Grenada

Grenada

Whilst in Antigua Don was offered work to begin in a few weeks so we watched the famous Mt Gay Classic Yacht Races then headed down the chain of islands with Grenada our destination.  We checked out the various islands via the binoculars as we motored past - it was a weird trip - once alongside an island the wind petered out and the iron sail was put into service for many hours until we reached the other end of the island then the wind blew up a gale, seas grew up to 10ft and a current of 2kts - against us of course !!!  We would pull the genoa (big) sail down put up the storm sail and battle our way slowly south until the next island, there was no chance of getting much sleep on that passage of several days.


We checked into Grenada at St Georges, the main town situated half way down the west coast and spent a very rolly night in the anchorage - early the next morning we made our way down and around the corner to begin looking for a new home. This area consists of fingers of land with protected anchorages in the webbing.   We anchored in Mt Hartman Bay, Prickly Bay is one side of us and Hog Bay /  Clarkes Court Bay on the other side - we chose this particular bay because of the protective reef.  The locals are very friendly with a wicked sense of humour.  There is a very active sailing community here so lots to do to keep me occupied. 

Don insists on leaving White Rose and the 1^st mate in a marina when he is away - just for peace of mind - this time I managed to talk him out of it - it is much cooler at anchor as the boat points into the wind allowing a breeze to filter through the boat, also I can swim and use the watermaker - all of which you cannot do in a marina so here I am in the middle of the bay surrounded by other boats that are coming and going.  The winds have been blowing very strong - especially at night which means I have to get up and turn on our anchor alarm and depth sounder to ascertain that I am still in the same spot and haven't dragged anchor - so far so good !!!  Our anchor is not particularly good in mud but we have held on tight and I am confident the boat will not move now - such a relief and it means I can sleep at night again.  It has been very wet here and I seem to be constantly opening and closing hatches - the biggest pain is at night - sound asleep and woken up by drenching rain coming straight down the open hatch but once you close that hatch the heat and humidity is revolting so I open it again as soon as the rain stops and try to get some sleep before the next drenching - when the boaters get together we all laugh about it as everyone is in the same predicament - it is too windy here for awnings.


There is a very active Cruisers Net with lots of activities, excursions, music concerts, pizza nights, local cooking classes etc. etc. so no lack of things to do.  I really must begin on the boat jobs again ....... I am using the heat, wind and rain as an excuse at the moment :-). 


Don and I have been sailing with several other boats, two of which “Caribbean Souls” and “Ner Do Well” left yesterday to head to Bonaire - it is so quiet and sad without them.  “Anjo's Jest” also left this morning so I am here alone now - 3 of the other boats we have been traveling with are due to arrive any day, they spent weeks exploring the Grenadines and the islands that we missed.   

I have found vegemite, golden syrup, custard powder and mixed dried fruit in large lots, all the goods I could not find elsewhere and used to bring from home - Grenada used to be a British outpost so have porridge, herrings - all the good stuff :-) and they speak English which is a bonus - the French make a point not to know English and refuse to try to understand so a huge language barrier and of course all the foods and instructions are in French - I still have food on the boat that I have no idea what it is or what to do with it :-)  They do have great cheeses though and the chocolate croissants were wonderful.


A group got together and toured the island …..

Belmont Estate is a unique and authentic 17th century plantation – here they make chocolate the “old fashion” way which is guaranteed to put you off chocolate for some time – the smell of it fermenting covered in hessian sacks with flies buzzing is revolting.  Afterwards the beans are placed on slates out in the sun to dry.  They are stirred by shuffling around in the bins with bare feet – we all had a go!! 


We toured the Rivers Rum distillery which dates from 1795.  The rum factory was amazing ..


Rivers Rum dates from 1785.  This is a distillery that runs all year.
A bit of a contradiction: the concentration of sugar in cane is at its highest during the dry season (January to May, in theory), but the water wheel which powers the cane press is obviously more likely to work when there is plenty of water in the river, i.e. in the rainy season (June - Dec., also in theory.)


