Going Against The Grain to Grenada

 Most boaters when traveling to Grenada arrive from either the north (down the island chain from the United States) or from the east (Europe) or even sometimes from the south (Trinidad and Tobago) but rarely ever do they come from the east like we did. Due to the predominate easterly trade winds and seas out of the west this passage often can be very rough with wind against current making for very large steep waves for a very long time. Despite this fact I wasn't deterred. To me it made no sense to head all the way to Puerto Rico and then head south down the chain just to have to come back north again. Not logical. So when we saw tropical storm Jerry going by smoothing the seas and calming the wind it was our chance to buck the system and head east. 

At 0600 on October 9th, 2025 (Jeff's mom's birthday which felt like a good omen) we threw lines and made our way to the customs and immigration office to check out of Aruba and make our way east. The process itself went smoothly and by 0730 we were underway settling into our 3 hour shifts. The seas were 1-4 feet with short 3-7 second periods and light 5-11 mile per hour winds. It wasn't exactly flat but for heading in this direction it was pretty good. 

Leaving Our Slip In Aruba

Waiting At Customs & Immigration Dock

A Little Choppy 

Nice Big Moon For The Overnight

Day Two. With our first night under our belt and in a nice rhythm we were feeling pretty good. Seas were coopering and we were well on our way. At some point during our second day we spotted our first warship which was a bit nerve wracking. It wasn't on AIS or radar we just saw it with our eyes. We found out later that it was a U.S. boat. With the escalating potential conflict with Venezuela we were more than concerned crossing the northern Venezuelan boarder. Prior to leaving Aruba I called our U.S. Coast Guard sector Puerto Rico and explained our upcoming trip and asked if there were any issues with us traveling this route. They assured me it would be fine, to leave our AIS on and to make sure we stayed 100 miles off the Venezuelan coast. No problem. Not the most direct path but with the current it ended up being fine. As the day progressed into the night the seas picked up to 3-5 foot rollers with 1-3 foot wind waves every 3-5 seconds, winds 5-15 knots and the boat began pitching like crazy. It felt like going up a ramp then  crashing down over and over again throughout the entire night. This didn't allow much sleep or any eating and when on shift we just held onto the arm rest of the chair trying to not fall out. Moving around the boat was a challenge and we dreaded every time we had to use the bathroom but were thankful for the many built in hand-holds throughout the boat. 

U.S. Warship In Caribbean Sea

Making Our Way

Wind Ripped Our Ocean Posse Flag Off 

Day Three. Dawn had broke and unfortunately the seas were still rough and the boat continued to pitch violently. At some point things began to mellow slightly and were seeing 3-5 foot swells with 2 foot wind waves every 4 seconds. Very washing machine like. We were both feeling drained from lack of sleep and the exhaustion of riding these waves and keeping your body still. It feels like a workout. For the first time we had some animal spottings. First, a pod of dolphins and then several boobies circling the boat. It felt good to see sea life to remind us we weren't alone. Then sometime during my 3a.m-6am shift something funny began to happen on the radar. I saw a boat about three miles out to port which I passed with plenty of distance but continued to keep an eye on them as we were the only two boats out here. Then at one point I see three other boats appear out of nowhere on the radar surrounding the boat to port. I thought this was really weird and sleep deprived and confused I thought maybe he was under attack from either the U.S. warship or Venezuelan navy. I couldn't understand how it went from just to two of us out here to him being surrounded. I continued to watch the boats on radar and wondered what was going on. All of a sudden it was happening to me as well. Out of nowhere all of a sudden three boat appeared on radar all within a mile of me and facing different direction. I thought this for sure had to be military or pirate boat who just turned on their radars and I got very nervous. One boat was in my guard zone and it appeared we were on a collision course. I began to make evasive maneuvers while shouting to Jeff who was sleeping in the salon. Thank god he quickly woke up and ran up to the pilot house. I don't wake him often but when I do he knows it's serious. While hand steering I showed him the radar and the boats scattered around me and told him I thought we were being surrounded for either attack or to be boarded by pirates. I explained how the same thing had happened to the boat to my port. Being the captain that he is Jeff hailed the boat to port and asked him about the mystery boats and surrounding us. The boat responded right away that he was a long line fisherman and that all of his buoys have AIS and he is in the middle of setting a 5 mile string and to please pass them to starboard. Oh My God! Lack of sleep and our countries current potential feud with Venezuela had my mind going. I was so happy to hear that these were only long lines (despite hating them) and that we weren't in fact getting attacked. I put the boat back on navigate and Jeff returned to sleep. Emergency avoided. 

