Holding Pattern in Grenada

We headed south to Grenada soon after our company left us in early April up in Bequia.  Our first stop was Carriacou, a small island north of Grenada and belonging to Grenada.  From there, we headed south knowing that the end of the season had arrived. Lists  were made and the odd chore accomplished to set into motion our haulout.

Today as I type this, Laurie is hard at work in the starboard engine room changing the oil and filters.  A while ago he came up covered with sweat and dumped out a quarter cup of sweat out of his rubber gloves!  Drinking water all day, every day is a chore all by itself!  I have heard a few swear words coming from his work, but all in all a typical oil change!

We caught up with Dan and Cindy from the boat Sititunga and have had a few lovely get-togethers with them.  They will be heading to Trinidad later in the month for their haulout, but for now, we'll continue to get together to break up the work.  We have a membership to the University pool along with its restaurant.  We'll head over there on Thursday for lunch to have a break.  Dan has been told by several people that he looks like Laurie from Cat Tales!!  Apparently, as he walks along on the islands, people actually stop him and talk to him as if it's Laurie!  We've all agreed that they have that 'special smile' that ties them together.  Cindy and I were walking behind the boys the other day and they even had the very same walk!

Dan and Laurie

Laurie, Dawn, Cindy, Dan and Maria

Today Alex and John from s/v Free Spirit are flying home to the UK.  We thought we'd missed them this season, but they decided to haul out in Grenada for another season rather than sail the boat home.  We were delighted and have had such a wonderful time socializing with them over the past two weeks!  They will head north next season and will sail across the 'big pond' at the end of the season.  There is little chance we'll see them as we will come back to the boat in November and they will return in October. 

Alex working on her boat, Free Spirit

Dawn waiting for a turn at the laundry in Spice Island Marine, Prickly Bay, Grenada

Tiger Lily (Denis and Arleen) were hauled out this morning at 8:00 and Aspen (Steve and Maria) at 9:00.  We haul  on Monday.  People all over the bay can be seen folding sails and topping up diesel. 

Denis celebrating his birthday at a house where Dan and Cindy were house-sitting!

We have attended a couple of Hashes while we've been here. They are scheduled for every Saturday and can be anywhere on the island, often an hour or two drive on Shademan's bus/van .  If you remember from past writings, they are walk/run events which claim to be all about "Drinkers with a Running Problem".  They start at 4:00 and can be pretty intense with mountains, mud, streams and lots of people!  When you finally get to the end, they have very loud music, cheap beers and local food.   The people who have never hashed before are all brought together to be given their certificates and have no idea that they are about to be totally sprayed with beer!  It's a well kept secret and lots of fun.  If you wish, you can google Hashes (Hash House Harriers) to see what they're all about.

All the unsuspecting walkers/runners about to get their certificates for their first Hash!

Now, that will smell good coming back on the bus!

Laurie is just finishing up down below, so I will get this blog published and open him a well deserved beer! (I just read the blog to Laurie and he especially liked the last line!)

Grenada, End of Sailing for the Season

We are amazed and embarrassed that we have not posted here since Judy wrote our weblog for April 6th.  So sorry.

Judy and Ron left on the morning ferry on Tuesday, the 7th, and we tidied the boat, got laundry caught up, did some engine checks, cleared out of Customs and Immigration, and prepared to leave.  We got the weather report from Denis at 8:00 in the morning, and headed to Carriacou with Steve and Maria, s/v Aspen, 15 minutes ahead of us.  It was a beautiful, fast, low-stress sail; always over 6 knots and often over 7 knots, with wind on the beam, two reefs in the main and very little jib.  I said that if we didn't own her, we could have put up even more sail and kept her at 8 knots for the whole trip.  As it was, we took a little more time, had a little less water on deck, and no breakage.  Steve and Maria were quite happy with their performance, even though they did not maintain their head start.

