Grenada and Carriacou, Caribbean
It was summer 2020 and we were keen to fly back to the UK, having not been home in around a year - flights had started coming back to the Caribbean to a few of the islands, and so we decided to try.
Looking back, it was a bit of a mammoth effort, but at the time, it didn't seem like it.
In order to get home, we had first to put our boat safely somewhere - lift it out of the water, and get it secured somewhere, in a good yard where we knew she would be safe.
So the first mission was finding where British Airways were flying to in the Caribbean, and then linking a yard in with that airport.
Eventually, with help from other intrepid travellers (thank god for facebook- sometimes!) we found Carriacou - a small island just North of, and part of Grenada, with two excellent boatyards.
Next hurdle - in order to get the boat booked into a yard, we had to book into the country - many Caribbean Islands were still basically not accepting visitors. I know Trinidad, for example - where a lot of cruisers like to lift out, has a great yard apparently, is reasonably priced, and there are regular flights back to the UK -it would have been perfect for us, but they did not allow visitors until the following year. I feel so sad for what that lack of tourism did for their economy.
Anyway, Grenada was accepting visitors, with a 10 day quarantine period - we could get a flight from Grenada to Barbados, where daily BA flights were then happening.
Sorted.
Just a few small hoops to get through.
Carriacou - Quarantine in Paradise???
These countries, like the rest of the world, were, understandably, taking Covid very seriously, but they also wanted the tourism. So for cruising boats, a period of 10 days quarantine was set- to be allowed in the country.
We arrived on Carriacou -Well known for having a big, beautiful wide bay, several restaurants/bars on the beaches, lots of hiking opportunities, and most importantly at the time, reputed to have two really good marinas with excellent boatyards.
Once again, we arrived with enough tins and provisions to last a year and had visions of being boat bound - yes, but with this comes the opportunity to catch up with lots of boat jobs/admin/ get some cleaning done, and for me to do a bit of work. We had visions of days doing work, and then nice swims off the back of the boat, in the beautiful big wide bay.
Hmmmmmmm - this was not quite the case unfortunately.
We sailed into Carriacou and messaged the marina office who were co-ordinating the incoming boats for quarantine. A couple of hours later, out came two government officials and a lovely lady from the Marina - head to toe with PPE and covid tests galore.
This all ended up being quite expensive, but we were expecting this, and thought it completely acceptable to pay the price of wanting to travel during a pandemic.
What we weren't expecting was the venue for quarantine - we were directed to a dark mangrove swamp - a far cry from the big wide beautiful bay in Carriacou we had been expecting/dreaming about.
So - no swimming!! (It was hot, and sticky in August in Carriacou on an aluminium boat) Hmm. Then - as soon as we got there, we realised we were in a mosquito den! Oh dear!
6 days of quarantine in 'the swamp' and a million mosquito bites later - (despite our best efforts -smelly coils, insect spray, body repellent, nets, fly swats with aggression- and quite a lot of winging from me) I contacted the marina office and begged them to move us out of the swamp.
I mentioned the abundance of mosquitoes, the high risk of dengue fever, the public health risk to all of us (mostly elderly) cruisers.
A coupla' hours later we got a message to say we could move into the bay, but we had to anchor within a specific area of which she sent us the coordinates,
The bay was so gorgeous - after a delicious smug swim in the sea and of course an arrival beer we had a visit from the marina office staff on a dinghy - we were in the wrong place!
Woops!!
So my yachtmaster instructor husband and I (day- skipper and theory twice!!) managed to get a lat and long position wrong enough to anchor completely in the wrong place. Not really good enough- but we found it quite amusing and we'd had a lovely swim!
Oh well - anchor up again!
We found the actual place we were supposed to be anchored, realised why nobody else wanted to be here and why it had been outlined for the plague victims- the seabed was really really hard, causing huge difficulties getting the anchor to dig in.
So we laid the anchor/ lifted it again because it hadn’t dug in/laid it /lifted it laid it /lifted it - eventually after a few hours of failing to get the anchor to bed in, Crawford dived down and pushed it into the seabed. We then motored really slowly backwards with everything crossed and - thank god! The anchor was firmly in!
The next challenge, however, as more boats were being allowed out of the quarantine swamp, was to avoid being hit by other boats dragging their anchor. Luckily no dramas!
