It was another gorgeous day and a holiday in most islands “May Day”.
After breakfast we began with tightening down the stern chain plate. While we had everything out of the aft locker I took inventory before it was all returned.
Next, we removed the battens from the main sail and as Rick raised the sail I hosed it down with fresh water. We had to raise and lower it twice so I could reach both sides. It then flapped in the breeze to dry.
It wasn’t even 9:30AM yet and we were on to the next job of rerunning wire for the bow navigation lights that we broke yesterday.
I washed the sail cover so that we weren’t placing a salty cover on a clean sail.
Rick went ashore for a few things and picked up lunch while there.
An afternoon siesta made for a perfect day.
It was another beautiful day in paradise. We did a few boat chores in the morning and swam in the afternoon.
Dominic had hoped to finish with our stainless today but a power boat arrived with mangled davits. The captain was anxious to leave so Dominic had to fix him up first. Hopefully Monday we should be able to put our bow sprit back together.
It was Friday which for us means dinner at the Lambi Queen. We were joined by Winston and Barb (My Island Girl) Dan and Wendy (Halcyon Days) and Louis (Coqui). Winston and Barb even walked the exercise hill with us.
The evening was fun and especially so when Joe and Elaine (Island Girl) showed up after being away for a few weeks.
It was a perfect day to wash the head sails but I wasn’t willing to stand on the bow hosing flapping sails without the bow sprit or life lines to keep me on board. We didn’t have to worry about whether or not to do it because Susan called with computer problems.
I had made them a user on our spare laptop but since the wifi was acting up, they needed to connect their dial up access but without having access as an administrator they couldn’t change any settings. Roy picked us up and I re-configured the computer to give them full access to everything. Next they just had to remember their personal settings with which I couldn’t help them.
We walked down the hill from their house stopping to visit with Barb. She was by herself as Punto had gone to check fish traps with Cigarette (Edwin). While we were sitting on her porch, Lorraine came walking down the hill and joined us.
When we returned to the boat we both had a nice afternoon siesta after which we retired to the cockpit with our books. (It’s a tough life.)
Although it was Sunday we had to go without poached eggs as we were out of eggs. I only like to get our eggs from two stores in Hillsborough as too often I have encountered rotten eggs from others and we didn’t want to make a trip to town for only eggs.
After a quick breakfast of cereal and toast, Rick was ready to climb the mast. He removed the tri-light and replaced it with the storage cap. I think its neat how he trusts me enough on the halyard now to let him slip down the mast rather than climbing down with the steps. All of this was done before 8AM.
We didn’t do much the rest of the morning but after lunch we met Barb and Winston (My Island Girl) and went to visit Fitzroy. It was a nice surprise to find Trevor there as well.
Fitzroy gave Barb and Winston the guided tour of his garden even though it is still dry season there were enough plants in bloom to provide a multitude of colours.
When we left Fitzroy’s, Rick and I went for a walk through Harvey Vale. We caught the end of a game of cricket and then ran into our friend Punto. We walked with him back toward Hermitage where he was on his way to the senior’s home to visit his mother. Rick and I stopped at the Lazy Turtle for dinner.
While there we were joined by Dan and Wendy (Halcyon Days) and Dick (Lady Cybil). I had my favourite jumbo shrimp and pasta flambéed with a touch of Ricard. Rick had a nice dish of vegetarian pasta.
We awoke to a very cloudy and overcast day. By the time we finished breakfast it looked like rain was imminent. Rick rushed out and brought the head sail fairleads back to the cockpit so that we would be ready to unfurl the sail for a fresh water rinse. It was just a tease and the dark clouds eased their way to the north of us before releasing all of the beautiful fresh water.
Next Rick went ashore to the haulout and ordered a few things from Grenada which should arrive Wednesday. On his way back to the boat he stopped at Dominic’s to see how the stainless was coming along. Everything would be finished this afternoon. Meanwhile, Dominic gave Rick a special mild acid that he recommended for him to use when cleaning the stainless.
While he was gone I cleaned and reorganized a few more storage areas and did a little hand washing.
Lunch was barely finished when Rick was off again. He returned to Dominic’s workshop and was gone so long I thought he might have been hired. When he returned with the stainless it was time for us to get ready for sundowners at My Island Girl with Barb and Winston.
