Carriacou and Grenada

We moved from Union Island down to Carriacou and checked into the country of Grenada. We had some extra paperwork here because of swine flu. We all had to go into Immigration so that they could see that none of us were sick or had pink curly tails. Apparently, we were OK since the colorful Grenada flag was soon flying on the starboard spreader of Emily Grace.

The most populated island of the Grenadines, Carriacou has superb beaches, quaint rum shops, excellent diving and extraordinary scenery. Believed to have gotten its name from the Carib word for "land of reefs", Carriacou's coral origins are best represented by the six mile barrier reef on the eastern side of the island, while Kick 'Em Jenny, the active underwater volcano, is evidence of Carriacou's volcanic past.

We moved around to Tyrell bay which is more protected and cleaner. We caught up to Whiskers and enjoyed talking with them again and then we left for Grand Mal bay on the main island of Grenada. On the way we stopped and anchored near near the Kick 'Em Jenny active underwater volcano to do some snorkeling and have lunch. Luckily the volacano was quiet for our visit.

When Christopher Columbus sailed by Grenada in 1498, the island was already inhabited by the Carib Indians. The admiral dubbed the island Concepcion, but passing Spanish sailors found its lush green hills so evocative of Andalusia that they rejected this name in favor of Granada. The French then adapted Granada to Grenade, and the British followed suit, changing Grenade to Grenada (pronounced Gre-nay-da).

In 1979, an attempt was made to set up a socialist/communist state in Grenada. Four years later, at the request of the Governor General, the United States, Jamaica, and the Eastern Caribbean States intervened militarily. Launching their now famous "rescue mission," the allied forces restored order, and in December of 1984 a general election re-established democratic government.

We found the holding of the bottom in Grand Mal bay to be rubble and not particularly good so we went around to Prickly Bay on the southern coast and saw John and Mary again on Navigator. We each reviewed our options for the hurricane season.

We took the island public bus (about 92 cents each) to the town of St. Georges with Byron and Lynn from Voyager for the day. We climbed up to the Fort and enjoyed the views. The market was really nice. We bought bags of whole nutmegs and cocoa balls for almost nothing and Maggie even gave us bags of Tamarind with instructions to make Tamarind tea. We learned that Nutmeg is not a nut, but the kernel of an apricot-like fruit. Mace is an arillus, a thin leathery tissue between the stone and the pulp; it is bright red to purple when harvested, but after drying changes to amber.

Tom cleaned the bottom again to prepare for the overnight passage to Trinidad next week and we took an island tour to see the Chocolate Factory (http://www.grenadachocolate.com/index.html) and Belmont Estate in the Northeast area of the island. The chocolate factory makes organic chocolate largely with solar power and more details can be found at the link above to their website. We learned about the entire chocolate production process from the cocoa bean harvest, fermentation, drying and processing. Our women had their chance to assist the drying process by rotating the cocoa beans in the drying trays with their bare feet.

The Belmont Estate dates back to the late 1600s, during the colonial area, when plantations were first established under the system of land allocation under French rule. Throughout its history, Belmont has played a major role in Grenada's agricultural economy. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, it was one of the 81 plantations established on the island with coffee being its major produce. Sugarcane was introduced as the main crop later in the 1700s; the ruins of the water mill remains as testament to that part of its history. Cotton, was also a major crop of the estate, being later replaced with cocoa, nutmegs in the 1800s and bananas coming later. The estate is still a major producer of cocoa and nutmegs and a fine example of a traditional historic plantation.

Lunch at the Belmont Estate was really special and we all enjoyed the steaming hot white hand cloths that were presented to us with tongs to clean our hands before the meal. This was another first for Emily and it brought back memories of first class airline flights back during those work years for me. We wandered the grounds and saw orchids, birds, fruits and even some monkeys in cages.

A sad memory of Grenada was saying farewell to John and Mary on Navigator. They have cruised with us now and again almost since the very beginning of our trip in Connecticut. Our path will take us to Trinidad and their destination was West to Bonaire and to Panama. Although we will most likely head there in several months, their schedule will move them too quickly for us to catch up. I have no doubts that we will keep in touch and connect when we decide to settle down back in Massachusetts.

We all checked out of this spice island and readied ourselves for the overnight 82 mile trip to Trinidad…land of wild parrots, monkeys, leatherback turtles and steel drums.

Tom