 |
| The S/V AMBROSIA anchored off Mopion Island. |
There is nothing better in this world then waking up on a sailing yacht anchored to a tropical island, that's the way to start the day. After getting a cup of Bob's amazing coffee and some fruit for breakfast it was time to head up to the deck to have a look around.
This anchorage at Petite St Vincent or PSV , (
http://www.petitstvincent.com) was just amazing and the water was a brilliant turquoise.One word "Paradise".
And on this day, Thursday the 5th day of our trip we would again go sailing - what else!
Leaving PSV we would make our way through the reef to travel to tiny Mopion Island.....the one used in the commercials and magazine covers. (See the first photo at the top of the page)
Without even a single palm tree, the only speck of shade on Mopion is from a thatch umbrella. We just could not find a patch of good sand to anchor the boat in, so we did the next best thing laying out 150 ft of chain in the 15 ft of water to hold the boat while we went ashore. We snorkeled the clear water exploring several parts of the reef and took the necessary photos then it was back to the boat to continue with the days plans and agenda.
 |
| Looking out across the reef to our boat with Carriacou in the background. |
 |
| The thatched umbrella at Mopion Island with S/V Ambrosia in the background |
 |
| Looking from Mopion Island back towards PSV. You can see the Reef we snorkeled. |
Our next stop was the fuel dock at Petite Martinique to top off our water supply as we had used both our 75 and 50 gallon water tanks. This stop afforded us about an hour and a half to explore the island and meet a few more of the friendly locals there. We walked to a grocery store, then walked up the beach past the local fishing boats and back around through the town. It was a nice day out and we really needed the exercise.
Then we set sail again making a course heading towards Union Island as we again would round Carriacou's Gun Point with our final course laid in to head for Sandy Island, our stop for the night. But first we decided to mutiny. We had to get rid of that tyrant skipper of ours. So we set the scurvy dog Tim adrift in the dinghy with no motor, no oars, only his camera in which to capture photo's of us sailing away. After a few practice sailing man over board drills and figure eight's led by Shaun we felt pity for the poor lass and brought him back aboard before he drifted out to sea.
 |
| Photo of S/V AMBROSIA under sail by Tim Geisler |
We did get in another great day of sailing as we made our way. We practiced different points of sail, tacking and more man overboard drills, once again taking turns at the helm. As we arrived at Sandy Island the winds picked up, and as it was our turn it was up to Amanda and I to pick up that mooring. We decided to put Amanda on the helm and I would go to the bow. As Amanda brought it around heading for the mooring, and with winds gusting to 34 knot's (Near Gale Force) Chris picked up the mooring and tied off the bridle on the first pass and we were elated at our accomplishment. Now that's the conditions to really learn in. The front passed and allowed us time to study up for tonight's exam as the others went ashore for some snorkeling. We joined them ashore a while later close to sundown looking for a nice sunset, but once again the low clouds on the horizon continued to keep our perfect sunsets illusive.
 |
| Previous cruisers made coral sculptures on the island. |
 |
| A view of Ambrosia on her mooring at Sandy Island. |
 |
| Sandy Island really did live up to it's name |
 |
| Amanda on Sandy Island near Sunset |
 |
| Put a sailor and a aeronautical engineer on the same boat and what do you get? |
 |
| Again, no sunsets to the horizon. |
Back on the boat, and after a quick review session with Tim and Shaun who would work on dinner as the four of us took our Basic Coastal Cruising ASA 103 test. A progressively harder test then the Basic Keel-boat test we had taken yesterday. We were on pins and needles as we turned in our tests for grading until we found out that once again we had all finished with passing grades.
We awoke bright and early on Friday morning (day 6) to the roar of the diesel auxiliary as we broke anchor for the expected 8 hour sail back to True Blue Bay in Grenada. Once again hurrying to get some coffee and a bite of cereal and join the rest of the crew on the deck. Our course today would take us straight out to sea on a westerly coarse so we would once again make clear of the underwater volcano and working out the navigation on our charts we laid in the course south once again thru the open sea and down the coast of Grenada. We were surprised as we checked our course at how much the current was taking us off coarse. This would be a good lesson as we made the necessary course corrections.
This would be our final leg of the trip, the last chance to get in some good sailing and we each took full advantage of this time switching off at the helm every so often. The seas built for awhile as we passed between Carriacou and Grenada and we even made 10.1 knots for awhile, our best speed of the trip. After a brief pause near the entrance to St Georges harbor for some additional practice we continued towards the dock. We brought down the sails and motored into True Blue Bay around 3 PM awaiting the charter companies pilot to come aboard and med moor us to the dock.
 |
| Amanda winching in the Jib Sheet as we sailed back to Grenada. |
Just before sunset we had a final text review session, immediately followed by our final testing for our Bare-boat Chartering Certification ASA 104. This would be the toughest test yet and none of us were sure we were ready. But after living on the sailboat for a week and getting hands on experience night and day with the boats systems and navigation processes we just had to know this stuff. It was grueling, but one by one as we finished and our tests were graded we found out that all of us had passing grades. I'm convinced that this could not have happened in such a short period of time if it wasn't for the expert training we received from Tim and Shaun and making the choice for a live aboard course.
In celebration of all that we accomplished during the weeks crash coarse we decided to go out to one of the best restaurant's on the island for dinner. Once again we climbed into Shauns car and headed to The Aquarium Restaurant (
http://aquarium-grenada.com/) which was ocean front dining in an open Balinese tropical setting.
 |
| The Crew at the Captains Table: From the left is Shaun, Amanda, Chris,Tim,Rob and Bob. |
A last night sleeping on our sailing home for this trip really concluded our fun filled week aboard. We were sad that this part of the trip was over, glad that we accomplished what we set out to do and ready for a relaxing couple days to unwind ashore before going back home.
 |
| Introducing the New Charter Captains Amanda & Chris July |
Stay tuned in for our next segment as we move off the boat and back onto dry land coming soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment