Grenada Rum Report

This is the third installation of the Rum Report. Updates will be given from islands in the Caribbean where Sandpiper stops at that have distilleries.

Grenada has no lack of rum. That is what I have determined after our 4-week stop at this rum soaked island. Production techniques vary around the island... from pot stills capable of making just a few gallons, to modern two-column stills yielding several thousand gallons a day. Sprits are made from sugar cane juice, cane syrup, or molasses.

There are many distilleries around the island. Not having the time to visit them all, we picked one. We decided to visit the River Antoine Estate as they are one of the few distilleries that still operates with its original equipment from 1785. That is just 9 years after America’s Independence!

Sugar cane that is grown on the estate is hauled down to the water-powered cane mill that they claim is the oldest working water mill in the Caribbean. It is then hand fed twice into the roller press that turns when river water is let into a sluice that runs the large water wheel. The goal is to extract as much cane juice as possible. The fresh squeezed sugarcane juice flows down a wooden sluice to the boiling house, where it is cooked in open cast iron pots over an open fire of dried cane stalks and wood. After the juice has boiled a few hours, the thickened liquid is ladled into another sluice that directs it to the fermentation tanks. There, yeast is added, and in 8 days it turns all its sugar into alcohol. This ‘wash’ is then directed to a copper pot below where a fire is built under the pot. Vapor from this boiling wash is condensed and piped to the sight glass on the ground floor of the still house.

After the tour we were given small samples that were more then enough. Rivers make Strong White Rum, and just one small sip is so strong that is absorbs right onto one's tongue.

Grenadians say one either loves Rivers Rum, or one hates it. I have to say it’s a bit overpowering, and it costs twice as much as other rums on the island. But the tour is ‘One Of A Kind’! I was a bit surprised how close we were allowed to get to the open topped fermentation tanks. And I was even more surprised when a German tourist stuck his finger into the tank and then into his mouth.

Another small distillery is the Dunfermline Estate, which has as very small distillery making their labeled Dunfermline Rum and Spicy Jack that is three years old. I never did see any of these bottles for sale around the island. So I think one must go to the estate to purchase bottles of their rum.

One of the larger distilleries on this island is Westerhall Estate Ltd. who dates back to the 1800’s. Their top selling rum is Westerhall Plantation Rum. It is quite tasty and comes in a distinctive bottle with a wax seal over its cork stopper and a hand written batch number on the label. They also produce Superb Light Grenada Rum, Strong Rum, and Jack Iron Rum. Their Jack Iron Rum is not the same Jack Iron that is produced on the neighboring island of Carriacou, but it is quite strong at 140-proof (70% alcohol).

The biggest distillery on the island is Clarke’s Court who is part of the Grenada Sugar Factory that was built in 1937. Tours are not given here and it is a very busy factory with over 500 cane farmers growing and harvesting for this facility. This factory produces 100,000 gallons of rum annually at 96% alcohol. That’s a lot of hangovers! Clarks Courts principle product that most Grenadians drink is Clarks Court Pure White Rum, 138 proof (69% alcohol). This rum is about $5.00 a bottle and is the best selling rum in Grenada.

They also produce regular strength rums such as Kalypso White Rum, Superior Light Rum, and their Clarks Court Special Dark Rum that is aged for six months, and then colored with carmel to give it its brown color. This dark rum turned out to be one of our favorites as it has a pleasant taste and is inexpensive.

One other interesting rum in Grenada is Tradition Specially Spiced Rum. It is a strong white rum that when bottled has spices, barks, nuts, herbs, roots and extracts floating around in the bottle. I never had a chance to taste this interesting rum, but I do have a bottle on board for one lucky Sandpiper Shore-Side Supporter!

 
A large part of Grenada’s economy comes from tourism and there is a big difference between ordering a rum drink in a tourist bar and ordering rum from a rum shop. Grenadian’s like their rum strong. They drink the white strong rum because it is cheap and you get more for your money. At the tourist bars you will not find the strong rums. As reported to us by a bar tender “The tourists cannot handle themselves when drinking strong rum.” Instead they serve them Clarks Court Special Dark Rum, or upon request a bit more expensive Westerhall Plantation Rum.

