BARBADOS - OUR FINAL CARIBBEAN DESTINATION

 Once again this Monday morning June 18th we find ourselves getting up and heading to the airport before the sun comes up as we make the island hop to Barbados. As we approach this new island nation from the air we can already tell that it is going to be worlds apart both geographically and economically from where we have been before.

 Situated more then 100 miles to the East of St Vincent and the Grenadines it sits alone into the Atlantic Ocean. Seldom traveled to by Cruising Yachtsman but with vibrant tourism and a good economy. We felt like we should see this island nation since we probably wouldn't get a chance to next time around on our own boat.

  We took what seamed like a long taxi ride towards Bridgetown from the airport past large homes and acres of rich farmland. We arrived before 7:30 A.M. and were told we were to early for check in at the Hilton-Barbados (http://hiltonbarbadoshotel.com/)  which is nestled in the lush tropical peninsula of Needhams Point near historic Bridgetown. We took this time to have breakfast and see the tour desk to make arrangements for the days activities. We decided that once again is would be best to hire a private tour guide to drive us around the island and lucked out that a local restaurant/bar was having a dinner show tonight showcasing local entertainment and food.

After getting settled into our room, which had an amazing view balcony of the Caribbean sea port we got ready for our island tour which would begin in less then an hour.We were pleasantly surprised to look out and see a good anchorage lined with mooring balls and more cruising yachts then we would have expected. We met our guide in the lobby and began our tour of the island.

During our tour we were taken on a clockwise tour of the Island up the Caribbean coast first then across the top of the Island and down the Atlantic coast then around back to the city.

After our Island tour we were dropped off in Bridgetown to get some lunch and do some last minute shopping. There was a cool inlet into the city center where there were fishing boats available for immediate charter for some private fishing, very cool.

After finding a great local place for lunch in what could be described as a 3 story department store. We bought some souvenirs and returned to the hotel to relax before going for the dinner show. Watching the sundown over the Caribbean sea for the last time from our Balcony.

We met several other Americans staying at the resort on the short shared taxi ride to the event. We were looking forward to the dinner show as we were concluding this amazing Caribbean Trip. We couldn't recommend more the fun of the Harbor Lights show filled with activity and great food.

 Check out the following video's of the experience.

Well just when we thought the adventure was over, upon waking up in the morning for our early departure flight back to the states, there was a blackout and we had no electricity to our room getting ready. Thankfully we were prepared with our sailing gear including several flashlights from which we lit our final hour in Barbados. Our last taxi ride to the airport and this adventure would be over.

Flying back to the U.S to go back to our daily lives we were overwhelmed with emotion as we came away from this trip more convinced then ever we were directing our lives towards the right lifestyle for us and cannot wait to continue the journey. See you all "Out There" again soon.

LIMIN TIME IN GRENADA - WEST INDIES Part 4 of 5

After a week sailing we really wanted a change of pace and decided to move across the island to Grand Anse Beach and checked into the Grenada Grand Beach Resort (grenadagrand.com) for a couple days. As this was Saturday and we were warned that the islanders all take the day off on Sunday we decided an island tour was in order, so we hired our Taxi driver/ Tour guide to show us around his island. 



We decided to tour the St David and St andrew areas in the southeast part of the island stopping at Fort Matthew and Fort Frederick on the way up and over the hill through the city of St Pauls. These were high on the hill overlooking the capitol of St Georges with amazing views.

 We continued traveling south passing an overlook to Hog Island near which many full time cruisers anchor there boats for the season. This is where another cruising couple Mike and Rebecca Sweeney whose blog (http://www.zerotocruising.com/) I have been reading are currently moored. Mike had came across our blog recently seeing that we were headed to Grenada and invited Amanda and I to find time to visit with them, but we didn't get the message until we were already back home as we didn't bring our laptop with us.

We stopped briefly at the De La Grenade Industries where the wonderful Nutmeg and Guava jam we have enjoyed was bottled, and went thru Laura Herb and Spice Garden although it was closed. He continued our driving tour with a brief photo stop at La Sagesse Bay (http://lasagesse.com/) where there is a remote 12 room hotel with cafe on an unbelievable palm fringed sandy beach.

We continued up the coast through Bacolet and St Andrews Bay to the big east coast city of Grenville. The larger city and fishing village was packed with people shopping and enjoying there Saturday in the city. 

Our final part of the tour took us up and over thru the rain forest of the Grand Etang forest Reserve and Grand Etang Lake where we made a photo stop and saw some native monkeys.

Then we re-turned to St George continuing our drive through the rainforest viewing many rivers and beautiful homes which gave us a good overview of this part of the island.

We had lunch back at the hotel then walked down the 2 mile beach for a sun downer at Umbrellas Beach Bar (facebook.com/umbrellasbeachbar.grenada) trying once again to see the green flash at sunset over Grand Anse Beach as we looked West but missed out from low clouds on the horizon. Completely exhausted we retired for the evening early opting to skip dinner and dancing this evening to get a good nights rest.

 Sunday, our final day in Grenada we took the bus into St Georges looking to buy some souvenirs and stuff to take back home having completely forgot no one works on Sunday here. It's really not a joke.... it was a ghost town, no one anywhere. We figured we could use some exercise and walked through the Sendall tunnel once more ( not as scary without cars sharing the tunnel) and walked around the Carenage finally finding a grocery store that was open. Here we were able to get a few of the things we were looking for.

 We then walked across the street and into the Port Louis Marina for a quick visit with our friend Marco (http://habibisails.blogspot.com/)  and to see his Island Packet 380. We then decided to have some lunch while we were there in the marina and dined at the Victory Bar and Restaurant (http://www.cnmarinas.com/en/marinas/port-louis-marina) which served an excellent lunch as we watched a huge super yacht pull into it's berth.

  On our final evening we decided that some local flavor was in order and on the hotel bell mans recommendation we went out to a local Restaurant not to far from our hotel called La Chateau Restaurant (http://www.grenada-beaches.com/restaurants/le-chateau-restaurant/) and enjoyed there buffet dinner including the breadfruit pie, plantains, more fresh Mahi and some good french wine. What a way to savor in the richness of the spice island of Grenada.

 We hated to leave, we found the people of Grenada to be genuinely happy, friendly and trustworthy. They broke down any pre conceptions we may have had and won us over. We cannot wait to make time to visit Grenada again and recommend a visit to anyone who hasn't been there before.

Stay tuned for the last installment of this trip as we check out The furthest East Island in the Caribbean known as Barbados coming soon.

Livaboard Sailing Instruction in Paradise Part # 2 of 2

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.