Since Hurricane season is over, Sherwin wanted to have an End of Hurricane Season party at the Lambi Queen. I promised to help hustle for customers with Nigel.
During the day, Rick and I both worked on small boat jobs ensuring that we were finished early enough for our swim and shower before Nigel arrived to pick me up.
We stopped by most boats in the anchorage and told them of the party, then Nigel and I went ashore to wait for Rick and everyone else to arrive.
It was an ok turn-out but not like a Friday night.
I didn’t get much sleep last night as our nearby neighbour (Sherwin) had a rowdy party on his boat. It started well after his party at the Lambi Queen ended and lasted until the wee hours.
We relaxed, read and stayed onboard for the day.
After a good night’s sleep I was feeling much better today. I started measuring and cutting a new coverlet for our bed. The binding had to be removed before the actual cutting and then hand basted back on afterwards. I started the sewing but it will be something that I just do a little of each day.
It was time to remove the fish from the freezer and make some fish cakes. Sherwin has been looking forward to these. He was taking a few people for a day charter (Kathy and Hans with Nigel and Clair along to help out) on his sail boat.
Along with the fish cakes I made some callaloo soup which we enjoyed. It was almost sunset when Sherwin arrived back in the anchorage but it appeared as though the party was continuing onboard his boat. Rick and I went ahead with our dinner. Finally after everything was cleaned up and the only leftovers were the soup and fish, Sherwin called to apologize and asked if he could still have some fish cakes to take away with him. He was in a rush so would just stop by the boat. Meanwhile, everyone was stranded on his boat as the little outboard on his small boat was acting up and would not run. Gordon was on his way to give them a tow ashore.
Well, I think Sherwin was in a rush on island time. It was at least an hour before they finally got into the small boat and came by. I think everyone was ready to climb aboard our boat and continue the party but we said goodnight to all.
First thing in the morning, I received a call from Sherwin saying that he really enjoyed the fish cakes. When I asked him about the soup however he was hesitant and then asked if I had used coconut milk. I hadn’t and he suggested it needed a little carrot as well as some coconut milk however, it was tasty. I will have to work at getting the soup up to Island standards.
It was Friday so we went to Lambi Queen for dinner and pan band. They have started to play Christmas music.
We haven’t been ashore much and we have been back a month already. So today we were going to walk to Paradise Beach and spend the day.
Just as we were nearing Off the Hook Beach Bar, the sky darkened and it started to rain. It was good timing, we sat and talked with Curtis, had a couple of drinks and when the rain stopped we left for a walk along the beach.
It was a perfect day; the tide was still out, the cloud cover kept us from bring fried by the sun. We spread the towels and laid in the shade of a sea grape tree on the sand and fell asleep for a while. It was after 1PM when we woke and strolled back to see Curtis. Just as we arrived it rained again. A few more drinks and Curtis made us a nice pizza for lunch.
When we left the beach bar and walked back to the boat the sun was shining and it was hot again. We went for a nice swim at the boat getting rid of any beach sand before going below.
In the evening, Mike and Louis (Mistress V) stopped by. They arrived in the anchorage yesterday so we invited them to join us for happy hour tomorrow. They are heading back to Canada so this will be the last time we see them cruising here in the islands.
It is exactly one month since we arrived in Carriacou. Our skin is soft again. Our feet and heels are no longer hard and cracked. Our hands feel like we have just had a manicure and we have regained some of our tan.
We had another relaxing day, reading and swimming.
Mike and Louise arrived just before dark. Louise brought snacks, I also made snacks so there was more than enough food.
We had a nice evening with them and hope someday to see them back in Canada as they are taking the boat home.
Sherwin came by in the morning and asked for a sparkplug for his little 2horse power engine which is really giving him a hard time. He had been mixing the gas and oil with too much oil so the whole engine is all gummed up now. He needed some clean gas for it as well.
Things are pretty quiet in the anchorage these days. Rick started stripping the companionway doors which are louvered and a pain to strip. It took him most of the day and during that time the cockpit was under siege with the stripper, scrapings and water.
When he had had enough for the day he washed down the cockpit and I was able to poke my head out.
We went for our swim and had dinner onboard. A huge black cloud went by a little to the north of us. Just when we thought that we were in the clear, the sky turned black. A little of the darkness was because the sun was setting but the rest was a storm headed our way.
Sherwin had taken a couple on a day sail/charter over to PSV (Petit St Vincent) and I was starting to wonder where he was when he suddenly arrived, picked up his mooring and quickly took his guests ashore. I swear, they just stepped foot on the beach when the storm let loose. It must be a local thing but Sherwin seems to read the weather better than any forecaster.
