Lagniappe: Grenada to St. Lucia 2016

Grenada to St. Lucia 2016

11/13/2016 We left Grenada we think for the last time. Our tentative plans are to spend this winter/spring cruising the eastern Caribbean, leave the boat somewhere in the northern part of the basin for a trip home in the summer and then return to the boat and head to the western Caribbean next fall. Who knows? It may actually happen that way! It was a bittersweet goodbye to the island and to our friends we’ve met there. Our cruising buddy boat, Lequesteau is not with us right now but will hopefully join us in January or February. We headed to Carriacou but the wind and seas were against us. After multiple tacks and even motor-sailing, we decided to stop at Isle de Ronde as we would not make it to Carriacou before dark. We anchored with our new Rocna anchor and held fast on the first try. It was a rolly night but we left the next morning and were in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou by 1400. We spent a few days in Carriacou waiting for decent weather to head to the Tobago Cays. We had dinner at Mavis’s restaurant one night with friends on Baidarka, Almacantar and Caribbean Dream. We met another couple, Robin and Ricky Wright from Baton Rouge on S/V Always Sunday and had delicious chocolate chip cookies and milk on their catamaran one afternoon. We also took the bus into Hillsborough to do a bit of shopping at the farmers market and had lunch at a little beach side restaurant with delicious fish burgers.

11/18/2016 We left Carriacou and headed to the Tobago Cays. We ran the engine for a while to charge the batteries. We have been having trouble keeping the batteries charged and think we need more solar panels and maybe new batteries. Can’t figure out where we are going to put the solar panels so we haven’t gotten very far with a plan for that yet.

We ran into a squall just outside of Hillsborough with 19 knots of wind and rain but it only lasted 20 minutes or so. Then the skies cleared and we had a nice beam to broad reach in 10 to 12 knots of wind. We stopped in Clifton on Union island to check into St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) and then headed on to the Tobago Cays. We anchored and paid our park fees and bought some banana bread and a couple of tank tops for Liz Ann from the local vendors. We snorkeled once the day we got there and twice more the next day. We’ve had a lot of rain lately and the water was not very clear and there were lots of jellyfish which inhibited our snorkeling.

Sea urchin on some brain coral

Brain coral with a black sea urchin on the left side

Large school of Grunts

Small group of Sargeant Major fish (Damsel fish) the striped ones

This beautiful yellowtail damsel fish had iridescent "jewelled"spots

Yellow tube sponge

Yellow rope sponge

Not sure what these grape looking things are

Another Damsel fish

A blue Tang

Greg checking out a starfish

A beautiful rainbow looking east in Tobago Cays

We spotted the perfect boat for the LSU fan anchored near us in Tobago Cays.

11/20/2016 We left the Tobago Cays at 0800 and arrived in Bequia at 1615. However, it took us 4 tries to find a spot that the anchor would hold. The bottom here in Bequia has very thin coverage of sand over hard rock. Due to it being late in the afternoon, it was hard to see where the sandy spots were and we were tired and frustrated by the time we finally got the anchor dug in an hour later. But we had a great sail up to Bequia and even caught a small Mahi on the way. We had half for dinner that night and froze the other half. It was delicious!

Our battery selector switch quit working while we were here but we were able to buy a used one from a guy on another boat. We didn’t want to try to re-wire it while at anchor so we are waiting until we get to Rodney Bay where we can go to the dock and have access to parts if needed.

Liz Ann's first Mahi reeled in on the way to Bequia

Greg toasting family friends Val and Faye Dexter as we sailed past Mustique (the dark lumps on the horizon just to the left of Greg's head). They had a house on Mustique many years ago.

11/22/2016 We left at 0300 and sailed up to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, arriving at 1600 motoring in because the winds were light. unfortunately we didn't have any luck fishing this time. Again, we had difficulty anchoring with poor holding. We waited until the next morning and checked in and then went to the grocery store. There are good stores in Rodney Bay for provisioning although more expensive than in Grenada. After we stocked up, we backtracked south 10 miles to Marigot Bay to meet friends Harry and Ellen on Riposo and Dan and Melissa on Slow Dancing. We had Thanksgiving dinner on Slow Dancing with so much delicious food: lollipop lamb chops and guacamole and chips for appetizers, calalloo soup, chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, green beans, fresh veggies and cranberry cobbler for dessert. It was a feast!

Happy Thanksgiving aboard Slow Dancing

We hiked up a trail called Stairway to Heaven across the lagoon from the marina. It was a steep trail with ropes to pull ourselves up on. We went down on a different trail that goes past a resort and took their tram down through the resort and to the beach. It was a fun hike and helped burn off some of those Thanksgiving calories.

At the gate behind the Rainforest restaurant at the start of the trail

Greg and Ellen pulling themselves up the trail

Don't know what the tress is that has these gigantic leaves but they are the biggest we have ever seen

View of Marigot halfway up the trail

View of Marigot Bay from the top of the Stairway to Heaven trail

View showing the resort and marina complex

Dan, Melissa, Harry, Ellen Greg and Liz Ann at the top of the trail

A flower for the end of the hike

Greg and Harry waiting for us at the end of the hike at the Oasis resort

Looking down the track of the tram that takes you to the bottom of the hill in the resort

View of Marigot Bay from Oasis resort

Harry and Ellen on the tram

We had dinner at the Indian restaurant in the marina area and enjoyed trying the new foods. Greg really enjoyed the Butter Chicken and Liz Ann liked the Beef dish (Bhuni?) best. We spent one afternoon by the pool in the resort after some boat cleaning and chores.

