Sunday, January 8, 2012

Carriacou

December 27th Carriacou
We left Grenada, which people will tell you is a hard thing to do. Our first stop was an island named Carriacou. We dropped anchor in Tyrrel Bay, a workingman's port--it was rolly and so we didn't put the dinghy down--we could only appreciate what was in our view. So the next morning we moved to Hillsborough which proved to be a much rollier anchorage. While I guided the motor down, Dave did the death defying feat of lowering the dinghy in 25 knots of wind and then his encore was using one hand to drop the motor on the dinghy's stern (timing it to the right rise and fall of the waves) and holding the dinghy with his other hand to the boat which was being propelled forward by current and 3 foot seas. Why would he risk life and limb? We needed to go to shore and check out of the country.

Once on shore we were told to come back in 75 minutes as the officials were headed to lunch. So, off we went walking the length of the town and finding a booming lunch business called Jerked. For $12.00 US we had 3 drinks and two complete meals of jerked pork and curried beef. Next stop was Patty's Deli for bread and sandwich meats. She sold her last baguette as we stood there so we bought bagels and great Italian ham sliced paper thin. Now it was time to check out. The office area held 3 people comfortably and there were 7 of us and 6 backpacks already in there and more trying to squeeze in. Patience paid off and all were taken in the order of arrival. By the time our turn came, they were very appreciative that we knew what we were doing, that we had 3 copies of the paperwork ready, and that we were not rude or confused. They stamped the papers and waved us on to the next check out point. The people and town itself was a delight and we felt very comfortable there. But, our plan was to go to Bequia for New Year's and so off we went at 5 AM with the rising sun and the setting stars as our companions.

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