Z E N I T U D E
Blue Water Dreaming
From St. Vincent to Grenada - The end of a fantastic sailing season
We are having problems with Zenitude's engines that sometimes are overheating. Before leaving for Grenada we consulted one of the mechanics from Sunsail. He said the heat exchanger needed cleaning, he would take care of both of them and all will be fine for our trip. Also, our dinghy seems to be fixed now and with all ready we leave St. Vincent with the idea of stopping at Canouan. We haven’t been there yet and it looks like a good stop to rest overnight.
Canouan - 5 to 6 June 2007 - (12.42.4N-61.19.6W
We enjoyed great sailing for the first part of the trip making a speed of 8 knots with ESE wind at 23 knots. Soon after reaching Bequia we lost speed, apparently due to a strong current running SE-NW, our speed went down to 5 knots. Anyway, at around 4 in the afternoon we arrived in a beautiful anchorage in Canouan and went ahead to anchor forgetting the fishing line that was in the water. Next thing we know the fishing line was badly tangled in the starboard propeller.
Unfortunately it seems the fishing line have damaged the seals on the starboard side as we could see some oil coming out once the propeller was free. Oscar was appalled to find that both engines have lost coolant. How is it possible? We suspect the mechanic that worked in the engines in St. Vincent made some terrible mistake. We are afraid of calling yet another mechanic we don't know and decided to add coolant and try to reach Prickly Bay where we are hauling out Zenitude. We hope we won't need the engines and if we do, we hope they won't overheat again. We know a good mechanic in Prickly Bay.
Beautiful Canouan, a troubled night
Next morning we leave Canouan at mid morning, stop at Clifton for a quick check out from the Grenadines and head towards Grenada with good winds and great weather so that there is no need to use the engines up to the point where we'll need to turn the south west tip of Grenada and motor our way east towards Prickly Bay.
Grenada - Prickly Bay - 6 to 16 June 2007
We couldn't miss this window and kept going taking advantage of nice ENE 20 knots winds to get all the way down to the south tip of Grenada, but it all meant getting to destination late at nigth. By now we know well the anchorage and we had Hugo from Beduina and Rodrigo from Cavalo Marino waiting for us to help anchoring.
Even then it was a bit tricky to get in and find a good spot, Hugo and Rodrigo were a big help and we were able to anchor and get settled at least for this first night. Prickly bay is a busy anchorage and more so this time of the year as hurricane season approaches.
Zenitude will stay on the dry in Spice Island Marina for this hurricane season while we go back to Australia to work. We'll be hauling out Zenitude next week and we are busy getting her ready to spend a long season in the dry.
Even then it was a bit tricky to get in and find a good spot, Hugo and Rodrigo were a big help and we were able to anchor and get settled at least for this first night. Prickly bay is a busy anchorage and more so this time of the year as hurricane season approaches.
Zenitude will stay on the dry in Spice Island Marina for this hurricane season while we go back to Australia to work. We'll be hauling out Zenitude next week and we are busy getting her ready to spend a long season in the dry.
Many of our friends here are leaving as well and we are busy with farewells. Beduina and Cavalo Marino are going to Venezuela for hurricane season and we sadly say good bye to them. They are leaving tomorrow and we hope we will meet them again somewhere next season.
The time comes to haul out Zenitude. It is always a worry to see her getting out of the water but soon she is sitting on her space where she will remain for many months. After storing away everything that is outside and may get damaged in a big storm we prepare ourselves for a long season on land.
This has been our first cruising season and it's been fantastic. A truly amazing experience. We are happy to be going back home for a long break but at the same time we have a nostalgic feeling already as we start our long journey to Australia leaving Zenitude behind.
Farewell to the crew from Cavalo Marino (left) and Beduina (rigth)
We'll be back .....
Sunset in Prickly Bay
