Well, we finally left Trinidad on Thursday 19th January – the day our visa expired!!
I had been rather apprehensive about leaving and going through the Boca dos Manos (or Dragon’s Mouth as it’s known!) as when we tried to leave before AND when we had left French Guiana there had been some pretty disturbed seas and of course, time had magnified all this out of all proportion - I would have preferred to be able to catch the boat the other side of the Boca!! As it worked out we got both the tide and wind right this time and it was fine – in fact rather enjoyable!! After checking out of customs, getting our duty free and the last little bit of shopping in the morning, we left at around 2.00pm.
I had been rather apprehensive about leaving and going through the Boca dos Manos (or Dragon’s Mouth as it’s known!) as when we tried to leave before AND when we had left French Guiana there had been some pretty disturbed seas and of course, time had magnified all this out of all proportion - I would have preferred to be able to catch the boat the other side of the Boca!! As it worked out we got both the tide and wind right this time and it was fine – in fact rather enjoyable!! After checking out of customs, getting our duty free and the last little bit of shopping in the morning, we left at around 2.00pm.
Although Grenada is to the north-west of Trinidad, a direct course would take us through the oilfields where in December 2015 there had been one or two Venezuelan “pirate” attacks (thanks to extra patrols by the coat guards these have not been repeated) and as there is a strong westerly current, we motored east along the coast for about 20 miles until dusk when we put up the headsail.
For some reason the auto-pilot would not work and so we had to hand steer. Chris had been on the helm since we started and was happy to continue so after a while I went down to try to rest before my watch. I popped up a couple of times to check he was OK so it was not until quite late that I took over. It was quite hard work steering as the wind and current were trying to take us off course and at one stage I completely lost her and started travelling off at about 90* to our course!! Obviously over the short distance we were travelling, this was not a good idea – especially as it took us closer to those oil rigs!! I called Chris up and he took over again. An hour or so later he put the engine on and this made it much easier to steer and I carried on and Chris went down to get some well-earned rest. HOWEVER, after a short time I could hear voices – not the usual sort of gurgling voices you can always hear but real words! This really scared me as I thought the pirates had found us so I very quietly called Chris up. Of course, there was nothing but Chris took over again and in fact carried on all the way to Grenada!!
We arrived and anchored in Prickly Bay on the south coast of Grenada on Friday at about 9.15 travelling roughly 95 miles in 19 hours.
For some reason the auto-pilot would not work and so we had to hand steer. Chris had been on the helm since we started and was happy to continue so after a while I went down to try to rest before my watch. I popped up a couple of times to check he was OK so it was not until quite late that I took over. It was quite hard work steering as the wind and current were trying to take us off course and at one stage I completely lost her and started travelling off at about 90* to our course!! Obviously over the short distance we were travelling, this was not a good idea – especially as it took us closer to those oil rigs!! I called Chris up and he took over again. An hour or so later he put the engine on and this made it much easier to steer and I carried on and Chris went down to get some well-earned rest. HOWEVER, after a short time I could hear voices – not the usual sort of gurgling voices you can always hear but real words! This really scared me as I thought the pirates had found us so I very quietly called Chris up. Of course, there was nothing but Chris took over again and in fact carried on all the way to Grenada!!
We arrived and anchored in Prickly Bay on the south coast of Grenada on Friday at about 9.15 travelling roughly 95 miles in 19 hours.
We had a short (and for Chris very necessary) rest and then got the dinghy out, pumped it up and went ashore to book in. After some of the places we have visited it was SO straight forward – one office with customs and immigration together and one form that both departments used! The only problem we had was getting some cash to pay our dues – we rather think the taxi driver saw us as “newbies” to Grenada and really overcharged us! A quick beer in the Tikki bar and back to the boat – or so we thought! The heavens had another idea and it absolutely bucketed down!! Whilst waiting though we bumped into a Dutch couple we had met in Trinidad who had arrived a little earlier so we had a good chat with them.
We then had a really lazy weekend but it did rain nearly all day Sunday so we had an excuse!!
On Monday, our Swiss friend Remy sailed past us on his way to book out and we arranged to call over to see him a little later. It was great to see him – we may catch up again as his way is similar to ours.
We then had a really lazy weekend but it did rain nearly all day Sunday so we had an excuse!!
On Monday, our Swiss friend Remy sailed past us on his way to book out and we arranged to call over to see him a little later. It was great to see him – we may catch up again as his way is similar to ours.
We met a couple Sarah and Nigel on Steel Appeal while we were in the River Guadiana in 2012 and we have been following each other’s progress on Facebook. FINALLY we were in the same place at the same time and Sarah arranged for us to go with them to the music jam held on Tuesdays in Secret Harbour – a marina in another bay along the south coast. It was brilliant to see them and we had a great catch up with Sarah. Nigel was a busy though, as he plays the cahoun and in fact was playing most of the evening.
I’ll leave it there for now and hopefully I’ll be able to post it a bit later. I keep forgetting that we do not have shore power now and my laptop keeps running out of charge!!!