Wednesday 9 January 2013

Back in the Carib after 5 months at home

 Welcome to Xmas in Prickly Bay , Grenada

Dodgy Dock True Blue Grenada
Arriving in December to live on board Wyuna we were warmly welcomed by yachty friends in Prickly Bay, a safe anchorage, full of yachts heading nth/sth. Prickly is surrounded by hillside residences and favourite eateries revamped for the season.








Wyuna being launched
James from Harlequinn helped Bruce launch Wyuna in the water. We visited friends for drinks on board ‘as you do’ to catch up on their travels and plans. At True Blue resort we joined Roni and James at happy hour for margarita’s and enjoyed funny travel stories over dinner.

Cruisers radio net on VHF starts at 7.30am so we wake every day, to weather, treasures of the bilge and events to go to. The first week Gina went to the farmers market and came home with a bag full of; star fruit, guava jelly, yellow passion-fruit, beetroot cake, mango, nutmegs, coconut and huge avocado's.

Tikki Bar with Alan & Jean
By dinghy we headed for a pizza night with Jean and Alan off Tuatara, listening to the steel band, One Love and hearing of their sail from Trinidad. A relaxed way to settle back into cruising life in the Caribbean.


  • Dingy Concert CV
Think Grenada, West Indies, dinghy’s, barges, steel drums, blue water, floating bar, afternoon sun.  The 10th Dinghy party was all this. A group of us took the Bus to La Phare Bleu resort, water taxi to the party barge, rafted up to a tug and on we leapt. The Wizards played typical Grenadian, reggae beats, and everyone loved the rhythm,  til sunset when our barge floated us back to dock. See us on YouTube Why not a St Kilda RMYS annual raft up event? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaDutbubxUU.

Off to Christmas Lunch
Lobster lunch
Linda and John invited us for Xmas lunch on Kool Kat with six friends. We cooked 3 crayfish to go with cognac mayo sauce and Chilean champagne to celebrate, wore Santa hats, and ate delicious roast ham and american bakes. Full to the brim had a lazy afternoon lying on the trampoline.

Underwater Sculpters Grenada
We were hanging out to swim off the boat, on 27 Dec we motored 5miles nth to Dragon Bay (west coast), Grenada to find underwater sea sculptures. Luckily we got an overnight mooring in the marine park.  Bruce jumped in excited to try out his new Gopro action video camera- here’s a still of the peoples circle.

My what big teeth you have
Island hopping Nth we crossed the first island passage to Tyrell Bay, Carriacou the next day, as predicted the Christmas winds were 23knts NE so we bashed into it for 7 hrs. Go Cat -Wyuna sat flat in the water making it an easy shake out cruise. Caught a  Barracuda too but threw it back without a kiss. Have you seen their teeth?

For 5 months we forgot how beautiful these volcanic islands are to sail and how quickly heavy outbursts of rain come. No sweat, the water is 27C and day time temp 29-32C, humidity 70-90% but the cool breezes on anchor save us from melting.

We like revisiting favourite places so far. The Lambi Queen on Carriacou island a local Lobster BBQ restaurant on the waterfront was our pick for New Year. We got into the spirit drinking rum punches, Bruce and l daggy danced calypso along with everyone in the street til 1 pm and then watched the fire trucks speed past to a nearby fire (maybe a flare landed?).

Sandy Island Carriacou
On 2 Jan we took a mooring overnight at Sandy Island, a postcard spot, with mega yachts as neighbours.  We snorkeled ashore early morning to the north tip reef. Never before have we seen such a variety of fish in one small area; trumpet fish, squid, parrot, grunts, spotted flounder and some unknown.
A dreamy sea vista!!

The next day Christmas winds picked up and we took shelter overnight, then rose early for a 30 mile sail for 7 hrs in choppy seas. Coming into Bequia, the Friendship Rose an old wooden ferry was under sail.

In Bequia we’re anchored off the prettiest island village and Princess Margaret golden beach, and can walk along the waterfront to town. Weather rules, it’s very windy. Worst of all, our anchor hasn't dug into the sand, we dragged overnight too close to other boats so re-anchored  We’ll stay put til these winds drop out. 
Fish Friday Menu
Fish Friday Grenada

 Oh well, you can’t beat reading a book, hair braiding, talking to English tourists, trying lambi fritters and snorkeling with the turtle who feeds on sea grass below.

We’re mostly verrrry relaxed and relishing in being amongst friendly local people.