Back in Grenada

Cas en Bas beach, St. Lucia with an old rocket booster that landed here

Maria hiking in St. Lucia

"Vision", the Ocean Cruising Club Port Officer in St. Lucia with his family

An Ocean Cruising Club dinner in St. Lucia

Maria and Jen (Tanglewood) at Cas en Bas beach

Cas en Bas beach, St. Lucia

Drone picture of the entrance to Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia

Our trusty Yanmar engine getting some much needed care...

Savannah Sky in Sweet Bequia

Dinner with our Blue Water Rally sailing friends, Katrin and Steve (Dorado)

Sweet Bequia. Savannah Sky is the last boat at the bottom of the picture.  Note the anchor and keel scars behind her, indicating boats that hit the reef located there. Geeze.

Savannah Sky under sail - taken by Cat Tales, off Union Island, St. Vincent

Sweet Bequia as I first saw her in 1970

Sunset in Sweet Bequia

Mick outside the Bequia liquor store

Sailors in Bequia headed for the floating bar, Bar One, on the left side of the picture

St. Georges, Grenada.  It has changed a little since this picture was taken, ha ha.

 

                               Cassada Bay, Carriacou

 

S/Y Savannah Sky – March 31, 2024 – Log #18

Savannah Sky Position: 12 degrees 02’ N, 61 degrees 45’ W

St. Georges, Grenada, Caribbean

 

Back in Grenada

 

Let’s see, a lot of water has passed beneath our keel since the last blog entry, or so it seems.

 

We left St. Lucia with our fully serviced and repaired engine, new high pressure water maker hose, new sails and lots of groceries for the voyage south.

 

Our next landfall was in Sweet Bequia, once again.

 

Winter sailing crowds have departed, so all we get to watch were wayward charter boats running aground on the reef right behind where Savannah Sky was moored or anchor too close to other boats in the dark of night.

 

At least we are not lacking for entertainment with all the activity!

 

We spent our days hiking, eating lunch with friends and even a few Happy Hours at a great place called the Cocktail Lab.

 

The mixologist at the Cocktail Lab, Ivor, was amazing at what he could whip up, given just a name of a particular drink.  Of course he has his specialties too, as well as local Hairoun beer and an assortment of RUM.

 

Dawn and Laurie (Cat Tales), their guests for a week (Leo and Jo-Anne from Canada), Linda and Garry (x-July Indian) as well as Charlie and Anina (Prism – who crewed with us across the Atlantic this season) were fun to be with as we lounged in Bequia.

 

Mick Jagger even made a visit to Bequia, from his home on the neighboring island of Mustique.  Mick (well, as everyone knows his name) even posted a picture of himself outside the local liquor store, of all places.

 

The infamous “Boley Bash” even took place where musicians gather and jam the night away.  Some sailors are ‘retired’ musicians who never forget how to play or entertain an audience to keep things rocking.

 

Then it was time for more fare-the-wells, as sailors always tend to do during the waning sailing season that is upon us.

 

Prism went to Trinidad, x-July Indian went back to Canada while Cat Tales stayed around to keep us company before we sailed down to Carriacou.

 

Arrival at the smallish island of Carriacou (part of Grenada) took place just before a monster storm tore through the Bahamas, sending long swells from the far-off storm into the bay we were anchored.  That same storm also destroyed our beloved Trade winds, giving us a strange west wind that blew directly into the anchorage.

 

Luckily, we departed Carriacou’s Tyrell Bay just before the nasty wind and seas penetrated this far south, where it created very uncomfortable conditions for those boats at anchor in the bay.

 

We followed Cat Tales around to the seldom visited eastern side of Carriacou and a lovely anchorage called Cassada Bay.  This remote place gave us a bit of shelter from the unfavorable weather on the other, western side of Carriacou.

 

However, all was not as smooth as we hoped at Cassada Bay. 

 

Around midnight and again at 2:30 in the morning we were hit by what Maria thought was a volcanic eruption under our boat.

 

Savannah Sky bounced, as well as rock and rolled to a beat that was pretty incredible and very uncomfortable for a few minutes each time.

