GRENADA -  We have arrived.   2,400 miles in 8 1/2 months, and we are finally anchored off St. George town ready for hurricane season.  Our deadline was July 1st, so we made it with less than a week to spare.  It doesn't even feel real yet....somebody pinch me.  So today we sit at the Grenada Yacht Club doing 3 loads of laundry with one dryer and plenty of free internet.

We arrived yesterday afternoon after spending three days in Carriacou which is one of the Grenada islands.  It was a great laid back island to wait out a good weather window.   We ate pizza with other cruisers, took a bus ride around the island, and met friends on Simple Life that we met back in Lake Worth in November, 2012.  And the best news was that Bentley was finally able to go to shore.  He loved the dingy ride to the grocery store for some basic supplies, and enjoyed the company of a little 8 year old boy named Valentine.  Valentine lives on his boat and is cruising with his parents.

Bentley in dinghy with the groceries

 Cruisers taking drum lessons        

          

One of my favorite boats so far         

                            

This one needs some work!   These two boats were on either side of us in Carriacou

So our trip over to the main island of Grenada wasn't as nice as we would have liked.  It was a little bumpy, but with only 30 miles to go we knew we could endure it.  The winds were light and were  behind us.  We flew both the main sail and the small jib, but still had to have the motor running to make speed.  Will and Bentley took a short nap while I manned the helm.

After anchoring we explored the harbor in the dingy.  It is a huge area, and you can see from the homes on the hills, that there are lots of people here.  There are many harbors where cruisers can anchor or moor, and we will be exploring those in the next few months that we are here.

                                                The public library open to cruisers


So over and out for now.  I will be flying out of Grenada on July 3rd and won't be back until August 15th.   I look forward to our annual family reunion in Holmes Beach, Florida (south of St. Pete Beach).  I look forward to seeing my daughter's Carly and Kara.   I can't wait to swim and do puzzles with grandchildren Emma (9) and Connor (7).  I am anxious to see old friends and teachers and students from the past.

It feels sad to leave Will and Bentley, but I am sure there will many cruisers that we have met along our travels getting here that have already arrived or will arrive while I am gone.  

Congratulations to us!!!   We made it to Grenada!!!!

Grenadines - There are 32 island and cays in the Grenadines including the big island of St. Vincent.  We stopped into 4 different harbors on St Vincent, which I covered in my last post.  We stopped at
three islands in the Grenadines, so barely made a dent in exploring these special islands.

Bequia. Admiralty Bay  - We arrived at this largest island in the Grenadines after a great motor sail with a double reefed main a 3:00.  Dropped anchor but after Will dove down on it, we were never going to get the anchor to stick in soft sand over marl.  So we moved to the southern side of the anchorage near Princess Margaret Beach, and the anchor dug in well.  We were excited to go to town because we had read there was a Salty Dog restaurant!  Memories of Hilton Head.  We were also excited there were no boat boys.

Town was hopping with music, children jumping in the water off the docks, freighers, ferries,and dinghies   buzzing all around.  We promptly found that the Salty Dog had long ago closed up, but after walking along the concrete sidewalk on the water front, we found a local restaurant called the Whaleboner.  The seats were made out of actual whale cartilage.  We met other cruisers and watched locals celebrating and dancing to the reggae music.

Mayreau,  Saline Bay - Sadly left Bequia early hoping for a favorable current and not sure where we will stop next.  Another motor sail day and arrived at Canouan.  It was a resort area and just didn't feel like a place we wanted to stay for the night.  It was only 11;30 am, so we continued on to Mayreau.  There were too lovely places to choose from...Salt Bay and Saline.  We passed the picture postcard bay of Salt, but decided to take the southern most anchorage...Saline.  It was postcard perfect also.   As the dingy motor was up on the stern of the boat and Bentley still couldn't go to shore, we opted not to go to shore.  We just spent the day and night looking at the beautiful scenery around us.

                     

Union Island  -Only three miles to go today and another great day of wind and waves.  Entered this reef enclosed harbor and we were greeted by Tony our boat  boy.  Took a mooring ball and explored  the town. We found lots of vegetable stands,  an American cafe. and the coconut man.  He gave us fresh coconut water and a lesson on which coconuts were good for eating and drinking the good water.  Unfortunately, my camera battery  died so just one picture of our view for the day.

