We started our first cruising season at the end of November 2012 and were immediately frustrated by the fit-out work not having being completed when we arrived in St Thomas – everyone being on island time – but were particularly annoyed as we had given six months’ notice prior to our arrival in the islands. And that’s without mentioning the stuff that wasn’t done properly the first time round and had to be rectified…..

While we were waiting on crucial parts to be delivered – we pottered around and visited Tortola, Norman Island, Virgin Gorda, Jost van Dyke, Marina Cay, Anegada, St John, Peter Island and Cooper Island, sometimes just going the long way round to reintroduce ourselves to Morphie and get used to sailing her again. We enjoyed a fantastic Christmas (thanks in particular to the Corsairs gang!) and celebrated New Year’s Eve in Cane Garden Bay – before we returned for our third and final time into Red Hook, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands and finally slipped for our new adventure on 5 January 2013.

We then did our final spin through the British Virgin Islands to say goodbye to all the friends we had made over the years as well as waiting for an appropriate weather window – and putting the frustrations behind us we finally slipped for St Martin on 18 January 2013.  We had a tough overnight trip but were pleased with the way we – and Morphie – stood up to it….

We visited the following islands and I’ve asterisked our favourites:

• St Martin* – great food, great supermarkets, lovely scenery and fantastic French pastries for breakfast.
• Saint Maarten – Dutch side and more commercial
• Anguilla* – sleepy, welcoming people and up-market resorts
• St Bartholomew (St Barts) – expensive and full of huge superyachts
• St Eustatius* (Statia) – sleepy, welcoming people and an amazing volcano
• St Kitts – fantastic history, annoying customs practices, some dodgy areas
• Nevis* – beautiful black sand beaches, friendly beach bars but difficult to beach dink
• Antigua – loads of history and great marina
• Barbuda – pink beach and amazing frigate bird sanctuary
• Guadeloupe – bad weather meant we didn’t really explore much
• Iles de Saintes* – beautiful islands and French food
• Dominica* – stunning rainforest, volcanos, waterfalls, rivers, rum shops, fantastic diving and friendly people but poor for provisioning
• Martinique – great beaches and historic capital but average food and poor service
• St Lucia* – great choice of restaurants, best Chinese ever, amazing to anchor under the Pitons and, of course, holiday with mum.
• Bequia* – sleepy, great beach, friendly people, fantastic varnish work by Winfield
• Mustique* – part of British history, shame it was a bit quiet when we were there
• Canouan – good anchorage, nice beach and hotel, cheap beer in the supermarket, but theft from a boat behind us.
• Tobago Cays* – the jewel in the crown.  Turtles galore.
• Mayreau* – Saltwhistle Bay fantastic picturesque beach but didn’t like the vibe of the village or Saline Bay anchorage
• Union Island* – Chatham Bay amazing and friendly but boat boys annoying in Clifton and boat stolen whilst we were there
• Happy Island* – Jonti’s little paradise
• Petit St Vincent* – beautiful anchorage with pale blue water and great beach bar
• Carriacou* – sleepy, friendly, welcoming island and great t-shirt shopping.
• Grenada* – amazing marinas, rolly anchorages, fantastic beach, lovely hotel, big supermarkets, chandleries and Morphie’s home for the worst of the hurricane season.

In total – excluding duplicate visits to islands in the US and British Virgin Islands at the start of our trip and when we returned north for the Smith family holiday – we sailed to 34 islands and visited 56 anchorages…..covering 1251 miles.   What an adventure!

Reflecting on our experiences we had the following highs:

• Meeting some great cruiser couples / families and forging lasting friendships
• Meeting cruisers who are young at heart if not in years
• Dolphins!
• Turtles!
• Fantastic bobbing in wonderful clear blue sea
• Great food – particularly in French St Martin, Anguilla, St Lucia, Union Island and Grenada
• Seeing a seahorse and two frogfish on a single dive in Bequia
• Pristine and uncrowded dive sights – particularly in Statia and Dominica
• Navigating to and from different islands / anchorages
• Visiting so many wonderful islands – different cultures, fantastic history, friendly people, amazing sightseeing
• Beautiful beaches…
• Swimming under waterfalls
• Driving through rainforests / volcanos
• Mechanical failures that we could fix ourselves
• Eating fresh fruit as it falls from trees when out walking
• The full moon / the sunrise / the sunset / sailing (particularly at night) / isolated anchorages and living on board
• Carnival!

And then there were the lows:

• Frustrating delay in starting our cruising life
• Island Yacht staff not turning up for our leaving party
• Trying to keep up with the dirty laundry
• Cruisers who think that our common lifestyle makes us good friends on first meeting
• Cruisers who are young in years but old in habits (er…I mean boring!)
• Provisioning in some islands, particularly for good quality meat
• Receiving bad news from home and not being able to do anything about it
• Emotional response to news from home – even the good news!
• Some unfriendly / shady locals
• No whales!
• Bureaucracy of moving between islands and overtime fees
• Mechanical failures that we couldn’t fix ourselves
• Leaving Morphie on the hard on her own

So the burning question is did the cruising life suit us?   YES!     Would we do it again?  YES!   Did the lows ever outweigh the highs?  NEVER…     A fantastic adventure and we are very excited about doing it all again…. although not sure of our route yet for next season.   We leave home on 26 November arriving in Grenada on 27 November to continue our cruising life.   So that’s it folks….   Please return to view the blog at the end of November.   And to round it all off, I’ll leave you with a snapshot of the last amazing nine months.  Enjoy!

