a pest and with their poisonous spines have no natural predators.  Some dive shops have started to hold Lionfish hunts in the last year or so and they are starting to appear on menus as once the spines are removed they are quite safe.  Or so we are told.  If this blog suddenly stops then you know otherwise.

 

 

 

On Saturdays Rufus sets up his fruit and vegetable stall in Tyrrel Bay.  He is a local organic farmer so Lin paid him a visit.  He is trying to tempt Lin with a bag of charcoal:-

 

 

 

As you can see it is a small business but he is ‘ a very nice man’.

 

The rain is starting to appear with increasing frequency as we reach the wet season.  Some tropical waves, which are atmospheric, have been passing through and some days it’s not possible to leave the boat.  We did venture out on an island tour on Monday though with Robyn and Barry on ‘Smartmove’ and Jim and Sharna from ‘Second Spray’.  So we had couples from the UK, the US and Canada on board.  Carriacou is a pretty small island and the tour only took two hours.

 

The best view on the island is at the Princess Royal Hospital, renamed after a visit in 1960.  It always surprises me that these places are not again renamed after they gain independence.

 

 

 

Looking down from the hospital on the capital, Hillsborough.  To the right is Sandy Island, a small reef which comes and goes after various storms.  It is recovering after palm trees were replanted a few years ago and mooring buoys have been installed to prevent damage to the reef from anchors:-

 

 

 

 

 

On the east side of the island they make boats on the beach in the traditional way:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part of the keelson at the stern.  This is made of greenheart, a very hard wood from Guyana often used in house building because it is too dense for termites to eat:-

 

 

 

 

It’s going to take a heck of a lot of caulking to fill these gaps between the planking.  Once wet the wood swells which helps seal the gaps further but I think this will need a few bilge pumps as well :-

 

 

 

 

 

The boat builders are unperturbed by the wrecks on the adjacent shore.  There are two here.  Note the cacti growing on the aft deck of the outer wreck and the sargassum weed washed ashore:-

 

 

 

 

One of the old traditional houses on the beach on the east coast:-

 

 

 

 

We did also pass this busy sub post office.  Apparently this is still open:-

 

 

 

 

Once we got back the heavens opened and it was some time before we could return to the boat.  We are waiting now for this current rash of tropical waves to clear up in about a weeks time and then will head on down to Port Louis in Grenada, about 30 nm away and later to the south coast to get some jobs done before lifting out sometime in July.