Last views of Grenada

One more very hot and frustrating week was spent in the boatyard waiting for hydraulic parts to arrive, but once they did arrive the service from the technicians at Turbulence and also Clarkes Court Boatyard was excellent and we were back in the water in no time.  

We are now anchored off Calabash Island, a private Island that you can rent for a mere £7,000 per head per night!.....at the moment it would appear no guests can afford to visit so we have the place to ourselves.

We have not been ashore, but it is a nice swim over to the very small beach.

Grenada is on the edge of the hurricane belt, so we are keeping a lookout for developing weather systems - NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) had indicated a developing system, but it appears to be tracking North of us and the risk to our area has been downgraded from Medium (40 to 60% chance of cyclone formation) to Low (less than 40%).  As we are now in the hurricane season the lokliehood of systems developing is increasing so we are getting ready to head south to Trinidad.

This screenshot show today's prediction from NOAA.

We have spent two months in Grenada, but with the benefit of hindsight we could have taken our time heading this way.  That said, we have enjoyed our time here, and certainly relished the opportunity to explore inland by joining the weekly HASH walk / running Club - great views, lots of rainforest, lots and lots of mud followed by beer and a BBQ.

Grenada is a very hilly island, a fact that seems to be totally ignored by road builders here.

The gradient is eye watering.

This is a very common sight - tethered goats, this pair are tangled together on the side of the road

The house builders overcome the gradient issue by building on stilts - sometimes very tall ones!

The majority of the houses are very brightly painted.

A typical Grenadan house, but usually the washing is hung under the house rather than outside the front door.

The Garage

Beating Conch to tenderise it at the local restaurant.

School uniform - comes in various colours, but the students always look very smart.

Bus Terminal Rules and Fines:  Urinating or Washing of Vehicle will cost you EC$ 25, but Defacating or Public Indecency will set you back EC$ 100.  At EC$ 500, the most expensive crimes are Defacing the Premises or Unauthorised Advertising.

This sign is in the local bar.

Many locals grow their own fruit and vegetables in Grenada and also sell their produce at roadside stalls or the veg market in town.  There is also a Meat Market.

I'm sure the meat was great, but we stuck to the vegetables!

The fish market was quite an experience as well, and with the speed they wielded knives to fillet the fish I'm amazed anyone had any fingers left!

We have enjoyed the diving in Grenada, so  decided to join ScubaTech for one more dive before we leave - they didn't disappoint.  This time we visited the Shakem Wreck and did a drift dive at Shark Reef.  

The Drift Dive - actually the current was very strong, Ian is literally holding on to a rock for a rest!

A porcupine fish

A spotted trunkfish - definitely one of my favourites!

We plan to leave Grenada for Trinidad on Monday. It's about 100 miles and for safety reasons we will be travelling overnight along with Aztec Dream and one other yacht as there have been a few pirate attacks along this route during the course of the year.

Rudder failure in Grenada - and a bit more sightseeing

We have a lifting rudder and keel, and although we were were aware of a leak in our rudder hydraulics we thought we would be able to make the 100 Nm journey to Trinidad to lift Nautilus and carry out repairs - the replacement part has already been sent to Trinidad.  But this was not to be - the rudder no longer holds its position so sailing is really not an option, especially in an area where conditions are known to be challenging and there were two pirate attacks at the end of last year.

We were advised by the Ovni Agent, North Sea Maritime in the UK that it was possible to tie the rudder down - so that is what we did.

Using the mini Scuba tank to tie the rudder in position.

We then headed rather cautiously to Clarkes Court Boatyard, which fortunately for us is at the end of the bay we were anchored in.  All went well, and the rudder performed as normal.

The boatyard has the largest travel hoist in the Caribbean, however it was not needed for us, so instead they used a rather sophisticated tractor and trailer.

Clarkes Court is the bay with the Rum distillery, and the boatyard is very near the discharge from the factory - the water is revolting.  These poor divers literally work by feel to ensure the boats are properly located on the trailer - certainly not a job I'd be happy to do!

