Trinidad

Trinidad

We arrived back in Trinidad to find White Rose 1 had been moved to a different spot in the yard but she was in good condition which is always a relief.  Don was due to leave to work in Brunei so we worked long and hard to get the “out of water” jobs completed.  Don managed to replace cutlass bearing in the propeller shaft, repack the bearing inside the boat, service the bow thruster and replace the propellers, replace anodes, sand the hull etc.  By the time Don left there was still a bit of work to be done which I took my time completing as I was dreading getting the boat back in the water on my own.  I was lucky to meet other cruisers working on their boats in the same yard, we shared some meals and a few laughs and the interesting time of getting White Rose back in the water without her Captain.

Let me see if I can describe being on the hard.  White Rose is in the far northern corner of the yard - exactly 400 steps from the bathrooms and I had many opportunities to count them.  We were fortunate that we were squeezed in between a fishing boat and a large racing boat both of which shaded us for part of the day.  Inside the boat was similar to an oven, simply not tenable during the day, underneath in the shade was ok but dirty, damp and boring once the bottom was finished - no chairs, fans or fridges there.  While on the hard the fridge cannot work and power is reliant upon the solar panels which basically meant one fan for some of the night.  You cannot run taps as they would run directly down the side of the boat - right where you needed to paint that day so no running water.  Work is going on all around so very dirty, dusty and noisy.  I lived on 2 min noodles and canned veges - I was too busy early on to spend the 1/2 day to go shopping and without a fridge there just didn't seem any point.  Oh and I can guarantee the one tool or brush I need is still on the boat so a long climb up a very steep hot slippery ladder to get on board.  

If I mistakenly left thongs in the sun I could not wear them as they were too hot.  The deck was too hot to walk on and the ladder too hot to grab - when sanding and painting the bottom we used a bright blue paint - I looked like cookie monster for a week.  The bugs were the worst - the boat was always filled with mosquitos who attacked as soon as I removed the sheet - I had at least 6 bites from the bed to the bathroom first thing in the morning, they whined around my ears all night and generally drove me mad.  If I covered myself in deet soap they continued to look for a spot I missed - usually eye lids, nose and ears.  I had several land on the tip of my nose and set about their blood sucking habits.  Dengue fever was about so I would spray the cabin but that seemed to attract the bugs more than repel them.  You can probably imagine how anxious I was to get back in the water.

 
Gert's boat (next to White Rose) was broken into whilst he was asleep - they took his money (which was well hidden), his laptop and connection cords.  The yard checked the security camera and they saw people walking around but could not charge anyone as they did not see anyone climb the ladder.  Then his boat was broken into a second time this time through a hatch.  They are suspicious of a local man who had befriended Gert.  The whole situation was suspicious as Peake’s boatyard originally claimed they had pictures of the thief going on Gert's boat and would give him a photo to see if he recognised the person, then the story changed to vague people around Gert's boat.  It took the boat yard almost a week to check the video footage - if it had taken them hours instead of days there may have been a chance of retrieving the new laptop and cash - began to sound like an inside job!

White Rose finally hit the water again.  All was straightforward until I had to “park” her in a narrow slip which required hooking onto a stern ball on the way in.  My two helpers and I looked like the 3 stooges trying to grab the elusive ball and ended up giving up, I simply pleaded with the boat owner next door and side tied to his boat while we sent the dinghy out with a line to secure the errant ball.  White Rose stayed in that slip for several weeks – it was uncomfortable as the swell would come in, hit the sea wall and send White Rose bucking & rebounding – add to that the thick layer of oil on the surface which stained our newly polished hull and the little problem of the dock, it was not a floating dock and White Rose is high therefore I could not get on nor off the boat without lowering the dinghy into the water, standing in the dinghy and walking it around the side of the boat to the dock then climbing up the dock. During low tide I simply could not get on nor off the boat as the climb up the dock was too high. I should also mention that during the time we were away the glue holding our dinghy together deteriorated to the extent that

she now leaked copious amounts as soon as she got near to it. I was ok with that as the pontoons always remained inflated therefore she would not sink – just lower herself into the water until there was 5” or so floating in the bottom of the dinghy – I always had the cleanest feet in the harbor. Eventually the pontoons began to leak – not just a small slow leak but a “must pump up every 4 hours leak”.  Hopefully Santa would bring me a new dink for Xmas.  Eventually the 3 stooges motored White Rose around the corner to the next bay and anchored. 