Dolphins

Boobies Flying With Us

Tidings Of Joy Under Attack - Not Really 

Dawn Day 4 

By day four we were quite tired. Between the tossing on day 2 and lack of sleep we never got caught up. By now the seas had subsided a bit and we were getting some effects of the lee of Grenada. As we got closer and closer we began to perk up a bit. With the gorgeous green hills in site and stunning turquoise water that the eastern Caribbean is known for our goal was officially in site. I think of it kind of like a long distance runner. You start out strong then it gets pretty challenging and by the end you are gassed but there is a glimmer of hope and a little extra momentum push once you see the finish line. That was us, Grenada in site we were almost there. At 1200 on Sunday October 12th we were tying up at Port Louis Marina. No more tossing around. No more overnight shifts and only getting a few hours of sleep at a time. We were here! Our marina happens to have a customs and immigration office right on site so after checking into the office we made a stop there before settling back in on the boat. Prior to our passage we chilled a bottle of champagne to celebrate a successful and our longest passage to date (595.6 miles) and we quickly busted it open and downed the bottle before showering, napping and hitting the couch for football. 

Land Ho!

St. George's Grenada 

Uninvited Guests Onboard (We found 9 total)

Sweet Success 

Awesome Aruba

 My sister's birthday September 26th, 2025 seemed like a good and memorable day to start our cruise to Aruba. We had been watching weather and planning timing to make sure we arrived in the daylight and after 6am when the customs and immigration offices open. Finally at 16:23 we tossed lines as a huge rain squall blew in. The wind was so heavy that had the security guy not been there to throw me the lines I don't think I could have gotten onboard. The rain dumped and the wind gusted and we thought, "what the hell is this and should we be leaving?" I looked like a drowned rat by the time I came inside from cleaning up lines and fenders but amazingly enough within 10-15 minutes we were past it and the skies were cloudy but rain free. What a departure. The 342.8 mile passage went smoothly. We saw lightning in the distance but none in our path. Winds blew to 20mph but didn't affect the seas much as we never saw over 4 feet of wind waves or swell. By day two we got into our rhythm and settled into our preferred shifts. At 10:30am on September 28th we pulled into Aruba Harbor and tied up at the customs and immigration dock. Both officers were friendly, helpful and welcoming and the whole process only lasted about 15-20 minutes. We were a combination of excited and exhausted all in one. The marina office at Wind Creek Marina is closed on Sundays but fortunately the Dockmaster was nice enough to give us our slip assignment and photo of our dock in advance. Jeff slid the boat in and two very nice charter fisherman came to help me tie up. And that was it. We were now in Aruba. We could hardly believe it. 

Rain Squall Just Outside Santa Marta 

Cruise Ship In Front Of Aruba 

Tied Up At Customs & Immigration Dock Aruba 

Approaching Wind Creek Basin 

Our Stern View- Wind Creek Marina 

Docked at Wind Creek Marina- Aruba 

We were exhausted once we got tied up and settled in and thankfully it was Sunday and all we had to do was lay around and watch football. After a much needed shower and pjs we settled into the couch and recuperated in our new surroundings. 

Monday morning we were refreshed and relaxed and ready to explore and see the paradise we were in. We checked into the office and met everyone there and they told us about the marina and explained how we get to use the Renaissance Resort Hotel which has pools, beaches, a gym, spa and private island. All which we got to use free of charge. Amazing! We decided a resort day was just what we needed. Immediately we walked across the street to see the resort. They gave us wrist bands to wear while at the resort and then we took a little tour of the facilities. Everything looked very nice and for the first time in a very long time we felt like we were on a fancy vacation. Jeff decided we should have a pool day and just relax and get acquainted with our new surroundings. I had no objections so we went back to boat changed into our bathing suits and hit the pool for some happy hour celebratory cocktails. 

Renaissance Resort

The Resort's Beach

The Gym

Happy Hour At The Pool 

Cheers To A Successful Passage 

Sunset From the Stern 

The next day it was back to reality. Jeff scheduled a plumber (do they call them those on boats?) to come and work on the master head. A pipe needed to be replaced and it was a 2-3 man job. And a smelly one. This disgusting task managed to take all day while one of the guys dropped the hose spilling the contents into the bilge. I can still smell and taste it as I type this. The worst smell I've ever smelled in my life! 

Only one more issue to address- electronics. For some unknown reason our auto pilot stopped working twice while underway. This was a bit scary in the dark. Jeff again has someone coming to look things over and of course they couldn't find a thing and the boat was able to steer and follow a course. Love when that happens. We decided to take a little stroll around and see what we could see in our neighborhood. The basin receives weekly cruise ships so there are a ton of duty free stores both high end and kitschy. Drivers are actually kind here and allow you to cross the street without gunning for you and honking the horn which is a nice change of pace from Colombia. The stroll wasn't long but we got a sense of where we are finally. 

