Today is the first day of dry season and there isn’t a stitch of wind. In fact, the boats at anchor were all turned and facing west out of the bay. It is not the type of day that one would choose to be on the hard but, we the doomed were ready to haul at 7:30AM.
The yard guys led by Edwin pulled us around to the slipway and Edwin gently lifted us onto dry land. We started work immediately because the yard closes at noon on Saturday and we sure didn’t want to stay on the hard until Monday.
Rick loosened everything necessary and we removed the prop shaft. Cruisers were stopping by offering condolences. Andrea, Yerk’s wife stopped by and she was telling me how bad Yerk felt last night when he realized that we were going to have to haul the boat again.
Eventually after a lot of muscle power by Yerk and Rick the coupling and shaft were together and back in place. Now we had to wait for the Sikaflex to set up before we could go into the water. It was noon and the yard was closing. We asked Edwin if he would return after lunch and put us in the water. He said he would but then Tim came by and said that not to worry, Jerry would operate the travel lift and put us in. This is the man who claimed we were doomed. He returned a few hours later with a couple of his employees and set us gently into the water.
I would expect to not only pay for the haul-out and launch but to also pay overtime for being launched after hours…. not with Jerry, he gave us the haul out and launch “No Charge”. No wonder we love Carriacou. Jerry does amazingly wonderful things for many people. His haul out, heavy equipment, tug boats, barges, trawler and sailboats are his toys. He doesn’t work, he plays. His saying is that little boys play with little toys but big boys need big toys and he has his. Everyone on Carriacou is extremely caring to one another as well as to others.
Now back to our being doomed. The lugs that Rick had ordered from Budget Marine should have been on the ferry today however, Budget Marine in Grenada missed getting to the ferry on time so we are still doomed. We called Michael (Electrician) and told him we wouldn't be ready to use his big crimper on Monday.
As soon as we were in the water, I threw together some sandwiches for lunch. We were both starving as it was 2:30PM and we had only eaten some leftover muffins for breakfast. Later when the boat was almost back to normal, we each had a shower, relaxed and had a light but nice dinner. I made a garden salad and cooked some of the beautiful fresh tuna as sashimi tuna. It was perfect.
Sunday is a nice day at dock because the yard is closed and quiet.
Rick ran around like crazy working on boat chores in the morning. Fitzroy stopped by and we invited him for dinner. It’s fun having food onboard again. I was getting a little tired of chicken and rice.
I made a marinated beet salad and served it with a tossed salad and grilled some of the fresh tuna for an appetizer. Dinner was chicken but in this case I had some nice large boneless chicken breasts to serve with mashed potatoes. Even Fitzroy was surprised to see the chicken breasts which are not normally available on island.
The day started innocently enough with eight bananas. When I cut up the first two I found that they had ripened much faster than expected. The remaining six bananas was exactly the number I required to make banana bread. Since Yerk wasn’t arriving until the afternoon, I turned on the oven and started baking. One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew, I was hard boiling half a dozen eggs and a package of macaroni. The end result was a great lunch so we invited Gary and Sharon, who had just had Elusive lifted out of the water and put on the hard for a new bottom job.
I used some of the extra tuna leftover from last night and made a fresh tuna salad to go with the macaroni salad and marinated beat salad. We had some cold meats and Swiss cheese from the deli, tomatoes and fresh baked bread from the bakery along with few carrot sticks, pickles and passion fruit juice to drink. This huge lunch all started with the bananas that I needed to do something with so they would be wasted. They were dessert.
Yerk arrived just after lunch. He and Rick watched the shaft as I started the engine and put it into gear. Perfect!/ Perfect! All we needed was the new flange/coupling and it spun perfectly.
Neither Rick nor I wanted dinner; we just relaxed in the cockpit and watched the sunset.
It dawned on us that we hadn’t seen Jerry all day. One of his tug boats left early this morning so he must have gone along for the ride. Jerry’s employees say that when they see Jerry walk out of his office they never know whether he has headed off to the washroom or Martinique. When he doesn’t return after a while they assume he has left the island. So, we are assuming that Jerry has left the island.
Breakfast was finished and the engine was running. I don’t think it was even 7:30AM yet. Rick wanted to run the engine in gear while at dock so that he could check the tightness of the stuffing box. He made an adjustment then let it run for a while longer.
At 10AM Rick took Sharon (Elusive) by dinghy to the main jetty and they both went into town for money and gas.
As soon as they returned we had a quick lunch then started the engine again, this time to finally leave dock. It had been a while but we found our favourite patch of sand and set the anchor.
The new windlass is still operating on manual until the lugs for the cable arrive on the ferry tomorrow.
Now that we are at anchor we can reassess the to-do list and make sure there is play time included.
Our first night at anchor was a little rolly due to almost no wind. The fact that we were away from land meant that we didn’t have to deal with mosquitoes at night and once we had all moving objects secured it was a quite gentle roll that put us to sleep.
The stupid rooster could still be heard in the distance at daybreak however it was the fishermen in their boats heading out to sea that awoke us this morning. I think I prefer the fishermen to the rooster.
Rick and I both went into town in the morning. It was a pleasant surprise to find some nice lettuce and tomatoes at the Marketing Board. In the past, the store would be almost empty until Thursday when it would be restocked from the ferry.
My next amazing surprise was when we went into Matheson’s Supermarket for a bottle of salad dressing, Rick noticed a box near the door that was labeled “PAM” non stick spray. Wow! I was just talking to Fitzroy the other day about having a friend of his finding me some PAM in Grenada and shipping it up on the ferry.
It appears that almost anything can be found in Carriacou these days.
Rick dropped me at the boat and while I put the groceries away he went to see Fitzroy. When he eventually returned he had almost a bushel of fresh limes and a good number of passion fruit and some flowers all picked from Fitzroy’s trees. Had I known I would have checked the recipe ingredients for Key lime pie before we went shopping. It appears that I have almost everything except molasses which I need to make graham crackers for the crust.
