Grenada

We arrived here in Port Louis Marina Grenada on Sunday afternopon and it is lovely! Our sail from Brazil was very fast as we had current with us most of the way so we had some good boat speeds and completed the passage in a record 9 days!! The seas were calm and the sailing was good using white sails all the way. No need to fly the Parasailor as no real downwind conditions. In fact arriving in Grenada once we rounded Point Saline we were beating to windward and took ages to get into the harbour but at least we did not resort to turning the engine on. Yesterday was spent getting stuff organised and repairs done (minor stitching in sails etc). I think it will be possible to get new cockpit cushion covers done here to match our existing ones and replace the one that blew overboard in Forteleza.So already achieved quite a lot here. The Marina is only 2 years old and everything is very smart and the bathrooms are so posh with individual en suite facilities and loads of room plus even a hairdryer! The Marina restaurant is very good so the last two nights we have not even gone into town prefering just to eat here as it is nearby and so convenient. We did manage a trip to the Chandlery yesterday which is a very short dinghy ride away and Peter bought lots of things for the boat plus lots of cleaning and polishing materials. We have asked a local guy called Ashley to polish our boat and he is also going to clean the waterline as well for a very reasonable US$130. It will probably take him around 6 hours to complete the job. He should be able to get rid of a scuff mark we have where the St Helena water taxi managed to scrape our side. At least we have no major jobs to do or big sail repairs unlike some of the other boats. We have booked in here until Monday 25 March as the Rally prizegiving is on Friday and the tour of the island on Saturday. Rally office closes on 24 March. Our plan is to go around the South side of Grenada to St Davids where Grenada Marine is based and where we intend to haul out and store Trompeta in a cradle for the hurricane season. There are some other good anchorages and Bays on this coast line so it is worth spending a few days here. Once we leave Grenada we will cruise up to St Lucia where we meet up in Marigot Bay with the other Rally boats on 10 April. We pass through the Grenadines so will stop in Tobago Cays which is where we spent Christmas before starting the Rally and it is very pretty and a Marine Park so a protected area. Today we are tidying and cleaning the boat and off loading surplus torn sails and other rubbish!!