Most these Strong Rums are not exported off island and are consumed locally. During Piper’s haul out one evening at the boat yards bar I spied a large jug among the other liquor bottles. It was was filled with leaves, tree branches, and all kinds of other stuff. I asked the bar tender what it was and she told me it was ‘"Under the counter rum". So I ordered a shot of this very strong rum and the bar tender got a bit flustered as I think I am the first white person to order this there and they did not know what to charge me. It was a bit strong and tasted more like tree branches. I am not sure that I can recommend the ‘Under the Counter Rum’.

While among these islands I have been perfecting my rum punch recipe. There is a big difference between a rum punch that is ordered at a bar and a real rum punch. The rum punch’s ordered at a bar are just a fruit punch with rum and are consumed by tourists. Locals drink the Strong White Rum straight up with a bit of water as a chaser. A real Rum Punch recipes goes like this:

• One part sour (lime)
  
• Two parts sweet (sugar, or cane syrup)
  
• Three parts of strong (rum)
  
• Four parts of weak (water, juice, or nectars)
  
• Five drops of bitters and nutmeg spice
  
• Serve well chilled with lots of ice!!
  

This all means to squeeze lime juice into a glass along with some sweetener.  Then add one shot of white rum, a bit of water or juice, and mix. Then top this with five drops of bitters. The original bitters comes in a small bottle that is produced in Trinidad and claims to be the original recipe from 1824 by Dr. J.G.B. Siegert.

Then the last step is to take a nutmeg nut and small grater. With this grate a dusting of nutmeg on the top of this wonderful concoction and enjoy!!

Port of Soufriere, St. Lucia Island

Anchored off Hummingbird Resort
Port of Soufriere
St Lucia Island
Caribbean Sea
13’51.4N/61'03.7W

• 90 miles from SV Christa!!!
  
• 9 days till Mom Sherman & Dr. Bob arrive!!!
  
• 2 days till Sam from Utah makes a guest arrival!!!
  

We made it! And better yet, we did not break anything!!!!

Tuesday morning we got the boat squared away and made one last Skype phone call to my Mom to sing Happy Birthday.

In case you have not heard or do not remember, our autopilot took a dump when crossing the Atlantic. We thought we had it fixed but she just was not working 100%. We had a Raymarine technician come to the boat when we were hauled out and needless to say he was of little help. It is very frustrating when we ask for help and they do not listen to what all we have done, and they continue to do all the same things and just repeat to us what we already know. It is a waste of time. We ended up ordering the part directly thru Raymarine and my Mom will be bringing it next week.

Anyways, we were quite pleased when turning the corner of south Grenada, we were able to shut down the engine, hook up the wind vane, and not hand steer. The last time we pointed the boat north was when we were leaving the Suez Canal 9 months ago. Around 2:30am the winds shifted, so the engine came on and we were hand steering. With the wind on our nose, even though they were predicted it to be coming from the east, we were slow going, averaging 3.5 knots most of the trip. We pulled into Soufriere Bay just before sunset where two boat boys exclaiming "Welcome to Paradise!" greeted us.

Soufriere is a small town between the towering twin Pitons, a landmark so prominent it is on the country's flag. The boat boys guided us in and helped us tie our stern line to a coconut tree ashore, for a small fee, where we are currently anchored. This area of St. Lucia is part of the Marine Management or SMMA. It is patrolled by park rangers whom collect a small fee and regulate all anchoring, moorings, diving and fishing.

I think our current location in front of the Hummingbird Resort is better than some of the moorings as we have a spectacular view of Petit Piton. Waking this morning to the sound of singing birds, roosters crowing, and the fresh smell of lush surroundings more than makes up for the unpleasant trip here.

Our plans today include a trip to the customs and immigration offices to check in and then explore the flora and fauna that surrounds us.

