Tyrell Bay Part 2

At Tyrell Bay yachts leave and arrive constantly. Sooner or later friends and acquaintances you've met while traveling are bound to turn up! Just as we were feeling a bit lonely, in came Doug & Katie on S/V Casa Tu with pals Chris & Elaine on S/V Nemo and we got on very well indeed. We went snorkeling together on the other side of the island and entertained each other for drinks etc.....then S/V Chrystal Blue arrived ( Neil & Ley), a pleasure to see again...then S/V Galatea, Ernst & Anne Marie, who gave us information including brochures from further north, very handy! We also visited fellow Hunter owners Michael & Pam aboard S/V Moorhen of Yorkshire, who entertained us for afternoon tea and delicious homemade cake.

S/V Crystal Blue

Walking back from snorkeling 

We had discovered a big mama pig chained to a tree near the boatyard and we collected our peelings, carrot tops etc to feed her. We had checked on the internet what was ok to feed pigs and the owner said it was ok and that she was pregnant.

Lovely Mama Pig

A disturbing feature of Tyrell Bay, was the poisoning of dogs by one individual or more....very sad. The Lambi Queen was where we went to get wifi and one day their puppy started foaming at the mouth as Alison was stroking him. She rushed in the bar to let the owners know that the puppy had been poisoned. We don't know what happened however we didn't see the puppy again.

On one trip ashore, we pulled our dingy up on the beach, then some more. We popped into the local shop and along to the greengrocer. When we returned 'Lil'Arty', the dinghy was gone!!!! A French couple had just landed and we asked them if they had seen it...no they hadn't. Looking out into the bay we eventually spotted it, almost back to Artemis...unmanned. Luckily for us a couple of local guys who had a floating bar/restaurant in front of our boat caught it for us. The French guy offered to take me to the dinghy and we set off to retrieve it. Unfortunately he ran out of petrol a few yards off shore but it was ok as he had petrol on his yacht which was close by.....oops his wife had the key back on shore 'C'est la vie' said I. By this time, the local guys had started our dinghy engine and brought it to us with theirs in tow. We thanked them profusely and tipped them each $10EC...thanks again guys! After that incident we always tie or chain the dinghy to a tree or post.

Another dinghy related mishap, was when locking it to Artemis on an evening, l dropped the padlock overboard. The next day Alison got her snorkeling gear on and tried to find it and retrieve it. She managed to find but had difficulty trying to reach it which was about 6 meters down on the sea bed. Then I had a go, with instruction from Alison ( She's a much better swimmer than me) on my technique. By taking a small breath instead of a big one, l could almost reach it. Alison inspired and rested had another go and came up victorious with padlock in hand...well done!

Got the padlock back!

After quite a number of weeks we set off for Bequia, highly recommended only a couple of islands away (about 4 hrs).

Weighing anchor proved quite a challenge...even when the boat was directly above and breaking out the anchor, I found it extremely difficult to pull the anchor up. When it surfaced the reason became  clear. I had not only pulled up our 20kg Bugle but also a rusty 35lb CQR with attached chain of unknown length as well. Thankfully it wasn't in use by another yacht but part of the discarded/lost items that foul many popular anchorages. I dislodged the extra anchor from ours as we exited the bay. If it had been a Rocna or other good anchor I would have got it aboard some how some way! Haha!

Trinidad - Carriacou

In the late afternoon of 19/3/17 we left Trinidad for Carriacou (small island North of Grenada). An evening start is recommended to avoid Venezuelan Pirate boats. The latest report was during the recent fishing competition....a sports fisher boat was approached by armed men in a high speed boat. The fishing boat cut his lines and made a run for it and due to its more powerful engines was able to escape back to Trinidad.

We motored along the Northern coast for a hour or so, then headed North again close hauled, as close to the wind as we possibly could and the current pushed us sideways. The night was blustery to start with however calmed down the nearer we got to Grenada. We cleared the windward side with no problems through the oil fields. A look at our chart plotter told us that to have the current in our favour, to sail through the pass between Grenada and Carriacou, we needed to step on it a bit. More sail out and we had a knot and a half faster (7 1/2 knots), we made it! Unfortunately we didn't reach Tyrell Bay before nightfall, arriving at 7:30pm in moonless darkness....not recommended! We cautiously entered the bay, Alison on the bow with a search light. We avoided an anchored tug, a couple of sailboats and anchored as soon as possible in 7 meters of water with 35 meters of chain.

We got a surprise come morning, as our estimate of half a dozen yachts, after counting anchor lights, turned out to be more like 40. We moved closer in the bay in daylight to 5 meter depth for better shelter from swell and shorter dinghy rides ashore.

Artemis in Tyrell Bay

Tyrell Bay

The customs etc is all in one office at Tyrell Bay Marina and the road along the beach shore is lined with shops, bars, restaurants and Scuba Diving businesses. It's a lot quieter here and a real pleasure to swim off the back of Artemis into the clear blue water.

The main town of Hillsborough is a short minibus ride away and although this island is more expensive than we have previously experienced, there is value to be had and a surprising variety of goods.

The anchored boats change daily with charter and private yachts, coming in and out and several cruisers we met in Trinidad have, to our pleasure, paid a visit.

The climate is pretty ideal, being a little cooler with a strong breeze from the land and great solar power as the boats back to westward. The only negative is the lack of rain, to catch at this time of year and so we have had to purchase 40 liters from the Marina.

Alison's finished Grenada flag

Feeding the pig

Lovely walk over the Island 

Miles & Alison, Doug & Kate S/V Casa Tu (we had been snorkeling in the bay behind us)

Alison found our dinghy lock after I dropped it!

An old wreck that didn't make it into Tyrell Bay