Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, Grenada.  12:27.369N  61:29.214W

 

The island of Carriacou, the northern outpost of Grenada, is most delightfully sleepy and we had decided to eschew the bright lights of Bequia during the annual regatta and have a relaxed week of diving here.  Of all the places we have dived in the Caribbean, Carriacou gets our vote for both the best dive sites and the best dive guides.  Conny and George of Arawak divers are so relaxed over their diving that it is impossible not to adopt their philosophy and lie back and enjoy it.  Their particular speciality is the very small organisms which live in the corals and sponges but there are plenty of larger fish and a few sharks to see too.  The weather has been very calm and the water clear and the dive sites, often pretty rough on the surface,  have been delightfully smooth.

 

 

   

 

         The evil looking Golden Moray lurks in his hole.                   Two Goldlined Sea Goddesses (1 inch long, note crown on tail)

 

 

 

Pederson cleaner shrimp (body 1 inch long)

 

 

So on Monday morning after a great weekend in Chatham Bay, Union Island,  we raised the anchor and cleared Customs in Carriacou and settled ourselves quietly in Tyrrel Bay.  Quiet it would be without the  antics of the few bare boat charters, most of whom seem incapable of either picking up a mooring or dropping an anchor without causing a great pantomime. This normally occurs during Happy Hour between 5.30 and 6.30.  Around this time an ever hopeful boat boy or rather old man attempts to sell wine at prices somewhat greater than in the local shops and almost twice the price we had been paying for the same in Antigua.  However his lobster prices were good, so we indulged yet again but not washed down with his wine. We were relieved to see when we went diving that there are still plenty lurking under the rocks where it came from, sadly it is illegal for scuba divers to catch them. . 

On the windward east coast of Carriacou is the village of Windward (no prizes for originality), where tucked in behind a series of protecting reefs there is a thriving traditional boat building industry.  Perhaps "industry" is the wrong term - but they do build beautiful wooden sailing boats for trading, fishing and racing in relaxed Caribbean mode.  We took the bus over there on Saturday during a day off from the diving and found one boat in the course of construction and another having a major rebuilding project.  Very few yachts get in here behind the reefs and a quick look at the chart would explain why.  The reefs are exposed to the strong trade winds and the channels unmarked and tortuous. There are a couple of wrecks high and dry as a warning to imprudent mariners.

 

     

 

 

        Ready for planking in the Windward Shipyard.                       No tides, so hauling down (careening)  to work on the bottom.

 

 

 

 

One mistake and ....................!

 

Our week is up so we must push on slowly south to Grenada and thence to Trinidad from where we are due to fly home in just over four weeks.