I don't know where to start so much has happened since I had the chance to update the blog. We were in Prickly Bay Grenada when Dennis flew in from Oklahoma. The next morning we sailed around the south end of Grenada to St Georges harbor and anchored in a fairly roll-ee anchorage. I attempted to set a Stearn anchor to pull the Raindancer bow to into the swell that were coming from the north but try as I may she had a mind of her own so we left the boat and dingh'ed ashore to Gran Anse beach and all the markets, bars and resorts along the two mile stretch of a most beautiful beach. We started at the north end and ended somewhere near the middle. We asked if we could come onto the grounds at Grand Anse Beach Resort and Hotel, an all inclusive resort. After a few coldy's by the pool we went for a swim where the swim up bar was and enjoyed some delicious libations made mostly from rum. The sign said No swimming except by guest, and No service except for guest, we did both. After a while in the pool we got cold and ordered up another round and some towels which they brought out immediately. By now it was getting dark so we decided to take the dinghy to Port Louis for some wood fired pizza. It was a very long ride and security got on to us about tying up next to the mega yachts and directed us to a dinghy dock where they stood guard over my dinghy. The Pizza was great and we headed back only to be caught in the rain and huge swell that had been building all afternoon. Soaked and tired we barely managed to get back on board as the Raindancer bucked and rolled like a bronco, pulling the dinghy up I got a major hit to the jaw by an oar that almost knocked me out. More rum and I could almost close my jaw and go to sleep. We got up after a sleepless night ready to get out of there, I fixed a big breakfast of fried potatoes, sausage and scrambled eggs and we sailed out toward Carriacou up the leeward side. Reflecting now maybe the breakfast choice was not wise as it was a really rough passage and there is no safe haven for 9 hours, some of the crew had a tough time of it as we were like riding an endless tilt a whirl you can't get off. During the passage the Genoa had started to come unsewn so while in Carriacou we removed it and took it to Andy at a Stitch in Time for a resew. We cleared customs and Immigration and as soon as Andy had us fixed up we reloaded the Genoa and set sail for Union Island. There are lots of reefs and rocks to keep clear of in route to Clifton harbor. We set anchor and launched the dink and headed for the airport to clear in. Union was really interesting as the economy is also bad there to. We went to a bar that night called Happy Island Bar that a guy built completely out of Conch Shells in the middle of the reef. Next day we went back to town and took a hike and went looking for fruits and dinghy fuel. There was no fuel on the island so a boat boy offered to get me a gallon and a half and took off with my can, later coming back and demanding 70 EC or around 25 US , lesson here is find out how much before you buy but we were out so it was needed. We sailed out in the morning for Tobago Cays only around four miles away. We came in the southern pass surrounded by reefs and rocks. We anchored in 20 feet of clear water and had Hawks bill Turtles greet us on the way in. Snorkeling that afternoon was amazing, I had six turtles in my vision at once all ignoring me and feeding on the grassy bottom. Cuttle fish were abundant as were spotted morays. The next morning it was up early to make the 25 miles to Bequia however the Frenchy in the boat ahead of us was sitting right on top of my anchor and no matter what I yelled or how much noise I made trying to pull the thing out from under him it was a no go. Finally the boat boys started to show up and I hired one for 5 EC to bang on this hull so he could move. During the sail up to Bequia we heard a loud bang and I discovered the Furling stay for the Mizzen had parted and the mizzen sail was rendered useless.
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