We were up early and had raised the anchor by 7AM. We had a picture perfect sailing day all the way to Grenada. The winds were 10 to 15 knots. The waves were 4 to 6 feet but seemed less than 4 feet most of the time. There was a gentle swell and if there was a wind wave, I never noticed it. We were on a beam reach and I had a cool breeze blowing in my face, Rick had to watch where we were going. Both the water and the air temperature were between 83 and 85F. We turned off the engine, had all of the sails up and music playing while travelling between 5 and 6 knots. Since it was Canada Day, we listened to Celine Dion, Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot. Our CD player holds 6 CD’s so we had to play a little Barbra as well. The wind died when we were 6 miles out of St. George’s. Rick was willing to sit it out with his chicken leg and a Grenadian chocolate bar he was eating for lunch. When we got down to 2 ½ knots, I insisted we put the engine on. As we got closer to St. George’s he started talking about Chinese Food and Shrimps. He was having cravings for something other than chicken or fish. We arrived at 1:30PM and found a spot to anchor in the crowded lagoon. After a small siesta in the afternoon, we splashed the dink and Rick went to the grocery store. This was a real grocery store “Foodland/IGA”. He came back with T-Bone steaks, real potatoes and canned cream corn for dinner. Granted we had to marinate the steaks but it was the first beef in a while. For breakfast, he bought bagels and cream cheese (bless his heart I’m in love with him all over again).
It almost felt like coming home. We went up to the Grenada Yacht Club
and volunteered to help with the regatta that starts tomorrow night. We
then went for a walk through the Carenage. Our favourite spice lady was in
her usual spot. All of the taxi drivers were still looking for customers.
We went to the Marketing Board and had one of their chicken pies for lunch. When we stopped in some of the stores, it almost felt that we had arrived in a big city with what now seems like a great selection of goods. When we returned to the boat, we found it very hot. There was almost no wind and the humidity was very high. Hurricane season has definitely arrived.
It was a busy day. I picked Jocelyne up at 8:30AM and we went grocery
shopping. Rick took the propane tank to be filled and Reudy got lost in
either Island Water World or Ace Hardware, we were not sure which. When
everyone had returned to the boat we all got together again and took the
dinghies into the Carenage. We gave Jocelyne and Reudy a quick walking
tour of the town.
We returned to the boat and found that Windborne had already arrived for the regatta and Bloody Mary was just entering the harbour. Rick helped Jerry tie Bloody Mary to the mooring ball as he backed into dock. Roy and Susan invited us onboard Windborne for a beer. When we left and returned to our boat we set the timer so we could have a 1/2 hour nap. After the nap we quickly got ready and went to the yacht club where I set up a table and sold regatta T-shirts for a while. After the speeches we had dinner with Roy and Susan. We eventually left and went to visit Jan and John on Jabiroo. They had invited Illusions, Globietou and us to help celebrate their arrival in Grenada. We only stayed about an hour and then returned to our boat for the night.
We were up early again and on deck to watch the boats leave the bay on their
way to the starting line. I took some pictures and then we jumped into the
dinghy and headed ashore. Susan had a car and we had errands to run.
There was just enough time to complete a couple of the errands before the start
of the first race. We parked and watched from a hill overlooking Grand
Anse Beach. Once we saw that Bloody Mary did not have a good start on the
first race we left and continued with our errands. We were able to
accomplish a lot quite quickly with the use of the car. We stopped for
lunch at the Boulangerie and then picked up a few more groceries at the
Spiceland Mall. I got a hug from the produce lady and my friend Solomon
(who bags the groceries) came over to welcome me back. We walked out of
the store into the mall and Sharon, the conductor on Darius’ bus called to me
and said hello. We saw Calico Clam waiting for the bus and we met Island
Girl in the store. It really does feel like we’ve come home.
Our timing was perfect on our way back to the Yacht Club we stopped at the
same spot overlooking Grand Anse to see how the race was progressing. They
appeared to be on the last leg of the second race. We watched the finish
and then returned to the Club. After Bloody Mary was docked the crew came
to Windborne and Susan made everyone Italian sausage sandwiches with onion green
pepper and garlic. After a bite to eat, we went up to the clubhouse to
check the race results. Bloody Mary had come third in the first race and
first in the second race. We stayed for the presentations and some music,
which was great and then, returned to the boat to rest up for tomorrow.
We were up early again and I think soon that I’ll need a vacation. I picked Susan up with the dinghy and we raced over to the Carenage. Susan had to pick up some lures and get them to the ferry before it left at 10AM. We climbed the Young St. hill to the vegetable market and then made our way over to the fish market where the fishing supply store is located. We walked back to the Carenage through the tunnel and delivered the lures to the ferry from the dinghy.
