Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine June 2016

— Continued from previous page
Some regulars are even closer to their local pub.
Canadian Phil Hawkins lives aboard Beothuc, a 37-foot
Tayana cutter-rigged double-ender. He first came to
Hog in 2006 and has returned every year since. “I’ve
stopped at nearly all the islands and can truthfully say
that Hog is the best anchorage I’ve found in the
Caribbean: good holding and located only a short dinghy
ride to Woburn Bay, with great eating places and
a short bus ride to downtown St. George’s.” Phil, who
frees up and a sailor leaves his boat there for months
at a time while out of the country.
From time to time storm clouds have formed over
this sailor’s Mecca — in the form of commercial development.
Hog Island was named for the wild pigs that
abounded on it in the 19th century, and four generations
of the James Theodore family once owned and
farmed the island. In 1979 the Grenada government
expropriated it as part of the Mt. Hartman National
Park “for the purpose of national security, Customs
But today an even darker cloud looms over the
island in the form of a recently proposed US$2 billion
mega-resort village that could include a marina, parklands,
a medical center, and villas on the peninsula
and likely spilling over onto Hog Island. The venture,
known as the Grenada Resort Complex Project, has
some serious Chinese money behind it.
Left: It’s a laid-back
lime for all. Locals,
cruisers, university
students and more
hobnob the day away
at Hog Island
Right: Roger Strachan
has run an al fresco
bar here since 1988,
featuring good drinks,
home cooking and
a barefoot vibe
shares his boat with his cat, Buddy, is moored a few
hundred feet off the beach. He calls Hog Island “my
home away from home”.
The Hog Island anchorage, like many of Grenada’s
narrow bays, is ideally located for the rare occasion
that a hurricane should strike this far south. On the
approach to the island from Woburn Bay, just before
the footbridge, is what some have dubbed the Mangrove
Marina. Like Roger’s Bar, it is an ad hoc business,
with no signage, actual building, or even a registered
owner. A handful of yachts are secured stern-to
against the island’s mangroves and double-anchored
from their bows. It’s also been referred to as the
Mangrove Graveyard or the Spider’s Web, since a few
of the yachts are rotting hulks, long ago abandoned by
their owners. Space is limited, but occasionally, a spot
and tourist development.”
In 1999 the government announced a Ritz-Carlton
resort project involving the Mt. Hartman and Hog Island
properties, and yachties had their first scare. But like
many such projects, it never materialized, thanks to lack
of financing. In 2006, the Four Seasons hotel chain
obtained an option to build a resort on the Mt. Hartman
property including an 18-hole golf course, a 107-room
hotel, a marina, and 255 villas — some of them on Hog
Island. However, after surveying the island and breaking
it up into undeveloped lots, as well as erecting the connecting
bridge from the peninsula, that project also
folded, partly owing to heavy opposition from wildlife
groups who saw it as a threat to the critically endangered
Grenada Dove, whose core habitat is the Mt. Hartman
estate. Yachties once again heaved a sigh of relief.
This latest threat to the future of laid-back Hog Island
is often a topic of conversation on the beach. Then
again, local yachties are used to measuring things (such
as the completion of boatyard repairs or the arrival of a
much-needed part) in GMT — Grenada Maybe Time.
Even Roger isn’t overly concerned about the future of
his funky bar. When asked about the Grenada Resort
Complex, he snorts and answers with one of his
extremely rare smiles, “That’s a long, long time away.”
D’Arcy O’Connor is a veteran journalist, scriptwriter,
TV documentary producer, published author and roundthe-world
sailor. He has contributed to the Wall Street
Journal, People, Yachting, National Geographic and
many other publications. His most recent book is
Montreal’s Irish Mafia. He lives in Montreal, and
spends winters in Grenada.
JUNE 2016 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 29