On July 25, 2020 Tropical Storm Gonzalo passed over Tobago just to the south of Grenada. Two days prior we were anchored in Salt Whistle Bay, Mayreau in the southern Grenadines tracking its inexorable westward progress with laser beam focus. Every twelve hours we were receiving forecast updates from Predict Wind, plus we were getting interim tropical storm updates from Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center. On top of that, we were consulting with the highly experienced Jamie Gifford, our cruising coach and friend who was also watching the storm’s progress from the Sea of Cortez. Our stress levels began rising significantly when models started showing the storm tracking anywhere from Barbados and Saint Vincent to the north or the northern tip of Grenada to the south. If you averaged out the models, we were sitting in the bullseye but the problem was the storm was small in diameter, moving quickly, and acting unpredictably. Nobody knew where it was going to hit.
Our first plan was to duck into the Glossy Bay mega yacht marina 3.7nm to the north on the island of Canouan. It was a short run from our anchorage in Salt Whistle, but we had never been there. It was colocated with an airport, so there wasn’t much protection from the wind. The piers were all new, but they were also concrete, so weren’t convinced the boat would emerge unscratched if the storm passed overhead as a Category 1 hurricane (as some models were forecasting.)
Our preferred course of action was to run south to the southern coast of Grenada 42nm away, but COVID restrictions hampered our ability to move between the two island nations as quickly as we would have preferred. Emails flew back and forth between us and Grenada Lima, the yachting support non-profit organization that acts as a point of contact and informational conduit for boaters arriving in the country. They are amazing, and at some point in the wee hours of the morning on Friday we received a note from them that said to come, not to worry about formalities, and find a safe harbor.
Little did we know that the storm would track much farther south in the coming 24 hours, but we were grateful for what Grenada Lima did. The video below picks up the story as we were sailing south. 48 hours later we were heading in the opposite direction back to the Grenadines so we could regroup, formally check out with customs, and then plan our return to Grenada under less stressful circumstances.