March 2019 – Grenada (Secret Harbour, Clarke’s Court Bay, Port Louis)

Secret Bay Marina Restaurant

Secret Bay Marina

Grenada’s southern coast has an interesting profile, it reminds one of a glove, the fingers of which are all protected bays, providing permanent or temporary accommodation to various yachts as they come and go. Our next stop was Secret Harbour in Mount Hartman Bay, right next door to Prickly Bay really. A very shallow passage required a strict lookout, thankfully the water is so clear sandbanks and reefs are pretty visible. 

Great Pizza and view

Sadly there is a wreck on nearly every
beach

Secret Harbour, named after the hotel complex which houses the marina, has a well maintained jetty and docks for around 50 yachts and is fairly well protected, a good option for leaving the yacht in the water during hurricane season. Being off the beaten track it’s a secluded, quiet bay in which very little happens.  The restaurant and bar have a wonderful view, good menu, friendly helpful staff and good happy hour specials. 

Oasis the outside belies its charms

Oasis Bar

A fun stop was at the Oasis bar, a floating shack that is opened by a couple of locals on Friday nights and weekends. The night we were there play was interrupted by a light/power shortage – no petrol in the generator and none at hand – sorry…, ha ha, gotta love these Islanders.

Our second day in Mt Hartman Bay produced a really bad smell inside the boat, which got worse as the day got hotter. Out went all the rubbish, yup, they charge here too, smell stayed, so after sniffing like blood hounds we narrowed it down to the front locker which houses the anchor chain and petrol and diesel canisters (there are holes from there, inside, carrying fuel pipes between the tanks and the engines) and, convinced that a flying fish must have somehow landed in there unnoticed, we gingerly investigated only to discover that the anchor chain was a nasty pile of smelly rotten stewing organisms. When we anchor we put out a scope of 3 or 4 to 1 chain to depth, eg. in 5m deep water we would put down 15 – 20m of anchor chain, Prickly Bay’s anchorage was unusually deep at 9m so out went around 35m of chain and stayed in the water for 2 weeks, the perfect home for the organisms in the warm nutrient rich water, this chain was then pulled up into the locker and as the anchorage in Secret Harbour was 5m deep, only 20m went out, leaving a smelly pile of chain behind. 

Hog Island beach, Rogers beach bar

The high pressure cleaner was hastily put into service and out went the offending chain to be cleaned and restashed, pshew.

On our way next door again, to Clarke’s Court Bay, we cruised in and out of Hog Island, a small bay with nothing but a beach bar and the reputation of being the best place to be if a hurricane is around. Not very big, it is fairly crowded and immensely popular.

Calvigny Island

Around again to Clarke’s Court Bay, we passed Calvigny Island on the way in. Calvigny Island is a privately owned Island that can accommodate up to 50 people, the cost for those 50 people would set you back a cool US$150 000 per night for the whole resort, including meals. We gave the big grey super yacht tied to the jetty a wide berth. 

Clarke's Court Marina

Clarke's Court hard yard

Great options here for hurricane season, Clarke’s Court Marina has a large yard where they can store boats on the hard, with a great chandlery and a couple of on-site contractors for any boat maintenance or repairs, early bookings are essential, they were fully booked in January already. 

Clarke's Court jetty and restaurant

They also have a lovely, sturdy jetty but they require someone to be on the boat full time, if there is a hurricane warning they require you to move your boat – where, your discretion, they can’t advise you in case of repercussions, gosh what is this world coming to.

Clarke’s Court Bay is quite the hub of social activities for cruisers, so we decided to suss it all out, in one day! The marina has a nice restaurant, simple menu, beautiful wooden tables and great coffee. 

Whisper Cove restaurant

Whisper Cove Marina

Next was Whisper Cove Marina on the opposite side of the bay, a little jetty that is apparently (according to the owner) hurricane proof and the nicest restaurant, bar, mini convenience shop with bakery and delicatessen and friendliest staff. 

Decent wine, cold beer good food, great
evening's entertainment

Kettle drum (steel drum) underlines the Island
vibe

All aboard for shopping

We booked for a tapas evening here the next night, great food, quaffable wine and a local band playing kettle drum and guitar, wonderful. We caught the cruisers bus to the shops, quite an experience with ever helpful advice from fellow cruisers, we never realised just how much and many could fit into a mini bus!!

Nimrods Rum Shack

On with our quest we located Nimrods rum shack and Taffy’s restaurant and bar. 

