Clarkes Court Bay - it was almost empty when we arrived 3 weeks ago, but has filled up considerably now with boats either passing the hurricane season here, or waiting for a weather window to head on to Trinidad.
Sunset - view across Clarkes Court Bay
There are several tiny Marinas in the bay - the nearest to us is Whisper Cove Marina which must be able to accommodate a maximum of 15 yachts.
The Whisper Cove Marina is in the background - not too sure what this passenger ferry was up to, but it clearly wouldn't fit in this Marina!
The view out over Clarkes Court Bay from the very lovely Whisper Cove Marina.
The Bay itself is surrounded by mangroves, but there are banks of Conch shells piled up around it - Conch is widely eaten in the Caribbean and we have seen these huge mounds of shells many times. It does make you worry about the survival of the Conch here as we certainly have not seen many living when diving or snorkelling.
Old Conch shells.
There are several small islands in the bay, and Hog Island in particular seems to have become a parking lot / graveyard for yachts.
This aluminium hull is at least 25 metres long - it's been totally stripped out and apparently was salvaged for its keel, which has been removed. Sad to see so many boats turning a beautiful bay into a scrapyard.
Grenada, like most of the Caribbean islands we have visited has an excellent and very cheap local bus service. As long as you don't mind being squashed into a people carrier that would make a Road Safety officer cry, the service is great and we have used it extensively to get round the island.
As long long as some part of you is on a seat, and the door shuts, the bus is good to go.
Roadside Partiotism - tyres painted in the colours of independence.
Grenada is famous for its chocolate, so we went to visit the home of Jouvay Chocolate - an ancient factory that fell on hard times, but was reborn in 2011 as a farmers cooperative. Unfortunately the day we visited they were not producing chocolate but we did have a tour of the facility.
The old factory building - home of Jouvay Chocolate.
A Cocoa Pod
The beans are layered in banana leaves and fermented, before being sun dried.
The dried beans are sorted, and then pass through various processes to remove stones, leaves and other impurities.
A sac of beans ready for roasting, crushing and melting.
Some of the ancient machinery, still in use today.
And the end product - in very large bars here!
And in case you have worked up a thirst, chocolate flavoured beer is also available.
Shopping in Grenada is interesting - there are a few small American Style Malls.
Spice Island Mall - these signs are widely displayed.
The much more common style corner shop.
And one of the many road side stores.
No visit to Grenada is complete with out a tour of one of the Rum Distilleries. We walked to the Clarkes Court Distillery, not very impressive from the outside, the factory initially opened in 1937 and produced sugar and rum until 1981 when the production of sugar was abandoned.
Molasses is now used to produce the rum, although the old sugar cane juice extraction machinery is still functional.
This used to be fuelled by the burning of sugarcane after the juice had been extracted.
Crushers for extracting the sugar cane juice.
The molasses mix is poured into large open topped vats where it quickly ferments.
Where the magic happens.
And this is what you end up with - the many types of Clarkes Court Rum ... Flavoured, matured and blended dark and white rum.
And the opportunity to try them all!
When we first arrived in Clarkes Court Bay, we were surprised by the colour of the water in the bay - it all became clear after a visit to the distillery.
The byproduct of rum production certainly explains the smell and colour of the water at the end of the bay.
View from the dinghy, Clarkes Court Bay.
Another activity we have been part of in Grenada is the HASH. Nothing to do with any narcotics, it is actually considers itself to be a 'drinking club with a running problem'. What it really means is that it is a wonderful opportunity to go on a walk (or run) organised by local Grenadians in some very
wild terrain - you certainly get to see places you would not venture into otherwise, followed by beers and a BBQ.
The HASH - leaving the beaten path
Coming back out of the forest into civilisation. We used to do HASH runs 35 years ago when we lived in Jordan - there we used flour to mark the trails, shredded paper is used here - it rains so often it doesn't stay around for long.
Just one of the hazards on the route.
There is some fantastic diving in Grenada - some great wreck dives as well as coral reefs, and an underwater sculpture park. We had seen the sculptures at the artists, Jason Taylor's, studio in Lanzarote, so it it was especially interesting to see them in situ underwater.
This installation is called Vicissitudes
The Circle of Life. You can see the corals and sponges growing on the statues.
The Lost Correspondent - alone with his typewriter.
There were several other sculptures in the park, and although we were diving you could also see them snorkelling. 
A Trunkfish - checking out the artworks?
This is just a taste of what Grenada has to offer, but I'll finish this blog with a photo of one of the more unusual events we have attended here ... A Dinghy Concert.
Floating pontoons were towed out into the bay by a small tug, and a local live band performed to the crowds who turned up either by water taxi or in their own dinghys. As is the norm for Grenada, the music was incredibly loud but great fun was had by all. Thank you Mr Killer and the band Rebel One.
We plan to stay here for a few more weeks, or until forced to leave by the weather - and looking forward to discovering more about the lovely island of Grenada before heading on to Trinidad to take the boat out of the water for some essential maintenance.
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