Grenada June – October 2022

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Next up on our tour of the Caribbean was Grenada, the southernmost of the Windward Islands, and considered a safe-ish spot to hang out during the hurricane season. Statistically, you are less likely to be hammered by passing tropical storms here than in more northern islands, which is one of the reasons so many cruisers gather here. Other than providing a safe haven during this period, Grenada is glorious, think dense rainforests, lush mountains with epic waterfalls, wild hikes, hummingbirds, fruit bats and Mona monkeys, rum distilleries, tropical fruits galore, pristine beaches and a riot of international boat kids.

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One of Barnaby and Zennor’s favourite days out in Grenada was spent hurtling down rapids on the Balthazar River

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Boat Jobs

Contrary to popular belief, life aboard is not all pretty sunsets and cocktails. Boat maintenance is a constant stress as the harsh marine environment; salt, wind, water and relentless UV, means that the attrition rate is high; things break, seize, corrode, degrade and die. Slowing down for a while in Grenada, allowed us to get some long-overdue boat jobs ticked off our list. We hauled out for a week in Spice Island Marine to replace our antifouling as our hull had sprouted its own thriving ecosystem complete with barnacles, impressive seaweeds, crabs and damsel fish. We also replaced the wind instruments that died on our Atlantic crossing, serviced our engine, re-varnished our cabin sole, replaced the sacrificial UV strip on our aged staysail and sewed a cover for our dinghy to preserve its life in the tropical sunshine. Despite our endeavors, the job list remains infinite.

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Carnival

Carnival or ‘Spice Mas’ in Grenada’s capital, St George’s was a riot of elaborate feathered costumes, booming amplifiers on flatbed trucks, soca, steel bands, oil down, jab jab, and much liming.

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Exercising on a boat

Most mornings a gang of cruisers met at dawn to tackle the climb out of Le Phare Bleu marina to run the neighbouring streets of Egmont. In addition to smashing local Strava segments, we set our target as the local half marathon in St George’s which saw club members taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place (though, admittedly the competition was limited!).

We also founded a Le Phare Bleu circuits session, held on the Vastra Banken lightship, or amongst the coconut palms by the beach. A motley crew of 20-ish cruisers, and a few boat dogs, arrived by dinghy at dawn to sweat it out amongst the mosquitos and fruit bats, followed by a cool down in the marina pool.

On Saturday afternoons we joined the local Hash House Harriers for a mystery run or hike following paper trails left by a ‘hare’ through the Grenadian rainforests. Each week saw a couple of hundred people gather in a different region of the island to hash, which invariably involved precipitous climbs, mud, river crossings and wild, awe-inspiring jungle scenery. On on!

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Wicked

One of the boys’ Grenadian highlights was our two-month pet sitting vacation aboard Wicked, a 50ft catamaran, moored in Le Phare Bleu marina. Amy, Gia and Einstein were our gracious 4 legged hosts, who generously shared with us their home comforts. It was a massive wrench for the boys saying goodbye to the critters, but we all look forward to catching up with Team Wicked in Colombia

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Le Phare Bleu

The hub of boat kid activities in the Caribbean during hurricane season is Le Phare Bleu marina, located on Petite Calvingny Bay on the South coast of Grenada.
The marina is named after the Swedish Vastra Banken lightship, built in 1900 and now retired here on the dock. Kid boats from all around the world, gather in Le Phare Bleu, or in the nearby anchorage at ‘The Cut’ to wait out the tropical storms whilst making new buddies and to join the kids clubs, learn how to sail dinghies, to karaoke, join the kid movie nights, sports days or just for the many opportunities to set fire to things and toast marshmallows.
Such is the density of boat kids, that a bi-weekly VHF net runs for them to chat, to arrange meet ups and to share jokes and riddles. Zennor (of course) became the ‘net controller’.