We spent a lovely few days in Tyrell Bay Cariacou; it's a beautiful bay and obviously quite a tourist resort with 2/3 dive centres and tiny bars and stalls along the road that runs for quite a way alongside the beach before turning inland and up hills at both ends of the bay.
As Carriacou is part of Grenada there were no formalities to be completed when we arrived and so we did not go ashore until the Tuesday when we dinghied over to the yacht club/marina looking for a shower! However, as the marina has very limited water, (we found out later that all their water is shipped in!!) the showers are only available to people with boats in the yard - ah well back for another black bag and fresh water spray later on. There was a little shop in the complex but it was very limited so we took the dinghy a bit further along, ran it up onto the beach and walked down to a slightly larger store for some provisions.
Beaching the dinghy was fine but trying to launch it back again was not quite so easy. There was quite a strong under tow and I could just not hold it still long enough for Chris to get in and then leap in (as if getting on a horse) as we had done in Tobago! There was a small jetty which we had decided not to use coming in as it was very rough with stones sticking out! but needs must so Chris got in the dinghy and I went along the jetty and climbed in - luckily without scraping the dinghy too much.
It became very windy during the night and the next day we thought about moving slightly further into the bay but I was a bit concerned about being closer to other boats if we could not sort out the anchor windlass before we moved on so we decided to stay put. Chris had checked all the connections possible without taking the motor to pieces and all looked as new - it is only 5 years old and has not had that much use so this was to be expected really. On went his thinking cap!
The next day it was quieter and off we went ashore to catch the bus into the capital - Hillsborough. We took the dinghy into the dinghy dock at the marina and from there we had a choice of routes - up the marina access road which is VERY VERY steep at the road at the top or along the beach to the point where the road drops down to meet the beach. Rather than going up the hill we decided to walk along the beach to the Lazy Turtle Bar hoping for a cup of coffee; unusually for us we were there before it had opened but we had taken some water with us so we just sat and looked over the bay - lovely.
There we actually went up to meet the road and carried on along that as the sand had been very soft and we had found it quite hard work!
The bus journey into Hillsborough was lovely and only cost 3.50 East Caribbean dollars each. EC$3.50) and once there we found the bank (we were running out of money) and did our shopping. The town is pretty small and really rather quaint. We had a coffee there - rather slow service by the grandmother of the family we think but beautiful coffee. Back on the bus and we asked if the driver to take us right down to the marina, agreeing an extra fare as we did not want to lug our shopping back along the beach. It was actually quite scarey as the turning off the road was on a steep incline and you felt that the bus could almost topple over!!
Once there, it was started to rain so we decided to take shelter - yes you've guessed it - in the Slipway bar and restaurant where we had a beer then decded to eat. We had grilled tuna and it was wonderful. As we are not great fish eaters we opted for it to be fairly well done but they had still managed to keep it very moist and tender.
Once there, it was started to rain so we decided to take shelter - yes you've guessed it - in the Slipway bar and restaurant where we had a beer then decded to eat. We had grilled tuna and it was wonderful. As we are not great fish eaters we opted for it to be fairly well done but they had still managed to keep it very moist and tender.
The next few days were pretty blowy so we stayed aboard quite happily reading, trying to sort through the photos (Me) and pondering the anchor windlass problem (Chris). The pondering seemed to work as after a couple of tests he realised that although the readings on the regulator showed that all was well, our engine start battery was also done for. The way they are set up, when charging the chrge was spread over all our batteries but only the engine start battery worked the anchor windlass so as soon as any real power was needed it went completely flat. A quick re-wiring job and we could work the windlass. Well done, Chris!
At the end of the second week, it was forecast that the winds would drop and veer round to the east which would make for a much more comfortable sail so we booked out on Friday with the idea of leaving on Saturday. It was still pretty windy though so we put off leaving until Sunday. Unfortunately on Sunday I was really not well - something I'd eaten - honest!!! But Monday dawned fine and by 9.00 o'clock we were off.
The journey started off really well and we were sailing nicely although the motion was not great as we were "hobby-horsing" through the waves.
The journey started off really well and we were sailing nicely although the motion was not great as we were "hobby-horsing" through the waves.
Suddenly the wind dropped completely though and so the engine had to go on. As we were hand steering we worked roughly a. 2 hour watch system (as usual with Chris doing more!) through the 29 hours it took us to get to Martinique and at around 2.00on Tuesday afternoon we arrived in St Anne Bay just by the Cul-de-Sac du Le Marin in the south of the island.
It was lovely there but as Chris wants to do a little bit of work on our starboard windows he wanted to get further into sheltered waters so the next day we motored round to our current position in one of the bays nearer the town, blew up the dinghy and went ashore to book in. SO easy!!
More about Martinique to come but I think this is far and away enough for now!!!