Our group at Masala Bay, the Indian restaurant in Marigot

11/26/2016 Lagniappe left Marigot and motored all the way back to Rodney Bay with the wind on our nose and 25 knot gusts. We went into the Lagoon and picked up a mooring but left it the next morning and anchored back out in the bay. The next day, was rainy and began to get very rolly in the afternoon. Cooking dinner was difficult and I began to get very uncomfortable. By 2000 the seas were rolling and choppy. The wind began picking up and it got cool very quickly. We had a major squall line come through with pelting rain and winds to 45 knots. The winds clocked around so we eventually faced every direction until by the morning we were back to our original position. Boats began dragging and calling Mayday. One was heading toward the beach near the Sandals resort and couldn’t get his anchor to grab hold. It finally held when he was in 8 feet of water. Another boat whose skipper we had met, went up on the rocks at Pigeon Island. Around 2300 when the worst of the wind and rain had subsided, Greg and another guy took their dinghies over and tied onto the boat’s mast and kedged him off the rocks. He did have a leak and spent the night pumping his boat every couple hours. He hauled out the next morning. We were very fortunate that our anchor held and so did the boats around us so no one was dragging into anyone else. Not that we got any sleep that night. The swells were so bad, we bounced around all night. We both had to put patches on to keep from being sick. In the process of pulling the boat off the rocks, a line got fouled in the prop of our outboard and in trying to clear it, the shift linkage on the outboard was stripped. Now we had no functioning outboard for the dingy. The next morning we saw another boat that had gone up on the beach and had hit another boat on the way in, dismasting it. It was still rolling so we went into the marina inside the area protected from the swells. We took a slip for a week figuring we would get our boat projects done and the outboard repaired. We go the outboard repaired, did some provisioning, and made a rack to hold our lines so they wouldn't be in a jumble on the deck and made a modification to the dinghy chaps.

Our new line holders. One on each side of the cockpit. So much neater and easier to grab the lines.

Riposo and Slow Dancing had come up the day of the storm and gotten a slip that afternoon so they were safe and calm during the squall. We got a slip near them and got to spend some more time together. We celebrated Melissa's birthday with pizza at Elena's pizza in the marina and cupcakes and ice cream on board Lagniappe.

Melissa blowing out her candle

Dan, Ellen, Melissa and Harry

Greg and I took the bus to Castries one day just to see the town, visit the market and the church. The church was very unique and Mass was going on when we arrived so we stayed for Mass and then got to talk with the priest for a bit afterward.

Stained glass window in Immaculate Conception church in Castries, St. Lucia

The artwork, stained glass and paintings on the ceiling were all done by a local artist

Ceiling over the altar

We took a tour with Ellen and Melissa while their guys did boat chores. We went to the little fishing village of Anse La Raye, the Botanical gardens, the Diamond waterfall and the volcano caldera near Souffriere. We had lunch in Souffriere at a local place recommended by our taxi driver, Paul.

Marigot Bay from an overlook

Click on these mural photos to enlarge. They are worth taking a closer look.

Mural wall outside the church in Anse La Raye

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Anse La Raye

Built in 1865

The snake man waits on the side of the road for tourists to come by and take pictures with his boa constrictor

Ellen and the snake man

The town of Souffriere near the southern end of St. Lucia

Souffriere with the Pitons in the background


Courtyard restaurant where we had lunch

OKAY, FAIR WARNING: Don and all you people who are tired of my flower pictures, the photos from the botanical gardens are up next. You may want to scroll on down!

Greg decided he could use these as a dreadlock wig

They had several wooden chairs and benches made from local trees

A pale pink heliconia

Chenille plant

Diamond Waterfall

Liz Ann, Greg, Melissa and Ellen

Then we went to the caldera of the volcano above Souffriere. The volcano erupted in 1774 but was not pyroclastic (no lava) just steam. No one was injured. The steam and sulphur still escape from the furoles, making the area smell like rotten eggs.

Lots of steam vents in the caldera

The dark spot in the middle of the black pool is actually water, sulphur and steam boiling up from under ground.

Another mural wall

The Governor General's home in Castries

We were in Rodney Bay to see the first ARC boats arrive. One was an all wood boat with a beautifully varnished hull. Sure wouldn't want to have to varnish that!!!

Another day, Greg and I hiked Mt. Pimard, another hike with areas where you have to pull yourself up by ropes. This was a much longer hike but had beautiful views of Rodney Bay. There were old bunkers that the U.S. and British used as listening posts during WWII. There was also a little pond with hundreds of fish all roiling the water to eat the bread crumbs we threw in. On our way back down we stopped at Reduit Beach and had a drink at the beach bar.

One of the three bunkers we saw

Looking south from about halfway up the mount.

A Papaya tree at the lookout spot about half way up

Liz Ann pulling herself up a slippery area

Greg's turn

Waiting for Liz Ann to catch up

"Steps"that one of the tour companies had recently carved into the trail

View of Rodney Bay Marina and Lagoon from top of Mt. Pimard

View of Rodney Bay from atop Mt. Pimard

We made it to the top!

Of course, I found a flower up there!

Half way down near the overlook, there is a path to this little pond

Greg’s niece and her husband were on a cruise and stopped in St. Lucia on Dec. 6, so we waited until after then to leave so we could meet up with them. We spent a nice day at the beach in Rodney Bay with them and actually had some sunshine that day.