 

Sometimes, when the strong tide changes on the east side of Carriacou, bad things can still happen, as we felt the nasty waves that awoke us from a nice relaxing sleep.

 

The mainland of Grenada could easily be seen from our anchorage so we left the deserted bay and sailed further south, arriving in time for lunch at Port Louis Marina.

 

Port Louis Marina: where we made landfall after crossing the Atlantic Ocean in December.  PLM, as it is known, also has the absolute best hot showers in the entire Caribbean.

 

Funny how that all worked out, ha ha.

 

Now it is time to prepare Savannah Sky for summer hurricane storage in Grenada.

 

Our storage preparation will take us the good part of two weeks with another week’s worth of work while she is out of the water and secured on dry land.

 

Maria is pretty much ready for life on land again, after nearly a year away out at sea and at anchor.

 

Having sailed over 5,200 nm this season is far enough for her; she reminds me from time to time.

 

Captain Steve, well… he’s got salt water on his brain.

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

 

Maria’s final McDonalds French fries on Martinique for quite some time to come, ha ha.  Yes, the containers must be recyclable.  Only the French…

We were interviewed by Salty Abandon, Captain Tinsley, about our adventures on Aspen and Savannah Sky.  The YouTube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxiz9RV5q9g

The street in Gros Ilet, St. Lucia.  I’m not sure what the ice cream cones painted on the street are for…

A young Rasta Fidel Castro, during our hike on St. Lucia?

Jen and Steve (Tanglewood) after a nice hike and lunch with us on St. Lucia.

Ti Punch Happy Hour with Maria, June (Fathom This), Laurie (Cat Tales), me, Dawn (Cat Tales), Susan (Aspen 1), Rachel (Aspen 1) and George (Fathom This).

Ti Punch Happy Hour on Savannah Sky with friends – Dawn from Cat Tales along with Susan and Rachel who now own Aspen (renamed Aspen 1).

Ti Punch Happy Hour on Savannah Sky with friends.

Jim and Donna with Maria and myself in Rodney Bay Marina, St. Lucia.  50 years have passed so quickly, since we last saw them.  Luckily their cruise ship stopped in port and they found us on Savannah Sky to talk about old times.

Bad things happen when we get west swells during the winter in the Caribbean. Our friends on Argernaut from the Netherlands drug anchor and ended up on the beach in Dominica. The boat was salvaged and put on a barge, headed for Martinique.  Dreams can end quickly and without warning…

S/Y Savannah Sky – February 22, 2024 – Log #17

Savannah Sky Position: 14 degrees 08’ N, 060 degrees 56’ W

Le Marin, Martinique, Caribbean

 

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

 

We bypassed St. Lucia on our way up north to Martinique, since winds and seas helped us on our way with a glorious sail as we left St. Lucia in our wake.

 

But we sailed back, to get some marina time for both Savannah Sky and Maria.

 

That means electricity, restaurants and grocery shopping, with many USA items for purchase.  There is even a KFC if we need a chicken fix.

 

Rodney Bay Marina, where we are berthed, hosts the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, or ARC as it is known.  Remember we joined the ARC+ this year.  But the + sign indicates we were a smaller group that made landfall in both the Cape Verde Islands, off Africa, and then on to Grenada.

 

The ARC sails directly from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia and fills this marina to overflowing with sailboats.

 

We have to wait for the ARC rally boats to leave the comforts of Rodney Bay Marina before Savannah Sky is allowed to tie up to a dock.

 

With space for about 200 boats in the marina, things can get very busy at times.

 

Our preference is to be in the marina, rather than anchored out in Rodney Bay proper, for comfort reasons (it can be rolly), less noise than at anchor near the constant booming of music from shore and security issues.

 

Our sailing friends on Cat Tales were hit in the anchorage by an errant Hobie Cat from a resort, two months ago.  Their pretty catamaran sustained a hole in one hull, luckily just above the water line so they didn’t sink.

 

Also in the bay are speeding jet skis that come within inches of anchored boats, just for fun it seems.

 

We’re very happy in the marina!

