Tuesday and the weather started to improve with just occasional showers and some blue sky. Hurrah! We spent most of the day doing boat jobs and watching the anchoring shenanigans – so glad we are at the back of the fleet and away from most of them. Even a large motorboat came in and tried to anchor five times before finally giving up and leaving altogether – I assume embarrassment was behind that decision… Oh yes, and we have a Swedish boat anchored alongside us and they do like to get naked!

About 4 pm we went ashore for sundowners at the Lambie Queen. Had a few cold beers and enjoyed the view out to the anchorage and catching up with the owner. The sun was starting to go down as we headed back to Morphie and we were really pleased to be able to get such a great photo of her. We had a quiet evening followed by a rough night as the wind howled and the boat rolled….. Oh well.

Wednesday and more boat jobs accomplished – Richard is working to a regular maintenance schedule now and I spent a few hours washing the salt off all the external woodwork and stainless steel. The weather continues to improve and the sun is now shining so we take some time out to explore the mangrove swamp. Feeling our way through, around and across sandbanks, Richard the intrepid dinghy captain explorer was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Just inside the entrance we came across quite a few dead boats – presumably remnants from previous storms. Dinking around and there is nobody here apart from us and the birds…. and the huge fish that keep swirling close to the surface and one huge one which almost leaped out of the water alongside me, and it really made me jump it was so close! The whole area just kept opening up as we meandered through and was a very enjoyable way to spend a few hours – a real treat.

On the way back we had a look at the new marina they are building – well, actually, they’ve been building this for more than a decade and very little to show for it so far! And all of this goes on alongside the sleepy traditional way of life with fisherman cleaning today’s catch on the beach….

Oh yes, and at the dock, there are a family of cute little fish to welcome you – and here I am with my hands and camera in the water trying to get a good photo – only to be warned by the locals that this particular type of porcupine puffer fish are incredibly toxic and a puncture wound by one of their spines would be fatal…. Not one of my better ideas then!

Wednesday late afternoon we went ashore to the Lazy Turtle which has just reopened under new management. We enjoyed a few sundowners and had a jolly time chatting with some cruisers before going back to Morphie for dinner and to our rolly bed.

Thursday morning we had a lazy start before going ashore to do a tour of the island. Although we have been to Carriacou before a few times this is one island that we haven’t really explored much. And there really isn’t a lot to see apart from some stunning scenery across the Grenadines and down towards Hillsborough…. But interesting nevertheless, particularly hearing about their traditional boat building heritage, which continues to this day with all construction being done by eye, with no plans.

When we got back to Tyrrel Bay we dinked to the new customs and immigration office where we checked out for a Friday departure to Union Island. Job done and back on board, pretty shattered, so after a restorative nap Richard took me back ashore to the Lazy Turtle for dinner. Good food and pleasant evening….followed by an early night.

Up early Friday morning and we are underway by 8.30 am. Weather forecast was a bit iffy again but nothing to concern us. As we headed out towards the Sisters Rocks the wind kicked in – strongly! But no worries, we are reefed down, and then we get a series of squalls with winds around 35 knots. We changed our course to get some shelter from the foaming seas by running inside Sandy Island towards Hillsborough before we headed out into the channel towards Union Island. And we found some superyachts anchored here too……

As we passed through Hillsborough into the channel the torrential rain squalls just kept coming! Boats were struggling to keep control and one charter boat in particular kept broaching and every time he recovered he ended up on a collision course for us. Luckily we had spotted him before the latest whiteout and kept ourselves safe by taking constant evasive action! What is it with these people? Full sails up in really rough conditions with poor visibility?? Grrrr…..

Oh well…. no harm done… and we arrived into Clifton around 11 ish. Got ourselves sorted out – while simultaneously fending off a selection of boat boys who remembered us from previous visits – and then went into town to check in. Customs was open but immigration not manned – so we had to head off to the airport to do this bit. This always happens to us! Back on board with the new flag hoisted and we had a lazy afternoon on board with constant squalls coming through.

Finally it settled down just long enough for us to get to Happy Island to see Jonti. We spent some time chatting to him and some rather inebriated French and Germans whilst watching Morphie hanging onto her anchor for dear life in the squalls…. The conditions drew the kitesurfers out too and we were royally entertained by their acrobatics! Made it back on board by 7pm and had an early night.

Saturday morning and we are up early – and Happy Birthday to me!!!   Thanks for all the messages and cards – much appreciated…..

We came ashore for breakfast at the Anchorage Hotel and to get internet access.     We are planning to go back to Happy Island for the afternoon and to have dinner there…. and may move onto Petit St Vincent tomorrow if this sun and blue sky continues!

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday night and we enjoyed the last views out to Calvigny Island as the sun started to set. It’s been fun but we were ready to move on.

Friday and we are up early and got ourselves ready to go to sea… Took stock of the last views of our anchorage and then moved out through the reef. A following sea and some nice wind meant that we had a fantastic sail – making up to 7 knots – under reefed headsail alone, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Turned at the airport runway – watching out for planes – and moved up the west coast of Grenada to the capital St Georges, having to douse the sails in the end as unfortunately we couldn’t hold the new course. We had made online reservations for Port Louis Marina and radioed in for our slip information – to be informed that we would have to go stern to as there were no alongside slips available. Damn…..really not happy with that!  Anyway, we get all the fenders and lines out ready and realise that we have to drop dink – if we go stern to between two boats dink will be trapped and we need him to get around. So we do this whilst underway and partially in the shipping channel – and guess what? – I forget to take off one of the securing lines so managed to get a nice rope burn around my upper arm. Ouch!!!!