We returned to the lagoon, waved to the race boats on their way to the starting line and headed straight for the Foodland-IGA so I could buy some ribs for dinner. We bought what we needed there and then got in the car and went to Grand Anse Mall for a few things. I had barely returned to Wind-Borne III in the afternoon and the race boats were coming into the lagoon. I quickly had the ribs simmering in the oven and on top of the stove. I was cooking baby back ribs for 10 people. After simmering them for awhile Rick took over and barbecued them, just in time to be ready by 3PM. Susan prepared a great Greek salad. We finished just in time to be back in the club for the prize presentations that we couldn’t miss since Bloody Mary had come in first again. We left the club shortly after the presentations since I was a little tired. On our way back to Wind-Borne III we could see that Globitou had Illusions on board so Rick wanted to stop and say hello. We both should know that that you can’t just stop by and sure enough next thing we were in the cockpit having a drink. They had heard that there were to be some steel pan bands playing in the Carenage at 8PM and wanted to go over and hear the music. The plan was that we would go in the three dinghies, tie them together and have a dinghy drift. When we got there everyone changed their mind and wanted to go ashore. There were 8 large bands there and they were extremely good but I really was tired so we stayed for the first couple and then left. Globitou and Illusions remained for about another hour. When we got back to the boat we found the batteries a little low so Rick ran the engine for an hour before we actually went to bed.
I slept until 8AM this morning and it was wonderful. Rick made breakfast and we waved to the race boats on their way out. The rest of the morning we just relaxed on the boat. After lunch, Rick asked me to do an eye splice over a thimble using some used 9/16 braided line. Used line is very difficult to splice but I managed. It’s been a couple of years since I have done any splicing so I was a little rusty but it was a good splice. I impressed myself as well as Rick.
We went up to the yacht club for an early dinner. They had a barbecue
and the proceeds went to charity. After dinner an African drum group
played for about an hour. The drum group was good but very loud.
Eventually the presentations took place. Bloody Mary won again today and
they won first prize overall for the cruising class. It was a fun evening
with a great musical group that took over from the drum band.
Last night before we went to bed we checked the weather because there was a nasty Tropical Wave headed our way. According to the weather report, it could be upgraded at any time to a Tropical Depression. First thing in the morning, we listened to Eric’s weather report. The status was the same but the Wave was closer and now had very severe thunderstorms as well as cyclonic development associated with it. It should arrive in Grenada today. We decided to do our errands first thing in the morning and be back by noon. Before we left the boat, we removed our wonderful windscoop hatch covers. They may be squall proof but they aren’t Tropical Storm proof.
When we returned to the boat the air was very still and humid with no wind. We decided to stay aboard for the afternoon. Rick washed the cockpit while I read and slept.
It was 5:30PM and still the weather was fine. We decided to continue with our plans for a Latin dance lesson at the Yacht Club. Rick and I went ashore and later Jocelyne, Reudi, Susan and Roy joined us. Rick got big bonus points for being the only guy that would join in and dance. There were about 8 women with 2 men. One man was Randy, the instructor and the other was Rick. It was a fun evening and when we returned to the boat this time, we replaced our hatch covers. It appeared that the storm turned north and hit St. Lucia instead of us.
It was hard to believe that the storm missed us so completely. We had a little rain overnight but nothing abnormal. The storm has now been named Tropical Storm Claudette and is headed for Jamaica.
We took laundry into the yacht club in the morning. Now that we’re back in Grenada, the laundry is next day service rather than same day and no more nice line dried sheets, its back to the automatic dryers.
With Roy and Susan we decided that it was a good day to putz around in the car. First stop was the garment factory just outside of St. George’s. Next, we went looking for a nursery Susan had heard of. She wanted some new plants to add to her gorgeous collection at their house in Carriacou. We found the nursery up the mountain deep inside the rain forest. It had to be one of the most beautiful places imaginable. There were literally hundreds (probably thousands, but I don’t want to exaggerate) of different plants. Susan immediately wanted to buy one of each type. Then she changed her mind and wanted to purchase the nursery. I bought what I call a boat size palm tree, it’s really a Desert Rose. Rick picked out a nice leafy plant that is called a Silver Queen. Susan filled every inch of space in the back of the 4-wheel drive vehicle with her plant purchases. When we left the nursery, we headed back to St. George’s, parked the car and walked to a few different stores the guys went one way and the women the other. We all met at the Nutmeg Restaurant for lunch.
After a few more stops, we just had time to return our purchases to the boats and pick up Suzy and Dave from Gypsy. Suzy is the lady who is an amazing violinist. We all drove to the Rum Squall Bar in Mt. Hartman Bay for a jam session that took place at 4PM. Our favourite guitarists, Joe from Island Girl and Dave from Godiva joined Suzy as well as a few others for a great session. If I have referred in the past to Walt on Island Girl it wasn’t an error. Walt changed his name to Joe so I sometimes mix up his names. The name change was because so many people have difficulty with saying names or words with the letter “W”. Joe is a name that no one has trouble with. The evening was great fun and especially nice because we saw a lot of our cruising friends we haven’t seen since last season. It was a very huggy night. When we left, we dropped Suzy and Dave off at the yacht club (they don’t eat ashore) and went to Rudolph’s new restaurant in Cinnamon Hill for dinner. Rudolph’s original restaurant burnt down the week before we first arrived in Grenada last year.