Barb prepared some lovely crab cakes and snacks which everyone wolfed down. Before we knew it, it was 9:30PM and we still could have discussed boat repairs for hours more but decided to save something to talk about for another day.
We agreed to meet at Sonny’s for breakfast tomorrow morning.
We dropped off our laundry and headed to Sonny’s for breakfast at 8:30AM. Barb and Winston (My Island Girl) and Dan and Wendy (Halcyon Days) joined us for breakfast and the trip into town. As we strolled from store to store we all picked up a few things and finally at 10:30AM the Osprey Shuttle office opened. This was our main purpose in town today. We all bought return tickets to go to Petit Martinique tomorrow. Once we had the tickets I called Palm Beach Restaurant and made reservations for lunch.
The last stop in Hillsborough was at Cuthbert’s bar where we had a drink before returning to Harvey Vale for lunch at Becks.
Back on board the boat Rick had a few minutes so assembled part of the bow sprit. The rest will have to wait until Thursday.
We along with My Island Girl and Halcyon Days took a vacation day. We all met in Harvey Vale at 9:30AM and took the bus into Hillsborough to meet the 11AM ferry. It was obvious that we would be early and have to sit and lime at Cuthbert’s Bar on the beach, but we didn’t know that the ferry would be late.
The ferry arrived at the dock about 11:15AM but it had so much produce to offload that it was al least another 20 minutes before we could board.
The trip to Petit Martinique (PM) only took about 30 minutes. We all sat on the upper deck and each of us looked like a dog with its head hanging out the window. The wind was so strong our lips were peeling back. We had to face the stern in order to talk to one another. Although somewhere out there a large east swell existed, we were very protected by the reefs of Petit Saint Vincent and Petit Martinique as we headed directly east.
Our vacation plan was to have a nice lunch at the Palm Beach Restaurant by the beach, go for a quick swim and then walk and sight see a little.
Well, we ordered lunch which as usual is a very large meal. Most of us ordered the king fish but there were a couple of chicken and a rib lunch. We all ordered a soup appetizer as well. Some had the calaloo soup and other the conch chowder. If that wasn’t enough, everyone had a huge serving of ice cream for dessert. The meal was wonderful and the conversation lively, so much so that it was 2:30PM when we finally pried ourselves away from the table. We took time for a quick stroll along the beach before walking up to the road through the little village and back down to the ferry dock. There was no time to swim. The ferry left on time at 3PM and we headed downwind to Carriacou. Along the way we saw our friends on Barnstormer, pounding into the waves taking their guests for a visit to Petit Martinique. I think the wind was stronger during our return trip but because it was behind us, our lips were fine until the boat turned to dock in Hillsborough.
We all had a couple of things to pick up before leaving town and when finished we found Norbert in his bus waiting for us.
Winston and Barb (My Island Girl) returned to their boat to charge the batteries and check weather as they may leave for Grenada tomorrow.
Dan, Wendy (Halcyon Days) Rick and I went to Angel’s Rest, the floating bar, for a drink before returning to our boats.
There was no dinner served on any of the three boats this evening and I’m not sure if anyone will want breakfast tomorrow.
The first tropical wave of the season blasted through here last night. Sometime after midnight I was awakened by the first roar of the wind which caused the boat to immediately jerk to the side and heel at anchor. I tried to ignore the vicious gusts but as each one finished and the air would become quiet, I would just begin to doze off when in the distance I could hear the crescendo of the next blast of wind as it roared and twisted the boat again. I think this continued until sometime after 2:30PM when the wave had either finished its passage by our longitude or I was finally successful in ignoring the sounds and vibrations and had fallen asleep.
The vacation is over so we went back to work today.
Rick just about finished reassembling the bow sprit. I cleaned out a couple of more cupboards, removed the curtains which I washed and hung to dry.
My Island Girl decided to stay in Tyrrel Bay another day so they joined us for lunch at Tante Lizzy’s barbecue on the beach. We met a few other people there and after eating much too much again, we finally went for a swim. Our swim was actually more of a float and especially so when we saw all of the sea urchins on the ocean floor that had been washed in with the rough seas. It appeared as if they were not living but taking no chances, we floated and limed with feet raised.
