Happy Canada Day The overcast skies were gone and we had clear blue skies with strong winds all day. Rick rearranged things in the engine compartment for the installation of the new Racor filter. We bought a different type this time so a new mounting board needed to be cut and placed.
I cleaned and polished the plastic windows in the dodger.
In the afternoon, we had a Canada Day get together at the Turtle Dove for all Canadians and wannabe Canadians. It was great fun. I hung a nice new Canadian flag on the balcony of the restaurant with white and red balloons. As everyone arrived, I handed them each a little Canadian flag on a toothpick. Everyone was wearing a flag.
When the party was over, Ed, Julie (Free Radical), Murray, Nadine (Squiz)
Philip, Lisa with their children Josh and Leah (Triumph of Hope) and us, stayed
for a pizza dinner. Bongo man (Aaron) was drumming by himself this evening until
just before we left, when he was joined by William.
Rick installed the new Racor filter. After running the engine for quite a while, it sounded good, (airless) but I will feel even more confident a few days from now if it is still starting and running smoothly.
Rick went back to working on the wood in the head while I baked some apple crisp, cooked a big pot of nice fresh beets and another of callaloo. We skipped lunch and had an early dinner of “RIB EYE STEAK”. It was barbecued to perfection and we enjoyed it greatly after not having had a steak in so long. Both of us agreed however, the flavour is not really the same as the beef back home and we can do without it again for quite a while.
Another very active tropical wave was to go through today so we didn’t plan to do much. It was a good day to relax and read.
I started backing up the computer and Rick returned to the head. I think he’s almost moved in their.
The engine started and ran nicely.
The wave finally went through at about 3AM in the morning. It brought some gusty winds and a bit of rain but wasn’t anywhere near as bad as what was forecast. Our winds are supposed to remain between 20 and 25 knots for the next few days.
We joined a mix of American and Canadian cruisers for a potluck appetizer evening at the yacht club. We left there a little early and spent the rest of the evening celebrating with Gary and Sharon (Elusive).
The engine started and ran nicely again so we’re going to leave it sit for a few days and then start it again.
Sherwin, who had been off island for a couple of weeks sailing with Andy (In-Stitches) was back so we met for lunch. During the meal we explained to him what we had learned about filling propane tanks and he agreed to set it up and start filling tanks for the cruisers.
Although it was Thursday, I didn’t feel like going into town to shop today. Susan went in shopping as usual and called to tell me that there was celery, cauliflower and broccoli in the stores. She offered to pick some of each up for us. As soon as we were able to pick it up from here at the Haulout, Rick and I ate half the celery topped with cream cheese.
Dinner was a vegetable pig-out. We had chicken but the rest of the meal consisted of fresh pickled beets, with steamed cauliflower and broccoli.
I tried to log onto the internet this morning. I say tried, because the computer crashed. It wasn’t a true crash it just had a problem with the boot portion of windows. I couldn’t fix it so since I had just backed all of our files up a few days ago, I figured there was nothing to lose by formatting and reinstalling everything. It worked and I was able to get the internet and email up reasonably quickly but the rest of the software and files will take ages to reload.
With the excitement over, Rick and I went into town to buy a few groceries.
Dinner included a bottle of Simon’s (the smuggler) best champagne to aid in our celebration.
I continued reloading software most of the day. Rick did some painting and final prep work in the head while he waited for a litre of Cetol to be delivered to the boat.
I had found some stewing beef in town when shopping the other day. With the use of the pressure cooker, I was able to pretend that it was filet of beef. Our filet of beef with a package of egg noodles and a few other ingredients turned into beef stroganoff, something we haven’t tasted for a long time.
The internet was down all evening so we each grabbed a good book and curled up until bedtime.
It was a lovely day. The winds eased off a bit.
Rick applied the first coat of Cetol to the wood in the head. It looks wonderful and the smell of the freshly sanded teak and Cetol made me think that I had walked into a brand new boat.
We both spent the afternoon swimming around the boat.