Things were a little quieter today. Rick took the second propane
container into town to be filled. I hung around the yacht club and
socialized with strangers during the morning. It rained off and on in the
afternoon so we stayed onboard. At 4PM we went over to Globitou with 3
other couples who call themselves the “Packeteers”. The name is due to the
fact that they are all on Island Packets. It was a fun evening even though
we had rain coming down in buckets at times. Reudi put up the cockpit
enclosure so that we were all soaken wet from perspiration rather than the rain.
When we left Globitou we stopped by Windbourne to say good-bye to Susan and Roy
who are heading back up to Carriacou in the morning.
We were up very early so we could wave to Roy and Susan who left for a very uncomfortable ride back to Carriacou today. We had heavy rain off and on (more on than off) all day. Later in the morning Rick and I headed out (with an umbrella in our backpack) to accomplish a few more tasks. We were only partially successful. First on the list was part of Rick’s medical check up. We took the bus to St. Augustine’s Medical Centre in St. Paul’s for his blood tests. When we finished there we went back to St. George’s and got a bus to Grande Anse. We were going to make a dental appointment but changed our mind when we learned that the first appointment available was not until September. We hope to be out of here before then. We stopped by the Spiceland Mall and I was able to have my hair cut. It’s not that Rick doesn’t do a great job but it was a treat to have a professional cut.
When we returned to the boat we read and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon/evening.
I feel like I’m living on an ark rather than a boat. With all of the rain we’ve had, I’m about to start inviting the animals aboard. I didn’t leave the boat today but Rick did go ashore to Island Water World a couple of times. He decided to relocate the macerator pump for the head. While he was working on this (it didn’t take him long) I moved up wind and read for a while.
Buenos tardes. In the afternoon, I completed lesson one of my Spanish course. I’m trying to convince Rick he has to learn it as well. If I keep repeating everything out loud, he’s going to learn it whether he wants to or not. The rain let up long enough to barbecue some hamburgers for dinner. According to Eric’s weather report at 6:30PM there is a Tropical Wave right on top of us and moving westward slowly. A lot of this rain will move up to the Leeward Islands over the weekend. He didn’t say however if the rain would leave the Windward Islands or whether we would just share our rain with the northern islands.
We awoke to a non-stop heavy rain that continued all morning. Rick had a doctor’s appointment at 8AM and originally I was going to accompany him but true love only goes so far in the rain. It was too warm to wear foul weather gear. I put a green garbage bag over him so that he could stay reasonably dry during the dinghy ride to shore and then use an umbrella.
The weather lately is what one would expect in Trinidad rather than Grenada. Just before noon, the rain eased up a bit. It didn’t stop but we took advantage of the opportunity and dashed ashore to pick up a few things at the grocery store. We barely made it back to the boat before the downpour returned. In the afternoon, we popped some popcorn and read for awhile. Just as I started my second Spanish lesson Rick turned on the engine. I ‘m not sure yet if it was a coincidence or he doesn’t like my pronunciation of some of the words. There definitely was a need to charge the batteries. We haven’t had sunshine for a few days and there has not been any wind to help us out either. Finally just before 6PM the rain stopped and we were able to eat dinner in the cockpit.
The weather greatly improved today. It only rained for a few minutes each hour. It was Rick’s Birthday and I offered to take him to any restaurant of his choosing. He chose Auberge de Wind-Borne III. So shortly after breakfast, I resigned myself to being galley slave for the day. I started with a chocolate birthday cake for the birthday boy. The dinner consisted of wine, Pork loin roast with gravy, foot long beans cooked with onions and sprinkled with toasted sliced almonds scalloped potatoes, Caesar salad with real romaine lettuce and homemade dressing. Everything went very smoothly except for the Caesar salad dressing. My one arm usually gets so tired as I whisk the ingredients while trying to drizzle the oil into the bowl. I thought I would try using my little battery operated frothier I have for making cappuccinos. It worked. I was concentrating on the drizzle of oil so much that I hadn’t noticed that I had frothed the dressing all over the main salon. Rick came in and commented that it was working very well all over the place. That was my first hint that I was making a mess. It was about time to wash the settee covers again anyway. We had invited Jocelyne and Reudi for dinner but hadn’t mentioned it was Rick’s birthday. Jocelyne came with cake in hand. So, we had two birthday cakes for desert. (I liked her cake better. She put fruit in it and it wasn’t near as sweet as the one I baked). She said she would share her recipe with the web site. It was a pleasant evening. George (Survival Anchorage) stopped by and had some rum punch (without the rum) and a piece of birthday cake with us.