As we mooched around waiting for the marina rib to assist us they then told us that someone had just left so we could go alongside after all….. great news, but now we have to change all the fenders / lines. Oh well…   Rest of the day was spent working hard.

We awoke Saturday morning to another mixed weather day…. but at least we have a different view!  We went in dink to Foodland to get a major shopping trip out of the way – finding some weird soup mix, not sure I fancy that!

Having stored all our provisions we headed into the Carenage to top up our local mobile phone and have a wander around. There was a Windjammer cruise ship in town and the tourists were milling around looking bemused by the fact that most of the shops were closed!  We enjoyed our first rainbow of the day while we were out and about.

Then the heavens opened again – so we took dink over to Sails – a restaurant which is located at the end of the Carenage – and which overlooks the commercial harbour and the marina. Service was slowwwwww – but we enjoyed a couple of cold beers while watching the weather moving through and then another spectacular rainbow. This one finished at the container port – so we wondered whether this meant a pot of gold had been imported???

The rain moved away so we headed back, got cleaned up, and went into the marina for happy hour where we were joined by the crew from Dragon’s Toy who we had last met in St Lucia.  Nice to catch up again.   Richard was blown away by the huge sailing megayacht in town and took some photos – and informed everyone that we were thinking of trading up!  Not sure that even a lottery win would be enough – $50 mn to buy, $5 mn to run per year???!!! Oh well who cares, we have our dream boat in Morphie anyway and we don’t need crew.  He wasn’t so impressed by the huge stinkpot next door though!

Back on board and we enjoyed playing with the star gazing app and realised that the very very bright planet we could see tonight was Jupiter. Simply amazing….

Sunday morning and a day of rest – just as well really – as it rained and rained and rained and rained…. Got pretty fed up even though we did some useful jobs down below and ended up having a lazy day followed by an early night.

Monday morning and the shops are open again – so laundry delivered, drinks delivery sorted, gas bottle filled and chandlery visited along with numerous jobs done… Richard spent a lot of time with his head down a hole sorting out a Y valve and cleaning out (smelly!) calcium build up in some hoses…. I topped up the varnish again and cleaned all the salt off Morphie. And another happy hour and early night.

Tuesday and it is New Year’s Eve – Happy New Year to our friends and family!!!  We miss you all and wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014….

For New Year’s Eve we went a bit mad and decided to party in style!!!!  So we purchased all inclusive VIP tickets to the marina party and the amount of preparation that has been going on looks like it could go on and on and on and on…. It doesn’t even start until 10 pm. We were pretty excited…..

Whilst doing boat jobs down below there was a knock on the hull – Sha Sha are in town.  They have come into the marina to have lunch so have sought us out. Fantastic – had a really nice couple of hours with them in the restaurant – and then said our fond farewells as we probably won’t see them now until later in the season…. Rest of the day was spent lazing around waiting for the party.

We arrived at the New Year’s Eve party promptly at 10.00 pm and there were about three of us! There were huge numbers of security, police and marina staff around too…. Had a wander around and looked at the stage and the setting for the party and were glad to see loads of bars and covered areas in the VIP area cos the rain keeps on coming down…. Even the superyachts were lit up for the occasion.

There was an additional elevated VIP area too but we couldn’t gain access as this was for ‘special’ VIPs only – jokingly we said that this must be for the Prime Minister and his entourage and, guess what, it was!!! So funny…..

Anyway between torrential rain showers we were out and about drinking, eating, dancing and enjoying the show – lots of twerking going on as usual, but not by me!   We also spent some time with our dock neighbours who have just sailed across the Atlantic from Denmark – really fun people – and one of the couples got engaged half way across the ocean. How romantic…

The New Year arrived and was heralded by the usual countdown, firework display, champagne quaffing and more dancing…. Followed by more rain – and most of the VIP guests ended up under cover on top of what is usually the swimming pool – the floor was vibrating with the movement and the bass from the stage and we did wonder whether it would hold at one point!  Anyway…the party continued and we had a blast, getting back on board at 5.45 am today… and the event was still going strong!   Pretty tired but great fun.

Gone to recover now…….  And yes, it’s still raining!  Bye

Jan

After doing laundry and blogging on Sunday we had a lazy afternoon and evening on board… The weather is closing in and we keep having to run around shutting all the hatches when the squalls blow through….

Monday morning and it was a bit brighter – we carried on doing boat jobs in the morning – and then, in the afternoon, took ourselves off into Lower Woburn to have a wander. And of course we ended up visiting the local rum shop Nimrods. We ended up chatting to a gang of ex-pats who live here in Grenada and were obviously a bit worse for wear – a very funny few hours….

Back on board and we decide it is time to visit Clarkes Court Marina. Strange place – full of old boats that really do not look like they have moved for a fair while – and the bar wasn’t particularly friendly. Everyone seemed to know each other but no-one spoke to us… and we got bitten up by bugs. Not sure we’ll hurry back to this place. On the way back to dink we noticed a guy going out sailing in his little dinghy… We had seen this boat the day before in the anchorage and thought it was drifting around with its sails up until we realised that it wasn’t a ghost ship, but rather that the guy lays down in the bottom of it when underway!

