Moving on South

Well here we are in Grenada, anchored in a sheltered bay just a few yards away from Hog Island after spending a few days in Prickly Bay which is just around the corner. No wifi here so I’ll have to post this when we find another hot spot!( If I post this, then it’s because we have come back to Prickly Bay)
From Prickly Bay, we took the local bus into the capital, St Georges to go shopping etc. Had a beer at the yacht club there and spotted one of my flags on display!
It’s quite a nice place, quiet and with a little beach bar which only sells beer and rum (apart from Coke if that’s what you feel you have to add to the rum)! They did a nice BBQ on Sunday afternoon to which most of the yachties in the bay turned up and so a jolly time was had by all.
We were all interested to know what everyone else was going to do for the imminent hurricane season which officially starts on June 1st. We, and Pete on Troutbridge, are heading south to Trinidad to lay the boat up for a while before we head north and west again after the worst of the hurricane season is over in October/November.
Other yachts will head north up the East coast of the States and quite a few are toughing it out and staying put! Grenada is a long way south and supposedly not much at risk of being hit but hurricane Ivan practically destroyed the island a few years ago and so it has become an insurance risk for boats. There are quite a few boats which have been left here though, the sails etc removed while the owners head home and I suppose they just hope that nothing bad will happen. Other islands like St Lucia are offering sheltered marina berths (very expensive!) and some places have mangrove swamps which usually manage to survive a hurricane so offer some protection to boats sheltering there. We are taking no risks however so south it is and outside the hurricane limits at 10 deg latitude.
Trinidad is supposed to be extremely hot and humid during the summer months so I’m not looking forward to that but we will have air conditioning in the boatyard at least to make things more bearable.
The humidity gets up to around 85% here sometimes and that is not pleasant at all….I don’t think one can acclimatise to it either. You just stay damp and try not to do much physical activity!!!
We are off to yet another “do” tonight specially organized for the yachting community here. This time it’s a burger evening (with a live band) at the marina around the corner. The last do was on Friday night (and every Friday night ) which was a fish fest held in a small town one hour’s bus ride up the West coast….and very good it was too! Cheap, and a steel band to entertain us….much better than the over the top one in Barbados back in January. Photos may follow….
Tomorrow, I’m joining some friends here for an Island tour, another trip specially just for us yachties….must remember to take plenty of water and douse myself in 98% deet beforehand….you never know which bitey things are out there and the Boots “environmentally friendly” stuff just doesn’t work!!!