Letter: Grenada; St Vincent and the Grenadines
parts 1, 2, and 3

As the wet windy weather of the Pacific Northwest clams down upon us this winter, memories of our charter boat cruise last summer continue to provide warmth and assurance that there is better weather on the way!

We planned this trip a year in advance. Six couples: Gail and Keith Grant, Cygnet, Kathy and Forrest Koponen, Cool Change, Dee Ann and Steve Meacham, Fat Cat, Gretchen and Tom Robinson, Much Ado About Nothing, Brenda and Dan Stainbrook, Chinook, and Linda and I, Koosah, departed SeaTac June 20, 2002 for Grenada: pronounced Gren-AY-duh.

Most of us had bare-boat chartered together three years before in the British Virgin Islands so we knew how much excitement this would be! Our charter company was the Moorings and the two boats for the six couples were Beneteau 463s. The boats are owned by individuals and placed into charter, managed, maintained by the Moorings.

The flight went through Dallas, then to San Juan, and finally Grenada. About 24 hours later we arrived at Point Salines International airport. As we touched down in the darkness, the thoughts of the 1983 US invasion were mingled with the anticipation of two-week adventure in paradise.

All presented their passports, claimed the luggage, and smiled timidly as we exited through customs. Taxis awaited outside the terminal. Two Toyota vans with Vincent and Henry B., our drivers, would take us to Secret Harbor, the Moorings base with a neat luxury motel. The sites, sounds and smells were different than those in Puget Sound. The humidity, warm breeze and horns honking and driving on the wrong side of the road, British, all added to our thrill of finally getting there.

Grenada is the southern-most island in the Caribbean Windward Island chain, approximately 700 miles north of Venezuela. The population of 100,000 is mostly black, decedents of slaves who worked the sugar plantations. When the sugar industry was no longer profitable, the plantation owners departed and the colony was left in a state of benign neglect. Grenada was granted independence from Great Britain in 1974, has experimented with Castro, and finally settled into a parliamentarian form of government and remains a member of the British Commonwealth. Grenada is known as the Spice Island and is the world’s second largest producer of nutmeg. As with most of the Caribbean islands, Grenada is struggling to diversify its economy.

The next day we all piled back into the Toyota vans and toured the southern portion of the island. St. George’s is the capital and main town in Grenada. Tour ships visit along with some cargo ships in the well-protected carenage. The market place is teaming with spices, fruits, vegetables and hoards of people. Most do not own cars and travel in red Toyota taxi vans that hold about 15 people. The Japanese could present a course to our business universities; everywhere in the Caribbean we saw Toyota vehicles and Yamaha outboard engines!

Time to set sail! Well, almost. We had to do some shopping in town to provision the boats with what was really necessary. The rum is inexpensive, about $3 US a bottle. We had learned from our previous cruise in the BVI that we would be eating out at least every other night, so a lot of food on the boat was not required. We stored lots of bottled water and fruit juices. The beer is rather expensive and there are two major brands: Red Stripe from Jamaica and Carib from St. Vincent.

The boats were well prepared and designed for the charter boat industry. There were three private cabins, each with a head, a main cabin with a European style galley along port and a huge table that sat six on the starboard. The holding plate refrigerator and freezer were immense. The diesel was a Yanmar. We were instructed to run it at least an hour a day to charge the batteries and holding plate. Doyle in Trinidad made the Dacron sails with a Profurl furling headsail and Doyle stack-pack main. There was no requirement to go on deck for sail handling; it could all be done from the cockpit with the Lewmar winches. The cockpit was huge, outfitted with a dodger and bimmni, a sugar scoop swim platform with fresh water shower, drop leaf table and several storage lockers.

Everyone on the boat had an assignment: Keith was the Captain; Tom was the alternate Captain and navigator; Gail was the Purser for our joint boat purchases such as food and rum; Gretchen was the Log Keeper; Linda, Gail and Gretchen were the cooks and the guys cleanup; and I was the Dinghy Captain (!) in charge of the outboard and dinghy to include locking them up at night. We were instructed to only take pictures and leave only bubbles and footprints; to remove our shoes upon boarding, and to relax, enjoy, have fun and think in Island Time! The Moorings orientation briefing was detailed and left us with confidence, yet anticipation of our voyage ahead.

Now it was time to set sail! We were going to travel about 40 miles north to the next island named Carriacou and anchor in Tyrrel Bay. We would sail up the west side of Grenada, then the open ocean, between the Sisters, pass near an active volcano and arrive about eight hours later. Sailing at night is forbidden; there are few navigation aids and lots of reefs. There are no marinas, so the all chain rode and CQR anchor would see a lot of use. Well, tune in next month to find out how our first open ocean sail went!

