On the Way to Prickly Bay

We left Carriacou early in the morning for the long sail down the east coast of Grenada. We sailed on a close reach in about 15 knots of wind, a fair wind for this passage. We had debated about going down the leeward side of the island where the seas would be milder, but our previous experience was the lighter and variable winds in the lee of the island’s mountains made the winds erratic and sailing more difficult.

The 36-mile sail down the east coast of Grenada to Prickly Bay.

As we approached a the Les Tantes and Ronde Islands to starboard, we noticed the seas were getting steeper and the wave periods closer. Apparently a major ocean current rushes between these islands and the north tip of Grenada, making the area notorious for rough water. Escape Velocity was an hour behind us so we radio’d to them about the deteriorating sea conditions. They wisely opted to bear off and sail down the west side of Grenada in calmer waters.

Once we were past the northern tip of Grenada the sea conditions moderated and we enjoyed a brisk sail, moving along at about 6 to 7 knots in the fresh breeze. Since we weren’t that far offshore, we marveled at the spectacular views of the green mountainous terrain of Grenada, with the mountain tops peaking out from the clouds from time to time and the waves crashing up on the rocky shoreline.

At around 3:00 pm we rounded a headland and headed into Prickly Bay, one of the more popular anchorages on the southeast side of Grenada. The southeastern end of Grenada is blessed with a number of long, protected bays giving the cruiser a wide variety of anchorages. We found a good spot just off St. Georges Universities’ beach club in about 30 ft. of water. While there was some surge coming around the point, the anchorage was well protected. Approximately 100 boats filled every nook and cranny of the harbor, but it was a large enough area that we didn’t feel crowded.

Prickly Bay Marina.

Prickly Bay seems to attract many American boats, while the nearby Hog Island anchorage attracts boats with kids (given the active kid’s programs on the nearby beach) and Clarks Court Bay has a mix of European and South African boats. The advantages of Prickly Bay were two good restaurants, De Big Fish and Prickly Bay Marina, both of which are very cruiser friendly, and more important, a Budget Marine store right behind De Big Fish. We made many trips into Budget getting various parts and supplies; they have a good selection and the staff is very helpful. They also have a program so cruisers don’t have to pay the 17% value added tax (VAT) charged to locals.

Dry storage yard at Spice Island Marina.

There is a large boat yard, Spice Island Marina, where you can haul your boat out for long-term storage during the hurricane season. I’ve never seen a boatyard jam so many boats into such a limited space, but the more tightly packed the space the safer the boats are in hurricane force winds.

Historic hurricane routes. Grenada lies just south of most tracks.

 
Why are we in Grenada in the first place? Most insurance policies require that boats be south of 12º during hurricane season. Grenada is generally safe from the path of hurricanes, with the exception of Hurricane Ivan, which devastated the island in 2004. Most hurricanes are formed as lo’s off the coast of Africa near the Cape Verde Islands, and travel with the trade winds across the Atlantic. Generally, they begin to turn north to northwest before they hit the area of Grenada.

We had originally planned to leave the boat in a marina in Grenada for the month of July while we traveled back home to Seattle, but a neighbor boat convinced us we’d sleep better at night if we sailed 80 miles south to Trinidad and hauled the boat out.

Devastation from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

We looked at photos of the boats in the Grenada marina, all of which were destroyed during Hurricane Ivan, and decided that even if the hurricane risk was minimal in Grenada, that we would sleep better at night with the boat in Trinidad which is rarely touched by hurricanes.

The salvage tug Flying Buzzard with the burnt hull of a 57-ft custom yacht in Prickly Bay.

There are always risks when you sail, but you try to minimize the ones you have control over. A stark reminder of that was the burned-out hull of a 57-ft. custom sailing yacht that was tied off to a salvage tug just behind us in the harbor. Apparently a week earlier the boat had caught fire in the middle of the night, and while the crew was lucky to get off as thick smoke filled the cabin, unfortunately, there were no boats with fire fighting capabilities so the boat burned to the gunnels. We later met some cruisers in Trinidad who were friends with the British couple who owned the boat and they told us more details of the incident. Apparently the occupants were very lucky to have gotten out alive. Many of the countries we cruise in simply don’t have the rescue/firefighting resources that the US and European countries have to ensure the safety of their citizens. This is why cruisers are so highly dependent on each other for safety and security.

We’ll spend the next couple of weeks exploring Prickly Bay and St. George’s before heading south to Trinidad for our haul out. For now we’re just enjoying reaching our destination after a long, windward sail from Block Island, RI down the coast of the US, through the Bahamas and Exumas, and finally the Leeward and Windward Islands.