Our guests have left this morning–it’ll take them 24 hours to get back home… We had a really good time: we visited the Seven Sisters Falls in the rainforesty interior of Grenada, tasted loads of delicious dishes at Fish Friday in Gouyave, went sightseeing in St. George and spent a few relaxing days anchored off Calvigny Island. Grenada is great to get around, cheap minibuses take you anywhere (without the waiting times we got used to in the Cape Verdes, Suriname and Tobago), it’s safe and people are friendly and welcoming wherever you go.
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2012
05
Apr
2012
24
Mar
Visitors coming
We’re still in Prickly Bay (Grenada) installing newly acquired gadgets. Today we bought yet another inverter–this ends a 3 month power-tool-free period on Pitufa (even though we managed to do all kinds of repairs during that time using manual drills, manual saws, etc. we even managed to solder by heating up the soldering iron on a blow torch 
). Additionally we’re doing a thorough spring-clean, partly because it’s spring and partly because tomorrow my Mom and my brother + girlfriend will arrive here
2012
21
Mar
Grenada
We reached Grenada yesterday after a wonderfully comfortable night sail with light winds and calm seas. We were quite shocked by our first impression of Prickly Bay in the South of Grenada–more than a hundred yachts in one bay… We found a quiet spot though, went to the big chandlery and spent a whole month of our budget on presents for Pitufa
2012
17
Mar
The liferaft is back!
We’ve spent the last 2 weeks waiting for our liferaft (remember our encounter with the fishing boat in Suriname?) to be serviced. We had to ship it to Trinidad for that and it disappeared unaccountably on the way for a week, which left us quite worried and stuck in the rolly anchorage in Store Bay. Today it finally got back from the service station, so now we’re free to head on (after clearing out with immigration and customs in Scarborough) on Monday.
2012
14
Mar
Photos of Tobago
We updated our photo album today and added a gallery of Tobago.
Tobago
We like this island for its lonely beaches and lush interior even though we had lousy weather and rolly anchorages. February and March 2012.
(40 photos)
2012
09
Mar
Store Bay, Tobago
We arrived last weekend in this popular anchorage in the southwestern corner of Tobago. Even though the pilot calls it “protected and calm” we’ve been rolling and pitching just like in the other spots. According to the locals the weather is extraordinarily rough and rainy for this time of the year.
We like Tobago, but it doesn’t seem to like us…
Yesterday we made a trip around the island in a rental car (first time on our trip, usually we rely on buses or other public transport) and discovered that the interior of Tobago is just as beautiful as the coast. There are few tourists around, even on the most beautiful beaches only a handful of people enjoy the golden sand and clear water. There’s small guesthouses everywhere, a few beach bars, but no mass tourism.
2012
04
Mar
Englishman’s Bay
We spent another few days in Charlotteville, but it was pouring down most of the time and on a boat constant rain is really tedious. You cannot open any hatches, the battery is drained when the solar panels don’t work, etc. When it finally cleared up we sailed a few miles further to Englishman’s Bay. This bay looks like on a postcard: a golden beach, black rocks, jungle all around–just gorgeous. We were the only boat there 
As we’d heard that there had been incidents with nightly robberies we locked ourselves up and put up trip wires with beercan alarms. Of course nothing happened
2012
27
Feb
Pretty northern coast of Tobago
We’re still in Charlotteville in the North of Tobago waiting for the swell to get lower, because our next planned anchorages (Bloody Bay and Englishman’s Bay) are less protected than Pirate’s Bay. Even in this big bay the swell makes living aboard Pitufa a bit uncomfortable, especially Leeloo hates it when the boat is rolling. Additionally the inverter has broken down, that means no power tools can be used on the boat and all maintenance/upgrade projects are resting at the moment. We were quite annoyed at the beginning, but now we actually enjoy this involuntary idleness, feeling like tourists on holidays
We went to see the carnival in Scarborough last week (colourful, loud, chaotic), did some hiking in the surroundings of the bay (beautiful rainforest, but quite sweaty), a BBQ on the beach and snorkeling.
2012
18
Feb
Charlotteville, Tobago
Tobago has a turbulent history, colonial powers changed constantly and it was a hiding place for pirates and buccaneers. We’re anchored in Pirate’s Bay at the moment and the neighbouring bay is called Bloody Bay… Nowadays it’s peaceful here, only a few tourists are around in the sleepy little town of Charlotteville, the people are friendly and the pace of life is very relaxed. The water in the bay shimmers in all shades of green and the bay is surrounded by densely wooded hills–a really pretty place.
2012
14
Feb
Land ahoy!
The island of Tobago appears out of the haze 25 miles ahead of us. The passage from Suriname took us three and a half days with daily runs of 136, 132, and 145 nautical miles. The Guyana current helped with a steady knot all the way up. The first two days were pleasant with flat seas and light winds, but strong enough to push Pitufa ahead. Last night and today’s morning were somewhat rough and squally. Caribbean, here we are!
2012
13
Feb
Wayne Vaney back on duty
With Wayne Vaney back on duty, passage-making is finally delightful again. With the wind vane steering, the human crew is free to read, eat, and nap.
2012
12
Feb
On our way
Sunny skies and light winds, Pitufa is leisurly gliding towards the Caribbean.
2012
09
Feb
Caribbean–we’re coming!
After a month in Suriname we’re now headed for the Caribbean. We’ll spend the next few months exploring Tobago, Grenada, the Venezuelan Antilles, the Dutch Antilles and maybe the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama etc. – we’ll just gather info, listen to other people’s experiences and will make up the itinerary on the way. Let’s see where the wind takes us!
2012
09
Feb
Photos of Suriname
We uploaded some pictures of our stay in Suriname. Even though we saw many animals like a giant anteater, otters and monkeys,
we can’t prove these encounters with photos, because the wildlife always turned up so unexpectedly that we never had a camera near. At least the pics show the forest and rivers where all these animals live. See for yourself:
Suriname
In January 2012 we caught a glimpse of Amazonia. Suriname provides an easy and save access to the rivers of the rainforest.
(38 photos)
2012
03
Feb
Wildlife
According to our initial plan we wanted to sail up the Perica and other rivers watching out for wildlife encounters. We pictured ourselves waiting motionless in the dinghy for hours to get a glimpse of some jungle creatures. Things turned out quite different: after a week we’re still anchored in the first spot we picked in the Perica, because the animals come round to our boat, usually when we’re doing some noisy work. They seem to be as interested in our behaviour, as we are in theirs. Read more »