It is Friday, after a very busy week. We are in Grenada, anchored in Prickly Bay
just outside of the Tiki Bar. Fair free
internet and good music - although there are warnings of a steel pan band
playing tonight! The famous (to us
Caribbean cruisers) Chris Doyle just rounded our stern with his Trinidad-built
catamaran "ti Kanot". (He
writes most of the cruising guides for the Caribbean)
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| Prickly Bay Marina - where we're picking up decent wifi this morning! |
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| View from the boat - note the whale bone trim on the apartment building. |
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| View from behind our boat |
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| Cat Tales - port side sitting in Prickly Bay |
Now, let's back up and talk about last week...
We note that in the previous weblog we made a mistake and an
omission.
We toured the Angostura
factory on Friday, then we actually left the boat Saturday afternoon for a hike
in the National Forest near Maqueripe Bay.
The hike, with 5 others, went along a mountain path up and down ridges,
across small streams, and through massive stands of bamboo.
The stands of bamboo were breathtaking:
bridging the paths like cathedral ceilings.
The highlight, however, was the sightings of
red howler monkeys.
I recommend a quick
scan of this document if you are interested:
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/red_howler
Before and after the sightings, we got to hear their
vocalizations. They were loud, and
deeply guttural; reminding us of horror films.
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| Dawn standing on the path through the bamboo |
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| Laurie & Susie looking for the howler monkey they just heard. They caught a good look at him, but he was gone before I could get a photo of him. |
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| Many people, I am told, come here to get married because of the bamboo "canopy". |
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| At the end of the hike a refreshing swim cooled us down before catching the bus back to the boatyard. |
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| Laurie looking after the clothes. |
Anyway, with that addition and correction out of the way,
how did we get here?
Monday's mid-afternoon splash was the most stress-free we've
ever had, with the hydraulic trailer delivering us to the crane, the crane
lifting Cat Tales, me running around with bottom paint touching up the bottom
of the keels, and finally being gently dropping into the water. We didn't rush, or feel pressured as we
checked for leaks and dry bilge, nor as we started the two engines and ensured
that water was properly spitting out of the mufflers.
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| Laurie chatting with our good friend Blugh just before getting the boat on the trailer. |
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| Laurie and the boys getting things lined up under Cat Tales for an event-free splash |
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| Every year, Peake's in Trinidad do a fabulous job splashing us! No worries, mon! |
We motored out with wild waving, and, when we could not find
a mooring in the harbour, went directly to the Customs dock. There, we got permission to go to Monos Island
to check our systems, and, in a very organized fashion, loaded provisions from
the stores alongside the docks. The 50
minute trip to Monos was uneventful, and we went through all our checks and
reassemblies without trouble. The
exception (isn't there always an exception?) was the outboard engine for the
dinghy. When it would not start Tuesday
morning, I realized it had some things to teach me. I got out the manual and another book,
reviewed my bits of education, made a list to check, and then sat in the hot
sun for an hour and a half. I had real
difficulty with sweat near the end, and had to call up to Dawn for a sweat band
and a towel to keep focused on the work.
Dropping parts in the drink would have been the total failure. After focusing on filters, carburetor, and
spark plugs; and not really being sure even if it was only a single cause, she
started, and has been reasonably easy to start since. I have a sneaking suspicion that old gas is
a part of the equation, but the best way of getting rid of that is to burn
it! If an outboard turns over, the things
to check are simply air, gas, and spark, after all.
After lunch, we motored back to Chaguaramas, checked out of
Customs and Immigration for Trinidad, got a little rum from Duty Free, and
motored to Scotland Bay.
We left Scotland Bay the next morning at 5:30 a.m., and
motored NNE for 3 hours, then motor sailed with one engine for 2 more
hours. This took us to the east of the
Poinsettia oil platform and well east of our rhumb line. From there, we shut off the remaining engine,
readjusted the sails, and on a course of NNW, had a lovely 7.5 hour sail to the
mouth of Prickly Bay. A half hour later
(13 hrs in all), we were at anchor where we are now. A long day, but it is behind us. We had a very easy supper with wine, enjoying
the flat calm, and slept very safely and soundly.
I want to add that the Chaguaramas community of sailors is
really being whipped up into a state of fear by a pirate attack that occurred
ten miles from the opening of the Boca near Scotland Bay, and five miles from
shore, that happened only weeks ago. The
boats involved were heading west and were told not to get so close to land,
ignored the advice and one paid the price.
We've spoken to seasoned sailors who said that this bit of real estate
deserved at least 20 miles of clearance 15 years ago, and now, with a real
increase in lawlessness, the way west should include leaving from Grenada and
giving it a minimum of 50 miles for the whole Venezuelan coast and
out-islands. The trip north to Grenada
is not generally as risky as being close to the Venezuelan coast. We are happy to have this stuff behind us, as
it was beginning to really affect us. If
you are interested in the incident, the captain provides his version of events
here: http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Venezuela/venezuela-paria-peninsula-yacht-boarded-attacked-and-robbed-by-pirates-november-2013
We took things slowly and easily yesterday, clearing into
the country using the Customs and Immigration office so conveniently located
within 200 metres from our boat, cleaned off some of the salt, and put things
to right with sails and the like. Last
night, with our celebratory callaloo pizza at de Big Fish, we were joined by
Arleen and Denis of s/v Tiger Lily II and Catherine and Peter of s/v Charlotte
D. We also met a new couple, Katheryn
and John from Toronto.
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| Looking out the escape hatch window at the water in Trinidad - this water is very brackish because of the rainwater and related algae growth from the Oronoko River. |
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| Looking out the same window in Grenada...notice the lovely turquoise. (I couldn't get this photo turned...sorry) |
Today is another slow day, although I can always find
something that needs attention aboard.
Maybe a bilge float switch...
