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
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