As usual we were sitting in the cockpit eating breakfast when Rick noticed a large black cloud headed our way. We didn’t hold our breath as we often see these clouds but they normally go to the north or the south of our island. Not this one! We quickly cleared the cockpit table of our breakfast dishes, ran below and closed hatches and ports then began to get things ready to unfurl the headsail. Wifi antenna lowered on deck, furling line released and as the rain hit us we pulled the fairlead and nothing happened. It’s a real good downpour and we can’t get the stupid sail to unfurl. Rick suddenly remembered he had tied a line around the furler to stop it from rattling when we had the back stay released. In the pouring rain he ran forward and removed the line as I finally was able to unfurl the sail. We had missed the heaviest downpour but during the next fifteen minutes there was still enough rain to give the sail a fresh water rinse. Afterward we let it flap around for a while to dry and furled it again just in time for the blast of wind behind the cloud.
Rick finished putting the bow sprit and life lines back together but other than that we didn’t do a lot during the rest of the day.
I made dinner on board and then we went over to the haul out and walked the exercise hill on our way to the Lambi Queen to listen to the Friday night pan band.
Rick went ashore first thing in the morning and picked up bread. While he was gone I started taking apart one of the ports to replace a spring that broke last month. It was an easier job than I thought.
Rick decided to remove the sink and faucets in the head. There was a little rust on the drain and he had a new one to install. The sink and taps were removed when he realized that there might not be enough silicone onboard to re-bed everything. Since he was going to take a quick run into town I provided a list of a few things I needed like oven cleaner and rubber gloves.
He returned and finished re-installing the sink (there was enough silicone after all but now we have spare) and I went for a swim by the boat.
It’s Mother’s Day and Rick is not covering for the kids this year. He did make wonderful poached eggs for breakfast and then proceeded to polish the stainless steel on deck while I washed the dishes.
Since I have to pamper myself this year, I did a little knitting, played on the computer, read my book and then made lunch.
Rick suggested we go out for dinner and although I considered letting him cook, that didn’t seem to be part of the offering.
We went to the Lazy Turtle for dinner and while there we met Susan and Mike (Jus’Now) from Denver Colorado. They just missed meeting our other Denver friends on My Island Girl by a few days.
We had a lovely evening and much too much to eat.
It was another wonderful day in Paradise. Rick finished polishing the stainless steel stanchions. Since the wind was a little lighter today, I offered to help clean the topsides. My help wasn’t needed so I continued puttering down below while Rick cleaned the topsides.
In the afternoon, Mike (Jus’ Now) stopped by and invited us to their boat for sundowners and then because it was soooo good last night we all went to the Lazy Turtle for dinner again. This time there were eight of us, Kathleen and Rolland (My Lady Kathleen), Wendy and Dan (Halcyon Days), Susan and Mike (Jus’ Now) and ourselves.
We had a wonderful dinner and eventually made our way back to the boat.
The wind was very strong today so it wasn’t a good day to work with the canvas. I helped Rick lift the outboard motor onto the deck, while he held it against the wind, I removed the lower plug to allow the oil to drain out. It didn’t look good. The oil was quite milky in appearance so Rick thinks we need to replace the lower seals. Meanwhile, to hold us over, I rinsed the unit with lots of fresh oil then replaced the plug. Rick proceeded to do the remaining servicing of the outboard while I went below to wash screens and ports. He replaced the thermostat which finally arrived from Grenada.
In the afternoon we relaxed and read for a while and then Rick had to do an emergency fix of the head which wasn’t pumping properly. It didn’t take him long to find 3 little fish in the intake blocking the pump. When that was fixed and the fish disposed of, Rick went ashore to see Gus our friendly outboard mechanic to discuss repairs.
Michael, the electronic specialist was coming to our boat this morning to help with an intermittent problem we are having with the SSB. Since we know Michael is an early riser, I made sure I was dressed (bathing suit) as soon as I finished my first coffee. Breakfast was finished and the dishes washed and the aft cockpit locker where the tuner is mounted was emptied just in time for his arrival a little before 8AM.