Part 2

Last month we described traveling to Grenada, touring part of the island, boarding our boats, clearing customs, and finally heading out into the ocean. We cautiously departed Secret Harbor with a lookout on the bow and all hands breathing anxiously until we cleared the reefs. We made it to the open ocean without hitting any reef, so our first test was successful. We found out later from the other boat that Moorings had a small powerboat shadowing us along the shore to see if we really knew what we were doing!

We motor sailed with the jib and main up the west side of Grenada and traveled 40 miles until we reached Tyrell Bay on the west side of Carriacou. The nation of Grenada has three major islands: Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. We sailed near an active underwater volcano that last erupted in 1989. The potential for added adventure was there!

Anchoring. This would be our first try. We slowly motored into the harbor and picked what we thought was a suitable spot. The huge CQR and all chain rode were dropped over with the aid of the Simpson Lawrence windlass. Slowly we backed the boat down and the anchor kept dragging! Finally it caught! We had been instructed at the orientation briefing to set the anchor with at least 1800 RPMs on the engine, otherwise we could be sailing away in the middle of the night. We also were told to jump overboard and check the anchor with our swim mask and snorkel. This was one of the best experiences throughout the entire trip: No worry about hypothermia!

High points of the first sailing day were realizing our vacation had really started and we made it to our destination without incident.

The next day we departed for another country. St Vincent and the Grenadines are located north of Grenada. We mostly sailed, this time with a reef in the main, to Union Island and the town of Clifton where we would clear customs.

Boat Boys. We were warned about them! As you enter the harbor, you stand out like a sore thumb with the Moorings mainsail cover. They all have their brightly painted runabouts with Yamaha outboards and want to take you to a mooring, sell you ice, water, take you to a good place on shore, sell you bread, T-Shits or anything else money can buy. Some of them are very aggressive! They all have special names such as Mr. International, Mr. Marvelous, Mr. Fabulous or what ever suits their fancy.

We had to clear customs. That meant that our captain Keith would take all of our passports, go ashore, pay the fee, about $100 US per boat, and then return to continue our journey. Well, after trying to anchor three or four times, we had to have a boat boy rent us a buoy! It cost $20 EC for the 30 minutes it took to clear customs. The currency is Eastern Caribbean and is used by several countries in the Windward Islands. The exchange rate is $2.5 EC = $1US. American dollars are readily accepted however. As with any travel to any another country, it is often best to use a credit card when appropriate because you receive an honest exchange rate from the bank. We often used the expression, “$EC come, $EC go!”

Wind, wind, and more wind! It blows all the way from Africa without any windbreaks or breakwater. It blows 24 hours continuously! The wind speed was usually between 25 and 35 knots with some lulls and several gusts. It is very important in anchoring that you have protection from the waves; you seldom get protection from the wind! At least it was always warm!

The next several days were spent at Salt Whistle Bay and Tobago Cays, pronounced Keys. Our Yanmar engine shift lever was not operating properly which made it difficult to control the boat during anchoring. As instructed, we called the Moorings mechanic on Channel 16: “Rick, Rick, Rick, this is Saints a Sea, over.” Almost everyone conducts his or her entire conversation on Channel 16. There doesn’t seem to be a problem however and Rick answered quickly, stated he would be out to fix the problem in about an hour.

Our long haul was to Bequia (Bek way). The seas were high, our fishing pole was trolling, and some of our crew was chumming. We estimated the seas were about 15 feet. We soon discovered why there was a dodger as well as a bimini on the boat! We sailed with a reefed headsail; that was all that was needed to maintain about 7 knots. About four hours later we reached Admiralty Bay and the town of Port Elisabeth. Boat boys swarmed us! After much discussion, we rented a buoy for two nights at $20EC per night. This would give us some comfort in a crowded harbor, especially when we would all would go ashore together.

Bequia started as a whaling community. There is a whaling museum in Port Elisabeth and the locals still are allowed to hunt a couple of whales each year. They are proud of their home made sail boats which are made of wood, colorfully painted, carry a large main, and have very, if any, keel.

Rastafarians! We didn’t know much about them, but they added much local flavor to our trip. They are a religious group, don’t cut any hair, the men have huge beards and colorful wool woven hats that contain the abundance of hair on their heads. They believe that marijuana is part of the religion and we confirmed that with the familiar whiff that would float across the water or market place. They all seemed very friendly and were excellent vegetable and fruit salesmen in Port Elisabeth. By the time we departed the market, we had purchased about $100EC of fresh items!

We had spent about a week on our trip. Time to start heading back to Grenada! Tune in next month and discover about cricket and a hurricane hole!!

