1 July 1994 St Barts to Castaways Beach, Dominica (Day 1)
We got up early and had a very pleasant sail across to St Kitts. St Kitts is still my favourite island to look at – nice and green, a total contrast to the Virgin Islands. We motored round the sheltered side of the island and then sailed towards Nevis. At this point we got very strong gusts (30 knots) off the island, but this soon stopped and we decided to carry on overnight to Guadeloupe or even Dominica. We had a few squalls during the night, and at times we were doing over 7 knots which was exciting. Glenys didn’t like going so fast especially in the pitch black night, so she had a bit of a traumatic first watch.
2 July 1994 St Barts to Castaways Beach, Dominica (Day 2)
We raced on until about half past four, when we entered the wind shadow at the south end of Guadeloupe - we then had to motor for about an hour before we cleared the island heading for Dominica. We had to motor again when we got in the shadow of Dominica. We had a good run of 191.8 miles in 29 hours (6.6 knots average).
We had a swim, lunch and then a lazy, dozy afternoon. We’ve only got 250 miles to go now, so we plan to go shopping for wine in Martinique on Monday morning.
3 July 1994 Castaways Beach to Anse A L’Ane, Martinique
We’ve discovered why Dominica bottles and exports water – it threw it down just as we were leaving. We left the awning up and just motored along the coast. We saw a group of dolphins who came to say hello.
We had a boisterous sail across to Martinique and then motor-sailed down the coast. The trip down the coast was wet and wild with gusts of 30+ knots in rain laden squalls. We tried to find a place in Anse Mitan, but the place is full of liveaboards mostly on moorings. We gave up and motored round to Anse A L’ane which is just as nice as I remember it – only 3 others boats, sheltered from the wind, nice beach with palms - I don’t know why people go to Anse Mitan.
We continue to get electric shocks off the steering wheel, rigging and guard rails when the engine is running – I even got shocks as I was pulling in the fishing line this afternoon! I must say that Glenys looks very cool in her skiing gloves, which she puts on when she has to steer! The stern gland was leaking quite badly, so I’ve tightened it again – it needs to be repacked properly when we get hauled out.
4 July 1994 Anse A L’Ane to Prickly Bay, Grenada (Day 1)
I actually managed to get a weather forecast this morning on 930 kHz and it is E2O with showers. At the end, the presenter said that tropical storm Alberto had moved north and dissipated in Texas. It worried us a bit that we didn’t know anything about the first potential hurricane of the season, even though it was up in the Gulf of Mexico. We motored round to Anse Mitan and went to the supermarket to buy 30 bottles of wine at 12FF per bottle.
We then set sail for Carriacou. The sail to St Lucia was brilliant – a screaming reach, blue skies and fairly pleasant motion. We were slowed down a bit by St Lucia’s wind shadow even though we were 5 miles out. Anyway, it enabled us to have a peaceful dinner. Once past St Lucia, as darkness fell, the wind picked up to 20-25 knots and we had a wet and wild reach.
5 July 1994 Anse A L’Ane to Prickly Bay, Grenada (Day 2)
Just after midnight, we were becalmed by St Vincent and I had to run the engine for a couple of hours. The wind just started to come back at three o’clock at the end of my watch, so I gave Glenys an extra hour in bed, so that I could get the boat set up and sailing nicely for her.
At six o’clock, we were off Canouan so we decided to head straight for Prickly Bay. We arrived in Prickly Bay in time to have a bacon and egg lunch. We then collapsed.
6 July 1994 Prickly Bay
Glenys went into major tidy up mode and I kept out of the way during the morning. In the afternoon, Glenys walked into Grand Anse and I tidied up the front heads and the workshop. In the evening, I went to see Gary to give him his dive watch and have a natter.
7 July 1994 Prickly Bay
Brett spent the morning counting the hours until Grandma’s arrival. Glenys continued cleaning and I worked out our financial position. We have spent £10,000 over the last 4 months and if we continue to spend money at the rate of £1,500 per month we will have to go back to Europe next year. We talked about it and decided that we will plan for crossing back to Portugal in August 1995. This is a depressing concept!
Ceris arrived at two o’clock and we spent the afternoon looking at the mail and other stuff that she brought across. She actually brought a new computer over with her. Only 9 months since I sent the old one back! She also brought some mail that Carol had sent to Antigua instead of St Thomas. Gareth took it back to the UK and gave it to Ceris! It contained Glenys’ credit card which we’ve cancelled.
8 July 1994 Prickly Bay to Hog Island
We went around to Secret Harbour and filled up with water and fuel. We then went around to Hog Island and dumped the kids on the beach! We chatted to Anne on “Sandpiper” who is over here in Hog Island by herself again.