Rick and Michael worked on the antenna and tuner while I just watched. We think the problem is resolved, they rerouted the antenna wire and identified a corroded spot on the copper ground. The copper ground will have to have a section cut out and soldered in place but not today. Meanwhile, Michael made a test call and reached someone in Florida so the remaining repairs can wait a day or two. (Maybe even until next season)
I showed Michael our CD changer (which isn’t working but he can probably fix) and radio and asked if he could make use of them since we have our new MP3 player. He accepted them which allowed me to pull apart our entertainment center. The VHS player works but I don’t know anyone that watches VHS movies anymore. We donated that to the Carriacou Children's Educational Fundraiser auction. The TV is good but I want a flat screen so that we gave to Jerry to use either on Relic (his trawler) or on one of his tug boats, otherwise it can go into the auction as well.
These donations allowed me to take apart the shelving and supports that were holding all of the electronics. The only remaining thing in the cupboard is our new radio but since it has wires for six speakers throughout the boat attached to it, I left it for Rick to move into the next cupboard.
Rick worked outside cleaning and putting the aft cockpit locker back together.
It was a busy day today. First thing in the morning Rick accessed the fuel tank to check the condition of the fuel. Sure enough, when he removed the pickup tube from the tank we could see the algae on it. Expecting this we have not been topping up the tank so there is very little fuel left to pump out.
After checking the tank I gathered the laundry, and we went ashore to drop it off and to make our way into town. I have been insisting that we eat the food on board and not buy too much since there are only a couple of weeks left until we haul the boat to go home. We have done very well and we are now at the point that food is definitely required or we will have to eat every meal out.
Nancy-June and Peter invited us onboard Step Three for happy hour along with Murray and Nadine (Squiz!) and Don and Heather (Asseance). It was an all Canadian evening with a repeat planned for tomorrow at the Lambi Queen.
It was an overcast but wonderful day. Rick applied a coat of cetol to the table in the main salon. This seems like a never ending project but I know that he is almost out of Cetol and we are not buying any more until next season so it will come to an end soon.
We finished our boat chores by noon and had a nice lunch in the cockpit followed by a short siesta. Our friend Frances ( http://www.travellingourmet.com )who lives in Sea View came for an afternoon happy hour. She has been off island for a while so it was fun to catch up on how her house building is coming along. Although it’s is progressing well, it certainly sounds like boat maintenance is a lot less work than house construction on the island.
We were going to walk the exercise hill to go to the Lambi Queen but Frances had tripped earlier in the day and twisted her foot which was looking very bruised and swollen. Instead, Rick dropped Frances and I off at Sherwin’s new dock and then took the dinghy to the haulout dock where he walked the hill with Peter and Nancy-June (Step Three).
It was a busy night at the Lambi Queen and the pan band which started out a little off key gradually warmed up and sounded great.
We had a special guest Smitty (Sarah Noble) who is a Trini that lives in Florida and writes cruising songs as he travels. His songs have such great words and meanings that I had to buy all three of his CD’s.
I ran around at 4AM closing ports and hatches. We finally got the rain we were waiting for but it was just not the right time of day.
In the morning as soon as we had finished breakfast, Rick and I unfurled and dropped the genoa . Murray and Nadine (Squiz!) who were anchored just ahead of us were looking a little nervous as the wind gusted and swung our boat very close to another boat beside us. We eventually were able to manhandle the sail to the deck without letting it touch the water. We folded and bagged it then started on the main sail. It was much easier to remove as it can be dropped onto the deck without having to raise it. As we were folding and bagging the main sail the sky was turning dark ahead of us and we were both watching for the much needed rain to rinse the last sail.
As rick removed halyards and pulled through string to use for putting them back next year, I took the main sail cover below to soak in the bath tub. Next I put the bimini to soak as a start to washing all of the canvas.
We were on a roll today, so next on the list, the dinghy was raised onto the motor mount. As I held a plastic container under it, Rick removed the existing oil and replaced it again with fresh. We are going to have to do this every few days until the new seals (which are back ordered) arrive.
After a nice dinner in the cockpit the wind settled down a little just before sunset so we tackled the stay sail. First we lowered it and as Rick slowly raised it I stood and hosed down both sides of the sail with fresh water. We let it flap in the wind for a while but furled it for the night while still damp.
Rick and Murray (Squiz) went into town just after 9AM to pick up fuel and drop off our propane tank to be refilled. The gas station now arranges for propane tanks to be shipped down to Grenada and back in a couple of days.