We hadn’t started the engine for a few days so this morning was the big test. When Rick turned the key, it started up and hummed our favourite song. It’s a good thing because the weather report this morning identified a slow moving tropical wave to the east of us with a low pressure centre imbedded in it. These types of waves are the ones that we and everyone else keeps a very close watch on for tropical development. It’s nice to know that if we have to move, we have a working engine to move with.
The sky was grey and overcast all day long. There were no people on the beach but we watched a small herd of cattle stroll from one end to the other in the morning and we watched them return again in the evening. The animals are supposed to be tethered or penned at this time of year so we have no idea what they were doing roaming around.
We along with Rick and Sue (Panacea) were invited for sundowners with Ken and Judith onboard Badger Sett. It was an enjoyable evening.
We had the same grey sky today as yesterday. It was cloudy but a lot of the grey was caused by Sahara dust. The visibility is less than 5 miles. The winds were still gusting 20 to 25 knots and are forecast to remain so until at least the end of the week.
Rick applied a second coat of Cetol to the wood. I didn’t do much other than cook and clean all day. When Rick went ashore I would make a few phone calls while he was out of earshot. It’s his “60th” birthday this Thursday. I was calling to invite people to join us for some of his birthday cake at the Turtle Dove where I’ve reserved all of their large tables.
It was a nasty day. The winds were extremely strong and discouraged most cruisers from going ashore.
Rick continued with his woodworking but with the rain and humidity, drying was very slow.
I was busy organizing his birthday party tomorrow.
We were both up a few times overnight with the wind and the rain. I think the
wind hit 40 knots at times. The rain was extremely heavy but short in duration.
In between squalls we slept. The storms were caused by the wave with the low
pressure area which was passing through quickly but because of it’s size it
lasted all night.
The sky cleared nicely for Rick’s special day. We went ashore and met the “Lunch Lady” Helena, and pick up Rotis for Sherwin and ourselves. We ate them at Sherwin’s house, which is very cute and located right behind the Lambi Queen.
Sherwin had picked up a 100 pound propane tank and he practiced by filling our empty tank first. It took quite a while and we later learned the reason for this is because we should have opened the release valve. Oh well, live and learn.
Sherwin drove me to the L’Esterre Bakery where we picked up the Birthday cake I ordered for the party. It was supposed to be chocolate but I have no idea what flavour it was but although good, it certainly wasn’t chocolate.
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The party was at the Turtle Dove Restaurant. It was standing room only, half
of the party guests were locals and the other half were cruisers. It was a lot
of fun. Aaron (Bongo Man) and the rest of his entourage, performed for the
evening. They normally only perform on Saturday night but it was their Birthday
gift to Rick and enjoyed by all.
Many people brought gifts which was unexpected and very nice. The most unique gift was from Sue and Rick (Panacea). I took a picture of their special card.
The old man and I went to town in the morning. I’m not sure why we’ve started shopping on Fridays rather than Thursdays but it seems to be working out well.
We picked up everything we needed and just about cleaned out Patty’s Deli. She is getting some wonderful products in and we are enjoying all of them. One of the things she always has in her freezer are cooked jumbo shrimps. I have been passing these up for a few weeks now (economizing) but when I saw Gary and Sharon (Elusive) purchase some this week, I couldn’t help myself, I had to buy them.
On our way back to Harvey Vale, a squall went by Carriacou but the sky had cleared by the time we were ready to get into the dinghy.
Back at the boat, when the groceries were put away, we both settled down for a siesta while the generator and water maker were running.
Dinner was an awesome shrimp stir-fry. Shrimps were plentiful in Venezuela and Trinidad but are imported in Grenada. I only used half of the package of shrimps so we can still look forward to another similar treat later in the week.
Finally, the winds were calm enough that we could have a little weld fixed on the davits. When we were in Union Island, Rick had noticed a weld on the davits that had cracked. The best welder in the Caribbean lives and works in Tyrrel Bay so it should have been an easy fix. Until this morning, the winds were much to strong to use the welding torch in the open air.