 

Don returned to the boat in January, just in time to experience the frenzied build up to Carnival.  Two weeks of little work, parties day and night, traffic jams and accidents and general mayhem.  We went to see the Kings & Queens final – the contestants had been weeded out for several nights and this was a collection of the most extravagant costumes imaginable.  It appears a metal cage is built – a person stands in the cage (which is on wheels) around which the costume is built. This  enables the person to walk/push/wheel their costume onto the stage – some costumes were so large they had arms with extra wheels to support.  Each entrant danced, twirled and bowed throughout a long song showing off their costume to the fullest – points were given on colour, originality and movement.  Many contestants had to be helped off the stage as they were totally exhausted by the time their 10 minutes on stage was finished.

 

We both went on one of the local tours – claimed to be the “best”.  It is called a “Taste of Trini” and the local entrepreneur gathers up cruisers and drives them around the island for the day stopping here there and everywhere sampling local foods.  We made it our goal to taste more than documented in previous tours and we made it – 100 different foods were sampled throughout the day and most of us found it difficult to walk back to our boats – we were totally stuffed and uncomfortable but we did it !!!!  Some foods were very good (even though they looked quite disgusting) and some were totally disgusting – cow heel soup actually tasted ok until you sampled one of the gelatinous lumps from the hoof.  Pig’s tails fried with spicy tomato sauce and sour cream was good if you could forget what you were eating.  Lentil dishes, fruits, pastries and nuts were wonderful.  We even tried strange drinks and enjoyed them all – no ill effects the next day which was a bonus.

Grenada toTrinidad

Oh my goodness what a week - we decided to leave Grenada on Friday to arrive in Trinidad on Saturday but two very good friends on the boats Spirit and Jabiru arrived in Grenada from Trinidad on Thursday and a large group were meeting in town at a jazz concert Friday night.  Knowing it may be the last time we see Bobby, Peter and Gayle we decided to stay another night in Grenada and party - so glad we did !!

Our anchor chain was heavily encrusted with barnacles and seaweed having been down for almost 3 months - it was now over 3 inches in diameter and definitely did not resemble a chain but more a piece of sunken pipe from the 1800's. I began to clean the chain with a wire brush and thin chisel going in and out and around each link - our chain lives in a locker at the front of the boat which is accessed via a louvre door in the forward cabin – ie. if seaweed and barnacles are still attached to the chain when it is taken on board it stinks !!!  I managed to clean less than 10 metres each session which was over 2 hrs - a horrible job!! 

I was apprehensive about taking White Rose through the dog leg channel to exit the reefs that made our anchorage so calm and safe - the boat Troubadour  had gone up on the reef two days earlier.  Somehow they missed a buoy and ended up severely damaging their rudder.  The first few hours were horrible - we managed the great speed of 2.7 knots in lumpy seas - the seas were only 3ft but side on so the boat had a figure 8 motion - not good !!!  After that we had great sailing - 5 - 6 knots and had to slow down to arrive in Chaguaramas Bay at dawn - similar to the first few hours, the last few hours was against current and the wind died so slow motoring into port.  Chaguaramas is an industrial port and very dirty - floating debris everywhere - as Bobby says Trinidad is lovely if you just keep looking up !!  We attended Customs and Immigration at 7am then found a mooring ball and went to sleep - a friendly neighbour knocked on the side of the boat waking me up - he was warning us that whilst their boat was on the same mooring ball the bright yellow catamaran next door had scrapped down the side of their boat - without wind, the current moves boats in different directions instead of all together - the mooring balls in the bay are very close together and we saw several boats fending each other off.  Just as the cruiser was leaving sure enough the cat came very close - I started the motor, Don let the mooring line go and we moved away just as the cat crossed our stern.  Our second mooring ball had a lot of space around it until a boat took the ball behind us and sure enough there came a time we had to fend them off - they were good enough to let their ball go and find another.  I wonder how many boats hit each other at night !!! 

