April | 2011 | The Adventures of Little Rosie

Archive for April, 2011

Cooling it in Carriacou

April 24, 2011

(posted from Charlestown Bay, Canouan)

Harvey Vale on Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou

We’ve been in Carriacou for a little over a month now. First we were waiting for the part for our prop, then waiting to squeeze into the haul/launch schedule at the boatyard. We didn’t expect to be here this long, but it has been fun for the most part. A lot of our friends have stopped here, and we have met some other cruises and some of the locals.

Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou

Compass Rose in Tyrrel Bay

Kids playing cricket on the beach

We have a few little stores and restaurants here in Tyrrel Bay, a little bakery just down the road in Lesterre, a couple little restaurants on Paradise Beach, and more stores in Hillsborough, so we can walk or take the bus ($3.50 EC, just under $1 US).

Going to Windward

We have done a lot of hiking around the island. Many of the hikes were around Tyrrel Bay, but one day we took a bus to Bogles and hiked around the north side of the island to Windward. Lots of great views of the islands to the north.

Looking north to Union Island, entry port to St. Vincent & Grenadines

A dragon fly we saw on our walk

Mayreau and Tobago Cays

We ended our walk in Windward, where they make traditional wooden work boats and sailboats. We found a little out of the way place to eat. Typical fare is chicken, fish or pork plus some basic vegetables. We have seen lots of sheep, goats, and even some cows (most not tied), but never any pigs. So we asked the young lady who ran the place where the pork comes from. She got a funny look on her on her face and said, “Pigs.” Clearly she thought the poor tourists new little about meat and animals. We laughed and explained to her that we agreed, but we hadn’t seen any pigs on the island. She told us to wait around long enough and one was sure to get loose. We finally saw one a week or so or so later.

: Pigs are about the only animal not left loose in the islands

Dinks on the Loose

We have had some interesting occurances in the anchorage while we have been here. I have rescued two dinghies that managed to get loose from their owners. The first drifted right past our boat, so I got it with our dink and then towed it back up wind until I found the owner. The second got loose from shore just after we tied up to the commercial dock. One of the locals jumped in our dink with me and we retrieved it. I started to take it back to the beach, but the local prevailed on me to take it to the dock where we would have something to tie it to. I was concerned about the owner finding it there, but the local, using simple island wisdom, pointed out that “Tyrrel Bay is a small place. It (the dinghie) is not such a small thing that you can put it in your pocket.” It turned out that half of Tyrrel Bay heard what happened before I had our dink tied up again.

Carriacou Cowboys

We watched some of the locals trying to load some cows on the cargo boat that runs between the islands. The cattle were tied at the land end of the dock and some of the locals had to push, pull, prod and poke the animals to get them down the dock and into the boat.

No cowboys in Carriacou

Green Flash

We were snorkling around our boat one day and noticed a couple large anchors nearly under our boat. A chain was attached to one anchor and a bunch of line was attached to the other. The anchor chain of the boat anchored behind us was getting fouled in the line. Sure enough when he raised anchor the rope came up with the chain. I helped him get it off and he went on his way. The next day the boatyard workboat and some locals towed a big, wooden, local boat over and attached it to the mooring lines. It was a bit closer than we would have liked, but it stayed away from us. The only problem was that it got in the way of our sunset watching sometimes. We named it Green Flash.

"Green Flash"

Getting to your boat, Carriacou style

Fixing the Prop

We finally got the part and arranged to haul the boat. Tom from Spiritus helped us get her on and off the dock and fix the prop. The yard hauled us out late one afternoon and left us in the slings. We installed the new parts that day and they launched us the next morning.

Repairing the prop

Broken nose cone - needed to help the prop feather

Launching after the prop repair

Round House

April 17 marked our seventh wedding anniversary and we celebrated by staying a night at the Roundhouse. This is a family owned restaurant with three little cottages on a bluff overlooking the Caribbean. The food is great and the cottages are very quaint. It is also a reasonable walk to Anse la Roche, probably the nicest beach on the island.

: Round House Restaurant, Bogles, Carriacou

Our cottage at the Round House

We walked there and enjoyed exploring the beach and doing a little swimming. Our friend Tom on Spiritus had planned to take his dink counterclockwise around the island until he got halfway through his fuel and then turn back. Evidently his motor isn’t very thirsty because he made it all the way around the island. We saw him go by while we were on the beach, but he didn’t recognize us.

Boobies on a rock at Anse le Roche

Anse le Roche beach

Park signs are usually educational, but here they start you out with a quiz

Boat Handling

There is a little beach next to the Roundhouse where locals swim and keep boats. One of them needed help getting his boat on the beach. It was heavy. We had to find one more guy to help us get it onto the beach.