Sherwin came by again. The new spark plug was already gummed up. He changed spark plugs again and went on his way. Later his brother Nigel came by for some more clean gas.
It was a breezy and comfortable day. Rick continued working on the teak in the cockpit.
I can’t believe that I was in the midst of preparing a Chinese dinner and when everything was on the stove (ginger garlic chicken, shrimp fried rice and a cabbage, christophene chop suey) I went for the soy sauce and found I had none. Oh no!!! I saw it in town and was sure I had bought it but after searching everywhere, none. Oh well, dinner was healthy but not the best Chinese meal I ever had.
We went into town shopping and on the top of the list was soy sauce. We had no problem getting our items but Sherwin called and asked for christophene, plantain and sweet potatoes. The plantain was a little green, the christophene looked great and the sweet potatoes would arrive soon on the ferry.
We went in search of a plumbing part that Sherwin needed and by the time we had found it the ferry was pulling into dock. With all items, his and ours we returned with Norbert back to Harvey Vale.
Late in the afternoon, John Bedeau (a boat boy) came by and asked if he could use our Skype to call his sister. While he was still here, Sherwin came by and joined us for happy hour.
Everyone left a little after 7PM and I threw together a quick dinner for Rick and I.
Rick was working hard on the door frame in the companionway, stripping and scraping and sanding. We chose to do this in Carriacou because it means that we have no means of locking the boat while the doors are off. I feel quite safe in Carriacou without doors but I certainly wouldn’t in other places.
We decided to go for a quiet dinner at the Lambi Queen tonight (Thursday) and avoid the crowds on Friday. As it turned out, the pan band will not be playing this and next Friday so it was a good week to make a change.
Dinner was excellent. I had barracuda and Rick had chicken. Because there were very few people, Sherwin was able to join us for dinner.
The Christmas winds have definitely arrived. The air is cool enough that it is not as enticing to jump overboard for a swim. In fact, the water is much cooler and of course very rough with the high winds.
We remained onboard for the day. Rick worked on the woodwork (what else) and I read.
Rick is still working on the companionway frame and doors but getting closer to being finished. I made some English muffins so that tomorrow, I can have poached eggs on the muffins.
Harry (La Nostra) has arrived from the States. His boat is launched and he is ready for a break so we agreed to meet at Lady D’s which has been renamed the Hallelujah Cafe. She is offering beers at 3 for $10EC ($3.75 CAD).
Rick and Harry went without me as the muffins weren’t quite finished. I joined them about a half hour later.
Eventually there was a good crowd, almost standing room only. Sherwin joined us and we all had BBQ chicken with curried noodles for dinner. Denise has a young kitten onboard and she calls him “Reverend” (after Harold who was a reverend and a Canadian and used to own the boat. He helped build more than 30 churches throughout the Caribbean Islands). Reverend has started begging like a dog each time someone’s meal is served so everyone was instructed not to feed him.
We had a very nice evening and got to spend time talking with Marilyn and Heinz (La Buena Vida) from Kingston Ontario.
It was dark (which doesn’t necessarily mean that it was late) when we headed back to our own boat for the evening.
The poached eggs on the English muffins were perfect (we don’t do hollandaise sauce).
Rick continued working on the wood. I checked the weather forecast throughout the day. The wind is supposed to remain at 20 to 25 knots from the east northeast with gusts to 30 knots. There are however large northern swells coming south and if the wind stays up we shouldn’t be too rolly in the bay.
We slept very comfortably last night, no rain or swells, just a cool breeze. My phone went crazy all day. It’s getting close to Christmas and everyone is finalizing Christmas dinner plans. I’m just searching for celery! In fact almost everyone that called, if they or their friends are going to be in Grenada between now and Christmas, I have asked them to get some celery for me. If I’m lucky, my fridge will be overflowing with fresh (well nearly fresh) celery.
Alana (Witches Song) called in the morning, she is back from working a cruise and will need a lift from the jetty to her boat after she arrives on the ferry this evening. The response was “No problem! Please bring celery”.
Rick worked on the companionway for most of the day. Alana called when she on her way, and yes she brought celery.
The worst of the weather should pass through this evening.
No one got much sleep last night. As first the roll felt a little like a very strong tide because it came, shook us up and tossed us around and then the sea settled down again. Just as we would fall back asleep it would happen again. In between the shake, rattle and roll there were very strong gusts of wind with heavy squalls waking us for regular rain drills (run around and close ports and hatches).