Our general plan was to check out the 3 prospective boat yards where White Rose 1 would be hauled, have her bottom pressure washed, scraped and blisters drilled out ready for new bottom paint when we return.  We hoped to have her hauled on Monday in preparation for leaving Tuesday......Monday was a public holiday which threw our plans into disarray .....  Tuesday morning we were up bright and early - we were waiting at the office of Peakes Boatyard before they opened and were fortunate enough to get a haul-out time of 9am - back to the boat to lift the dinghy and prepare to enter their dock.  Whilst White Rose was being hauled Don sat in the office and tried to book my flight to Sweden - all his credit cards were being refused (we had moved from Grenada to Trinidad and had not informed the bank so they put a stop on all transactions) even paypal had been cancelled - with only a few hours to go I had given up on leaving with him - I would follow in a week or so.  Don performed some type of miracle and got the airfare booked, the office printed out our e tickets whilst we completed the many documents required by customs to leave the boat in the country while owners are absent - Dave was ready and waiting to help us and he took us by his fast dinghy to immigration and then customs to have the documents copied and stamped then back to find our boat in the yard.  Finding White Rose took some doing - we eventually found her tucked into the side of a building in between two much larger boats - with only 1.5hrs to go before the taxi to the airport we had a lot of cleaning and packing do to - the yard had forgotten to leave a ladder to access the boat - that took over 20 mins to find and erect.  The fridge contents got thrown into a bag and the fridge had the quickest wipe out known - the heads and sinks were fresh water flushed (thank goodness it had been raining so the puddles on the ground were not so noticeable) and my bag thrown together.  Don prepared the deck and dinghy and we locked the boat up with 20mins to go.  We rushed down to the office, handed in our key and borrowed a shower key - the showers do not have any curtains therefore when it is on, it wets all your clothes and in my case my backpack also.  Not having a towel I dried myself on my sweat drenched t-shirt and put on travel clothes - we got in the taxi looking like two drowned rats deserting a sinking ship.  The sun was bright and the temperature cruel - very hot and humid - Don and I were getting sunburnt and sweat dripped constantly.  When inside the boat I had to continually mop the drips from the floor as it became slippery - yuk !!! 

Thank goodness the taxi was air-conditioned - I was so glad to just sit - that was until we saw the traffic jam - it took us 1.5hrs to go a few miles and the airport was 30 miles away.  We made it in time, totally exhausted and hungry we fell into plane seats and just wanted to go to sleep although knowing dinner was going to be served kept us awake.  The plane flew via St Lucia where they had a freight problem so we sat for 1.5hrs on the tarmac and eventually got going again and fed - airplane food never tasted so good. 

Sweden - Norway

Sweden / Norway

Nya Varvet, Gothenburg, Sweden

We arrived in London after an 8 hr flight without sleep, caught a bus from Gatwick airport to Heathrow airport and then had a wait of several hours before the airline would take our suitcases off our hands and allow us to roam free.  I think that is the hardest part - stuck with heavy suitcases and hard airport seats (when you can find one). 

The flight to Gothenburg, Sweden was a short quick hop and beautiful scenery - we arrived about 8pm and had a 30 km trip to our hotel. Don had researched our hotel on the internet - it was beautiful, by the water with a small marina next door.  (The area where the hotel and office for Don's work used to be a Naval Base and had beautiful grounds.) Notice I said "was" well the hotel also has student type accommodation a reasonable walk from the hotel proper - so off we walked with our bags in tow. Our room was upstairs, so Don took the first bag up and came back with a sad face - the room was a single tiny room with a bed sized for an Ethiopian and just enough room to move around it. Now when in your early 20's a single bed for 2 may seem attractive but not in your 50's !!!  Don went back to reception and obtained another room with 2 single beds - definitely student accommodation :-)

The temperature here is perfect - about 20C.  The air is clean and fresh and the area is very quiet.  I was told a lot of people here would speak English but I have not found anyone except the receptionist at the hotel - she will be seeing a lot of me when I get lonely. 

