Carrying on in Carriacou

​The main reason to come to Carriacou, Grenada was to haul out ITIKI and leave her safe and sound for hurricane season. We are essentially “self-insured” for named storms as our insurance does not cover us for any damage from a “named storm” (that’s a tropical storm or hurricane with a name) in any location, "not now, not ever" (sorry to misquote you Julia)… So the aim was to minimise the risk to the boat by heading to the far south of hurricane alley and finding a location that was well protected and a boatyard that could tie us to the ground with as few as possible potential projectiles around. Tyrell Bay, Carriacou fitted the bill nicely. Protected by hills on one side and mangroves on the other. Mangroves provide natural protection from hurricanes and storm surge and we did a tour in the dinghy to see a number of boats tied up there for the winter. Another plus is that the boatyard keeps all the catamarans together ie there are no monohulls nearby which could fall over onto us! This is indeed a lower risk yard. But the island itself has more to offer than just the facilities and although we spent quite a bit of time in Tyrell Bay, both at anchor and out of the water, we found some lovely anchorages around Carriacou that we enjoyed spending time at.

Sandy Island Sunset

​Sandy Island

Just 3nm north of Tyrell Bay, out around an unnamed rock which is somehow “snow-capped”, is the lovely and aptly named Sandy Island. It’s a tiny, uninhabited sand-spit with a few palm trees. Part of a marine park, it has some mooring buoys which you can use, but equally its ok to anchor on the sand. Either way the daily fee is the same, and sometimes they even come to collect it. Mostly though the only boat that comes by is from Paradise Beach Club, the restaurant in the bay opposite. They come by looking for customers but also run a taxi service back and forth to the island. The snorkelling on the island is pretty good by Caribbean standards and we see turtles and rays as well as quite a few fish. Ashore its, well, sandy… and you really can’t beat the sunsets here. A lovely place to spend a few days relaxing before (and after) hauling out.

Wall of fame at Paradise Beach Club

​Paradise Beach

I have to admit this became a regular haunt for us. From Sandy Island it is a short hop across to anchor off the Paradise Beach Club. Not quite close enough to get the WiFi though. Anyway on Wednesdays they do “sip and paint”, where you paint your boat name/logo on a piece of wood, whilst sipping the cocktail of your choice. Your plaque is later placed on display on the wall of fame. We visited this laid back restaurant several times and the lobster Eggs Benedict is really amazing! Lovely staff and such a chilled vibe.

​Hillsboroug

The next bay north of Paradise beach is Hillsborough, the main town of Carriacou. Its not much of an anchorage but it is a good spot to provision as it has more than one supermarket and a few other useful stores and roadside stalls. It was here that I found Patty’s Deli which stock’s FeverTree tonic water at an eye watering A$7 per small bottle! Yes in my desperation I bought some, even though it was more expensive by the mL than the gin we put in it. Here you can also find real cheese and Waitrose canned tomatoes. Only fellow cruisers will understand why this is such a big deal! Sadly the dinghy dock here is really dodgy so Keith drops me off to negotiate the rusting steps which seem to be hanging on by a thread to the wharf. Not so much fun to descend with a well stuffed “nanna-trolley”, but I make it back alive!

The rocks at Anse La Roche

​Anse La Roche

On the NW end of Carriacou is a small bay with a French name which means “rock beach”. It was probably called that because of some rock formations in the south of the bay, which the local kids enjoy launching themselves off. We headed up here on the recommendation of some fellow cruisers that I met at a ladies lunch in Tyrell Bay. There were two other boats here when we arrived, and it’s a small bay so that was a bit of a squeeze, but they both eventually left and we had the place to ourselves. There is a small beach bar here but it closed before sunset, so no music, just peace and quiet. We enjoyed a swimming here and walking along the beach. Check out some more photos here.

​Ronde Island

Between Carriacou and Grenada, right near the Kick-em-Jenny submerged volcano that we avoided on our way south the first time, there is an island with one small anchorage at Ronde Island. We decided to stop here on our second trip south to Grenada and (I think) we are glad we did, although the stay was not without its dramas! It is a beautiful and uninhabited island, with a couple of tiny beaches, rocky shores and very thick vegetation. We put the drone up after lunch and whilst it was doing a circuit it crashed into the trees on the island. The collision avoidance was clearly not working! Keith was ready to write it off but I could see it was still transmitting a picture. It was still alive! We used the “Find my drone” function to find it on the map, which meant tethering Keith’s phone to mine as he did not have a SIM. My battery was almost flat so I had to take the battery pack with me as well. A very tenuous arrangement. Anyway we had a dot on a map and we once we jumped in the RIB we could follow the blue dot and figure out where the drone was relative to us. Keith dropped me off on a very isolated rock as close as possible to the drone, but there was no way to secure the RIB here. It took me a while to get onto the shore as the surf was surging in and I had to wait until it went out again to cross a gap. Then I had to scramble up a steep embankment, to an (almost) track. It was very muddy with loose rocks and cacti and other prickly things, as well as rotting vegetation. It seemed like everything I tried to grab hold of just came away in my hands. When I finally got to the tree-line there were swarms of massive mosquitos waiting for me. The vegetation was incredibly thick and prickly as well. Keith was not far behind and we were struggling to find the drone on the map. Then I found a function that switched on a beeping sound and flashing lights. Keith was able to locate the drone up in the branches of a tree. Fortunately the tree was substantial enough to climb and he was able to get to the drone. Wow that was unexpected! The scramble back down was pretty hairy as well but we made it back to the dinghy which Keith had parked on the beach. As Keith got back on the boat he accidentally kicked the shower head and broke a piece off so it was back into the water with the goggles on to retrieve it. Then the end of his snorkel came off and he had to go and get that too. Exhausting! One broken shower but absolutely no damage to the drone and I have been dubbed Lynd-iana Jones! That wasn’t how we expected to spend our afternoon, but we sure have some interesting drone footage!