To round off the day we had a pretty nice sunset.

Tuesday morning and it’s Christmas Eve!  Hurrah…. So we had mimosas while taking our Christmas crew photo!

Lazy day on board watching the stormy weather coming in….

In the evening we dinked over to Whisper Cove in a dry period for their Italian night.  Shared a table with Jim and Sharon from ShaSha and another cruising couple and we had a really nice time – also enjoyed bumping into other friendly faces like Eric and Pat from Cutter Loose. The Italian buffet was not particularly authentic – baklava for desert!!! – but was very plentiful and tasty. The Italian singer was pretty good too, particularly enjoyed his Nessun Dorma at the end of the show. During the course of the evening the rain had been coming down really hard and we waited it out to get a dry 10 minutes to grab dink and head off out. When we climbed into dink we were amazed to find ourselves ankle deep in rain water!

Back on board on our own we sat in the dark listening to thunder rumbling and watching the occasional lightning flash around us…. and we toasted in Christmas together. Wasn’t so emotional this year because I am less stressed I guess – but still missed you all!   During the night this storm intensified – sheet lightning like we have never ever seen it lighting up the whole of the interior of the boat every few seconds – and certainly didn’t make for a particularly restful night… particularly with the rain sounding like hail hitting the hull.

In the morning – Happy Christmas folks – and it was still raining – hard! The view wasn’t so great this morning!

We opened our Christmas cards and put them up – in lieu of presents – and then had a quiet time on board with the thunder and lightning still rolling around us. Thankfully early afternoon – time to leave for our Christmas lunch at Taffys – and the weather brightened slightly with a very flat sea from the rain but little sign of sun!

Enjoyed our Christmas lunch with a fair bit of wine and had a good time with ShaSha as always. Was amazed that they had never seen nor heard of Christmas crackers before!   We were back on board relatively early – all of us were pretty wiped out by the late night Christmas Eve and the lack of sleep because of the storm, so when we got back on board Morphie we just sat in the cockpit and talked, listening to the wind, the rain and the lapping of the water against the hull.

Boxing Day and the weather is still inclement – so we are doing absolutely nothing today!   Just like Christmas at home without the cooking LOL…. and NO chocolate or  sweets, can you believe it???  We were quite shocked to find out this morning that this horrendous storm had affected most of the island chain and a number of people had been killed.  Sobering thought….

Tomorrow we are going to move on – round to St Georges.  Probably into Port Louis Marina too as we want to completely provision the boat heavily prior to moving north.   Oh yes, and I think another incentive is the beautiful beach at Grande Anse and the New Year’s Eve party which is happening in the marina!

Bye for now

Jan

Monday afternoon stayed nice so we decided to take the day off and headed ashore to the beach at the Calabash resort.   Really pretty place – had a great time bobbing, sunbathing and generally chilling.   Whilst at the beach bar we were talking to the English chef – the Calabash has a Gary Rhodes restaurant – and we mentioned that we had been here many years ago and enjoyed a lovely afternoon at a small bar in Lower Woburn with some local guys, one of whom – Roger – worked as a chef here too.   It turns out, sadly, that at a very young age Roger died from a massive brain clot, but that LeslieAnn, the supervisor here in the bar, was his widow!   Small world…   So we enjoyed talking about this great chap and how he and his friends made us welcome all that time ago.  Poignant too especially when we realised that LeslieAnn had been left with twins who have limited recollection of their father as they were very young when he passed away and are now coming up for their sixth birthday……  

Looking back out to the anchorage it is time to go…so we said our farewells.  

Back on board we had a quick shower and headed into Prickly Bay marina for happy hour and pizza night.   Kill or cure after a few beers on the beach – so I ordered the small healthy option pizza with salad but ended up with some concoction with chips!   Weird…and not nice either…   Couldn’t be bothered to send it back because the waitress was absolutely rushed off her feet and we had already waited a long time.   Oh well….  at least they have a nice Christmas tree!

Tuesday we headed into the dinghy dock and took the long hot walk into town as we need to get some drinking vouchers from the bank and some provisions before we leave Prickly Bay.   By the time we got there Richard was hungry so we popped into a local eatery and he had his first chicken roti of the season – I’m still being cautious so just had soda water!    Went to the discount supermarket and loaded up with soft drinks and some rum rations along with a few other things – wow, really heavy, and a loooong walk back.  So we flagged down a local bus to help us with a little bit of the journey.  But we still managed to walk about three miles laden down like donkeys!   Phew!  Back on board and after another shower we got ready to welcome Peter and Sylvia on board for sundowners.   Had a really fun evening with them – followed by an early night….

Wednesday finishing up the current list of boat jobs – almost there – and have decided we are going to move around to Clarkes Court Bay on Thursday when the sea state has calmed down a bit and hopefully the rain has moved on….    Quiet day on board – didn’t even go ashore – and managed to tick off most things on our list. Thursday morning up really early, went into the marina for some bread for the freezer, and then waited for a rain shower to go away before we picked up anchor.   Heading out the seas were pretty flat and the sun was shining….  Nice.    Only moving five miles, straight into the wind and waves, so we decided to drag dink along behind us and motor.  