We even enjoyed some fishing.  We caught a 25" barracuda, which we bled, beheaded, gutted, and chilled while underway.  When the second cuda arrived, we decided to let it go - hoping for a ciro mackerel or even a mahi mahi.  When the next one came, and it must have been a biggie, it bent our hook and took off before I got him half way to the boat, and before I could identify it.  Oh well, the barracuda was great, when we cooked it up with my signature fried plantain.  Leftovers were made into Cuda Melt Sandwiches for us and Steve and Maria.

When we arrived in Tyrell Bay, we were able to wave to Denis and Arlene on Tiger Lilly, and especially to John and Alex on Free Spirit.  As we had not seen John and Alex for two years, and expected to miss them this year, it was extra special.  They were slated to jump off from Antigua towards home in England, but equipment repair problems caused such their season to be so unenjoyable, they determined to give the Caribbean one more season.  Seeing Denis and Arlene was great too, as we had not "eyeballed them for the whole season - however, we had talked to them by radio every morning - He is our weatherman.

We immediately made plans for all to meet at the Lazy Turtle for pizza, and had a great reunion of 4 couples.

Our week in Carriacou was nice and restful, with some lunches ashore, and long walks with Steve and Maria, and other boaters.   It also included two trips to our favourite place - Paradise Beach (Curtis' Off de Hook Bar).   I had plans to pump up and soap the dinghy to look for some obvious leaks, one day, but I found the dinghy tight and obviously not leaking and dismissed the idea.  Suggesting that dinghy leaks might be influenced by the moon or something isn't very scientific, but what can you do?  We did start our work-lists to try to get a jump on the work.

Pete Evans and Chico out for their daily sail around Tyrell Bay in Carriacou

Laurie (s/v Magpie II) and Maria (s/v Aspen) at Paradise Beach on Carriacou

We left Tyrell Bay on April 16th, and had another fantastic sail to St. George's, Grenada.  We did get some water on the deck in some rough water off Kick'em Jenny Rock, but that was short and not at all scary.  We stopped at Goyave, Grenada, on the north-west side to deliver a failed Hitachi starter (for a Yanmar engine) to a shop there, and also bought 2 pounds of sailfish for only EC$14.  We had a difficult time anchoring outside St. George's harbour, with the anchor dragging through bleached and broken coral and finding little sand.  All the while, I enjoyed a very racy-looking daggerboard catamaran in the middle of the pack, named "Unleaded".   On the 4th try, the anchor finally caught on something, and a dive on it determined it would likely hold.

Yesterday, we got a lot of our fluids and maintenance supplies in St. George's, had a lovely lunch with Steve and Maria at the Nutmeg Restaurant, and got ready to enjoy a quiet evening.  We gave that last plan up, when a short, sunburned, grey-bearded Canadian Gentleman named Jock (born Scottish) dinghied up and said hello.  When he said he was from "Unleaded", I had him aboard, seated, and a rum punch with plenty of ice in front of him in less than a minute.  We discovered common areas (sailing books and magazines, stories, catamarans, passages, and a few harbours), as well as trading the usual useful information before I started pumping the info on "Unleaded" out of him.

Dawn soon realized I would not let him leave, and fed the three of us a lovely chicken stir-fry.

Unleaded is a 30'x20' Kurt Hughes design that Jock manufactured out of epoxy resin, glass, and Klegecell foam boards over 6 years.  I was able to tour the boat the next morning, and took way too many pictures, if anyone has further interest.

s/v Unleaded built by Jock from Woodstock, Ontario (6 year effort)

Jock, the 'skinny sailor' as he calls himself!

Another neighbour

Yesterday, we came around to Prickly Bay, and immediately organized a meeting with lots of friends at a bar last night.  That will continue at another bar tonight, then a hash (Hash House Harriers running event - a drinking club with a running problem) tomorrow, and a house party on Sunday.  Hopefully things will calm down next week.

