Nick Stark swaps LA’s atmospheric rivers for the tropical heat of the Caribbean
IN COMMON with many of you, the recent flood of atmospheric rivers soaking Los Angeles had got me feeling very seasonally disordered, so I was delighted earlier this month to receive a last-minute invitation to fly out to Grenada in the Caribbean to spend a week on an old friend’s sailboat, where endless rain and grey skies were replaced by blue skies, temperatures in the eighties, balmy trade winds and tropical scents of fruit and frangipani in the air.
My old sailing friend companion Franz, who lives in Utah when he is not at sea, had just completed a transatlantic passage aboard his Bristol Channel Cutter See Dream but he was suffering from a couple of minor ailments and needed an extra hand for the final leg of the journey to Trinidad, where he planned to put the boat up for the winter. I didn’t need to be asked twice.
Grenada is a small island country at the southern end of the Grenadines, and comprises Grenada itself, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. It was a British colony for two hundred years, and a French one for a century before that, a heritage that is still visible with many of the place names.
I flew from Miami into the island’s dinky Maurice Bishop airport and grabbed a cab for the short ride to Mitchell’s Guest House, located close to the Port Louis marina, where See Dream was docked. Mitchell’s is a clean, quiet and cheap option for many travellers and I enjoyed the air conditioning and fast wifi before decamping to the boat the next day.
Post travel tiredness and work anxieties quickly dissolved into the dreamy rhythm of boat life in the tropics; short but fun passages athwart a freeze breeze before dropping the anchor in a deserted bay. Sundowners on the boat or perhaps at a rum bar on the beach following a short dinghy ride, before being rocked to sleep in your berth by a gentle swell. Morning brought refreshing swims in emerald water followed by coffee and fruit for breakfast, and perhaps some small boat chores before hoisting anchor and doing it all over again. Add in mingling with either some friendly locals or other sunburned sailors, and some of the delicious local grub, and you’ve got a recipe for instant relaxation.
Of the places we visited, Dragon’s Bay was a definite highlight. It is best known as the site of an underwater sculpture park where assorted figures reside on the seabed. The place is the brainchild of famous underwater sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor and was constructed in 2006 to help preserve the area’s fast-disappearing coral reef. Constructed from concrete and steel, some of the sculptures weigh as much as 15 tons. They’re held in place by bolts, on the bottom of the seafloor. The sculptures, 75 in all, lure divers of all sorts and even glass bottom boat tours, which also get decent views due to the fact that some of the sculptures are relatively close to the surface.
Adding to the location’s appeal is the Dragon’s Hideaway Sports Bar and Grill, a waterside rum bar presided over by the delightful owner Garvin, in whose affable company we spent several rum-soaked hours after an afternoon’s snorkelling.
Further down the coast and at the bottom of Grenada’s windward side is Prickly Bay, much beloved of British sailors for its sheltered harbor and well-equipped marina. We tied up to a mooring ball for a couple of nights (at $20 per night) and were delighted to find, just beyond the dinghy dock and marina offices, a French wine/pastry/cheese/butcher’s shop, run by a charming couple from the Cote D’Azur. Their wares certainly made our percolated morning coffee in the cockpit taste just that wee bit better. Prickly Bay has plenty of other attractions, including the beachside Sand Bar, a great place to enjoy a sundowner and best approached from the water. It boasts a picturesque palm tree to which you tie your dinghy, a ready-made Instagram slay, as my daughter might say. A couple of hundred yards down the beach is the swanky Calabash resort hotel, by far the fanciest place we visited, where sugar-laden rum punches will set you back $10 but where the view is priceless.
The biggest surprise for us was the West Indies Beer Company, a local micro-brewery located a short walk from the marina. When we visited it was absolutely heaving with young Americans from the nearby St George’s University. It was astounding contrast to the rest of the bars we visited, which typically had only 5-6 other patrons. This was like spring break in Daytona Beach. But the beer was good and the prices, reasonable.
But all good things must come to an end and after a few lovely days we set off for the 80-mile sail south to Trinidad, a passage usually offering idyllic sailing with easy tradewinds on the beam. But the weather gods turned against us and instead the wind turned south and gusty, giving us a rough and uncomfortable overnight passage; 25 knots almost on our nose and a disturbed sea state. Beat up and fatigued after a gruelling 12-hour passage, we limped into Peake’s Yacht Services at Chagauramas in Trinidad where the boat was pulled out of the water for the winter.
Franz and I said our goodbyes and I took a short flight back to Grenada for a leisurely final night at the Secret Harbor Marina and Hotel, which at $300, was by far my biggest splurge of the trip. But it was well worth it for my own large, comfortable and air-conditioned cottage boasting sweeping views over a gorgeous harbor with perhaps 30 yachts bobbing dreamily at anchor. The perfect spot to do some yoga, re-hydrate and count my blessings. By the time I departed the following day for a 3pm flight back to Miami, I was thoroughly refreshed for my return to Los Angeles where (surprise, surprise) it was raining….
