St Vincent and the Grenadines

We left Carriacou toward the end of October and due to insurance restrictions cannot go above 12 degrees 40 minutes latitude. So we hung around Union Island and Mayreau for a few days until November 1st. Then we set sail for Bequia which is one of our favorite stops.

We visited Liz at her home on Bequia and got caught up on things happening in her garden and with her trip back to the UK last year. It was a lovely day and great to catch up.

Sailing to Bequia

Also in the anchorage was Sinbad and Nervana64 so we had drinks with Morgan, Karmen and Randy/ We felt like a little exercise too so we had a couple of snorkel trip with Karmen and Randy showing us their favorite sites. First we went out to the Moon Hole where the houses are built into the rocks. You might remember we tried to walk to these last year. Well we got a good look at the buildings and a better look at the underwater world.

Karmen and Randy

You can still rent these

Houses built into the rocks

The Moon Hole

Juvenile Spotted Drum

A couple of Lobsters

Our second snorkel trip was to the Devils Table, a dive site on the north side of the harbor. We found some lovely fish and a great snorkel spot.

Coral Butterflyfish

Foureye Butterflyfish

Spotted Moray Eel

Smooth Trunkfish

Jewelfish

Also in the anchorage were Harm and Lizzie of Horta, our Dutch friends we see so much of in Carriacou. We took a trip to St Vincent on the ferry from Bequia for a day out. We got to see several of the local churches which are very nice and did a little shopping as well.

Riding the ferry over to St Vincent

A very distinctive church

Nice internal gardens

No traffic lights so they do it the manual way.

Liz and Lizzie

 This one window has quite a history. Apparently made for St Paul's Cathedral in England and Queen Victoria felt Angels do not wear red, so she donated it to St Vincent instead.

Window donated by Queen Vistoria

well it wasn't all play in Bequia, we had some time to get our varnish done on the toe rails.

Devin hard at work

We had a fabulous time in Bequia and really enjoyed meeting up with our friends. Now its time to head north to Martinique for a little restocking of the essential French foods and drinks.

Sailing past the Pitons in St Lucia

Our first stop was Le Marin for restocking at Leader Price and Carrefore.

The wonderful dock to Leader Price. So convenient.

They rebuilt it after the storms this year too

We then went out to St Anne to enjoy a few walks and hikes and to get back into noodling at sea for exercise.

Lovely views of the sea on the hikes

The hike to Caritan beach

The beach at St Anne

So sad to see boats lost.

Well it's early December and in a few days our good freinds from the UK, Bones and Anna on Emily Morgan cross with their guests on the ARC rally from the Canaries. So we are off to St Lucia and |Rodney bay to greet them.

Carriacou Storms & Celebrations

We started September with Liz's birthday and left Tyrell Bay for the beautiful Sandy island just outside the bay. It was nice to get out of the bay for a few days and be on our own. We spent teh days walking on the beach and of course snorkeling the reef here.

Butterfly fish, always in pairs it seems

Beautiful sponges

Spotted Eel

A nice meal if it wasn't in the park.

A crab feeding

Nice color

Sandy Island moorings

We rushed back to Tyrell bay after the birthday weekend because tropical Storm Irma was on its way, although way north of us we didn't want any issues as it was forecast to become huge.

Bringing Les in

Moosetracks safely tied in

The Leeward islands got the brunt of the Category 5, the highest you get, Hurricane Irma. The devastation was awful and very wide spread.

Ok here we go again now for tropical storm Maria, it was again forecast to be a category 5. we didn't want to chance anything again as the storm surge was quite bad for Irma so here we are again.

The boat next to us had a film crew visit it!

A ridiculous amount of bad storms

The surge was by far the worst of the 4 storms this year, it destroyed some of the new docks around the new marina.

The really bad surge after Maria

Getting back to normal and snorkeling one afternoon on Oscar's wreck we found lots of new sea life. The wreck is now breaking up quite a lot and is gathering a lot more sealife.

Lobster now make it home

Lots of fish on the wreck

Devin got in a few Loinfish hunts with Lumbadive during September too.

A slipper lobster

A few lionfish

We helped the cruisers in the bay raise money for the Islands hit by this years storms. A local man, Gus, was taking his own boat to Dominica were he has family. So we loaded Gus with donated items for Dominica.

Helping load teh boat

Some donated items collected

The bay returns to normal, we hope for a while at least.

So we are back to boat projects now the storms have settled. First up is the Stay-sail repair for the sun cover.

Liz sewing the Staysail at Richard and Diane's house

Well soon we will be off again to Islands and anchorages north. It has been a wonderful season in Carriacou and we loved every minute of it.

We hope all our freinds are safe and had a great summer.

Dive Fest - Carriacou & Grenada

The Grenada tourism board has arranged a week long diving experience and with all the dive shops in the association participating with great offers Devin had to enroll.

Getting started we have to celebrate Josh's birthday, he is a very young 24 today.

Wreck dive #1 - Westsider

Devin taking video

A lobster in hte wreck

Richard leaving the wreck

Richard my instructor didn't see the barracuda behind him

A lovely Angel fish

Deep growth on this wreck

Wreck dive #2 - Rose Wreck

A port was left open, I just had to.

Tickling a sting ray, harder than it looks to get close up

A moose salute

Reef dive #1 - Sisters Rock

Lovely Sponges all over the rocks

Lots of lobster in this park area too

A spotted Eel

Celebrating dive fest

Reef dive #2 - Something Special

A wonderful shallow reef dive

A crab in a sponge

A lovely cowfish

A banded butterfly fish

A Thompson Angelfish

A nice contrast in fish colors

Environmental dives & Land Clean-up

Banded shrimp in a sponge

Our beach clean up collection, a lot was collected

Lion Fish Hunt and BBQ

Devin caught one of the bigger Lionfish on the wall dive

Our dive group

A lot of Lionfish cleared from the reef and ready to eat

Preparing the fish, Devin got plenty of practice

Visit to the other dive business

The night time BBQ of Lionfish

A great time for all

We had a wonderful week diving with Lumbadive, Richard and Diane made teh week absolutely spectacular. If you ever get to Carriacou you must go diving there is so much to see and the water is so clear most of the time. Lumbadive are highly recommended if you do.