I went into St Georges to pick up the 3rd Grade Course for Brett and the Kindergarten Course for Craig. It’s nice to be back in Grenada again – green vegetation, friendly people, familiar!
9 July 1994 Hog Island
Ceris and Glenys went into St Georges in the morning, while I did school work and loaded software onto the computer. In the afternoon, I dinghied all the way around Hog Island looking for a decent dive site to train Glenys (and others) but it’s not very good visibility anywhere.
I went over to Secret Harbour to get some tanks filled and picked up Gary who came to dinner. I met Bob and Pam there but didn’t talk to Bob much. Gary says that Bob is probably going to set up a new dive centre at another hotel that is kicking out the dive operator who’s been there for 6 years. Sounds like there may be a bit of hassle, but I might be able to pick up a bit of work in September.
10 July 1994 Hog Island
Glenys went round to talk to Roger on “Sea Hawk” who have several children and let Glenys look at an old Calvert Grade 1 course. We think that the Kindergarten Course is a bit simple for Craig so we’ll probably go through it in five months and start Craig on Grade 1 in January.
I spent the morning putting software onto the computer and then discovered a load of allocation errors on the hard disk. I ended up having to reformat the hard disk, which is a pain in the neck since I’ve spent about 12 hours on it so far! It’s Sunday today, so we went to the obligatory barbeque. Horst and Karen from “Flow” turned up today – it’s starting to feel like home!
11 July 1994 Hog Island
I went into Secret Harbour in the morning to book a hire car for tomorrow and send a fax to the bank to sort out Glenys’ missing Gold Card. Glenys and Ceris did school work. After lunch Ceris and Glenys went up to the pig farm. I spend the afternoon putting software on the computer and (touch wood) it seems to be OK apart from about 15 disks that I can’t read. We all went to “Flow” for banana pudding and drinks. Brett and Craig had their first go on a “Nintendo Entertainment System” and played “Super Mario Land” – they loved it, of course!
12 July 1994 Hog Island
I went round to “Flow” first thing and found out that their computer won’t read my dodgy floppy disks either. I can’t reload some software, but at least it appears that my computer is OK. Glenys went riding with “Only Blue” and spent the rest of the day walking “funny”.
We picked up the hire car just before midday and went for a lightning tour of the north part of the island – Gouyave, Sauters, Grenville, and St Georges. I was very surprised how undeveloped the towns are once we were outside St Georges. We arrived at Gouyave at lunch time and there was nowhere to eat so we just drove through.
We went to Sauters and found a baker’s shop where Glenys managed to get a bit of pizza and a few rolls. We looked for Carib’s Leap (where the last Carib Indians threw themselves off a cliff rather than being caught by the colonising French). We think that we found it in a graveyard and, naturally, had lunch amongst the tomb stones! We then had fun trying to find our way back to Grenville and St Georges with the dearth of road signs.
13 July 1994 Hog Island
We went to Annandale Falls and then to Grand Etang National Park. We went for a walk around the lake. Craig had had enough after 15 minutes so Glenys took him back to the car. Ceris, Brett and I carried on for another 15 minutes and then came back. It’s a very interesting walk, but it would take 1½ hours to completely circumnavigate the lake. We went to Grenville for lunch and then travelled back via the SE coast which was interesting.
14 July 1994 Hog Island to Mount Harman Bay
We had to drop the car off at midday, so we went to the shops in the morning. I went to Grand Anse beach and talked to the lady proprietor at Grand Anse Aquatics, but they have just recruited an instructor. She said that the cost of a work permit is $1500EC (£375) for one year and it isn’t possible to get a shorter one. That puts paid to my idea of working for a couple of months.
We took the boat around to Secret Harbour and filled up with water. We then anchored in Mount Hartman Bay which is surprisingly nice. We went to happy hour and I asked Bob about a job, after I pulled his chain about him moving into the Ramada Renaissance Hotel. He acted surprised that I knew, but I told him that the woman from Grenada Aquatics had said that Dive Grenada is just moving further up the beach. He said that he will think about ways to get me work and that I may have a chance at “La Source” – I won’t hold my breath!
15 July 1994 Hog Island to Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
Up early and motored along the coast to Ile De Ronde. I was dying to go and do a dive on the Sisters but Glenys vetoed it! We all went to the beach and snorkelled and played about. Ceris found some brown coral on the beach. We’ve now got loads of it on the boat! I collected another load of sand dollars.
After lunch, we motor-sailed to Tyrell Bay. After a bit of minor hassling, I’ve finally got Glenys to start reading the Open Water Manual – I’m dying to train her so that we can do some dives together.