Next stop Grenada....the island of Carriacou.  We are almost there.   Just a couple of pictures of  us traveling....Squalls behind us with rainbows in front.

Smooth sailing ......with our repaired jib and only 35 miles to go to Grenada.   Amazing.  We have been pushing hard for the last 12 days and have covered lots of water, countries, and islands with very minor problems.  The biggest problem, however, has been keeping Bentley on board the boat for over a week now.  So let me try to back track and fill you in on our travels.

June 11th -  Our repaired jib sail was returned to us by the sail maker at 4:00 in the afternoon, so we quickly left the marina and anchored out for the night to prepare for our 35 mile trip to Dominica.  We enjoyed our 5 day stay at a marina in Guadeloupe.

                                                 Black sand beach at Guadeloupe

June 12th - We pulled anchor at 7:00 am and with main sail up we tried to rehang the jib but the winds were too strong.  So Will tied the jib securely to the rails and we bucked our way through the waves with a 20 knot wind.   We anchored at Portsmouth in Dominica at 2:30 pm.  Too tired to check in but had interesting evening with three boat boys approaching our boat and trying to sell us everything from flags, fish and fruit.  We even shared a few of our beers with one of them named Sugar Daddy.  All happening under a beautiful full moon.

June 13th - We dinghied into town to find customs and immigration.  Walked for miles through a small but colorful town and found the office 2 miles from our dinghy.  The office was located behind some warehouses near a wharf.  It was so unique to see the carbon paper placed between the forms for triplicates of what we needed to fill out.  We were told not to bring Bentley ashore!!  

Carbon paper for triplicate forms.  

Three story building in down town Portsmouth

                                            Fruits and vegetables are plentiful sold at street stands


Back to boat and pulled anchor to move south along the coast.  Arrived in Rosseau 4:45 pm and was approached by boat boy - Pancho.  The water is so deep here very close to shore, so we followed him to a mooring ball right in front of his house.  We had a peaceful and restful night of sleep.

                                                               Pablo and his house.

June 14th  -  Today we leave the Leeward Islands and head for the Windward Islands.  Martinque will be our first stop.  We pulled anchor at 5:00 am and headed east with both sails up, 20 knot winds, and rough seas.  Winds died down about 2:00 so Will tried a little fishing.  We landed two barracuda but let them go as we won't eat that ugly fish.  Winds died down at 2:00 so there was a  nice sail into our next anchorage.

       Anchored at 4:30 near the town of St. Pierre and went into town for a look around.   Martinique is French territory and very relaxed about customs check in and dogs.  Bentley enjoyed stretching his legs.  We met an American couple from Greenville, SC.  They have a car so tomorrow we will go with them to see Mt. Pelee.  This volcano erupted in 1902 and wiped out the town on St. Pierre .  The side of the volcano burst open, releasing a giant fireball that flowed down over the city.  It wiped out the entire city and killed over 29,000 people.   Only two survived...one was a cobbler that was in his basement and the other was Cyparis an imprisoned murderer that was in a stone jail cell.

The stone jail where Cyparis survived

French bakery....always lots of bread

Will's favorite ...elephant ear

June 15th - Met Libby and David at their car at 9:00 am and stopped for some fresh pastries at the bakery before our drive to Mt. Pelee and our hike up the mountain.  Will and David made it up to the crater, while Libby and I only made it up and 1/10th of the way.  It was a long day but a life long dream of Will's.  In grade school he had written a paper about this mountainous country and enjoyed seeing the sights in person.


                                          

                                              View from Mt. Pelee looking down  at St. Pierre

June 16th - After two days of being in Martinique we finally checked in at 9:00 am and checked out at the same time!   Back at boat by 10 and anchor pulled by 10:30 .  Off again to stage for our next stop St. Lucia.   We arrived in Grand Anse and took a free mooring ball.  No town here and not many people but lots of boats.  Must be a mooring place for the French sailors of Martinique.


                               

                                                 
June 17tth -   Finally we are sailing.   No motor, two sails, good winds, slight heel over.....enjoyable.
This is the sailing we have been looking forward to since we left the USA.  Not pounding into the easterly winds and seas!   Arrived at Rodney Bay at 11:00.  It is a huge harbor with a very large marina.  Checked in and out  Found a Digicel phone company for a new sim card for the ipad and we now have internet on the boat again.  It has been hard finding internet spots along the way.

