The sail from Tobago to Grenada was a beautiful overnight spinnaker sail. Yuka and I are now so used to our 3 hours night watches, and we handled it really well.
When we approached Prickly Bay a big squall forced us to take down the parasailor in a hurry and put it away still wet. Luckily we were very close to the anchorage.
The anchorage in Prickly bay was very crowded. We had never seen so many sailboats at anchor! Since we left Ilha Grande in Brazil, usually Oroboro (and Plan B) were anchored among fishing boats, not sailing boats! We need to get used to it.
The check-in formalities were a breeze. The Custom and Immigration office were located in the same building. No running around town from customs to immigration and to the Navy, like we did in Brazil! The only consolation is that in Brazil they didn’t ask any money. Here in the Caribbean will be different.
Grenada has a very large cruising community with sailors from all over the world. Every day at 7:30 am there is a Cruiser’s Net on VHF channel 68. People take turns to run it, and it’s very nicely structured. It’s made of the following sections:
Priority Traffic: This includes medical problems, security concerns or navigational issues.
Weather: Wind and sea state forecasts.
Arrivals and Departures: New boats arriving are welcomed and given a few tips.
Parts and Services: People who need help with parts or services can ask here.
Cruiser announcements: This is about social activities occurring around the island.
Treasures of the bilge: That’s my favorite part, items to find, sell, trade, or give-away.
Business Section: Local businesses let cruisers know about goods and services. Very useful.
The cruising community in Grenada is very active, they organize yoga classes, beach volley tournaments, shopping bus to reach the supermarkets, banks etc. I hope we’ll find more communities like this one when we sail further north.
At some point with Joaquin and Monica we hired a tour guide with a car to take us around the island. Here are some highlights.
River Antoine Rum Factory
After a few weeks spent at anchor we are already missing the long passages. We are so looking forward to our next ocean crossing. Strange life that of a sailor. You dream about sailing somewhere for a very long time, and once you’re there you start dreaming about somewhere else…