16 July 1994 Tyrell Bay
We motored around to Hillsborough and anchored north of the pier. The sea bed is sand and broken coral and it took us four attempts to get the anchor to hold. Hillsborough is a real one horse town (although the locals call it “The City”.) We had lunch at the Silver Beach Hotel but the diving centre there was closed for the day.
We then went over to Sandy Island for a couple of hours, played on the beach and did some snorkelling – I nearly stood on a scorpion fish which had amazing camouflage. “Filia” arrived and we had a quick chat to Ollie (Margaret had gone snorkelling!) We then motored back to Tyrell Bay.
17 July 1994 Tyrell Bay
I had to strip down and service the aft heads pump in the morning while Glenys did school work and Ceris went for a walk. At lunch time I managed to get hold of Max at Silver Beach Diving and I caught a bus to Hillsborough to see him about a job. Max is just in the middle of final negotiations to buy the dive centre from the present owner. He is the only instructor there at the moment and there is a good chance that he will offer me a temporary job when he has finally completed the deal with the present owner. I said that I would give him a ring in a few days and arrange to call in again on our way back south.
When I got back to Tyrell Bay we all went for a dinghy trip around the mangroves and then went out for dinner at a restaurant. Major success of the day is that Glenys has finished reading Module 1 of the Open Water Course and is ready to do her first confined water session.
18 July 1994 Tyrell Bay to Chatham Bay, Union Island
We sailed across to Chatham Bay which was slow but pleasant. Chatham Bay is very nice but subject to catabatic gusts. After lunch Ceris and the boys went on the beach while Glenys and I did her first confined water session. She did fine and actually enjoyed it. I kept forgetting to explain things to her – I’m glad that I’m doing my first instruction with her and not a stranger! Brett and Craig had fun canoeing on the windsurf board.
19 July 1994 Chatham Bay to Canuoan
What a night. We had 30 knot gusts coming down from the hills making a lot of noise. I had to get up in the middle of the night to check that nothing was in danger of being blown away. We motored over to Canouan which was dead upwind in 20-25 knots of wind – not very pleasant. We anchored in Charlestown Bay which is also subject to “30 knot gusts coming down from the hills” – very unsettling. While we were going astern to dig the anchor in, the dinghy painter wrapped around the propellor. It would have dragged the dinghy under but the engine stalled – oh God!
We had a couple of boat boys asking us if we wanted fish and then if we wanted a diver. I’m afraid my reply was a little terse! I snorkelled down and freed the painter without any problems, and the engine and coupling seem OK. After lunch Glenys, Ceris and Brett went for a quick walk around town. We then went to Little Bay where it was nice and peaceful. The only problem was swell hooking around the corner, so I put out a stern anchor. We were on our own in the anchorage apart from about 20 fisherman camped out on the beach.
20 July 1994 Canouan to Tobago Cays
We had a nice night, but we were woken at six o’clock in the morning by the fishermen going out fishing. We had a very pleasant sail to the Tobago Cays and anchored between Jamesby and Baradal. There were about 30 boats there when we arrived – so much for quiet anchorages in the summer months! Before lunch I went for a zoom around to look for a place to do Glenys’ confined water session. I had the pleasure of seeing a turtle and swimming next to a spotted eagle ray in the shallows off Baradel. I eventually decided that Petit Bateau’s SE beach was ideal.
After lunch we went to Petit Bateau and Glenys did confined water Session 2. She is really starting to enjoy herself and had a great boost when she did mask replacement with no problem. Ceris and the boys played on the beach and Ceris decided that she likes snorkelling. The quiet beach turned into Blackpool while we were diving, when a catamaran dropped off a load of day trippers.
21 July 1994 Tobago Cays
A windy night and a forecast for ENE 25-20 knot winds today. I spent the morning teaching Brett and Craig while Glenys read the OW Manual. I then spent an hour going through Module 3 with Glenys.
After lunch, we all went over to Petit Bateau and did confined water Session 3. She panicked a bit on no mask swimming and we had to redo no mask breathing stationary before she managed to swim. We had a laugh with Fin Pivot and completed OK. We didn’t have enough time to do OW Dives 1 and 2 – we’ll have to do that some other time. By the time we got back to the boat it was half past five – I spent all day teaching and I’m exhausted!
22 July 1994 Tobago Cays to Petite St Vincent
We sailed to Petit Martinique and anchored off the town in 9 metres depth among local cargo boats. Glenys, Ceris and Brett went for a walk around and had lunch at a small bar. Craig and I stayed on board and messed about. The place is a hive of activity and new houses appear to be springing up everywhere. There is a yacht dock where you can get fuel and water.