After an afternoon siesta we went ashore for a pre-Parang party at the Lambi Queen. We were also celebrating Brad’s birthday. Brad and Alana (Witch’s Song) are back home in Toronto attending a party at the Brass Taps on the Danforth . The party here was loud, very loud! The speakers almost caused the concrete road to vibrate. We stayed for dinner and a couple of drinks but eventually had to get away from the speakers.
It felt for some reason that we are back into a routine. It was cloudy with showers on and off throughout the day so we were opening and closing hatches and ports. This dry season rain can get on your nerves.
Rick decided to replace some parts on the pump for the head (toilet). It appears that even though we thought we had oiled and stored it properly while we were away, it acquired a little rust.
When he finished with the head, he re-seated one of the filters for the water maker which seemed to have a small leak. Once the leak was fixed, I ran the water maker for a few minutes but found that only one pump was working. One pump makes 6 to 7 gallons per hour but when both pumps are running we get 12 to 14 gallons an hour. So the next job was to replace the micro switch in the pump which had corroded contacts. The switch was actually still good but because of the corrosion on the contacts it was garbage. Next we both got involved with setting the correct pressure on the pump. Both pumps must be set the same or it causes problems. By the time we finished playing plumber it was noon.
I made lunch; we sat in the cockpit and watched a charter boat try to pick up a mooring ball. It was almost painful to watch and our dinghy was still in the davits or we would have gone to help. They tried at least a dozen times to lasso the mooring. Each time they missed, the boat would turn around, head out then turn around again and charge toward the mooring ball. The wind was blowing about 20 knots and the person at the helm raced the boat by the mooring so fast that the person on the bow didn`t stand a chance. Finally after many attempts, they slowly approached the mooring ball and were able to lasso the mooring ball. We had been commenting about the lack of a boat hook on a charter boats. When, after they had the rope around the ball, they then picked up a boat hook to lift the ball higher so they could attach the line.
We waited for another dry season rain shower to pass and then Rick went into the haulout to pick up the lugs that should have arrived on the ferry yesterday. Only half the order arrived, we ordered again, this time from the other chandlery and they should arrive on Saturday.
While Rick was ashore I started juicing the passion fruit and limes. The fruit is ripening too fast to wait and see if I can find molasses to make a pie so it was all to become juice. Passion fruit juice and lime squash. (Lime squash is lemonade made with limes). While I was standing in the galley I could see a person in his dinghy trying to paddle against the wind and current. He was not making any headway. In fact he was starting to drift quickly towards the sea. No one else seemed to notice him so I tried calling Rick at the haulout on the VHF and on the cell phone. I didn’t get any answer but as I looked out the port again I saw Rick in the dinghy headed this way. The guy paddling the dinghy called to him for help and off he charged. I watched long enough to see him deliver the weakened paddler to his boat and then I went on with other things. It was a while before I noticed that Rick still hadn`t returned. I looked out and saw that he had raced toward the edge of the bay where there was a large catamaran dragging towards the point and the reef. I called a few boats for help but no one responded. When I heard a dinghy approaching nearby, I ran topsides and waved them (three men) over and pointed out the catamaran that was dragging and before I even finished asking if they would help Rick reset the anchor, they raced off to help. Rick returned not long afterward laughing; the boat belonged to the three men that I had called over.
The water maker nicely provided enough water for me to do a small load of laundry which I hung in the cockpit (because of the rain) just prior to happy hour. We didn`t have the greatest view of the sunset but we did have a nice conversation with John (who sometimes goes by Roberto) as he held his boat under our dingy (which was back in the davits) to get out of the rain.
Rick is becoming the hero of the anchorage. We had a phone call first thing in the morning from Sharon (Elusive) who asked if Rick would take Gary to a doctor. She thought that he may have a kidney stone. Rick and I both looked at each other and knew from personal experience, their boat was on the hard, Gary was working on a lot of projects and wasn’t drinking enough water. Rick picked him up in the dinghy and took him to see Dr. Freddy in town. Sure enough, Dr Freddy told him the same thing that Rick and I had thought. Drink water and more water.
When Gary was back on his own boat Rick went to go ashore again and noticed a local fisherman having outboard engine problems. He offered to help but the fisherman said he was fine. Rick let him know that he would be back within 30 minutes so if he still didn’t have the engine running he would give him a hand. When Rick returned, the fisherman was still yanking on the starter cord where he had left him. This time he was anxious for a tow to shore.
In the afternoon after a little siesta, Rick cleaned the bilge and started working on a new engine control panel he bought last year. Since he can’t finish the windlass installation yet he thought he would work on this.
At 5Pm we went ashore with Aubrey and Judy (Velada IV) and walked to Paradise Beach for chicken and chips at the Hardwood Bar. Miss Joy was there and gave us a nice greeting. After dinner we walked to the L’Esterre Public School to watch the children perform in the Christmas concert. Joe and Elaine (Island Girl) as well as Ann and Steve (Receta) joined us there. It was a very cute concert. At times, the children wrestled with multiple microphones that either didn’t work or the cord was not long enough but they all remembered their lines or part. The concert didn’t start until 8PM and we left at 9:30PM during intermission.
It was a nice walk back to Harvey Vale and as we got close to town we could hear the steel drums playing Christmas Carols at the Lambi Queen. We continued to the boat and listened to the music from there. There was a nice surprise when we arrived at the boat. Simon the Smuggler must have come by while we were gone as there was a case of red wine sitting on the deck for us. I’m sure he’ll come again tomorrow looking for some money.
The winds have started to settle down but it will take the seas a little longer, meanwhile we roll. I didn’t feel like doing much in the roll so I curled up with a good book and read for most of the day.
Rick didn’t even bother to splash the dink. He said that he wasn’t working he was just puttering with the wiring on the new engine panel. This meant that he was curled up not trying to walk around as well.
By dinner time the roll had calmed enough that the pots and pans were reasonably stable on the galley counter so I at least made a nice dinner.
We rolled all night and continued to roll during the day. Since it was Sunday, Rick made his traditional Sunday morning poached eggs which we ate in the cockpit.
Later Rick was washing the rub rail and top sides of the boat from the dinghy. When he came back aboard he showed me how his one arm is now longer from the other. This arm lengthening was caused by his holding on to the toe rail as the boat bounced up and down, over and back with each swell.
In the afternoon we both jumped overboard for a swim. The swells had either settled down a little or they weren’t as noticeable as we floated on top of the water.
A shower in the cockpit was wonderful and we had just dried the cockpit when company arrived. Gary and Linda (July Indian) came by and joined us for sundowners.
Finally, we had a night without rain or roll. It was perfect sleeping weather.
Each morning I ask Rick if he has a preference for breakfast. This morning was a muffin morning. It felt like a good baking day so we had muffins in the morning. After which, Rick went ashore and picked up the last of the supplies we need to make our new windlass electric rather than manual.
Michael will come on Wednesday to attach the lug to the cable as we are going to town tomorrow.
I have started making my Christmas food list. We are spending Christmas in Carriacou this year. Fitzroy has invited us and some other friends for dinner at his place. He told us that we are not to go sailing off to another island this year like we did last year. We are to stay and spend Christmas with family (him). So, there is no way we are going anywhere else.
I called John at the Marketing Board in town and asked him if he could try and get some Granny Smith apples shipped up from Grenada for me to make apple pies. I am going to try and find confectioners’ sugar in town for Christmas cookies. I have already stocked up on cream cheese and will look for potatoes and beets tomorrow. The reason I must search now is so that if the items I need aren’t available I will have time to come up with other ideas.
In the afternoon Rick finished the installation of our new engine panel. I did some island style baking. This recipe seems like a bit of work but I want to perfect it before changing it to a less labour intensive treat. I was making Sweet Potato pudding. One of the local ladies (Denise) gave me the recipe just before we went home last season. In Canada however I was unable to find the nice hard purple skinned sweet potatoes from the islands so this was my first attempt at the recipe.
I grated the meat from a coconut to make coconut milk. I peeled and grated 2 pounds of the sweet potatoes. I grated fresh nutmeg and ginger. The cinnamon was already powdered. The only thing I used that was a little different was a cup of Canadian brown sugar which is not as granular as the island brown sugar. Whatever I did, the pudding was alright but it certainly wasn’t as good as the pudding Denise makes.
While the pudding was still in the oven baking (1 ½ hours) we jumped overboard for a swim. It was a lovely afternoon until just after our shower when the sky off of our bow looked black and ominous. We closed the boat up and went below to wait for a major blow which never came. It dissipated on top of us.
Today was a very unusual day. We had a nice night with no roll but the sky was very cloudy in the morning. We packed the umbrellas and went to town early. I was going to the clinic for some blood tests and usually Tuesdays (which are when all blood tests) are done, is very busy. It is first come first serve so I thought I would beat the crowd. As it ended up, the only other person who came by was Cheryl from the travel agency. I commented to her that it seemed strange to see the clinic so empty. She explained that because it was Christmas, everyone was drinking and avoiding blood tests. They would return in the new year.
Having picked up a few groceries while we were in town it was only 10:30AM when we returned to the boat. I commented to Rick that the sky looked very threatening and we had made it back just in time. Normally when it rains at this time of the year, the rain lasts for only a few minutes and then the sky clears. Not today. We heard thunder in the distance and it rained almost all day. We noticed that Denis and Arlene (Tiger Lilly II) had arrived so we dinghied over between showers to say hello. I questioned Arlene as to why a weather man (Denis) would travel on a day like today. It was because according to Denis, it was only going to get worse.
After we left Tiger Lilly and returned to our own boat, Rick decided that we should make use of the fresh water and wash the deck. The two of us scrubbed away at the deck under a cloudy sky counting on the rain to rinse the soap when we were finished.
It was still raining at dinner time so we had some fresh tuna, rice and salad which doesn’t heat up a closed cabin too much.
Denis sure called the weather correctly.
It was sometime around midnight when I awoke to a roaring sound that was getting louder as it got closer. A blast of wind hit, the boat trembled and heeled at anchor. I could hear the water rushing by beneath the hull as the wall of water hit from above. I hate when these storms come at night. I try to look out the ports to see if any boats are dragging or having problems but absolutely nothing is visible through the darkness and rain.
With nothing else to do I tried to go back to sleep knowing that our anchor alarm is keeping watch for us and amazed at how a single anchor with a bit of chain can hold more than 12 tons of boat and us against the fury of mother nature. Gradually after at least an hour, I begin to wonder if the storm has eased a little or whether I am becoming accustomed to the sound and motion. I must have drifted off to sleep because I was awakened around 3AM to the same roar of wind racing toward us. I just brace myself a little for the impact and the heeling of the boat. This time I was a little more awake so I got a book to read hoping it will help me fall back to sleep. It did and the next thing I knew it was 7AM and Rick had a cup of coffee ready for me.
Michael, the electrician, is coming this morning to attach the lugs to the ends of our heavy cable for the windlass. We had a quick breakfast and got dressed knowing that Michael is an early riser. Sure enough, Rick was sitting in the cockpit, watching the shoreline and saw Michael’s car drive by heading towards the haulout.
I wondered if he would come with the weather as nasty as it is but the forecast is for the winds to remain high until next week. He arrived around 8:30AM and was gone by 9:30AM. The lugs were solidly attached and Rick spent the rest of the morning attaching each of the wires. Sitting on the bow with the wind blowing at 25 knots and gusting higher made it a little difficult to make the connections without losing a few screws. It was all finished before lunch and we both watched as Rick pressed the up and then the down button. He wanted to raise the anchor right up but since Arlene had checked and found our anchor totally buried in the sand, I didn’t want it disturbed.
In the afternoon I made popcorn and we were going to watch a DVD in the cockpit but between the sound of the howling wind and the generator running we gave up. Instead we played a game of Rummykub. I won.
