Position: 12:02:64N 61:44:81W

We pushed on from Clarkes Court, and sailed round to Prickly Bay.  Prickly is a yachting mecca in the Southern Caribbean and it was packed with boats.  There are great chandleries and boat yards here so it is a good place to do jobs.  We saw some of our friends, but the whole place was rolling and given that we didn’t have a big list of boat jobs to do, we decided not to stop.

We continued on round to St Georges, the capital of Grenada.  We had been watching this big black cloud slowly engulf the island and a couple of miles off, it hit us!  You don’t really feel the wind hit in Nutmeg, but it went from 10 kts up to 25 in seconds, and the rain started.  I figured it was time to catch some rain so we slowed down (having no visibility) and set up the rain catcher.  When the rain is like this, it seems stupid not to catch some water.

Squall on the way into St Georges

The anchorage in St Georges is in a small lagoon, almost entirely sheltered.  The lagoon is an ancient volcano crater.  We anchored in the rain, amongst various other cruising boats.  There is a small marina at the Grenada Yacht Club, but this was filled with deep-sea fishing boats, in for a tournament.  These deep-sea fishing boats are incredible things, like your average Sunseeker powerboat, but with a ridiculously tall climbing frame bolted to the top of it, so the helmsman can sit high above the water, presumably to spot fish.  Most were from the US or BVIs.

There is also a new Camper & Nicholson marina under development here.  We didn’t think it worthwhile asking for a discounted berth because we’re in a Camper & Nicholson boat – don’t think we are shiny enough…

We walked round the Carenage, which is effectively the waterfront of the capital.  It was all very quiet and we completed a few chores in the rain.  Back at the boat, I decided to develop the raincatcher Mark II.  This version dispenses with a funnel tied precariously to one end of the awning to catch the rain, and has a skin fitting and a hose, directly to the tank – so in theory, you can leave it set up and fill the tanks whenever it rains!

The Carenage, St Georges

Whilst water isn’t expensive, it also isn’t free in the Caribbean, and more importantly it is a pain to find somewhere to fill up.  The longer you can go without needing to connect to civilization for water, fuel, electricity or food, the more independent you are, and the easier life becomes.  So a raincatcher is a very useful tool!

Whilst at St Georges, we took a local bus round to the beach at Grand Anse, a couple of miles south of the lagoon.  Local buses are brilliant – just minibuses with loud stereos, you never have to wait more than a few minutes for one to show up.  The beach was great – full of local people enjoying their weekend.  We played running games with the kids and wore them out.

Playing games on Grand Anse Beach, Grenada