Deh New Country....The Grenadines (St. Vincent)

After almost two weeks in Port Egmont varnishing and fixing the captain and crew of Celebrian decided it was time to do some cruising.  We joined Carl and Riva from Three Belles for the pizza night at Le Phare Bleu and then cleared customs the next morning and headed for Port Halifax on the east coast of Grenada where we spent the night.

 The big boats can make it all the way to Carriacou, Grenada or Union Island in the Tobago Cays, St. Vincent with their long waterlines but we decided it was safer to do it in two stages. Technically we should have left the country on the day that we cleared out; however we knew that it was unlikely that any official would find us in a little fishing bay on the east coast of the island. There was not a lot of room to anchor because of hydro wires strung across the anchorage so it was a little dicey finding a shallow enough spot to anchor where we would not swing into the wires but eventually we got the hook down.

The bay was a hub bub of activity with numerous little fishing boats and a larger boat out of the town of Guavave.  The fishermen told us that we needed to be out early in the morning because that is when they set their nets. At the crack of dawn they were back.

 We were up a little before 6am just in time to be greeted by the men.  It took us about 8 hours to motor sail to Union Island but we were fortunate that the wind was just south of east and allowed us a direct course.  This passage is usually a very difficult one because you are often sailing hard into the wind and waves.  If you look at a map of Grenada, Carriacou and the Grenadines you will see the course direction.  The trade winds blow consistently 10-20 knots and mostly from the east and east northeast.  

We arrived in Union Island in time to go to the little airport with the ski jump run way and do some food shopping at the local market.  
 

 
We asked for local recommends for take out and had a beautiful meal of king fish and chicken at The Fair Deal Restaurant and store.  While waiting for our take out we were entertained by a little gecko.

Union Island is a busy port as it is the only island with customs in the Grenadines and it is the island closest to The Tobabo Cays, the play ground of the charter boats and cruisers alike.  The cays are five small islands situated behind a gigantic reef called Horsehoe Reef.  The reef breaks the waves and boats are able to anchor behind the reef and among the little uninhabited islands.

 

Shown here is the anchorage with the reef off in the distance.  Of course there is no protection from the wind because you are out in the middle of the ocean but the breeze is welcome especially at night when the temperatures are high 20s.

Our friends Dennis, Arlene and their son Scott are here in the anchorage for a couple of days.  We joined them for dinner on Tiger Lily and then the next night they joined us on Celebrian.  After cruising in the Caribbean for 20 years they are fountains of information and stories.

 We went snorkelling with them out to the reef in their dinghy.  The reef drops off and the wall of coral is quite lovely.  For the first time in my life I swam with a turtle that wasn't in a hurry to get away.  It was such a thrill.  The turtles seem to know that they are safe in this reef sanctuary unlike in other islands where the locals are allowed to hunt turtles.  It was lovely to swim in clean and clear water again after some of the harbours we have been in.

The next day Rob and I took our kayaks to the turtle sanctuary area and at one time I had five turtles in sight.  The largest ones had shells upwards of three feet.  The sanctuary is a sea grass area where no one is permitted to anchor.

The only down side of the Tobabo Cays is that the wind is very strong and the paddling is very hard.  Paddling into steady chop and a plus 20 knot wind is challenging especially when the kayak fills up with water.  After four days we decided it was time for a change and we motored around to the island of Mayreu.

Mayreau is part of the marine park area as but the island has a community and a population of fishermen.  We went ashore and found a group of children involved in their local track meet.

 They had put chalk on the ground to make lanes for their track.  The kids run in bare feet and go like the wind.

When you arrive in many of the areas of the Grenadines you are greeted by what are called "boat boys" offering everything from moorings, fish, bread to lobster BBQs.  While in the Tobago Cays we had both bread and salmon delivered to Celebrian.
At Mayreau we decided to go to Freddy and Dennis's lobster BBQ.  This picture shows Dennis getting the lobsters prepared for the BBQ.  Each boat boy brings his sides to the BBQ for the guests that they have wrangled to the BBQ.

This picture shows us with Freddy and our spread of 3 lobsters, coleslaw, rice and garlic potatoes.  Dennis had 8 Norwegian guests and Freddy had us.

Rob tried the local beer Haroun made in St. Vincent and I forced down a rum punch!?