Just before dinner we saw a charter boat arrive and watched in awe as it headed straight for the reef at full speed and high tide. A moment later we heard them calling the haulout which was closed, announcing that they had contact with the ground. I think that is the French version of saying that they were aground. Our dinghy was still in the davits so we weren’t able to help but many other dinghies raced to the rescue.
The sun (which we never really got to see today) had already set and it was very dark with no moon or stars. When the excitement of the boat on the reef was over we watched two large sailboats arrive in the dark . They charged right up into the middle of the anchorage and tried to anchor again and again each time on top of other boats. Everyone was out with their spot lights shining them on the boats already at anchor. It didn’t seem to register to the newcomers that they were too close but after many attempts and a lot of strong words they finally went to the back of the pack and safely anchored until daylight.
The wind was still up but at least there was no rain overnight so we were able to leave the hatches open. As breakfast food goes, I only had two eggs and a couple of slices of bread on board. We could have had cereal for breakfast but I forgot to put a litre of milk in the fridge and neither of us like warm milk on cereal. There was no other choice; we had to have pancakes and Canadian maple syrup.
After breakfast we went to town for a few groceries and returned in time for lunch onboard and a siesta.
I had wanted to buy some fish at the market but the seas are so rough that the fishermen aren’t out fishing. I was able to pick up some frozen mullet in Harvey Vale which I baked in the oven and deboned for tomorrow. This time I’m going to try and make some fish cakes…. we’ll see how they turn out.
We went into the Old Rum Shop in the evening. Denis (Tiger Lilly II) wasn’t feeling well so we pick up Arlene and took her in with us. Brad and Alana (Witches Song) arrived and a little later Gordon and Judy (Dreamcatcher) arrived.
It was an impromptu evening but Aaron and Levi arrived with their drums, Ronnie arrived with his maracas and we had entertainment. If that wasn’t enough, about 20 Christmas carolers came by and sang for us. When they finished singing the Christmas Carols, the young men played and sang Parang (local Christmas songs) for us. Tomorrow night is the beginning of the Parang concerts in town.
We returned Arlene to her boat and just got back on ours when it started to rain. Perfect timing!
There was no rush today. We took our time and it was 11AM by the time we headed into shore. I dropped the laundry off and when I came back outside Norbert was waiting with his bus. He was surprised to see us heading into town so late in the morning. We explained that we were only going into town to meet with friends for lunch at the Back Street Inn. He dropped us off there and since Gary and Sharon (Elusive) were on the bus we invited them to come along. Alana and Brad with their friend Mark were already there and Susan and Roy had just arrived as well. We confused the restaurant by having brought along two extra people. They were only expecting seven not nine people. This restaurant only cooks when they have reservations. Anyway, they sent someone to Mount Pleasant (another town) to get two more plates. We had a chuckle over this but the plates arrived.
Lunch took a while to show up but eventually large bowls and platters arrived at the table. There was stewed pork, fried fish, roasted pumpkin and potatoes, broad beans, pasta with Callaloo. It was all excellent.
We eventually left the restaurant and returned to Tyrrel Bay and our boat. The wind was still howling but there was almost a tiny bit of blue poking between the clouds.
Neither of us was very hungry when dinner time arrived so we had a small chicken sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate. Hot chocolate may seem strange but the temperature in the evening dropped below 30°C and with the wind it was feeling chilly.
We went to bed with the sound of the steel drums playing Christmas Carols on shore. They sounded even better this week than last.
This morning I had an appointment in town at the clinic so we went ashore early. In fact it was just after 8:30 AM when we arrived in town. Being first in I was first out.
We returned to Harvey Vale by 11AM and picked up a few fresh vegetables at the little weekend market that had been set up under the trees at the end of the jetty.
We stopped for stewed pork lunch at Bek’s Restaurant before returning to the boat. In the afternoon after a little siesta we watched a few charter boats arrive and try to anchor. No one other than charter boats would be out in this wind. The regular cruisers are all hunkered down in the bay.
After dinner we were down below when all of a sudden we heard a Mayday call on the radio. It was almost 7PM which means it’s very dark and there are almost no boats out on the ocean. It was a 61 foot sailboat with a French single handed delivery captain and his boat was filling with water quickly. He had no idea where the water was coming from and although he was only about five miles out he didn’t think he could make it as far Tyrrel Bay. The dive shop sent a speed boat out while one of the other French boaters kept in contact and had him continually repeat his position. His boat was sinking fast and he was panicking.
Within less than 20 minutes the boat under its own power but with the speed boat by its side made its way into the bay and over to the haulout. The boat owners of Leona (French), Horta (Dutch) as well as Jean Baptist from the Lazy Turtle who took JB’s boat from Lumba Dive were awesome in their rescue of this boat.
It was 7:30PM and all was well in Tyrrel Bay.
The winds screamed through the bay last night, it rained frequently and our bilge alarm sounded every few hours. You might say we didn’t sleep well.
The bilge alarm was a problem but we thought we had the solution which was to do nothing. Rick had let the water maker run too long the other day thinking it would be nice to have a water tank that was over full. We had let this happen once before and found that it took a while for the excess water to drain through the bilge. Enough time had passed that this water should have cleared so we started looking further. It took a while but Rick found a water maker strainer that was leaking a little. He fixed the leak and cleaned the bilge and pump. Problem solved!
We didn’t do much for the rest of the day. The dinghy remained in the davits and we just remained onboard and listed to the wind.
Well the wind was still howling and the bilge alarm was still waking and alarming us. Obviously we had not found the real problem.
Rick verified that it was fresh not salt water. We turned off the water coolant system for the refrigeration, lifted the floor and checked it while running but still could not find a leak. The water tank monitor was indicating that the water level in the tank had gone down a bit so we checked everywhere. Finally Rick found a leak from the water tank that was sneaking down below the floor into the bilge where we couldn’t see it.