Jan

Wednesday headed off early to the boatyard…. It was a squally day with rain showers coming through frequently and of course this was the day I was trying to get the rugs dry….and they kept getting rained on!!!!   Without the canvas we also got rain coming in down below through the companionway – so with that shut down it was a bit like working in a sauna…..  Anyway around 3pm – having achieved quite a lot with bagging and packing up stuff – we called it a day and went back to our air conditioned apartment and watched TV!!!

Thursday and we are finally getting there….. Never did we dream that laying up Morphie for a few months would be so much work!  We have been flat out for over a week now….. but we also recognise that as we haven’t done this before we have probably gone way over the top…. Will be interesting to see what strategies worked and what didn’t when we get back. We called it a day early afternoon and went back to the marina to enjoy happy hour in the pool along with the crew of moodyfinn – Chris, Jaana and their beautiful kids James, Charlie and Alice. Went back to our apartment for dinner and then down to their boat for a chat – now that they had got the kids to bed.. Great evening – ended up a bit of a late night! – really fun people.

Friday and off out early again and we spent most of the day washing everything down with water and vinegar – which is supposed to help prevent mould in this humid environment – and went back to the marina pretty early as we had made arrangements to go out in the evening. Friday night we got a cab down to Mount Hartman bay to pick up Chris and Linda and then went round to the Dodgy Dock restaurant at the True Blue resort. It was Mexican night – with a great live band and professional dancers showing their amazing skills. Fun time had by all and Chris and Linda even enjoyed a dance…. unlike us both who were quite happy to just watch!

Saturday and we are up early determined that this will be it at the boatyard – so we packed our suitcases, vacuum packed down the clothes we were planning to leave behind, and headed over to Morphie. Went via Island Water World to pick up some pre-ordered spares – spare toilet and water pump this time – and then did a quick drive to the airport so that we knew how to get there on Monday morning.  Arrived at the boatyard – thankfully hurricane cradle is now complete – and went through our checklists. All done…time to say goodbye. Well that was it – I’m blubbing like a baby and really don’t want to leave Morphie…. Incredibly mixed emotions – I really want to see my friends and family – but also want to continue with the adventure…. We are only going home for three months – this is ridiculous – get a grip woman!

Drove away sadly and I managed to get it together by the time we arrived back at the marina. Decided to treat ourselves to lunch in the restaurant and were surprised to bump into Chris and Linda who had dinked round for lunch!  Anyway…..lunch turned into an afternoon session in the pool….joined by others from the marina….and onto the veranda of our room for a few more hours. What a great end to the day and cheered me up no end!

Sunday morning and we headed to the pool quite early – and then got a lift round to Hog Island where we spent the afternoon listening to the live reggae band whilst bobbing in the warm water with Chris, Jaana and the kids…. Lovely.

Then we headed back to the pool and bobbed with mum and dad as well as played with the kids…. Richard even played monsters…..   And I joined in with them doing backward somersaults in the water…  Unfortunately the pool wasn’t quite deep enough and I ended up scraping my face along the bottom…. So surfaced a bit bloody and had a very very sore nose. This is going to look great!!!   Mmmmmmm… Oh well – damage done – time to say farewell to the family. Hope to catch up with them again at some point in the future.

Monday fly day and we have a tiring trip ahead as, to keep the costs down, we have used our air miles so are heading the long way round home – Grenada to Miami to Houston to London!!!  Anyway we had a very very early start – enjoyed the sight of the sun coming up over the bay as we left – and headed off to the airport. Checked in and security cleared we settled down to breakfast….

The plane took off on time – with me getting upset at leaving Morphie behind again!!! – and we enjoyed the beautiful sights of the Turks and Caicos islands and the Bahamas below us through the clouds.

Landed on time – and did the usual five mile walk round the houses to get to the immigration desks. Big sign up warning people that federal cuts had impacted upon staffing levels so waiting times had increased! Oh great – and we have a connection in three hours. Well it was the usual nightmare – why do we always get put into a line behind a range of people that the immigration people decide need to be investigated a bit more thoroughly than most???!!! Grrrrrrr…….. Anyway we finally got through to the baggage claim area after almost two hours and legged it through customs / rechecking the bags / and onto the gate where our plane is leaving from. We managed to get there with half an hour to spare so quickly grabbed a Chinese takeout and found a table … PS spot the red nose!!!!

Took off again on time and had an uneventual trip to Houston – found the little weird underground electric train to change terminals and had a couple of cold beers at the Texas restaurant while waiting for our London connection. Took off on time and nine hours later we landed in London. Home again…. and it was sunny!

Not planning to blog whilst I’m at home – but do plan an overview of this trip, along with the highs and the lows – which I’ll get done soon…. So this is just another ‘bye for now’….