 

While in Rodney Bay, we were interviewed by Captain Tinsley for her YouTube Channel Salty Abandon.  She was interested in hearing our stories about sailing on Aspen and Savannah Sky and created a podcast.  It can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxiz9RV5q9g

 

Then we had quite a surprise one day.

 

Someone was standing on the dock, calling my name, as I unloaded groceries onto Savannah Sky.

 

Donna, Donna Peterson, the person called to me.

 

My sea water saturated brain ground to a halt as Maria popped up, finally recognizing Donna.

 

Donna is married to Jim, a high school friend I hadn’t seen in 50 years.

 

Jim (and his wife Donna) came to St. Lucia during a cruise ship stop and found Maria, me and Savannah Sky at the dock.

 

It had been 50 years since we went to school together, partied, laughed, camped, canoed, hiked, rode our motorcycles, gambled (we never won), worked at Howard Johnsons Restaurant and drank quite a lot.

 

Yes, Jim is one of my best friends who even stood up to our wedding.

 

We talked about some old times, that’s for sure.

 

What a nice surprise to reconnect after all these years

 

You never know who you might find in the tropics!

 

Still crazy…And forever young.

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…

Ohh la la

 

Savannah Sky in the middle of the mooring field, shown by the red arrow, at Sweet Bequia

Group hike on Bequia with (L to R) Aspen (Rachel and Susan), Garry and Linda (Land dwellers), Maria, Lost Loon (Nancy and Mike), Genesis II, two sailors, Steve and Dakota Dream (Fred) standing in the back

Le Marin mooring field

The mighty Pitons of St. Lucia

Rent this nice place in Ste Anne, Martinique for a stay? These are anchored in the bay.

Maria on Dakota Dream on our way to mainland St. Vincent for a quick visit

Ah the rockets everywhere, painting the sky in Sweet Bequia

What a fantastic sail to Martinique (look at the speed indicator on the left: 7.4 knots!)

Lunch in Le Marin, Martinique (Kirstie on Baybreeze), Steve, Maria, Susan and Rachel (Aspen), Paul (Baybreeze) and standing Jeff and Carla (Latitude).  It was an Island Packet owner's lunch!

                                        Sailing to Martinique and a catamaran can't keep up, ha ha.

 

S/Y Savannah Sky – January 14, 2024 – Log #16

Savannah Sky Position: 14 degrees 26’ N, 060 degrees 54’ W

Le Marin, Martinique, Caribbean

 

Ohh la la

 

After decompressing at the spice island of Grenada, from our tumultuous Atlantic Ocean crossing, it was time to point Savannah Sky’s bow toward the sea again.

 

Before departing the marina in Grenada, we had 12 boxes of gear and our dinghy delivered to us.  These were all our possessions in storage, after cleaning out Aspen, since she was sold to her new owners.

 

It was like Christmas once more for us.  Ah, my tools!  How I missed them, ha ha.  Maria missed her tropical clothes too, some of which were stored on our friend’s boat Cat Tales, in the care of Dawn and Laurie.

 

We then sailed direct to Sweet Bequia, where we spent Christmas with sailing friends once again.

 

We even met up with the new owners of Aspen, Rachel and Susan from Canada, and shared so many stories about Aspen and her travels, not to mention all her systems that need to be taken care of.

 

On New Years Eve, we watched rockets in the air as they painted the sky with people everywhere, from the bow of Savannah Sky in Sweet Bequia.

 

The Caribbean during these holidays is a magical time, welcoming a new year full of hopes and dreams and more adventures.

 

Then the weather gods cooperated as we sailed gently north to Martinique, a true jewel of French islands.

 

Savannah Sky was under full sail for our journey north, hitting speeds unheard of for little Aspen: 7.2, 7.4 and even 7.8 knots with winds right on our beam.  It was a dream sail, with 17 knots of East wind. What a rare and fantastic sail under sunny blue skies in the tropics.  It all seemed worthwhile, after battling the Atlantic Ocean to get here.

 

Now we are anchored at the island of Martinique, with fresh baguettes, French wine and cheeses, and where we can put away our ambitions for a while.

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…