We are back into true Grenadian rainy season which consists of rain for 5 minutes once and a while during the day but mainly sunshine the rest of the time. The big news on this mornings weather report other than Tropical Storm Claudette was Monserrat. There was a volcanic eruption and major dome collapse in Soufriere with ash rising 40,000 feet. It affected the Leeward and Virgin Islands. All of the flights from Puerto Rico to Grenada were cancelled as well as others I’m sure. We heard that there were no injuries but there is deep ash everywhere.
In the morning, we went ashore to take some more laundry into the yacht club. Henry’s Safari picks it up between 9 and 10 AM. Then Rick sat on a chair in the shade of a nice big tree while I cut his hair. When we returned to the boat I washed the cockpit cushions, not the covers but the actual foam. It will probably take a couple of days for them to dry completely after which I wash the covers as well. We then went to the post office in the Carenage by dinghy and then returned to the lagoon to do some more shopping in the hardware and pharmacy.
After a little siesta onboard, it was time to go for our Latin dance lessons again. Jan and John (Jabiroo) joined in for the lessons this time. Randy our instructor has given us quite a few tips on different steps and turns.
Tropical Storm Claudette is now a Hurricane and is heading for Texas. Today was the beginning of inventory. I completed two cupboards today and the good news for these particular cupboards is that I have more stuff to get rid of than I have purchases to make to replenish stocks. Amongst some of the stuff I am getting rid of are five large bottles of moisturizer. I have discovered that the last thing my skin wants down here is a moisturizer.
It was a very hot still day. Rick went ashore and picked up our clean laundry and then dinghied over to the Carenage to buy a couple of chicken pies for lunch.
In the afternoon, we saw Sundowner come into the bay. In the past, John and Ann have anchored a little too close to us a couple of times. So as they were coming near our boat I ran on deck and started putting fenders out. They laughed so hard I could hear them before I could actually see their faces. As they passed our boat they let us know that for now they felt there wasn’t a lot of room in the lagoon so they would anchor outside and maybe come back in tomorrow after a few boats cleared out. After they got anchored John came by in the dinghy to talk for awhile and we decided to meet with him and Ann for lunch tomorrow.
After a wonderful nights sleep with no rain, we listened to Eric’s weather report in the morning. There is another Wave coming our way tonight so we’ll have a pail out catching some rain water again for my new plants. Normally after the weather, we turn the SSB to the calling and hailing frequency so we can talk to any friends that are too far away for the VHF radio. This morning John and Margaret (Cahoots) were calling us. They were just passing by Grenada on their way to Trinidad. We are going to try and get together in Venezuela next month.
I washed the cockpit cushion covers before we dinghied into the Carenage for
lunch with John and Ann at the Nutmeg Restaurant. After lunch, we walked
around the Carenage a bit, picked up a few groceries and then dinghied back to
the lagoon. We picked up some things from the pharmacy in the lagoon and
as we walked by the theatre we noticed that Pirates of the Caribbean was
playing. This movie was shot just last season in St. Vincent. In
fact, we weren’t allowed to anchor in Wallilabou Bay while it was being shot.
Rick and David had just had their ears pierced at the time and wanted to apply
for a part as pirates. We stopped in and asked what time the show started
and it was 4:30PM. Since it was already 3:30PM we decided to kill some
time rather than go back to the boat so we went into the Tropicana Hotel for a
drink and then went back to the show. We had never been to this theatre
before. We have always gone to the nice new one closer to Mt Hartman.
This one was quite different. It had three different prices Regular $7,
Second Class $10 and First Class $12. I asked what the difference was and
it was seating as well as service. We decided to blow the bundle and go
first class ($6 CAD) which had only 25 seats and was the front row of the
balcony with lots of leg room. There was no air conditioning, which is a
bonus because the times we went to the other theatre we froze during the show.
The other thing we noticed was the big screen. We took our seats and we
were the only ones in the theatre. It wasn’t very long and the show
started. Big disappointment! It was the Shanghai Knights. We
must have read the marquee incorrectly. It didn’t matter, we would watch
it anyway. The movie hadn’t been playing long when a theatre lady came and
asked us if the volume was all right. We’re definitely in first class.
It was a cute movie and when it was almost over the lady returned and asked if
we would like something to eat of drink. I thought her timing was a little
off but we thanked her. The movie ended and as we were walking out the
manager stopped us and said I thought you wanted to see Pirates of the
Caribbean? He told us to get back in and take our seats. So can you
believe the price included two movies! It was well after 8PM by the time
we finally returned to the boat.
It was a very hot and still day again so we didn’t do a lot. I applied Scotch Guard to my nice clean cockpit cushions. Rick roughed in a new filter for the water system. That was about it. We then went back to the Tropicana today this time for lunch. The waiter remembered us from yesterday and said that two days in a row made us regulars. Jocelyn and Reudi (Globitou) had Chinese food here yesterday and they said it was very good. That was enough to get Rick interested. It was good but we prefer the Choo Light Restaurant which, is just as good and a little less expensive. We ordered Pineapple Chicken as one of our dishes. It was so spicy it burned my lips so at the end of the meal I commented to the waiter. He looked surprised and said he would check with the kitchen because it shouldn’t have been that spicy. Wow! We found out they had misunderstood and served us Pepper Chicken (hot peppers). I had to have some ice cream for desert to cool down my “hot lips”.