Today is Thursday March 28th and we are anchored in Bequia, an island in the Grenadines about 22 nautical miles north of The Tobago Cays and Mayreu.   We are here for the Bequia Heineken Easter Regatta.  There are four days of racing planned with both modern and local wooden boats. We are especially looking forward to seeing the local boats.

The anchorage is chock a block with boats and activity but the water is clean enough to swim in where we are anchored.  It is entertaining just sitting in the cock pit watching all of the activity.  Some of the boats we see are huge.  In fact we saw the largest catameran we have ever seen ....probably a hundred feet long which means 200 feet of hull!?!?

These pictures show the anchorage and some of the activity.  The large boat in the background is the Star Clipper sailing cruise ship which probably takes about 250 passengers.  When it got dark it put on quite the light show.

Today we plan on going ashore and checking out the regatta information as well as picking up a few groceries.  Bequia is a yacht friendly island.

                                                                 Ebony and Ivory!?!

Deh Life in Port Egmont

The captain is back in the locker again! 

 This time he is re-wiring the fridge which has been acting up this last week.  It is a worry when you see the temperature rising on the freezer plate.  We definitely do not want a melt down. Once again the captain amazes me and our fridge seems to be behaving properly once again.  We have also had to BOAT (Break Out Another Thousand)...gratefully not a thousand but a couple of hundred for another battery.  We were hoping to limp along on the one good new one and the three others but even with Hal charging up a storm of wind amps we haven't been able to hold our charge.  We bought four new batteries last winter in The Bahamas and now Rob is suspecting that they may not have been Trojan batteries after all.  The tropical climate is very hard on batteries but we shouldn't have needed to replace the two we have this year; however we are our own public utilites so we do what we have to do.  

This picture shows laundry day on board Celebrian as well as the captain doing his varnish work.  Washing sheets and towels on a boat is no small feat but they certainly dry on the life lines in a hurry.

We met Dennis and Arlene Webster and their son Scott (Tiger Lily 2) for lunch at The Phare Bleu and Marina yesterday.  They are old friends of Rob's from many years ago and have been sailing in The Caribbean for 20 years.  Dennis is a retired meteorologist and does a weather net on the short wave radio each morning.  He will be a fantastic resource for us when planning any passages. 
This picture shows me relaxing after sending the three blog updates.  I spend many hours writing and working on the pictures for the blogs on the boat but once I get an internet signal I have to put it all together and upload all of my pictures.  This can take hours as well if I have a lot to post or the signal is poor. 

The flora and fauna in Grenada is incredible.  I don't know what this plant is but it sure is huge?!?

Today is Tuesday March 19th and we have decided that there is a weather window to sail north to Carriacou and then on to The Grenadines.  Carriacou is part of Grenada and about 30 miles north of where we are now.  We cleared into Grenada in Carriacou last spring.  From Carriacou we will sail north to the Tobago Cays.  These cays are part of St. Vincent and The Grenadines. They are small islands lost in a mass of coral and the anchorage is protected by a huge barrier reef.   There are beautiful beaches, clear water and wonderful snorkelling; however Rob has already warned me that the anchorage will be saturated with sailing boats.  That being said it is a cruising destination that shouldn't be missed and we will see it for ourselves.  It will be awhile before you get any updates from us since we will be sailing in more remote areas.  With any luck we will have some good diving pictures to post with Rob's new underwater camera after we return to civilization.    

Deh Seven Sisters

Today is Saturday March 16th and yesterday we took a day off from "fixing deh boat" and spent the day up in the rain forest hiking to St. Margaret's Falls, known locally as the Seven Sisters.  The falls are a series of cascades with the three lower sisters being the tallest and the three upper sisters being a series of smaller cascades. The seventh sister is off on another trail and is called Honeymoon Falls because the pool at its base is heart shaped. Most people hire a guide and end up for a swim at the lower sisters with the deep pools.  We decided to brave the hike on our own and climb to the upper cascades.

 This was a challenging scramble up a steep, muddy, rocky and very slippery cliff side and after getting up there we were a little concerned about how we were going to get down. Gratefully there were lots of strong roots and trees to hang onto on our descent and we made if safely down without a muddy behind!?!  When you pay your entry fee they you a good stiff walking stick and it is a life saver.  