We decided to go over to PSV to anchor for the night. The others went ashore and I stayed on board and played with the computer. Glenys got the hump with me because I hadn’t tidied up the boat by the time she got back – once she gets annoyed that’s it for the rest of the day and she picks on me!
23 July 1994 Petite St Vincent to Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
What a night. Rain squall after rain squall with loads of wind. We motor-sailed around to Hillsborough and (eventually) anchored off Silver Beach Hotel. It rained as we sailed around and rained while we had lunch. I talked to Max at the diving centre, but he still hasn’t finalised his deal with the present owner. It looks like I could work there September and October for £500/month but I’ll give him a ring next week.
My present thoughts are to spend August working on the boat in Grenada and Trinidad and then spend September and October in Carriacou. My mum and dad are expected mid November which will give us a couple of weeks to sort the boat out before they arrive. We went to Tyrell Bay after lunch and it rained. Today has been the most overcast and rainy weather that we have seen here.
24 July 1994 Tyrell Bay to St Georges, Grenada
We left in a lull between showers and had a nice sail to Grenada via Ile De Ronde. We anchored in Dragon Bay in 5 metres sand. It is a very pretty anchorage just around the corner from Moliniere Point. Unfortunately, the swell comes rolling in and rolling in. Glenys didn’t want to do a dive because she didn’t want to leave her mum on a rolling boat, so we had lunch and left.
We went to Morne Rouge Bay, but it was very shallow a long way out and the swell was getting to the exposed anchorage. We just had a quick look and left to go to St Georges Lagoon. We anchored and then went for a walk around the botanical gardens. We stopped off at a restaurant for a beer and then had a Chinese takeaway for dinner.
25 July 1994 St Georges to Mount Harman Bay, Grenada
We dinghied over to the Carranage to do some shopping. Ceris took the boys to the museum. We then went and anchored next to the Moliniere Wreck, so that Glenys and I could do her first open water dive. All went well and I think that she enjoyed it. We then motored around to Mount Hartman Bay, but we were too late to take on water. An hour later we ran out of water! At bedtime, I discovered that I had a serious case of the runs.
26 July 1994 Mount Harman Bay to Hog Island, Grenada
We went alongside at Secret Harbour to take on water. The water was only trickling out and I’m afraid that I became irrationally annoyed about it. I ranted and raved and stomped about, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Eventually I found out that there are two separate water supplies and I put another hose pipe on the job – it still took over two hours.
We went and anchored in Hog Island. “Filia”, “Flow” and “Rubiayat” are here so we should have a pleasant time here. Glenys, Ceris and the boys dinghied round to Secret Harbour to have lunch and a swim in their pool. I stayed on the boat because I’d still got the runs and was still in a bad mood from the water episode! I had a nice quiet afternoon.
27 July 1994 Hog Island to True Blue Bay, Grenada
Glenys and I did her OW Dive No. 2 just off the reef while Ceris did school work with the children. Then we sailed around to Secret Harbour and anchored for 15 minutes while I rang Carol to ask her to send out mail. Glenys tried to pick up the laundry that she had dropped off yesterday - naturally, it will be ready tomorrow!
We then motored around to True Blue Bay. The anchorage is OK but rolly. Ceris, Glenys and the boys went off for a walk and saw locals barbequing sea urchins on the beach. Apparently they sell the cooked “sea eggs” to hotels. We all went out to True Blue Inn for Ceris’ last supper before flying out. The food was excellent. I had sea eggs and Glenys had lambi cocktail for starters.
28 July 1994 True Blue Bay to Hog Island, Grenada
Ceris left at midday and we sailed back to Hog Island. The boys rushed to the beach and I went windsurfing out on the reef. We invited “Rubiayat” around for drinks.
29 July 1994 Hog Island
It was very windy in the morning, so I declared it a holiday and went windsurfing. Glenys did school work and finished off her cockpit cushions. She then went to “Tekaroa” for a chat with Peter and Kirsty (GB) - they have a Wharram Catamaran. “Filia” came around for drinks.
30 July 1994 Hog Island
Glenys walked up to the pig farm with Ami from “Rubiayat” in the morning and I did school work. We then went to the reef and did Glenys’ confined water 4 and 5. I went over to Secret Harbour to fill some tanks and rang Max at Silver Beach Diving at Carriacou. He says that he doesn’t want anybody until October but that I should give him a ring if I am in his area. I put my diving sign up.
31 July 1994 Hog Island
We went and did Glenys’ OW dive No. 4. We then went to the Sunday barbecue. Brett and Craig had a wonderful time and so did Glenys – she got falling over drunk! Margaret said that she would do an OW Course.