This is about the very worst situation. Anything else we could fix on our own. To fix the tank we must cut out the fibreglass forward bunk, remove the tank and have it patched or welded. The only good news was that because of the winds, Dominic our Carriacou welder and fabricator had not left the island yet. He will be sailing with his family to Martinique for Christmas as soon as the winds ease off a little. Rick was able to see Dominic for advice. The decision is to do nothing until Dominic returns at the end of the year. Then we can cut the tank out and he will bring his welding equipment into the boat and patch or weld, whichever is necessary.
We emptied half of the tank and if it is still leaking we aren’t noticing it. The alarm has not gone off for many hours. We can survive using only half the tank for a few weeks. By the New Year our boat will have the cleanest bilge in the Caribbean being washed continually by fresh water.
After lunch, Rick went ashore to get some more limes from Fitzroy’s trees. I only needed a few limes to make hummus. He returned with a huge (green garbage) bag of limes and passion fruit along with a separate bag of fresh nutmegs.
I washed the fruit and made hummus to take with us tomorrow to Tiger Lilly II. We have been invited to a pole decorating party. Decorating the pole (mast) takes the place of decorating a tree when on a boat in the Caribbean. I am going to try and make some shortbread cookies just before going to their boat tomorrow. I don’t have a tin container to store the cookies and keep them fresh or I would bake them today.
A while before sunset we jumped overboard for a swim and found the water quite chilly (Caribbean standards). There has been very little sun for the last week and the winds have stirred up the deeper colder water. The sun is shining now however and we were making use of it.
We went into town this morning. Rick picked up some fuel and I as usual checked to see what produce was available. The availability of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers has been wonderful this year. When we walked into Patty’s Deli I was surprised to see that Christine had Pita Bread on her shelf. It would go perfectly with the hummus I made yesterday and save me making a homemade version of Pita. I was also looking for sorrel which is a red flowery hibiscus. This flower makes a wonderful Christmas drink and is the Caribbean cranberry equivalent. John at the Marketing Board has a shipment arriving tomorrow.
When we returned to Harvey Vale I checked with Denise who has a little fruit stand on the beach. She had some sorrel juice already cooked and in bottles. This saved me more work. The sorrel flowers have to be simmered in water with a few cloves. People then drink it different ways but I like to drink it by adding a little to sprite or soda water.
The lighting of the lights celebration in L’Esterre was tonight but we weren’t sure if we would be able to make it after the Party at Tiger Lilly.
In the afternoon I baked shortbread cookies. The wind was strong and it was raining pretty hard which makes it a little uncomfortable below with the oven on and the boat closed up. Rick was buried in the aft cockpit locker trying to fix the SSB automatic tuner. The generator was running along with the watermaker when we suddenly heard Elaine (Island Girl) announce on the VHF that one of the local large wooden work boats had broken loose and was drifting very quickly through the anchorage. Joe (Island Girl) was racing toward it in his dinghy. Rick jumped out of the locker and into our dinghy to go and help him. I called the haulout for their help with a larger boat and engine. While all of this is going on timers are going off, cookies are ready to come out of the oven, water maker needs to be diverted into the tank etc. and by now the big wooden boat without steerage, controlled with a couple of dinghies is right next to our boat. Eventually the haulout workboat arrives and they have the large boat under control. They manoeuvred it to the back of the anchorage and secured it to a large wooden fishing boat.
We really don’t need a TV in this anchorage. We have enough excitement just by sitting in the cockpit watching.
It was almost 5PM when we were to go to Tiger Lilly II which was anchored close behind us. The wind was still howling and the rain was coming down in sheets. Many boats were arriving in this mess and trying to anchor. They were all having difficulty anchoring because the wind was blowing from the north, not from the normal easterly direction. It looked like there was not going to be a break in the weather so we just bagged all of our goodies and headed out in the rain.
Rick was to drop me off and then pick up Lyn and Bill (Canik) as they had just arrived and their dinghy was still on deck. By the time he brought them to the boat which was only a couple of minutes, we were into a very nasty squall. Bill was keeping a close eye on his boat since they had just anchored but it seemed to be holding well. We had lots of great food and then went below to decorate the pole. It was only 8PM but Lyn and Bill felt they should return to their boat. The party broke up and we headed back to ours. It was only a short distance and Denis kept a light on us and our boat to make sure we made it back ok. Being in a dinghy can be treacherous in a squall like this. It is so important to be careful because one wrong move and either we or the dinghy are in trouble. It is so difficult for anyone to try and help in such strong winds. Speaking of which, we just arrived back to the boat and secured the dinghy. It wasn’t going to be raised into the davits tonight, we were already soaked enough. Elaine was on the VHF again, this time it was a large catamaran that we had watched anchor about six times. He was dragging again. Joe (super hero of the anchorage) was in his dinghy and off to help. It all ended well, the captain was very new and just needed a little help in anchoring. The winds and rain continued all night but the worst of the squall had gone by.
I went to bed with a little bit of a stuffy nose and awoke in the morning with a full blown head cold. It was nasty. I’m not sure what Rick did during the day because I took Benedryl and slept.
We were supposed to go ashore to a birthday party but I called and cancelled. The lighting of the lights was rescheduled for tonight but we missed that as well.
It took me a long time to wake up in the morning. I think I was still dopey from the Benedryl but when I did finally come around it was with a great burst of energy.
Sherwin, Punta and Christopher came by the boat after fishing and brought us a couple of nice size grunts and a large red snapper. Rick’s task was easy to determine… clean the fish.
After breakfast, I defrosted the fridge, organized pictures on the computer and got things ready for the monthly backup.
Rick fixed the garden light which we like to use as an anchor light.
In the afternoon we both jumped overboard for a swim and climbed back onboard just in time to close the hatches for a little rain shower.
We went into town in the morning and found that the lack of cold air and snow did not diminish the festive spirit at all. Our first stop was the Marketing Board where John made sure I saw that they had fresh sorrel in stock. He asked me to wait a few minutes after I had paid for my purchases. I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for but after a few minutes a young boy came running into the store with a large styrofoam cup. It was for me and it was homemade sorrel on ice. John said that yesterday was customer appreciation day and he was so busy with handing out drinks and treats he didn’t realize we weren’t there or he would have called me (he knows our phone number) to come in. So I was receiving a little treat today.
