Anyway, we sailed to Hillsborough in Carriacou as this is the only port that has customs and immigration. It is not really a good harbour when there are northerly swells because it is quite open to the north so that factor, plus the fact that staying there would add 4 miles to our next leg, which was already due to be 35 miles, helped us in our decision to just check in there and then move to Tyrell Bay on the southern end of the island. One other factor in the decision that needs to mentioned was the fact that there are better diving facilities at Tyrell Bay. 
Back to Hillsborough - we anchored off the main dock after having to play around with the anchor laying due to the poor holding on the sea bed. We soon got it firm though and set off to take a quick look at the town. First stop was customs, who told us we had to do immigration first - "just down the street 130 meters". It turned out to be in the police station where they gave me a 8x14" form and told me to fill it out and then, since they were short on forms but needed 5 copies, they would direct me to a place to get it photocopied - at our expense of course.After getting that done I had to go back to immigration and wait until t
hey were ready and then answer a bunch of questions. Finishing with that we then had to go to customs, where more questions were asked. From there to the cashier to pay for coming into the country, back down to customs with the receipt, then over to the Port Authority to pay more money for sailing in their waters. Sounds complicated and costly??? It is really not too different from most ports except for the photocopying and the distances between the various entities but I mention it just so you don't think that all we are doing down here is having fun!!!!
hey were ready and then answer a bunch of questions. Finishing with that we then had to go to customs, where more questions were asked. From there to the cashier to pay for coming into the country, back down to customs with the receipt, then over to the Port Authority to pay more money for sailing in their waters. Sounds complicated and costly??? It is really not too different from most ports except for the photocopying and the distances between the various entities but I mention it just so you don't think that all we are doing down here is having fun!!!!
We walked around the town of Hillsborough for a bit and looked in some of the shops and at the same time having conversations with other boat people. One in particular was an Irish couple who were on their way to Tobago Cays - a very nice gentleman who ran back from customs to find us and inform us that the rumour that customs charged overtime at lunch time was false.
And so on to Tyrell Bay - it took about the same amount of time to get there as it had taken to get to Hillsborough so by 2:30 in the afternoon we were safely anchored. Tyrell Bay is quite a large anchorage and there were quite a few boats there so rather than try to get close to the town shore, we were content to anchor about 1/2 mile out (still lots of boats there). 
After getting things squared away we took a trip into the shore. It was interesting in that there were a number of small businesses along the road that paralled the shore with nothing between them and the bay except in some places a kind of low sea wall. Apparently there had previously been palm and coconut trees along the shore but the businesses had wanted more exposure to the bay so people anchored out there could see them so all of the trees were cut down. Of course after that there was a hurricane that nearly leveled all the businesses so now they are trying to put a seawall along the entire shore line. It looked to me like they had better start building faster and higher because if they have another hurricane, they still don't have a lot of protection.
After getting things squared away we took a trip into the shore. It was interesting in that there were a number of small businesses along the road that paralled the shore with nothing between them and the bay except in some places a kind of low sea wall. Apparently there had previously been palm and coconut trees along the shore but the businesses had wanted more exposure to the bay so people anchored out there could see them so all of the trees were cut down. Of course after that there was a hurricane that nearly leveled all the businesses so now they are trying to put a seawall along the entire shore line. It looked to me like they had better start building faster and higher because if they have another hurricane, they still don't have a lot of protection. While we were on shore we went to the dive shop - Arawak Divers - to get fitted for our dive gear. We had contacted them previously by VHF radio to set up a dive for the next day. The rest of the day was rest and relax. We were kind of lucky that the dive shop was open because the next day was May 1, which is the Labour Day holiday for most of the islands and everything is closed but the dive shop said they would take us out so we were looking forward to it the next day.
May 1 dawned, as usual, sunny and warm. The dive boat showed up about 9:25 and Randy, Aleitha and I were off for some underwater frolics. Cheryl stayed with the boat looking forward to some peace and quiet and some well-deserved alone time.
Our first dive was off Jack Iron Point. Jack Iron is a well known and powerful rum and we assume the point was named after the rum. 
There is another possibility. On the very end of the point, which is about 175' off the water, there is a partially built house. About 20 years ago an American apparently decided he wanted a house there. He spent a whole bundle of money on it but never finished it, probably due to the fact that he did not have a road leading up the hill to it and there seemed to be no usable access to it. It is now for sale for $200,000 USD. How this ties into Jack Iron rum is that in my mind, if he expects that kind of money for it, his brain must be permanently fried on Jack Iron!!
There is another possibility. On the very end of the point, which is about 175' off the water, there is a partially built house. About 20 years ago an American apparently decided he wanted a house there. He spent a whole bundle of money on it but never finished it, probably due to the fact that he did not have a road leading up the hill to it and there seemed to be no usable access to it. It is now for sale for $200,000 USD. How this ties into Jack Iron rum is that in my mind, if he expects that kind of money for it, his brain must be permanently fried on Jack Iron!!Diving - the first dive off the point was good but not great. We saw a couple of turtles, one about 16" and the other about 24" across. The first one looked like it was standing on the bottom on just it's hind legs and swaying back and forth with the current. Our presence didn't seem to bother it. We also saw a huge lobster and the others saw a manta ray although I missed that. There were also a number of difference species of fish although nothing too big.
Our second dive was off The Sisters, a part of rocks rising up about 
40' out of the sea about 1/2 mile off Jack Iron point. This dive was spectacular. Visibility was about 150' and the numbers and varieties of fish were unbelievable. On this dive we saw a nurse shark, some barracuda, a moray eel and some other really good size fish. What was really awesome was to be swimming along and then to look up and see between us and the surface literally thousands of fish swimming in schools so thick they seemed at times to almost block the view. Something else remarkable, at least to us, was the fact that entire schools of fish, sometimes as many as 4 different kinds, would be swimming through and around each other while at the same time staying in their own school. Some were as small as 2-3 inches while others would be 15-18 inches but it was almost as if they didn't even know there was anything outside their own group. The coral and plants on this dive were also quite beautiful. There was quite a strong current around The Sisters and to see the plants swaying to the movement of water was almost like watching choreographed Tai Chi for plants. All in all a good day which we finished off with a trip to the village in the late afternoon and a losing (on Randy and my part) crib game. Tomorrow we are off to Grenada.
40' out of the sea about 1/2 mile off Jack Iron point. This dive was spectacular. Visibility was about 150' and the numbers and varieties of fish were unbelievable. On this dive we saw a nurse shark, some barracuda, a moray eel and some other really good size fish. What was really awesome was to be swimming along and then to look up and see between us and the surface literally thousands of fish swimming in schools so thick they seemed at times to almost block the view. Something else remarkable, at least to us, was the fact that entire schools of fish, sometimes as many as 4 different kinds, would be swimming through and around each other while at the same time staying in their own school. Some were as small as 2-3 inches while others would be 15-18 inches but it was almost as if they didn't even know there was anything outside their own group. The coral and plants on this dive were also quite beautiful. There was quite a strong current around The Sisters and to see the plants swaying to the movement of water was almost like watching choreographed Tai Chi for plants. All in all a good day which we finished off with a trip to the village in the late afternoon and a losing (on Randy and my part) crib game. Tomorrow we are off to Grenada.Griff forgot to mention that he really got his money's worth on the dive as evidenced by the picture of how much air he had left in his tank!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment