Back “Home” in the Caribbean!

St. George's, Grenada was a welcome site!

Well, we are sort of back home. We left the Caribbean in January 2014 to sail around the world for a couple of years. We are now in year four and have just reached the southern end of the Caribbean Island chain. We have not been this far down the islands in the past, so we are still exploring new anchorages and islands.

Heading to town from Port Louis Marina

The World ARC fleet completed its final leg in St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies. From there to St. Lucia for the final celebration and party, we have another free sailing period. This gives everyone time to explore the various islands on the way north to St. Lucia. Many of the boats will continue to sail from St. Lucia to Europe or the USA after we say our sad goodbyes. It will be a very emotional few days for all of us. 

The waterfront in St. George's

A number of boats will sail back down to Grenada to haul out for hurricane season. We are one of those. Hopefully, we will see many WARC friends in the Caribbean next winter. The plan is to take our time sailing back to Nanny Cay, Tortola, which had become our home base in the British Virgin Islands. From that point forward, we will work our way back to the Chesapeake Bay and put S/V Trillium up for sale in June 2018. That will be a bittersweet day as well as we end our five-year sojourn.                                                                                                                                                                          

For the present time though, we will continue to enjoy the journey and explore the rest of the Caribbean. Our WARC friends, Merc and Bob Cave from Chicago, who we met on the WARC 2014, joined us in Cabedelo, Brazil to sail the final leg. They had been on a catamaran, Vivo, until the owner decided to quit in Australia. We wanted them to finish the adventure with us, even though they had missed part of the crossings. If you haven’t been out here, it is difficult to share the connections and experience. 

Actually, Merc and I met over a glass of rum punch in Shelter Bay, Panama. Unfortunately for us, it was the bottom of the punch container and the gal filled our glasses very full. Not only were they big servings, but very strong as there was no more ice to dilute it. Needless to say more, we did a lot of talking! Most of it not to be repeated here or anywhere! But we became fast friends from that point onward around the world, sharing her birthday in Fiji and more. Dennis and Bob also clicked, so it was nice to have a couple we both enjoy as new friends.        

                                                             
Our time in Grenada was at Port Louis Marina which is a wonderful marina. It was good to be on land again after a long passage with a lot of rain and fresh winds most of the time. We were not in the rallying mood and didn’t care about engine hours, so when the winds were light, we used the Iron Genny. Having spent most of the last three years sailing downwind, I didn’t find sailing on a close reach in big swell much fun!

Since Bob had spent some time in his youth working in Grenada on a boat, we took the dinghy across the bay to the Carenage and into the city of St.George's. Our first stop recommended by Bob (who wasn't sure it would be at all the same) was lunch at Sails. Great lunch. We all had lobster rolls. Delicious! We will be back again.

The most interesting is a drink Dennis just had to try: a Beer-arita! As you can see, it is a bottle of beer inserted upside down in a Margarita. You just lift the bottle a little and some beer flows into the glass. He said it was refreshing.

We found the tunnel that leads under the mountain to the main part of town. It is only wide enough for one car to pass with pedestrians clinging to one side. I guess they didn’t consider people might walk through it when it was designed. It was very hot in the town area where we were searching for the Digicel store and the fresh market. Tough decision to make: tunnel or stairs? NOT!

Then we headed off through the tunnel to find the city center. The only way into the city is on a road winding up the mountain and then down into the city or to go through the tunnel. The tunnel is interesting. The tunnel is only wide enough for a single car and it appears to be one way into the city. Pedestrians hug the left side of the tunnel wall to avoid being hit as they pass through single file. Of course, one could climb up the stairs on the water side and then down on the city side. 

We were off to find the local outdoor market and buy some fresh things for our trip up to St. Lucia. We had planned to stop in several anchorages where there would not be restaurants or stores. While colorful and filled with more spices than produce, the market was interesting, but not as wonderful as those in the Pacific Islands. Oh! How I miss those wonderful markets!

Of course, after a hot afternoon of shopping in the market and local sourvenier shops, we needed a refreshment before heading back to the dinghy. Bob knew the place to go! So we did.

It was one of his old stomping grounds as a younger man. Again, he wasn't sure what to expect, but we followed his lead to the classic bar known as The Nutmeg right on the wharf.

The Nutmeg is a classic hangout and was still very similar to the way it was a "few" years ago when Bob spent a lot of time there.