Dominic gave us the ok at about 10AM. We started the engine and lifted the anchor to move over to his workshop. His is a floating workshop. He welded and polished the seam and we were back at anchor in just under an hour.
After lunch, Rick and Gary (Elusive) went to town with their jerry cans to pick up fuel. On the way, they dropped off Gary’s propane tank to be filled as well.
Sherwin stopped by in the afternoon to let us know that he was going to Petite Martinique tomorrow morning and would return in the afternoon. He offered to pick up a case of beer (1664) for Rick because there was none left on Carriacou.
Later in the afternoon, as we were sitting in the cockpit for sundowners, I suddenly remembered that our clean laundry was ready to be picked up at the yacht club and it was almost closing time. Rick raced over and picked it up for me. Fitzroy was walking along the beach and met Rick. He asked why I didn’t do my own laundry. Rick relayed this message to me when he returned to the boat so I called Fitzroy to ask him if he had a washing machine. He does, so I told him I would bring my laundry to him in the future. He laughed and said he wouldn’t do it but that I was welcome to use the machine anytime. It was a nice offer but water is a commodity on this island and I would never use up someone’s supply of water.
Since it was Sunday, we thought it would be a quiet day. Rick promised to finish the very last of the woodworking for a while. I removed the mattress cover and washed it.
We
were both below talking about taking the dinghy ashore to clean it right after
lunch. Suddenly there was a very large horn being blown right beside us. We both
rushed out to the cockpit to see what or who was causing the commotion. It was
Jerry and Daniela with many of our friends. They were all yelling, “Take our
picture”.
Jerry and Daniela had just returned from Italy and this was their first outing on Serendipity, the trawler. Serendipity used to belong to our friends Howard and Marsha. It sank during Hurricane Emily, July 13th one year ago. Howard was washed out to sea in his dinghy, which flipped 7 times during the storm. He had tied himself to the dinghy and was by sheer luck, rescued 18 hours later by a freighter on it’s way to Trinidad. Howard is handicapped and doesn’t have the use of his legs which makes his story all that more amazing. Anyway, Jerry salvaged the boat and during the past year has had it restored.
We took a few pictures and they motored out of the bay. Many hours passed and I called Daniela to find out where they were. They were just around the corner, anchored at Sandy Island and would be back in about an hour. We were invited to join them at the Turtle Dove for a bite to eat.
After sharing a pizza with Rick, Jerry asked if I would come to their place and load some new software on the computer for his son Hugo. I said no problem; it should only take a minute. Well I hadn’t realized that Jerry’s “some” was a pile of new CD’s he had purchased while overseas. It really didn’t take long except for one program that just didn’t want to load properly.
I took the problem program back to our boat so I could spend a little more time looking at it.
There were a few jobs that didn’t get done yesterday and weren’t going to get done today either.
First thing in the morning, I sent Rick into town to see Dr. Freddy. He has had a cough for more than a week and it is getting worse rather than better. While he was gone I hoped to get a few things done but he was back within the hour. He had taken the bus into Hillsborough, seen the Doctor, picked up a prescription and returned to Tyrrel Bay.
I got ready and we went ashore. First, I wanted to meet with Trevor at the Yacht Club. I told him I would arrange a beach cleanup (party) before the Carriacou Regatta, which is coming up soon. We needed to discuss some of the logistics (party).
Next, we went to Jerry and Daniela’s house to fix the one stubborn program. In the end I finally removed it from the computer because I couldn’t resolve the problems. Then Daniela who had purchased a new digital camera needed some help with how to load the software and download the pictures. Before I was allowed to leave, both Daniela and Jerry wanted to know how to reduce the size of the pictures and how to attach them to an email.
While we were ashore our plan was to stop by Fitzroy’s house and fix the drain in his kitchen sink that we have been promising to do for ages. Fitzroy called, he was going to take the ferry to Grenada in the afternoon and return tomorrow. That gave us a reprieve from one job but Sherwin called, he was back from Petite Martinique (a day late) and had left a case of beer in our cockpit. When Rick had time would he come and help him fill Gary’s propane tank.
