Grenada Carnival

Port Louis Marina, St Georges, Grenada

No sooner are we returned from the UK and we are plunged into Grenada Carnival.  The marina is basically on the route so you can either sit on board listening to incredibly loud Soca at 3am or go out and join in!

Carnival starts on Monday morning with J’Ouvert, a 5am start to find the streets filled with people. 

The history is that the Jab Jab demons that own the night are gradually pushed back to where they belong by the sunlight and the people. 

The reality is a 50:50 split between people covered in old motor oil and people covered in brightly coloured paint. 

Sadly like everywhere else in the world corporate marketing types have got involved so yellow paint for the Carib Beer float, red for Digicel etc.  That said it’s lots of fun.

After a well earned rest we are back on the streets for the Pretty Mas, the traditional carnival parade all colours, feathers, sequins and dancing – a spectacular sight and best summed up in photos.

		Pretty Mas VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The best thing being the complete lack of body image issues, no matter your age, colour, BMI get out there whack on an outrageous costume and shake what you’ve got.

Another rest before the final leg of a long day, Night Mas.  We had joined up with the Carib Beer float.  So we walked the 3 miles into town behind a booming sound truck, chipping and whining, waving our light sabres and drinking free beer.

The trips to the beer truck to get refills were either painless (no queue) or like a scene from a famine in Africa as 100 people hang off a slowly moving truck banging cups on the sides and begging for beer from the overworked and stressed “relief” workers.

At 2am we called it a day missing the final 2 miles into the national stadium and generally being useless cruiser woosies rather than hardened Carnival party goers!

Back From UK and Canada

Port Louis Marina, Grenada
After a few weeks of boat chores we parked Matsu in Port Louis marina to keep her safe and most importantly insured for hurricanes and I caught the Virgin flight to the UK for 4 weeks with family and friends there, Linda had a short stay on the boat, weeks in Canada for Anouck and Jimmy’s wedding, back to Matsu for a week and then 2 weeks in the UK with me arriving just in time for the Olympics, we even got to go and see Canada beat Team GB in women’s soccer at Coventry stadium much to Linda's delight.

As usual the trips home were lots of fun and with nowhere near enough time to catch up with all our friends – to those we saw we wish we could have seen more of you and those we missed altogether, sorry we didn’t make it and we promise to do better on our next trip!

We are now back on board and gearing up for Carnival in Grenada.

Travels To Grenada

Prickly Bay, Grenada

We have had a pretty fast trip down to Grenada from the Virgin Islands, we finally left Virgin Gorda on 6th May, with a goal of getting here in time to do a few boat chores before heading off on our various land trips in July/August.

First stop was St Martin and the long awaited reunion with French supermarkets. 

In conjunction with Bleu Marie we organised a blind taste testing evening of 12 wines, 4 saucisson and countless cheeses – what decadence, what gluttony, what joy! 

We set a self imposed target of a maximum of 4.50 Euros a bottle to compare with the various US chateau cardboards we have been drinking while in the Bahamas and Virgin Islands. 

We managed to remain sober enough to write down the details of the wines, most drinkable, the odd horrible and a couple that were very good – so the next day we returned to the shops to buy a couple of cases of the good stuff!

Even Charlie got to do his own taste test!  Although he prefers the posh US vet only food to the crappy French cat biscuits!

Next stop is St Barts, one of our favourites, we spend a few days in the superb Anse Colombier enjoying the weather and the water, some great hiking and a fabulous lunch in sophisticated Gustavia to celebrate 15 years together.

Onwards ever onwards we sailed from St Barts to Guadeloupe stopping overnight for a sleep at Montserrat, the anchorage there was very comfortable and we must go back soon to do the volcano tours.

A few days in Des Haies doing some sightseeing, a trip to Carrefour to stock up on French delicacies for hurricane season, and for Linda some busy days as she makes some stunning cockpit cushions for Bleu Marie.  When we bought Matsu Linda got an industrial sewing machine and has gradually pushed back the boundaries of yacht sewing starting with some simple covers and through to our dodger that she made so well in 2011.  The combination of Michelle’s artistic eye for colours and Linda’s sewing making for a stunning addition to Bleu Marie.

From Des Haies a long and superb sail to Roseau Dominica for the night and then on to Grand Anse D’Arlet in Martinique, where we ran into our long lost cruising friends Sam and John on Imagine, last seen in early 2009. 

We found them in great form and sailed with them on to Rodney Bay St Lucia for a few days of exploring that area.  Highlight being a superb hike up to the old fort and gun placements with spectacular views back over Rodney Bay.

We also got our first Roti of the trip at the excellent Jambe De Bois on Pigeon Island – heaven.

Another great but long sail took us from Rodney Bay direct to Bequia via the Pitons of St Lucia, great views and safely anchored before sunset at Bequia.  We celebrated Linda’s birthday there before a final leg to Carriacou and Grenada our home for hurricane season.

US & British Virgin Islands

Bitter End, Virgin Gorda

We noticed today that we have been in the Virgin islands for nearly 2 months now, so consider ourselves very lucky!  Previous trips here were much shorter and it has been great to explore some different places.

St John has been a real favourite, most of the island is national park and is covered in hiking trails. The trails wind through the forest and up and over the mountains taking in old sugar plantations, petroglyphs and stunning views over the islands.

The other highlight has been sailing once more, after hundred of miles of head winds and seas it has been so good to hoist the sails, slipping silently from place to place in sheltered waters.

It has also been a very sociable few months, guests on board, catching up with sailing buddies we haven’t seen for years and waving sad farewells to Chandelle and Bella as they turn round and head for the USA.

		Virgin Islands VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL