We received an email with news that our brother-in-law Ed who had been ill in
British Columbia passed away overnight. It was a very difficult thing to
deal with when we are so far away from family. We decided to have a quiet
day and invited Avalon V and Cheshire Cat to go for a walk with us to Paradise
Beach. We sat and talked for a while before cooling off with a swim.
Around noon we met Susan and Roy at the Hard Wood Café having lunch and joined
them. After a walk back to Tyrrel Bay, we both rested until about 4:30PM
at which time Rick went ashore and phoned his Sister back in Canada.
When he returned to the boat we called Avalon V again and went into the Old
Rum
Shop for a drink. Eventually George and Mary went back to their boat
and Rick and I went over to the Turtle Dove for a pasta dinner.
Rick began his day cleaning water maker strainers, and any other strainers we have onboard. I played on the computer all morning. It was time to backup the hard drive. So after tidying up the desktop and hard drive I burned a couple of CD’s. We keep one on the boat and send the other home.
In the afternoon, we went ashore to buy a few groceries. I was mainly looking for appetizers as our supplies are getting very low. I was able to get some pineapple cream cheese, cheddar cheese and can you believe two red delicious apples. I think the last apple we had was sometime in December or January. The lady in the store (After Ours) said she would try and bring in some bagels for me from Grenada. She normally either takes the ferry or flies there each Wednesday. Lately she has been flying a lot since the Osprey ferry is still in Trinidad being fixed. The smaller ferry is too slow and she gets seasick.
As we were returning to the dinghy one of the small fishing boats came in loaded with a great selection of fresh fish. Most of the fish were quite large but we chose a small red snapper. It was a perfect size for two people. Although I took a whole chicken from the freezer and put it into the fridge yesterday afternoon. I didn’t cook it last night and it wasn’t going to be cooked tonight either.
Mary and George (Avalon V) came over for Happy Hour and we feasted on the cheese and apples with some crackers. While they were visiting, Simon’s brother came over with some wine for sale. He and Simon have just returned from another mission (smuggling) and have a great supply available. He didn’t have the wine I wanted with him but promised that Simon would come by with it in the morning. Later Rick and I had the fresh fish and some mixed vegetables for dinner. Although I’m not a very good fish eater, I enjoyed the fresh red snapper very much.
We awoke to some major rain. It was the first significant rainfall in months. We could almost see the ground slurping it up. Just a few more mornings like this and the lushness of the island will reappear.
We were having breakfast in the cockpit and could see that Nirvana had a little halyard problem. Louise was trying with difficulty to winch Paul up the mast to rescue an escaped halyard. Rick got in the dinghy and went to offer his help. Louise greeted him with open arms. It didn’t take long and the rescue mission was complete.
The skies cleared by 10AM and our project for the day was to clean the fireplace. We have a Newport fireplace by Dickinson that through lack of use and salt air is starting to rust. We had anticipated major soot when we disassembled the chimney and so we had removed the settee cushions and taped green garbage bags and newspaper all around the fireplace area. The nice surprise of the morning was that there really wasn’t all that much soot and absolutely no mess. We took the disassembled fireplace and chimney ashore to clean and polish. We worked at it until about 3PM at which time we returned to the boat.
I quickly cleaned up enough to prepare a chicken dinner. The thawed chicken had to be cooked today. I had it trussed and the potatoes, carrots and onions all thrown in the oven together by 3:30PM. I then had time for a quick shower. The terrible surprise of the afternoon was that I used the last of my Aveda shampoo. I knew this day was coming but tried to ignore it. I’m now into roughing-it mode and using no-name shampoo. Dinner came out of the oven at 4:30PM at which time brownies went into the oven. We ate quickly, pulled the brownies out of the oven and dinghied over with them to Avalon V for Happy Hour at 5PM. Louise and Paul (Nirvana) and Bill (Adonis) joined us there.
Rick and I went Island touring with Allen and Karen (Sylvia K). We met
at 10:30AM and took a local bus into Hillsborough. We changed buses there
and got one that went to Windward. Windward is a very small town on the
other side of the island where they have been building wooden boats for many
years. We walked along the beach and saw a few boats being repaired but
there were no large boats under construction. We watched one of the
carpenters doing a repair job on a small boat. He used a wooden mallet and
chisel to put the cotton type chinking between the pitch pine planks.
Carriacou is famous in the islands for the boat building industry. Mermaid
the wooden boat that is owned by John Smith, the writer, was built and launched
in
Windward Carriacou in 1968. Grenada created a 30 cent stamp to
commemorate the launching. We’ve watch some of the carpenters at the
Tyrrel Bay Haulout where some of the commercial boats come for repair.
We spoke with some fishermen who were on the beach and then walked for a little way along the road with a local who gave us the name of some trees we didn’t recognize. One tree was the Sticky Berry Tree and obviously, the berries on it were very sticky but sour tasting so we didn’t try any. It was a little after 12PM when we went looking for a place where we could get something to eat. We found a small wooden building that served fried chicken and chicken or fish rotis. We had lunch and then took a bus back to Hillsborough. While in Hillsborough we picked up some more of the imported pork chops that we like and some Catelli Spaghetti. This is the closest we’ve seen to gourmet pasta for a long time. We then stopped at an Internet café to download a few files. We have been using the computer at the yacht club but the ‘A’ drive and the printer haven’t worked for a while.
When we were in the dinghy returning to the boat we found Tiger Lily II
anchored in the bay so we had to stop
and say hello. Shortly after we
arrived at our own boat, Petra and Andy from ‘In Stitches’ came by for a fitting
of some of the canvas I had ordered from them. Everything fit perfectly
but Petra had a few finishing touches she wanted to add so took almost
everything away with her.
Rick and I decided to use the spaghetti we bought to attempt to match the Spaghetti Carbonara that we had the other night at the Turtle Dove. We both agreed our efforts were good but the results were not quite as good as Daniella’s.
I didn’t notice any extreme winds overnight but when we awoke in the morning we found a lot of the charter boats were in different locations from the night before. “Just ’N Time” that’s owned by David & Dianna but out on charter, was almost right on top of a boat. The charter people raised anchor and left a little sheepishly early in the morning. Another of the charter boats had gently bumped Tiger Lily II in the early hours of the morning. We went into town again today because normally Thursdays are market day. The ferry was very late and the vegetables weren’t unloaded but we were still able to find just about everything we needed and returned to the boat just after lunch.
There was a nice surprise waiting for me in the cockpit. I bought some calabash bowls from Georgina (Steeleye) who paints the calabash for a lot of the craft stores on different islands. I picked up a few from her yesterday but an extremely large one (which is rare) was not quite finished. When we arrived at the boat, it was waiting for us in the cockpit today. Petra came by in the afternoon for a fitting of the windscoop/hatch cover she’s making for the large butterfly hatch in our main salon and to make a pattern for the sunshades in the cockpit.
We had a great Happy Hour at the club with Tiger Lily II, Windborne and Avalon V.
We said goodbye to Karen and Allen (Sylvia K) first thing in the morning. They were going over to Petite Martinique (PM) to meet up with Serendipity. It was only an hour or so later when we heard Serendipity call Sylvia K on the radio to find out what it was like at PM. It was quite choppy according to Sylvia K so Serendipity changed their mind and decided to come to Tyrrel. Sylvia K will return as well within the next couple of days but Allen was in a little pain from a kidney stone so they wanted to stay and relax for a while.
I spent the rest of the morning working on a T-shirt I’m making for my friend Lester. Lester rides as a conductor for Linky Taxi and is deaf mute. I try to talk with him whenever we meet but although I took signing (for 1 semester) I’ve forgotten a lot of it. Lester usually tries to help me but I thought that if I made him a T-shirt to wear with the American Sign Language (ASL) Alphabet. It would help me and others could talk to him so I spent the morning working on the computer designing the T-shirt.
In the afternoon Andy came with the windscoop and installed the clasps for it. Avalon V invited us to go with them to the Old Rum Shop for Happy Hour. While we were there, we learned that Virginia is having a fish/chicken barbecue on Sunday and according to Mary, her red snapper is to die for. Since I’m not the greatest at cooking fish, I thought I might learn something from this barbecue so we said we would be there. It was only a few minutes later when Sherwin who owns The Lambi Queen joined us. He’s cooking red snapper and lambi (conch) next Friday. So, we agreed to try his as well.
We left Avalon V and went to join Karen, Tom and Samantha (Serendipity) who were with Marla and Brian and their 3 children (Oasis) at the Turtle Dove for dinner. It was a fun evening.
Rick wanted to clean the shrouds and stays today so just after breakfast dishes were cleaned up he donned his rock climbing harness and attached his pail of cleaners and rags. He normally uses a boson’s chair but we bought this harness before we left home and it hasn’t been used. Supposedly, it is more comfortable for long periods up the mast. It worked well, he climbed using the steps and I fastened off his safety line and he could swing around from shroud to shroud. I say he could swing around but it took a long time for him to let go of the mast and swing out. He cleaned and checked the six inner shrouds from the spreaders down. The next time up, he’ll have to tackle the outer shrouds, the upper (above the spreaders) shrouds and the backstay. I’m looking forward to it but I’m not sure about him.
In the afternoon, we both jumped in for a swim. A few minutes later Mary and George were right beside us. We all swam to the reef near shore and snorkeled for a while. We didn’t expect to see much but some sand dollars, sea urchins, baby lobster and many small fish surprised us. The reef has started to come back to life after being damaged severely by the surge during Hurricane Lenny a few years ago. When we left the reef, we swam over to Sylvia K who had returned and anchored a few hours before. Allen’s feeling a little better so they were both in having swim as well.
EEventually we returned to the boat, relaxed in the cockpit and watched the new boats arrive and anchor. We had a lovely dinner of barbecued pork chops on board. And then went to bed.
Wow, we had a perfect test of our new windscoop/hatch cover. There were extremely high winds and driving rain with the passing of a Tropical Wave early in the morning. The forward hatch and large butterfly hatch were left open all night long and not a drop of rain but a beautiful strong breeze came through.
Rick was anxious to be finished with breakfast since it looked like it was going to be a rainy day he wanted us to make some bread. Normally I would just throw the ingredients into the bread maker and let it do its thing. Graham and Ann (asi) gave us a fresh hand-made loaf about a month ago and since then, he has wanted us/me to make one from scratch. We bought some ten-grain flour last time we went grocery shopping. We started about 8:30 AM. It was a lot of fun, I pulled up a recipe on the computer and as he mixed by hand, I read the instructions. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed, now beat 2 minutes at high speed. We laughed as he made the sounds of a mixer and I said faster, faster as he stirred with a fork. The bread was ready just after noon so we had tuna sandwiches for lunch. It was very good but I don’t want him to get too attached to handmade bread because although it was fun it certainly was a lot more work than the bread maker.
WWe both had an afternoon siesta and then joined Avalon V and Tiger Lily II for Happy Hour and dinner at The Old Rum Shop. Rick and I both had red snapper. His was grilled in a Creole sauce and mine was done in foil. Both were very good.
Our squall proof windscoop/hatch covers are so amazing I probably won’t stop
talking about them for ages. We are definitely into the rainy season now
and each night a few squalls go through. We wake up when we hear the rain
and it takes a few minutes before we realize that we no longer have to run
around and close hatches and ports. We’ve turned off all of our fans and
now just continually enjoy the breeze from our “poor man’s air conditioning”.
We added an additional touch this morning by installing a “breeze booster” in
the port over the bathtub. This unit doesn’t stop the rain but because
it’s over the tub, it doesn’t matter. We have the two ports and one hatch
in the head area. The one port and hatch we now leave closed but with the
other port open I can feel the breeze through the louver doors while sitting at
the Nav. It is amazing.
For the very first time this morning, we listened to CBC on Radio Canada International. I don’t know why we haven’t bothered to listen to it in the past but it was neat. We only listened for about 10 minutes. It was very clear and we are now up to date on the major news and weather in Canada. We will try to listen regularly but it comes on at the same time of the morning that all the cruisers call each other on the SSB. There is an evening program that we will try to listen to as well but so far, we’ve missed it because it’s on during Happy Hour.
It was an overcast day that was perfect for doing nothing. We read, sat around and didn’t do much at all.
We went over to Sylvia K for Happy Hour with Serendipity and Avalon V. Sylvia K is a 48-foot trawler that was comparable to a floating condo. They have all of the luxuries of a house, including a large refrigerator/freezer with an ice dispenser on the door. Karen explained they were roughing it because the dispenser wasn’t working. They have to open the freezer door to obtain ice cubes. We had a full tour of the boat and were in awe with each room.
DDinner was canceled for the evening because Karen made so many appetizers neither of us was hungry when we returned to our own boat about 9PM.
We were up and standing in the cockpit waving goodbye to Sylvia K before
breakfast. Avalon V left as well but they waited until we were eating
breakfast and motored up close so we could wish them a safe passage.
Later in the morning we went into shore and used the internet at the Yacht Club. When I sat down to use the computer I heard a very small meow and found that there was a nice new litter of kittens living in the office. They were about a week old and so cute that I went back and visited with them at least five different times during the day. There had been some young kittens at the club when we first arrived. They’re still there but look almost full-grown now. We’ve started to call it the Cat Club rather than the Yacht Club. The cats are a very small and affectionate breed. We could easily be tempted to adopt a couple but we’ve both said no pets onboard.
Susan called during lunch and asked if I would like to go for a drive around
the island and help her in the afternoon. Without knowing what I would be
doing, I said sure. Rick came ashore with me and offered to help as well.