Oh hang on … there is a massive squall coming our way as we turn towards our destination.   So we head further out to avoid the breaking seas in the shallow water – then the squall hit – WHITEOUT and 38 knots of wind – and it went on for quite a while.  We were bouncing off the top of breaking waves, slamming down and burying our nose deep, and then spluttering back up for more trying to steer around them best we could.   It must have looked pretty dramatic to anyone watching – we were just hanging on!    Finally, as we neared the entrance channel to our destination according to our electronic charts, the gloom lifted enough for us to see the markers to guide us in.   Phew…. glad to get the protection of the reef as we came through.

Thursday night Sha Sha came on board for sundowners – and we had a really nice, if boozy, reunion.   Talked about plans for Christmas and, as they have been anchored in this area for a while, they have sussed out all the good stuff for us to do…..  

Friday morning and we were doing our hangover cure bit – jumping straight into the sea.  Lovely way to start a day!    What a great view from our galley port too while fixing breakfast.

After breakfast we headed out in dink for a tour around to see if we could book ourselves in for the festivities.    So went to Whisper Cove Marina to visit the butcher and got some great veal fillet as well as some lean bacon and fresh-baked bread.   We also booked ourselves in for their Italian buffet and live music night on Christmas Eve.     Had a couple of beers while he prepared the meat for us and we waited for the rain to pass – there was a huge iguana there too but he legged it the minute I got the camera out.   Typical!   From Whisper Cove we enjoyed watching Morphie sitting out in the bay on anchor all shiny with loads of swinging room around her.

Then we moved onto Taffys and managed to get booked in for their full three course Christmas day turkey dinner along with pigs in blankets etc!   Hurrah….    That’s Christmas sorted then – we even have a bottle of bubbly in the fridge so that we can toast friends and family on the day itself.   Back on board and a quiet afternoon of reading, sleeping and no drinking before bed….. at the outrageous time of 8pm!

Saturday and we are up before the sun – what a gorgeous sight as it rose into the sky.

Boat jobs take precedence again today – and Richard has fixed the lock on the heads.   We’ve also swapped out the nylon washer and greased up the gooseneck as it was squeaking overnight.   For our non-sailing friends this means taking the boom off from the mast.    We also re-commissioned both the watermaker and the generator and topped up our water tanks.  And we greased up the steering gear and checked all the through hulls – and Richard turned two little LED lights into navigation lights to hang on dink when we are out and about at night.  What a great job!

Saturday night after dinner on board we dinked round the headland to Le Phare Bleu for their Christmas concert.   What a treat – Tammy Baldeo was the lead artist – and she is absolutely amazing and I would love her to get discovered!   Thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and headed back to Morphie glowing in the dark with our new lights….  

Sunday morning up early, had a swim, and now chilling at Whisper Cove Marina doing laundry, blogging etc.    Love this life!

To our friends and family we wish you a very Happy Christmas and hope that you all enjoy the day with each other.  We will raise a glass to you all in the morning and remember those special people who are no longer with us.

Bye for now

Jan

Monday ended up being rained off – so we had a very lazy non-alcohol day on board sleeping, eating and reading.  

Tuesday and it was sunny with blue skies again.   Hurrah!    So we got to work early.   I topped up the varnish repairs with another coat and Richard got on with mechanical jobs.    Finally assistance turned up to help him get the impeller out – this had frozen solid and had broken in situ – and we just didn’t have the correct tools at our disposal which are needed because of the very small tight space we are working in.  Well mission accomplished – sigh of relief – and we now have the very expensive piece of kit that we needed in our possession, so future impeller changes should be a doddle.   The refrigeration guy also turned up and fixed the fridge which was a gas pressure issue.  Very happy about that – we can have cold drinks on board now!    But we also realised that the stuffing gland is leaking – not its customary two to three drips per minute which is acceptable – but one drip per second!   Not good… and we do not want to be on anchor with this issue unresolved, so decided to book into the marina for another couple of days.   Morphie does seem quite comfortable in her slip!

As we were now staying, we headed off to the pool for a few hours bobbing in the sun before an early dinner and evening on board.

Wednesday and Richard works on another issue we found – a leak into the forepeak from the anchor locker.   Another problem resolved.    Yea!!!    But Richard continues to struggle with the stuffing gland.  The locking nut should be ‘finger tight’ only but this is absolutely ceased solid.    It is down a really small hole which he can barely get his arms into as well as two wrenches – which he’s borrowed from Cutter Loose as we are still waiting on ours to arrive….   Well – he still can’t do it.   He comes up for a breather now and again and at one point we both end up laying on our stomachs with one wrench each on the offending nuts – but we just don’t have the brute strength or length of arms to do this job!    And we’ve tried penetrating oil too…   Grrrrrr……   

Eventually we give up and get ourselves ready for the evening as there is a concert in the restaurant tonight – our favourite Grenadian pan band, The Wizards, and Madison Violet are doing a set.    Lovely time had by all – good music, nice food and great company.   Enjoyed spending some time with Eric and Pat (Cutter Loose) although how they manage to look so cool in the heat is beyond me!

Thursday and we continue to persevere with the stuffing gland to no avail – we have asked the guys to come and help us but still not sure when they will fit us in.   Really wanted to leave today….   Anyway, we bumble around all day, chasing the shop down but in the end they admit they can’t fit us in until first thing Friday morning.    Oh well – what can you do?    We are going a little stir crazy here in the marina but need to get this sorted.    So we had another quiet non-alcohol evening on board.

Friday and the weather is starting to close in – there are big seas and strong winds forecast for Saturday and Sunday so need to get moving today.   Jason turned up – and he is a very very strong guy with long arms – just what we needed!   But it still took him quite a while.   Being optimistic I busy myself getting our water and electricity meter read, picking up the laundry, and generally get the boat ready to go to sea.   Hurrah – job done – we are on our way!    Marina slip paid for and we head out around lunchtime into Prickly Bay where we plan to anchor and sit out the weather. 

The five mile trek was pretty uncomfortable in building seas but we arrived in good time and found a spot – although the bay is pretty busy – and anchored easily.   Went ashore to the chandlery for more bits and pieces and we suddenly realised that it was Friday the 13^th December!   Glad we didn’t know that before we left Le Phare Bleu…    It was great to see Morphie back on the hook and she seemed pretty happy to us!    

Later on we headed into Prickly Bay Marina and enjoyed listening to New Dimensions – not as good as the Wizards though – and met some really nice people, particularly Sylvia and Peter from Tradewind of Lynher, who had just returned to Grenada having been cruising in Venezuela for many years (and who, amazingly, are in their 70s!)…

We were back on board relatively early for a light supper and settled down to our first night on anchor this season.  It was a little rolly – but nicely so and quite soothing.  Well, it was until about 3 am when I was taken really ill.    Not sure what started it as we have both eaten and drunk the same for the last few days….  

Saturday morning and I’m still feeling rough – we go ashore to get some provisions from the local shop – and Richard has breakfast ashore while I try some toast and tea.   On the way back we spot a couple of boats a bit too close together, especially with the wind getting up and 30 knots forecast for later today.   Then we realise that one of them has actually dragged into another and the guy on the front is trying desperately to stop his boat getting damaged.   Getting back on board and turning on the radio and we realise that this is not an isolated incident – the volunteer rescue service is being tested today!    We also see a large helicopter moving low over the sea followed by the Grenada Coast Guard zooming out of the anchorage….   Fingers crossed it doesn’t mean anything serious going on out there.

After all that excitement I’m still feeling really poorly so take to my bed for the rest of the day while Richard gets on with some really useful jobs like taking out the dimmable tungsten halogen overhead lights and converting them into LEDs.  This has taken down our lighting load from 160 watts to 24 watts which will be much better for our batteries.   He also cuts the hard wiring to all the other lights and fans and puts in connectors so that they can easily be removed for cleaning and repair in future.    And now the wind is really howling – so he did a last minute check around – and we settle down for the night.   Didn’t sleep much – the creaking and groaning combined with significant howling and heavy rain wasn’t conducive really!

Sunday and I’m still feeling rough – Richard carries on working on boat jobs and I settle into the cockpit for a cuppa.   The wind still howling and it’s very grey out there – with huge seas running – but at least the rain is intermittent now.   Then we noticed a bit of excitement when we realise a very large trimaran had run aground on the reef – and luckily Rescue One were out there helping them get free.  Hope the boat isn’t too badly damaged….   We had been invited out for dinner tonight but had to give it a swerve – I haven’t been able to eat anything substantial yet and, with the weather continuing to howl, we really didn’t want to leave Morphie.  So another quiet night on board.

This morning – Monday – and thankfully I’m feeling a bit better, the sun has come out, the wind has moderated a bit, and we have come ashore to take advantage of the internet.   Hoping to have a beach afternoon today if the weather holds.

Bye for now

Jan

We have now settled easily back into our routine – mornings are for boat jobs and afternoons are for having fun!

We awoke Friday morning – still in Le Phare Bleu marina – to a beautifully stunning bright day with a flat calm sea as we looked out from the bow.   Wow!

Richard is still trying to work out where to store everything and is reorganising his tools and spare parts into a more logical order…   Along with essential things like changing impellers, fan belts, tightening stuffing glands etc.    I was definitely in the way so decided to get busy on the stainless steel again – and we were both pretty pleased with our efforts.   Suitably hot and bothered we took ourselves off to the pool and enjoyed a leisurely few hours until we returned to Morphie for a curry dinner on board.    Walking back we enjoyed the sights of the Vastra Banken lit up for Christmas.

Saturday morning up early and again Richard is doing essential mechanical maintenance things down below – and I’m off to the shop for some more ice.   It looks like our fridge is playing up unfortunately.   Oh well….things do break on boats.   Will give it another couple of days to see how it gets on before we call out someone to help.  We have done all the obvious trouble-shooting things…   Anyway, after I come back I start on the woodwork – there are a few spots on the rail where the varnish has started to peel – so I rubbed them down and did some patch repairs.   Pretty pleased with my efforts!

In the middle of all this, we were pleased to see Eric and Pat from Cutter Loose – another Island Packet – who had just pulled in having splashed from Grenada Marine.   Really nice to see them again.   After a few hours in the pool cooling off we came back, cleaned up, and headed into the restaurant for dinner…. and were joined by Eric and Pat and had a lovely evening catching up.   Oh yes, there was a polar bear in the restaurant too…. and Morphie was looking very festive with her new Christmas lights at the end of the dock.