As part of the “quarantine package” the marina staff bought fresh supplies out to the boats every now and again, and also took our rubbish away.
One day we radio'd in and asked the marina if they could remove our rubbish - they agreed to send someone out later.
We are so much better now at management of recycling and rubbish but it’s still rubbish - and things do start to smell after a while so it is nice to get it off the boat.
A lovely friendly local guy (goes by the name of Gus) dropped by in his dinghy, he told us all the local stuff going on - music, bars, restaurants, because by then we were only 3 days from freedom.
"What a lovely guy” we thought, and, thanked him for taking our rubbish.
It was only when, an hour or so later, someone from the marina came to take our rubbish, we realised, maybe Gus wasn’t the rubbish guy!! Oh sheet!!! How embarrassing!!!! So he had come to say hello/welcome to Carriacou and we had responded by nonchalantly handing him our rubbish bags!!! OMG.
Later in the trip, we bumped into him and bought him a few beers to apologise- we all laughed a lot about our mistake and after that we just kept bumping into him. He is a boat engineer in the yard and also plays the drums for the local bands. Such a nice guy with a big big smile! If anyone goes to Carriacou please say hello to Gus from us - I think he will remember us!!
We survived the 10 horrible days quarantine and, had (another) Covid test - this time the spot (blood) test with an almost instant negative result.
Customs are at the southern end of Tyrell bay, in the same building as Carriacou marine. You can either take your tender on the beach there or walk in. Plenty of safe little jetty’s for berthing the tender. We didn’t hear or experience any reports of theft on the island it seemed really safe and friendly.
Luckily there was a bar right next to customs/immigration to anaesthetise the form filling!
Sailing/Boating notes
Carriacou marine - we lifted out here and they were excellent. Sandra and the yard manager Vince - we can completely recommend this yard.
The other alternative is Tyrell Bay Marina which also has a good reputation amongst cruisers.
We did notice a huge amount of ground water flooding in Tyrell Bay marina when we walked past, which could make anti-fouling your boat a bit miserable, standing in a puddle of water?
Lifting out is always a nervous time for boat owners - imagine some randomer basically lifting your house into a big sling, driving it, between numerous other boats/boatyard obstacles then dumping it on the ground. Lots of things can, and do go wrong. (Where is that fingers crossed emoji?? )
Thankfully we lifted out here uneventfully - Vince from the yard in Carriacou marine was fantastic, we were so happy with the amount of care and attention he took with everything he did.
Budget marine at the North end of the bay - big boat superstore- we got all of our antifoul here - they were excellent
We rented the little cottage on site at Carriacou marine - it was really comfortable. Great to be able to leave the boat for the night to return to air conditioning and running water!
Carriacou is so much fun, and there is loads happening. Lots of music and jam sessions in the numerous bars along Tyrell bay, yoga on the beach, noodling (i know!!)
We walked the length and breadth of the island as usual ( following routes on Wikiloc and All trails apps)
"Beware of mental slovenliness" - love this! 😂😂
We walked up Chapeau Carre and saw loads of these critters- eeeuuugggh!
We were nervous about meeting the complicated connections for our trip back to the U.K.
This consisted of
- A 06.00 ferry from Carriacou to Grenada (3 hours)
- A taxi to Grenada airport
- A Caribbean airlines flight to Barbados
- A British Airways flight to London
The night before the 06.00 ferry from Carriacou to Grenada, we nervously locked Nauplios up and walked to our b&b in the town. We decided one beer and then early night with the long day ahead.
Of course that didn’t happen, there are only a few bars in Carriacou and the one closest to our accommodation, where we had our one beer, was having an open mic night. Carriacou is apparently well known for having some amazing musicians living on the island, and they were all turning up with their instruments.
Gus was there with his bongo drum -the music was incredible and it just kept on getting better.
This was before the laundry/beer maestro Fiona (of SV Avatar) had introduced us to the ABF -but we had loads ( and loads more) ABF’s - ( absolute bloody finals). It was a cracking night - so much fun.
Hmm 3 hours sleep later, however, and a big headache- that ferry ride to Grenada at 06.00 was really not fun.
Will we ever learn?
Apart from that - the trip went smoothly and we were spewed out of Gatwick Airport at 06.00 on a wet, grey Saturday morning in August 2020
This photo, coincidentally arrived in my feed as we landed - we laughed.
