Trinidad to Mayreau 2012 

Grenada, Carriacou,Tobago Cays, Mayreau

6th -16th December 2012

Our final night in Trini was spent tied to the dock over at Crews Inn marina and enjoying a  cool dip in the pool. Being  back onboard was a welcome change from the apartment we’d spent four weeks in since our return to the boat. It was also a huge relief for us and for Helen and Bridget, my sister and niece. GWTW was finally back in the water and ready to hit the big blue highway and the clear waters of the sunny Caribbean.

For the girls to come  and join us cruising was gutsy stuff, especially as they had only sailed with us once or twice on Sydney Harbour in the last 30 years. So early the next morning, with a very porky boat laden down with provisions, water and fuel, we dropped the docklines, said goodbye to Trinidad, hopefully for the last time, and headed out for the 80 mile run across to Grenada.            Our cruising season had once again begun and it felt really good.

Grenada

The sail across to Prickly Bay in Grenada was a little boisterous but the girls handled it well. They were fully stocked up on their mal de mer pills and wrist bands and it seemed that the only downside was that they slept a lot of the time. Still, for novices, that was probably a good thing. A highlight of this passage was that the girls got to see quite a lot of dolphins and flying fish.

We spent a few days in Grenada and rather than staying just in Prickly Bay we checked out a few other anchorages and met up with long time cruising friends Monica and Phil from Miss Molly. Annie celebrated her birthday at De Big Fish restaurant with friends Sue and John from Saltscar 3, the girls did some inland touring, we visited the capital St George’s for a look see and Liam fitted a new fresh water pump, amongst other fun chores.

  

Heading north we stopped at Moluniere bay where we snorkeled on the underwater sculpture park. The water was a bit cloudy due to the swell but the life like statues were pretty neat to see, despite the water clarity.

Carriacou

Our next anchorage for just one night was Tyrell Bay on the island of Carriacou. It was now December 14th and yet another birthday had rolled around. This time it was Bridget’s so we had both lunch and dinner at the Slipway restaurant, a very pleasant beach front spot to spend a few hours. With the weather looking settled for the next few days we decided that Tobago Cays would make a great next destination but before we could head out there we needed to complete our checking out formalities.

After lunch the girls and I took a local mini van bus over to the main town of Hillsborough. It was a snap to get the paperwork done there and within an hour or so we were back on GWTW.

  

The following morning we made a brief snorkel stop at Sandy Cay, a small coral atoll with a beautiful white sand beach from here we would be heading over to Tobago Cays.

Tobago Cays

The cays are a reef anchorage with no facilities. Having said that you really aren’t that isolated as there is no shortage of boat boys selling everything from baguettes and croissants to tee shirts and fresh fish.

The water out here is postcard blue and the sunsets are magnificent.Turtles abound and snorkeling the reef wasn’t bad either. The next morning the  girls were content to swim with the turtles while Liam and I went on a little hike.

 

The views out over the reef and the anchorage were great but I wasn’t so sure about all the rustling in the bushes from the big Iguanas. Later that day we were on the move again.

Mayreau

This time we were off to  Salt Whistle Bay on the north side of Mayreau Island which, in our opinion, is one of the prettiest places in this part of the Caribbean.

 

There are a couple of beach bars here and a restaurant up the hill but the drawcard for us were the clear waters and the palm tree lined quintessential Caribbean beach.                        It was pure magic.

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