One Love,
Amy and Tom

True Blue Bay, Grenada

True Blue Bay
Grenada
Caribbean Sea
11'59.9N/61'46.1W
300 miles from S/V Christa
(Click Photo To Enlage)

Still in Grenada…The winds we were hoping that would veer to the east still have not shown up. So Amy came up with the brilliant idea of motoring out of Prickly Bay where we have been for the past couple weeks and motor over to the next bay to anchor in front of the True Blue Bay Resort and crash their facilities. After a short phone call to ask them if it was OK, they told us "No problem" and we could do whatever we wanted in their facilities. So we cranked up the engine and steamed out of Prickly Bay for this short one-mile passage.

It has been our experience that our shortest passages are the worst and this proved to be true once again. As soon as we cleared the reefs outside Prickly Bay and were turning right to enter True Blue Bay the engines temperature gauge started rising quite fast. This threw me into a panic as we were motoring right through the reefs at the bay entrance, and we had about a half mile more to go to get to the anchorage. As our normal drill, Amy grabbed the helm and I ran into the engine room trying to figure out what had happened. The water was boiling over and we could not shut down the engine till we got into the anchorage straight upwind. So all I could do was pour cool water into the engine's reservoir until we got inside the bay enough to drop the hook and access the situation.

I thought I had it fixed. So we picked up the hook and started into the anchorage. And once again the engine temperature started rising quite fast. So we got behind the nearest boat, threw out the hook, and shut the engine down before the anchor even hit the bottom. Once again I went inside the engine room where I determined that the impeller that pumps the fresh water through the engine had decided to tear itself into shreds. What to do next? We could have stayed aboard all day pulling the pump off to make repairs. But we decided the best course of action was to paddle to the resort and jump into their pool instead.

True Blue Bay Resort is not exactly a resort, but more of a grouping of bungalows with a bar right on the water where we parked our dinghy-‘510’. We spent the day splashing around in their pool, and Amy got out of the pool long enough to get a one hour massage, her first since Thailand. We decided the next best course of action would be to hit happy hour at the water front bar where beers are 2 for 1.

During our one hour beer fest we met Mr. & Mrs. Gary Alexander who are from Seattle. He is a mystery book author and was on the island doing research for his next book. We asked if we could be guest characters in his next book and he said sure. So lets all make sure to buy his next book!

The next morning I took the engines water pump off and found the fresh water impellor in shreds as I had suspected. And I found that the seawater impeller was starting to crack off as well. Although as inconvenient as it was to have this fail where it did, we are quite happy it happened here in a calm anchorage before our next leg north. We have a ways to go and this would have been very inconvenient to attempt repair at sea.

A lot is happening with Friends of Sandpiper. Links are over to the lower right, so check them out!

• S/V Blue Sky has almost completed a very difficult passage from Malaysia across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives and hopefully will be anchored safely in the calm clear waters there before this posts.
  
• S/V Shiraz has just done an extended land adventure across Turkey, and then through Syria to Jordan. It reads as quite an adventure.
  
• S/V Camelot has just departed the Galapagos Islands on their Pacific crossing. That is the longest stretch of ocean in the world between landfalls. We took 28 days to get from Mexico to Marquesas in French Polynesia, which will be their first landfall on this passage.
  
• S/V Moorea is getting ready to transit the Panama Canal on March 24th & 25th and you will be able to see them via web cam.
  
• And lastly, S/V Christa is southbound thru the Windward Islands where we are planning a grand reunion in St. Lucia just weeks away. Our two boats have not seen each other since being next to each other under the Golden Gate Bridge many years ago when Cap’n Chris and I were both active duty with the U.S. Coast Guard. We also had the pleasure of each others company in a very small stateroom on USCGC Morgenthau were we both served as Chief Boatswains Mates for several years.
  

Sandpiper’s current plans are to stay anchored just feet away from True Blue Bay’s dinghy dock/bar for one more day and splash around in their pool till first light on Tuesday. It is predicted, amazingly for the first time since we have arrived in the Caribbean, that the winds are going to lay down a bit and come from the east, versus the normal northeast.

Once last note, since arrival in Grenada bandwidth has been very slow. As result we have been unable to update photos and videos. We are hoping St Lucia will have better connections so we can make updates.

Hopefully Next Entry Is From St Lucia!!
Tom and Amy

Prickly Bay, Grenada

Prickley Bay
Grenada
Caribbean Sea
11'59.9N/61'45.6W
368 miles from SV Christa

Grenada Wrap Up.

