Caribbean Gallop. Grenada: Plans and Circumstances

Caribbean Gallop. Grenada: Plans and Circumstances Why, of all the ways to travel around the Caribbean islands, did we end up galloping? New Year in the West Indies: meet everyone. To understand anything at all about a country, you need to live in one place for at least a month. We managed to follow this deeply held conviction throughout all three years of sailing, right up to Grenada. If you keep up that pace in the Caribbean, you risk getting stuck on the islands for about three years, while Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Colombia and Panama still lie ahead. The Panama Canal awaits us in a year. In the meantime, we have to tighten up our schedule, allowing for hurricane season—from June to November—and... a flight home (we’ve sold the car, so why not fly? :)). Several months of adjusting the schedule, searching for cheap tickets and wavering between “shall we fly or not?” were resolved quite simply: Our eldest daughter is getting married in Novosibirsk. And we have arrived in Grenada. We have Havana–Novosibirsk–Havana tickets in hand, with a connection in Moscow. Departure is on 10 March. From Grenada to Cuba, following the islands, is almost 1,700 miles (3,200 km)—a distance comparable to the width of the Atlantic Ocean. And our cruise around the Caribbean islands (considering how many there are) is turning into a gallop. And so, we begin a series of stories under the general title Caribbean Gallop. Off we go! Don’t you get the feeling someone is watching us from the sky? ) . The West Indies, Grenada Having said goodbye to our new friends in Charlotteville, at noon on 28 December we set course for Grenada. We covered the 80 miles by morning through the now-familiar high seas, rain and gusty winds. New Year awaited us in Grenada, with presents from Father Frost and a friend—the first Russian person on this side of the ocean. The swell tossed us about, we felt a little queasy, and the children kept chanting in unison, “Take me to Lyonya!” Unlike Tobago, every bay in Grenada is packed with masts, while little houses dot the green shores Grenada beckons with a forest of masts in every green bay. Armed with binoculars, we search every corner of Prickly Bay, Grenada’s large southern anchorage, for the yacht Laska, and after a fruitless hunt, discover her right in front of us. We failed to squeeze Lyonya to death in our embrace, so now every morning begins with a swim over to the neighbouring boat for Lyonya’s signature coffee and pancakes. Only travellers know this incredible feeling—when, for the first time in many months, someone you have known for years is waiting next door, thinking in your native language! Our friend Leonid and his Laska A tow into the marina ) New Year in Grenada A proper New Year, of course, should be celebrated in the snow beside a Christmas tree—ideally at our Altai “Gingerbread House” :). But if it has to be the Caribbean, then the Caribbean it is—hardly anything to complain about. Though Father Frost has a tough time here: the present-delivery service is rather unreliable. The story of how we tried—and failed—to help Grenada’s Father Frost is told here: Is It Easy Being a Caribbean Father Frost? >> Prickly Bay Marina held a New Year’s Eve party in its bar. By 9 p.m., the yacht dwellers had taken the seats allocated by their tickets. The live music—something along the lines of Caribbean drumming—was very melodic, and the buffet seemed to proclaim, “Stuff yourself for the holiday!” And we, all dressed up (for once), began piling into the dinghy. The dinghy pontoon at Prickly Bay Marina Everything would have been fine, except that no one had thought to tell the captain that ladies dressed up for a party aren’t particularly fond of going for a swim in the sea at night... While we were boarding the dinghy, Andrey twisted around as awkwardly as a captain of such graceful proportions possibly could and rocked the little inflatable just as Nastya had stepped aboard. Fully dressed for the occasion and holding Mum’s shoes in her hands, she fell overboard. Make-up, hairdo, dress and shoes—everything was ruined, literally or figuratively. Fortunately, Mum had a spare little black dress, which fitted a sobbing, soaking-wet Nastya perfectly. She looked even prettier than before her swim :). The stricken young sailor isn’t in the photo, but Grenada’s New Year’s sunset is The party at Prickly Bay Marina Our new friends also arrived for New Year’s Eve (hurrah for the internet!): Alexey and Dasha, from a Ukrainian trimaran and a Russian yacht moored at another anchorage about four miles from us. Remarkably, two years earlier in Malta we had seen that very trimaran from Odesa flying the Ukrainian flag, but its owner had never been home when we tried to meet him. And now fate had cast all of us up in the Caribbean.... For the New Year’s party, we had reserved a table with long concrete benches instead of chairs, so that a tired junior crew member could have a nap without missing any of the action. Lada danced herself silly, met other children, ran around to her heart’s content, and persuaded a waitress to give her a paper admission wristband just like ours. She showed off her wristband to a German girl, and closer to midnight, with the air of duty done, announced that she wished to go back to the yacht and sleep: “Daddy can take me and then come back to you.” Ready for New Year! Junior crew member on watch Wiping expressions of utter astonishment from our faces, we agreed, and before long the entire adult contingent was dancing away to Caribbean rhythms. At midnight there were magnificent fireworks, the Russian national anthem played off in the bushes, away from the local music, and our president’s New Year address, which we had listened to beforehand—in short, everything was just as it should be :). The party was a success, and we made two new and fascinating traveller friends. But that is another story. Our new friends ) Strong friendships to everyone! New Year’s morning and the young sailors in Father Frost’s present At this point, the first mate said aloud, “Lord, thank you for letting me see this!” An uninhabited islet in an inhabited bay on the west coast of the island That pole with ropes is actually a Christmas tree with lights 🙂