Friday, June 17, 2011
We took the din
ghy to the Yacht Club to check to see if the Customs were open on Sat so we could check out then instead of Friday. Customs were open both Sat and Sun 9-2.
We continued on into St. George' s harbor and the Carenage, which I think means rows of government buildings. One side of the harbor
was filled with medium size fishing boats rafted 2-3 deep. We tied and cable-locked our dinghy up to a stepladder giving access to the walkway and the road. We began to explore the city by
walking up some streets. Tikal is a shop with local and interesting but we did not buy anything. The streets were narrow and many only one-way. We took pictures of one the old buildings which had some broken and open windows. Later we discovered it was the Grenada Public Library. The front faced the harbor making it part of the Carenage. It was a block long. Adults and youth were evidently using it. I stepped inside and it looked well-used and I could see full bookcases.
There was even a place to leave book bags and a "guard" at the door. By now, Charlie was hungry for lunch so we ate at the Ocean Grill right on the water. We were the only persons in it. I asked the waitress if they had more customers at happy hours and dinner. She said that it was the end of the season. I asked about locals. She said the economy was not great. Later however, more tourists and a local man did come in for lunch.
After lunch we decided to walk around the harbor which is like a big U. We browsed through shop. The "Best Little Liquor Store" shared space with a garden and yard store which seemed bizarre. It started raining so that gave us even more reason to duck into various shops. A gentleman "Herman" started talking to us, telling us Grenada's history. He continued to walk with us suggesting shops. Charlie found a nicely painted tray in one of the shops and we bought it. Herman walked us around to the tourist office where we got maps and various brochures. He was impossible to shake. Charlie tried to give him some money after the tourist shop but he said no and walked us back to our dinghy. Then he suggested a tip.
The rain continued but lighter as we returned to the marina and our boat. It continued to rain. I had a very large ripe avocado I needed to use so I invited several of the other cruisers to meet on our boat for cocktail hour. I also made chili con queso and had some salsa to put out. I told them to bring their own libation thinking it would be too confusing for Charlie to be mixing drinks, too. We had invited 10 others but only 8 showed up so that made 10 in our cockpit! Some brought something to also share. We had a nice time and got to know each other a bit better. Many were staying at this dock for the hurricane season.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Another couple came by the boat saying they were interested in going to Trinidad with us. They were anchored out instead on in the marina. while Charlie took the dinghy over to the Yacht Club to check out with Customs, I made another trip to the grocery store. It was pouring down rain again when I came out. We had thought to go over to the nearby beach, but it kept raining off and on. We did take the motor off the dinghy and tied the dinghy to the top of the boat. Andy and Sharon asked us down for cocktails and I offered to bring a pork tenderloinI needed to cook. She did some vegetables and I also took leftover guacamole and salsa as well as some fresh pineapple +apple chunks for a salad. We used their boat, a big spacious trawler due to rain which continued. We couldn't even grill outdoors as we had planned due to the rain. They shared their cruising experiences with us as well as some helpful websites. We had rain all night long.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
After an early morning rain shower, we checked out from the marina and were on our way to Prickly Bay, a more southern anchorage by 10:30. It didn't take us long to get there so we were anchored by noon. One of the large Grenada Boatyards, Spice Island is nearby. See picture of it in the background with many masts.
Since we had the dinghy on the boat, we couldn't go anywhere. The couple on "Just Imagine" who were going to Trinidad with us came by to check on us. They had decided to change the time of leaving from 5 p.m. on Sunday to 2 a.m. on Monday. They wanted to be sailing in the dark for fewer hours. If we all made at least 6 knots/ hour we would arrive by 4 p.m. We had an early dinner of leftover seafood pasta and I went to sleep. I don't think Charlie got much sleep. He kept trying to get online to check the weather once again.
Monday, June 20, 2011
I set an alarm for 1:30 a.m. We got up, dressed, started the hot water kettle for tea and coffee. Then we began to take the snubber off the anchor, raised the sail in the dark and then retrieved the anchor. That was the first time we had raised a sail while still at anchor. At least we were headed in the wind. It was slightly tricky but we managed it and proceeded out of the anchorage. We were about 10 minutes behind the other 3 boats which had started sailing to Trinidad. We had two catamarans and another 44 ft monohull. All of us had at least one reef in our sails and some had two reefs. We had only put one in ours. the wind was from the East and our heading was 180-190 so we had a great sail. The winds started out at 15-18 but eventually slowed down to 11-14. the waves were 4-6 ft for most of the way and we had no heavy rain until we were closer to Trinidad.
As we approached Trinidad, the sky got very dark and almost made Trinidad invisible. Luckily the wind was not bad and the rain only lasted 10 minutes or so. The wind actually died to below 6 knots. The waves were huge rollers of 8-10 feet.
A pod of dolphins were playing in them welcoming us to Trinidad. We proceeded through the Boca de Monos channel between Trinidad and Monos Island after the rain. This was Trinidad's Labor Day and many boats were out on the water. Many were also in Scotland Bay along this channel. We passed a large Coast Guard station, a dry dock (for ship building and repair) and then to Chagauramas Bay were will have the boat hauled out and left on the hard (land).
You are supposed to go to Customs and tie up on their dock as soon as you arrive. We did find this dock which is at the Crews Inn Lighthouse restaurant. We had to go past it, turn around, go back beyond it and turn around again before trying to approach it. One of the Cats we had traveled with was tied up and there was just enough space for us. Someone in the marina helped grab our lines and tie us up.
We were very hot and sweaty! Charlie took off for the Customs and Immigration offices. I stayedon the boat until someone told me that I had to go to Immigration, too. I grabbed some US money to pay our fees since we did have any Trinidad money. They have their own currency which is 6TT to 1 US dollar. At Immigration we met up with some cruisers we had met along the way: Bonnie and Maurie on "Smidge". they were checking out to return to the states (PA). They gave us some names of craftsmen they have used. It took us 1 1/2 hours to clear Customs and Immigration. That is the record for length of time! Everything is done in duplicate or triplicate and on paper, not computers. At least they did supply carbon paper here. Immigration used this HUGE log book to record entries. Customs recorded it in 2 different books.
Once we were through "checking in", we needed to move from the "Customs dock" and find a place to put the boat. While coming into Chagauramas, we had tried to contact Coral Cove Marina where we had made a reservation months before. However, they were closed for Labor Day so no one was at the marina. the Crews Inn dock person had told me they could give us a slip. It was close by and it even had a finger dock. Coral Cove had stern to docking without finger docks. We moved the boat into this nice slip. Maurie and another gentleman, Jim, from a Catalina from Chicago, IL across the dock from our slip, helped the dockhand tie us up. Maurie and Jim invited us to join them and others at the Crews Inn pool where they were having cocktail ( bring our own) . I convinced Charlie to just change his sweaty shirt, make a drink and go join them. there were about 10 cruisers there. Jim later invited us to have dinner with him (dutch). We ended up eating at the Crews Inn as his restaurant of choice was closed due to the Labor Day.
We checked ourselves into the marina, plugged our electric in, turned on the refrigerator, had nice hot showers on the boat; switched to the air conditioner and slept well.
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