12:02.44N  61:45.42W

 

Tuesday 16 June to Sunday 5 July 2015

 

There has not been much to report over the last few weeks hence the gap in blog updates.  I am happy to say there were no ill effects from eating the Lionfish!

 

We have had a pleasant time in Carriacou despite the repeated tropical waves which have brought high winds and intense rainfall.  We missed a couple of weather windows between the tropical waves due to unplanned events but Tyrrel Bay is one of nicer places to be holed up.  Boats have come and gone but most of us have made frequent visits to the few venues in the bay;  the Gallery Cafe for breakfast after visiting Rufus the veggie man and either The Lazy Turtle or the Slipway restaurants for the occasional dinner.  Plus a couple of games of Mexican Train with other cruisers on Wednesdays and drinks aboard ‘Smart Move’ and ‘Seas the Moment’.

 

We did intend to leave a couple of weeks ago but I woke up on the morning of the planned departure day with a very painful right upper arm and shoulder after, I think, sleeping in a funny position overnight.  I couldn’t brush my teeth, comb my hair or dress/undress properly.  Any movement of the shoulder was extremely painful – even worse than man flu - and we decided that a ‘one armed’ attempt at raising the anchor and sailing 32 miles would be taking single-handing too far and settled instead for a diet of ibuprofen and rest.  After a couple of days of deterioration the people at Gallery Cafe recommended ‘Dr Freddy’ in Hillsborough and he confirmed it was ‘rotator cuff tendonitis’ - inflammation of the muscles and tendons around the shoulder.  He prescribed stronger anti-inflammatories and painkillers and advised against movement for a few days.

 

 

A couple pictures of the main street in downtown Hillsborough:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the shop exteriors have benefitted from some artwork:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

The delay meant that we would now run out of gas for cooking before we reach Grenada (there are no gas refill facilities in Carriacou).  So one Wednesday Lin took a cylinder to ‘the’ petrol station in Hillsborough who send them to Grenada for filling and she was told it would be available Sunday/Monday.  My shoulder had improved and a new weather window had presented itself so we telephoned on Monday to be told that unfortunately the cylinder hadn’t been sent last Wednesday after all.  ‘Good news’ though, she had sent it today and it would now be available Thursday morning.  So all we had to do was wait by which time the weather window will have passed and the next set of storms would be here.  She wasn’t to know that so through clenched teeth we thanked her for her initiative and said we looked forward to seeing her later in the week.  On the Thursday morning we telephoned and were greeted with the good news that the gas bottle had indeed been returned, just that there was no gas in it.  She didn’t know why but thought they couldn’t fill those gas bottles in Grenada (we filled them all the time when we were last there).  Others ‘in the know’ said this is a frequent occurrence and it was more likely just not taken off the ferry to be done.  Hey ho.

 

 

Our view of Tyrrel Bay with boats at anchor:-

 

 

 

 

A similar view during a tropical wave, the land in the background no longer visible.  That solar panel isn’t doing much:-

 

 

 

 

Darker clouds now.  It’s not all pina coladas under the palm trees:-

 

 

 

 

We went back to Hillsborough to collect the empty gas cylinder and were taken by a few of the signs:-

 

 

 

 

and Cyril’s place:-

 

 

 

He was a bit expensive so we bought our spirituous stuff elsewhere.

 

The forecast for Friday 3 July was for reasonable wind strengths and no rain until the next tropical wave arrives that evening.  The next good weather wouldn’t be for another week by which time we would be spooning cold food from tins so ignoring the superstition that you shouldn’t set off to sea on a Friday we got going.  They say man plans and God laughs so even before we got the sails up we enjoyed a large dump of rainfall and the related squall of wind.  We continued in low visibility expecting the rain to clear quickly but it was an hour before the skies turned to a lighter shade of grey.  The weather gods must have had second thoughts and then unleashed another hour of deluge as we approached the north coast of Grenada.  This was definitely a tropical wave and as there was none that night we assume things had accelerated since the forecast was issued.  Fridays.  Hmphh...

 

We anchored in St Georges Bay in the rain about 4pm and as the sky cleared we got all the cockpit cushions and wet clothes out to dry.  The next day we arranged to meet George from ‘Survival Anchorage’ who collected our gas bottle and returned with it filled a couple of hours later.

 

We will stay around St George’s for a few days as we need to get some things done here.  Then we will move on to the south coast bays and prepare the boat to be lifted out at Grenada Marine probably some time in July.  Then we will hang around for a week or so arranging and overseeing some work that needs doing on the boat.  I don’t expect there will be anything of interest in the coming weeks so this will most likely be the last blog until we return to the boat in November to start the new season.

 

It is just over two years since we sailed across the Atlantic and we have now experienced two full seasons in the eastern Caribbean islands.  We are not sure what our plans are for next year but we might sail north up the chain again and then on to the Bahamas and across to the US provided we feel inclined to brave a crossing of the Gulf Stream.  Without fail, all the blogs we have read by others who have done it suggests the Gulf Stream will not be a pleasant experience although once across the sailing up the east coast to Maine and Chesapeake is said to be wonderful as is the hospitality of the natives.  We will see which has the stronger pull.

 

Until next season!