Sunday morning and we declare it a day of rest.   So at noon we head off to Taffys in Lower Woburn for Sunday lunch with Sha Sha.  Roast pork and fresh veggies with the rare addition of a Yorkshire pudding – not very Caribbean I know, but couldn’t resist it!   Yum.

We enjoyed the dinghy ride there and back and the views from the restaurant across to Calvigny Island – a very exclusive island resort which has to be rented in its entirety and can take up to 50 guests for an unpublished price!

Headed back about 2.30 pm having said our farewells….    Bit rainy and we hoped that it would hold off as there is a dinghy concert this afternoon.   Back on the dock, quickly got ourselves ready, and then took the big rib over to the barge for the concert.   Today Madison Violet were playing – a singer songwriter duo from Toronto.

On the barge we enjoyed watching the dinghies coming in and had a bit of a giggle at the cruiser’s dog with sunglasses – just one of many sights to be seen!    The concert was great, the beer was cold and the company was fun.   I did feel for the group though – the barge they were performing on was really rolling and at one point they had to grab on to avoid falling over!   People fell over on our barge too – but this may have been excess alcohol???

They even sent Mike up the mast to take the video…..

Thankfully we didn’t get any serious downpours although there was a lovely rainbow at one point.

Monday morning and we were supposed to be on our way out to the anchorages.  But unfortunately the fridge is definitely playing up – and it’s pouring with rain – so we are staying put and have asked for a guy to come by to have a look.   So it looks like we will remain marina dwellers for a little while longer…..

We have an important announcement to make – there has been a crew change this season!    Bubo the owl decided that he didn’t like being parted from his mum and Hullbridge so he was returned to Elaine – who was pretty happy to get him back!    That left us with a vacancy and Jack donated Gervaise – the monkey – as a replacement.  Gervaise has been living on board Jack’s boat which was anchored in the Crouch and he wanted some sun.   So he is now on Morphie and is entertaining us with his magical dance moves and monkey noises.  You cannot fail to be happy when he gets going…so a welcome addition!

Bye for now

Jan

IMPORTANT NOTE:   We changed our mobile phone contracts before leaving the UK and are now no longer able to receive text messages (which was not something we realised).   We are not ignoring you!   Please use e-mail instead to contact us.   Thanks.

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Monday morning and we are up very very early….   Had to leave the hire car in the car park and had a cab coming for us at 7.30 am.   We have already reserved a marina slip – not a great one to be fair – but it will suit our purpose.   So off we go quite nervously anticipating the launch day ahead.

When we arrived in the boat yard we were disappointed that no-one was around to finish off the anti-fouling.  We still needed the hurricane cradle struts removed and new ones put in place so that they could prime and paint the spots that had been missed.  Well – nothing happened – and we are now in a position where the paint will not have time to dry between coats and being launched.  So we head off to the office and they say they will launch us later in the afternoon.    Not happy with that – there is supposed to be eight hours between last coat and ‘splash’ for optimum ablative paint performance.   So we have  a bit  of a debate and decide that it is probably in our own best interests to get them to finish the paint today and splash Tuesday morning instead.   So we organise this with the boatyard, extend our hotel stay and reschedule our arrival into Le Phare Bleu marina too.    Phew….  Oh hang on, we haven’t got any transport to get back either!   Oh dear…     

The ‘boys’ have now gone for lunch so we headed into the boatyard restaurant – Richard wisely went for the local special of beef stew but I madly went for the fish….which was absolutely disgusting.   I am a bit particular about fish and it was just too strong for me – Richard tried a bit and wouldn’t have eaten it either.  So decided best thing to do was to feed it to the boat dogs – had a particular favourite who came by every day, so enjoyed some cupboard love!   

Anyway we decide to hang around for the rest of the day to check that all the paint is done and finished before we leave and then organise for Blendon the taxi driver to come back to collect us.    Unfortunately it was late again by the time we left so we missed our final chance of seeing Pam and Glen before they flew home for Christmas.  Shame….

On the way back to the hotel, Blendon could sense that we were tired, very very hot and a bit fed up with the whole thing, so suggested we visit a rum shop on the way back.  Which was a great experience sitting by the side of the road watching the world go by enjoying a couple of very cold beers.   A really welcome break!     Arriving back at Le Phare Bleu we were both so shattered we just had showers and went to bed – would you believe by 8 pm!!!!  

Tuesday morning up very very early again and Blendon was back for a 7.30 am pickup.   Full of anticipation and a bit nervous about what was to come as we have never launched Morphie before and getting her out of the water was pretty stressful!    Well…anyway….we got there in good time and then waited, and then the heavens opened, and we waited again.  Did some useful stuff like checking all Y valves and fresh-water flushing the diesel engine to ensure it would run freely.  Finally we heard the beepers of the travel lift coming towards us and we had to get off of Morphie for the last time on land – with both of us giving her a quick hug.   

All mooring lines and fenders were ready and now we just had to stand around and watch her being got ready and lifted for splashing back into the sea.   Sooooo nervous!   Quite a spectacle….

Finally she is in – we climb back on board from her stern – and we throw the lines ashore.    The line handlers calmly keep her in the middle of the slip, although we have fenders along both sides just in case, and then the travel lift throws off her shackles and reverses away.   Morphie is finally back in the sea where she belongs and the engine starts like a dream and we motor away.   Phew – mission accomplished!