I have been for a few bush walks and braved a trip into the city - the train was easy and I didn't get lost - well not really lost, I just ended up in a different place than I had intended !!!  

I was chased into the ladies toilets by a man - it wasn't my fault - or at least not all my fault !!!  I found the bathrooms in the train station and being a thoughtful person I held the door for a lady with a suitcase - she went through then stood in front of a mirror instead of continuing through the next door where the toilet booths were - that should have given me a hint but another lady was coming out of the second door and held it open for me  - the next thing I know a male is yelling and walking through the toilet area - I ignored him and prepared to enter a booth - he prevented me, yelled at me in Swedish and eventually I followed him to see what the problem was - well  when the lady stood in front of the mirror she covered up the tiny opening which is where you deposit your 10 krona - the fee for using the bathroom !!! 

During my next trip into town I walked until I was lost then decided it was time to head back - eventually I found the tram line but couldn't decide which platform I needed to be on to go south - after missing 2 trains (one either way) I made up my mind to simply get on the next train and see where it took me.  While waiting an intoxicated man decided to sit next to me and chat.  When I could get a word in I explained that I could not understand Swedish, I don't think it really mattered as he was in a world of his own.  He sung 4 love songs to me in English, loudly, with intense feeling and a lot of pawing then thank goodness his train came - he hung out the train entrance holding onto the boarding handle with one leg strung out into the air and yelled how much he loved me - just like in the movies :-(  I definitely need an escort on these forays. 

My goodness this country is beautiful - mountainous, cool/cold - we had snow whilst driving on an elevated road yesterday but the down side is it is very expensive.  The Big Mac Index is an index that compares the costs of McDonald’s hamburgers all over the world as a way of comparing one countries economy to another - a Big Mac costs the most in Venezuela, then Norway, Sweden and followed by Brazil.

Don’s job was supposedly for 6 weeks but finished after 2 when the normal workers returned from holidays.  We decided to visit Norway whilst we were so close.

We left Gothenburg in Sweden and drove to Oslo, the capital of Norway. Our guest house accommodation was close to the city and we trained in that night to have a look at the historic buildings   The next day we drove to a town close to Trondheim, this is the closest we will get to the Arctic Circle.  I expected Trondheim to be a tiny outback town with a few huts, seals and the northern lights but it was the third biggest city in Norway - how disappointing when I thought we were driving into the back of beyond.  Hey they have trolls here - this is their birthplace !!! 

Accommodation here is not easy to find mainly because it is very expensive and a lot of the places are closed for the season - summer is almost finished and school resumes in the next few days.   After searching for 2.5hrs for a hotel or hostel we finally banged on the door of a big Hotel which looked closed - no one answered so we skyped the number on the door - a very cold elderly lady came rushing up the hill to greet us, I felt terribly guilty as we had been sitting in our warm vehicle while she trudged up the hill in boots, a heavy woollen brown coat, scarf, hat and still looked frozen.  She greeted us like long lost friends.  We were the only guests in a huge hotel - very spooky - we went for a walk around praying not to see any ghosts.  The sitting room was large with a piano, organ, many different seating arrangements as you expect in a gentleman’s bridge club - very beautiful but spooky – I warned Don “if that piano plays a tune at midnight I am out of here” too many horror movies!!!  Dinner was unusual – too cold to venture out in the hope of finding an open restaurant, we ate baby carrots, cheese, rye biscuits and icy cold spaghetti & meatballs :-).

