The time is passing quite quickly as we explore the southern end of Grenada.
We still have both Dancing Walrus and Dolfjn close by and are spending a lot of time with both. Ken celebrated his 60th this week and it just happened to coincide with a band playing at one of the local bars. As a result he had an impromptu birthday party which was a lot of fun. Later in the week we crossed the bay to hear a superb steel band play for a couple of hours. This was followed by a modern band who were excellent. There were 2 young boys playing guitars and given their current talent who knows where they might end up. Anyway lots of culture to appreciate. These people are so in to music, it is everywhere you go. Even on the bus it is blasting out.

We moved from Prickly Bay after a few days and headed up the coast to a place called Dragon Bay. It is a small anchorage and last time we passed it there was a huge swell and it was also very busy. This time there were only 3 boats including ourselves. Holding was good and it was very picturesque. The only issue was the music that blared out from the beach all day at full volume. No chance of a nap there.
We had gone to the Bay as it was listed a great snorkelling and diving site. There are underwater sculptures on the sea bed in the next bay.

The water was much clearer than Prickly Bay and so visibility was good for the first snorkel although there wasn’t an awful lot to see to begin with. On the second snorkel we ended up entering the water right by the sculptures. It kinda freaked me out to see a circle of people linking hands underwater. Reminded us a bit of terracota warriors. Each face was different and they had barnacles and coral growing over them. The other sculpture we found as we round a huge underwater rock. It looked a bit like a set of toes from the side but once you came face on to the rock it was a set of faces. A bit death mask like and again a bit spooky.
There were lots of fish to follow round. Some huge shoals and many different varieties. We are getting quite good at identifying the different types. John located a pipe fish, a spotted drum and a moray eel.

Joni and Ken dived the wreck which they said was interesting but that there wasn’t a lot to see. As a result we went out for a third snorkel with them. She is so knowledgeable about all the different fish, corals etc. There was a shoal of squid and some rare snails. All of which would have passed me by if she hadn’t pointed to them. It reminds me of going walking with George just a different forum.

We had planned to stay overnight but the swell began to build and we were rolling a bit to much so we headed back down toward the beach at GrandAnse and anchored there just as night fell. Next day we awakened to really heavy rain which lasted for a couple of hours. Once it was over we headed back to Prickly Bay.

We were persuaded that we should take part in the 650th Grenada Hash House Harrier event on Saturday. We thought we were more than able given the walking we have done around the bays where ever we stop. The categories were Iron man, Runners, walkers and namby pambies. We thought we would do the latter but ended up doing the walkers as we didn’t find the namby’s start point. We were transported up towards the North of the island , to the rain forest, where about 300 people participated in the event. There were toddlers and oldies (we are now in that category) and lots of students from St George’s University as well as lots of local folks. We were told it would be about an hour long and that we could walk it. Blimey I thought I would expire after the first hour and we were only halfway round. The second half was much more challenging than the first and by the time we eventually reached the road my legs were barely working. Richard did the whole thing in a pair of flip flops! That was made more difficult by the shower of mangos that fell everytime there was a gust of wind. If they didn’t hit you they were under your feet like bars of wet soap. And all of this on 40 to 60 degree slopes.
As it was our first time we had to sign up as Virgins! This was so that at the end of it those who weren’t could spray the virgins with beer etc as they went to get their qualifying certificate. After it was over there was food, drink and of course music for all to enjoy. Given this is all done on a volunteer basis it was excellent. They run every second weekend. Apparently it gets easier the more often you do them (humbug!!!)

Anyway as you might expect there are a few aches in the joints the following! We are back to ‘liming’.

There is a great way of communicating around the anchorages. The “cruiser net” on channel 68 runs from 7:30 every day except Sunday. Through it you hear of social events, weather, security issues, all sorts of services and assistance. It is through the net that we heard that the Hash was a big celebration. The security is generally good and it is comforting to know that a shout over the VHF can bring assistance. We witnessed one incident last week. We heard a yell from the catamaran next to us. When we looked out a local guy had pinched their dinghy and was heading off. When challenged he returned it saying he was only taking ashore to clean it! He then produced a pink swim ring and jumped in the water and sculled away. The owner alerted the coastguard but by the time they arrive the guy had persuaded another couple who were passing that he was in dire need of help and they took him ashore on the opposite side of the bay. The moral of the tale is always always lock up even when you are on board.

We had some unusual visitors last week as well. We had music playing but I was convinced I heard birds chirping close by. Usually its seabirds but this sounded more land based. When we stepped out of the shade of the bimini we were greeted by 6 or so (boat or house) martins. They were examining the end of our boom as a possible nest site! This is quite common when you are in close to shore in a deep bay. We thanked them for their interest but gave them notice to quit asap! They are still hanging around as we seem to be a great roosting spot. We also spotted an osprey carrying a fish and it seems there are quite a few on the islands.

More rain – least the islanders are happy