Ocean Song was part of The Great Grenada Exodus or as some were calling it on Sunday, “The Beryl Run”. We had been anchored off Sandy Island, Carriacou on Friday morning and decided we should position ourselves in Woburn Bay, Grenada over the weekend just in case Beryl continued to stay south or worse, took a jog farther south. On Friday night my wife and I had dinner with friends (very experienced world cruisers) and we all felt reasonably confident Grenada’s southern bays would be safe. We started prepping our boats for TS conditions on Saturday. By early Saturday evening preparations were completed but Beryl’s projected path nudged slightly south. We decided to get up at 4:00am and if the projected path had moved any farther south, we would up anchor and head to Trinidad.

Sure enough, by 4:00 Beryl looked to be coming directly over Carriacou - simply too close for comfort. By 5:15am we were exiting Woburn and our AIS and radar showed at least a dozen boats in front of us and within 3 hours, at least 100, perhaps 150 boats behind us. We had a fast sail, averaging 7kn, and entered the pass between Trinidad and Monos Island about 5:00pm. By 6:00 we were securely anchored in Carenage Bay, just north of Port of Spain. We were one of only 3 boats in the outer anchorage, by dawn the next morning there were 29 additional boats anchored.

Of course no one had time to clear out of Grenada. Trinidad announced it would waive all fees for boats seeking safe haven. We were also allowed a reasonable number of days to clear in because squally weather prevailed as Beryl’s outer bands passed and most cruisers did not feel comfortable leaving their boats. If not going ashore one was asked to fly the Q-flag and check in by radio or online and no clearance was required. Many boats have left, heading back up island over the last 48 hours. For those clearing in an information center was set up by the great folks at Power Boats to organize and assist in filling out the sixteen (yes, 1-6) pages of clearance documents required. Admittedly, 6 of those pages were carbon copies. Once completed volunteers drove cruisers to C&I. Of course there were long lines 25 - 40 in queue, but things moved relatively quickly. We had come ashore at 9:30, and we were cleared in by 1:30.

Trinidad has been welcoming and fantastic. A new shopping bus schedule has been created, extra taxis arranged, potlucks, and BBQs have been organized by the marinas. The cruising community has been even better. A couple of boats ran into issues coming over (conditions were sporty leaving Grenada), but folks stood by to make sure everyone was safe. During the crossing there was constant, helpful radio chatter. As we approached the pass at Monos there were more than a dozen boats converging. Literally every captain slowed down and there was an organized and safe, single-file procession through the pass.

Our hearts go out to those affected by Beryl. Loss of homes, businesses, places of worship, and unfortunately lives far outweigh anything we have ever experienced. We lost a boat in Irma, so we do understand the feelings of those losing boats in Beryl. Almost every cruiser is loading up on needed supplies and transporting them back to Grenada.

We are keeping all the people affected by Beryl in our prayers.

Last edited by OceanSong; 07/05/2024 08:58 AM.