After a month of Suriname, we set course for Grenada on Monday 17 January at 9.00 am. Initially we wanted to go to Trinidad and Tobago, especially to see Tobago, but it is complicated and expensive to enter this country, so we decide to sail between the two islands on to Grenada. A crossing of ‘only’ 5 days, so that seems like a breeze after THE crossing from Cape Verde to French Guyana / Suriname. We must, however, be vigilant off the coast of Venezuela because of piracy incidents, so we decide to sail together with the Belgian Älskling ll and turn off our AIS and lights at night near Venezuela. We sail one more time down the Suriname River and leave the brown river water behind us; once offshore, the blue color of the water slowly returns.
It’s all a bit more difficult along the way. After all, it is 570 nautical miles, about 5 days of sailing, you still have to get used to it and ‘swing in’ for 2 days, so you feel a hung-over. We also do not sail downwind like with THE crossing, but half wind to a reach, in short (for me) there is some underestimation. We do still have some delicious Surinamese food from Warung Rita with us for the road!
Friday morning, we see land emerging. The 1st view shows a very green island in a beautiful blue sea. Here we are at the islands that I only know by name from the Olympics. Later, the road along the marina in St. George turns out to be called the Kirani James Blvd after the Grenadian athlete who won an Olympic gold medal in London in 2012 in the 400 m sprint, silver in 2016 and bronze in the summer of 2021. A real celebrity here in Grenada! There is also a Kirani James Athletic Stadium in St. George.
The instructions for entering Grenada are as follows: moor at a mooring in front of the marina of St. George, the capital of Grenada and the only place where you can clear in due to Covid. Then with your dinghy and the necessary papers, including a PCR test taken in Suriname, to Customs and Immigration at the marina. He first sends us to a lady under a kind of party tent who checks our health (temperatures), vaccinations (luckily also had a booster shot in Suriname) and PCR test. If everything turns out to be in order, we can continue!
As soon as we were moored at the mooring, we had a lovely swim and showered under our outdoor shower (which was wonderful!), so that after clearing in we decided to go out for a SIM card and a restaurant. It turns out to be a brisk walk around the bay. The sim cards appear to have run out and with difficulty we find a restaurant all the way on the other side of the bay. We should have gone with the dinghy, but yeah, that’s in hindsight. The town is somewhat run down, many people on the street, a lot of honking of cars and vans calling you and a lot of loud music. Maybe all a bit much after 5 days and nights at sea………….
The next morning after a wonderful night’s sleep and waking up with a beautiful blue ocean around, we sail into the harbor of St. George. This marina is luxurious with huge yachts and all kinds of facilities. It feels a bit strange, such a white enclave with all sailors and then the people of the island outside the fence. In general, they do not show very readily which is a considerable difference with the friendly Surinamese population.
We take a tour of the island with the crew of the Älskling II. Beautiful greenery everywhere with the blue ocean in the background. Quite hilly and here too the somewhat reserved population. Again, we swam in the ocean and also in a waterfall. We notice that the people of Grenada who have to deal with tourists are more open to a conversation. The next day we wave goodbye to our 3rd crew member who helped us across the ocean. Thanks Ingo and see you in Europe!
After repair of the rigging where when tightening the lower stays the forestay breaks with a loud bang and we have to start again to get this repaired (it takes us 2 days and a lot of money) we leave Grenada behind us and sail via 2 anchor bays to Carriacou, the island above Grenada which is also part of Grenada. Carriacou is upwind, so for the first time since Brittany in France (last July) we have to tack again and sail upwind.
There are many boats in the bay at Carriacou; many also left alone and it all feels a bit dead.
We move on to Sandy Island and it is really beautiful here! The bounty feeling is all there with the small island with palm trees, the immense blue water and only a dozen boats around us. Pelicans fly in between the boats and dive into the turquoise water to catch fish. We snorkel and windsurf and make a ‘boat sign’ at a beach club on wood that we have been here.
After two weeks in Greneda and Carriacou, we will do a PCR test and then within 72 hours, hop…… on to Union Island, 1 of the islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
