Trapped on Land: The Grenada Land Dispute Keeping Cruisers’ Homes Stranded

Nearly four months after a fence went up across part of Tyrell Bay Marina in Carriacou, Grenada, roughly eight boats — several of them full-time homes — still can’t get back in the water. About ten people are affected, unable to reach the marina’s travel lift or slipway because the fence sits across the only route between them, according to reporting first published by NOW Grenada and independently covered by Loose Cannon.

Tyrell Bay Marina broke its silence on August 6 with a detailed public statement, explaining it had “until now refrained from making a detailed public statement as legal proceedings remain ongoing,” but felt compelled to speak once its customers went public with their own accounts. “We respect the judicial process and will not argue the merits of those proceedings in the media,” the marina wrote, “but our customers have now publicly described the circumstances facing them,” and the marina said it has “a responsibility to speak up about the immediate practical and human impact.”

Date	Event
April 25, 2026	Fence erected across part of the boatyard
May 1, 3, 14, 2026	Affected customers request access
June 17, 2026	Marina seeks temporary access
July 24, 2026	Customers make formal request
August 6, 2026	Marina issues public statement
August 13, 2026	Boaters publish open letter via Scuttlebutt Sailing News

According to the statement, the marina and its affected customers have repeatedly sought a resolution directly from the party responsible for the fence — customers made requests on May 1, 3, and 14, and again formally on July 24; the marina itself sought temporary access on June 17. “To date,” the marina said, “the party responsible for the construction of the fence has been unresponsive and our collective efforts have not produced a solution.” The marina says its travel lift “remains available and capable of relaunching the affected vessels” the moment a safe, unobstructed route is restored, and noted the fence also blocks vehicle access for emergency services in the affected area.

For the people living aboard, the wait has a real cost. French liveaboard Lou Le Sommer says she lost work opportunities in Martinique after her monohull, Malumau, hauled out in mid-April for routine work, couldn’t be relaunched as planned. American Leslie Bell-Friedel, who lives aboard the catamaran Nizhoni with her husband, put the combined losses across the affected boats at more than $85,000 — lost income, cancelled travel, immigration costs, and other expenses, according to NOW Grenada’s reporting. A French couple aboard the vessel Mr. Tong are among the others still waiting.

The marina frames the stakes well beyond its own docks. Tyrell Bay supports “employees, contractors, mechanics, electricians, welders, painters, taxi operators, accommodation providers, restaurants, shops and other small businesses,” and the statement calls the disruption “especially painful for an island community still working to strengthen livelihoods and rebuild economic activity in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl” — a recovery AAS has covered directly.

The fence itself traces back to a long-running land dispute between Carriacou Devcor Ltd., the marina’s developer, and the Estate of Samuel Corion over a roughly 7-acre parcel adjacent to the marina development. A Grenada trial court found in 2018 that the estate held title to the land, a ruling the Court of Appeal upheld in 2019. Carriacou Devcor’s final appeal reached the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which dismissed it in January 2023, declining to disturb the lower courts’ findings (Carriacou Devcor Ltd v Corion & Anor (Grenada) [2023] UKPC 1). Questions of possession and related rights are still before Grenada’s High Court.

The marina says it remains “committed to acting lawfully, responsibly and with restraint,” and is asking “all parties and responsible authorities to place the safety, dignity and welfare of the affected customers, and the livelihoods of the people of Carriacou, at the center of the response.” Boaters have separately circulated an open letter proposing a temporary, three-step process to remove the fence just long enough to relaunch the affected vessels, published in full via Scuttlebutt Sailing News on August 13. As of mid-August, the boats remain on the hard while the case works through the courts.

captain has written for ALL AT SEA since 2020.