Immediately we picked up a mooring ball out in the bay and started to hank on the main sail…   Of course there were rain squalls while we did it but thankfully we managed before finally taking our last look at Grenada Marine.

We then headed off out and did the few miles around to Le Phare Bleu marina.   And it was horrible – lumpy, big seas, swelly etc, the works – but you know what, we just didn’t care as we were back on board Morphie where we belong.   Pulling into the channel at Le Phare Bleu and we were met by Stairon (the dockmaster) who told us where our berth was – and we were delighted to be allocated one tucked up right into the corner.   Which, ironically, was the same berth we left from in August.  Hurrah!

During the course of our trip we heard Troubadour on the radio from Mount Hartman Bay.  Thought they had left Grenada already!    Made contact but, unfortunately, they were leaving in the morning so no chance to get together with them either.  But no doubt we will catch up with them up island later on. 

We secured Morphie for the night and headed off back to our room.  After cleaning ourselves up we enjoyed a couple of happy hour drinks watching the sun going down then – after checking on her again – we crashed for another early night.

Up early Wednesday and we were on board Morphie by 8 am to hank on the two head sails before the wind got up – hurrah, all done!    Now back to the room to pack it all up – bringing down the food and fridge / freezer contents first – then back for the clothes, bags, spare parts and other important stuff like tea-bags!     Finally we had everything on board – but not stowed – and the next thing was to clear a path to our cabin and make it habitable for the night.  We also had to get dink off the coach roof, re-inflated, and the outboard reinstalled….  Finished by just before 5pm – what a full-on day – and had a couple of beers before headed off back for another early night.  Becoming a bit of a habit!

Thursday – today – we awoke very early and we did jobs again.  Richard was doing important stuff like reinstalling dorades, replacing gas struts, organising spares etc etc and I was doing things like laundry, collecting our cockpit cushions which had new closed cell foam installed, and polishing the stainless.   We decided that we would call it a day at lunchtime today so headed off in dink and surprised Sha Sha with a visit round in Hog Island anchorage.   Spent a very pleasurable few hours bobbing in their fancy chairs and then back on board for dinner and a relaxing evening…..

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday morning we head back bright and early to the boatyard…. full of expectations about the antifoul work starting today on Morphie’s bottom.  We have all the paint purchased – and wow it’s very expensive! – everything is ready to go, we just need the workers.  So we carry on unpacking and putting things in order….but still no-one shows up.  Oh dear – island time again!  This drives me bonkers and I’m not allowed to go to the office to make my displeasure known as it will only make things worse – so Richard tracks them down and with his smooth talking, soon a chap turns up to do the primer coat.  And we are now working against the clock as they knock off at 5pm and time is ticking!  Not confident at all at this point that we are going to meet our ‘splash’ date of Monday.  So I carry on down below and Richard supervises the work – and, wow, Morphie has been tangoed with yellow primer.  Eventually we head back to the hotel and were sorry to have missed Glen and Pam who popped in earlier for a drink… Had a nice dinner in the restaurant as a treat and then early to bed. It was a stressful day!

Friday we were up bright and early again and headed off to the boat yard in our trusty hire car.  Richard continues to hone his racing car skills.  He tells me that he isn’t going that fast and that I’m just a very nervous passenger.  Yes there is some truth in that but he’s not the one looking directly down into huge drop offs on my side of the road or very large deep water gullies whizzing alongside with what seems like inches to spare!  On the way to the marina we picked up some local delicacies from the bakery and I had a very funny encounter with six large rasta men who were getting their breakfast and couldn’t believe that a tourist was up that early!   I’m not sure whether they were on their way home from a party or going to work – but I think they remained under the influence of something or other….

Arriving at the boat yard and the guys turn up on time…  Hurrah!   I make myself busy unpacking, but we are pretty much there now and not a lot more to be done until we get into the water and hoist the sails on, re-inflate the dinghy etc.   So I head off to the laundry to make the most of the self-service machines – took ages – and all the time beating off the thousands of midges that live around the boatyard in all the standing water!   Finally finished the laundry and head back to Morphie and was delighted to see that they had finished one coat and were about to start the second.  I then spotted that they were about to splash another yacht – so followed along to see what happened. Glad I watched it – not sure that it has filled me with confidence as the line handlers were a bit casual!   Anyway…. back to Morphie and she is almost finished.  Just the areas to be done when the hurricane cradle ‘arms’ are removed.  And she is looking absolutely beautiful.

The minute the guys packed up for the weekend so did we!  We headed back to our room for a night in front of the telly after some food….  With the villa opened up and the beautiful scents from the lovely grounds it truly is a special spot.

Saturday we took a day off from the boat yard as the guys are not working – so headed off into town to do a big provisioning run while we have the benefit of a car.  Massive shop – and more stuff from the chandlery of course – and back to the villa to get all of it put away.  Had a leisurely afternoon chilling and then headed off to Little Woburn to meet Jim and Sharon from Sha Sha who were celebrating Jim’s birthday.

Well the taxi didn’t turn up – so we cadged a lift from the security guy – and Richard got to ride in the back of a pickup truck!  What fun….  Arrived at the restaurant and were a little put off by the huge crowds of people around in the square below and the loudest music ever.  Apparently there had been a naked car wash event earlier and this was the spin-off party, along with a ‘twerking’ competition.  Richard was a bit disappointed we had arrived too late for the main event!!!   Anyway – had our reunion with Jim and Sharon – and it was lovely to catch up with them and to meet other new faces.  Had a good time but, would you believe it, we left at 9pm as we had another busy day ahead of us.