Darius called us on the radio a couple of days ago and asked us to meet him at 10AM at the restaurant (Denya’s) where his wife works. We did and he had asked Wendy and Lorne (Kamytoo) and Donna (Wind Witch) to attend as well. We all arrived not knowing the purpose of the meeting. Well Darius had devised a new tour and wanted us to organize and promote it for him. We liked the tour but had to decline since we are anchored in the Lagoon we can’t be heard on the radio in Prickly Bay, Mt. Hartman Bay or Hog Island. While were in the Carenage we picked up a few groceries again and hit the Internet café.
It rained off and on during the day but wasn’t bad. When we listened to the weather in the evening we found that a wind surge had pulled the Tropical Wave through a day early and the ITCZ had moved north as far as 12 degrees. Interesting because we didn’t notice any of the weather that should have been
associated with these systems and now we have dead calm again.
Yesterday was my Aunt and Uncle’s 50th Wedding Anniversary but I couldn’t say anything because today there was a big surprise party for them in Toronto. So, although we can’t be there we are certainly thinking of them as they celebrate with friends and family. I’ll share with you the poem I wrote for them.
Dear Uncle Fred and Auntie Eva
Sorry we had to up and leave ya
But to the islands we did go
To get away from all that snow
Our quest was not for finding gold
Only for a place to grow old
Much to our amazement and surprise
You know we wouldn’t tell you any lies
But we’ll share with you our greatest findings
The gold down here is almost blinding
We find it high and we find it low
It’s here for any and all that know
The phosphorescence of the waves
A road of golden foam does pave
Beneath the sea the fish that swim
Flash sparkling scales with golden trim
The sand on the beach that burns our feet
Is so gold in colour we think it’s neat
The sky down here is full of gold
It’s paradise for growing old
The stars they sparkle all the night
The moon our way will often light
We’ve grown to love the people here
But it’s not like having family near
Here is where we like to be
On our boat away at sea
But there are special times like this
When family members we sure miss
Congratulations on fifty years
Please let us know when sixty nears
We were working hard while everyone back home was celebrating. I inventoried the galley and updated the inventory and grocery list. Rick cleaned the fans and then we both went outside to work on the dinghy. We have been anchored here a few weeks and the bottom of the dinghy needed a lawn mower. We raised the dinghy onto the foredeck and Rick used the scraper on the bottom. When he finished, I scrubbed with a brush and cleanser. The bottom wasn’t going to come clean this time so I accepted that. Not Rick, he used the On-Off cleaner (carefully) and the bottom looked like new again. It wasn’t barnacles but many little sea worms that seem to attach themselves like barnacles.
We awoke to special weather forecasts. Normally there are no forecasts on Sunday mornings but there was another Tropical Wave just east of us that had turned nasty. It was Tropical Depression # 6 in the morning and was suppose to become Tropical Storm Erica in the afternoon. It should move northwest away from us but there is a high pressure area forming in the north which could push it south. We will have to watch it closely for the next 12 hours, as it should hit the island chain by Monday night or Tuesday morning. After all the excitement, Rick asked for a pancake breakfast.
The dinghy was raised in the davits last night because we didn’t want to get the nice clean bottom dirty. We were going to walk up to the fort today but it was a little to hot. We were going to dinghy around to Grand se beach today but it was a little too windy. Bottom line, I think we were feeling a little too lazy. We decided to stay aboard. We hadn’t had any significant wind for so long it never dawned on us when the wind picked up to check for draggers. Sure enough the boat anchored in front of us (a captained, chartered boat) dragged big time.
Unbeknownst to us it dragged right by us and gently hit the boat behind us. That was the end of our excitement. We both sat in the cockpit on a beautiful day and read. I’m reading “Maiden Voyage” by Tania Aebi. I read this many years ago but it seems very different reading it now. I almost feel like we’re on a weekend jaunt in comparison to her voyage. I’m also feeling very guilty about all of the luxuries that we have onboard Wind-Borne III. Oh well, that’s it for guilt. Rick enjoyed the roast pork dinner last Sunday and wanted another today. It was time to put down my book and take on the roll of galley slave. While dinner was in the oven I finished my Spanish lesson 5 and with a little encouragement Rick even opened the book and completed lesson 1.
It was July 20, 2002 when we first arrived in Grenada. It’s hard to believe that was over a year ago. We still love it here but we’re anxious to move on. I can remember on this day last year when we moved from St. George’s to Mt. Hartman Bay that I didn’t want to go anywhere for a long time. We haven’t gone very far this year but we have certainly achieved our goal of spending long enough in a place to get to know the people and the place well.