We are so very rarely in a car or any vehicle that goes faster than 6 knots that
a car ride up and over the hills is to us more like a ride in Disney World then
you could imagine. We delivered the June issue of the Caribbean Compass (a
free newspaper) to a list of places all over the island. Our whirlwind
tour all around the island took us no more than a couple of hours. That
was with many stops to allow Rick to jump out and run into buildings with
bundles of papers. Some times Susan and I jumped out as well. We
took a little time out in Windward to have a cold glass of juice. Susan
took a different route to
Windward than the local bus did and the view was
magnificent. She had to stop for us to get out and take a few pictures.
It was a fun afternoon and we finished it off back at the club where Roy joined
us for Happy Hour.
In the evening, either the weather fax was very late or not broadcast. We tried for a half-hour to receive it and finally gave up. There is a nasty Tropical Wave out there and I wanted to check on it but it would have to wait until morning.
Another Tropical Wave went through in the early hours of the morning but not the one we’re concerned about. We tried to listen to the Caribbean weather (Eric) at 6:30AM but the propagation was either terrible or something in the bay was creating a lot of interference because it was very difficult to hear. We did learn that the wave has been reclassified to a Tropical Disturbance and is being monitored every few hours.
It was a very overcast day with a lot of wind so many boats started arriving early in the day as this bay is much more comfortable than others in the area. Most people stayed onboard during the day, which left the dinghy dock totally empty. I met Susan at the Haul Out by 8AM and after running a few errands, we went to view a house that had become available for rent. The view from both the front and the rear of the house was magnificent. Too bad we’re not ready to settle down somewhere for a while.
Eventually I returned to the boat and found Rick had been busy cleaning fans, screens, ports/hatches and even washed the ceiling throughout the boat. I think I should leave him boat bound more often.
By the late afternoon the tropical depression was picking up speed and heading directly for us. It would be here Friday rather than Sunday if it maintained it’s current course and speed. The discussions in the bay centered around what time we would all move into the mangroves and what time the mangrove party would start.
We had dinner at the Turtle Dove with Karen, Tom, Samantha (Serendipity) and Joan and Bob (Too Pfarr Out).
The winds finally settled down sometime overnight but not before we were awakened by someone sounding a horn to identify a boat that was dragging through the anchorage.
First thing in the morning (6:30AM) we listened to the weather. It appeared that the excitement was over and the party had to be canceled. The disturbance had been downgraded to a Tropical Wave again. No one would have to move their boat into the mangroves where we had discussed having the party.
We know we’ve been at an island long enough when the locals working on Simon’s (the smuggler) boat came through the anchorage past all other boats and asked to borrow some of Rick’s tools. Later we stopped by the canvas shop on our way into town and Andy the sail maker handed us his jerry can and asked if we would pick up fuel for him. Locals we know stopped us in town to say hello. We made our purchases and left them at the different stores until we were ready to return to the boat. Lester and Lincoln our favourite conductor and bus driver with a full bus, drove a circle around town stopping so that Lester could run into the stores and pick up our purchases. Susan my friend on Windborne at the Haul Out called and asked if I could help with remedial reading classes at the school. It would be very easy to become attached to this island. What I just described is exactly how our first part of the day went.
What I didn’t mention was the rain. It wasn’t bad until we got into town but then the downpour started. We were having lunch at one of the local restaurants when it first hit. After the first 15 minutes, it got so bad that the restaurant had to close the shutters and doors. The strong wind and heavy rain started to drench everything inside. There were three tables in this restaurant and a bar. We were sitting at one of the tables and three locals were sitting at the bar. The walls of the building are 2x4s with a sheet of plywood on the exterior. It has a tin roof with a space between the roof and the plywood walls. There is no glass in the windows so the shutters when closed make it a little dark inside until the light is turned on. With the rain hitting the tin and the locals talking over the noise, it became a din inside. We were trying to have a conversation with Godfrey one of the locals but it was very difficult. The rain didn’t let up for ages. In fact, we even heard thunder, which is very unusual down here. The last time we heard thunder was in Puerto Rico well over a year ago.
On our way back to Tyrrel Bay in the bus, we could see that every bush or
tree was either full of buds, leaves or blossoms. The flamboyant trees are
a brilliant red (except for Fitzroy’s rare one which is a brilliant orange).
The ground everywhere had a green tinge. The islands have all been
desperate for rain and they said it was one of the worst dry seasons they can
remember.
Back at the boat, Dominique the welder came by to discuss the design of the solar panel support we want. He thinks he might have it finished by next Tuesday.
We awoke to a calm and slightly overcast day. Gradually the skies became grayer. It was definitely the calm before the storm. The Tropical Wave was due to pass through sometime tonight. We just hung around the boat, worked on small projects and relaxed during the day. Before dark, we could see everyone rechecking their anchor lines for chafe and tightening up anything that was loose. We went to bed early not knowing how much sleep we would get.
