Grenada is similar
to Georgetown in the Bahamas in that it is a stepping stone for many cruisers.
Georgetown is where cruisers who want to sail further
afield launch themselves from, i.o.w. if they want to sail down to the East
Caribbean, while other cruisers are content to sail around the Bahamas for the
cruising season then return to the States for the Hurricane season.
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| Mel and Ivo on Agent Orange (the kayak) going to land for a run |
Grenada is where cruisers who are content to just sail up
and down the Leeward or Windward islands of the East Caribbean stay for the
hurricane season. For other cruisers who want to sail further, like sailing to
the West Caribbean or Panama and ultimately crossing into the Pacific, sail
west from Grenada.
During the first few weeks of November, as the official
hurricane season ends, Grenada becomes a hub of activity with many cruisers
preparing to leave Grenada, either heading north or west. Some cruisers arrive
in Grenada, sailing north from Trinidad then sail either further north or west.
Most cruisers one meets are eager to tell you their plans and are willing to
share whatever information they may have on their cruising plans.
Mel has enjoyed listening to the various plans as it just
encourages him even more to want to live the dream of sailing further afield to
Panama and then into the Pacific.
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| A sign we saw while walking to the bus stop. |
Many people are reluctant to leave the Caribbean as they
know that in the Pacific there is no such thing as island hopping as one does
in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean most places are “only” a day or night sail
away, whereas from Grenada to Panama and in the Pacific, there is no island hopping
within a day. It involves up to 4 – 5 days of sailing and even more between the
Galapagos and the French Polynesia, which can be up to 26 days or more of
continuous sailing.
Another reason why many cruisers are reluctant to leave
the Caribbean are the amount of boat chandleries found in this area. If there
is a problem with your boat, there is always somebody “close by” who can fix or
help fix the problem. It is only once you reach close to Australia that this
becomes possible in the Pacific.
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| Belmont Estate |
Back to the present….. Monday, we decided we wanted to
see more of the island so we took a bus into St George’s to the main bus
terminal so we could catch another bus (Bus No 5) up to the most northern town
in Grenada – Sauteurs. The bus went
along the west coast of the island passing places like Halifax Harbour, Gouyave
and Victoria. It took us at least 1 ½ hours to get to Sauteurs but it was
lovely to see the beautiful lush vegetation.
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| Mel enjoy some of the lovely chocolate |
Belmont Estate is a 17th Century authentic
estate where it grows cocoa which is then produced into lovely chocolate at the
Grenada Chocolate Factory. During the tour of the estate and chocolate factory,
we saw the cocoa plantation where the cocoa is extracted and dried and made
into the many cocoa products like cocoa butter and rich cocoa paste. We were
given samples of the rich cocoa drink and chocolate.
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| The cocoa plantation - the cocoa beans/tree |
After a tour around the chocolate factory, we caught the
No 9 Bus to Grenville which is in the middle of the island on the east coast.
We walked around the main town centre then caught the No 6 Bus back through the
centre of the island to St George. We could have caught the No 2 Bus back to St
George which would have taken us along the SE coast of the island. We did this on
Wednesday - We had lunch in Grenville then on our way back down to St George on
the No 2 Bus we stopped off at Grenada Marina and the Boatyard to have a look
at it, as this is where we intend leaving Passages when we return to Perth.
The boatyard looked fine although Mel is heart sore at
having to leave his beloved Passages at all, let alone in a boat yard!
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| Grenville - all the CD/DVD's on sale outside the Revenue and Post Office |
Wednesday evening we met up with a lovely couple – Ida
and Keith on Cheers for dinner as we had some weather computer software they
were interested in getting from us, as they are heading west to the ABC islands
in a few days’ time.
For the rest of the week we have been weather watching as
we are keen to head south to Trinidad but the weather has not been great – lots
of squalls and rain showers with the humidity being between 90 – 100% most
days.
On Saturday morning I went to the Mount Ayres School to
help with the reading program like I did the previous Saturday morning. I had
the same little girls as the previous week.
The week finished off with a dinghy race around Mount
Hartman Bay. We did not participate but watched the event from our boat. Like
with many events, it is just an excuse to drink and to have a good time.
As mentioned earlier, many cruisers are preparing to head
out of Grenada so there are quite a few farewell “parties” on the various
boats. As for Passages, we are hoping that the next time we write on our blog
we will be in Trinidad.
Until then – take care.
Love
Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx
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| Belmont Estate |
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| The Red footed tortoise |
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| The brown pigeon - very rare ( near extinction) and only found in Grenada |
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| Belmont Estate - the drying racks for the cocoa beans. |