Sometime before daylight, everything settled down in time for the sun to wake us.
I would like to start converting the boat from workshop to home during the remaining time until Christmas and Rick was doing his best by reassembling some of the companionway.
He only had until 10:30AM to finish the Wind-Borne projects and then Sherwin arrived and the two guys left and went to work on Sherwin’s boat.
Rick returned just before 3Pm when we started up and ran the generator and water maker while we went for our swim.
The swell was considerably down overnight and only woke us a couple of times.
Today we went to town for the last of our grocery shopping before Christmas. We picked up the turkeys. I had ordered a 20-25 lb turkey but the largest that arrived was 13 lbs so I bought two of them. There were still eggs available so we picked up an extra dozen. Milk is another thing that can run short on the island during the holidays. I think we have plenty but just in case we bought 6 more litres.
We shopped until almost noon and then gathered all of our purchases and returned to the boat.
All of the items for the freezer and fridge were quickly put away except the turkeys which we had left in the dinghy in insulated foil bags. A short dinghy ride to shore and we dropped the turkeys into Fitzroy’s freezer.
Tish and Ted (Restless) had hauled their boat today so we stopped by to visit them at the haul out. Tish mentioned that there was a Christmas dinner tonight at Tante Liz’s in town. Our next stop was to go to the Alexis Supermarket almost next door to Tante Liz’z so we decided to check it out. The place was already decorated and Tante Liz was in the kitchen cooking up a storm so we told her we would come back tonight for dinner.
It was now after 2:30PM and Rick was supposed to meet Sherwin at 2PM so we hurried back to the boat where I continued putting the groceries away and Rick went to Sherwin’s boat to help him finish off a couple of more projects.
I started the water maker and generator then jumped overboard for a swim before Rick returned, but he was back in time to join me in the water a little after 4pm.
We went ashore to Lambi Queen just before 6PM and joined Gordon and Judy (Dreamcatcher) and Sherwin for a sundowner. It was almost 7PM when we arrived at Tante Liz’s and no one else was there yet. We left and started to walk up the hill to Harvey Vale public school where the “lighting of the lights” celebration was taking place tonight. Amy (bus driver) happened by and gave us a lift. The lights were beautiful (we didn’t have our camera) and after talking with a few friends for a while we started walking back to town. We were almost there when Andy (In Stitches sail loft) stopped on his motorcycle and side car. I climbed into the side car and Rick climbed on the bike behind Andy. He delivered us right to the front door of Tante Liz’s where we could see that quite a few people had arrived.
The food was good and the company was great. There was to be music and dancing later but since it was already 9:30PM we said our goodbyes and called it a night.
Rick re-assemble the companionway doors today and gave the louvers their first coat of Cetol. This should hold them until after the new year or until things slow down a little. The closer we get to Christmas the busier it will be.
In the afternoon, Rick helped Sherwin with the last of his projects to be done before Christmas and before Kelly’s arrival.
I made a big potato salad for a party we are attending on Saturday and then made Chinese food for dinner, this time with soy sauce and real (canned) bean sprouts.
The winds were very light today so Rick took the opportunity and put the reef in the main sail.
I did my Christmas cleaning and decorating inside the boat in the morning.
After lunch I dropped Rick at Sherwin’s boat and the two guys took the boat to dock and topped up the water tanks. When they got back to the mooring they realized that the tanks were more than topped up. They had overflowed and filled the bilge.
We had our regular afternoon swim and then went
to shore for
dinner at the Lambi Queen. Even though the pan band wasn’t
performing tonight, there was a good crowd.
The big day!!! We were instructed to be onboard Sherwin’s boat by 8:30AM.
First however we had to get our dinghy ashore because the plan was for us to
sail with Sherwin to Hillsborough and then after he whisked Kelly away, we
would return to Harvey Vale by bus. In between, I was to help with grocery
shopping and provisioning of his boat.
After greeting Kelly she was whisked away for a sailing weekend with Sherwin. They anchored the first night at Windward and attended a birthday party at Ellie’s.
When we returned to our boat we had time for a quick siesta before we were to get ready to go to a house warming party at Klaus and Pamela’s new house.
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We joined friends at the Hallelujah Cafe for a late lunch/early dinner. It was a fun afternoon, some of the gang jumped overboard for a swim. Denise cooked a barbecued chicken lunch for us.