Jan

Wednesday we picked up our anchor off of Grand Anse beach and headed round to Le Phare Bleau marina, on the south coast of Grenada, where we are booked in. We had a really uncomfortable trip with 20 knot winds on the nose and five foot seas….and couldn’t sail it either!  We barely made three knots under engine and were pleased to get in the area of the bay where the marina is situated – bad news was that the sea state meant we couldn’t tell where the reefs where even though it was at noon with the sun high in the sky!   Never mind – we picked our way in gingerly and found the markers on this dog legged entry – and were assisted into our alongside slip by the dockmaster and his assistant. Great line handlers – good slip – and we were very happy to find ourselves with fast internet on board!   Once we were set we started work with gusto and the first job was to remove dink from the davits and get cleaning – as well as removing the outboard onto the rail. We then treated ourselves to cheap beer at happy hour – very happy at about a £1 a bottle! We came back on board to have dinner and an early night….. Productive day but very tiring and also a bit emotionally charged – the start of the hard work marks the final days of our first cruising season. Can’t quite believe we have been out almost nine months…..

Thursday we started dismantling stuff and sorting out jobs we need to do…. There is so much – but the main tasks today were polishing and protecting dink’s hyperlon tubes; to fresh water flush the outboard motor; take some canvass off, clean and re-waterproof it as well as starting to clean the external stainless steel. Oh yes we took the main and staysail off too – flaking and bagging them on the dock. We left the genoa to be done when we get to the boatyard just in case of an engine failure on the way…… The unforeseen downside to removing the main at this stage was that the furler foil inside the mast bangs around without a sail….and drove us crazy. Luckily it couldn’t be heard far from the boat – we did walk the docks to check! – so we just had to put up with it…. Happy Hour in the bar – cheap beer again – and we loved the fact that Captain Jack Sparrow visited for Happy Argggghhhhh in his sunken ship!!!!

Friday – more stainless to be done; we also thoroughly cleaned and waxed the topsides; removed more canvass / washed it / rewaterproofed it; and lifted dink up onto the coachroof where he will live whilst on the hard. Also “pickled” the watermaker for storage…. And done some other stuff too…. Wow this is hard physical work – and we were hoping to link up with a local chap to help us with the heavy stuff – but although we left messages he didn’t turn up… Oh well… This evening Happy Hour was on the Vastra Banken – the historic lightship that is a formal restaurant (in high season) and has a cruisers lounge and houses the marina’s toilet and shower block… Amazing place…. Enjoyed a lovely sunset tonight….

Saturday – more of the same… and took ourselves off to the beautiful pool for a few hours into happy hour…. Back on board for an early night. We are sleeping really well with all this physical activity!

Sunday and it was time to start on the interior – we were lucky enough to be invited to Hog Island by Larry off of Slipstream V but sadly declined. But we’ll definitely take him up on his offer next week when all work will be finished!!!! Quiet exhausted night on board and early to bed.

Monday and it was time to go round to Grenada Marine for haul out. Amazing kindness from the owners of Le Phare Bleu who gave us access to our booked apartment very early in the morning so we were able to move all our clothes and remaining food stocks in before we left….. Did a very tight turn onto the fuel dock – very successful, well done Richard!!!! – and then we were on our way. Was another rough trip (and our last this season…. boo hoo…..) with rain at times – but it was only a few miles away…. Worked our way into the bay and picked up a mooring ball…. Took a final crew photo while we waited around to be called to the lift dock….

At this point they told us we have to go stern too – no-one told us that!   Not happy – the wind was blowing hard and we had frequent rain squalls coming through. Anyway…..we made it into the slip…. but unfortunately the wind caught us out and Morphie’s bow was swept towards to the concrete dock…and even with Richard’s impressive speed of reactions….we touched the dock on her rail…..   Only cosmetic damage sustained on the wood but both of us were really upset….. Nine months out and we manage to scratch the boat on our last manoeuvre??!!?? Damn…….. Anyway – we had to put it behind us quickly – because suddenly Morphie is being lined up with strops and lifted out of the water; jet washed, and then motored around to her final spot. Stressful and worrying times!

We had paid for a hurricane cradle and they lowered her into it. Few more legs to be completed and some props in place as a temporary measure….. Not happy but it will be done before we leave!!! We think it is just a matter of keeping on their case!!!!  We got tied down anyway so very secure….. Also went to visit Glen and Pam’s boat Blue Pearl – took some photos for them – and gave her a pat.

Back to Le Phare Bleu by taxi and enjoyed the open-air veranda, air-conditioned bedroom with huge bed, unlimited water in the showers and the kitchen – complete with huge American style fridge – to cool our remaining libations!

Tuesday we picked up our hire car for the week – a Rav4 – and took off for the boatyard. Up the ladder onto Morphie and removed the genoa….  All three sails were then delivered to the loft for cleaning and storage whilst we are away. Oh wow…. the list keeps growing…. and so damn hot down below with all hatches closed because of rain today….. Richard thinks it could be a good weight loss plan – and we could both do with losing some!

Wednesday more of the same planned…. Phew… Watch this space!

Bye for now

Jan

Friday, as planned, we did our provisioning at Foodland … along with a trip into Island Water World for more stuff – cleaning products this time. Coming back through the channel we followed a ship leaving harbour – they are really huge when you are in a dinghy – so we were pretty careful not to get too close to get swamped by his wake!! Coming through the anchorage we were amazed by how many boats were still coming in…. pretty busy now as everyone is arriving from far and wide for Carnival.

