North to Tabago Cays

Rounding the SW corner of Grenada for the 10^th time and JetBlue seemed to mistake our boat for the runway. I didn’t think our lovely 46’ cat was that big? Oops, better not cut the corner at the end of the runway too close or air traffic control may get a bit grumpy with us.

 

Headed up to St George anchorage I bet the JetBlue pilot was glad to get in before this squall rolling over the hills as we are about to get hammered. Thankfully it had run through by the time we were anchoring. Stinging rain is no fun on the foredeck.

 

Rainy day inside craziness…

 

YAY! Time for a toast as the deposit on boat sale has hit our solicitors trust account! Now we can relax a little and try to maximize the time we have left on board. Still only major step 6 of 10 in the sale process. 1, Prepare, stage and photograph boat in best honest light. 2, Write advert and list across assorted sites. 3, Manage inquiries. 4, Secure verbal sale agreement. 5, Convert into signed sale contract. 6, Deposit paid into trust account. 7, Organise inspections and survey. 8, Get unconditional on sale. 9, Balance of funds to reach our account. 10, Hand over possession and organise our trip back to NZ. We had bounced around between 3 and 4 then back to 2 a few times so it was great to get this stage achieved. Knowing Drakkar so well and the buyers with a similar style we were quietly confident the rest of the process will go well.

 

Amelia really wanted her birthday to be in the Tobago Cays. Not going to get any arguments from us as we hand been hanging out to explore this iconic site and really wanted to do it while so close on our own boat. The wind had quite a bit of north in it so I unashamedly acted like a charter boat and motored into it for the jumps Grenada to an overnight pause at Ronde Is and again charter boat driving up to the little islands under Carriacou.

 

Facebook stunning view over White Island and it’s White beach…

 

Some of the real life ups and downs as a little shower runs through 10 minutes later.

 

Catching up briefly with French friends from Peneque, another Casamance catamaran in Tyrell Bay we were amazed to watch this fuel tanker squeeze into the head of the crowded bay.

 

We nipped around the corner to Carriacou’s main town of Hillsborough to provision. The rustic place held an eclectic collection of small shops and markets. A lovely French styled mini market was heaven and the price premium reasonable. Here we are heading ashore in the dinghy past a squadron of pelicans disturbing them from their perch. Strange looking birds like a n ungainly fat bomber.

 

We spend a few nights at the lovely Sandy Island. Our friends Trismic’s favourite spot and it was clear why as it was a ribbon of sand with enough palm trees for shade and hut building surrounded in great snorkelling.

 

Token shot of boat work. Not a bad office.

 

Sun setting on another day well seized in paradise.

 

It was good to see it as a park and being looked after with mooring bouys and park rangers. Seems the fishing ban does not apply to locals and several fishing crews came through the bay. More disappointing was the rubbish on the island. Being downwind of Hillsborough there was a large number of single use disposable permanent material polystyrene food containers as well as the usual plastic rubbish. Note the several large bags by our dinghy full of rubbish we collected off the island.

 

Clearing in to St Vincent and the Grenadines at Clifton on Union Is we were reminded just how small the Caribbean is as it was only a 2 hours trip across from Hillsborough. Why hadn’t we come up sooner as it is so close? We had a great afternoon entertained by James Desroy’s kit surfing antics, encouraged by our hollering and cheering he got bigger and closer and put on a great show!

 

We were also entertained by Giraff. Great to see the smaller budget boats out here doing it. Go small, go now from the Pardey’s is a great philosophy! The size of the boat is related to comfort and budget, not safety. You don’t need a huge flash expensive boat all the shiny widgets. Once you have a well found boat and some skills it really is a question of what level of comfort do you want and can afford to maintain. The guy from Giraff in the black dinghy dropped anchor and headed to the bar built on a tiny man made island at the end of the reef. A few hours later having to row fast to catch his boat as it dragged out of the bay in the next squall. We were on standby to launch our dinghy but Chambers Rescue Services were not needed.

 

Next stop was the Tabago Cays! We squeezed into the little reef anchorage on Petit Tabac. Or as we called it Jack Sparrow Island where he and Elizabeth were marooned and drank rum. The kids were very excited to explore the island after watching the films hoping the rum cellar would still be there.

 

It was neat to try and spot the actual locations used.

 

Local tour guide had brought a couple of clients across to the island on a day trip. Another great example of the friendly locals he opened this coconut and gave it to Boston. Cool man.

 

 

Weather cleared up and we tucked inside the main reef. Petit Tabac in the distance.

 

Waking up the next morning to a lot of squawking and found we had been joined by some feathered locals.

 

Slightly encouraged by the kids… Let’s not talk about the deposits they left on board.

 

Tabago Cays is amazing so I will let the pictures do the talking;

 

 

 

 

Some cool cacti

 

And lots of crazy tree top lounging lizards?

 

Token shirt off summertime paddling shot.

 

Next island climb on Petit Rameau was not as successful as Jamesby Island despite my smile and that view.

 

Something about slogging up a vague trail in head high grass in the peak heat of the day? Try to spot the family attempting to follow the track in the grass centre left…