Next we stopped at Patty’s deli where Christine slipped a little box of homemade cakes and cookies into our bag. It had a hand written note wishing us a Merry Christmas.
The town was bustling and when the ferry arrived it looked like it was bursting at the seams. Many people were coming home for the holidays dragging their suitcases and parcels as best they could onto the buses.
When we arrived back at the boat, I put the sorrel and cloves in a pot of water to simmer on the stove while I put the rest of the groceries away.
We had a little siesta and then I took the left over fish from last night, boiled some potatoes and with the other seasoning I made fish cakes. They were good and finished in time for dinner but we were going out tonight. We each had one and I packed one for Sherwin. The rest went into the fridge for tomorrow.
Ronnie and his wife Gertrude were having opening night of his bar and restaurant which is the patio area of his home in Hermitage. We walked the exercise hill to get to his place and had a nice time there with Alana (Witches Song) and Hope who is a local man with a sail boat in the bay.
After a while we left Ronnie’s and walked to the Lambi Queen for dinner. I gave Sherwin the fish cake to heat up and he liked it enough that he wants my recipe.
Rick and I shared a nice chicken dinner at the Lambi Queen and then walked back up and down the hill to the dinghy. It was a nice evening and the moon was bright enough that we hardly had to use the flashlight at all on the walk back.
The captain requested muffins for breakfast and muffins he got. They were out of the oven and cool enough to eat before 8AM. While eating breakfast we heard many boats on the radio preparing to leave. The seas are still 12 feet and over but this is the first weather window in a long time and maybe the last before Christmas. Many of the boats that are leaving have family flying into other islands and must be there to meet them. I’m glad we are staying.
The last minute things to do here at Christmas are quite different from those at home and today was our day to do them. First however, when making water yesterday, I forgot to divert it into the tank so I had a tub full of water that I didn’t want to waste. So, I put laundry to soak overnight and now I needed to scrub rinse and hang it before going to shore.
Laundry was hung, the sun was shining (finally) and we headed to shore. It was about 10:30AM, the lady with the small Saturday fruit stand was at the end of the jetty with her fresh fruit and vegetables. We purchased a few tomatoes and cucumbers. Our next stop was at Denise’s little fruit stand on the beach. She was giving out wonderful homemade rum punch this morning.
Beverley at Alexis Supermarket had told us to stop in this morning as she was going to have some fresh beef for sale. She did and Nanny who works for her was standing there over a large pail with of hunks of beef. We just had to tell her about how large and she used a sharp knife to cut a chunk for us. My freezer is so full right now; I paid for it but asked Beverley to store it in her freezer for us until the new year.
We took the first bus into town. John from the Marketing Boards told us that my Granny Smith Apples would be arriving on the morning ferry. While I was waiting around for the apples there was man sitting on the bench beside me, he was waiting for celery. There were many people arriving just before noon which on a Saturday is closing time but on the Saturday before Christmas when the ferry was a little late arriving, exceptions were made. The large numbers of people arriving were all waiting for eggs. I spoke with Mrs. Bullen who was there and she said that the egg shortage happens every Christmas because of all the ladies doing so much Christmas baking.
Eventually the shipment arrived and the man waiting for celery, passed me a bag of the freshest celery I have ever seen on the island. I passed my egg container over to be filled and I looked around for the apples. There was a large carton of Red Delicious and another of Yellow Delicious apples but I didn’t see any Granny Smiths. I got in line to pay and asked John when I arrived at the cash about the Granny Smiths, he apologized and looked so sad. I told him that I knew he had really tried for me and I thanked him for that but I would bake with red delicious apples instead.
We took the first bus back to Harvey Vale and returned to the boat. As soon as the fridge was rearranged again, the laundry was dry and ready to be folded. After a short siesta and a nice swim, we walked up my exercise hill and back into town.
Troy who owns the Twilight Restaurant has actually been phoning me for the last few days to see if we would come for dinner. Normally he hustles for customers like everyone else by going boat to boat in his small wooden boat. According to Troy, we go to everyone else’s restaurant but never come to his (true). His is normally a little more expensive and we prefer the others. I promised him that if he gave us a special deal (Troy likes to barter), we would come to his. That’s why he has been phoning. This time he wanted to know whether we would like fish, lobster or chicken. I chose chicken for both of us but asked him “how much?” before truly committing. He wanted to know what time we would arrive so that he could prepare things nicely for us. We made our reservations for 6PM.
After our walk up the hill with a little stop now and again to talk to people who we met along the way, we arrived at the Twilight Restaurant. Troy had set 2 placemats on the front table overlooking the bay. We were his only patrons. The meal was nice but it was unusual having only ourselves in a restaurant.
On our way back to the hill and boat, we ran into Andy (Happy Spirit) who asked if we would help him move a little boat of a mooring tomorrow morning. No problem.
Rick made his traditional Sunday morning poached eggs for breakfast. Shortly afterwards, Andy (Happy Spirit) arrived and the two guys took off to move a little boat to a different mooring.
When Rick returned he cleaned and polished the cockpit. It took him all morning but he now has the boat sparkling for Christmas. Topsides, deck and cockpit.
The boat was reasonably cool in the morning so I thought it would be a good time to start making the shortbread cookies I am giving as Christmas treats to some of our friends. I cooked three batches of cookies and when they had cooled, I wrapped them in foil packages and placed each package in a little plastic container. I couldn’t find cookie tins anywhere on the island so this was a make do version. I placed a little bow on each container.
By this time the cabin was quite warm but I was on a roll. With many bananas ripening much too quickly, I made a banana loaf and I may make another tomorrow.
We stopped for a quick lunch and then went ashore to climb the exercise hill, this time to get to Gus’s house. Gus is off island on one of Jerry’s tugs and Alana is looking after the house and Rambo, Gus’ dog. I took along the hair cutting scissors and while we sat and talked on the porch (with a fantastic view overlooking the bay), I cut Rick’s hair.
