12:00.017N 61:45.817W

Friday 18^th May 2012

Distance run: 40 nmiles

We lifted the anchor soon after 0830 and very quickly had the main up with one reef in and most of the genoa up, making excellent speed in 20-25 knots of wind over the port quarter.  The weather was very squally, with gusts up to 34 knots at times, so we reefed down further twice more in the next couple of hours.  The seas were very lumpy too, and Steve handsteered in the squalls to keep the boat from heading up too much.  We had already set our course to go wide of “Kick’em Jenny” an active underwater volcano that lies directly on the rhumb line from Carriacou to Grenada, but ended up going well out of her way as we steered downwind in the stronger winds.

It was quite a relief to reach the Grenadian coast and duck into its lee, and the next 15 nmiles or so down its West coast were a pleasant sail.  We reached Point Saline on its south-western tip at 1440, and then turned into the wind for the final 3 nmiles of the passage to Prickly Bay.  We furled in the genoa which can’t be tacked without furling the whole thing in and then back out again, and unfurled half of the yankee which, being the inner of the two headsails, is tackable.  The wind was blowing a steady 25 knots and the seas were horrible.   It took us a further 2 hours to tack along the coast, avoiding Glover Island, and into Prickly Bay. 

We eventually dropped the hook in the anchorage and sat back with a well-earned beer and a feeling of satisfaction that we had at last reached Grenada, our goal since heading back from the US East coast last Autumn.  And we have six days to relax a bit and get the boat ready for our visitor.