After a very successful five day haul-out last week we put the 'Piper back in the water late Friday afternoon and motored a quarter mile to anchor just off Prickly Bay Marina.

For the last six months the outboard for our dinghy has given us much grief seemingly to fail at the worst possible moments. We have brought it in to two different mechanics, one in Malta and another in Bequia who both charged us a fat fee and never fixed what was really the problem. We finally figured out for ourselves that the outboard's coil that makes the spark for the engine was shorting out. Finally! This has completely failed leaving us to paddle everywhere we go. Because of this, when we enter an anchorage we look for the dinghy dock and then see how close we can anchor to it. We are hoping that we could get this coil for the outboard motor in Grenada. But as luck would have it, there are no Suzuki parts on the island.

We are anchored just a mere 100 feet from the marina in an anchorage with at least 40 other cruisers. Sitting here at anchor after her short haul out, the 'Piper is looking quite shiny with her new paint and buffed out sides. One last project was to get the pilothouse painted. So Saturday morning while at anchor we rolled out a new coat of blue, making her paint job complete. One downside to the new paint as anything that we did not paint stands out in contrast to the new paint. So we will just have to keep on painting and varnishing till everything looks brand new.

Prickly Bay Marina has just a tiny dock that holds about 8 boats. They have a large dinghy dock that about half the boats in the anchorage use. The other dinghies tie up in front of the boatyard that we were in last week. At the marina there is a small grocery store, customs office, restaurant and bar. The bar has a happy hour where they ring a large bell at 5pm and cruisers come racing in on their dinghies for cheap drinks. Since the bar is right next to the customs office, it is also a second stop for cruisers that have just arrived and checked in.

One thing about cruising and being in a salty sailor bar is no matter what kind of boat you have, or how much money your boat is worth, everyone is hanging out together. From low budget cruisers to millionaires all hanging out together having a great time.

I saw one gentlemen that looked quite familuar but couldent place where I had seen him. He looked at me from across the bar and said “Hey! We tied up down from you in Almeria, Spain hiding from that nasty storm that had sprung upon us." He is from France and took on paying crew of 4 with him from the Canaries to the Caribbean, 1000 Euro’s each!! Why didn’t we think of that? We could have slept the whole way across while having everyone else do our work and pay us to do it. Smart Frenchman!

Just outside of Prickly Bay there is a large American medical school. Some of their students trickle down for happy hour. This is the school that in 1983 Ronald Reagan used as a justification for the U.S. invasion of Grenada with 12,000 Marines. Ronnie cited the risk to the safety of the students when a leftist coup, backed by Cuba and Russia, had taken over the government and then decided execute their current leader by firing squad.

Since we have been here in Grenada we have been anchored in 3 different bays. The south end of the island has a large assortment of great anchorages and some boats stay here at anchor for years. Grenada is technically out of the hurricane belt, so many boats anchor in the assorted bays to wait out hurricane season. In September 2004 hurricane Ivan slammed into Grenada, catching many people unaware with 120 mph winds ripping off roofs, downing trees, and leaving the whole island without electricity for months. Many boats were lost or damaged. The boat yards hauled out as many boats as they could, but the stands the boats were put on were not up to the task and many boats just fell against their neighbors, knocking them down like dominoes. As a result both the boat yards located in Grenada now have four point tie downs and stronger stands incase there is a ‘next time’.

When we have had a chance we have done as much inland exploring as possible. Several weeks ago, along with friends from S/V Luludu, we rented a car and did a lap of the island. Grenada is quite mountainous with very narrow curvy roads and lots of trees between villages. All along the mountaintops we could see the damage Ivan did to all the trees that still have not recovered. On the north side of the island we saw several venders next to a graveyard selling cold beers. So we made a mandatory stop for a cold one. I asked what was going on. All the locals were standing around on the side of the road, drinking beer, and dressed quite formally. The beer lady pointed at the grave yard and said “Funeral Mon.”