The Wave came through the anchorage between 12AM and 3AM. It certainly had some strong winds and a lot of rain with it but it wasn’t that bad. I’m probably able to say that because of our magnificent squall proof wind scoop/hatch covers. In the past, we would have been down below completely closed up with hardly any air. We are now able to lay in bed and enjoy the breeze. (I knew I was going to go on about these things more than I should but they really do make a big difference.) The other cruisers in the bay are coming by to examine them more closely.
We awoke to a breezy but clear day. Dominique came over about 9AM to take some more measurements for mounting the solar panels. When he left, Rick took the bimini ashore to have Petra restitch it. We had waited to have the bimini restitched because we thought that Dominique might need some modifications to accommodate the solar panels but none were necessary.
In the afternoon, we had another indication that the rainy season had arrived, Duane & Susie (Tortilla Flats) called and invited us to join them with Gary and Lois (Calico Clam) for a game of dominos! We hadn’t played dominos for so long it’s a wonder we remembered how. It was a lovely afternoon two other couples arrived Terry and Iris (Leprechaun) with Pat and Steve (Oz). They set up a table and played a game as well.
The wave was supposed to be dragging a lot of nasty weather behind it but we didn’t see it. There was the odd sprinkle of rain during the day but nothing like what was forecast.
We returned to the boat and Petra called to say our bimini was ready to be picked up.
We had dinner onboard and then hit the sack.
It was another very windy night but at least there was no rain. We worked on small boat projects during the morning. Rick had a Father’s Day nap in the afternoon to prepare for the Fathers Day party that was being held at Beck’s. Beck’s is one of the larger buildings in Harvey Vale and is located at the end of the Government dock. We had never seen it open before. I think everyone in Tyrrel Bay turned out and we recognized some people that had even come from Hillsborough. The meal was enjoyable and when the disc jockey switched from dinner music to Salsa, Jeff and Bonnie (Quick Step) were there to start things off on the dance floor. After a little arm-twisting and a couple of steps, we retired back to our boat along with a lot of the cruisers who also called it an evening.
In the morning we went ashore and arranged for a party at the yacht club. I stopped by Island Girl and Godiva, and got assurance from both guitar players that they were ready and willing to play for us. Just before lunch, I made up a poster, so everything is ready to start letting everyone know tomorrow.
We had a wonderful siesta after lunch. The wind totally died so there was absolutely no noise at all. There were no waves but just enough motion so that the boat rocked us to sleep. We slept for about an hour and then sat in the cockpit and watched the world go by. I just finished making a huge pot of popcorn and Dominique arrived to take some more measurements. He didn’t stay long and then we just sat as if we were at the theatre, ate popcorn and watched boats arrive and try to anchor.
Eventually the sun was starting to set so I went below and made dinner. While we were still eating, another Tropical Wave went through. It wasn’t a bad one but it is early for them to be coming through as frequently as they have been.
The weather did not seem great however with a little positive thinking we
continued to plan the party. Right after breakfast Rick wanted to get the
solar panels in place so he could drill the frames. We worked on them for
a while but it was 10AM and if we wanted to notify everyone, we had to do our
boat to boat run before lunch. Off we went and met a lot of new people.
After lunch we continued with the panels. Although the sky was full of
very gray clouds all day I had promised everyone, it would not rain in the
evening. It was really touch and go but we had a great turn out and no
rain. Joe (Island Girl) and Dave (Godiva) were amazing on both the guitar
and with their singing. Susan sat in, played
along with some of the songs,
and did a great job as well.
We finally awoke to real sunshine. After breakfast in the cockpit, we continued installing the solar panels. I think we lifted them onto and off of the frame at least dozen times. During this up and down exercise, we watched a few boats leave including Serendipity. After all the boats left the protection of the bay, the rain started again. Rick was trying to wire the solar panels when Petra stopped by to check a few measurements for our new sunshades. The rain didn’t let up, it continued to get heavier. It got so bad after lunch that we gave up trying to work outside and went below for a siesta. By 4PM the rain had finally started to ease up a bit and Rick returned to the wiring when who did we see coming into the bay but Sirena. We immediately called them on the radio and it was like old times. Lucy and Ricardo back together again with Fred and Ethel. We went to the Turtle Dove for great dinner with Bob, Marta (Sirena), Robert and Sue (Sunday’s Child). There were so many people there that the noise level made it difficult to have a conversation. We agreed to meet in the morning. Marta and I are going shopping, but there won’t be much open because it’s a holiday here again. This is the third holiday in the last couple of weeks. We’ve had Labour Day, Whit Monday and tomorrow is Corpus Christi.
We were up early in the morning and watched the amp meter as the sun rose.