We returned to the boat and were sitting in the cockpit watching a beautiful red sunset commenting that there shouldn’t be too many more boats (other than charter boats) moving between islands, when two masts appeared on the horizon. One was coming from the north, one from the south and neither were charter boats.
There were a few more things to prepare for tomorrows dinner. I had cooked and peeled a large pot of beets last night and now I made some of them into a beet and onion salad saving the majority for a large dish of Harvard beets. The boat was still overflowing with bananas so I made another banana loaf. Lastly I measured all of the ingredients for my pastry and pies that I want to make tomorrow morning which will be the last of the baking this Christmas.
I had been trying for the last few days to send our Christmas greetings to friends and family through email. No matter what I try it is all getting bounced as spam. This afternoon after trying unsuccessfully to send them out individually, I gave up.
Two of Jerry’s tug boats with barges arrived in the anchorage. One was the tug our friend Gus was on so as soon as it was secured he dinghied over to say hello on his way ashore. There is one more tug that should arrive tomorrow morning which has been in dry dock in Martinique. Jerry will stop on his way back from England and bring it home tomorrow morning. All of the Captains and most of the crew from the tugs live on Carriacou so they are coming home for Christmas.
Brad (Witches Song) and Ellie (Bon Bini) arrived back from a charter. Luciana is back in the bay to stay for Christmas. It was nice to see everyone come back to the island they call home or at least home away from home.
Rick and I jumped into the water for a swim and then we dressed for the evening. It was only 3:30PM but Sherwin had asked if I would “hustle” for restaurant with Kevin today. Kevin picked me up at 4PM and we went boat to boat letting everyone know about the steel band that would be playing Christmas Carols at the Lambi Queen this evening. I took along a few little packages of banana bread and delivered it to some of my friends while we were at it.
Although it was only 5PM Rick and I went ashore to the Yacht Club. We wanted to walk to the Lambi Queen (up my exercise hill) and to be there early because I expected the place will be packed. It was.
We had a great evening of dinner and music but as usual we left before most people and made our way back to the boat.
Christmas day was so wonderful. There was a beautiful tropical breeze and not a cloud in the sky. This was quite a change from the weather that was originally forecast for the day. We watched the last tug boat arrive just after sunrise. This one we knew had Jerry at the helm. He had stopped in Martinique on his way home from England to pick it up and bring it back to Carriacou.
The apple pies were in the oven baking when Jeff (Gladys) came by in his dinghy with a few questions about our little Honda generator. (I think he is sold on one.) He came aboard and Rick and he sat in the cockpit talking while I made custard to go with the pie. Custard is something I have learned over the years (from all of our Brit friends) must be served with apple pie.
I am so glad the winds were light and we had no chop in the bay. Rick had taken the wine, beets and shortbread cookies to Fitzroy’s yesterday. Now however, we were trying to transport fruit juice, two pies, a bowl of custard, the camera and our Santa hats. We arrived at the dinghy dock and eventually Fitzroy’s house with everything intact and dry.
Fitzroy and Trevor had done a wonderful job of decorating for Christmas. It was about 1PM when we arrived and 8PM when we left. In between we had a wonderful time with good friends and had more food on the table than anyone could have imagined.
Part way through the day we realized that it was a very international group of friends gathering this day. Fitzroy is the only one born on Carriacou, Trevor is from Grenada, Bram (Mad Dog) is from Holland, Ellie (Bon Bini) is also from Holland. Andy (Happy Spirit) and Jerry are from England, Daniela and her friend Gabriella are from Italy, Rosie is from Scotland, Susan and Roy are from the United States and Rick and I from Canada.
Our meal was a little international as well. It began with some wonderful salami that Gabriella brought from Italy. Rosie roasted a wonderful turkey and made bread sauce (which is very Scottish). Jerry brought a lovely French style ham from Martinique. Daniela cooked a boneless leg of lamb and Fitzroy made stewed pork Carriacou style. There were so many bowls of vegetables and salads on the table that there was barely room to place the platters of meat. Andy brought Christmas crackers which many of the people had never seen before so there was a lesson on how to pop them. Afterwards the hats were dawned and then everyone played with the little toys and read the jokes (they were good crackers).
There was so much food left at the end of the meal, Fitzroy invited everyone back tomorrow for a meal of leftovers.
I served the apple pie with custard for those who prefer it that way and with ice cream for the others. Trevor had brought a Grenadian Black Christmas cake which I love but we didn’t even cut it. No one could eat another bite.
When Rick and I left the Champagne was still flowing and a few had started dancing but we were exhausted. The trip in the dinghy back to the boat was peaceful and quiet with the calm seas and an almost full moon overhead.
Boxing Day is an official holiday in Grenada so everything was still closed. The wind had picked up a little and it was another beautiful day.
Although Fitzroy is having a continuation of yesterday’s meal today, we passed as I had already invited company over for sundowners.
Gary and Sharon (Elusive) Jeff and Catherine (Gladys) arrived at 5PM for sundowners. It was a fun evening but poor Catherine’s head was spinning with all of the technical terms everyone was using to discuss mechanical things on the boat. While we were all sitting in the cockpit Steve and Ann arrived in the bay from Grenada and steered close by our boat to say hello. They never made it to Bequia for Christmas as planned and even though they waited out the worst of the weather before moving, they said it was still a wet and nasty passage to Carriacou from Grenada. At least they were smart enough to change their plans because of the weather. Our guests all left about 9PM and we went straight to bed.
After breakfast we called Steve and Ann (Receta) to see if they had any plans for the day. Other than drying things out and launching the dinghy they had nothing planned. So I invited them to our place for afternoon tea and then called Fitzroy to see if I could bring them along to help finish off the Trevor’s black cake.
I was just starting to wash the breakfast dishes when Jeff came by to tell us that he ordered a new Honda generator from Island Waterworld and it will arrive on the Amelia this Saturday. He was all excited about how he wouldn’t have to worry as much about running his engine for amps with the new generator.