In the afternoon, we sat in the cockpit relaxing when we heard a call for help from Union Island. A charter boat reported a man overboard just off Chatham Bay. They called for assistance in searching for him. We were too far to help but close enough to listen to the progress on the radio. The search had been underway for more than two hours and it was only about another hour before dark when a search plane arrived to help.
It was a very calm day with flat seas and very little wind. He had fallen overboard just off the entrance to the bay and had been thrown a yellow float ring. It seemed strange that they were having such difficulty finding him. Rick and I discussed that especially with the ring to help keep him afloat it should not have been difficult to kick his feet and make his way back to shore. Sure enough, just before dark, he called from the coast guard station in Clifton (the opposite side of the island from Chatham Bay), to thank everyone and tell them that he was ok. The search was ended and we then learned that he was the captain aboard the charter sailboat, meaning the others probably didn’t really know how to handle the boat fast enough or well enough to turn around and go back for him.
We awoke to a beautiful day. Rick although finished with the wood in the head was working on other little things there. I removed and washed the red Sahara dust from all of the curtains. We finished our chores and we were ready to go ashore by 11AM.
We beached the dinghy, removed the motor and turned it upside down in the shade of the Manchineel tree. While Rick scrubbed a month’s worth of growth off the bottom, I floated around in the water. We waved hello as Norbert’s bus drove by. When he saw us, he quickly stopped and passed a bag of nice ripe mangoes out the window for us.
Gradually, as it got closer to lunchtime, the locals gathered under the Manchineel tree with their lunches on the benches around the trunk of the tree. Rick just finished cleaning the bottom of the dinghy when Helena, the lunch lady drove up with our chicken rotis. We sat on the tube of the dinghy and had our rotis for lunch with a couple of mangoes for desert.
It was then my turn to clean the top and inside of the dinghy. When we were finished and had put the motor and everything back into it, we returned to the boat and dove in there for a swim. I cleaned the waterline of the big boat and then we both just “noodled” around for a while.
I’m starting to think that Rick likes being in the head. He was in there again this morning. I had some signs and cards to make on the computer and I spent most of the morning playing with those.
We saw our friends Ann and Graham (Rasi) return from Grenada just before lunchtime. Rick and I spent the afternoon going boat to boat in the anchorage. I wanted to tell everyone that there would be a potluck dinner this Friday at the Lambie Queen and to mention a “Beach Cleanup and Party” for the following weekend. I will have to go around again next week because there should be many boats arriving for the Carriacou Regatta (http://www.carriacouregatta.com/).
In the evening, Graham and Ann (Rasi) and we were invited for sundowners onboard Panacea with Rick and Sue.
We went to town in the morning for groceries. When we returned to the boat, after putting everything away, we both had a siesta.
In the evening, we along with a bunch of other cruisers were invited to the Turtle Dove for dinner. It was Ken and Judith’s (Badgers Sett) 38th wedding anniversary. It was a very enjoyable evening.
Rick finally had a good night sleep without a lot of coughing all night. The antibiotics have kicked in.
We relaxed and read during the morning. In the afternoon, I baked a huge pile of chicken wings to take to the potluck dinner. There was a great turnout for the potluck. It was standing room only by the time everyone arrived. Sherwin arranged for the drummers to perform later in the evening so it was a potluck with entertainment.
It was another nice day. We relaxed a lot in the morning. After lunch, I went to visit Claudia and Dave (Antiquity). They asked for help in establishing a web site.
It was a very windy morning when we awoke. We were going to go visit Fitzroy today but Rick’s knee was very sore. In fact it was swollen and warm as well. These things always happen when a doctor’s office is closed. I couldn’t think of anything else it could be, so he started taking his gout medication and some Tylenol for the pain. I think that since his birthday party he has started to fall apart.
Susan called and needed some Cetol so I took that into shore for her. While I was there Jerry and his son Hugo arrived. Hugo wanted to know if I had figured out the problem with one of his new computer games. I hadn’t really but I think it’s a conflict with a program on their computer. I told him that I would load the game on my spare laptop and he could borrow that for a while.
