Independence had a fabulous passage south. We left from Norman Island in the BVI on Thursday, July 10th headed for Carriacou, a small island about 350 miles south southeast of us and just north of Grenada. It is one of our favourite places and if you have read the rest of the log you will remember that we rode out Hurricane Emily there a few years ago. The weather was benign, just enough wind to drive us at about 5 or 6 knots, easy seas and the Aries self steering gear at the wheel. We had a visit from a pod of dolphins, the first group we have seen in years, and they stayed with us for over an hour doing the dolphin dance around the bow, jumping up to check us out and putting on quite a show for Pieter and me.
Everything was perfect until early Sunday morning when a line chafed through on the Aries and suddenly we weren't going the right way. I was on watch and it took a few minutes to figure it out but it was a lovely night so I took a turn at the helm for an hour or two until Pieter came up and we set up the auto pilot. It works really well, too, but uses a lot of electricity. The wind was being blanketed by St.Vincent anyway so we rolled up the jib and cranked up the engine and proceeded on our way. Diesel has gone through the roof here in the Caribbean too, so we were happy to only have to use the engine for a few hours. We arrived in Carriacou around 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we missed all but one of the heavy rain squalls surrounding us but at least we got all the salt washed off Independence (Pieter too!) before we dropped the hook!
As always it was lovely to be at anchor, to be able to put my cup down without it flying off the table and to enjoy an uninterrupted nights sleep. I never think about those things until I don't have them. I love going to sea too, maybe it is like banging your head against the wall because it feels so good when you stop! On Monday we cleared in with customs and immigration in Carriacou, always an adventure and sometimes very frustrating but once we were done with all the paperwork we were free to re acquaint ourselves with Hillboro. It is a step back in time and really reminds us of the Caribbean of the 60's. That said, cyber cafes are everywhere, everyone is skyping and cell phones and satellite dishes are very popular. It was easy to check in with our kids and get all the news from home. We had no problem getting fresh produce and for everyone who likes our rum punch, nutmegs were readily available! After a morning of dealing with officialdom, e-mailing and shopping it was great to get back to the peace and quiet of Independence.
One of the highlights of the cruising life is meeting other cruisers. First to show up was Gypsy Queen; Bob and Mary are part of the Red Hook coffee klatch and it was great to have them aboard and hear about their adventures. Their trip south will make a much better novel then ours but they were enjoying the Grenadines on their way to haul out in Grenada and encouraged us to visit the Tobago Cays. We have stopped there many times and it is a lovely reef surrounding a group of small sandy cays. The St.Vincent government has recently declared it a marine park and it is being monitored much like our own National Park in St. John. We had a wonderful visit, the rangers are controlling traffic speed and making sure that anchors are only dropped in sand. I saw several turtles (just like our Scot Beach) grazing in a buoyed off area plus lots of colourful fish and one spotted moray eel.
We visited a friend in Mustique and heard all about the big 40th Mustique Company birthday party, later read in People that Mick Jagger and Prince William and his girlfriend were there, timing is everything! In Bequia we came across Sinbad, last seen in St. John circa 1996. Doug and Bethanne, and toddlers Antares and Azzura, were planning to circumnavigate. Sinbad is a gorgeous old iron freighter about 85 feet long. They fitted her with masts and sails to help push and to stabilize her, rebuilt the interior with comfortable accommodations and a very complete metal and woodworking shop. Then they disappeared from our view, but, July 26th, my birthday, there they were anchored in the middle of Admiralty Bay. We had a great visit and caught up on some of their adventures. Antares is off running a large yacht in the Mediterranean and Azzura is off to university in Paris. Doug does beautiful sculptures in bronze and Bethanne is translating while they wander the Caribbean. We also met up with Gallivanter and crew, Kirk, young son Stuart and Catherine (she was Peter's secretary at the boat yard) who are sailing slowly west with the idea of settling for a bit in Australia!
It was hard to tear ourselves away from Bequia but we had a date with the boat yard in Ottley Hall and good friends Angela and Joe Browne waiting to help us so we headed across the Bequia channel and back to our old home island of St.Vincent. I daysailed out of St.Vincent in the early 70's with our old schooner, Evoe, and my mate was Lorrain Ross, he is a captain now but a good friend and he agreed to do a bunch of work for us on Independence while we were in the States. Joe is a marine surveyor as well as a good friend so she is in good and qualified hands. The haul out was uneventful, Ottley Hall is a great yard and we were able to get everything stored and put away properly in case of a storm in a day. I'm not sure how we would have done it without the hospitality and help of the Brownes, not to mention Angela's washing machine!
We flew home to St. Thomas in early August for a couple of days. Hillary and Brian and our grand daughter Marisa had moved up to Greensboro, NC, on July 11th and we were anxious to get up there to see them and help with house hunting and resettling. Son Paul had everything under control at home so we flew out on August 7th. It has been a great trip and we are wowed at all that our daughter and son-in-law have accomplished in less than 2 months. Both have jobs, NC drivers licenses, cars, and they will have closed on their house and moved in by mid-September. They have had tremendous help from Brian's family. We will really miss having them here but they have all the support they need from the Murphy's and are making a great life for themselves in America! We now have 2 credit cards with frequent flier miles to get us to Greensboro, so we will be visiting!!
September will be spent in St.Thomas doing house projects, getting caught up on boat paperwork and trying to keep up with the jungle growth in the garden. We have been lucky so far with all the storms but it has been raining, a lot, and I have swapped the varnish brush for gardening gloves!
We fly back to St.Vincent on October 2nd and hope to launch quickly and get back aboard Independence. It will take a day or two to get her back in sailing order, but she will be looking very smart with a new boot stripe, bottom paint and shiny varnish. Our plan is to spend a week or so in the Grenadines and then head to Dominica. We hope to catch up with former Red Hook day sailors, Pat and Stacey of Ike Witt (now on Soon Come) who, rumour has it, have decided to settle in Dominica and build a small cottage hotel. From there it will be - maybe - two days of down wind sailing home.
We'll be back in time to vote in early November and will start daysailing as soon as we can after that. Ray is still planning to sail with me this season and we look forward to having another great season of sailing and exploring aboard Independence.
Come on down and let's go sailing! - Pieter and Pat
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