Back on board we unpacked and were grateful that we were back before it rained cats and dogs. There was a great rainbow during the afternoon too – although struggled to get a good photo as the camera is playing up pretty bad now with focus and zoom problems. Think it is time to replace it – but hope it will see us through, as the selection here isn’t a good as at home. Following a stunning sunset we had a quiet night on board. Well I say quiet – it wasn’t all that, as the thumping sounds from the Soca buses came through loud and clear!

Saturday morning we listened to the cruisers net and found out that two boats immediately in front of us in the anchorage had been boarded during the night. Hmmmm…… Kudos to Mark the net controller who had immediately launched a floating ‘neighbourhood watch’ and, as a result, some boats were going to patrol the shoreline throughout the night during Carnival…   We had a lazy day on board in the rain – and were going a little stir crazy – so decided to go to the national stadium in the evening to watch Promenade, the steel pan band competition. The stadium had a couple of stands open with some concessions – cheap beer but decidedly ropey chicken! The atmosphere in the stands was a bit muted but when we went into the standing area below the stage it was much more fun – even though we had to run for cover a few times to escape the downpours!!! These bands have up to 100 people in them and the age range was from 7 to 80 – amazing energy and great sounds…. It was also a massive logistical effort to move the drums and performers on and off the stage – so by the time we left at 11.30 pm we had only watched five bands perform along with a troupe of African drummers and dancers. There were some comedians talking between acts – but we really couldn’t understand them enough to work out if they were funny!!! Had to really leg it to the cab for the return trip and got absolutely soaked – Martin, our taxi driver, thankfully brought some bin bags so we could sit on them and not wreck his upholstery! Back to the marina – still raining – so had another drink before we chanced heading back out in the dinghy to the anchorage.

Sunday and the rain continued…. We dinked into the marina – met Jim and Sharon – and got the courtesy bus to Whisper Cove for the Sunday jam. Was a great afternoon – and luckily under cover as the rain was relentless along with 35 knots of wind in the squalls.

One boat in the anchorage was dragging into the mangroves so there was an effort underway to help them – then there was a call from Mt Hartman Bay that Troubadour was dragging. I will never forget the look on both Chris and Linda’s faces when they heard that come through on the radio – but they were able to get back and sort it out. Phew – no harm done thankfully. Had a lovely afternoon listening to all the performers – with the addition of a fiddle player and an accordion this week – good time had by all. Especially Sharon who showed off her barefoot shuffle skills along to an Irish jig played on the fiddle – think Riverdance without shoes! Back on board and we sat on the coach roof of Morphie listening to the sounds from shore until we gave in and retired to bed early.

Monday morning and the alarm wakes us at 4.00 am. Are we mad??!!??   No – just want to go to J’Ouvert!    This starts at 5 am – and the main event is that the jab jabs come out to play and parade. They are mainly men (although not exclusively) – covered in dirty oil – portraying devils, dragging chains around, not wearing much, and who jab you when they come by…. We think there is some slavery simulation here too although not mentioned in any of the SpiceMas adverts we’ve seen.   Anyway throwaway clothes and shoes were necessary – I was armed with my £2 flip flops – as the roads (and spectators) get absolutely covered in oil, paint and coloured baby powder!!!! As well as oily jab jabs there are also coloured men – so we saw blue, pink, orange, green, silver and purple men – and loads of girls wearing very very little!  Much to Richard’s delight…   Anything in the way got covered in something – and the funniest sight was one of the oily jab jabs pushing a commode…. what a time for the camera to fail again!  Everyone was gyrating to the beat of the boom boxes and, when the lorries come by, you feel like your whole body is vibrating too from your feet through your head. So significant I reckon it would restart a pacemaker!!!!   We had a great time – got jabbed a number of times with paint as well as oil – and came back on board about 8.30 am having drunk and partied a bit. Phew…. washed up and back to bed for a couple of hours.

Noon and we met up with Jim and Sharon for Pageant Mas. This is the traditional parade of fancy costumes – so we took up residence in a bar alongside the road and had some local food and watched the activities. There were loads of “short knees” who represent each village – and parade singing, dancing and spraying baby powder around – then there were wild Indians and calypso dancers following the incredibly loud music from the lorries. Great to see so many kids involved too…. During the afternoon we were joined by John and Georgina as well. Of course, this being island time, the parade didn’t start until 3pm rather than the advertised 1pm – but hey, who cares…. Fun time had by all – especially Jim and Richard who managed close ups with a number of the scantily clad young women – although Jim did look a bit surprised when one of them proceeded to throw herself to the floor in front of him…  Check out the last photo!!!!

Tired and emotional we all went ashore to the marina for dinner and decided to call it a day – said sad farewells to Jim and Sharon as we have had so much fun with them but they are heading back to the States so this really is it this time….    In the evening there was another (adult!) parade which Richard and I watched from the foredeck of Morphie with a glass of wine in hand in the end.    Amazing sight to see literally miles of people parading with lights… and, of course, the music was still very audible in the anchorage….

Tuesday was a quiet day relaxing (recovering?) on board and we didn’t even get dink down off his davits.   What a nice way to spend the day for a change….

Today – Wednesday – work starts!  We had a miserable trip in big seas on the nose round to La Phare Bleu marina to tie up and start dismantling and winterising Morphie.   So far dink has had a makeover….. and we are shattered.  Early night me thinks.

