Cat Tales landed in Tyrell Bay again yesterday, and is
sitting over clear water on a beautiful patch of sand. The boat motion is diminished once more, and
sleep is deeper. The trip over from
Frigate Island was lovely, with little water on deck, and the boat flying under
jib alone at 6 knots. No fish!
Laurie and I have given the small islands in the Grenadines
limited time over the past few years, but because we have a little time on our
hands, we decided to leave Bequia and visit the islands of Mayreau, Union, and
Petit Martinique.
After a lovely stay in sweet Bequia, we picked a weather
window and headed south for Mayreau. We
covered our visit to Mayreau in our last blog.
After leaving Mayreau, we headed over to Union Island to the west side
and spent 3 nights in Chatham Bay.
Chatham Bay cannot see the phone towers, so we enjoyed the days and
nights of total isolation. We did share
our time with Eric and Jackie of s/v Compass Rose, with whom we hiked and had a
couple of meals.
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| A view of Chatham Bay from our hike |
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| Eric and Jackie from s/v Compass Rose |
One meal in particular actually haunts us after the
fact. Chatham Bay isn't just isolated by
phone and internet; it is difficult to drive into and is a long motorboat ride
as well. Still, there are now five
different restaurants offering barbecuing services as well as a few fishing
families that have thrown up rather squalid shelters. We have mentioned in past years eating at
these barbecue spots, but as the prices became rather affected by what a group
of charterers might pay, we stopped patronizing them. Well, Jackie, being rather challenged to find
a good deal, went ashore and arranged a barbecue lunch from one of the fishing
shacks, not the regular barbecue shacks, for a significantly lower price than
the going rate. The four of us showed
up, paid for nice cold beers, and sat at a dirty plywood table under a tree as
our meal arrived. Nice rice and potato
salad, and rather skimpy ribs and chicken, but not bad. Only afterward did we start thinking that we
had broken some rules - not with the community - just our own. If they don't have a bathroom, we don't go;
if they don't have running water in which to wash vegetables, pots and pans,
and their own hands before preparing a meal, we don't go. If they do not have constant refrigeration,
we shouldn't go, and certainly shouldn't eat potato salad. Well, we did get what we paid for, and we are
not ill; but we did get nervous after that meal. It was fun, too. We sat among goats, chickens, cats, and a
dog; all very interested in our food.
One goat had to be shooed off regularly - they said he was a problem in
that he often jumps onto the table during the meals. So, yes, we kept our eye on him. Old men sat and watched us, and one brought
out a drum and insisted on entertaining us (for tips).
From Chatham Bay, the two boats motor-sailed upwind an hour
or so to get to the two little islands of Petite Martinique and Petite St.
Vincent. Although barely a half mile
apart, one belongs to St. Vincent, and one belongs to Grenada. In between is a beautiful sand bar that holds
anchors like it is in love. We are in
love with the views and colours, and have been there often. However, the spring "new moon"
brought outrageous currents through the anchorage such that one would fear
swimming, and choppy waves that had Cat Tales dancing day and night. We hiked Petite Martinique the next day, and
had a lovely lunch at a place called Melody's (fantastic conch roties); then we
abandoned the anchorage for a downwind run back to Frigate Island at Union
Island. After two days of hiking and
visiting Clifton, we checked out and sailed here to Tyrell Bay.
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| Getting to the end of our hot and hilly hike on Petit Martinique...cold beers are almost in sight! |
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| The water in the anchorage was so beautiful, it was difficult to leave! |
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| Anchored at Frigate Rock in Union Island. Laurie, Dawn & Eric checking out one of the last pieces of pavement we have hiked. All uphill to get to the end of the road, of course! |
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| Laurie and Eric walking the concrete road downhill back towards the anchorage. This is a section that we didn't share with goats or cows! |
We have time to kill, high winds coming, and a low wind
opportunity to visit and snorkel at Sandy Island on the north side. Laurie wants to buy some raw conch and try to
learn how to cook it - I, of course, encourage that! We probably will not leave here to go to St.
Georges for a week.
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| We see these spots from time to time on Union Island, where people set up a sunshade and make aggregate for concrete by hand! |
TECHNICAL
(Laurie) I am still
attempting to free up the corroded windlass to allow the removal of the
gypsie. Every day, I spray with PB
Blaster, tap it with a hammer, then install the manual handle and beat it with
a rubber hammer. What should have taken
a week has stretched on to a month - but who would argue that my stubbornness
might not prevail. I may try a torch on
it, but that will wait another month for the boatyard, when I can have a water hose
by my side.
I have been attempting to equalize the new batteries. My only tool is the solar panels and the Blue
Sky regulator. The 2005 solar panels
used to give me 16 amperes, but now they provide only 12. I was able to bring them to a boil by
separating them, and now I can get them to bubble as a group - but it happens
at 14.5 volts, which is rather low. Oh well, they are never below 12.5 volts when
in use, except for minutes.
All other systems are working dandy!
