Prickly Bay, Grenada

Moon setting in Prickly Bay at 6:00 am this morning

10/30/12

Sorry for the long time between posts but we had been in what I will refer to as being in a holding pattern.  Up until yesterday we were stuck in St. David's Harbor waiting for repair of a part on our main boat engine that we discovered had broken just as we were preparing to leave over 2 weeks ago.  This left us dead in the water until repair was completed and we could re-install.

Notice the hole (middle right) that developed in the engines exhaust mixing elbow.  This hole was spewing salt water into the engine compartment.  The marina had a replacement but was configured differently and required welding and re-plumbing.

We were at the mercy of the marina who continually told us our part would be ready "tomorrow mon".  Also it took the 2 weeks to order the part for our outboard which we hope will be in next week so we will have to return when the outboard is ready.

We were fortunate that the marina started having their weekly shopping trip into town as we were getting very low food supplies.  We also met a very nice young man "Marius" from Norway who was kind enough to loan us his 3.3hp outboard engine until ours is fixed.  Before we left St. David's Stan changed all fuel filters, oil, oil filter and transmission oil so the engine is set with the exception of rebuilding the engine water pump which will be done soon as we have the kit for it. I ended replacing some old wiring and a few switches.

So we finally left St. David's Harbor yesterday and sailed to Prickly Bay and ended up anchoring next to Pierre-Yves and Mireille "Umido".  We went in for 2 for 1 pizza special at Prickly Bay Marina and enjoyed catching up with Marty and Gabrielle "Santosha" who we had not seen since Luperon, DR and several other fellow cruisers "Umido" and "More Mischief".  This morning Stan and I went to Tai Chi class led by Pierre-Yves which was the 1st time for either of us, lots of moves to learn but I can see how it is good for your body and soul.

So we have a lot of boat projects to take care of over the next 2 weeks at which time we will start the return trip home to VT.   We also look forward to catching up with several other cruisers located in the bays nearby here.  So stay tuned and we will update the blog when we get ready to start our trek back north.
Take care
Elizabeth

Grenada Marine, St. David's Harbor

Leaving St. David's Harbor

Eastern point of St. David's Harbor

Prickly Bay looking north from our anchorage, "Umido" is next door to us.

Beach at Prickly Bay

Prickly Bay Marina in the distance.

In Grenada our most Southerly Stop

Glad this squall missed us although we did have some good gusts and higher steadier winds for a bit.There is an island behind that cloud.

10/3/12 - 10/12/12

Checked out at Union Island and dropped anchor at Petit St. Vincent once again, can not get tired of the scenery.  Early the next morning went to the fuel/water dock to top off everything and load up on beer as the price is better there then anywhere else.  Then we sailed over to Hillsborough in Carriacou to check in to Grenada, the immigration lady is never there and it really can take a long time to get checked in or out as the case may be (unless her supervisor is there).   A large grey French flagged ship was anchored there when we arrived, pulled anchor and headed north before we left.

French navy vessel in Carriacou.

Motored over to Sandy Island, the moorings there are part of a marine reserve so no fishing or taking lobster.  Spent Fri. and Sat. night here, great snorkeling mostly on the northern reef of the island. On Sat. we went over to Mabouya Island also in the preserve and the snorkeling was good there also.  I saw so many lobster there it was awful because they were protected of course, we could have eaten lobster for a week.  As we started our return to the boat our wonderful outboard broke down, it sounded like a gear went, engine runs fine but no drive   So we rowed a good distance back to the boat and glad there was not a huge wind other wise it would have been really hard getting back.  The only thing that annoyed us just a little was no one came out to offer to tow us back, we are always there to help others when we notice someone in trouble like that. 

Sandy Island

Sun. morning we pulled up anchor and headed for Grenada, beautiful sail with winds around 15 kts with an occasional doll-drum requiring us to motor sail.  Decide to pick up a mooring in Happy Hill which has excellent snorkeling, there a 3 overnight moorings and several dive moorings.  After some early morning snorkeling made a short stop in Dragon Bay just south for more excellent snorkeling.  Finally grabbed a mooring south off Dragon Bay  for the night, I snorkeled an area where there are several underwater sculptures. It is kind off bizarre snorkeling, below is an example of one of the most popular sculptures in the park. This photo was taken from  web site

 

Monday morning we had a nice sail to our most southerly destination St. David's harbor where Grenada Marine.  Caught 2 barracuda enroute the 1st one we threw back as it was too small and was partially eaten by some other fish.

3 foot barracuda, a keeper

The teeth on a 3 footer

We arrived and rowed to shore to visit with Michael and Hilda "More Mischief"

Hilda took this of us paddling in our go very slow dinghy.

Michael grew a beard since we saw him last, said he wanted to look like Stan but of course Stan had recently shaved.

Think these guys could be brothers?

We have been busy with projects (some expected and some surprises) and trying to get our outboard fixed, the main shaft snapped in two, it could be 2 weeks getting the part. It is Friday evening and although I have more pictures and stories to share, the wifi is very very slow and my laptop keyboard is acting wacky making this post very difficult.  So I am signing off for now, tomorrow we are moving to either Prickly or Hartman Bay so stay tuned.

Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Reef

Here I am Stan,  2 more conch to clean

9/30/12 - 10/3/12

Sunday morning I dawned mask and fins and told Stan I was going to the reef and look for lobster but I was not going far so he need not tender me.  As usual I start off with the intention of checking the anchor and I am always on the look out for conch but have not found any (at least that which was legal or otherwise in a protected zone) since Vieques.  Well I noticed directly under our boat was a nice size conch, how lucky was that so I decided to abort my visit to the reef and began scouring the grassy areas where conch are usually found.  What a great day of foraging I ended up with 12 conch and as I was bringing them up Stan began the process of cleaning them which is very labor intensive.  Most of the conch were in 15'-20' of water and I was happy to have my ears clearing properly as that had been trouble for me ever since I had that ear infection.  Once I was done foraging I began the process of tenderizing what Stan had cleaned and then prepared conch fritters for dinner.  We have enough in the freezer for several meals and even though there is an enormous amount of work that goes into this it is well worth it.  What a great day which also included a good enough wifi connection to call family and friends at home.

So even though I could have gotten more conch the next day Stan was showing no excitement in the cleaning chore so I went off and enjoyed the reef.  I saw the barracuda (you know the one Stan hooked and lost the other day!!!) again and even though he was not big he looked none to happy so I kept my eye on him as he seemed to be following me around.  The snorkeling is really very good around Frigate and I highly recommend it.

Stan and I decided to go check out the town of Ashton, the guide book indicated better food prices which was not really true but the people were very friendly and welcoming.  The town is also very clean and there are signs giving history of the area/facilities/buildings.  There is an old historic water well in town that was kind of cool to learn about.

Its Wed. and we had a short motor over to Clifton, I went in to fill propane, dump trash and visit the ladies in the vegetable market while Stan stayed on board with concern over some squalls headed our way.  When I got back Stan went in to clear out with customs and immigration so we can make way tomorrow for Carriacou to check in there and then on to Grenada likely over the weekend. I think we are going over to Petit St. Vincent for the night and go to Carriacou from there, it will be a safer anchorage with the flukey winds and squalls.

View over Ashton cemetery with Frigate Island in the background and Carriacou in the distance.

Looking down the main road in Ashton

Secondary road in Aston is only paved for wheels and I assume this is one-way, nice pinnacle in the distance.