Sandpiper is currently waiting for the northerly winds to veer to the east so we can make a 160 nm passage to the island of St Lucia where we will be meeting up with Amy’s mom Pat and boyfriend Dr. Bob who are coming for a visit. They are also bringing with them much needed boats parts, the coil for the dinghies outboard so we will not have to paddle anymore, and a new gear drive for the autopilot. The winds look like they will go east on Saturday or  Sunday and we are hoping we can sail this passage so we can let Haywire (wind vane) steer. But it is more likely we are going to have to hand steer for this passage. Yuk….

More, hopefully soon from the north of Grenada!!
Tom and Amy

On The Hard- Spice Island Marine, Grenada

Prickley Bay
Grenada
Caribbean Sea
12'00.2N/61'45.9W
Altitude 20ft
368 miles from SV Christa
(Click On Photo To Enlarge)


Greetings All! Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy.

This week we have been busy at the Spice Island Marine in Prickly Bay, Grenada. We had the boat hauled out at 9:30am Monday and have been busy these last few days sanding, polishing, and painting. Once Sandpiper was hauled out the yard hooked us up with a steady ladder, which is very important since I am not a fan of ladders or heights. So a steady/solid ladder is always a good start. We were also hooked up with scaffolding, water, and power. So we instantly started on jobs.

My official job title in the yard is ‘Parts Girl’. My first assignment was to try and find a condenser for our outboard motor at a nearby chandlery. I wasn’t even half way there when I fell down a gravel road and tore up my leg. You would think an island that is only 20 miles long and 7 miles wide would be easy to get around. But no. It is actually easy to get lost here because nothing is marked, which explains why I walked right past the chandlery. Two hours later, in the blazing sun, I made it back to the boat yard empty handed, dehydrated, and with blood running down my leg. 

Since leaving California we have hauled the boat out every year to repaint her bottom. Last year in Thailand we raised the water line a few inches. Even though the rest of her bottom paint was looking good, the waterline itself was not. This year we paid special attention to her waterline and gave her an extra bit of sanding and primer. The paint should last longer this year.

Even though I keep saying "we", I am actually referring to two guys we hired from the yard to do the bottom work. It took them less than two days to do all the work, including two coats of bottom paint. If we had done the work it would have taken us much longer. And it is hard to pass up cheap labor.

We did keep ourselves busy with a long list of other projects, including; sanding and painting the blue stripe on our haul and stern, buffing and waxing the haul, fixing a sea-caulk in the head, replacing zincs, cleaning the propeller and wind vane, scrubbing the dingy and fenders, washing the inside and outside of the boat, and endless amounts of laundry.

 
Our overall experience here at Spice Island Marine has been terrific. The crew was fast and friendly. And the yard has been clean and convent. The folks at Budget Marine, a chandlery located just outside the gates, have been very helpful as well. It is also convent having ‘De Big Fish’ restaurant just outside the gates for the end of the day cold beer.

We plan to splash her back in the water tomorrow afternoon and then hang in Prickly Bay at least through the weekend. We signed up for internet for the week so if you see us online give us a shout.

Have a Bless Day!

Amy and Tom

Hog Island, Grenada

Anchored at Hog Island
Clarkes Court Bay
Woburn
Grenada Islands
Caribbean Sea
12'00.3N/61'44.2W
368 miles from SV Christa
(Click On Photo To Enlarge)

Sandpiper is anchored off the north end of Hog Island in Clarkes Court Bay, off the southern end of Grenada. We left St David's Bay five days ago after the Classic Boat Regatta concluded. It was a rough three mile motor sail to where we dropped the hook in front of Clarkes Court Bay Marina. We were hoping they would let us use their showers, but with no luck as the facilities are for marina residents only. After we filled ourselves full of burgers at their "Cruiser Burger Night", which they have every Wednesday, we moved up to where we are presently anchored.

We are off the north end of Hog Island. Hog Island is where most the boats from the Classic Yacht Regatta had anchored just a quarter mile away from the marina. Since we had been drinking lots of rum with this lot of crusty sailors for the last week we decided to have one last big hurrah before all the boats headed off in different directions. Seeing as there were 8 people from five other boats getting together, and there was no way all these people would fit on one boat, we decided to make a 'Buxom II Sandwich'. Sandpiper dropped her anchor off Buxom's port bow, then backed down till just off her side making her mooring lines securely along Buxom's port side.