We received some very sad news today. If you read my journal when we were travelling through the Bahamas, you will know that our boat buddy at that time was Richard and Frances on Osprey. Richard was killed in an airboat collision Friday. He used to tell us about how he enjoyed going through the swamps on his airboat. We first met them in Chub Cay, in the Berry Islands. Richard taught us an awful lot about cruising. He had one of us stand on the bow while the other watched the depth sounder and called out the depths as we went through the reefs. The one on the bow learned to recognize the depth by the lour of the water. He taught us to look for the tiny patch of sand under the water into which we would set our anchor. He taught us to go out the gaps in the Exumas on a rising tide so that we wouldn’t be fighting nasty waves. He knew the tiny little places in the Bahamas where we could tuck in away from everyone else. He and Rick spent many mornings and evenings comparing individual weather forecasts. I know he would have been proud that we finally stopped using two anchors. He would sit in the cockpit, watch us set two anchors then call and say to us that there had to be a better way. At the time, we weren’t ready to use only one. I spent awhile and read my journal reliving the wonderful time we had with Richard and Frances in the Bahamas. Our thoughts are with his family.
Tropical Depression #6, which was to become Tropical Storm Erica (again today), was forecasted to pass between Dominica and Martinique in the afternoon/evening. By the afternoon, we learned that everything had dissipated and now the storm consisted of just some strong squall lines.
Meanwhile because the storm was far north of us we went on with our day. We went to the Carenage and while walking around we met quite a few of our friends from Mt. Hartman Bay. We took the bus into Grande Anse and went to a real Chinese Restaurant for lunch. The Bamboo Restaurant was extremely good but not inexpensive. I think it did the trick however, Rick’s craving for Chinese food appears to have been satisfied.
After lunch we returned to the boat with just enough time to have a short siesta, listen to the weather and get washed and dressed for our Latin Dance lesson. I had arranged for a taxi to pick up eight people from Mt. Hartman Bay who wanted to join in the lessons. We also had another boat from the lagoon that attended and this was all in addition to the half dozen of us who were already attending. It was a fun evening for everyone.
We had some strong gusts of wind and heavy rain overnight. According to our weatherman Eric, it was the remnants of the Tropical Wave/depression.
During the Grenada Yacht Club Regatta, Jerry (Bloody Mary) won a stack of
prizes. One of them was a full day island tour for 2 people. I was a
very nice prize and he gave it to us. Well today was the day we arranged
to take the tour. When the bus picked us up there were two other couples
each with a daughter already aboard. One couple with their teenage
daughter was from Cornwall England and the other couple with their 7-year-old
was from Scotland. They were all on vacation staying at the Rex Grenadian
Hotel. The tour was a drive around the perimeter of the island. That
was probably because the one road that goes across the middle of the island was
closed for construction. It was a perfect time of the year for a tour
because the blossoms and colours were all at their peak. Fruit and
vegetables were hanging from the branches of every tree or plant that wasn’t
laden with blossoms. Some of the places
we visited we had been to before
but both Rick and I noticed things this time that we had overlooked on previous
tours. We visited the Concord Falls, a Nutmeg Collection Station in Gouyave, the 200 year old Rivers Rum factory, the Belmont Estates which is a
cocoa processing plantation and finally the old airport. The two places we
hadn’t visited before were the Belmont Estates and the old airport. We had
a wonderful lunch and tour of the Belmont Estates. When we arrived at the
old airport our tour guide gunned the engine and took us for a very fast ride
down the runway. We saw the old terminal building and two planes abandoned
on the tarmac during the American Intervention. One plane was large and
Cuban and the other was a small Russian plane.
WeWe arrived back at the Yacht Club totally exhausted just before dinnertime.
Today was a ladies day out and I had said I would join the ladies from Mt. Hartman Bay but after being gone all day yesterday I didn’t really feel like touring again today. Rick and I both went ashore in the morning to pick up some things from Island Water World, which was also where I had agreed to meet the other ladies. It was nice to see them all again but I waved goodbye as they drove off without me.
My objective for the day was to cleanup and backup everything on the computer. I wanted to use my restore disk, wipe off the drive, and start afresh. Well after running scan disk and defragging the drive, I got to the point where I was ready to do it! I even had the name and phone number of a good computer repairman right beside me just in case I really messed things up. When I tried to run the restore disk it warned me it would delete everything and only restore the operating system (Windows ME) that came with the computer. That was fine, in fact that was exactly what I wanted but then it started talking about partitions. I hate it when computers get into this kind of thing. It’s too far over my head. The funny thing was that after cleaning everything up I was able to create a new restore point in the computer (which when I tried to do that a few weeks ago I received an error that it was missing a file) and now things seem to be working fine. I think we’ll visit the computer repairman anyway to see if he can fine tune the USB ports which are getting a little loose and wobbly.
