Carriacou

We finally left Grenada on Monday 25th November.  

We had a pretty relaxing weekend on the boat and managed a very civilised brunch on Sunday at one of the nearby marinas which kind of knocked us out for the rest of the day.  On Monday morning we settled up all our outstanding bills ashore and then headed out of the marina around midday.  The weather forecast was for squally weather for the rest of the week but we figured it was time to get going.

West Coast Grenada

Given that we had not sailed for almost 4 months things went OK.  The wind was blowing E/ENE 20 to 25kts around the South of the island and we put up a reefed main and the staysail which had us barrelling along at around 8kts.  As we turned to run up the west side of Grenada the wind slackened in the shadow of the island with occasional squalls coming through which kept us on our toes.  We were headed to a place called Tyrell Bay on the next major island to the north called Carriacou which was about 35Nm away.  

Happy to be sailing again

Once off the north end of Grenada we had gusty 20 to 25kt winds for the crossing of the passage which put the boat close hauled and gave both boat and crew a good workout.   Happy to report there were no breakages.  About an hour from Tyrell Bay the weather started to deteriorate and as we were a bit late it was also starting to get dark.  Just as we started our approach to the entrance to the bay a terrific squall came through with torrential rain.  Scott was on the helm and Sam was up forward trying to spot any boats at anchor.  Nic and Calley were in the cockpit also trying to spot any boats.  Everyone was wearing wet weather gear but still got absolutely soaked after a few minutes.  We could not see a thing and knew from the radio that there were a number of yachts anchored in the bay many without lights.  In addition to make it interesting there were a couple of unmarked reefs which we had to avoid.  We made a run in but visibility became so bad we had to abandon and head out again until the rain stopped.  Even then it was pitch black and very difficult to see.  

We motored slowly in until we saw the first boat in front of us and then dropped our anchor.  We were still quite far out but figured this was the safest bet.  We could always move in the morning when things got clearer.  That night was a real welcome back to the boat.  At one point the wind got up to 40kts in the gusts.  Everyone slept well although Scott was up a few times monitoring our position and checking for anchor drag.

Next morning we woke to find a bay full of yachts in front of us and were extremely grateful that we had decided not to proceed further during the night.  A guy called Simon came around in a boat and sold us a couple of 3lb lobsters for dinner.

Simon and our lobsters

We will stay here for a few days until the weather abates and then continue North.  We have started school which everyone is really excited(!) about so will press on with that and maybe have a look around the island.