Sunday up really early and we headed off to the boat yard to do what we could – as well as dropping some stuff off that we needed for Monday’s launch.  Spent a few hours there and then returned to the villa via a bit of a scenic route – and Richard picked up two hitchhikers again…   So spent about 15 minutes chatting to the young man who was all dressed up and was running late for church.    Followed by the rather stinky rasta man who got a bit panicky when the child locks wouldn’t let him out LOL.

It rained and rained and rained all day…. so we enjoyed a lazy afternoon in our villa.  At about 4ish it cleared up a bit but not enough to get in the pool so we just took up residence in some comfy chairs and enjoyed watching the weather – later we were joined by Jim and Sharon for happy hour sundowners – and then early to bed after a cheese on toast supper!   A big day beckons.

Bye for now
Jan

Had an incredibly hectic week or so trying to say goodbye to everybody – had some great laughs, amazing generosity and kindness shown, as well as some sadness at parting again…..  Thank you all for making our few months at home so special.

Finally we were packed up and headed off to Heathrow with as much hand luggage as we could physically manage and bags for the hold on the limit in terms of weight! And I promise only about 20% was clothes related…..  We are travelling cattle class this time – no turning left for this girl now that we are cruisers.  Well, after a slowish run around the M25 through the miles of roadworks we arrived to be confronted by huge British Airways signs warning us about everything, but especially about heavy bags and over sized hand luggage!   Oh dear…  So we headed off to the “weigh and repackage area” – supplied just so that we take them seriously I guess??? – and made sure we only had one checked bag that would incur the extra £40 charge. Now at the drop bag desk and the BA woman was a bit concerned that we didn’t have ESTAs on file – and was very relieved to find that we had US visas… So much so that she forgot to charge us. Result!

After getting through security checks we ended up in the departure lounge admiring the very trendy Christmas trees that adorned the terminal. Eventually our gate was announced so off we go – full of strange feelings and a little nervousness – thinking of friends and family we are leaving behind at the same time as being excited about seeing Morphie again.

Was an OK flight – chicken or pasta meal choice as usual – please change the tune.  Oh yes, and if the chicken is in a mushroom sauce tell me. Yuck!!!   To make up for it there was a nice Pinot Grigio available so we settled down and enjoyed a couple of good movies. Filled in the US customs declaration and steeled myself for the usual two to three hour nightmare that is immigration in Miami – what!?!?!?   Through in less than an hour – a record for us – and, in fact, it took us longer to walk there from the plane than it did to get processed!   Feeling a little smug – we got a cab to the hotel and checked in. Richard usually likes to hit the bar for a night cap but he is shattered and wants to go straight to bed. Very unusual but feeling pretty tired myself so didn’t argue…

Up very early – that five hour time difference always does that to us – so had breakfast and headed out to Home Depot to purchase a 110V sander. Mission accomplished – but frustrated that our US bank account cards were rejected at the ATM. WTF??? So got back to our room and I called them – luckily it was a free call – to find out that they had not been activated on their system and could not be done retrospectively. Soooooo frustrating as we had done this in London in August. Oh well I guess that small pot of dollars is safe this trip!

Now it was time to go to the airport – usual Miami chaos resumed – and it took a while to get checked in.    We avoided the $100 excess baggage charge again because we offloaded 9lbs into our hand luggage because they didn’t care about the size. But am pretty fed up with repacking constantly!  Finally all done and we wandered through the terminal admiring the fish art on the way…..

Then we finally settled into our favourite bar which just happened to conveniently be opposite our gate.   Shared a lunch of fish and prawn with fries … along with a Corona. Life is good!

Onto the next flight – a few hours later and we are arriving into Grenada. Queued up in the red channel at customs and declared all our boat spares / tools, paid the duty, and was warmly welcomed by Martin the “yellow taxi man” that we had used last time. Quick road trip and we are checking into our lovely self-contained villa at Le Phare Bleu – and went off to the bar for our first ice cold Carib. Fantastic – and was warmly welcomed back by the staff who all remembered us. Lovely….and so to bed in the air conditioned bedroom after Richard had dutifully dispatched the very large cockroach who had taken up residence in the mosquito net over the four poster.

Awoke this morning to a hot day – what a difference from freezing London!    And I was puzzled by all the noises outside – had a peak and it was a huge flock of starling-like birds who had taken a shine to the tree outside our door. When they spotted me they all flew off – and resembled a Hitchcock scene!   Spooky… After an early breakfast – enjoying the lovely views from the restaurant – we took delivery of our hire car and headed off to Grenada Marine to see Morphie.

Very nervous now – would she be OK?  We know that recently some boats had been broken into – and, assuming in the absence of news we are unaffected – but still nervous!   And did we do it right?   Will we be bug infested or mould ridden?  Thankfully she was looking great waiting for her protective wax to be removed and no problems on any front. Phew – relief.  Felt great to be reunited….

Spent a busy (hot!) day unpacking some of her contents, airing stuff, and putting some canvas back on…. Called it a day at 4pm and came back for pool happy hour, followed by a quick noodle dinner and so to bed.

Bye for now
Jan