January, 2007 - Ah, back to Carriacou, geographically part of the Grenadines, but a territory of Grenada, home to very friendly people who are happy to see you and help you if they can.
We left St. George’s at daybreak on Tuesday, January 9th, arriving here that same afternoon, not a long trip at all. Tyrrel Bay is home for now. Our friends on Vixen had left the day before we arrived, but Dan and Jaime on S/V Nereia were here, as well as Deb and Mark on S/V Sea Cycle (Toronto).
Here along the beach there are several small grocery stores and many rum shops and restaurants. We’re in the process of trying them all! We can also walk up the road to Henrietta’s Bakery for fresh bread and fish cakes or take the bus (like the maxi-taxi’s in Trinidad) to Hillsborough, the main village on the island. Sometimes finding exactly what you need requires visits to three or four different shops, but you’d be surprised at what is available. If your favorite place to buy fresh lettuce doesn’t have any, the proprietor will advise of the next best place.
Once we were here and settled in, it wasn’t long before we had problems with both outboard engines. Another cruiser recommended a young man named Thomas, a Rastafarian, who had fixed his. Kathleen met him quite by accident one afternoon at the beach, and the next day Roland found him and made arrangements to work on both of ours. Thomas worked on them and got both of them running properly, much to our delight. Roland had to use a hammer and punch of his own to help because Thomas doesn’t have much in the way of tools. So when we went to town, we bought a hammer and punch to give to Thomas.
One Sunday afternoon we took a hike up a hill overlooking the bay to take pictures of the boats at anchor. This, of course, required the ride to the dinghy dock at the haul-out yard. From there we walked along the beach which was mostly bits and pieces of dead coral, the brain variety of large coral heads (dead) and some black sand. After hiking up the grassy slope, dodging goat droppings and cow chips, we reached a lightly wooded area where we found a cannon that has to be 300 years old. What a time the soldiers must have had pulling that up the hill! We climbed a little higher and were rewarded with a view toward the south, reefs and a few small rocky islands, and lots of water! Retracing our steps downward we found another cannon in the trees about 30 feet from the first one. A little further down we discovered cattle grazing off to our right. No problem. They weren’t interested in us. Back along the beach we were suddenly face to face with a young white bull whose look of utter panic was laughable. He quickly moved into the trees to the side, and we carefully passed by along the water’s edge.
Later in the week we were walking along the main road past the market when what did we see but the same three cattle grazing in a small lot. Apparently they wander around and eat where they please, but they probably go home to get their drinking water. That’s what we found out the goats do, the ones who wander loose along the roads and hillsides. There were some small black pigs roaming along one road, but there was a young boy rounding them up as they had sneaked out a gap in their fence.
We’ve been busy making friends with the locals. Most are happy to visit and talk wherever you meet. Catherine owns the Seaside Fountain and cooks lunches and dinners. Steven, aka "The Mighty Scraper" (a calypso singer), owns Scraper’s Holiday Cottages, Restaurant, Bar and Gift Shop. Lucky is a woman who has a rum shop/restaurant where she serves BBQ on Saturday nights. It’s become a cruiser hangout on Saturday’s! Most people wouldn’t recognize Lucky’s as a particularly pleasant place to frequent. It’s walls are galvanized tin, painted a turquoise color, and it’s small. Likely including the kitchen it’s only fifteen feet by 30 feet in size, but patrons stand outside if necessary and good food and friendly people abound.
The local Harvey Vale Government School (grammar school) held its Independence Day celebration (it’s been 33 Years) on January 30th (actually a few days early). All people in the area were invited so we attended and found only one other cruising couple there. What a fun morning we had, with over 100 children in costume, flags waving everywhere, many examples of local foods, customs, etc., and total excitement in the air. They actually work for prizes as all island schools are judged on their efforts.
We intend to go back and spend some time working on the school building as for example, the library is only about 8 feet by 12 feet, broken door (no hinges), very few books, etc. Kathleen will see if some of her bookstore contacts can arrange donations of some books to help stock the shelves. Roland has 3 hinges which are not good for the boat and he intends to go back with some tools and install the hinges and the door, perhaps even supply a hasp and padlock, which is needed. You would not believe the bare bones supplies in this school. One Peace Corp. Volunteer is currently sorting some old donated computers in an attempt to get a few working. Actually, they need some additional wiring also, as there’s only one strip plug for whatever computers might run. Maybe we can also help in that regard. We’ll see what the principal would like done.
We’ll likely spend another few days here in Tyrell Bay. We feel the smaller village is more like what the Caribbean was like years ago, before so many of the nice anchorages were "spoiled" by progress, meaning large marinas, crowds, etc. Even though Tyrell Bay often hosts 70-90 boats at least overnight, the area around it has been relatively unspoiled by tourist dollars. One large marina is in construction, but progress is slow, and it’s not certain how it will eventually affect the area.
Next cruising area is Sandy Island, Petit Martinique, Union Island, the Tobago Cays, etc., all very much recommended as "must see." (Subm. 1/31/2007)