After a fab summer in the UK, we flew back to Grenada - Covid was still very much affecting travel, and we were required to quarantine in a hotel until our Covid results were available- luckily not 10 days this time but 2-3.
Only certain approved hotels were taking part in the scheme and so we had to stay in this gorgeous hotel on the Grand Anse beach. (The Radison Grenada Beach Resort)
Ironically we were allowed to walk around the hotel/ use the pool/ the restaurant etc etc despite being "in quarantine.
All was good with the covid results - so we went back to Carriacou on the ferry, picked up Nauplios, ( back in the water) and sailed back down to Grenada to spend a few months on this island - and what an amazingly fun place this is.
Grenada
21 miles long and 12 miles wide, Grenada is one of the most southerly islands in the Caribbean. (Trinidad and Tobago being the very most southerly)
It is situated around 100 miles north of the coast of Venezuela, and consists of the main island (Grenada) with the smaller Grenadine islands to the North - Carriacou and Petit Martinique
The main town is St George's on the South West coast of the island - with a big busy harbour, shops, bars, restaurants, leading down to the Marina and the most amazingly/ endlessly long, beautiful white sandy beach (Grand Anse)
Despite this anchorage sometimes being a little rolly, we felt it was a small price to pay for the combination of beautiful beach, safe, well protected anchorage, free tender parking in Port Louis Marina, the town, the bars - and the highlight- on Thursday night on the Grand Anse beach - Wings night!! A $ a wing ( 1 Caribbean $ = around 30p)
It was while we were in the Grand Anse anchorage, that I discovered how much I liked washing - Fiona from SV Avatar, who gave us so many good sailing/fishing and drinking tips introduced us to the concept of "washing"
Surprise surprise, this "laundry" attached to a very lovely bar/restaurant and spot for parties/drinking at the Grenada yacht club, became a favourite spot.
Never have our clothes been so clean. After a few obligatory Caribs while waiting for the washing/drying to complete I even accidentally washed Crawfords wallet (woops!)
The interesting history of Grenada
It is really, only by doing tours, reading, speaking to people, and hanging about a place, that the history of a place really comes alive. Grenada has a hugely interesting history and our taxi driver was more than happy to explain his side of the story.
Since then, after reading more and more about Grenada (hence the length of time taken to create this blog!) it's fair to say, I am a bit fascinated with the history of this place.
Originally, the (apparently) gentle indigenous Arawaks dominated Grenada in very early times - these lovely gentle folk were then fought off and overthrown by the fierce fighting Caribs (known throughout the Caribbean for being big, burly folk)
The Caribs fought off British, and French invasion for many many years until the end of the 1700's when Britain restored rule.
Uncomfortable reading, but, like with most of the Caribbean Islands, large numbers of slaves were imported from Africa to help farm the sugar plantations until the emancipation of slavery on Grenada in 1833.
For a hundred or so years, the island federated with other Caribbean islands and Grenada was the headquarters of the British Windward Islands - along with Barbados, Antigua, St Kitts, Virgin Islands.
More separation in the 1960's and in 1967, Grenada became a self governing state -under UK "associated statehood" which means that Grenada effectively self governs with minimal input via the UK Monarchy.
Having been to, and studied the history of many of the Caribbean Islands, there is a lot of similarity with the rest of the Caribbean until now.
We had a long lovely day with a taxi driver, who was roughly our age (in his 50's) remembers, and talks emotionally about the events happening in Grenada since the 1960's.
This is a brief outline of events, but there is a huge amount of political / academic writing available about the history of Grenada.
In the election of 1967, a trade unionist of the GULP party (Grenada United Labour party) - Eric Gairy, took over as prime minister.
There was, apparently, much opposition to his leadership, and in 1979, while Gairy was out of the country, a coup took place - the People's revolutionary government (PRG) took over government of Grenada with Maurice Bishop as the new Prime minister.
Bishop held close ties with several communist countries such as Cuba and Nicaragua and had strong Marxist- Leninist views - he was seen as a communist collaborator.
After 4 years of government, the Western Powers looking on at Bishops rule were starting to become concerned about Grenada's potential ties with communism, and, at the same time, there was increasing internal discord within the governing body - the PRG - on the island.