We spent the afternoon relaxing and reading.
Rick awoke in the morning with severe pain in his knee and announced that we had to go see Doctor Freddy right after breakfast. It must be bad.
I wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to get into and out of the dinghy but he managed. We arrived at Dr. Freddy’s office and had to wait a little while for him to finish with the patient before us.
As soon as Dr. Freddy looked at Rick’s knee he became quite concerned because it appeared to be discoloured. Rick tried to assure him that the colour was from the blue gel (Ice Gel Therapy) that he had been massaging into his knee. Dr. Freddy was concerned that it appeared to be blood under the skin. The big test came when the doctor took a small piece of wet gauze and wiped it across Rick’s knee. It picked up blue colouring. We all laughed and Rick apologized for not washing it off before hand.
Anyway, the pain in the knee was diagnosed as gout and Rick was to continue with his gout medication. The doctor gave him something better for the pain and suggested that he sit in the shallow water on the beach and allow the waves to massage his knee.
When we returned to the boat, Rick went into pamper mode, which meant that later in the day when it was sundowner time, I even had to prepare the drinks.
Dave (Antiquity) made me a homemade pecan pie as a thank you gift for helping him with his web site. It wasn’t necessary but we certainly did enjoy it. I sent half of the pie to Rick and Susan (Panacea) as there was no way we would ever eat it all.
The patient awoke feeling much better today. He still has a bit of a cough and the knee is still tender but there was no moaning or whining.
He didn’t want to go ashore so offered to help me with my cleaning. I took advantage of his offer and had him wash ceilings and ports and hatches. I washed walls and cleaned out some cupboards. I’m not sure why we choice today to do this as the air has been full of Sahara dust for weeks now and it was announced that another surge of dust had just come off of the African coast. Normally, I would be complaining about it but since the dust is unusual at this time of year I am enjoying it. When the dust is in the air, it suppresses the convection within the tropical waves. There have been a few waves with low pressure areas in them that may have built to tropical depressions or storms if it had not been for the dust. It can continue to coat our decks, screens sails and interiors as long as it continues to smother the waves.
Just before sundown, the sky turned blacker than a moonless night. We could see lightening off in the distance and figured that we were going to be in for a rough night.
There was a lot of rain overnight but almost no wind. I think that the cruisers who rely upon catching water must have been up all night filling their tanks. It was still raining in the morning and I though we would remain boat bound for the day. Just before lunchtime, the skies cleared and the sun tried to shine.
I received a call from Fitzroy who had something for me and Jerry who needed some help with his computer.
Rick was feeling well enough so we took the laundry into the yacht club and then went to the Haulout to help Jerry. His problem took about 2 minutes and then we walked over to Fitzroy’s house.
Rick had the plumbers putty with him and Fitzroy had some glue for the pipes. Finally, the leak in his kitchen sink was fixed. The “something” that Fitzroy had for me was a basil plant in a nice pot. It looked good and healthy but when we returned to the boat I noticed some very tiny ants crawling around the pot. The plant and pot had been sitting outside in the garden so of course there were little bugs on it. I however did not want an infestation onboard Wind-Borne III. I got out the “Bop” and sprayed around the outside of the pot. By the time we had eaten dinner I could see that I had damaged a few leaves on the plant so I sprayed it down with some fresh water.
The bay was like a millpond over night but north of us the islands had extremely strong thunderstorms all night long.
My plant is still surviving but I would like it to look a little perkier than it does. I gave it another freshwater spray.
Richard and Beth (Slow Dancing) stopped by and before they left, we agreed to meet at the beach for a swim and then rotis for lunch. They invited Clyde and Linda (Gypsy) who had never eaten a roti before. We had a good lunch and then returned to our boats.
In the afternoon, Sherwin came for a visit with our second propane tank filled that we had left with him that the morning. He stayed and joined us for sundowners.