Trivia day @ Taffy's

From pool competitions on wonky tables with bad pockets and trivia afternoons to friendly cricket matches, these two venues are the places to see and be seen. 

Beautiful view of the bay from Taffy's

A short tender boat trip under the bridge separating Hog Island from Clarke’s Court Bay brought us to the beach which the day before had been teeming with people, only to find that Rogers beach bar is only open on Sunday’s, 

Memory remover on Hog Island Beach

but no problem, the friendly chap selling curios also sells rum punch,

Island rum with coconut water – bad for the memory but good enough to put in the petrol tank and keep the tender motor running for days! 

Anchored in the mouth of Benjy's Bay

Lastly, Benjy’s bay where we were anchored, hosts ad hoc events such as yoga and the odd party such as the full moon tender boat party – basically any excuse for fun.

Entrance to Port Louis

Our last stop on our Grenada exploration was to be the underwater sculptures at the Marine Protected Area of Moliniere Point, we anchored in Dragon Bay, donned snorkelling gear and swam off round the corner to find most of the sculptures, colourful fish, loads of coral and even a ray. Well worth a repeat visit with scuba gear when we have more time. It was on to join Irene on anchor in Martins Bay off the Carenage and St George’s Harbour where the cruise ships dock and the fishing boats call home. A short tender boat ride allows you to tie up right across the road from the Foodland and chandlery, easy for provisioning but you pay for this with traffic noise, ambulance sirens as it is right next to the hospital and an anchorage which doesn’t hold well, we were warned and our anchor just didn’t quite want to bite, luckily we found an old mooring block right underneath us which we tied onto for extra insurance. The marina is neat as a pin and fully secure with two lovely restaurants and good solid jetty’s at a reasonable price, central and busy.

Rainbow eucalyptus -
beautiful

Cutty a walking spice
encyclopedia

The Irene family had booked an Island Tour and asked if we would join in, the more the merrier so together with two other cruising couples and Cutty our incredibly knowledgeable guide we set out on a brief Island encounter, brief in that we covered a very small portion of the Island, enough to whet our appetites for when we return.

Nutmeg growing

Layers of Nutmeg, looks like so much
yet this factory is operating on a very
small scale

Cinamon sticks are shaved from this bark

Nutmeg fresh off the tree

Mona Monkey

Grand Etang Lake

We started with a drive past the beautiful landscaped home of John Criswick, the head of the Grenadian team who have received 14 Gold Medals at the Chelsea Flower Show in England, no mean feat.

On to the Grand Etang Rain Forest where we found the Mona Monkeys and Grand Etang Lake.

Locals bring nutmegs which are sorted and they are paid
accordingly

Then to a nutmeg factory. Grenada used to be the second biggest producer of nutmeg worldwide until hurricane Ivan in 2004 which effectively wiped out a major part of the nutmeg plantations. 

Sorting Mace, the outer cover of nutmeg

Nutmeg's processed and ready for distribution

They still only have 6 of the original 14 nutmeg factories in use and on a much smaller scale, it seems nutmeg trees are, like the Islanders, not in a great hurry.

How to sort cocoa beans

A small chocolate factory

The main processing equipment

Then the Grenada Chocolate factory, well actually it’s a small two storey house, a very hands on producer of some really delicious dark chocolate and truffles, the Rum truffles packed a punch.

Sugar Cane being loaded for crushing

Removing sugar cane husks

Next the River Antoine Rum Estate where the only operational big wheel still does service, again a hands on, labour intensive facility that produce around 600 bottles of rum a day, they don’t export, this is just enough to supply the Island, they have 2 products, one is 69% vol Alcohol and one 74% and the Islanders can drink up to 2 bottles per person per day, neat, chased with a little cold water if necessary, do not mix as it’s the mix that gives you a hangover! 

Big water wheel, beautiful

The crushing equipment that
the water wheel drives

All this is transferred from one vat to another by hand using
big spoon like scoops

Home made Ice Cream, welcome treat

Well after tasting a little sample of each and the rum punch we were only too grateful for the homemade ice creams (nutmeg flavour is delicious!) on the way to Mt Carmel Falls, not a long hike to a beautiful waterfall, perfect end to a lovely day.

Denzell playing under the waterfall

We tried star fruit for the first
time, was actually delicious

Thus ended our short adventure of Grenada, there is so much more to see and do, we look forward to exploring more when we return in hurricane season, for now its on to Carriacou as we make our way north.