May 2008
Grenada - Grenadines
The early part of May was spent at Grenada Yacht Club in the lagoon at St Georges enjoying the island and it's attractions with guests Richard and Ann. Highlights included the Tivoli Drum Festival (loud!) and watching Richard and Ann show the yacht club how to dance during their May Day celebration meal.
We also wanted to do some sailing and so we spent 9 days cruising up to Carriacou, Union Island, Tobago Cays, Petite St Vincent (PSV) and a night sail from Carriacou back to Grenada.
A very enjoyable trip with some quiet bays (Chatham Bay on Union Island), some great snorkeling with the turtles (Tobago Cays) picturesque anchorages (PSV) with lovely beach walks and the vibrant and noisy St Georges.
After Richard and Ann flew home I explored the less frequented south coats bays of Egremont Harbour and Calvigny Harbour. These are quiet and empty bays surrounded by a few houses. Calvigny Harbour (not to be confused with Calvigny Island) is a little gem with a slightly tricky reef passage to get in but it's not a problem provided you have good sun over your shoulder so the reefs are visible.
Once inside there's a small, sheltered lagoon with a palm-lined sandy beach, interesting houses and a few fishermen using a long net.
Given how popular some of the other bays along the south cost are, it was a real surprise to find two such empty places to get away from the madding crowd.
After 5 days of not seeing another cruiser I went back to the mini flesh pot of Clarkes Court Bay where Chris and Barb (Moonsail) are currently running the marina and doing a good job with a burger night with movie to follow in the bar on Wednesdays. It's a very sociable occasion. They also run a shopping bus on Friday mornings to allow cruisers to restock food and supplies.
After a few days I went round to Prickly Bay to arrange GD's haul out day and then on the St Georges lagoon for a very calm anchorage and free wifi on the boat provided by Island Water World.
It's a great place to work on the boat as it's so calm so I got on with some maintenance and small woodwork repair jobs that have been accumulating. Spent some pleasant days there socialising with Mike and Angela (Tuppence - another Moody 419) and Joe and Diana (Moon Goddess) who told me the tale of an attempted boarding one night on the Venezuelan coast. We also swapped some music to refresh our mp3 libraries - always welcome as are book and DVD swaps.
At the end of May I sailed north a few miles from St Georges to Dragon Bay were I anchored and snorkeled around the headland to the south to try to find the underwater sculpture park.
It was quite a long swim but eventually I saw the first of the sculptures looming out of the blue depths below me in 15 - 20 feet of water. This consisted of a group of figures all laying as if dead on the sea bottom. All very eerie and disturbing.
Further on I came across a ring of people all facing out and holding hands. Part of this sculpture has been knocked down by the wave action. Sponges have decorated some of the statues with what look like garlands of white flowers around their heads or about their ears so they look for all the world like a group of dancers at a May Day celebration.
Further on I came across a typist sitting at her office desk typing a letter she'll never finish, on an out of date typewriter, crowded around by dark and oppressive rock that presses in on the lonely figure. I remember now why I gave up office work to go cruising!
Strangely the dark rock surrounding this sculpture appears oppressive, but around the next one it enhances the subject as she stand tall.
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Perhaps the happiest sculpture is the very erect lady in a broad-brimmed hat. She appears as if you have interrupted her while gardening or perhaps while going to church in her sunday best. She's standing on sand in between dark banks of rock and looks very serene!
The sculpture park is a great idea and well worth a look. Much can be seen from the surface or in shallow dives while snorkeling, but to make the most of it scuba equipment would be useful.
On the long swim back to Gypsy Dancer I saw a gold-spotted eel burrowing under a rock. This very bright creature has dramatic gold skin with large white and black spots - presumably very scary to a predator.
I did contemplate staying in Dragon Bay overnight but the anchorage was quite rolly despite there being little swell off the coast so I sailed back to St Georges in the late afternoon. A great way to finish May and in effect this cruising season as I shall be hauling GD out in early June for the hurricane season.