Revisiting Our Favorite Places

Trillium in Woburn Bay, Grenada

With everything finally shipshape and in good working order, it was time to head north to Carriacou, which is part of Grenada in terms of customs and immigration. Grenada has been a good "home" but very hot so I am glad to leave. The Clark's Court Marina in Woburn Bay at the southern end of the island is a good hurricane location. Unfortunately, it is in the boondocks so it was not easy to get to places without "Shade Man" and his red van.

Interesting sign at the entrance to the Ladies' Shower and

Bathroom at the marina. No signs next door at the Men's!

Before we left, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a wonderful roasted chicken dinner at the Whisper Cove Marina. The owner/chef is from France and the food is outstanding. He also runs a little meat market with local meats and homemade sausages, etc. It was a great place to stock the freezer for the trip north.

Carriacou is only 25 miles north, but with the lack of wind or wind from the northeast, it took most of the day to sail and motor-sail there. We were both exhausted from the heat and humidity, not to mention all of the work we did and the climbing up and down that ladder many times a day!

By late afternoon, the dark sky was leaving and the sun was

trying to shine through. It was an interesting day of weather.

Just as we were raising anchor in Woburn Bay, Grenada, a huge rainstorm approached the entrance to the bay. Time to wait for it to pass! Once it passed, we headed out under a gray sky with a rainbow off to the west. While we never got rained on during the passage, we were “followed” by a black wall of rain. It stayed with us all day as if we were dragging it behind us. Eerie!

We have always enjoyed Tyrell Bay in Carriacou, so we hung on the hook for several days, just relaxing in a cool breeze to recover from the work and heat in the marina. In fact, I think we stayed on the boat for two days before ever going ashore for Internet access at Slipway Restaurant.

The Slipway has great food and I love their hamburgers. She is the only one I know who can cook two-inch thick burger well done and keep it juicy and not charred on the outside. Delicious! Worth a trip back there! And they offer a tasty local dark beer. I am not a beer drinker, but this one is good.

One of the local men came out to sell us limes. I didn't really

need any as I had a lot from Grenada, but I bought to help him.

Now  I have limes from Simon and the other guy and Grenada!

Simon came along side to sell limes, we ordered two two-pound lobsters for the next day. When he returned the next day, he had two four-pound lobsters! I guess you can‘t pick and choose when diving for them. Or maybe he is just really good at up-selling! We took both of them, but froze one and shared the other for dinner.

Once we had rested until we were bored, it was time to go ashore again and clear out. Another lunch with Internet at Slipway was in order before we raised the anchor. Since most of the sails in the Caribbean are day sails, we left early the next morning Petit Martinique which is part of Grenada, too, and you can stop there after clearing out in Carriacou. 

I was hoping Simon would come by to sell lobsters again.

He did not disappoint me. He gets great ones.

The sail up the leeward side of the island was delightful. Once we reached to top of the island, a strong east-northeast wind meant that we would have to motor head on into stiff wind and high seas to make it around the top and down to Petit Martinique. We agreed to abandon that plan and so straight to Union Island.

HUGE!

Our thought was to go to Clifton to clear in and spend a night anchored in the harbor, so we could look around the town. However, the harbor is open to the northeast so the conditions were not going to be pleasant there. And there was rain in the forecast. Plan B evolved and we sailed directly to Chatham Bay on the leeward side of Union Island.

This decision led us to one of the most unique four-wheel rides of the past four years! We called Seakie on the phone and asked for a ride to Clifton to clear in. He offers this service and you can go by boat or by vehicle. Since we had just experienced the wind and rain on the water, we opted for the vehicle.

Sharing Carriacou's Chatham Bay with some tall ships.

Well! What we didn’t realize is that there really isn’t a road from the beach to the top of the hill where the paved road ended. What we traverse was a construction road that was put in to build a small hotel further down the beach. It has been left, but it is not maintained by anyone.

Vanessa and her son showing us our future dinner!

The ruts are nearly two feet deep in places, the trail hugs the edge of the cliff above the bay and there are huge boulders that toss the vehicle from one side to the other! And it takes about 30 minutes of bouncing along while dodging things that might harm the vehicle to get up to the main road. Needless to say, it was a white-knuckle ride for me! Thankfully, Seckie is a very good driver. He said on some days he makes the trip to town and back three or four times!

Since it was raining hard, we didn't look around town. Dennis was concerned about how well the anchor was holding. We usually stay on board several hours to make sure it is set before going ashore. This was a different situation as we needed to get to the immigration office before it closed or pay a hefty fine. Once we were on the main road, which was only wide enough for two cars to pass and not shoulders, Seckie took us along the windward side for the view.

It is easy to forget that all these islands erupted as volcanos long ago. This makes the terrain rugged and steep. It amazes me that the islands have as many paved roads as they do because it took a lot of manpower to clear the bush and cut into the rock. 

We left behind one of our World ARC flags to be hung.

The Chef and  Grill Master with the Captain!

It is a rugged existence outside of the villages. Most islanders depend on collecting and storing rainwater for their water supply. And solar panels now help light areas where electricity doesn’t reach.

A busy night at Sun, Beach and Eats. Good for all!

The best part of Chatham Bay is the peaceful anchorage. We hung out here for over a week just because we could! The walk on the beach is nice. There are several bars and restaurants and even a small new boutique hotel, The Chatham Bay Hotel. We enjoyed Sundowners and the Internet at the hotel and at Bollhead.

Delicious side dishes prepared by Vanessa.

And lobster with Seckie's special sauce. We will keep a secret!

But for dinners, it is Seckie and Vanessa’s Sun Beach & Eats for the best home cooking! Seakie is the grill master with his special sauce for the beautiful big lobsters. You can also have fish or chicken.

One boat had caught a huge tuna and brought it ashore for Seckie to cook for them while they enjoyed Vanessa’s side dishes of potatoes, plantains, rice and salad. Sometimes there is dessert, and she bakes and sell wonderful fresh bread. We had two lobster dinners while we were there this time. And Dennis negotiated a deal with Seckie: tools in trade for the special sauce recipe! It was a win/win.