We were the first to leave as we were hoping for a siesta before the Parang competition late tonight. I set the alarm for a couple of hours sleep but was unable to get the eyelids to shut.
We left with Alana about 9 PM intending to walk to the stadium but a bus stopped for us just as we reached the end of the jetty.
There were six bands competing and we had friends in two of them. We
routed for the underdog “The Stragglers” our friend Joe
(Island Girl) plays
in the band. They came last again this year but the whole evening was fun. A
little after 2AM and we were back at the boat. It took two seconds for the
eyelids to close this time.
We relaxed in the morning and during the afternoon joined Kelly and
Sherwin for a drift in the new floaters that Kelly brought down with her.
The bay was flat and the sun was hot so it was a perfect day to float around
(tethered to the boat) with a drink in hand.
They left just before 4PM but said that they would return at 6PM for dinner. I decided to cook island style tonight.
Sherwin was very impressed with the meal. I served sweet potatoes, christophene and carrots, pumpkin with brown sugar and cinnamon, callaloo with onions and bacon, fried sweet plantain, coleslaw, baked chicken and mashed potatoes ( mashed potatoes is not an island dish but was a special request from Rick)
We took laundry ashore and picked up last few groceries before Christmas. Sherwin had been hired to taxi a group to White Island.
Later when Rick took off to the haul-out Kelly and I jumped overboard for a swim and eventually Rick joined us but it was happy hour before Sherwin returned.
Kelly and Sherwin went to Alana’s boat for dinner so Rick and I worked on last night’s leftovers.
Sherwin picked us up with his large power boat and took us to
Paradise
Beach. Off the Hook wasn’t open when we arrived so we continued along the
beach to the Hardwood Cafe. We received a wonderful greeting from Miss Joy.
It was our first visit to her bar this season. There was no one else at the
beach bar when we arrived but after a short time Alana and her friend
Jessica arrived. After a couple of drinks we let Miss Joy know what we
wanted for lunch and in the interim went for a swim. When we returned, the
place was packed. Joe and Elaine (Island Girl) had arrived, Michael and his
friend from Six Roads, Rosemary and her friend from Mount Pleasant and a
large gang from the Craigston area who come every Wednesday for a swim and
lunch.
After a nice lunch and a bit of liming we returned to Tyrrel Bay in the boat with two additional passengers, Alana and Jessica.
Kelly and Sherwin went ashore, Alana and Jessica went to the floating bar and we remained on board. I’m glad we did, friends Mary and George (Avalon V) who we haven’t seen for years are in the bay and stopped by to say hello.
Well, it’s Christmas Eve!!! We began the day by having a large breakfast with Kelly and Sherwin. Sherwin called Immigration to see if we could check out today to go off island on Boxing Day and they said no, so that eliminated the trip to town for Rick and Sherwin.
In the afternoon, I prepared the cranberry sauce and dressing for the
turkey tomorrow.
The steel pan band performed at the Lambi Queen on Christmas Eve so we had a nice dinner there and enjoyed the music. Kelly and I splurged and had lobster while Rick who didn’t want to encourage any gout, had barracuda.
Everything is as ready as can be for Christmas Dinner so after breakfast
I did a quick clean and tidy of the aft cabin. Alana
(Witches Song) is going to sail with us for a couple of days as we
buddy
boat with Sherwin and Kelly to Union Island and the Tobago Cays on Boxing
Day.
In the afternoon, Rick and I went to Fitzroy’s house to stuff the turkey and get it into the oven as well as help him prepare for the party.
The crowds began arriving around 6PM and they brought enough food for a
few parties. Just the meat alone we had the turkey, fried chicken, pork
cooked in banana leaves, stewed pork, and ham. There were appetizers before
dinner. Frances prepared some awesome tiny Yorkshire puddings with shaved
roast
beef and a creamy horseradish topping. There were also many vegetable
dishes and salad dishes along with desserts.
Fitzroy and Trevor had decorated the living/dining area with ferns, balloons and lights. There was Christmas tree by the table, a fireplace video on the TV screen and music playing throughout the house.
I lost track of how many people came this year but too many for a sit
down dinner as in previous years. There were crowds mingling inside and out
in the garden while many others took to the dance floor. It was a great
party.
Sherwin and Rick drove into town and checked everyone out with immigration. When they returned, Alana joined us on Wind-Borne and we left.
Alana, with a bare hook on a six pound test line caught a small tuna underway onboard Wind-Borne. It became an appetizer after we anchored.
