Alegria

St George, Grenada

We arrived in St George’s harbor on Tuesday and set anchor in the lagoon. Not the cleanest area, but up close and personal to downtown. Dawn Dancer, Fine Line, and Makai were here already. The next day we walked around the town, eating lunch at a great local buffet called the Creole Shack. CHEAP DELICIOUS l ocal food. We then walked to the museum to see a local band play. The town is pretty, the people friendly and carnival starts in a fwe days!!

Carriacou

Carriacou is a friendly island, about 20 miles north of Grenada. Since it is part of Grenada, once you check in here, you are good until you leave Grenada. It is hot here. VERY HOT. You just sweat all the time! It’s unreal. When Dan and Mike (Toucan) were in the immigration office checking in, the immigration officer had to put down some paper to use as a blotter because they were sweating all over his desk. It still cooler than the Bahamas in August, because at least here you have a breeze. That makes it bearable, and at night the temperature generally drops by 10 degrees (it rarely dropped in the Bahamas) so going out at night and sleeping are quite pleasant. And we haven’t really been bothered by mosquitoes.

We are here in time for the Carriacou regatta. The entire island gets involved with boat racing and games for the kids. These boats are actual working fishing boats.

At the same time we participated in barbecues put on by the cruising community here. We had a great time with Fine Line, with friends like Makai, Dawn Dancer and Exodus, and make new friends such as Catherine, Curt and their young son Stuart on Gallivanteer. We also helped Noah on Toucan celebrate his 10th birthday. Mary had a pizza party for him at the Lazy Turtle, a nice place to eat, right on the water.

Besides going to the regatta, the other reallyamazing thing we did was to visit the archeology site. They are currently doing a dig on an Amerindian site, dating to 400AD, and they invited us to come and visit. The site is being worked by archeology students from different areas and this group was from North Carolina State. The site is filled with pottery, so much it is just lying on the ground. They have also recovered several skeletal remains, in amazingly great condition. They were very accomadating, taking time out to explain the dig to us, and even letting the kids help with digging. It was so informative and the kids and I really enjoyed it. It’s fascinating to touch pottery that was made by someone else’s hand from the year 400 AD. Incredible. I have always wanted to go to an archeological dig, and I am thankful that this trip allowed me to do that. I think the biggest thing I got out of the tour was learning to “see” the earth differently. They can tell so much by looking where the dirt is even a slightly different color than the earth surrounding it. Amazing!

FRIENDS

Lunch on Alegria Tristan, Noah, Tessa, Lydia and Ava

Tessa and Lydia

Tristan and Noah

Mary and Mike from Toucan

Dan, Jim and Roxanne from Dawn Dancer and Anne from Fine Line

Bequia Southern Grenadines

Ok, I really need to catch up here. The problem is the lack of consistent internet in the Grenadines.

Bequia is one of our favorite islands. The islanders are very friendly,we weren’t bothered by boat boys, the island has great beaches and cheap rotis. We spent about a week there, mostly kept in by squalls, but found time for mexican train dominoes with Fine Line, Toucan and Dream Maker, and of course, plenty of cheap rotis.

Canouan the next island is alright. Mostly it’s a base for Mooring charters. We walked into town and watch a cricket match for awhile then ate a very overpriced meal at the Pirates Pub with Fine Line and Dreammaker. More Mexican trian dominoes as we were again hit with bad weather.

Mayreau is an interesting little island. Friendly people, great dinner at Dennis Hideaway. The cruise ships have taken over the beach though. It is an interesting STEEP walk into town from the beach but well worth it to see the small church and the view from the top.