By 8AM we had over 4 amps generated from the solar panels. By 10AM we had
10 amps. We disconnected one panel to make sure that we had amps coming
from both panels. It was quite a relief that we did, because we (this is a
royal we) accidentally let the drill slip yesterday and hit one of the panels.
It didn’t break the glass but it went through the undercoating. We weren’t
sure if “we” did any damage. It seemed ok which meant the other “we” was
in the clear.
Marta, Bob and I went into Harvey Vale in the morning to roam a little. It’s not possible to roam any more than a little since it’s a very small town. We did some prearranged Christmas shopping and returned to the boat by noon. After lunch and before settling down for a siesta I spoke with Howard and Marsha (Serendipity V), but we refer to it as Serendipity the condo since it’s a large trawler). They had checked in at customs and as soon as Marsha finished snorkeling at Sandy Island, they were going to head around to Tyrrel Bay. We arranged to meet in the morning and go shopping in Hillsborough together.
We were up, dressed, ready to go and at the yacht club before the doors were
even open. We stood on the dock and spoke with Malcolm (Kiwa) who had just
returned from Trinidad and was waiting to be hauled. As soon as the club
opened, we dropped off our dirty laundry and left to pick up Marsha
(Serendipity). Bob and Marta (Sirena) met us at the government dock right
on time (9:30AM). Time is an ongoing joke with Marta. She runs on
Cuban time, which is at least 15 minutes late. We run on Canadian time and
are usually 15 minutes early. So, there’s normally a half-hour time
difference between our clocks.
We all took the local bus into town and I couldn’t believe the difference since our last trip in. Everything had turned extremely green and lush within the last couple of weeks. Places where there had been a great view of the sea was now completely blocked by all the foliage on what we thought were dead trees and bushes. /p>
Town was fun. We met lots of the locals we know and got a hug from each of them. I almost walked right by my friend Lester who made sure I stopped to say hello.
Marta and Bob left early. Marsha, Rick and I stopped at different vegetable markets and grocery stores. We had a Roti for lunch before rushing to get the bus back to the boat. We had arranged to play dominos at the club in the afternoon. It was after 2PM when we got into our dinghy but I could see that everyone else was just getting into their dinghies to head for the club so we were ok. We had 3 tables of dominos going for the rest of the afternoon. It was 5:30PM when we picked up the clean laundry and headed back to the boat exhausted.
AA little after dark while we were still sitting in the cockpit eating dinner, Petra stopped by to deliver our new sunshades. She did a lovely job of making them we know because we put them up in the dark. We’ll check tomorrow to see if they block the sun.
The first day of summer (for some, but still an endless summer for us)
It was a beautiful day with hardly a cloud in the sky. The solar panels and the wind generator were pumping out the amps. Our new sunshades were keeping the cockpit cool. What more could you ask for. Rick asked for pancakes, maple syrup and fresh pineapple for breakfast. /p>
I tried to finish up with a few tasks in an attempt to maybe lift anchor and move south sometime this coming week. I received the final updates from Susan for a brochure I’m putting together for the Haul Out and some of the other businesses in the bay. I finally finished making the T-shirt for my friend Lester. I arranged with Linky Taxi to give Serendipity and us an Island tour on Monday. I talked to Petra about taking some pictures of her to send overseas to her Mother. Other than that, we just hung around the boat most of the day.
Rick went to the club (a 2 minute dinghy ride) to get some bread at 5:30PM and returned a little after 7PM. Afterwards I learned that he and Malcolm (Kiwa) solved all existing world (or at least boat) problems within that hour and a half. Really, it was perfect timing because by the time he finally returned to the boat dinner was ready. We ended the perfect day by having dinner in the cockpit while looking at a sky overflowing with stars.
It began as another nice day. Rick went to shore and washed the dinghy. I stayed aboard and baked a banana loaf to use up some of our over-ripe bananas. While the oven was hot I made a stack of the Spicy Nutmeg Chicken Wings to take with us to Serendipity tonight. The wind generator was pumping out 30 amps at the time so it was quite windy. Suddenly the wind totally died. It gently returned but was then blowing from the southwest. Boats were swinging on top of each other. There was no one near us so we just watched all of the confusion. A few boats entered the bay while we were all facing the wrong direction. They were charter boats and hadn’t learned the “anchor to the east” rule so they anchored to the southwest and had to move later. The winds stayed like this for about two hours so eventually we had a terrible roll happening in the bay. It was so bad I had to run below and unlock the gimbaled stove to avoid having hot chicken wings all over the inside of the oven. We later learned that the winds going to the southwest was caused by a complex non tropical weather system called “TUT”. I have no idea what TUT stands for, but it sure provided afternoon entertainment.
