sailing towards the abc's

we left grenada towards the abc’s, specifically bonaire. as every other leg in the caribbean, we had constant 20 knots of wind from the east. we set the sails wing on wing and went on a run for 3 days. this was our fastest leg ever. our average speed was over 6 knots and the boat was sailing great. we almost did not feel the wind or the swell. it was beautiful, except for the last day when he had torrential rains and some nasty weather in the horizon, but at the end, it did not affect us much.

we were expecting to catch lots of fish but we had actually zero bites. so soup and pasta had to do. it was ok. at least 3 days is not that long.

driving around the island

we rented a convertible jeep and went around the entire island; from sand beaches to jungle through rocky rivers and everything in between. of course we got lost in our tour but that made it even better as we saw almost every single parish and road of grenada.

grenada

this island of just over 100,000 inhabitants used to be a british outpost but after WWII when britain started to let go of all of its colonies, grenada did not want independence. over 51% of its population voted against but nevertheless england gave it up and ever since, they have been a sovereign country. now all the colonial buildings are dilapidated. most houses are very small and poor but look picturesque nevertheless.

the sailing industry is very developed here. there are over 10 fully equipped marinas with yards to haul out boats and stores of the size seen in the us. boaters can find everything they need here. it is probably used as a base point and hurricane shelter and from here they go up to sail the caribbean and down again at the beginning of the hurricane season.

there is also a lot of evidence of foreign investment with beautiful resorts, boutiques and top class restaurants. an example of this is the true blue marina and hotel complex where we stayed. we really enjoyed our stay in this wonderful paradise. on our last night we had a marvelous dinner on the beach and then, in the mooring we had a superb steel band playing in the background.

sailing towards grenada

the sail to grenada was long for caribbean standards. a whole 35 miles which took us 7 hours to do. at the beginning it was rolly but after a few hours we had a most pleasant day sail downwind and even over an active volcano: kick’em jenny is the name. we are not supposed to sail on top of it but because it is in the middle of the most straight route, i think every cruiser disregards the warnings and simply sails over it... until some day the volcano erupts and the sailors on top go in history with it i guess? but this was not the day. it was calm and we sailed right on top of it and then very close to the beautifully lush and green coast of grenada. what a wonderful site. and at the end of the day we arrived into the most charming cove called true blue on the south west of the island. the anchorage is protected from wind but rolly; but we actually thought it was soothing. needless to say we grabbed a mooring. we decided not to bother anymore with the anchor… too much effort. the entire mooring manouver took us maybe two minutes. one only try to grab the line and then back the boat with the engine to see if it will hold. success! easy and we know we can go to shore and the boat will not drag… what little pleasures we are enjoying lately… and with this easy maneuver taken care of, we were off to the restaurant to enjoy the best burgers and rum punch we have had so far!