Hurricane Season and our escape to Trinidad
Arrival in Grenada, Hash Week, a looooot of diving, and the Hurricane Beryl Escape Regatta.
Grenada. Great, we can finally explore you! We want to spend the next four months on the second southernmost island in the West Indies. Why? It's hurricane season, and as experience shows that these storms tend to pass through the slightly more northerly latitudes, being located the further south the better. For this reason, we have booked a buoy in Prickly Bay, in the south of Grenada. During this time, I will also be doing my divemaster training in the form of an internship at the Scuba West Indies diving centre. We are looking forward to a bit of "arriving", routine and Grenada in general. Let's go!
Back on the spice island
The island has changed a little since our last visit in February (read the article here): What used to be so green and lush now appears dull and somewhat dilapidated. There is a drought on the island. Fresh water is being rationed and some houses in the north have not had any for weeks. This means no showers, no water for cooking, no flushing toilets - nothing at all. Of course, the high society in the luxury hotels here in the south don't care. These double standards make me sick once again 🤮 Even we are better off with our water maker, but at least we are not taking water away from the locals.
Our lovely crew of the last few weeks has now left us (shoutout to Kaya, Gabriel & David - we love you! ❤️). Kaya & Gabriel have flown back to Europe, while David has set up his hammock somewhere here in the forest and is looking for a ride to Colombia. But I'm happy to see the Orenol anchored next to us and we can explore the island together for a while 🌴 It's Hash Week. Wait - what? No, nothing to do with hashish 🤣.
The Hash is an event that takes place every Saturday afternoon. People meet at around 3pm at different locations on the island, then either walk or run along a predetermined trail, usually around 5-6 kilometres long, followed by food, beer and music. "Drinkers with a running problem" as they also call themselves 😂 This includes a few rituals, such as the loss of verginity of the "first-time-hashers": here you proudly line up for a "group photo" like unsuspecting schoolchildren. I'm not allowed to say what happens next, hash code and all that. But it's a lot of fun 😉🍻
Meanwhile, I have also started my training at the dive centre. This consists of two stages: Firstly, I have to complete the Rescue Diver. There I learn how to act in stressful situations on and below the surface, from panic attacks to rescuing unconscious people. Divemaster training is then about planning and leading a dive and also learning and applying certain training elements. I feel really comfortable, the team at the diving school quickly becomes a second family and the time flies by. Unfortunately, there aren't many photos of this part of our summer, as water and mobile phones don't really get along 😉
But then everything changes
Towards the end of June, the whole world is suddenly watching the Atlantic. Hurricane season has been underway for just under a month and the first storm is brewing in the middle of the ocean. Nobody knows what it will be at this point. But what is clear is that it will hit the south of the West Indies. But where exactly? It's a case of wait and see.
Saturday, 30 June
One thing is now certain: it will be a hurricane. At the moment it's still category 1 and is expected to hit St Vincent and the Grenadines. That's great. I don't particularly like storms and I'm not very good at dealing with them. So I'm a bit of a nervous wreck and am toying with the idea of getting a flat. Thierry definitely wants to stay on the boat as long as it's only uncomfortable and not dangerous. The long-established sailors around us are quite relaxed about the situation, which is a little reassuring.
Sunday 31 June
I wake up early in the morning, Thierry is already up. I stay in bed for a little more and gather my courage for what might come next. Then I hear Thierry muttering "Fuuuuuck..." through the open window. Within seconds, I jump out of bed and stand in the cockpit. I see a worried Thierry, some of the boats around us have already left their buoys, others are in the process of doing so. And I know why: Hurricane Beryl has strengthened overnight from category 1 to caregory 4 and is heading more and more south. It's due to sweep through north of Carriacou around midday on 1 July. That's tomorrow folks. "Let's get out of here," Thierry says to me, and I don't need to hear that twice. We pull up the already stowed foresail (hurricane preparation), say goodbye to our friends who are staying here and set off for Trinidad with around 100 other boats. "Good luck and be safe" - the kind of farewell you only see in movies.
How Hurricane Beryl, becomes the strongest storm so early in the season since records began, how it sweeps across the West Indies and how I get seasick at anchor?
You'll soon find out!