Dawn with Denis and Arlene (s/v Tiger Lily II) and Andreas and Cordula (s/v Aphrodite)

You can see that it got dark and Tiger Lily left and Alex (and John) showed up from s/v Free Spirit

Our haulout date is set for May 4th, right here in Prickly Bay, Grenada.  Flights are booked for May 9th.  Busy, sweaty times ahead.  We hope the snow in Canada continues to shrink.

Easter Regatta in Bequia with Ron and Judy

The following blog was written by Judy (and Ron) who is visiting us in Bequia as we were enjoying the racing boats sailing by us today:

 

We met Dawn and Laurie at the Blue Lagoon in Kingston, St. Vincent on Friday afternoon and were treated to a delicious meal aboard Cat Tales.  We had breakfast in the marina outdoor cafe then left the island for a 8 nautical mile sail across to Bequia. The captain said it was one of the best sails of the season; great wind and waves on the stern quarter, meaning no salt on the deck.  What also made it spectacular was we came into Admiralty Bay during one of the first races of the Bequia Easter Regatta.  Talk about a front row seats to all the action!!

 

 The weekend was spent snorkelling on the reef right off the back of the boat; going for a walk around the bay on the newly opened boardwalk; watching the races from the cockpit  with all the different sailing vessels; listening to the never ending celebrations on the beach; the dining experience at L'Auberge; sundowners and snacks aboard S/V Aspen with Maria and Steve and the closing/awards ceremony at the Gingerbread Hotel restaurant.  We can't think of a better way to spend a long holiday weekend than on a boat with great friends in the sunny Caribbean sea!

Judy enjoying the reef

Passing this guy on the way back to Bequia from St. Vincent

Double Ender boats - a group of happy sailors!

Entertaining in 'Sweet Bequia'

The visit with Lynn and Bill Cabel flew by.  They arrived on Friday, March 27th, after spending a night in St. Vincent, then taking the ferry to Bequia.  They left yesterday morning, Thursday, April 2nd; departing Cat Tales at Blue Lagoon on the main island.  We had sailed them the 8+ miles from Bequia so they at least had a little open-ocean experience in a small boat.  They faced a typical convoluted trip home yesterday: St Vincent to Barbados and then another flight home to Fredericton.  We sure hope it was worth it.

Bill and Lynn accepted the ocean sail as they did all the quasi-camping experience on Cat Tales:  bathing off the back, rinsing and washing with a teacup's worth of water, dinghy splashes, sunburns and running for shades and tans, sleeping in a rocking boat with an ear to any sound of rain to scurry to close windows over their heads.  They enjoyed the hiking, the snorkeling, the unique people (including some of our friends down here) and the slow times in between.

Here are some pictures that may reflect what we did:

The first three are of Bill and Lynn enjoying the Firefly restaurant pool. 

Below is a pic of the Cape Bretoners: Peter and Catherine of s/v Charlotte D.  He has a nephew who makes him custom tee shirts.  The one he wears says: "At least the war on education is going well", his own creation.

The next is a pic of Lynn on her first foray into the snorkelling.  She started with a noodle, moved on to a noodle-free trip, and then taught herself how to dive and clear her snorkel.  We doubt she'll say no to her next offer of a snorkel trip.  What a trouper!

We were able to find all the fish that dazzled our previous guests, as well as these amazing creatures:

Peacock Flounder

Juvenile Queen Angelfish

Spotted Moray Eel

This is the biggest Octopus we've seen.  Sorry there was no ruler or pencil to set beside him/her.  Dawn saw a much smaller one at this same reef a few years ago, and we're thinking it might be the same one.

Octopus

And lastly, here are two pictures of the four of us, the first taken in Varadero, Cuba, in 1988; and the second on Princess Margaret Beach, Bequia, just this week.

Cuba ~ 1988

Bequia 2015

We're presently sitting in Blue Lagoon, St. Vincent; waiting for Judy and Ron Roy to show their faces at the dock, a few hundred feet away.  Tomorrow morning, we'll whisk them over to Bequia, where we'll attempt to anchor in a good location to watch the Easter Regatta Races.