Thursday 20^th December 2012  12:00.16N 61:45.84W

Carlisle Bay is a noisy anchorage at night when the town’s bars and clubs compete with each other to attract custom through their music systems, but it has several advantages. First, it is the only Barbados anchorage which does not require advance permission to anchor. Second, the river provides easy access into the heart of the town, where dinghies can be left secured by Heroes Square (which contains a statue of Nelson pre-dating the one in London’s Trafalgar Square).  Thirdly it contains several wrecks in shallow water (10-30 feet) which make excellent snorkelling sites.

We spent half a day exploring a couple of the wrecks which lie in clear water on a sandy bottom and are teeming with fish, which have become very tame as a result of local dive boats taking tourists to see them, and often feeding the fish as well.  The wrecks are in surprisingly good condition considering how shallow the water is; a testament to the rarity of rough weather on this sheltered side of the island.

Large shoals of striped Sergeant Major fish and silvery Bermuda Chub gather round the swimmers looking for food, while Grunts shoal in the shadows of the wrecks, with small groups of Squirrel Fish trying to keep out of sight.  Large Jacks cruise by occasionally looking to see whether there is anything to interest their appetites, and a Barracuda over a metre long also came to check what was going on.  Together with the sponges and soft corals which cover the wrecks and nearby rocks, this made an enjoyable ever changing scene, remarkable for being so accessible just a few hundred metres from the beach.

Returning to the commercial port to check out with Customs and Immigration was not so enjoyable.  The officials are mainly concerned with cruise liners and regard private yachts as requiring the same level of bureaucracy.  All the information which we had provided for officials to type into their computers at Port St Charles a few days earlier failed to travel as far as Bridgetown, the capital.  Not only that, but the crew lists and other details, which were provided afresh to the Port Authority in Bridgetown, also had to be provided anew to the Customs Authority and again to the Immigration Authority in nearby offices as they retained only paper records.  This meant that it took over 2 hours to check out a small boat with three people, although it must be said that the officials were always polite and helpful to ensure that the paperwork was correct.

On 15^th December we said our farewell to Barbados and motored down to Grenada just 140 miles away.  The little wind gave a smooth passage, but little opportunity for sailing.  However, our early morning arrival gave a wonderful view up the islands of the Grenadines from Grenada northwards.  We initially went to St David’s which is supposed to be an official port of entry, but it turned out that the officials rarely and unpredictably visit the bay where Grenada Marine provides a wide range of services for yachts.  So we were obliged to visit the new Camper and Nicholson marina at Port St Louis by St Georges where there is a proper customs and immigration office, which we were pleased to find had a friendly and efficient service.

Grenada Marine was able to fix the problems with the main sail and service the outboard motor at short notice, as well as making good some wear and tear on the cover for the inflatable, and we were grateful for the goodwill at Turbulence Sails who had also stored a Parasail spinnaker for us for the past year.

A day’s car rental allowed us the chance to tour the island.  We also spent half a day in St Georges visiting the market and local shops.

Unfortunately, Grenada Marine was due to close down completely for nearly three weeks over the Christmas period, so we had to move the boat a few miles along the coast to Prickly Bay where life will continue during the holiday period and Gill, who will be looking after the boat following Rossi’s return to the UK and the skipper’s two weeks’ absence, can find resources and company, as well as being closer to St George’s.