The then deputy prime minister Bernard Coard along with his new faction, started a revolution, leading to the house arrest, then later assassinations of Maurice Bishop, and 10 other members of the PRG at Fort George.
A week later, in October 1983, the US invaded Grenada with air strikes, gunships and naval gunfire - the fighting continued for three days, until resistance by Grenada ended the invasion.
During this invasion, 19 U.S servicemen died, 45 Grenadians, and 25 Cubans who were supporting Grenada.
One of the many tragic outcomes of the US invasion was the accidental bombing of a mental hospital housed at Fort Rupert in the capital of Grenada - killing 20 patients and staff, but injuring many more. The aim for the airstrike was Fort Frederick which is 100 yards away.
Apparently the White House responded a few days after the bombing, as the Grenadian patients were still being dug out of the rubble with "we were not aware it was a hospital"
Walking round the forts in Grenada - it was heartbreaking to read all the tributes and see the memories of war.
Fort George - the oldest fort on Grenada - originally built by the French in the 1600's and known as Fort Royal. After the British invasion in 1762, the Fort was renamed Fort George - after King George III
The fort now houses the Royal Grenada Police force and is a tourist venue for the cruise ships and people like us - so interesting, and again, heartbreaking to read the tragic history of this beautiful island
U.S troops left a battered and bruised Grenada to its own devices. the country slowly recovered, is now self governing with good success, tourism is high on the agenda, but it has a huge export of fruits, vegetables and spices - the spice isle with its main export of Nutmeg!
As well as Grand Anse - in the South of the Island, there are numerous well protected anchorages and Marinas.
One of these great anchorage we spent time at was Hogg Island.
We loved this place - not only for the well protected anchorage with good holding, but there was a vibrant little community of cruising boats - a mix of people who had been there a long time (like, forever!) and people like us, passing through.
The main venue for meeting up seemed to be at a cute little beach bar called Rogers - a local guy who saw an opportunity. The bar opened each night around 4/5pm for sundowners and he also held chicken wings/ jam nights- local musicians and cruisers bring their instruments for general music fun . Once a month or so, on a Sunday afternoon - a proper big band with music, beer and dancing. It's fair to say - we loved it!
To balance out the liver damage, somebody held a boot camp on the island each morning ( this did consist, sometimes of just floating in the sea- for health benefits of course! ) and on the island every Saturday there was a Hash ( an organised run/walk through the woods followed (obviously) by a party/drinking session)
On this small island, Sned loved the boat jumble sales - he was first up for that - schmoozing around second hand boat bits and chattin boat shit to other cruising blokes - his idea of heaven!
While we were there one of the local schools asked if any cruising people could help to teach/ support young local kids with swimming- nothing technical- just getting in the sea from the beach with one child and try to help them build their confidence in the water.
This is the sort of thing I would have loved to do, and what a great way to get involved in the local community- we were, however, at that point, bound for Panama, so unfortunately couldn't get involved.
Grenada is known for being the "spice isle" and one of its main exports is nutmeg. Crawford made his mark on the local community with a small shopping error.
Prior to the Halloween party that year, all the boat kids ( kids who live on boats with their cruiser parents) in the anchorage were planning a trick or treat run. Basically, just like normal trick or treating but 6 kids dressed up in halloween gear, on a dinghy, tearing around the anchorage, stopping off at all the boats to say "trick or treat " and hopefully collect loads of sweets! How much fun!!
As things are now, with hallowe'en we had been asked if we were happy for the kids to visit, and of course we were. I asked Crawford to pick up some chocolates/sweets/treats while he was out.
When he got back, he was mucho pleased with the bargain bags of chocolates he had found in the local shop.
Hmmm - if you look closely, you will see it wasnt chocolate, but nutmeg - those trick or treat kids are going to love a nutmeg or two??
Due to its position at the South of the Caribbean, Grenada is a big decision making venue for cruising boats. Many boats heading towards Panama/ potential circumnavigators come to Grenada, and, for whatever reason - allegedly, change their plans here. Maybe they can't face the long schlep across the Pacific, maybe their boat needs work, or maybe they just love Grenada so much they can't tear themselves away.
I can completely understand this - there was just so much stuff here that suited us/ our lives - so much fun, and it would have been a great place to stay forever. We had to tear ourselves away - but maybe we'll book ourselves into Rogers retirement anchorage/bar in a few years time.