Sherwin and Kelly were close behind us and we all met up again in Clifton
Harbour. After a few snacks and our tuna
appetizer, the guys went ashore to
check us in and we remained onboard until they returned.
Everyone jumped into Sherwin’s dinghy (ours was still in the davits) and we went to Happy Island for sundowners.
WWe returned to the boat but Alana went ashore with Janti and his girl friend. She spent the night on Happy Island. The rest of us talked about going ashore but we were too tired.
Kelly and Sherwin still wanted to go to the Tobago Cays for a swim, but I
thought it would be a little rolly there for snorkelling so we parted and
while Alana, Rick and I went to Chatham Bay, Kelly
and Sherwin went to the
Cays, they then stopped at Salt Whistle Bay in Mayreau before joining us.
Meanwhile, Alana and I had a wonderful snorkel in Chatham along the cliff. There were a good variety of fish and coral. The turtles kept circling our boat but didn’t seem interested in swimming with us.
At dinner time, Sherwin picked us up (our dinghy is still in the davits) and took us all ashore for a barbecue buffet dinner with Shark Attack. He had no fish this night but served chicken, lambi and lobster with salads and vegetables. There was more food than everyone could eat so Sherwin had a take away container of lambi.
We were awakened at 6:30AM by the sound of Sherwin motoring by our boat on his way back to Carriacou. He had received a text message late last night letting him know that he had power boat charter guests for this morning.
We watched them go and then had a quick breakfast before leaving as well. The forecast was good for this morning but the seas were to deteriorate early afternoon with large north easterly swells.
Meanwhile we had a wonderful sail from Chatham to Carriacou doing 6.5
knots on a reefed main and stay sail only. We anchored in Hillsborough to
check in. The dinghy was finally lowered into the water and the outboard
engine attached. Rick suggested that since we were in town I might as well
pick up some groceries. Well, when we arrived at the dinghy dock it was
packed. The north surge had already started so after a quick look, we
returned to the boat tied the dinghy, raised the anchor and continued on our
way to Tyrrel Bay. This meant that Rick had to go into town by bus to check
in which is not necessarily legit but since the captain thought it unsafe to
use the dinghy dock in Hillsborough it was almost legit.
I didn’t feel like doing anything today so we read, swam and I made some homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner with penne and garlic bread.
The surf on the beach when we awoke this morning was terrible. It was almost over the beach and on the road. All of the local boats were removed from shore and either raised to the road or taken deeper into the bay to avoid being damaged by the surf.
Rick and I had agreed to go for pizza at the Lazy Turtle for dinner with Bev and Mike (Whitebird) but we dinghied over to let them know that the dock at the Lazy Turtle had separated with the surf and the dock at the Lambi Queen was under water so it was unlikely that we would go ashore this evening.
When we returned to the boat, both Rick and I decided it would be wise to move to the north side of the bay to avoid the worst of the swells and surging. We let go the mooring lines again and dropped the anchor just off of In Stitches where we found it very comfortable. The swell should diminish by Friday so we will return to our mooring in a few days.
On this side of the bay the surge was not near as bad as the other side so we changed our mind and decided to go for pizza but leave the dinghies at the main jetty and walk to the Lazy Turtle.
Oh, Oh! I was going to wait until Saturday to take our laundry ashore but
the word is out that there may not be water for the
laundromat in a couple
of more days. There hasn’t been any rain for at least a month. Not wanting
to take any chances, I gathered and bagged the laundry immediately and Rick
took it ashore.
In the afternoon, Kelly came and we drifted around on the floaters.
Rick and I went to town in the morning and found the stores stocked up
with produce. We purchased much
more than planned however the rule on the
island is “when you see it, buy it”.
It took two trips in the dinghy with all of the groceries and fuel.
After everything was stowed, we both settled down for a siesta. We had promised that we would try to stay awake until midnight on Old Year’s Night.
I cooked a huge number of chicken wings hoping for leftovers and easy meals tomorrow. Well, when Rick was finished I think there were about three wings left.
It was 9:30PM when we went ashore. The north surge was still very strong
so the easiest way to get
ashore was to tie the dinghy to Sherwin’s concrete
dock using a stern anchor and then dinghy hop into his hard dinghy and climb
onto the dock.
IIt was a great party with the Steel Band providing the entertainment. We lasted until Old Years Night had past. Many flares were used to welcome the New Year and after that we made our way back to the boat. The celebrations continued for a few more hours at Lambi Queen but well into the morning at the Coconut Bar in Hillsborough where Kelly and Sherwin ended up, meanwhile, we were fast asleep.