By Cruise Ship Dock 

Casino and Outdoor Mall Off Our Bow

Now that all the boat issues had been address we felt like we could change into tourist mode and start seeing Aruba. We started with the city the boat was in- Oranjestad which is also the capital of Aruba. Right outside the marina we were able to walk to the Parliament Building, the old fort and the archeological museum not to mention a really good coffee shop that I insisted we stop in. After our touring we decided we needed to hit happy hour again at the pool and to cool off from all of our hot walking around all day. 

Parliament Building 

The Old Fort 

View Of Town From The Fort 

Wall Of The Fort

Old House In Oranjestad 

Shops And Old Buildings 

Town Trolly 

Archeological Museum 

Having thoroughly exhausted our area we decided to rent a car and drive around and see the rest of the highlights of the island. Conveniently the hotel has a rental car desk right inside and it made renting a car super easy. We picked it up at 10 and were on our way. First stop- the famous lighthouse. Just a short 20-30 minute drive to the point of the island which I would think would be north but who knows since the island is situated however it is. Regardless, when we arrived there were several rental ATV's and cars there. But despite the crowd we had the stairs and the lighthouse landing to ourselves which was really nice. The views were gorgeous and well worth the climb. Back in the car we continued our trek around the island this time ended up at the old chapel. Once again ATV's and tour buses were there so we knew we were hitting all the highlights. The chapel itself was small but charming and we walked the parameter for a few extra steps before loading back into the car. Next we made our way to the national park which if you had a 4x4 vehicle (which we made sure to rent) you could access the swimming cove. This long (which felt like forever) 30 minute drive within the park tossed and threw us all around our rental small sized suv. I kept saying to Jeff, "this is 4 wheel drive? are you sure?" In what felt like a wild milkshake ride to hell finally came to an end when we saw the cliffs and other vehicles. We grabbed our stuff and made our way down this long stair path to the swimming hole. We had to climb over slippy rocks and I was sure I was going to eat shit in front of everyone but fortunately there was a nice park ranger there to hold my hand until I was seated and slipped into the swimming hole. There were a ton of fish swimming around and I stood paralyzed while Jeff swam around a bit. Ok. Been there. Done that. After several minutes we hauled back up the steps and continued our drive around the park. We drove past two more beaches but these you couldn't swim in so we just looked at them from the car. Our final stops in the park were two old caves which you walked into for a little bit and looked around. We were underwhelmed. Finally around 3:30 we got to O'Niels for lunch which came highly recommended by several other boaters. The food was good - local Caribbean food - I had curry and Jeff had fish, both which were good. Before heading back to the boat we decided since there was a Costco on the island and we had a car that we better stop in. You never know what you may need. It was packed per the usual and we picked up a few things before returning home. 

The Lighthouse 

View From The Top

The Chapel 

Inside Chapel 

Inside State Park 

Swimming Hole In State Park 

Cave In State Park 

Cave 

Our original plan was to stay in Aruba for a month then make our way over to Curacao and Bonaire but you know what they say about plans. Right at this time tropical storm Jerry was making its way to the eastern Caribbean which meant that there was going to be a significant weather window to head east to Grenada which would be our final destination. What we came to learn after being in Colombia and other places it that when a tropical storm or hurricane goes by it sucks up all the wind and waves with it making the outer areas calm and with very light winds. After consulting with Commander Weather on the east coast we all agreed that if we had any intention of going against the trades and making our way east now was the time and there might not be another opportunity again. That did it for me. Time to go. Jeff took a little more coaxing but with the constant communication with the weather service he too agreed it was time. 

Before we left though there was one last amenity we had to take advantage of - the resorts private island. After a slow morning we caught the hotels panga (which departs the dock every 15 minutes) to their private island to spend the afternoon. The boat ride was fast which always makes me nervous but the captain was good and we trusted his skills. When we arrived we were told there was a family beach and an adult only beach. While normally the adult side would be a no brainer the family side was much more charming so we opted for that. We found two lounges nestled under some trees while pink flamingos walked by. We ordered some rum cocktails and a snack then floated together on a raft in the water. It was so peaceful and relaxing and we really felt like we were on a luxury vacation. What a wonderful marina we ended up at. Around dinner time we took the panga back and settled in on the boat. A great last adventure in Aruba. 

Family Beach On Private Island 

Huts For Rent 

Panga Escort To Private Island