Trip Update - 13th January 2009 Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou
Position: 12:27:36N
61:29:14W A three-hour sail SW from As we motored in, we spotted
“Tyche”, our old friends that we had left in Funchal, so we anchored near them
and were soon catching up and eating takeaway pizza on board with Robin and
Zita. They crossed from the
Talking of returning to Europe, I
always said that I wouldn’t think about our plans beyond the
We’ve decided that continuing on
round the world isn’t a viable option because the long passages aren’t really
viable with such young children.
Whilst they would survive it, it wouldn’t be much fun for them or
us. Having got some quotes for shipping,
it is hideously expensive as they all quote in Euros which, given the sorry
state of sterling, means that this isn’t particularly attractive. Besides which, shipping the boat back
would mean returning to work early, which I’m not convinced anyone would see as
a sensible move with hindsight. If
I’ve got a year, I should cram as much in as possible whilst the going is
good. So, I am leaning towards sailing the
boat back to the Anyway, now I’ve worried my parents,
back to Tyrrel Bay, like most of the other
places we’ve been to in the Grenadines, seems quite run-down – like quite a lot
of effort was spent 5 or 10 years ago to set things up for yachties, but that
none of it has been maintained since.
I wonder if that is just the way things are going here, and that the
industry is in a decline, or maybe this tatty look is actually the best it ever
gets. What is remarkable, here as
everywhere we’ve been, is the friendliness of the people. We left Millie’s swimming jacket
somewhere on our wander round the bay, and the next day, someone had
considerately hung it on a bench so we would see it when we came past. And it all seems quite honest – I
haven’t felt concerned about security or safety since we left
Another remarkable thing about
Carriacou is the range and price of alcohol. Everything is very cheap and there is
everything from Pimms and champagne, to We met a nice couple on a Hallberg
Rassy called “Moonrise” who invited us aboard and gave us the lowdown on places
to see on We went for dinner at a pizza place
on the beach. Within minutes of our
arrival, a lovely South African couple came and joined us at our table, gave us
half their pizza, plied us with wine and chatted for half an hour before
returning to their catamaran. You
know when people are so friendly you wonder what they want? They didn’t appear to want anything but
a friendly chat, we’re so not used to strangers doing this – we are so British.
One afternoon we went on a bus trip.
Local buses are great – little minivans with booming stereos. They often have a driver and a helper,
whose job is to open the sliding door and tout for passengers. They are so friendly. We took a bus into Hillsborough and
changed onto another one which took us up to Windward along with lots of office
workers and schoolkids going home. What was interesting was the way that the bus
would drop people off outside their doors, even if it meant backing the bus up
some tiny track. There were a couple of tiny kids aboard – no more than 3 years
old – and the bus driver appeared to act as guardian until one of the parents
met their child at the door of the bus.
Can’t imagine 3-yr-olds traveling without their parents on buses in the
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