It was a little late in the afternoon when Steve and Ann called to say they were coming so we skipped tea aboard Wind-Borne III and went ashore to Fitzroy’s house. I took along some banana bread and Trevor had saved some wonderful Grenadian Black Cake for us. We were served homemade passion fruit juice rather than tea and it was wonderful.
Since we were ashore and my exercise hill was right there waiting for us we went for a walk. We met a few of our friends along the way who we introduced to Ann and Steve who said that they had walked this way before but never with introductions.
When we returned to our boats, Rick and I went in for a swim and then sat in the cockpit and watched many masts on the horizon grow larger as they got closer to the bay.
It was a lovely day and I declared it was a good “do-nothing” day. Rick asked if before we started into our do-nothing day would I help him up the mast. It was a little windy but there was no roll to the boat with the direction of the wind. He got into the bosun’s chair and I winched the safety line as he climbed the mast. Once at the top I cleated the line and let him work away on the anchor/tri-light that wasn’t working. While he was up there a few gusts blew through, one had to be almost forty knots. He eventually removed the light, put it in his bag and asked to be let down. He had a few comments about the wind gusts when he arrived back on deck.
He sat in the cockpit and took the light apart so I joined him with brasso and our oil lamp from the cabin which was looking pretty dark for being brass. We spent the rest of the morning doing nothing with our two little projects.
I watched a portion of a DVD in the afternoon (saving the remainder for the evening). We each had an afternoon siesta and then got ready to visit Jeff and Catherine (Gladys) for sundowners. They have a gorgeous Tayana 42.
We made a quick trip into town for a few things in the morning. There were very few people in town. It was quiet and the stores were a little barren but we found everything that was on our list including eggs.
We returned to the boat in time for lunch. We relaxed in the afternoon and then prepared for Alana and Brad (Witches Song) who were coming to our boat for sundowners.
When they left, we unexpectedly had an evening of pan band music from shore while we fell asleep.
Sunday morning poached eggs to start the day while we listened to the weather guru on the SSB. It was raining but this was very temporary according to the guru. Very thin clouds and cool air coming down on a north east wind is forcing the moisture from the clouds. The sun will heat up the air and the clouds will either dissipate or retain the moisture as they move on by.
We had no plans to leave the boat today and the weather has been so perfect the last week or so, Rick decided to remove the doghouse that covers the companionway (the roof over the door). While we were on the hard without the dodger we found that there was a leak somewhere around the doghouse. The leak disappeared with the dodger on but it’s something that should be repaired.
He waited until the sky cleared and the sun came out before removing it. I swear it was less than 30 minutes later when a huge squall came through. He stood under the dodger with a sponge using the fresh water to clean the grunge from under the doghouse. Eventually the sky cleared and it was another beautiful day.
Gary (Elusive) came over with software that he wanted to load on my computer for me. It would provide me with the ability to copy DVD movies even those with protection. Normally I don’t allow anyone to touch my computer. Even Rick has restrictions as to what level of authority to which he has access. Well before Gary arrived I set a new Restore Point (just in case). He tried to load the software and the computer started to crawl. It looked like it was about to crash. Finally after a couple of hours he became very frustrated and I suggested that he leave the software with me and I would see what I could do. The first thing I did was check on the internet and discovered that it is not compatible with Vista which is the operating system I am using. I removed what he had installed and my poor little computer seems very content again. We so very rarely watch movies that I don’t really need to make copies. The half dozen DVD’s that I have onboard will probably last us the whole season and longer.
We had a nice dinner of sweet and spicy shrimps with rice onboard and went to bed early.
It was just after 7:30AM when Jeff (Gladys) came by in his dinghy looking for help. Rick had spent a little time with him yesterday getting his new Honda generator running and connected. The generator was now howling and shutting down on him and he didn’t know what to do. Rick suggested he make sure that his shore power on the charger was set for 15 amps instead of the normal 30 amps but Jeff didn’t know how to change it. We promised that as soon as we finished eating our breakfast Rick would go to his boat and they could work on it together.
When Rick returned from Gladys and all was well on their boat, Gary and Sharon (Elusive) stopped by to deliver a couple of jars of roasted red peppers that they picked up for me while in town. They had just left when Andy (Happy Spirit) stopped by to see if I would cut his hair. Fitzroy told him I could do it!!! I gave him all of the warnings, suggested that he bring a hat to wear afterwards just in case he didn’t like it and we agreed to meet on the beach at 3PM.
Meanwhile, I made a quick lunch and then prepared appetizers to take with us to Fitzroy’s party later tonight. Aaron was to bring us a couple of lobsters today for our New Years dinner but we hadn’t heard or seen him so I took chicken out of the freezer. Chicken was probably a much better idea since Rick has the beginnings of gout pain in his foot.
We sat on the beach by Fitzroy’s house cutting Andy’s hair. Fitzroy arrived and paid close attention because cutting straight hair is very different than cutting curly Afro hair. Andy couldn’t see what his cut looked like but Fitzroy told him it looked good and he wouldn’t need the hat.
We returned to the boat and had our last swim of the year. I put the chicken on to cook while Rick prepared drinks for sundowners. There were a lot of oohs and aahs from Rick regarding the smell while it was cooking. Even Kevin who was out hustling for the Lambi Queen stopped by to ask what I was cooking and said that it smelled great.
We had our Old Years Night dinner early, Rick did the dishes and then we set the alarm and tried to sleep for a while. Rick managed to fall asleep but after just eating and knowing I only had a couple of hours, I just tossed and turned.
We left to go ashore to Fitzroy’s party at 10PM. His place was hopping. The music was loud, the table was loaded with food, some people were trying to talk others were already dancing and the young boys were having a great game of billiards.
Andy after looking in a mirror was very pleased with his hair cut.
People continued to arrive until just before midnight when Fitzroy put on his CD of Big Ben chiming in the New Year followed by Old Lang Syne. Everyone sang and Trevor popped the champagne. We hung in a little longer as I didn’t want to be the first to leave. After another couple left we said our goodbyes and made our way back to the boat.