Phil on S/V Blues Traveler had planned on leaving that morning. But after we stuffed a few beers in him we were able to convinced him that it would be more fun to stay one more night made off to Buxom's starboard side. This is the first time we have rafted up Sandpiper overnight and we were a bit unsure how we were going to ride with the wind ripping thru the anchorage and how we would swing with the other boats around us. After a few rum cocktails no one on our boats seemed to care anymore. That is except for the gnarly looking naked Austrian man on the boat off Piper's port side standing on his bow with his hands on his hips hoping we would notice him.

Once the boats were secure then Jack, a crusty single-hander, paddled over along with friends Matt and Sue, where much rum, wine, and food was consumed. This was good for the Piper as we are hauling the boat out on Monday and have to eat everything in the freezer before we are hauled out of the water. Sandpiper's fridge is keel cooled, so we will have to shut it down. 

Everyone brought a bit of everything, and Team Sandpiper BBQ'd up a large bag of Wahoo that we had caught on our Atlantic Crossing from Cape Verde to Barbados. Sandpiper has earned quite a reputation amongst the boats that were participating in the Classic Yacht Regatta because we are the only boat around that has come as far as we have. And this is among some really salty boats.

Just a 'salty' break down of these boats and their crew that took part on last weeks Classic Yacht Regatta:

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S/V Buxom - a 1939 gaff rigged Tahiti Ketch who is skippered by 29 year old Colin and 25 year old firstmate Lindsey. They work in St Johns in the Virgin Islands while living aboard on a mooring. They are both on a short vacation from their jobs so they could come down to Grenada for the Classic Yacht Regatta to race Buxom II. Their boat is so salty that the only electronic items they have aboard is a VHF radio, a hand held GPS and one reading light. They have no fenders as they have not been on a marina in over 2 years. They hand steered all the way down and have to wear swimming suits when they are on the helm because there are always waves coming over their low stern.

I got to sail on Buxom II during the Regatta. When we saw a boat on the horizon that we could not identify, Cap't Colin whips out an old nautical brass telescope. I said to him "You have to be kidding me..." He then told me that last summer, while grinding on his boat, a metal sliver got in his eye and he almost lost sight in one eye. "Great.", I said. "The eye patch would have completed you."

I found out later that they had contemplated buying a washboard to do laundry but were afraid to tell me as I was always slack jawed whenever they told me about how they do things on their boat. This morning they headed out of the harbor tacking back and forth because their engine only runs for about 15 minutes at a time before shutting itself down. So they have to sail in and out of port. That is salty!!

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Then there's Phil aboard S/V Blues Traveler, a 50 year old 34 foot ketch. He sailed down from St Lucia where he her. His boat has been completely refurbished during the last year and there is not a single blemish anywhere. Phil sailed down for the Classic Regatta and entered his boat. Technically his boat was old enough to enter. But the Regatta was only open for wooden hulled boats. So they allowed Phil race along with them and he won the best dressed award for wearing a nice French beret. If he won this for just wearing a beret then you can only imagine how all the other crusty sailors were dressed.

Phil has been in the Caribbean for over 20 years on several different boats. When not sailing his boat around he is a skipper on mega yachts traveling all over the world.

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Then there's Jack aboard his 40 foot 1970's ketch. He has been sailing all over the world for the last 30 years. Jack is just as salty as his boat and loves his rum. Turns out he is great friends with Edward Hamilton who wrote the book 'Rums of the Caribbean' that I have been using as a guide for the 'Rum Report' on our passage thru these islands. Ed Hamilton is the self proclaimed 'Minister of Rum' and Jack is the self appointed 'Ambassador of Rum'. Jack had a good story about his trying to get his sailing dinghy back to his boat after a night together with the Minister of Rum.

Jack leaves on Monday for Trinidad.

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Then there's Matt, Sue, and dog Cappy on S/V Luludo, a 47 foot early 1900's British built ketch they purchased in Florida over 20 years ago. They have been sailing while hand steering around the Caribbean working odd jobs along the way since. This is another classic boat with very few luxury items, such as self steering or depth finder. They have lived here for the last year working. They were even here when Hurricane Ivan blew though here devastating most of the island. For Hurricane Ivan they hauled the boat out the night of the hurrican and rode out the storm in a hotel room. But they have ridden out 2 other hurricanes while at anchor.

