Monday September 21st,
We stayed in Prickly Bay till Friday morning, September 18th, hard to believe we left Belgium one month ago. While we were there we tried out our bicycles and did some grocery shopping. It is unbelievable how much time it takes to get food…getting out flipper, closing up the boat,either getting a bus or bicycle to the store and then come back with a heavy bag, get flipper from the dock and back in the boat…:-) . Easily more than 3 hours. On top of that it is pitch dark at 6.30PM. Good thing we do not have to feed guests yet :-).
Friday, September 18th we sailed up north to try out our sails, though not enough wind we only tried the Genoa and motored a part. We moored on a buoy in Grand Mal Bay, again a good excercise :-). We were nearby a fishing village but when we arrived with ‘Flipper’ everything was closed for the day. We decided to come back and buy fresh fish early tomorrow morning .
Grand Mal Bay is in a Marine protected area so the next morning the ranger came by to collect 27EC dollar. We could stay 24hours. We got sword fish the next day, but also frozen chicken and steak. At least food for some days. In the afternoon we went snorkeling in the next bay and saw our first exotic fish. We sailed a little bit further later that day to Halifax harbour. We had anchored in Beausejour Bay but the fishermen complained because we were anchored right where they wanted to fish. So we moved to the next bay, and anchored there. There was only one other boat. Peace and quiet we thought, except it was saturday night and the Caribbean music played loudly over the bay. We slept outside in our sleeping bags, under a starry sky, the sea was so calm, she looked more like a huge silver lake. It is clear we have to catch up on our ‘star’knowledge.
Sunday, September 20th, we decide to sail to Carriacou (means ‘land surrounded by many reefs’), a small island right next to Grenada, and is also part of Grenada. We leave at about 11.30AM. At the start not a lot of wind but the wind picked up (15KTS)and it was great sailing with the two sails ! We even got 26KTS at one point and decided to put in 1 reef. We goofed a little but managed, good exercise :-). At one point we had flying fish next to the boat, really great to see. Lots of pelicans and brown booby (Bruine Gent) circled the boat diving for fish.It was nice sailing right up to Carriacou, Tyrell Bay, where we anchored at 5.30PM, just in time for another nice sunset. Tired from sailing the whole afternoon but happy. Stefan grilled chicken on the barbecue, I fried plantain in coconut oil and we had mango chutney with it. Yummy, but we definitely have to go grocery shopping for vegetables and lunch.
Monday, September 21st, we seem to have internet on the boat :-). I catch up on the news from home, read the Standaard online and get caught up on my emails. We do a quick swim and then take flipper out to see what is on shore. Hmmm, looks like we will be able to bicycle to Hillsborough Bay and do our grocery shopping. The road does not look too hilly. After lunch and a swim we took out our bicycles and went ashore with flipper. We bicycled to Hillsborough, the next bay and did our grocery shopping there. We returned with a full bag.