The simplicity and the antiquity of the place beggars description. Bundles of cane are crushed twice, then placed in the island's only railway truck which is trundled along the island's only railway line for the very short trip to a tip. Here the cane dries in the sun and, now known as 'bagasse', is used as fertiliser for the cane fields (and elsewhere.)


The juice is roughly filtered by scooping up the 'bits' and letting them drain through a wicker mat. The juice flows into the main building, where it is 'ladled' through a succession of big metal basins ('coppers') until it is brought to the boil in the last one. The ladling process looks just like rowing a boat. The fire below the boiling cane juice uses bagasse as fuel: nothing is wasted! 

Once the right sugar concentration has been reached, the hot juice is spooned into cooing tanks at the back of the building. It spends two days there, during which time it is invaded by natural yeast's in the air: fermentation starts spontaneously: no yeast is needed.


The fermenting juice is then pumped upstairs into concrete fermentation tanks, where it bubbles away for eight days. After this, it is ready for distillation. Here, the fire below the boiler is heated with wood, because bagasse does not burn hot enough to (super-) heat the liquid.


We were given a sample of the 75% proof rum – big mistake, it was so disgusting that nobody purchased a bottle – I tipped my share into the flower pot just outside the door- the plant was shriveled most likely from too much rum!!


Fish Friday is great fun, cruisers pile into a minivan and enjoy the scenery during the hour ride to Guave.   The streets in the tiny village are blocked off and filled with vendors all offering fish cooked in many different ways – lambi waters (conch soup), shark bake (fried fish in a bread roll) cold drinks made from fresh fruit and even home made ice cream.  Various types of music gave the area a party atmosphere including steel pan bands – my favourite.  The steel pan is an amazing piece of musical instrument – literally the bottom of a 44 gallon drum which has been hammered to form bumps which play a particular note – people of all ages all over the island play the pan instruments and they produce an amazing sound. 


I went to my first every dinghy concert – a stage it set up on a barge with a second barge side tided to it – the purpose of this barge is the “bar”.  Dinghies full of cruisers arrive and tie onto each other forming a floating raft – if you want a drink you either climb your way through all the dinghies make your purchase then negotiate your way back to your dinghy or send money and order via the dinghies and hope that you get your drinks !!  It was great fun and the music great – can’t say the dancing in the rocking dinghies was all that elegant though, I watched a few go for an unintentional swim.

My sister Fiona spent 3 weeks on White Rose it was wonderful having company, especially family.


Boats are starting to move down to Trinidad now - out of the hurricane belt - two of our friends have left to visit home for a month while their husbands stay on board so lots of bachelors looking at White Rose for home cooking!

Music is popular with a “jam” held every Sunday, this is where cruisers and locals take along an instrument and play together – the host restaurant offers free beer to all players so the instruments can be “inventive” – anything for a free beer !!!    The last Sunday in the month is a free concert held in the Museum in town.  Locals recite poetry, sing, dance, play instruments and cruisers can join in also.  Peter and Gayle are on the sailing boat “Jabiru”, Pete is a professional Australian saxophonist and we thoroughly enjoyed his performances at the Museum but more so his practise sessions on his boat – the music filtered around the bay in the evening – it was magic. 


Donell Best is an 18 year old Grenadian and quite an amazing young man and violinist - I have met Donell on a few occasions and he won my heart when he opened and closed a bus sliding door for me – good manners !!!!  Donell has won a scholarship to the Berkeley School of Music - quite an amazing feat for a Grenadian and attests to his talent.  The cruisers here are trying to help Donell raise money as his scholarship will not cover living expenses.  We had a concert at the marina last night - we raised EC$800  which equates to around US$300 - that will not go far in USA.




Don spent 5 weeks in Australia working. Once he arrived back in Grenada he only had a couple of weeks before leaving for Alaska and he is currently doing a survey in Cook Inlet - been gone 4 weeks and due back in 2 weeks.  