                

Trying to find internet by the sea

Fancy dancy boat boy in this anchorage

Will buys a pineapple just to get him to go away

June 18th -  After such a great but short day of sailing yesterday, we were excited to sail again and move on to St. Vincent.  But no such luck.  We had great winds but a 3 knot current which kept pushing us backwards.  Our 30 mile trip is going to get us into our anchorage after dark.  But at 4:00 about 8 miles away, the current changes into our favor and we are speeding along at 6 to 7 knots.  Will was excited to see the speed reach 7.9 at one point.  So at 6:30 pm we pulled in Chateaublaire and again were greeted by a boat boat...this one in a canoe.  He guides us to a sandy spot that is less than 30 feet deep and we drop anchor just after the sunsets.  We did, however, see many beautiful rainbows today and dolphins joined us as we sailed along.

June 19th -  Heading south along the coast of St. Vincent..easy on the lee side.  We pulled anchor at 9:45 and pulled into anchorage at Willilabou bay where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.  Boat boys are approaching, no other boats, the restaurant looks closed, it is only 11:15...we look at each other and decide to keep moving.  Next task...find diesel.   Ottley's in the guide book is a haul out place, but we see a fuel dock and pull in at 1:00.  Rodney and his partner help tie us up along side a huge pier with no gas pump.  So Will will have to jerry jug it to the boat.  But Rodney and his partner  do all the toting and Will just refills the tanks.  We gave them each 20EC$ as a tip...about $8.00.

                                          Will loved this place.  Maybe a haul out in the future.

Left the boat yard at 3:00......2 hours in a shipyard and only 5 minutes in the harbor where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.  Something is wrong with this picture, I feel.  Anyway, arrived at Young Island and got another mooring ball at 5:15.   I looked around and said to Will,  "This looks like the Caribbean."  We laughed....we are in the Caribbean.

June 20th  -  Quick trip today over to the Grenadines.  If you are like me you may have heard of them, but never knew any of them except Tobagos.  There are many, many little islands scattered around with names I have never heard of.   But I think I will stop here and start another post of all
of the stops we make in the Grenadines.  I am tired of working on this for over 4 hours, and you are probably tired of reading.

We are so close to our destination that we just keep pushing to get there.  Our deadline is July 1st,
and we finally think we just might make it.

Bon Jour amigos.....Well that is a little French and Spanish mixed up, but we are a little mixed up too.
Internet is so hard to find in Basse Terre and when you do find it, it is very slow.  So must get this out quickly and with very few pictures.  The good news is I did find my device to import pictures from the camera to the ipad, and I have booked a flight back to the USA.

Downtown Nevis

Cafe with egg cactus bush

Cow walking on beach

Today is June 10th and we are in Guadeloupe.  Our trip didn't go as we planned, but I will fill you in on that right now.  We had planned to leave Nevis on June 1st, but had to turn back after the engine died.  We had trouble with the fuel intake line, and Will thinks we should probably have left with a full tank of diesel.  So we returned and anchored near the town dock.  After 5 trips in the dingy to land, he walked about 20 minutes each way to fill our jerry jugs with diesel.  Tired but tanks full we spent our last night in Nevis.

We left again on June 2nd and still had trouble with the same engine problem even with all that fuel.
But we had good winds so put up both our main sail and little jib and were moving along just fine but not in the direction of Monserat.  We talked it over and thought,...let's just head in this direction and we could make Grenada in 3 or 4 days.

That didn't happen!!  However, Will was able to repair engine again before the winds died.  We were 40 miles off the coast of Guadeloupe, so with engine and sails working together with light winds, we made it to Deshaies, Guadeloupe and had anchor set by 12:15 pm on June 4th.

We enjoyed Deshaies...pronounced Day Hay. Although we never found anyone that spoke English, Will's rusty Francais from Canada helped. Checking into customs was easy....on a computer and no problem with Bentley.  We moved on to Pigeon Cove on June 6th and the last 12 miles to Basse Terre on June 7th.

We have enjoyed doing laundry, visiting the French bakeries, and making a trip by car with friends we met at the wedding we attended in May.  They took us to a National rain forest and we climbed up  windy steps to see the waterfall named Chutes du Carbet.   Now we are waiting for a local sail maker to do some repairs to our big jib which was tearing.

We have 280 miles to go to get to Grenada.  Our next stop will probably be Dominica, but who
knows!   Guess we will just have to see where the wind will take us.