Back to the sunshine and south to Grenada
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Sat 19 Feb 2011 22:09
We arrived in Bequia slightly later than planned, as it was just going dark. We found a suitable space and dropped the anchor. That done we started tidying up and getting dinner ready. Just as it was nearly done we started to drift, so we quickly raised the anchor and tried to reset it slightly further in towards the shore. I went to bed and John stayed on deck reading which was lucky as we drifted again and this time quickly. It was now getting quite late and as we had tried twice to drop the anchor and drifted twice, we had a choice; either an anchor watch all night or raise the anchor and head south. We decided to head south as, if we were going to be up half the night, we might as well be moving. At this stage we were still planning on stopping at Hillsborough, but we passed there at about 6am and would have had to wait for daylight to anchor safely, so we kept going and arrived in Grenada about 11am.
The marina we are staying in is a new marina recently opened opposite the yacht club and is a short local bus ride from the town. We are now complete converts to catching the bus rather than a taxi as it is far cheaper and they are passing all the time. Sometimes it can be a bit of a squash though as people will get on and take the last seat, with their full weekly shop from the supermarket and anything else they happen to be carrying!! Getting off if you are at the back can be a lengthy process.
On Saturday morning we went to town, after the rain had stopped, and had a wander round the market. Grenada is fabulous island and is known as the Spice Island. The main produce here is nutmeg and other spices and on Saturday the market in St. Georges, the main town, is full of stalls selling spices and vegetables.The town was very busy as there was a cruise ship in the dock. The passengers are really easy to spot as they all seem to dress the same - very badly!! Socks and sandals and generally badly fitting clothes seem to be de riguer for cruise passengers. We joined a bunch of cruise passengers on the Grenada Discovery Train, a small tourist train ride round the town. In about an hour we were taken all round the town and shown the main sites. A lot of the the buildings are very old and there is a lot of slave history here. What is now the vegetable and spice market was used for slave auctions and public executions. The town was badly damaged in Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and there are still a lot of buildings which are partly demolished and which haven't yet been re-built.
In the market we bought some curry powder to make the local chicken curry, seems very easy, chicken, curry powder and water, and also some chocolate balls. You boil these in water, strain the water and add milk and sugar to get a local version of hot chocolate - something new to try. It was also suggested that we add a stick of cinnamon to the chocolate so a packet of that went in the bag as well. All the stall holders are so friendly and are brilliant sales people so you can't help but buy from them.
This evening Frankie and Georgia are due to arrive and after a day relaxing at the beach tomorrow, we will head north on Monday to Union Island and the Tobago Cays for a few days.