Al & Boofa's Excellent Adventure

We stepped out of  the plane in Grenada and the warm night air hit us - overdressed in jeans, shirts and shoes.  Out through the customs’ doors to the flash of a camera - Matt’s.  So exciting to finally meet up with Karen & Matt after such a long time in the planning.

It felt like a real adventure when all four of us and our heavy luggage hopped into Debbie the Dinghy with Karen out front with a torch to show Matt where to steer. 

Needless to say we easily dispensed with a slab of Carib once onboard the Where II and the Vegemite & Tim Tams had been unpacked.

Prickly Bay is like a parking lot for yachties with a chandlery/boatyard and number of bar/restaurants with dinghy moorings. 



The water is always beautiful and warm, day or night and there are spectacular sunsets night after night.  It’s easy to see why lots of people want to live like this.
 
We experienced the crazy-wonderful Carribbean bus drivers, their music, food, rum, spices, topical flowers, monkeys,


Editors Note - there is a monkey just behind Al - can you spot it?


Editors Note - there is a monkey on Boofa's head - can you spot it?

lizards, a mongoose, leatherback turtles laying eggs, hatchlings crawling to the water, waterfalls, floating bars, island bars, a hardware & bar, snorkeling among the reefs and tropical fish, stories of a colourful political history, the legacy of 2004’s Hurricane Ivan and what it’s like to be a minority (everyone was most welcoming).  It was a real adventure.


Karen & Matt took us north to a number of different islands including the Tobago Cays – just like the picture postcards.  We met the owners of Evergreen, Canadians Jim & Dinah.  They’re friends of Karen & Matt and we feel happy that they are there to look out for each other. 
Boofa learned to steer the boat (accompanied by the “Convoy” soundtrack), I learned to drop and haul anchor, we both learned how to play Farckle and Mexican Train Dominoes – both great fun. 



All too soon our fortnight was over and Karen & Matt made the ultimate sacrifice for us, getting up at 4am to get us to the airport on time. 
What a holiday!  Thank you for making us so welcome Karen & Matt.

Words and some photos by our first Clebrity Guest Bloggers Alison Carter  and Boofa (Bruce) Andrews
Embarrassing Monkey photos by Matt

COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alison
DATE: 6/30/2010 6:24:04 AM
Thanks Matt, I owe you for that photo! Al

COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mum
DATE: 7/1/2010 3:39:58 AM
Looks like you all had a wonderful time. I'm really jealous, I didn't see any monkeys!

Stroll Down South

Well after the rush to get to Bequia, our lives seemed quite leisurely. We arose Saturday morning and Evergreen and Where II upped anchor and headed south to Mayreau, another small island in the Grenadines. Jim and Dinah looked thoroughly relaxed in the cockpit of Evergreen as we made the 6 hour, 35Nm trip. Although Jim, you could perhaps trim that Genoa a bit more.

As we were in no rush, we started chasing wind and parted ways from Evergreen before Canouan heading southwest before tacking back into Canouan, but again this sailing thing just seems unnatural – we never seem to head where we want to go. So in the end we put out the iron gennaker (the motors) and motor sailed into Saltwhistle Bay.

As we arrived, just behind Evergreen, we were met by one of the local boat boys. Given that the bay is small and rather crowded, I accepted his assistance in finding a suitable anchoring spot. This looked pretty well organised as all the boats were anchored neatly in 3 rows in the bay. We anchored in about 2m of water and immediately felt that this bay deserved more than the 1 night we could afford to spend and decided it was a good place to try and bring Al and Boofa to when they arrived.

It seemed postcard perfect with a small fishing dock and a crowd of local boats. We were offered fish and beach barbeques and tee-shirts, but declined donned the swimmers and noodles, grabbed a couple of beers and headed over to Evergreen for a "we’re here" beer.

Unfortunately, Jim was having problems with his alternators (the one on the motor and the spare he just installed, so after I had finished the beer, I went back to boat to grab my clamp meter to help him figure it out (and maybe another beer – I can’t remember). By the time I had returned, Jim had the new alternator fixed (you can ask him what was wrong – it was highly technical and I was amazed at how quickly he found it and fixed it). So we relaxed and had another beer while being entertained by one of the local boat boy’s Sam whose daughter was currently in Canada. We then retired to our boat while Evergreen had the Red Snapper they bought off another of the locals.

Next morning we got up at a respectable hour and picked up Jim and Dinah for at trip ashore. Well the beach was just as beautiful on shore as it was from the boat.

There is a resort just behind the palm trees that is not visible from the bay but resembles the Flintstone’s. A very nice beach bar, a gift shop and cosy booths all in stonework under the palms.  Unfortunately the prices were not Flintstonesque and matched the ambience.

We wandered around o the fishing dock which gave a nice view of Where II over the local boats. 

Next we walked to the windward beach with views across to Tobago Cays and took a dip to cool ourselves – obviously the toes weren’t too hot!

After lunch we hauled up the anchor and took off to Union Island giving Clifton a miss and heading into Frigate Island where we anchored just behind the island and over the starfish.

Next morning we caught a bus into Clifton, passing an ice cream parlour a tented church and a cow walking on water. Check out was easy at the airport and it was back to the boat and off to Hillsborough to check into Grenada and an overnight stop at Tyrell Bay where of course Karen wanted pizzas at the Lazy Turtle with Evergreen. An enjoyable evening despite almost being run over by a French Beneteau screaming through the anchorage at 9:00pm with no one on the bow.

Next morning we left Evergreen and headed south to Prickly Bay, having a beautiful sail to Gouyave when we lost the wind totally and motored the rest of the way. We arrived in enough time to relax and get to the Qantas Club, have a drink and await Al & Boofa’s arrival from NYC.

   

COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Janette
DATE: 7/7/2010 11:03:59 PM
Three blogs in two days - great work matt, keep them coming.