Meanwhile I have been re-varnishing the companionway and teak surrounding our hatches also installing a new hatch.  Of course I had just taken the old hatch out (which required epoxy repair work, awlgrip paint then new hatch) when tropical storm Ernesto decided to pay a visit, it was a busy time packing up the boat and getting the new hatch in.  Ernesto passed 167km away so just some wind and rain - the 2 days prior were eerily quiet, no wind in our usually windy anchorage, quite spooky.   I am in the best hurricane hole that Grenada offers and boats came from everywhere squeezing in where they really should not be - so my safe spot turned into a nightmare - one boat was so close that I could not let my dinghy down - I spoke to the owner who was very abusive so the harbor master made him move on, which he did - right in front of me so now my anchor chain is almost on his dinghy - what do you do !!!!  Many boats have left for Trinidad to avoid the storm.  It is 3 days after the storm passed and now Florence is headed our way - she is big and serious whereas Ernesto was disorganised from the beginning.  I am monitoring the hurricane sites.  I am sure she will again pass to the North but many more boats are leaving just in case.  Please tell me again why people do this (life on a boat) - I just can't see the attraction at the moment :-)  Storm prediction when in the USA is accurate – the weather gurus predicted Hurricane Irene’s arrival a week in advance and were correct to the day, hour and minute of her arrival, length of stay, strength and departure.  The storms are born to the east of the Caribbean islands therefore still very disorganised when they reach the chain of islands and any prediction in this area seems guess work at best.

Tropical Storm Seven went over us yesterday afternoon and overnight -sunny skies again this morning - this once a week tropical storm/hurricane is becoming a little tedious.  

We had the boat’s bottom cleaned before Don left but when I took a look, the propeller was virtually unrecognizable - a large round fuzzy looking thing with tendrils hanging off - oh dear Don had requested I put the engine in gear and run it quickly in forward and reverse each time I recharged the batteries and I had only remembered to do that once.   Also some big orange jelly like marine creatures have taken up residence in our bow thruster..... I taught myself how to duck dive with the snorkel and flippers and cleaned the propeller and shaft - one helpful cruiser going past in his dinghy offered  the use of his weight belt - I laughed and said I would be too scared I would not come back up - it does take a lot of effort to stay down but I would be too scared to use a weight belt without someone looking out for me. I tried the engine in forward and reverse and it did grind and shudder but became better quickly so hopefully that was just some barnacles getting pulverized :-) 


Carnival


Carnival is the highlight for the year.  J’ouvert is the opening of the Carnival program - I caught the marina bus at 4.30am to watch all the devils and ugly creatures come out to play, it finishes after the sun comes up.  Participants get drunk, cover themselves and everyone else in used oil and paint and dance down the streets.   The next parade “Petit Mas” is held that afternoon (after the streets are cleaned up as the road is very oily and slippery).   This parade shows off the costumes.  That evening is a night parade that consists of trucks playing very loud music and hundreds of participants drinking, dancing and singing their way into town.  The “big” parade follows the next day where themes and costumes are judged – Grenadians love their carnival and everything shuts down for a week long party.

One little excursion we did which was a bit different was to the Moliniere Underwater Sculpture Park. It is home to 65 sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.

 
www.divegrenada.com/sculpturepark.htm

It is on the western side of the island a few miles north of St Georges and is only accessible by boat. We were lucky enough to hitch a ride on Dave’s beautiful classic 65 ft ketch “Rewa”.

The sculptures are in about 3-4 metres of water and provided the water is clear can easily be snorkelled.


The day we were there it was a bit murky so was a bit spooky to snorkel down and see these body shapes appear out of the gloom. Unfortunately the condition of many of the sculptures is not as good as shown in the website photos – some have heads missing or limbs missing or partially buried ! Anyway it was something a bit different and a unique Grenada experience.