While I was just about finished working on the computer I was also listening to the VHF radio. A lady on a boat named Gangee had tried calling the Grenada Coast Guard (who never answer the radio), the St. George’s Port Control and also the Grenada Yacht Club. She called them one after another for more than a half hour. When the Port Control finally answered I followed her call and listened in. Her husband had broken his arm and she wanted permission to anchor in the Carenage and needed transportation for him to the hospital. The Port Control gave her permission and verified that a taxi would take him up the hill to the hospital. When their call was over I called her and offered to help with the anchoring since she would be trying to single hand the boat. She at first thanked us and said she would be ok. A few minutes later she called back and asked if she could take us up on the offer. We jumped in the dinghy and went into the Carenage. The Port Control had taken them off their boat using the Pilot boat and already had them ashore. There were two young people aboard who were guests but knew absolutely nothing other than how to use the radio (which is important). There was an awful lot of blood everywhere so it was a serious accident. Rick and I decided to take the boat into the lagoon and re-anchor it there since we knew the Port Control wouldn’t allow them to stay there very long. To make this very long story short. The captain whose name we don’t know yet had to stay in the hospital overnight for surgery. They were going to put a couple of pins in his arm. There was a gouge at least 1 inch deep in the deck on the port side of the cockpit. The blood was mainly on the starboard side of the cockpit. The wind generator blades (Wind-Bugger) had all flown off in about 35 knot winds and hit the deck and then his arm. If the blades had hit him anywhere else, it would have been a much sadder story. We picked up Melanie (the lady) and took her to her boat when visiting hours were over at the hospital and she had to leave.
We went over to the Carenage first thing in the morning. We were killing time because we couldn’t visit the computer repairman until 2PM and we were to meet Jocelyne and Reudi (Globitou) at 12PM in the Nutmeg Restaurant.
We decided we would visit the Internet Café as we could see a very dark cloud headed our way and the Café was nearby. The timing was perfect. The skies opened up just as we walked through the door. Later when we met Jocelyne and Reudi for lunch, they said they almost didn’t make it. During the squall that went through a lot of boats dragged at Hog Island and they felt they should stay until they were sure the weather had settled down. After lunch, we took the computer up to Pegasus Computer Repair. Rick wanted us to walk but I felt it was just too hot to climb the hills in the afternoon sun so we took a cab. I am so glad we did. His office wasn’t up the hill it was almost on top of the mountain. There was no way I would have made it. We did walk back down which wasn’t bad.
When we returned to the boat, we had a siesta and then dinner. In the early evening I heard some one blowing their horn a few times so, I went out to see what was happening. Sure enough, a charter boat had come in and immediately after anchoring they jumped into their dinghy and went ashore. There was very little wind but they had dragged down on another boat. There were lots of dinghies between the two boats pushing them apart. Eventually the charter boat was re-anchored and there was no further excitement during the night.
We picked up our computer from Pegasus but found that they weren’t able to do anything about our wobbly USB ports because they are an integral part of the motherboard. Rather than trying to tighten them and maybe damaging the motherboard, we decided to adjust the cords that plug into them. It seems to have worked ok.
Hillair and Mike (Indigo) came into the lagoon for the night and anchored next to us. We got together for Happy Hour at the Yacht Club. They’re heading back up to Carriacou for the Regatta and we would have loved to gone too but we still have things we have to do in Grenada. Friday nights are usually a little noisy in St. George’s but things are starting to pick up almost nightly in preparation for Carnival which takes place in a couple of weeks. The bands have been practicing every night. When this practicing is combined with regular Friday night partying, the whole town was hopping. All of a sudden in the midst of this, a major fireworks display took place over the water where new cruise ship docks are being built. We had no idea what the fireworks were for but we certainly enjoyed them.
We had just discussed our plans for the day when we received a call on the radio from Mike and Deirdre (Cheshire Cat). They just returned from their trip home to Canada and brought us some spare parts for Jane the Vane. They would be in the Lagoon around 10 AM so we agreed to meet at Island Water World. We forgot that Island Water World was closed for inventory this weekend. We met up with them in the parking lot and decided to use our dinghy rather than walk to the Carenage. We sat in the Carenage Cafe for a lime squash (like lemonade). Afterwards we walked up the hill to the Market that was packed because it was Saturday. We parted there and they were going to try and get the Darius bus back to Mt. Hartman. Rick and I roamed around for a while. I picked up some mangos and avocados. The mangos are so plentiful at this time of the year they are falling from the trees and rotting in the streets.
We were on our way back to the dinghy and as we passed by the hill to the hospital, we decided to check it out. We’ve been using a private clinic here for our medical needs and it has been very nice and reasonably priced. Lately however we have heard such good things about the health care at the General Hospital that we thought we would investigate. Health care is free on Grenada except for private clinics. The hospital is in a beautiful new building but closed between 1PM and 3PM (which it was) on Saturdays except for emergencies. So we’ll try to look into it another time.
