Day 151, Year 6 Exploring Carriacou-On Land and in the Water
Date: Thursday, March 24, 2011
Weather: Sunny Day; Wind E 18 knots
Latitude: 12 27.348 N
Longitude: 061 29.345 W
Location: Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
What a beautiful day. The sun was shining all day and we didn’t have any rain. I was up early rinsing and hanging out the laundry I put in to soak overnight. I got the laundry hung out and then Steve went in the water to clean the anchor chain that Mark was on deck paying out. This was a necessity as Steve was barely able to sleep last night for the smell. Yesterday when we brought in the anchor chain, it had a really ugly growth on it. Once the chain was all piled in the anchor locker forward of the v-berth, the smell from that growth began permeating the air inside the boat. Overnight, it became almost unbearable, thus the early morning anchor chain cleaning. As soon as that was done, we made the decision to up anchor and head over to Saline Island for a mid-day snorkel. This meant bringing in all the clothes that were hung out to dry, but they had a good start and bringing them inside the boat to complete the drying process was easy. It took us about an hour to motor the four miles to the island, but it then took us almost an hour to get anchored. We were between the island and a reef and we just kept dragging. On the third try to felt secure enough to all get in the dinghy to snorkel the nearby reef. There was a pretty fierce current in the middle of the pass where we were anchored, but when we took the dinghy closer to the reef, the current wasn’t so bad. Mark and Steve jumped in the water and I said I would stay with the dinghy to rescue them if the current swept them away. It soon became apparent that the current was not affecting them all that much and I had been pretty stable in the dinghy, so I jumped in as well, holding on to the dinghy line and pulling it along with me. The first little bommie I came to was teeming with small fish and a few larger ones hiding in the cracks and crevices. I was delighted to discover so many fish that are new to me. Almost immediately I saw a pair of Banded Butterflyfish and Bluehead and Yellowhead Wrasse. We have seen many different varieties of butterflyfish and wrasse in our travels, but these were new to us. The Bluehead Wrasse is particularly striking with its very blue head followed by a black band, then a white band followed by another black band before getting the greenish body. We also saw some familiar fish-Black Durgon triggerfish that are all black with the exception of a white stripe along the top, Blue Tangs which can be all blue or can be yellow with blue trim, and French Grunts that are yellow with horizontal stripes of grey and black. We saw an old friend that we haven’t seen for quite some time-the Stoplight Parrotfish which is black with white spots, red fins and a red belly. We also saw a bright blue fish with a yellow head and tail, but I am not sure yet what that one might be. I think it is an angelfish, but need more time to identify that one.
After snorkeling, we returned to Windbird and motored back to Tyrell Bay. We anchored in almost the same spot we had left earlier in the day and then headed to shore to explore Carriacou on land. We went to the Carriacou Yacht Club which is probably less of a yacht club than most we have visited and then we walked along the beach. Tyrell Bay is a very tiny little community with a couple of small stores and about half a dozen small restaurants along the waterfront. We found Shep, crew on Key of D, entertaining a table of women at the Lambi Queen Restaurant & Bar. One of the women was from Newton, Massachusetts, but now lives here. We walked on to the end of the road and then came back to the Lambi Queen to have a beer. We talked with Shep for a bit and then headed back to the dinghy at the Carriacou Yacht Club. This time we walked by road instead of beach which required a hike up a high hill and then a descent down an almost vertical driveway back down to the yacht club.
Tomorrow morning we head out to Sandy Island which is a marine park just north of Tyrell Bay. We are hoping to be able to get a mooring there so we can snorkel before going into Hillsborough to check out of Grenada. It is then about seven miles to Clifton Harbor on Union Island. We should be there tomorrow evening to celebrate the official close of our circumnavigation. This will be the first place where we have crossed our outbound path. We arrived in Clifton Harbor on Union Island on January 7, 2006 So tomorrow night will be a very special celebration aboard Windbird. I’m hoping Janti still has his Happy Island bar where we can go for sundowners. He literally built the island from conch shells abandoned by fishermen on the beaches of Union Island and it is a very special place in the world. So we are looking forward to tomorrow.
Before ending, I just have to share a little ‘romance’ story. When Steve landed in Trinidad he met a woman from England who was waiting for the same plane as Steve to bring them to Grenada. He and Annie spent the afternoon together. She had a bottle of rum punch that customs was taking away from her. She couldn’t see it go to waste so suggested to Steve that they share it that while waiting for the plane. Annie was coming to Grenada to sail with friends and she and Steve have been corresponding each day via email. Mark sends the emails and just can’t resist sneaking a peak at what is being said. The boat Annie is traveling on has been heading north at a very fast pace. They stopped in Mustique, Bequia, and will be in the Blue Lagoon in St. Vincent tomorrow. These are all what Steve calls the “hoity toity” Caribbean spots and when he emailed that to Annie, she responded that he had her pegged. Too bad she is flying back to England so quickly. We would have loved to have met Annie. Maybe another time . . .
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| 110324 Day 151 Carriacou–Exploring Carriacou |