I was making lasagne for dinner and was a little late in my preparations which meant we had a lovely dinner by “cockpit” light (candles don’t stay lit).
We still had almost no wind and very little rain over night. I have been watching an area of disturbed weather on the satellite pictures yesterday and today. I’m not very comfortable with it as it seems to be getting better organized. It’s still south east of us but a high pressure area north of us is forecast to weaken which will allow this disturbed area of weather to move northward. I checked the satellite pictures off and on throughout the day.
Meanwhile, Rick picked up our clean laundry and I put that away while he went ashore again to pick up some bread and chicken.
We both had a little siesta after lunch. It was 3 PM when we set out to go boat to boat in the anchorage again. Our first stop was to deliver some leftover lasagne to Sherwin who was waiting for us on the beach. This time we were going boat to boat to remind everyone that a beach cleanup is planned for tomorrow morning and a party at the yacht club in the evening. It took us exactly 2 hours to visit every boat. It sounded as if we should have a lot of help with the cleanup but some mentioned that they were keeping a close eye on the weather and may have to leave.
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We had a great turnout to help with the beach cleanup. There were about 30
adults and quite a few children. We worked on about ¼ mile of beach. Everyone
bagged anything they found that was not burnable and set the bags at the high
water line. All of the burnable items like coconuts, palm branches and pieces of
wood we piled near the high waterline and Fitzroy looked after setting and
monitoring the fires.
Sherwin brought his pickup truck down to the Haulout and the children were responsible for picking up the garbage bags, piling them into the workboat and going with the boat back to the Haulout. There they put the bags in the pickup truck and rode with Sherwin to the garbage dump where they off loaded it all.
Everyone worked hard and it only took us a couple of hours. Our timing was
great because it started to rain about an hour later.
That was the first beach cleanup I have organized and I would certainly do it again. The only effort involved in the organization was asking people to help which they all did.
There was an even better turnout at the party in the evening. The yacht club (Trevor) served chicken dinner for $15 EC ($5.60 USD). Just after dinner was served the sky opened up with a very heavy downpour. It didn’t appear that it was going to stop soon so everyone moved from outdoors into the clubhouse. It was a good thing because the weather worsened into thunderstorms.
Joe (Island Girl) played his guitar and sang while accompanied by Martin
(Merlin) on Sax. They were great!!! Eventually some of the French cruisers
joined in with their guitars. The music and the party got even better.
The rain eased up around 8PM at which time we were originally going to move down the beach to the Turtle Dove where an “imported band” was supposed to be playing. Instead, we and many others decided to take advantage of the lull in the rain to make our way back to the boat in a reasonably dry condition.
The first thing I did when we were back onboard was to check the weather. It
appeared that the high
pressure area north of us had weakened, allowing our area
of disturbed weather to the south of us to move toward the northwest (us). It
still looked nasty but hadn’t developed into anything stronger so we went to
bed.
It was very overcast and still raining when we awoke. I first checked the weather. The storm is definitely moving toward us but it’s close enough now that the worst it can develop into by the time it reaches us is a tropical depression. It may develop into something more after passing us. We at first thought that it would be a good day to lounge around and read but the sky cleared and we ended up with a nice day. We still lounged around all day.
We had just finished breakfast when Lucy (Flying Cloud) called and asked if she could come and have a look at our squall proof wind scoops. She stayed and visited with us for a while. As she was leaving, Art, (JonaLisa) came to ask us all about Venezuela. As he was leaving, Ronnie (a local) came buy to ask if we wanted some fish, which we did.
Rick cleaned the fish (and sliced his finger) while I made lunch. It seemed like a good time for a siesta but that was not to be. John (2nd M) Rich (North Stand) and Donnel (a little local boy) came by handing out flyers regarding the barbecue on Wednesday. They left and Art came back with Rachel to ask more about Venezuela.
We decided to start the engine when everyone had left. Wouldn’t you know it, AIR!!! We have checked absolutely everything we can think of and obviously still have not found the source. We called Uwe the mechanic, and asked him if he would come and help tomorrow.
