After a very rolly night in Mayreux we headed to Union Island. Tobago Cays had to be put on hold as the visibility was very poor. Union Island is a small and friendly. We meet up with Ken and Joni again and headed in to town. Standing minding our own business a local bus stopped and asked us if we wanted to go to Ashton (seemed like we looked like we were waiting). Anyway with not a lot else to do we hopped on board and had a quick tour round to Ashton. When we got there we realised that unless you were going there for something very specific you shouldn’t really bother. So we asked the bus driver if he could take us on a mini tour of the island. He was happy to do this as he had no other passengers. The roads were extremely narrow single track and very twisty. The views from the top however were absolutely terrific. The steep drop down towards the shoals and the white sand made you wonder how they had ever managed to build the roads. Apparently a lot of the funding came from Venezuela. It didn’t take long to do the tour and we were back in Clifton before we knew it. The streets have little pathways of and you can find yourself in a warren of stalls selling everything from tourist tee shirts to battery water and of course the usual rum punch.
By the time we had gotten back to the boat Dawn and Richard had arrived. It was great to see them again. We agreed to meet up and go to Happy Island for a sundowner with Ken and Joni as well. A happy evening ensued.
The weather improved enough for us to move on to Tobago Cays the next day. We had a a good sail over and managed to negotiate the reefs that surround it. The place was so empty compared to the last time we were there with Jo. We picked up a mooring buoys and went snorkelling in search of turtles. We found 4 quite large ones munching away on the grass. Noticed that there was very little grass compared to February so I guess that means there a lot of fat turtles around now! Later we snorkelled of the Atlantic side of the reef. It was pretty hard work against a very strong current but worth it as we saw so many different kinds of fish. The following morning we went snorkelling again and saw some huge shoals pass by as well as some very tiny sergeant fish, snaller than a 5p. It is fascinating stuff.

We had agreed that we would head to Carriacou on Friday for the |Maroon String Band and Musical festival. This meant leaving the Cays and heading back to Union to clear out of St Vincent and Grenadines and getting down to Hillsboro on Carriacou to clear in before things closed for the holiday weekend.

We had a great motor sail over to Carriacou and got there mid afternoon. By then hot a sweaty, paperwork in order we opted to drop the hook at a lovely spot called Sandy Island. It was in danger of disappearing until Hurricane Ivan deposited a huge load of coral and shell along it reef. It was high enough to protect the island and allow it to stay. Then round to Tyrell Bay to meet up with Dawn and Richard again. By the time we got there we were so tired we didn’t make the beginning of the festival – guess we are getting old after all!

The 6 of us headed in to Hillsboro for 10 next day to see the bands playing in the street. It was fun but the heat was so intense that we didn’t last more than a couple of hours before heading back to the boat. We had taken the local bus over and yet again found ourselves doing a scenic tour on some pretty dodgy roads. The trip back was much quicker along the coast road.

We attended the evening event which was held at the local culturasl centre. It was great, if somewhat lengthy. The dance was outstanding and the theatre had its moments as well. We didn’t ladt till the band as it was well after midnight before they started. These folk surely know how to party.
The festival is a celebration of survival. I guess it is similar to harvest thanksgiving with a real party thrown in.
Sunday we were beginning to feel cultural overload but headd to Paradise Beach for the party. This involved all the bands who had been featuring throughout the weekend taking to the stage once more. Lots of amazing musicians were playing their hearts out. Some of the singing was outstanding and before long we were all foot tapping and dancing Caribe style (well the modest style). You can see some picture on John’s facebook.
Then it was all over and it was back to auld claes an porridge. Monday dawned and it was wash day for us. The boat was looking like a Chinese laundry by the time it was all done. However that will do us for a while now hopefully.

After all the concerns we had about the generator it conked out on us again. Boo hoo! John got into the guts of it yet again. Poor guy he has to know the thing inside out by now. However after about 8 hours he had a breakthrough and found a broken wire on the coolant motor. Repair done it has begun running again. Needless to say we have absolutely everything crossed that it keeps running now. We reckoned we deserved a beer and headed to Hallelujah Bar. This is a floating square deck which sits in the middle of the anchorage. It is run by a woman who lived in London until 2 years ago when she decided to come home. It is interesting and would be shut down by health and safety in the U.K. but out here it is just a fun hangout. On board we met up with Ron and Brian from Erasmus. They are back from Canada to move the boat over to Trinidad.
Of course that meant we lasted longer than just a sundowner (oops)

Now we are back in Grenada and are ereally enjoying the luxury of Port Louis marina. We have had long showers which was just heaven. However brought up short today when the lady in the shop was talking about how dry things are and said that she had only gotten a bucket of water from her tap today. The islands are really desperate for the rains. They look like they might be on their way but who knows.

The heat is now very intense and we spend a lot of our time under the canopy hiding from it. It will only get worse for the next few months.