By the time the guys returned, Nadine and I were ready for a day at the beach. We went ashore and began walking toward L’Esterre when Thomas pulled up in Sherwin’s pickup truck and asked if we wanted a ride. Nadine sat in the cab while Murray, Rick and I climbed in the back. Thomas dropped us off in L’Esterre where we stopped to say hello to Mr. Sonell and then a friend, Christopher. We walked down the hill to Paradise Beach. Curtis was opening his beach bar (Off the Hook) but because of a busy night, last night, he was running a little late. We assured him we would return and began wading along the shore. Everyone was ready for a drink when we stopped at the Paradise Inn. I had to remind them to pace themselves as we had other Rum shops to visit. It was a beautiful sunny day, a perfect beach day, so it seemed. Next stop was the Hardwood Bar where Miss Joy made us a nice lunch. Finally it was time to go for a swim. The water was clear but a little chilly until we were in it. After floating around and liming for awhile the men went for a walk towards the end of the beach near the airport. Murray did not realize that there was an airport on Carriacou, while Nadine and I made our way in the water towards Curtis’s Bar. Elaine(Island Girl) and her friend Rose were walking along the beach toward Hardwood for lunch but said they left their things at Off the Hook so would see us later. When we arrived at Off the Hook and ordered our drinks, we were just about to sit at one of the picnic tables when I looked up and saw the sky turning black. Within minutes we had the downpour that I had been waiting for all week to rinse the sails and here we were at the beach and we had used up our fresh onboard water just yesterday to rinse the last sail. We took our bag and Elaine’s things under the roof of the beach bar to wait for the rain to pass. It lasted a long while which didn’t seem to bother the men, they just ordered a few more drinks. It must have been after 5PM when the rained eased up and we made our way back to the road. This was the first good rain after a long dry season on Carriacou and you could just see and smell the soil, trees and plants slurping it up and turning greener as we walked along. The huge land crabs everywhere had come out of their holes and were sitting on the moist earth looking around.
Back at the boat we rinsed and hung our salty beach clothes to dry.
Rick thought he would start emptying the fuel tank today. We have avoided topping it up because we wanted to clean it this year. It’s been 3 ½ years since our incident with having to sail 35 miles with no engine and then give away 45 gallons of diesel because it was fouled with algae. We promised ourselves to never go more than 4 years in the tropics without cleaning the fuel tank.
The good news was that the tank monitor was stuck (because of the algae) and when we thought we had almost ½ a tank of fuel (20 plus gallons) we really only had 2 ½ gallons. It would never have been a panic situation because we also had 10 gallons in the jerry cans on deck.
Rick used his spare fuel pump to pump the fuel out of the tank into an empty jerry can. Then with his high tech broom handle and rags he wiped the inside of the tank clean.
When all parts were cleaned and reassembled he also changed the Racor filter. Later this week he will change the oil.
Having worked efficiently in the morning, a siesta was required in the afternoon.
Later while eating dinner in the cockpit, the wind died. We didn’t hurry through dinner but when we were finished the wind was still light, so as the sun was setting we unfurled and dropped our last sail to be packed. It was the stay sail which is the smallest and easiest sail to handle so it didn’t take long.
I learned at 7:30AM this morning that today is “later this week”. Rick changed the oil in the engine today.
This is not necessarily bad because the engine is next to the galley so if he is changing the oil, I can’t be cleaning the oven at the same time. I just had to delay it for another day.
Meanwhile, Rick suggested that I remove and start soaking parts of the dodger which would not conflict with his work area. So at 7:30AM I began my boat chores for the day.
In the afternoon we both went for a swim and since he was rearranging the cockpit locker, he very nicely pulled out my mesh floater. It was a perfect day for floating off the end of the boat. The wind was strong but there weren’t really any waves in the bay. I tied a line to my wrist, and relaxed.
Shortly after we were back onboard, Andy (In Stitches) was calling us on the VHF. He wanted to know if I had any more canvas to be stitched. I still had the actual dodger which was the one last piece I hadn’t removed. I was hoping to leave it up as long as possible for the shade it provided. In fact it was the only piece of canvas still not washed. Barb, who works for Andy had finished stitching the other pieces and had time to do this one if we would part with it. No problem, down it came and Rick rushed it ashore.