On our way out - and you can see a slight sheen on the water below our rudder where we are unfortunately adding to the pollution of the water here.

The underside of the boat - rudder still tied down, but the keel is fully retracted.

Once she was fully pressure washed, Nautilus was parked in the yard, and we started to investigate what had gone wrong with the hydraulics.

There are covering plates in the rudder over the hydraulic ram - this is what it looked like just over a year ago when we last lifted in Almerimar, Spain.

And this is what it looks like now!

The first problem was actually very simple - you can see drips coming out of the connection, which had simply worked itself loose over time - clearly something we need to check more frequently, and it can be done underwater with Scuba equipment.

The second problem was not one we had anticipated - barnacles had cut into the cables.  They were not leaking as yet, but needed to be replaced.  No problem, there was a company locally who came and carried out the work of replacing the cables and re crimping new stainless steel fittings.  

The Barnacles - as the rudder moves, they occasionally scrape the cable.  Obviously another thing we need to look out for!

We took the opportunity while in the boatyard to have the old anti foul paint removed so that we could not only re apply, but also check the condition of the primer as well.

Exposing the grey primer - it was pretty good, but we had a couple of coats applied while we could.

First coat of black Antifoul - the sign of an experienced painter must be someone who can apply black paint under a boat wearing a white t-shirt!

Two further coats of blue Antifoul, so we can keep track of how it wears off, and we're ready for a relaunch - or so we thought.

We had been in the yard for a week, and were due to be relaunched that afternoon when we noticed the rudder was no longer holding in place and the new cables seemed to be leaking.

We now understand much more about hydraulic cables and how they should be fitted - unfortunately the fitter did not appear to share this knowledge!  New parts are apparently being FedEx'd from the USA, and should be with us in a few days ...  

Our waiting in the yard has been put to good use, we had to remove all the sails for the lift so we have checked them out for wear.

The mainsail bag - this normally lives on the boom, so having to remove it gave the opportunity to carry out some overdue sewing repairs.

Our time has not been totally occupied with boat things - 

This is The Fisherman's Birthday - an annual celebration, involving such things as climbing a greasy pole for bottles of Rum which was very entertaining to watch.  

Traditional sailing fishing boats.

And of course some incredibly loud music, if fact it almost seemed like a competition as to whose system could generate the most noise.

They get accustomed to loud music from a young age here.  There was also a display of many of the local fish, and lots of street food to try.

We have also been on a few walks.

This rather fancy bridge was constructed when there was a plan to develop Hog Island into an exclusive holiday resort - the bridge was built, it could support cars but there is no road and the plans were abandoned.  It does make it easy to walk round the island, so has some use! 

It really is the archetypical Caribbean scene

The view from Hog Island over a pile of Conch shells towards Calivigny  Island.  Calivigny is an exclusive resort - it boasts 25 bedrooms, you can spend Christmas here for a mere €45,000 PER NIGHT, but you have to stay for a minimum of 7 nights.  To book the whole resort would set you back $165,000 per night.

When we get back in the water we are going to anchor off the beach - it must be nice over there.

The other side of Hog Island - a sheltered anchorage that we have previously visited by kayak.

Our walk back to the boat yard took us past one of the many Chinese Developments we have come across in the Caribbean.

There was a large area of ripped up woodland, and several of these signs - presumably drinking at work is perfectly acceptable!

So - now we wait - and hope that we can get the hydraulics sorted by someone who actually knows what they are doing.

 

 

Grenada - on land and under the sea

  Three weeks have passed and we are still in Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada and have become part of the Cruising Community here - and there really is a community!  There is a daily radio broadcast advising us of the local weather forecast and any possible developing tropical storms as well as a vast selection of social events from tai chi to cookery demonstrations,  local goods and services, and shopping busses which do the rounds of the chandleries and various hardware and food shops.  

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.