Centre of Gothenburg

Swedish coastal village

Nidaros Gothic Cathedral, Trondheim, Norway

Largest Medieval Building in Scandinavia(1066)

Trondheim waterfront

Norwegian bus stop

If there is mountain in the way the Norwegians simply buils a tunnel

Atlantic way - Norwegian Atlantic coast

Trollstigen

Tunnel - one end ...

Tunnel - the other end ... then ...

.... wait for the ferry ...

enjoy the Fjord from the ferry !

The 7 Waterfalls

Grenada

Grenada

Whilst in Antigua Don was offered work to begin in a few weeks so we watched the famous Mt Gay Classic Yacht Races then headed down the chain of islands with Grenada our destination.  We checked out the various islands via the binoculars as we motored past - it was a weird trip - once alongside an island the wind petered out and the iron sail was put into service for many hours until we reached the other end of the island then the wind blew up a gale, seas grew up to 10ft and a current of 2kts - against us of course !!!  We would pull the genoa (big) sail down put up the storm sail and battle our way slowly south until the next island, there was no chance of getting much sleep on that passage of several days.


We checked into Grenada at St Georges, the main town situated half way down the west coast and spent a very rolly night in the anchorage - early the next morning we made our way down and around the corner to begin looking for a new home. This area consists of fingers of land with protected anchorages in the webbing.   We anchored in Mt Hartman Bay, Prickly Bay is one side of us and Hog Bay /  Clarkes Court Bay on the other side - we chose this particular bay because of the protective reef.  The locals are very friendly with a wicked sense of humour.  There is a very active sailing community here so lots to do to keep me occupied. 

Don insists on leaving White Rose and the 1^st mate in a marina when he is away - just for peace of mind - this time I managed to talk him out of it - it is much cooler at anchor as the boat points into the wind allowing a breeze to filter through the boat, also I can swim and use the watermaker - all of which you cannot do in a marina so here I am in the middle of the bay surrounded by other boats that are coming and going.  The winds have been blowing very strong - especially at night which means I have to get up and turn on our anchor alarm and depth sounder to ascertain that I am still in the same spot and haven't dragged anchor - so far so good !!!  Our anchor is not particularly good in mud but we have held on tight and I am confident the boat will not move now - such a relief and it means I can sleep at night again.  It has been very wet here and I seem to be constantly opening and closing hatches - the biggest pain is at night - sound asleep and woken up by drenching rain coming straight down the open hatch but once you close that hatch the heat and humidity is revolting so I open it again as soon as the rain stops and try to get some sleep before the next drenching - when the boaters get together we all laugh about it as everyone is in the same predicament - it is too windy here for awnings.


There is a very active Cruisers Net with lots of activities, excursions, music concerts, pizza nights, local cooking classes etc. etc. so no lack of things to do.  I really must begin on the boat jobs again ....... I am using the heat, wind and rain as an excuse at the moment :-). 


Don and I have been sailing with several other boats, two of which “Caribbean Souls” and “Ner Do Well” left yesterday to head to Bonaire - it is so quiet and sad without them.  “Anjo's Jest” also left this morning so I am here alone now - 3 of the other boats we have been traveling with are due to arrive any day, they spent weeks exploring the Grenadines and the islands that we missed.   

I have found vegemite, golden syrup, custard powder and mixed dried fruit in large lots, all the goods I could not find elsewhere and used to bring from home - Grenada used to be a British outpost so have porridge, herrings - all the good stuff :-) and they speak English which is a bonus - the French make a point not to know English and refuse to try to understand so a huge language barrier and of course all the foods and instructions are in French - I still have food on the boat that I have no idea what it is or what to do with it :-)  They do have great cheeses though and the chocolate croissants were wonderful.


A group got together and toured the island …..

Belmont Estate is a unique and authentic 17th century plantation – here they make chocolate the “old fashion” way which is guaranteed to put you off chocolate for some time – the smell of it fermenting covered in hessian sacks with flies buzzing is revolting.  Afterwards the beans are placed on slates out in the sun to dry.  They are stirred by shuffling around in the bins with bare feet – we all had a go!! 