When we started walking back down the hill to the Carenage, we had to pass the hill to the old fort. Since I had already punished my body walking up this high, we decided to walk all the way up to the fort. It was so hot that when we were walking up to the hospital there was a set of steps with a handrail but you couldn’t use the handrail without oven mitts or you would burn your hand. We had a nice walk around the fort once I caught my breath and then headed back down the hill to the Carenage and the dinghy.
Back at the boat, we had a siesta, as it was too hot to do anything else. When we awoke we sat in the cockpit and watched the juniors of the Yacht Club racing their Optimist sailboats through out the lagoon. We were commenting on what a perfect day they had for the race since there was a light breeze and great sunshine. The race just finished and the kids all had just returned to the dock with their boats and a huge grey cloud moved in. The timing was perfect. It was a heavy rain but no one cared since it was really the end of a beautiful day.
Boat chores were all finished before lunch. Rick was very busy. He changed the alternator to make sure the one we had fixed was working ok.
It seemed to be ok now so we have a spare alternator onboard again. He also checked and topped up all of the batteries.
After lunch, we went by dinghy to Grand Anse Beach for a swim. While we were there, we met a couple on their honeymoon from Illinois, Chris and Zack. This was their first time in Grenada and they were only staying 10 days. When they return to Illinois, the honeymoon is truly over as they have just a few days to pack all their belongings and move to Baton Rouge.
When we returned to the boat the juniors (sailing the Optimists) were just finishing the last leg of their last race. They didn’t time it as well today as it started to rain before they finished. There was no pork roast for dinner this Sunday. We finally finished last week’s leftovers at lunch today so we made pizza for dinner.
We were on a mission today. The laundry was dropped off just after breakfast and Rick then decided he was still hungry. We went to the Nutmeg Restaurant for breakfast number two. While we were sitting in the Nutmeg overlooking the Carenage, we saw Chris and Zack walking by. They waved as they headed toward the market. We went to a few electronic stores to see if we could find a loud buzzer or siren for a motion detector we want to install on the boat. We also went looking for seeds (sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin) to make some granola. We struck out on both but while we were in the Excel Plaza, we found that the TCBY store was open. So, we had a Hot Fudge Sunday for lunch.
When we returned to the boat, we had a siesta and then an early dinner before going ashore for our Latin Dance lesson. After the lesson we sat and had a drink with Howard and Marsha (Serendipity the trawler) who had come to the club with a gang from Mt. Hartman Bay.
Today was a lovely day. We watched a lot of our friends leave for Carriacou. Almost everyone we know will be at the Carriacou Regatta (except us).
Rick worked on the boat some more. He changed the alternator again. I think he wants to be able to do it blindfolded. One alternator puts out more Amps than the other does so he wanted the higher output as our working alternator and the other as our spare. While he was at it he cleaned strainers, topped up with diesel and refilled the jerry cans. We are getting very close to being ready to leave.
It was another beautiful day. We went to a photographer and had pictures taken for our visa. We’ll stop by the Venezuelan Embassy some day next week. A lot of cruisers don’t bother with a Visa although the books say you need one for Venezuela. We have also heard it makes getting extensions much easier if you have a visa. Since we seem to stay quite a while in the places we visit I think it will be worthwhile. Outfitters International called to tell us that the case of Yanmar oil filters and charts we had ordered were in so we picked those up. We also stopped by a bulk food place (right by the dinghy dock) and picked up a case of UHT milk. We dinghied over to the next dinghy dock and picked up a few more groceries at Foodland/IGA before returning to the boat.
John and his grandson James from Woodfield II stopped by. John, Dee and their grandson are anchored just outside the lagoon. Of course, they’re on their way up to Carriacou. They’ll visit again tomorrow so we can transfer a stash of goods we’ve had stored onboard for Graham and Ann (Rasi) who should be returning from their trip home to England in the next few weeks. They became Grandparents while home.
John and James (Woodfield II) stopped by as promised and we passed on to them the responsibility of caring for Graham and Ann’s rum and sandals. These gallons of rum have more Caribbean miles on them this season than we do. They were originally purchased in Martinique and passed on to us by Dorothy and Brian (Sea Marva) in Carriacou. Woodfield II is taking them from Grenada back up to Carriacou but will return again to Grenada next week.
The rest of the day would normally not be discussed however, it’s gotten to the point that if I am late or miss a day of journal entries I receive harassing email. So, here’s what we did! Rick was busy drinking his favourite concoction and liquids to prepare for a colonoscopy early tomorrow. I was busy pouring and monitoring intake. Isn’t life wonderful in paradise.
In the late afternoon as we were sitting in the cockpit we watched a fish jump in the lagoon. This wasn’t just a little everyday fish, this thing was so huge Rick at first thought it was a dolphin. It wasn’t, it was just an ordinary humungous fish. We watched it jump about 3 feet out of the water at least a half dozen times. It leaped in different places around the lagoon wherever there were no fishing boats. The fishermen were oblivious to it and continued casting their lines.