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday we did some more boat jobs and another visit to Budget Marine.  It’s a good job that we get all goods 30% off (duty free) as we still need more – although they are spare parts mainly so will only have to be replaced when we actually use them… Seriously we do need this stuff but it is amazing how much we come away with every time that we didn’t know we couldn’t live without!!   Whilst out and about we bumped into John from Shamal – and they are moving the boat to Prickly Bay in the afternoon – so we arranged to meet for sundowners later.

We headed back on board, having stored all our purchases, and decided to head out on dink to explore.    Really enjoyed looking at the really pretty waterfront and we pulled dink up the beach at the Calabash – oh dear, left it too late, the hotel has closed now for the season.   Grrrr….  Never mind, the dive shop sells beer so we had a couple and enjoyed our surroundings.   The anchorage is stunning today – really calm and clear water.

Went ashore for happy hour with John and Georgina – really nice to catch up with them again.   They are heading down to Trinidad to haul out in a week or so, so really good timing!    Had a good evening – listened to the start of the trivia quiz and were pleased we weren’t playing for real as the questions were really hard!   Back on board for dinner and to bed….

Wednesday morning up bright and early and caught the sunrise…. Spectacular!

Got ourselves ready to go back out to sea as we are moving back up to anchor near St Georges and Grand Anse beach in readiness for Carnival…    Felt bad though because Chris and Linda on Troubodour were heading south today – we keep passing like ships in the night!!   Never mind, will catch up with them at the jam on Sunday.  Met Jim and Sharon from Sha Sha for a bobbing session and enjoyed watching a really special sunset.   Early to bed.

Thursday we were really looking forward to going to the dinghy concert at the  Carenage – one of the first Carnival events.    Unfortunately the concert was cancelled because someone failed to get the permission of the Port Authority.   Bad mistake!!!! In the meantime the anchorage is filling up – with some way too close for comfort – and we end up surrounded by South Africans flying the British Ensign…   How does that work??   Disappointed by the cancellation we arranged to meet Jim and Sharon in the marina pool….and we had a fresh water bob….between rain showers.   On the dinghy ride through we saw Necker Belle, Richard Branson’s huge catamaran, tied up to one of the superyacht docks – but apparently he wasn’t on board…

We went back to Morphie to check all OK and we were pleased that one boat had moved.   And we had done a 180 degree turn but appeared to be holding.   Wind really really flukey and gusty in the rain squalls….but we have loads of chain out, so we are not moving anywhere!

Back to Sha Sha for dinner and had a lovely chicken meal followed by Red Velvet cake.   Thanks both – fun hosts and Jim is a great cook!

This morning – Friday – more boat jobs and shopping later.   As it is carnival weekend all shops will be closed from lunchtime Saturday through to Wednesday, so we must get some fresh stuff in.    Time is running out real fast now – we haul out on 19 August and fly out on the 26th.    So before we get heavily into winterising the boat we are determined to have a party time at Carnival – really looking forward to it!!!

Bye for now

Jan

OK so we did go to happy hour on Wednesday at Prickly Bay marina and were absolutely gobsmacked by the huge amount of locals there – they ship them in by the bus load.   Really?   Oh yes, very serious stuff…. The bingo winnings are more than a day’s pay for many of them….and we got into conversation with the net controller Mark so ended up watching the first couple of games.   Bet the prize of a pig and a chicken – alive and walked on stage – were never on offer at Corals!!    Really funny….

We also got into conversation with an English guy who was sitting on his own and it turns out that he used to own The Dog House at Swanick Marina where a boat that we sailed on used to be berthed!   He has been in Prickly Bay, living onboard, for five and a half years now.  He then began to tell us all his woes because he has been hospitalised down here a couple of times and got a hernia through lifting 5 gallon water jugs.   He then turned to Richard and said “you should be careful as you are getting on a bit!!!”    As you can imagine this coming from an old duffer in his seventies went down pretty well …..!!!!   Anyway, making our exit we went back on board and had a very tasty curry if I say so myself…….

Thursday was a quiet day and night on board just working through boat jobs.    Friday we worked hard all day and came ashore for a pizza dinner….  We went for the pizza as this is the only dinner they can’t screw up!!   We have dined here twice before and were disappointed on both occasions.    We were surprised to see a bunch of cruisers from Port Louis over here – they had come over for a birthday, so nice to catch up with them again.

Saturday dawned and we decided that weekends are for fun not jobs!    We got off the boat and taxied over to La Phare Bleu where a dinghy concert was scheduled.    Walking up the dock I was impressed by an individual floating cabana with a hammock  – definitely fancy giving that a go when we are guests here later in the month…

At the dinghy concert they have a big tug boat hitched up to a barge and dinghies from far and wide join up into a raft to enjoy the music – today by the Wizards.   Some cruisers bring their own drinks and food, whilst those of us on the barge buy from the bar….and some get bottles relayed across the top of the crowd to their dinghy….   Fantastic time had by all

After a great afternoon we watched the sun go down over the marina – nice!

We headed back to shore and our taxi driver was already waiting – took us back to Da Big Fish, where dink was waiting.   Decided to have dinner at the restaurant and were delighted that they had a live band too, Gylfi and Domo.  So really enjoyed listening to them while we had a really good meal.