They were going to sail in the Classic Regatta. But upon seeing the 25+ knot winds they decided to crew on other boats as they did not want to damage their floating home. A wise move as the boat I was racing on Sunday, a 50 foot classic ketch, sprung a few of her hull planks and we had water right up the flywheel on the engine. The bilge pump was running full bore  when we crossed the finish line. Luckily the owner of the boat works at the boat yard and had his boat hauled out of the water as soon as we got back into the harbor.

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So that is it for the Salty Sailor Wrap-up. With everyone heading off in different directions Sandpiper is moving 2 miles to the west tomorrow to Prickly Bay where we are planning on having the Piper hauled out to make her bottom pretty again.

More later from the nutmeg island,

Tom and Amy

Saint David's Harbor, Grenada

Anchored Saint Davids Harbor
Grenada
Caribbean Sea
12'01.1N/61'40.6W
300 miles from S/V Christa
(Click Photo To Enlarge)

It has been a few days since our last posting which has a lot to do with us not knowing what day it actually is. We finally recovered from all the initial excitement in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou and made it into the big city of Hillsborough. We thought it would be a nice walk to town, and it was. But we also thought we would be following the coast. The island is just too wet for a coastal road. So the road goes up and over the island. After two hours we made it to town, checked in with all the proper authorities, enjoyed a great chicken roti lunch, and checked out a few of the small markets.

Carriacou (carry-a-cou) is a quiet and laid-back island where not much is ever going on. Tom was gung-ho about finding this ‘real’ Jack-Iron Rum so we jumped aboard several buses to the town of Windward. I’m still not sure why he thought we would find it there, but I was excited to add on a walk while out there. The bus dropped us off at the trail head which was clearly marked on either side with conch shells all the way to the beach. I was a bit hesitant walking next to what the sign read was ‘black swamp’ but the end reward was a beach full of shells. Yippee!

The next morning our plan was to relax on Paradise Beach. As we started to write a new blog posting I looked at the GPS and asked Tom "What!?! Today is the 18th? We have to go. We are supposed to be in Grenada tomorrow!’ So we quickly sprung into action and had a wonderful 40 mile sail down the windward side of the island to our current location of St. David’s Bay, Grenada.

We were invited by our friends from S/V Buxom 2 to help crew their boat in the Classic Yacht Regatta which started on the 19th. Buxom is a 1938 Tahiti gaff rigged ketch, complete with black haul and red sails. The race itself didn’t start until the 20th so we were able to relax for a day and meet some of the other boat owners. The winner of last year’s race is over 150 years old. For once, Sandpiper, at 33, is one of the youngest boats in the harbor.

The first day of the race the winds were too strong and they couldn’t get any of the markers set and nobody wanted to do any damage to their boats. So happy hour started early. I should also say that the night before the first race we had several large squalls come through bringing high winds. I did not have a good feeling about getting on a boat for fun.

Once morning came I still wasn’t feeling it but went over to Buxom anyways. After taking one last look out the channel I did the walk of shame and paddled myself back to Sandpiper. Yes, I have been living on a boat for 4 years. But the sailing part is still not one of my favorite things, especially when I don’t HAVE to put myself out there in 30 knots and 12 foot seas.

The winds have really caused the seas to build. So for the last two days the race courses have been modified. Tom crewed on Buxom yesterday and Apollonian, a 1955 sloop that almost sank, today.

I have been making myself comfortable on the boat. Thanks to free wifi I have found us a home for hurricane season. Our new home starting July 1 will be at the Charleston Maritime Center Marina in Charleston, South Carolina. Once there we will look for work and figure out what is next for Team Sandpiper.

For the time being we plan on exploring Grenada for the next couple of weeks until we shoot back up north to St. Lucia where we look forward to a visit from my Mom and Dr. Bob.