 The locals have their own way of getting down the falls...jumping from pool to pool....not an option for us and in fact there is a sign that says no jumping; however we did see a local lad with two young fellows in tow begin their descent at our picnic site.  Over the years people have been killed trying to jump from pool to pool so they certainly don't encourage it. They were the only other brave souls who challenged the upper sisters. Ann Vanderhoof in her book "Embarrassment of Mangoes" said that she thought there were at least 13 vindictive sisters at St. Margaret's Falls.

The first part of the walk is through a plantation that has nutmeg, cinnamon and cocoa trees.  Shown in the picture is a whole nutmeg with the red mace covering the inner nut and the outer fleshy pulp along with some cinnamon sticks.

  The fruit in my hand is a cocoa plant.

The local folks are sitting under a nutmeg tree.

As we continued our hike we saw many stands of beautiful bamboo and at one point they had made stairs out of the bamboo.

 We saw many beautiful flowers along the way as well.

Sisters one and two have deep pools and cool refreshing water to swim in.  The upper cascades are cool and refreshing but unless you are prepared to jump, it is not possible to access the deeper pools.

We chose a picnic spot midstream and cooled off in the shallow pools.

As we were waiting for the bus back to St. George's we noticed this incredible fern.  Things sure do grow well in a rainforest.

This was a quick shot taken from the bus of the communites nestled in the hills.

Once back in St. George's we picked up some groceries and our usual veggie roti to go and caught the bus back out to Port Egmont. We had challenged the sisters, returned tired and a little muddy but looking forward to returning another time to make the climb to Honeymoon Falls.

 

Deh Medical System in Grenada

We often say we come home to Ontario to see our doctors, accountants, dentists etcetera, get fxed up and sail away again for another few months.  Of course the fixing up time seems to be taking longer the older we get, but we hope to be able to continue in our sailing life as long as our health lets us.  This year was a case in point with our delays because of Rob's heart, but we are happy to say that he is feeling well and the medication seems to be keeping the arrhythmia in check.  There is a time and place for drugs.

People often ask us about health care when we travel and the cost of insurance.  Our Retired Teachers of Ontario plan covers us for up to 62 days out of province emergency medical insurance and further to that we generally purchase an emergency MedJet insurance for evacuation purposes.  Our feeling has been that for the most part we can afford to cover our medical expenses everywhere but the United States.  Over the years we have had very good care in The Bahamas and the cost has been very reasonable.

 I hadn't planned on doing a blog entry on the medical care in Grenada; however  I have had the good fortune to have been looked after extremely well by a local doctor, Dr. Gail Friday.  Just after arriving in Grenada I discovered a lump under my arm in the area of my lymph nodes.  I left it for a couple of weeks to see if it changed and it seemed to be getting bigger.  In checking  myself I also found a pea sized lump in my other breast that hadn't been there the last time I had checked. I had had a mammogram last summer and all was well but we thought it prudent that I see a doctor to ease my mind if nothing else.

A little over a week ago I made an appointment to see Dr. Friday.  When we arrived at her office at 1:00pm the waiting room was full.  I imagined being there all afternoon; however if you make an appointment you are seen at that time.  The catch is that you have to pay a $4.00 appointment fee and the locals don't want to pay the fee.   I hadn't realized this at the time and when I was called I felt like the whole waiting room was looking at the white woman who gets special treatment.  The receptionist was quick to say that I had an appointment.  My first visit was an examination with Dr. Friday recommending a mammogram.  The cost of my appointment with Dr. Friday was $28.00 which included the $4.00 for making an appointment.  The next day we came back in to St. George's for my mammogram at a private clinic anytime between 9:30am and 2:30pm.  This time we could not make an appointment but were told to go early.  We managed to get there early enough to get the first appointment. The mammography machine was the old crusher type, probably a machine donated to Grenada by the United States; however at least there was the technology available.   The clinic also had a MRI machine, a CT scanner and ultrasound facilities.  The cost of my mammogram was $110.00.  I imagine OHIP pays more than $110.00 for our scans in Ontario?  Despite the older technology, the facility was very impressive.  Before hurricane Ivan they had been operating out of trailers; however since the hurricane they have built this brand new modern facility Spice Island Imaging Services shown in the picture above.