Murray (Squiz) stopped by to let us know that his boat was totally pulled apart inside and the water tank had been taken to Dominique’s workshop to be welded. Nadine meanwhile had abandoned ship and gone to Angel’s Rest, the floating bar. Since we had nothing else to do we went and joined her. Soon a good portion of everyone anchored in the bay came over for a drink. It was a late afternoon party.
We left the party and returned to the boat because I had thawed chicken for dinner and Rick was looking forward to it.
There is nothing left on deck so Rick took the opportunity to scrub it this morning. I washed and rinsed halyards along with the covers of the cockpit cushions.
In the afternoon, we went for another swim and a float since my floaty is still inflated.
I phoned Lucky last night and warned her that there were a good number of cruisers all coming to her place for chicken tonight. We met Heather and Don (Asseance) at the haulout and walked the exercise hill together.
When we arrived at Lucky’s I was surprised to find that she was making fried chicken rather than barbecued tonight. Although we really like her barbecued chicken the fried was great.
Each and every day lately has been beautiful. There are tropical waves coming across the Atlantic but they are not affecting us yet. They seem to be far enough south that Guyana and Trinidad are receiving what little convection they have this early in the season.
Rick greased and oiled the windlass first thing in the morning. I began bagging things that sit on shelves or in cupboards that we won’t be using in the next week.
Next on the list, Rick wanted to go up the mast and adjust the pin in the stay sail furler. It took a while using his rubber mallet and vice grips to get the pin out but the job was finished with only one trip up the mast.
After lunch, I replaced the covers on the cockpit cushions that were washed yesterday. They were then bagged and stored as we can use our sport seats for the next week.
It’s hot sitting in the cockpit without any canvas so we again dove in for a swim in the afternoon.
There was a lot to do today. First job after breakfast was to lift the dinghy motor onto the motor mount and change the oil. The oil looked good this time. There was no milky look to it at all.
I placed our frozen food in a freezer bag and put that in the fridge which I turned off and then left the freezer side of the door open to defrost.
Once that job was done we got ready to go into town. I needed a few groceries and we were going to pick up the propane tank. The groceries were not a problem but when we saw John at the service station he wasn’t aware that the tank was there waiting to be sent out. Rick had brought it in on a Sunday. This was not a problem. John assured us he would send it out next Monday and it will be back in Carriacou on Wednesday.
We were onboard the boat before noon. I washed the interior of the fridge and returned my still frozen items to the freezer.
We had a quick lunch. Rick picked up the head sail and the dodger from the sail loft which is the last of the canvas that was in for repair. I soaked and washed the bimini and hung it in the cockpit to dry while we dressed to go out for the evening.
There was a Maroon Festival in Bogles which was supposed to begin about 4:30PM. Earlier I had let Squiz, Asseance, Sarah Noble and My Lady Cathleen know about it and they all wanted to come. Norbert (our bus driver) is off island vacationing in New York for three months so I asked Gilma if she would take us to and from the Maroon.
We all met on the Jetty at 4PM except Asseance. Dan and Heather were on a dive and said they would meet us there as the dive wouldn’t finish until 4PM. Gilma arrived on time and drove us all the way to Bogles. We were (as usual) some of the first to arrive but the food was ready to be served. The large iron pots were still in place on hot rocks in the field. The ladies had been cooking all day. As soon as we arrived they passed us a plate overflowing with the traditional Maroon meal. There was stewed pork, mutton and chicken, beans, rice balls, coo coo, plantain and dasheen. There might have been more things but that’s what was on my plate. The food and drinks (even the beer) was all free.
It was a little before 6PM when we had finished eating and crowds were arriving. The maroon big drums and dancing would not begin until after dark so we went for a little walk.
It was still early but we found some young girls who liked to entertain us with their schoolyard songs which was really cute and helped pass the time.
Finally we saw the drummers and dancers moving into position so we all followed to get a good spot.
The drumming, singing and dancing were great fun but best of all was seeing the very young girls and boys who already knew the maroon dances anxious to join in and dance. They stole the show.
The maroon was well under way and would continue long after I was asleep but it was getting late by cruiser standards and we were ready to go. I called Gilma and she picked us up and we were back at the boat by 10:30PM.