Love to all,
Amy and Tom

Update: The races have finished and I’m proud to report our friends Colin and Lindsay from S/V Buxom 2 swept the awards ceremony, taking home three awards. They won third overall for the racing, the perseverance award, and Lindsay won the spirit award. A good time was had by all.

A huge thanks to Sue and Fred from Bel Air Plantation Resort for all their hospitality this week!

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Note from Ron: Nice photo gallery of Carriacou.

Carriacou

Anchored in Tyrrel Bay

Carriacou

Grenada

Grenada Islands

Caribbean Sea
12'27.3N/61'29.2W
397 miles from SV Christa

A Happy Birthday to Amy!!!

Check another country off the list. We left the anchorage in Clifton Harbor, Union Island last Thursday for a short one mile trip. We dropped the hook on the southern tip of Frigate Island, a very tiny island just a quarter mile off the southern tip of Union Island, where we had hoped to do some snorkeling.

Ever since arriving in the Caribbean the trade winds have been blowing very strong. On Thursday the winds had gone up to 30 knots, wrecking our snorkeling plans. Amy's birthday was on Friday and we awoke to one of the rarer days where the trade winds had dropped below 15 knots, making for one of the better sails we have had in years to the island of Carriacou. It is just a short 6 mile sail away and part of Grenada. The cool thing about sailing in these waters is that all the islands are so close and in sight of each other.

We dropped the hook amongst the 20 other boats by early afternoon. Then we jumped into the dingy to explore the mangroves and find the floating bar called 'Angels Rest' for a birthday beer. The floating pontoon bar was supposed to be moored in the middle of the bay and was owned by friends on S/V Buxom. After a bit of looking around not finding the floating bar we asked a local "Where is the floating bar?" He answered "I have some bad news for you. The bar floated away." I asked if it was full of people when it floated away, but was told that luckily it was empty when it blew out. It must be somewhere downwind, in Central America by now, where some lucky local must have found it.

We tied the dingy up in front of the Carriacou Yacht Club. It is not really a yacht club,  but a bar and hotel next to a boat yard. After a few rum punches we walked down the road along Tyrrel Bay and found the 'Lambi Queen' restaurant and bar where we had heard they were going to have a steel drum band that night. Turns out that the band is made up of all ladies led by a somewhat famous local gentlemen who use to actually make the drums and now has a steel drum band school on the island. The band consisted of all sizes of drums, with two lead drummers on smaller sized free standing steel drums. The rest of the band had larger barrel steel drums backing them up. Along with the teacher on a real drum set there is a cow bell and set of bongos at the back. [YouTube video - loud!]

These ladies really had it down. You could see in their faces and body movements that they were having a great time. Most the bar was filled with cruisers, and there were locals lined up out along the street drinking rum, dancing around, and really enjoying themselves. Later in the evening Amy even got her own personnel steel drum 'Happy Birthday' played for her by the teacher and one of the lady lead players. Too cool!!

After the band stopped playing around 9pm and all the cruisers headed off to their boats to go to bed. That left Amy and I with all the locals for the rest of the night. After the 'Lambi Queen' closed we headed farther down the road with one of our new island friend Jason. We heard loud music playing down a dirt road and found 'Joann's Swampy Jo's Bar' empty with one man asleep on a table. Finding no one else around we called out "Hello!" loudly and heard some shouting from the back. Our new friend Jason poked his head in one of the doors behind the bar and then told us that the owner was gettin' busy in the back with a lady. And he added that the bar owner told him he still had awhile to go before he was done and wouldn't be able to serve any beer.

So we left the man sleeping on the table and headed farther down the road to Hillsborough Bay. The closer we got, the louder the music became. Along our walk Jason explained to us that everyone is a bit restless with Carnival happening soon. Amy is sure there will be an increase in births 9 months from now.

We found a bar that is open all night that plays ear splitting music with locals dancing all over the place. One thing we have discovered in the Caribbean is that is seems like everyone goes out every night, all night long. I am not sure how the small amount of work that is accomplished around the islands ever gets done with everyone staying up every night.

We made it back to the 'Piper just as the sun was rising. We will stay in Carriacou for a few more days before heading off to Grenada.

More Later From The Land Of Jack Iron,
Tom and Amy