Sunday morning we decided to head to Rogers beach bar on Hog Island…. So got a cab round to the rum shack in Lower Woburn.   We had spent a very pleasant afternoon here many moons ago – but sadly it was no longer as welcoming….     Anyway, got a local boat boy to take us out through the anchorage to the bar.   Very very busy on a slim beach – not quite the Soggy Dollar – but we still had a good time.   Particularly enjoyed the local food on offer…..

Time to head back and our boy, Lions Paw, was resting in a hammock – after knocking back a few and a couple of spliffs!   He was pretty funny and could well have been a model for Captain Jack Sparrow with all the same mannerisms…..

Back on board for a quiet night.    This morning, Monday, is Emancipation Day here in Grenada – celebrating the end of slavery by the UK – so a public holiday.   We are relaxing, blogging, and doing Internet stuff today.   Richard is investigating all the tasks we have to do for winterising Morphie.

Bye for now

Jan

Friday lunchtime we arrived in Prickly Bay and mooched around looking for a good spot to anchor. Bit deep here behind the reef in the middle of the bay – around 30ft – so we’ll need to put out a lot of anchor chain….. First spot didn’t get a good set, so picked up and tried again – great set second time. Hurrah!!!  Looking around we were amazed by all the huge houses surrounding this anchorage with their manicured gardens running down to the shoreline.

After sorting ourselves out we went ashore later in the afternoon to the Prickly Bay marina and caught up on the internet. While we were there Belinda and her daughter Jean came by – they wanted to sample happy hour drinks and the steel band that was playing later. So we stayed with them for a while and enjoyed the music. We went back on board Morphie around 7pm for dinner and an early night.

Saturday morning we took off in the dinghy to explore. Visited the Big Fish restaurant and enjoyed their great dinghy dock, had a look at a resting Grenadian coast guard boat, and of course this was all in close proximity to Budget Marine…. So inevitably we got some more stuff in the chandlery – all essential, honest!!! Then we dinked around to the nice beach at the top of the bay – and this is where the posh Calabash hotel has their beach bar. We are allowed to use the beach, buy drinks / food, but not use their beach chairs…. Fair enough – will be back another day to enjoy the facilities. Right now we have loads of boat jobs waiting…

The rest of the day we worked really hard on boat jobs and had a quiet night on board.

Sunday morning we had promised Belinda and Jean – who are Australian – that we would pop by their catamaran, Free Spirit, to see if we could help them understand any of the systems. Jean is just visiting her mum Belinda who is living on board awaiting her husband’s arrival. But she knows nothing about sail boats so wants a few hints and tips – well, we know nothing about catamarans but there must be some common ground here. Surprisingly there was quite a lot and we helped her with re-furling her genoa; bilge pumping; shower systems and general battery maintenance…. She was very grateful and we arranged to meet up later to go to the Sunday jam at Whisper Cove.

Courtesy bus turned up and we met with some more cruisers – as well as catching up with Chris and Linda again from Troubadour – and really enjoyed the jam session again, although I realised that in my last blog I called the old guy Harry and his real name is Jerry… Oops!!!  More people attended this week – both watchers and performers – and good time was definitely had by all.   I am definitely turning into a Chris groupie!!!   Oh yes, almost forgot, got some great steaks from the resident butcher as well….

Monday morning and more boat jobs looming…. Jean is going home to Australia later this week so we have arranged for them to come to us for sundowners at 5pm as neither of them has been on a sailing monohull before!!!  Amazing…. We worked like stink and managed to get everything straight for their arrival…. Lots of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ as they looked around Morphie – always nice when people admire her – combined with a few more technical questions from Belinda. Feels great to be of some practical help!!! During the evening – fuelled by rum punch – they asked if I knew anything about sushi as they had found loads of specialist ingredients on board Free Spirit. Well I know that I like to eat it and roughly how it is made!! Belinda admits to not being very culinary minded – and I fancied the challenge – so they promised to drop the stuff over to me in the morning and invited us on board for sundowners on Tuesday afternoon to eat the results… No pressure then eh??? We had a lovely evening on board.

Tuesday morning we were up early – Jean came by with the ingredients – and we carried on with boat jobs. Later in the morning I started on the sushi preparation – finding some mahi mahi and prawns in the freezer to go with the vegetables – and spent the next few hours playing around with sticky rice!!!! Couldn’t work out how to smooth it out on the seaweed sheets without ending up with a sticky mess until I realised that a wet spoon was the answer…. All done and in the fridge to chill – and time for a relax and a swim before heading over to visit them.

Well – I have to say I was pretty pleased and impressed with the results of my first sushi attempt – and the others agreed with me. They tasted pretty good too!!!! But you don’t have to take my word for it – check out the photos…. Back on board around 8pm – having said our final farewells to Jean – and early to bed.

This morning (Wednesday) we were up early again – headed off to the bank for more drinking vouchers – and then did a bit of essential shopping before coming back on board to get on with boat chores again. Loads to do right now – and we have decided to get things done sooner rather than later so that we can enjoy the carnival here in Grenada in the middle of August. Later on we are heading into Prickly Bay marina for happy hour but I can guarantee we won’t be stopping for the bingo, which is tonight’s scheduled entertainment!!!  We have a curry night on board planned instead…..

Bye for now

Jan

In the afternoon we all piled into the minibus down to Whisper Cove where the Sunday jam is held. Apparently this week it was a poor turnout…  Oh well, never mind, they obviously didn’t know we were coming to watch and listen!!!

