Where to start?
The journey and achievements since the last update have delivered a lifetime of memories and yet, we have thousands of miles near term to cover before arriving back home by June of 2024. This is certainly shaping up to be a journey of preeminent moments painted across a truly epic canvas.
Since first landing in Grenada back in mid-December, we’ve traversed a noteworthy number of countries replete with their ports of call that have beckoned, and recently experienced frightening personal safety concerns resulting in us having to contemplate our wellbeing at levels never previously thought imaginable when we mapped this adventure.
And all of this following the final few weeks in Grenada, awaiting and culminating with family aboard. That’s the reality of where we are at with this belated update as we pick up the story from there.
To backtrack, in mid-February our gang of Alex, Dan and Andrew arrived, collectively as a group for the first time. After years of hearing an idea evolve from a wild and sometimes dismissed ‘what if’ discussion, to experiencing it unfold first hand, (along with the ad nauseam litany of details), the week finally arrived in February that we had been pointing to for what seemed like ages. Quality time together to just soak it and each other in. 100% full immersion, sharing and experiencing first hand a little of what the Sláinte dream that has come to life is all about. And doing it with the ones you love. Truly a blessed week and dream achieved, that did not disappoint.
Our extended stay in Grenada since mid-December has been intentional, designed around ensuring an easy connection for the family to join us before we started the passages northward. Island hopping passages introduce numerous uncertainties (timing, weather, unknown anchorages, customs etc. etc.) with each country and port of call. Uncertainties that we deemed factored too much risk to the equation when trying to maximize time with everyone’s available schedules. Instead, we opted for having a few previously scouted stops to share, familiar restaurants and beach bars to touch down at, as well as some special anchorages vs. just winging it and potentially delivering a less appealing time. Besides, what better place to be in early February for a few New Englanders grinding through the short days of February and looking for a brief respite, than sizzling hot Grenada. Daily temps routinely touched 85-90 with ‘feels like’ routinely showing up on our weather tracker apps as 95+ degrees. Hot, humid and sunny. Just what the doctor ordered.
As I have shared with many recently, one of my favorite weather lines comes from a Tom Hanks B reel movie ages ago, ‘The Volunteers’, where in the first 12 sec. of this clip he so eloquently summarizes the weather at the latitudes of Grenada ….
Highlights of the week with family:
Our time in Grenada summarized in a few fun and beautiful stops … Whisper Cove, Hog Island, Le Phare Bleu, Prickly Bay and a wonderful dinner at the stunning La Luna …
On Saturday the 17th of February, having sailed back down the west coast of Grenada to Port Louis, we packed the gang off to home in New England having enjoyed a fantastic time together. A chapter in this dream had been achieved. It was a poignant sendoff on many fronts and will forever remain a cherished week.
Port Louis is the primary commercial port for Grenada and just outside the capital of St. George’s. While busy with traffic that you’d expect for a commercial port and adjacent highly rated marina, the mooring field/anchorage just outside the port entry and off of Grand Anse beach is well situated. It was from here that we handled the final required customs clearance out of the country and last-minute provisioning deliveries that supported our casting off the lines and departing early Sunday morning, the 18th of February, on the next part of this journey. Sailing northward with Rhode Island by late May as our goal.
Tragically, later that same day that we departed Port Louis, a horrific crime unfolded upon fellow cruisers sharing the very anchorage we were in. A home invasion is unthinkable, whether on land or the sea. And yet that harsh reality and tragic ending occurred.
Our hearts go out to Ralph and Kathy’s families.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/26/us/grenada-missing-yacht-couple-search-monday/index.html
As we headed north, and the information unfolded of this unthinkable crime, it forced us to carefully assess our own safety. This event has proven to be a tragedy that weighs exceedingly heavily, and has since changed our practices and sail plan decisions.
Up next, island hopping the Windward and Leeward Caribbean Islands in our northerly trajectory.