Howard and Marsha (Serendipity) had invited us over for oysters in the evening. There is an oyster bed in the mangroves beside the bay and John the boat boy is always selling them. We’ve just never purchased any. They also invited Eddie and Tut (can you believe the coincidence his name) from a trawler named Tothill. Between the oysters, conch fritters that Eddie brought, veggies and fruit that Marsha prepared and my chicken wings, we had a feast. Happy hour became dinner. We all watched a beautiful sunset under the direction of Howard who wouldn’t let us ignore it. When we left their boat the winds were reasonably calm and from the east which is the normal trade wind direction. The sky was clear and full of stars again.
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We met Marsha and Howard ashore and waited for Linky Taxi who took us on our
island tour. As island time goes, we didn’t have to wait long.
Lincoln was driving and my friend Lester was accompanying us. I gave
Lester his T-Shirt and I think he really liked it. On the back of the
shirt, in ASL (American Sign Language), it said “Linky Taxi” “We speak English
and ASL”. I put the complete ASL alphabet on the front so when I was
talking to Lester if I didn’t know the proper sign I could at least spell the
word with help from his shirt. We had a great tour and Lincoln provided a
good commentary. We ate lunch together and almost returned to the boats.
Rick and I stopped at the club and ended up gabbing with some friends for an
hour or so. When we finally made it back to our boat we looked up and Bob
and Brenda on Siesta Dos
were entering the harbour. They wanted to go for
dinner somewhere but since it was Monday, the Turtle Dove was closed. We
decided to meet and have dinner at the club. The Yacht Club for some
reason did not have any power. Kathleen said that although they had a gas stove
there were only a few items they could cook without power. We all chose
conk fritters, which she said, were not a problem. Just as it got dark and
we needed a bit of light, the power came back on.
When we had finished eating, Tracy our waitress presented Rick and I with a glass of Jack Iron Rum (the local heavy duty stuff) and said we both had to have a sip to celebrate our new membership. This was quite an honour because membership at this club is by invitation only. There are no membership dues and members have privileges and discounts. Just to demonstrate what an honour it is, there are only 53 other members. Not bad eh!
I picked up Brenda (Siesta Dos) and Marsha (Serendipity) and we went to shore
for awhile. After roaming through a few stores (there are only a few) we
returned to the boat. Brenda visited with us for a while as she wanted to
see the new hatch covers.
In the afternoon, we had a couple of tables of dominos on the go at the club.
We stopped at 4PM because Joe (Island Girl) was going to play his guitar for us.
I hadn’t gone boat to boat this time to tell everyone because it was going to be
quite informal. The cruiser-vine was in action and we had a great turn
out. Sue and Dave (Gypsy) arrived and Sue had brought her violin.
You would think that a violin and guitar might not be a good match of
instruments. It was amazing.
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Sue is a classical violinist who has
traveled the world on tour. She played blues, and Irish jigs and anything
else. Whatever Joe could play and sing she could follow. Many times
Joe would say “Take it away Sue” and she would play an amazing little solo part
to a song she had never even played before. /p>
Trevor (the owner of the yacht club) asked me if everyone was bringing food again. When I said no he offered to provide a chicken barbecue. I was pleased to see that the charcoal didn’t light any easier for him than it did for Rick and I the last time. He set up a bar on the lawn and served BBQ chicken, rice and coleslaw for $10 EC ($5 CAD) per person so no one cooked that night. While we were eating, Sue played some nice classical dinner music for us.
The whole evening while we were sitting out on the lawn I watched dark clouds roll by but not one even dared to sprinkle a little rain on us.
We were awakened at 4AM by major wind, rain, thunder and lightening. I don’t think it was a Tropical Wave. It was probably the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) which produces nasty weather. It had been easing its way north of the equator for the last month and although it usually hangs in around 10 degrees, it may have wandered up to 12 degrees (where we are). The storm continued from 4AM until noon so Rick looked for rainy day boat projects to work on. I looked for a good video to watch. One of the things he did was wash the hatch screens and his rag was immediately covered in red dirt. The screens were all washed less than two weeks ago. I think we had enough of the Sahara Desert sand on our screens to create our own island.
Although it was still overcast and cloudy in the afternoon, we had enough time between showers to go ashore for awhile. Bob (Siesta Dos) stopped by and stayed for a little visit. When he left Rick and I had a little nap before meeting with Siesta Dos, and Serendipity at the Turtle Dove for dinner. When we returned to the boat, the winds were light, the seas calm and the sky full of stars.
It was a wonderfully cool sleeping night with only enough motion in the boat to feel like a baby being rocked in a cradle.