Our sister ship Lille Venn

​Carriacou Coincidence

So let’s talk about our lovely friends on Lille Venn. Their boat is a Helia, hull 239 (ITIKI is 236). The lovely Ralph and Barbara hail from Basel in Switzerland, they are the proud owners of Lille Venn and we had been in touch in the early days as they had copied a few things on ITIKI, but we never met before and I had forgotten about our contact. We launched in August 2018 prior to French summer holidays and they were 2 months later, so no chance we were in La Rochelle at the same time. We spotted them earlier this year in Deshaies, Guadaloupe and went by to say hi. They were off to Antigua that night so we didn’t get to share a drink but we kept in touch virtually and final met up face to face in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou. Turns out that they had booked to haul out at the same boatyard as us, and one day later! What a coincidence! Sadly our face to face meeting was more of a mask-to-mask meeting as Keith and I had caught Covid in Grenada. Our plans to help each other get ready for haul out were changed to virtual advice over WhatsApp or from the dinghy. We had both booked to stay at the same apartments and with adjoining balconies so we were able to enjoy our evening drinks and some meals together without being in the same airspace. It also turned out we were booked on the same flights from Grenada to Miami. So we really were following each other around! It was meant to be! When we returned to Grenada Ralph was already on Lille Venn and we were able to share our experiences with CopperCoating our boats. Keith and Ralph had worked together to place an order for the materials and Ralph watched on carefully to learn from ITIKI’s experience. All went well on both boats and we enjoyed some time together in Tyrell Bay, The Slipway became our favourite restaurant. It was sad to say goodbye as next time we meet will most likely be in Australia where they are making their way a little more slowly than ITIKI.

Franken Dinghy

​Franken-Dinghy rescue

Before our haul out we were anchored in Tyrell Bay when our friend arrived after a long trip from Martinique. He was temporarily travelling solo, so Keith helped him get anchored and he came over for dinner. Whenever someone comes aboard your boat in their dinghy it is customary to take their line (painter) and help them aboard and then give them their line back so that they tie off their own dinghy, thus leaving the responsibility with them. Here is a great example of why everyone does that… After dinner, probably about 8ish, our friend looks around and notices the absence of his dinghy. Its dark, there is no moon and we don’t know what time it detached itself from the boat. Oh s@#t!! We quickly put our RIB in the water, grab torches and headlamps and off we go in search of Franken-Dinghy (more on that later). Although it is not raining it is amazing how much moisture is in the air. The torchlight reflects on the droplets, reducing visibility. We head out to sea directly from ITIKI in the direction of the current. Not knowing how long the dinghy has been adrift was concerning as once it got past the headlands it could have been taken north or south - who knows?! We get out about a mile or so, scanning the horizon in both directions, turning off torches, drifting for a bit and trying to look at the horizon. We are out well past the abandoned red ferry which marks the end of the anchorage. Keith is just about to suggest we start a grid-search pattern when suddenly our friend spots his dinghy in the torch light a little bit north of us. Oh what a relief! We head straight over to it and are barely alongside it when we are almos touching it our friend leaps through the air onto the dinghy, embracing it like a long lost lover! It’s a very touching re-union. The thought of losing, and having to replace, a dinghy and outboard .. well it just doesn’t bear thinking about. The dinghy is your lifeline between boat and shore when you spend most of your time anchored. Well our adrenalin was pumping when we got back to ITIKI so we all needed a shot of rum to calm our nerves. The dinghy's float rope painter was clearly too slippery to do the job, so Keith found some regular line for him to make a new one. A WhatsApp number has since been added to the dinghy, along with an offer of reward, in case it happens again. And that dear friends, is why you let your guests tie up their own dinghy! It only remains for me to explain why this dinghy has been dubbed “Franken-Dinghy”. Well maybe just take a look at the picture. Making chaps out of an old dinghy certainly does the job of protecting your dinghy from damage, with the added bonus of making it a little less attractive target for theft! Oh and thanks to our successful rescue efforts, as we did claim our reward, which was an item from our friends extensive catalogue of spare parts – a new housing for the strainer for our water-maker, as we had cracked the old one. Brilliant! That is how a runaway dinghy fixed our water-maker.