It was hot with very little wind. Rick serviced the batteries and I removed and washed the screens as a pot of chicken simmered on the stove. I was precooking the chicken to take to White Island tomorrow. When it was finished cooking, the broth was so good I saved it to make soup.
In the afternoon we saw a convoy of ships loaded with people coming from Grenada. There had been a lot of activity yesterday in the cricket field which is just off the main street in Harvey Vale. They were testing the sound system and setting up for a political rally. The rally was obviously arriving. I think the population of Carriacou doubled with the docking and offloading of these ferries/freighters/work boats. There were even some fishing boats that showed up a little later loaded down with people. The coast guard vessel made a showing and out of nowhere a couple of sea- doo buzzed the beach a few times then disappeared. It was a very active afternoon in Tyrrel Bay.
I quickly called the Lazy Turtle to let them know we were coming for dinner just in case the mobs of visitors had a craving for pizza. Rick went ashore to pick up a case of beer that he had Beverley (Alexis Supermarket) put aside for him. He was shocked to see that Beverley had set up a table blocking the entrance so that they could control the number of people in the store. She saw Rick and waved him in past the crowd of visitors.
Rick and I both had a nice afternoon swim before getting ready for dinner. We were joined by Nadine and Murray (Squiz). Ted (Steel Eye) who now lives ashore also joined us. It was a great meal and we made our way back to the boat by 8:30PM just as the boat people started arriving at the Lazy Turtle.
We listened to Eric’s weather report on the SSB in the morning because there was no WiFi available to check weather on the internet. On weekends, especially this one with so many people on island using their cell phones, Cable and Wireless turns off the internet access to ensure there is capacity available for the cell phone calls.
Rick made a quick trip ashore after breakfast to pick up bottled water to take to White Island. He remembered his beer yesterday but forgot my water.
Sherwin picked us up at 10AM as planned. He was in very rough shape as he had partied with all of the Grenadians until 4AM this morning. I pointed him in the direction of Squiz, Asseance and Sarah Noble who were all coming to White Island with us.
It was a perfect day. Sherwin dropped us off and then picked up Ellie (Bon Bini) who is a dive master. She checked a few of Sherwin’s fish traps and speared a few fish for our barbecue while Sherwin slept in his boat.
Meanwhile, before everyone went for a snorkel, I had them all search for small sticks and logs for the barbecue. Since most of Carriacou was hung over as a result of the heavy duty partying last night we had the whole of White Island to our selves. While everyone snorkelled, I chopped some garlic and onion for the fish. Nicky who came along with Sherwin, started the fire for me and I put the chicken and plantain on to cook.
The other boats brought along side dishes and there was more than enough food even before the fish arrived. Smitty (Sarah Noble) who is known as the Mighty Yachty on his CD’s, played his quatro and sang for us before and after our lunch.
It was around 3PM when we saw a boat heading our way. It was Levi and he was bringing Mary, Kevin and the crew from Rafiki.
Levi sang and danced a little with Smitty before going over to Saline Island to get some salt from the salt ponds. He wanted to make corn fish.
We left about the same time and Sherwin, who was feeling much better now took us back to Tyrrel Bay and our boats.
Rick and I rinsed the salt and sand from our bags and snorkel gear before having a quick shower. We left just before 6:30 and went ashore to a party at Fitzroy’s house. The food, as usual was excellent and the company wonderful. It was great fun but by a little after 10PM we were starting to fade. We said our good-byes and headed back to the boat.
We are picking up the pace. This morning I sprayed the oven with oven cleaner and then as Rick wiped the ceilings with vinegar, I wiped the walls and doors. We made excellent progress and finished everything except the galley by noon.
I had great tasting broth left over from when I cooked the chicken on Saturday so I added some barley and made chicken barley soup for lunch. I know that beef and barley goes together and noodles are normally used with chicken however as part of our eating down program we have whatever is left in the cupboard. It was good even though a little unconventional.
In the afternoon after a short siesta, we took the dinghy ashore and Rick scrubbed it inside and out. I helped with rinsing and deflating - inflating but mainly I just floated and watched from the water.
Dinner was extremely good considering we were still using up things. I had homemade pasta sauce in the freezer and a box of linguini to use. We started with cantaloupe and prosciutto as we drank a nice red wine that Frances brought for us the other night.