We were in the cockpit eating breakfast when a dinghy came up beside us. The man (we don’t know his name yet) said, “Ah ha, I could smell someone making toast up wind from me and now I know who it is”. We invited him aboard to have some but he laughed and said no thanks. We went to town with Marsha (Serendipity) in the morning and had a good time. We met up with Lawrence on Meander and had lunch in a small local restaurant by the dock.
Marsha invited us to join them with René and Annie (Atrea) who lived and worked on both Margarita Island and in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela for a few years. We were able to ask many questions about where not to go as well as what not to miss. Venezuela is in our plans for this season but our plans like everyone else’s down here are molded in jello. So, we’ll see.
Meanwhile, speaking of plans we were going to leave for St. George’s Grenada on Friday or Saturday but we have decided to wait a couple of days. There are a few Tropical Waves to the east of us and one that is at about 37 degrees has a low-pressure area associated with it. It’s also a slow moving wave with a bit of low level circulatory motion to it. Since this is the type of wave that can develop into something nasty we decided to wait and see what it does. St. George’s is a very crowded anchorage where dragging happens frequently due to a mud bottom. Tyrrel Bay on the other hand is a deep sand bottom with a huge area of mangroves on one side of the bay. So, here we’ll sit for a few more days.
Last night some squalls developed out of nowhere. Although we had expected another nice night it was a little boisterous (to say the least) with very strong gusts and a lot of rain. During the morning we worked around the boat on small jobs. We then spent the afternoon playing dominos at the club. It was 5PM when we returned to the boat just in time for Ruedi & Jocelyne (Globitou) who were coming for Happy Hour aboard Wind-Borne III. Ruedi and Jocelyne are from Smith Falls, Ontario. Afterwards we went to the Turtle Dove with them and friends of theirs John and Sue (Stardust).
While eating breakfast in the cockpit, we waved to Wendy and Lorne (Kamytoo) who had arrived very early. We met Kamytoo last year in Rodney Bay St. Lucia. They are Canadians from Regina.
After breakfast, Rick went for a swim and scrubbed the anchor chain so we would be ready for departure someday. As the day progressed it seemed that we were having a Mt. Hartman Bay reunion. Moonrise was about the last boat to pull in. We now had Pride, Serendipity, Dancing Fool, Woodfield II, Moonrise and ourselves anchored in Tyrrel Bay. These are all boats that spent last hurricane season with us in Mt. Hartman Bay.
We went to visit and welcome a few boats by dinghy before stopping at Globitou. Ruedi and Jocelyne invited us aboard to share some wine with them. Eventually we left just in time to prepare dinner for Marsha and Howard who were joining us on Wind-Borne III at 4:30. We had a nice dinner and Rick went to leave and pick up my laundry from the yacht club. On his way back from the club he was also suppose to pick up Wendy and Lorne from Kamytoo. He had just pulled away from our boat when the outboard stopped. The current was strong so after a few tries to restart it he quickly got the oars into action and rowed back, tied up and fiddled with it for a few minutes. Howard offered to chauffeur him in his dinghy so that Rick could sort the engine problem out later. With Kamytoo onboard, the six of us had a very enjoyable evening and everyone left around 8PM.
When we listened to Eric’s weather report from Trinidad this morning he told us a Tropical wave was at 60 degrees west. We’re at 61 degrees west so we knew we wouldn’t have to wait long before it arrived. This one had a wind surge with it so it was nice that it passed through in daylight hours. After breakfast (7:30AM) I told Rick I was going back to bed and asked him to wake me after the wave had gone by. I awoke on my own at 10AM. Rick and Howard were outside sitting in the dinghies and Rick had our outboard motor partially apart. The wave had passed and the engine trouble-shooting team had determined that it was time to change the fuel filter. Howard left and I helped Rick get the engine on the foredeck so he could really take it apart. By early afternoon, he had finished and it was running smoothly. While he had it all apart, he changed the spark plugs as well. The outboard has been running virtually maintenance free for almost four years. This was the first time it needed servicing so he didn’t have any complaints.
We went to visit Globitou and helped them with a small computer problem they were having. It was after 6PM when we all left to go to the Old Rum Shop. Virginia at the Rum Shop hadn’t intended to cook tonight but since there were four of us, she said she would light the barbecue and do some chicken for us. It was good chicken but since the pieces were a little smaller than usual she charged us $4EC ($2CAD) instead of the normal $6EC.
Thoughts of actually raising the anchor and going for a sail are starting to look like something that might actually happen. Shortly after breakfast, Rick was out on deck attaching the jack lines. The fuel and water tanks are full. The weather forecast is good. We may just spend Canada Day having a lovely sail just like many of our friends will be doing back home.
In the afternoon, we played dominos. When we returned to the boat we had a nice dinner in the cockpit then took down the squall proof wind scoops and raised the dinghy.