 My results were read by a radiologist the next day and this week we picked up the report and saw Dr. Friday again. This consultation cost $20.00. The report was inconclusive and recommended an ultrasound to be sure.  Dr. Friday's office called a local sonographer and were told to send me over that afternoon.  Once again no one makes appointments and after about 1.5 hours sitting in an extremely hot office on a very uncomfortable bench with nothing to read but a catalogue and a 2006 magazine among many others waiting their turn I had my ultrasound.

 This time  the equipment looked every bit as good as what we see in Ontario.  The sonographer works at the hospital during the day and comes to her private clinic Tri-Island Echoes at 4:00 in the afternoon. The cost of the ultrasound was $48.00 and the report was given to us the next day.  We were reassured to see that the ultrasound agreed with the mammogram and the results showed only benign cysts.  Dr. Friday has agreed to fax a report to my doctor in Ontario so that we can plan appropriate treatment when I return home in a timely manner.  My last visit to go over the ultrasound results and send a report to my doctor cost $20.00.

The trips to town and the appointments have been a bit stressful; however I must say that I couldn't have asked for better or more professional care.  In only eight days I have had 3 appointments with the doctor, one mammogram and one ultrasound and a hand written referral to my doctor in Ontario...$226.00 spent total....and now my mind is at rest.  How long would this process have taken in Ontario and how many more weeks of worry?

There is a permanent market in St. George's.  In the past the vendors have erected tents and umbrellas.  Within the last couple months there has been a new market being built and this picture shows the mix of the two. Obviously it will be much more expensive to be inside the new building so it remains to be seen how many people choose to sell out of the new space?

This picture shows the local fishermen loading ice onto their boat in preparation for a day's fishing.  Between climbing the hills and the manual jobs of fishing and farming you see very few people who are overweight.  

Deh Egmont Harbour Happenings

Celebrian is getting lots of attention these days!  

Today is Friday March 8th and we are anchored in Egmont Harbour which is also known as the local hurricane hole.  We needed an anchorage where Rob could work on Celebrian's rub rail from Goldberry.  We get the wind in here which is lovely and good for our wind generator Hal but the water is calmer so Rob can stand up in the dinghy and do his scraping and painting.

  I have been kayaking and exploring on foot.  The anchorage is surrounded by hills and beautiful homes but evidently there is a condominium project and marina in the works.  For now it is lovely and we are sharing the anchorage with only one other boat. The cruisers tend not to come here because there is no internet access, marina facilities like convenience store and laundry or cruiser's bus to town. Truth be known this is exactly what we love and the water in this bay is clean enough to swim in and make water if necessary.

 We hope to join the folks on the other boat tonight for a trip to a restaurant at the other boat yard in Grenada called Grenada Marine....internet, local people and good food.  We have to climb quite a hill to get to the bus but at least there is a local bus.  Speaking of buses you hear all kinds of stories about the bus drivers here and for the most part they like to drive fast but responsibly.  The other day we caught a bus which was driven by a testosterone driven Indy 500 wannabee.  We went around blind corners on the wrong side of the road,passed vehicles where there was no room and where he had to depend on the other drivers yielding,speeding and the conductor practically pulled people on and threw children off.  We vowed we would never ride with this driver again...skull cap and red bus!!  Every bus ride is an experience in itself and now we are counting how many people the conductor can cram on deh bus.  Normal seating is for 10 plus the conductor and driver; however when the flip seats go down and the temporary single cheek boards come out the bus can fill to ....our record is 20 plus the driver and this is without small children.  I know we can break this record if we catch a bus with more children?!?  

This picture shows us waiting up in the hills for a bus to town and waiting at a busy corner in St. George's for a bus back to our anchorage.  

Carl and Riva on Three Belles picked us up in their dinghy and we went together to the restaurant. They have been sailing for 27 years and in many places around the world.  The locals were limeing at the restaurant and it was difficult to carry on a conversation so we didn't learn as much about them as we had hoped.  I wish I could have videotaped the bus ride in the dark that we had back from the Beach Bar Restaurant.  You just have to hang on and groove to the music and not think about the drive??!!

Earlier this week we visited town and did some shopping. We walked around an area of the Carenage that we hadn't seen before and then headed out to Grand Anse beach to visit Sandy.  Sandy has a lovely apartment steps from the beach and very reasonably priced.  We had lunch at Umbrellas followed by a swim back at Sandy's before the long trek back to our anchorage...two buses and lots of waiting.  We were ready for another swim once we were back to Celebrian.