Trisha Ray - Log of a Travel Artist: Grenada

Showing posts with label Grenada. Show all posts

Sailing the Grenadines - How this Sailing Stuff Got Started

Somehow, this doesn't look - or feel - like France.

It's not.

But this is kind of where it all started.

We're sailing in the Tobago Cays.

The Grenadines. Again.

Tiny islands. Amazing colors.

Sea turtles. Eagle rays. Dolphins.

A trail of starfish leads us back to the boat underwater after a snorkeling expedition.

We find a sailboat, a 57' catamaran, that needs another couple on it.

We volunteer.

With Isabelle, the French chef, and Frédéric, the captain.

We don't even have to do the sailing - or the cooking - ourselves.

Three others, a couple from England and one Swiss fellow, complete our crew.

It's very windy - 25 knots - but oh, the colors of the water!

We visit Carriacou. Saltwhistle Bay, Mayreau. Mopion. Union Island. Eat lobster on Petit Bateau.

Petit Tabac. Petit St. Vincent. Everything very "petit".

Between my feet and that white beach are sea turtles. And fat starfish.

After a sandy salty week, we return to our rented house in Grenada.

We've been here over a month.

Feels almost like home by now.

Grenada.

We'd been here before.

Spice Islands.
Near the end of the chain of Caribbean islands.

Closer to Venezuela than to Miami.

Originally, a few years back, we thought we'd wind up buying and living on a sailboat.

Two years ago, here in the Caribbean, we began seriously learning about boats.

We read. Practiced knots. Took training courses.

We passed numerous exams, and got our licenses for bareboat chartering and coastal cruising, inland waterways, monohull, catamarans, navigation, and probably a couple of others.

We hold licenses from the UK, the US, from Ireland, France, and from the EU.

Countless books and hours of work.

-Not that it really meant we knew what we were doing - by any means.

We spent time on boats in Thailand, in Greece, in France, in Myanmar, in Laos, Indonesia, and all over the Caribbean. I counted 50 islands we'd visited in the Caribbean alone!

(See where Grenada is on my map? WAY south.)

But: At one point, we realized that - living on a sailboat, even a catamaran, isn't for us.

Plus, the idea of dealing with hurricane season - that just made the decision easier.

So we began to look at canal boats in Europe.

We considered over 500 boats (!), mostly online.

Once in France, we inspected 30 boats from the inside, (here's THAT story) and eliminated another 30 from the outside.

I made spreadsheets.
And lists.

And - you know the rest of the story.

When I was a kid, we lived in the Virgin Islands.

Once, I was invited to a friend's birthday party on her parents' boat.

I was probably in first grade.

I remember being SO impressed!

That memory has stuck with me over the years.

I don't think I could swim yet, but man, I wanted to jump off that boat with the other kids.

So I did. Jumped off the boat (still a favorite thing to do-) and started swimming.

Yep. That's when it all started.

Grenada - Watercolors on the Island Side

Here in the Caribbean - far south - things are pretty slow.

Cabier Beach, Grenada. Our apartment is on the left.

But we have plenty of time.

We need to be out of the Schengen area for 2 months.

Our house for the first month here (!) was in the "busy" part of the island. The Lime.

A beautiful tropical gingerbread place - this was our view:

Not very busy, really.

Arriving in the islands after leaving winter in London was quite a shock.

The green hills, colorful houses, blue seas.

The eyes - and the mind - need time to change gears.

We had to go to the police station to get our local driving permits - quite the cultural experience.

The fellow who rented us our car turned out to be the local doctor. Nigerian.

When Stan had a sinus infection, our landlady called the doctor. Turns out he's the guy we rented our car from. He checks Stan out, and says, "I'll pick up the prescription at the pharmacy, they know me, and it'll go faster. Otherwise you'll have to wait."

Then he went to the pharmacy to pick up the prescriptions! All for $30. What service.

(Since they don't pay him much as a doctor, he had a small car rental business on the side.)

During the second month, we moved east - to the windward side. Generally, in the islands, the leeward side has the lovely beaches, but can be warm. The other side is windier. NOt as good for swimming, but more comfortable with the breeze.

On the east side, there are no cities. Few towns.
Bumpy dusty muddy roads.

Goats. Chickens. Pigs.
Enthusiastic roosters.

A few years ago we came to this part of the island.

It turned out to be wonderful - but the first night on Grenada was rough!

Jungles of plantain, papaya, coconut, mango, breadfruit trees.

Nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cashews.
Everything grows here.
And the flowers -!

Beaches without a soul around.
(ok, maybe a few iguanas.)

We found a place to stay at Cabier Beach - and we stayed a month.
It's pretty remote - beautiful - and just right.

View from our apt. No one on the beach but a couple of donkeys.

Pretty soon, it felt like home.

Our local store.

The parrots, the turtles, the monkeys, the zookeeper. (Yes, they even had a small zoo!)

The people who live and work here began to know us and we began to know them.

Weighing scales used at the local "green" market.

It's a mix of French, German and English - and some sort of local Creole.
Alexander, a gentle German, runs the hotel.

Bruno is French and runs the restaurant.

Sometimes a couple of pigs graze the beach, too.

It's seriously relaxed.

We made driftwood sculptures on the beach.

Tried sometimes to catch crabs.

Took daily beach walks.

Enjoyed torrential downpours and spectacular moonsets.

Even took part in a "hash run" - a weekly event with a mix of people, music, noise, color.

Good local beer and BBQ chicken.

(These "hash runs" happen all over the world, apparently. If you find one, try it! It's fun.)

(I drew a LOT of little things in my journals-)

It's the sort of place that - when a visitor comes to eat at the restaurant, everyone winds up sharing stories, and we leave with promises of meeting again somewhere else in the world.

We fed the macaw. Hunted for cashews.

Discussed local politics.

Drew. Played music.

You get the idea.

Grenada isn't glitzy.
It's a regular place, not a "destination".

"Downtown" Crochu.

Most tourists only visit one small corner of the island.

Turns out - it's a great place to spend the winter.

Steel Drums and "Oil Down" - in Grenada

Everyone on the island was talking about "Ail Dung".

-I had NO idea what to make of it.

Turns out, it's "Oil Down", Grenada's national dish.

In fact - it's a whole happening.

It's Independence Day on the "Island of Spice".
Time to enjoy "Oil Down".

Everyone is decorated in Grenada's national colors, red, yellow and green.

The sidewalks are freshly painted.

Stores play national songs all week - "Three Islands, One Nation".

Grenada became independent in 1974.
It was a French colony and a British colony.

Many names are still French:
Morne Rouge, L'Anse aux Epines. Petit Martinique.

(Some are a curious blend of French and English - like "Lower La Tante".)

The British Queen is still on the currency, the Eastern Caribbean dollar.

She's a lot younger in these pictures -

The best place for the "Oil Down" is on the beach.

It's a whole day affair.

Everyone helps. The pot is HUGE. And heavy.

These guys were VERY excited to tell me about their "Oil Down"!

Made with plantains, yams, pumpkin, breadfruit, taro leaves,

salt fish and salt pork, turmeric and coconut milk - and anything else local. Cooked "down" so the "oil" of the coconut infuses the other ingredients.