Good old favourite Sandy Island

Waking up and reading the depressing news of the attack on Ukraine has really taken the shine off our morning ritual….. two cups of tea in bed while we digest the newspaper. The weather has been really against us, loads of rain even though it is the dry season. Maybe not a bad thing with all the lily white english skin about. We decided to head up to the next island that belongs to Grenada, Carriacou, which is a favourite of ours. Arthur and Ottilie had a great time helming with the auto pilot on. Between the islands it got a little choppier and they slowly all felt a bit peaky. Luckily it was not too long, about 3 hours before we got to Sandy Island.

Arthur and Ottilie

Ottilie and Jonny

Guests beginning to feel a little seasick

We arrived and all the mooring balls were taken, so we anchored in the designated area which was a decent distance from the other boats. The water is such an amazing colour when the sun is out. It wasn’t long before we were in the dinghy and on the beach. We all went for a snorkel, only Dulcie had snorkelled before so we did some gentle snorkelling so that everyone could get used to it. The kids really enjoyed it. Loads of fish, which was nice to see and some good coral. The kids had a fun afternoon playing in the pinky white sand and dipping in and out of the warm sea.

Dulcie, Jonny and Rowan chilling

There were loads of people on the beach, locals and yachties. We got talking to one local and discovered that the music we could hear, was coming all the way from Hillsborough town, and that it was Carnival week here in Carriacou. He was a costume designer from Grenada, providing some outfits for the carnival here. He is staying right next door to the outside boom boxes providing the music. He didn’t seem to mind at all. He was taking some great photos with a nice camera. He had found a puffer fish all dried out which had amazing prickles like shark’s teeth. We were very pleased his taxi boat made him return the puffer fish and some big fan coral to the beach, nothing can be taken.

One of the boat taxis, it caught our attention last year and again this year!!

The windward side of Sandy Island looking across to Union Island

Rowan arranged for the Paradise Beach bar taxi boat to pick us up for supper as we would have got soaked in the dinghy. It is quite a long way and a tricky beach to get onto in the dinghy. It was great to see Alison again, third year in a row we have visited, she remembered us well and our African roots. She is doing really well, the place was heaving and she has a brand new gazebo. She did so well over lockdown delivering groceries and meals to yachts. Great atmosphere, the food was fine and the kids pizzas were very good. Fun to be back and see how many boat names we recognised on her wall. Sadly it is only on a Wednesday afternoon she does sign painting, so PolePole has never made it onto the wall.

Sunset taxi across to Paradise beach bar

The wall of boat names behind us