Basically a number of musicians come along with their instruments – as well as a couple of singers – and they all sit round a table and take it in turns to take the floor. Sometimes it is a solo affair and more often it is a collaborative one when others join in…. The only exception is 80 year old Harry who sings unaccompanied each time – his favourites are show tunes – and this may be because he is a bit deaf and, although he has a really good voice, he doesn’t really hold a tempo or even stay true to the original!!!!   Anyway…. it is all a bit of fun….and we really enjoyed ourselves. An added bonus was that at Whisper Cove they have a butchers shop selling their own organically produced meat – so I was able to pick up some really nice cuts for the freezer. About 7pm we travelled on the courtesy bus back to the marina and had an early night. Really good time and something we plan to do again whilst we are here in Grenada.

Monday morning and we headed off on the local bus to wander around St Georges. We managed to pick up some t-shirts and a local SIM card for Richard’s phone as we are going to be in this area for a while now…. really reasonable pay-as-you go for around £4 with a bundle of free texts / talk-time included!!  Bargain…. In the afternoon as we were walking down J dock we were told about the Full Moon Party the cruisers were planning for the picnic area behind the pool later in the afternoon. So having done a few boat jobs – and had a quiet time on board chilling – we headed out to this event. Maurice (from Motivator) had made up some posters to advertise it – and you can see for yourself his sense of humour with the initials of the organising committee!!!  We went suitably garbed with Richard in his full moon t-shirt – right event, wrong venue – and I just had to go out in my new Carib shirt from Carriacou….

Had a really nice time – and it was funny when it started to rain – as all the cruisers headed off under the splendid palm to stay dry while the food table got allocated the only umbrella around!  Had a nice time chatting to new and old faces and admired the beautiful moon when it rose…. Back on board and so to bed.

Tuesday we spent most of the morning and into the afternoon getting Morphie ready to go back to sea, as we are heading out of the marina on Wednesday. Filled up the water tanks, charged everything we could lay our hands on whilst we have shore power, and generally tidied up. Went to the pool for happy hour and had a nice time there with a large crowd of people – including ShaSha’s guest Alice who is over for a holiday. In the evening we were tempted out to have dinner in the marina with Jim, Sharon and Alice. They were a bit frustrated that Alice’s luggage had gone missing on the flights down so they were going to have to stick around the marina until it turned up – so curtailed what they may be able to show her…. Oh well….nothing much they can do. We had a really good evening.

Wednesday morning we went and settled our huge bill for water and electricity – came to a grand total of £30 for two weeks – amazingly cheap!!!  Very happy with that!!! Made the most of the unlimited water in the shower block and we were ready to go….. Went and said our goodbyes to a few people and organised to purchase the transformer that we had been using. Very happy with that extra bit of kit!  Anyway, we backed out the slip easily and I drove Morphie round the corner whilst Richard tidied up ropes and fenders. Leaving via the main harbour channel we had to slow down as we were following a large tanker… We escaped from him as he turned away and we looked for a good anchoring spot, although the swirls and currants he created made the steering unresponsive at times and I felt like I was driving on snow!! Very strange feeling indeed…..

Really excited about being back on anchor again – we get so much more privacy on board and being able to jump into the beautiful water on a whim is really important to me…. Anchored up – cleaned the water line, the fenders and soaked the mooring lines from all the gunk of the dirty marina water – and headed to the beach. ShaSha were there…. and we had another great bobbing afternoon. Final farewells said this time – as they are heading northbound on Thursday – and we had a quiet night on board. A bit rolly at times during the night… but nothing too terrible.

Thursday morning we had a lie in…. Lovely!!!  Then we freshened up by jumping in off the back. Oh how I’ve missed this… Had a lazy morning on board and went ashore about 2pm for a couple of hours bobbing and catching up on the internet at the local beach bar. The beach was rammed with kids having fun – they have the same school holidays as we do in the UK – and it was fun to watch them, although they got a bit boisterous at times chucking each other in off the dock!!  We also chatted to a nurse who was there with her eight year-old grandson – who was digging his way to Australia last time we checked!! Had a really chilled time and we headed back to Morphie just in time for the lovely sunset. We are definitely back in holiday mood….

This morning we picked up our anchor and motor sailed down to Prickly Bay on the south coast of Grenada…. Looking forward to exploring this area….

Bye for now

Jan

Tuesday morning we got up late… although we did listen (from our bed) to the cruisers net which starts at 7.30 am.  Nothing was mentioned of particular interest to us so probably won’t bother that much in future – definitely not something I’m planning to set the alarm clock for!!!  We did a few pink and blue jobs down below and continued to compile lists of things we need to get sorted out…  It was also a rainy and grey day. But in the afternoon we rallied ourselves and headed off to the marina pool for a dip. We then had a quiet night on board.

Wednesday we had made arrangements to go to Grand Anse beach with Jim and Sharon from ShaSha…. Luckily the sun had returned and the skies were blue. Hurrah!!! They picked us up by dinghy and we motored out of the marina and around the corner through the anchorage. This is probably Grenada’s best beach with gorgeous sand and sparkling clear water against the lovely backdrop of palm trees and flowers. Had a really nice bobbing time, including lunch at the local beach bar, and came back on board around 4pm. And that was it for the day!  Lovely time had by all…..

