Dawn and I arrived in Grenada on the afternoon of Sunday, November 12th, after leaving the Fredericton airport at 05:30 hours and travelling via Toronto. We moved our luggage into a little apartment at Cool Running with the intent of having an air-conditioned drink of duty-free Kraken rum and then heading to the One Love restaurant for another cocktail and supper. However, the heavens opened up upon our tin roof and never stopped until after we were fast asleep. Comforted by a not-so-little more Kraken, we supped on pita with hummus and cheese instead.
We found the boat without many surprises and went to work on our usual list of chores. We put in long, hot days, and mostly supped in the room; but did get out for burrito bowls at the Container Park and a supper at One-Love with Maria and Hugh of the Saint John powerboat “White Pearl”.
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| Cat Tales being lowered into the water |
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| All shiny clean! |
Nine days after our arrival, on a Tuesday, we launched with no surprises and moved out of the slip to anchor in the bay. Each of the 4 full days after, we dinghied ashore, went for a two-hour walk to pick up groceries, boat parts, and various supplies. Today, finally, we’re moving slowly, and we actually went ashore for a lovely lunch at the Sand Beach Bar, on Calabash Beach.
We intend to stay 2 more nights in Prickly Bay, then zip the boat around to the mooring balls outside of St. George’s. We are a little worried that we might be displaced from there if we wait longer, as dozens of boats are just days away from finishing the ARC+ from the Cape Verdes. Steve and Maria are among that crowd, and we have some of their gear onboard. Plans further out than that are a little blurred.
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| Lunch and a cold beer on the beach (in the shade) after a 40 degree hour long walk! |
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| Sitting in the shade enjoying the view of the boats in the bay. |
TECHNICAL
I had to change out another mixing elbow, after changing out the other just last year. That leaves me with no spares unless you count the old ones with JB Weld holding them together. We’ll see what we can find in Martinique.
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| Laurie is working on the electrical panel in the engine room after solar and new batteries were installed. It’s usually over 30 degrees in the boat, but the engine room is much hotter. He has to mop up his sweat before vacating! Talk about earning a cold beer at the end of the day!! |
Speaking of spares, I had sent my failed starter up to our friend in Gouyave to have it repaired last April, using our spare in its place. I contacted the guy and he has no memory of it. We’ve had some telephone discussions, and I sent up his note to him to remind him, but we fear the starter is gone. Although we’ll miss that starter and have to replace it, I think we have to find another repairman for these little motors. A real shame, as the man has repaired many alternators and starters for us. A Grenadian who used to do the same work in Canada, he has grown old, and no longer can even manage his email account.
Solar panels arrived at 5:00 on Monday and we were up bight and early on Tuesday to get the old ones off and new ones mounted before launch. The guys picked us up 20 minutes early, and we were ready!!
Other work included new zippers on the Bimini windshield, two new batteries, two new 200 Watt solar panels over the davits, and completion of my long and involved electrical upgrade.