We spent a week slowly island hopping north to Bequia. It was time to start heading south. The wind would now be on the beam and the waves off our stern quarter. Sailing here is so much different than sailing in Puget Sound. In the Windward Islands there is always wind, and as you can see by the photos, a 46' boat with only a deeply reefed headsail could do 7 knots and almost disappear between the rollers. The weather is warm as is the water. Warmth adds so much more pleasure and relaxation to sailing. No need to worry about hypothermia or bundling up in foul weather gear to keep warm! The spray is often a warm refreshing surprise.

Cricket. Upon arrival, it seemed that everyone was watching THE cricket match on television. The West Indies All Stars were playing New Zealand. We were not sure how many island countries represent the West Indies All Star team but were assured that it was the best in the world! None of us completely fathomed how to play cricket but discovered that there are two types of games: hardball, used by the professionals, and softball, used by the locals. The hard ball is similar to a croquet ball and the softball is a tennis ball. Who won?? Well, they were still playing the match during our departure two weeks later so it remains unknown to us! Cricket was captivating to watch and, perhaps more interesting was to see how enthusiastic the nations are about their sport.

Rain Drill. The boat was chartered during the beginning of the hurricane season. Late June and early July accommodated our schedules and the charter rates were lower. During this season it rains every day. It is a warm rain and it comes and goes as isolated squalls. At night, because of the heat, a fan is run in each cabin and all the hatches and ports are opened. A sailor would roast if this were not done. Experience learned the hard way from a previous cruise in the British Virgin Islands on the same type of boat dictated that one does not just lie in the berth and listen to the rain pitter-patter on the deck. If all of the hatches and ports are not closed, EVERYTHING inside the boat gets soaked! Well, a Beneteau 46 has at least twenty of these openings, so the first person that hears or feels the rain starts closing the hatches. In short time all one can hear are hatches slamming shut. When the squall passes, the hatches are opened. This usually happens twice a night.

Although it rains often in the Windward Islands, water can be scarce for the citizens. On several islands, cactus grows, similar to the small islands north of Spiden Island in our San Juans. A Rotary Club of St Vincent provided several island homes with 300-gallon black PVC water storage tanks that collect the rainwater from the tin roof. The islands are of volcanic origin and we did not see any wells on the smaller ones.

Hurricane Holes. Several cruisers return to their homeland during the hurricane season. We were told that some insurance companies insist that a boat in the water be no higher than 12 degrees north latitude during the hurricane season. The south end of Grenada is just below 12 degrees north where there are several sailboats anchored or tied to buoys throughout the coves on that end of the island. Our anchorage for two days was near Hog Island, a hurricane hole just east of Secret Harbor, home of the Grenada Moorings. It was a quiet anchorage. Several boats left there for the hurricane season kept company with two 50-foot ferro-cement Cuban gunboats that had been shot up during the 1983 US invasion and abandoned on the shore.

Snorkeling and Diving. It was wonderful to jump into the warm, clear water and spend a couple of hours snorkeling and discovering sights never seen before! At least by us. Keith, Gail and Tom had packed their dive gear, minus the tanks, and were going to hire a guide to take them to a unique dive spot, but our schedule did not work out . . . we were always too busy!

There was one incident that all remember. Keith yelled out that he saw what appeared to be two large white marshmellows floating on top of the water. Gretchen grabbed the binoculars and discovered a man snorkeling in the nude! After a couple of hours he boarded his boat flying a French Tricolor and Keith stated that both couples were completely nude! That evening you could hear the loud moaning as the three sat around the cockpit and the standing snorkeler was having his red “marshmellows” swathed in aloe or some sort of medicine. It confirmed the universal axiom that acute pain is expressed the same in all languages. Keith kept the binoculars focused on the boat however, just in case they needed assistance.

Real Cruisers. These are the folks we sometimes wish we were, those who spend a year or more on their boat in warm waters and don’t worry about mowing the lawn. We saw all types of boats with different sail plans and displacements, usually sailed by a couple. Most had a wind generator, a dodger, an inflatable dinghy, numerous jugs of extra water or fuel on the deck, and some with solar panels and a bimini. All were at anchor. In Secret Harbor it was a daily routine for the cruisers to dinghy to the Rum Squall Bar around 1400 to play dominoes or cards and discuss where they had been, what they had done to their boat, and where they were going.

Departure. We departed Grenada July 8th. All were sad to leave, but looked forward to returning home to see if our own boats were still afloat. We had shared an experience of a lifetime. As the months fly buy since our cruise, we find ourselves re reading our logbook and thumbing through the photo albums reliving the experiences from our adventure. There is so much more to share and write about these two weeks, but alas, rather than inundate you with the details, go do it yourself! You will never regret it!

Dave Knowlton, Koosah