Thursday more boat jobs and we also organised a hire car for Friday…. In the afternoon we went to the pool to cool off and bumped into Nick and Pam from Knot Yet who told us that there was going to be a TexMex ‘pot luck’ party that evening on J dock. So we quickly went back to Morphie – via a dinghy stop at the local supermarket for a few essential items like jalapenos – and I made Mexican tortillas to take with us. This is our first cruisers ‘pot luck’ party where everyone takes a dish, their own plate / knife and fork, and brings their own drinks – and we really weren’t sure what to expect. When we arrived shortly after 7 pm the party was in full flow and there were about 40 people there – with loads and loads of different Mexican dishes. We tucked in and enjoyed catching up with old cruising faces and meeting some new ones.   The cruising community here in Grenada is huge and pretty much everyone knows everyone else – all a bit daunting to newbies like ourselves!   Back onboard about 10pm and we’re tidying up and I ask Richard where the knives and forks have gone????  Oh dear… he dumped them along with our rubbish in the bin! Good job I took plastic plates…   A good excuse to get some new cutlery next season???

Friday and we have a car organised for 9am – and our pimped up “rent a wreck” arrived just after. Doing the paperwork and we are driven to the police station to get a temporary driving permit for Richard. Oh dear….. we are only carrying our plastic credit-card sized photo driving licences – and the Grenada police want to see the paper part of the licence too. What!!!!????!!!! That’s tucked away at home and has never been asked for – EVER – by anybody else throughout the island chain. Getting frustrated and after some backwards and forwards we eventually get issued with a permit. But talk about hassle…. Grrrrrr…..  Glad it’s valid for 3 months so we don’t have to go through that again before we leave to fly home at the end of August. Not a great start to the day to be honest.

Finally we are on our way – so we head off first to visit Grenada Marine. This is where Morphie will be hauled out and living on the hard for a while so we wanted to check it all out – and to confirm the date with them. We were pleased with the security at the gate, the local restaurant / bar, and the space between boats which is plenty big enough for us to do the work we’ve planned like renew Morphie’s anti-fouling – using a product that actually repels growth this time!!!  We also came across two Island Packets we had spent time with this season – Blue Pearl and Cutter Loose – so we gave them a pat. We also noticed Zero to Cruising as we drove away from the yard.

Whilst at the marina office we confirmed our haul out date of 19 August – so then headed off round the corner to Sagesse Point where there is a hotel which had been recommended to us. Really convenient location and nice large rooms but no (working!) air conditioning in the one they had available for our dates. As we are going to be working on Morphie in the dirty and dusty environment of the marina during the heat of the day I really did want a cool room to return to. So didn’t commit and decided to have a look elsewhere, although we did get offered a special deal on the price. So we headed off to La Phare Bleu marina which has a boutique hotel attached. Not such a convenient location but the one-bedroom apartments are huge with air conditioning, TV, wifi, surround-sound, sitting room, a fully equipped kitchenette, huge bed, swimming pool and I’m sold.

Please pretty please Richard????  The only fly in the ointment was the published list price of US $200 a night….  Asked whether there were any special deals going for August and the English manager agreed a price of US $120 a night if we stayed for a week. Job done – so excited – paid the deposit and we’re sorted.  I really didn’t fancy staying onboard on the hard – climbing up and down ladders to go to the loo in the middle of the night was my main concern!!! Richard was also happy to go with this as our end of trip treat. Hurrah…..

Moving on we visited some of the other anchorages that we are planning to visit when we leave Port Louis. Really liked Prickly Bay and its facilities and had a soda there to check it all out.

Then we headed off to Mount Hartman Bay and followed the signs down to Secret Harbour. This was a trip down memory lane for us – we stayed in this hotel in the late 90s before and after a sailing holiday with Moorings, who were based here at that time. Oh dear…. the hotel has been virtually abandoned and has fallen into disrepair. What a shame – in such a beautiful setting too. Oh well, never mind, our memories of this place remain pretty special!!!

We were also surprised to see that the private residence that we had nicknamed the ‘mushroom house’ had been extended and was no longer the almost invisible house built into the side of the cliff complete with grass roof…. apparently this has now been turned into a hotel too…

Moving on from memory lane we visited more chandleries and hardware stores – this is getting expensive, particularly the spare macerator pump!  Most popular purchase was the new toilet seat… Amazing how easily pleased we are getting…. Back on board via the bar for happy hour sundowners, enjoyed the sunset, and another early night.

Saturday I turned a bit girlie and headed off to the spa for a long overdue haircut and a neck and back massage. Completely restorative and thoroughly enjoyed it – Richard enjoying the peace and quiet on board without me!!!!  Rest of the day was spent cleaning and polishing along with food preparation as tonight we are hosting ShaSha for dinner on board – and we have a hard act to follow after Jim’s spectacular roast lamb last week. Managed to prepare a three course meal which we ate down below in the saloon – which was a first – and, thankfully, they appeared to really enjoy the food! Phew…that’s a relief!!!! Very late night and so to bed…. Really good evening.

It’s Sunday now and we’ve just had breakfast…and are taking it easy., recovering from the excesses of the night before.  This afternoon we are heading off to Whisper Cove for the Sunday “jam session” with Chris and Linda from Troubadour – never been before and don’t really know what to expect, but looking forward to it.

Bye for now

Jan