Here is an update on our Spring 2018 travels…best intentions have fallen a bit short. Thanks for coming back! I need to get this season finished before Season 3 begins in November!!!! As the days get shorter here in northern MN, so the temperature drops. As I finish adding my pics to this blog, I listen to a local weather report predicting snow fall tonight of between 1-3 inches! Yikes…so far from our other home with warm water and soft breezes!

 

 

 

 

Our travels for the spring have nearly come to an end as we approach the first week of May. With our friends on SV Artemis we make our way to the northern end of the island of Grenada with enough days to explore the western coast before our haul-out day. We spend a night at Halifax Harbor, once known to be smelly and Smokey it turns out to be a quiet anchorage with some nice snorkeling and calm overnight waters. ( well we do experience an odor of smoke in the middle of the night… it’s not so hot and we close a few hatches and manage to sleep) we have been lucky again this year to have only a handful nights that we have had restless sleep due to wind and waves. ( I recall a night or possibly 2 in DeShais Guadeloupe where we rocked and rolled like a bucking bronco at the county fair because of high winds, And we may have had a night or 2 as well in the islands if the BVIs during the Christmas winds that lasted through most of January!)

South of Halifax we cruised to the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park. How cool. We negotiate to a spot near the suspect grounds and are early enough in the morning to find a couple of mooring balls available. Once secure we are snorkeling above some very neat concrete structures. This was one of the first of its kind. Open in 2006 and thanks to British sculptor Jason deClaires Taylor there is a garden of figures to view. Apparently a local sculptor has added structures in the recent years. I wish I had pictures to share but my GoPro was out of battery charge. I can direct you to the Pure Grenada website for pictures of the Underwater sculpture park. And coming back in the Fall, I know we will stop there and this time be prepared to take some pics!!

We moseyed on just a mere mile to the anchorage at St George’s. This is a nice spot to get to Grand Anse beach and the major part of town. We stayed long enough to make a trip to Island Water World… one of our favorite marine supply stores throughout the Caribbean. We had pre-ordered our expensive bottom paint so we have it upon our return in November.

We also made it a point to take a walk to the beach. By this time of year it really heats up and most of the tourists are gone , the beach huts are closing, and the students at the University are making their last trips to this wonderful beach. We ran into a few locals enjoying the warm calm waters.

As much time as we spend in these beautiful waters we can still get a sense of relaxation walking in the soft sand playing with the waves that gently crest at our feet.

After 3 days we were back on our way to the final anchorage of the season. Clarke’s Court Bay is about 6 miles but the sail is a challenge. We headed out of St George’s bay to the southwest on a down wind run in 10 knots of breeze. As we made a turn to the south and as usual found the easterly trades coming face on! As it happens the waves here are making their way around this shoreline and tend to add to the mess. In addition there is one large reef to avoid making this turn, and so it’s called our Final Challenge. We end up tacking back and forth enough times to make even the most seasoned sailor dizzy. Heaven help us should we encounter another vessel making the opposite trip!! We usually have to turn on the engine to assist our travels through this maze and are grateful when we thread the needle between the rocks and shoals to Clarke’s Court Bay.

We spend more than enough time this morning trying to find a spot in the bay that appears to have clear water, but is also out of the prevailing east-southeast winds. In fact, we fall back to a location we have been before and find it comfortable, however a bit murky.

It’s the beginning of bittersweet moments we will experience as we prepare to leave Lost Loon for the summer.

Over the next week we spend our time making lists of boat items we need, repairs to be done in the Fall, and rearrange as we begin packing up. It’s not all work. We meet other cruisers and enjoy 2 great Hash events in some awesome places around the island. The first is on the north east coast that is littered with waterfalls. The red van is full of passengers all decked out in walking and hiking attire. We head out to the tune of Hello by Kes . Typical Trinidadian music…..but…over and over! By the time we arrived at the event site we were ready to be walking but patiently wait with other hashers and locals for the “send-off”

There was a disclaimer announcement that this was an extraordinary long hike/ run. How true. We started in St Andrews and went as far south as Mt Carmel waterfalls and back north again.

The route took us over and through the woods and past overlooks like we have never seen.

One lookout along an old rock fence we could see Marquis island along the eastern shoreline.

 

And took us past some local wildlife, just enjoying their afternoon as well.

We took our time to enjoy this lush tropical region, but after nearly 3 miles ( maybe more?) we were exhausted. Following a brief meal and a few beers we loaded our stinky selves back in the van for a stop at 2 rum shops the Bumpy Corner Bar and one other along with more Kes!

The fun gave us just the ambition to tackle the jobs ahead for the week…remove and wash sails, clean and polish all stainless, remove settee covers , wash, replace, remove solar panels, clean our dear Patches , the dinghy, and retire her to the forward deck, reorganize a multitude of storage bins,mend boat covers, check outdates on batteries, medication, and Epirbs (the units that will send an emergency satellite notification should we need rescue!), and make lists of all the equipment we need to bring back.

With our friends on Artemis leaving we decide to rent a vehicle together and see some of the island. We take a long day in search of waterfalls. We have a crude map and make our first turn outside St George’s and find ourselves at the end of a short road. We are surprised that we don’t see signs, but we head up on foot now toward what appears to be a trail.

We pass cocoa and mango trees, see where there is obvious clearing. After about 15 min think we hear water rushing and feel we’re on the right track, until we see a local farmer tilling up the hillside. We question him about the falls and he tells us we are on private land and must head down the road further for the entrance to Concord Falls. We proceed back on the trail enjoying the tropical forest. We get back on the road and realize we needed to just head only a 1/2 mile further and we would have made our first destination.

Concord is beautiful from the road, but to get a better view we pay a small fee and descend to one of the small pools that make up this attraction. The water is crystal and there is something about water falling from a height that is pretty darn incredible.

 

We buy a beer and chat with some of the vendors who set up shop here during the day. Back in the car, we head up the west coast stopping at Gouyave for a picture of a beautiful church and stay for a beer and lunch.

 

We sat in a restaurant along the street side in the hot sun, where the breeze didn’t reach us so another cool beverage was welcome. With our nutrition replenished we carried on northward. We made it as far as seven sisters Falls.

A quiet respite all to ourselves. We enjoy the cool FRESH water. Our guide we have hired to take us here tells of the history of this area and some interesting facts about the nature.

He commented off the cuff that he sees monkeys quite often feeding in the trees, and lo and behold we are walking back to the vehicle on a beautiful footpath and hear a rustling, high overhead. we watched 2 monkeys playing and feeding on the tender branches of the trees. (sorry, there are no good pictures…just very cool memories!)

Next up…a Chocolate HASH, and our final week in Grenada.