Back in Grenada

Lochmarin
Mon 25 Nov 2013 12:48
11:59.745N 61:45.768W

Well, the hurricane season has been waited out, Phil has his new passport and Sola and Tom's beautiful baby Thea has safely arrived so we are back on the seas again!


Provisioning turned out to be pretty easy. We took the maxi bus to the supermarket where our new neighbour Colleen was good enough to pick us up along with two trolleys full of groceries, then we spent most of the rest of the day stowing the stores before going to the "Pot Luck" at Crew's Inn as it was our last chance to socialise before we set off. A small mishap meant we finally got to use our steri-strips as I cut my ankle on a broken off jubilee clip on the pontoon. Blood feels really sticky underfoot when it fills your crocs. At 5:15 next morning I was up to go to the market to get the fresh produce and by 2pm we were all ship shape and slipping our warps.

Chaguaramas is on North West of Trinidad so with half an hour the tide was spitting us out of the channel at 9 knots into the Caribbean Sea. It was a strange yet very familiar feeling, it's been a long time now since we were at sea (May). I remembered that this is what we do: say goodbye to places. Equally, of course, we get to say hello to new places but that slightly sad feeling, combined with excitement at heading out again, pleasure at being at sea and a little hint of trepidation all combined to create a familiar sensation in my belly.

I was a little worrying this time, I wondered if we'd forgotten how to do it! But we slipped comfortably back into the routines and when the time for night watch came I found the stars there waiting for us as if we'd not been gone at all. I'd forgotten how the amazing brightness of them pales the constellations so you can hardly pick out good old Orion. I watched the moon rising and saw the constellations slowly brighten until they had become their old selves.

We had a great passage, going too fast actually and having to 'tread water' a little so we wouldn't be going through the overfalls and shallows into Prickly Bay in the dark. Light saw our anchor dropped and us curled up in bed for an hours catch up before greeting old friends Chris and Sara (whom we met first in the Canaries and then again up the Islands here) and meeting new ones, Mark and Sarah, along with their two children. We'll be traveling on in company with them as we're all following similar routes.

We're setting off again in 15 minutes, hopefully time to get this to send. There'll be that familiar feeling in my belly again :-)