We toured the Rivers Rum distillery which dates from 1795.  The rum factory was amazing ..


Rivers Rum dates from 1785.  This is a distillery that runs all year.
A bit of a contradiction: the concentration of sugar in cane is at its highest during the dry season (January to May, in theory), but the water wheel which powers the cane press is obviously more likely to work when there is plenty of water in the river, i.e. in the rainy season (June - Dec., also in theory.)


The simplicity and the antiquity of the place beggars description. Bundles of cane are crushed twice, then placed in the island's only railway truck which is trundled along the island's only railway line for the very short trip to a tip. Here the cane dries in the sun and, now known as 'bagasse', is used as fertiliser for the cane fields (and elsewhere.)


The juice is roughly filtered by scooping up the 'bits' and letting them drain through a wicker mat. The juice flows into the main building, where it is 'ladled' through a succession of big metal basins ('coppers') until it is brought to the boil in the last one. The ladling process looks just like rowing a boat. The fire below the boiling cane juice uses bagasse as fuel: nothing is wasted! 

Once the right sugar concentration has been reached, the hot juice is spooned into cooing tanks at the back of the building. It spends two days there, during which time it is invaded by natural yeast's in the air: fermentation starts spontaneously: no yeast is needed.


The fermenting juice is then pumped upstairs into concrete fermentation tanks, where it bubbles away for eight days. After this, it is ready for distillation. Here, the fire below the boiler is heated with wood, because bagasse does not burn hot enough to (super-) heat the liquid.


We were given a sample of the 75% proof rum – big mistake, it was so disgusting that nobody purchased a bottle – I tipped my share into the flower pot just outside the door- the plant was shriveled most likely from too much rum!!


Fish Friday is great fun, cruisers pile into a minivan and enjoy the scenery during the hour ride to Guave.   The streets in the tiny village are blocked off and filled with vendors all offering fish cooked in many different ways – lambi waters (conch soup), shark bake (fried fish in a bread roll) cold drinks made from fresh fruit and even home made ice cream.  Various types of music gave the area a party atmosphere including steel pan bands – my favourite.  The steel pan is an amazing piece of musical instrument – literally the bottom of a 44 gallon drum which has been hammered to form bumps which play a particular note – people of all ages all over the island play the pan instruments and they produce an amazing sound. 


I went to my first every dinghy concert – a stage it set up on a barge with a second barge side tided to it – the purpose of this barge is the “bar”.  Dinghies full of cruisers arrive and tie onto each other forming a floating raft – if you want a drink you either climb your way through all the dinghies make your purchase then negotiate your way back to your dinghy or send money and order via the dinghies and hope that you get your drinks !!  It was great fun and the music great – can’t say the dancing in the rocking dinghies was all that elegant though, I watched a few go for an unintentional swim.

My sister Fiona spent 3 weeks on White Rose it was wonderful having company, especially family.


Boats are starting to move down to Trinidad now - out of the hurricane belt - two of our friends have left to visit home for a month while their husbands stay on board so lots of bachelors looking at White Rose for home cooking!

Music is popular with a “jam” held every Sunday, this is where cruisers and locals take along an instrument and play together – the host restaurant offers free beer to all players so the instruments can be “inventive” – anything for a free beer !!!    The last Sunday in the month is a free concert held in the Museum in town.  Locals recite poetry, sing, dance, play instruments and cruisers can join in also.  Peter and Gayle are on the sailing boat “Jabiru”, Pete is a professional Australian saxophonist and we thoroughly enjoyed his performances at the Museum but more so his practise sessions on his boat – the music filtered around the bay in the evening – it was magic. 


Donell Best is an 18 year old Grenadian and quite an amazing young man and violinist - I have met Donell on a few occasions and he won my heart when he opened and closed a bus sliding door for me – good manners !!!!  Donell has won a scholarship to the Berkeley School of Music - quite an amazing feat for a Grenadian and attests to his talent.  The cruisers here are trying to help Donell raise money as his scholarship will not cover living expenses.  We had a concert at the marina last night - we raised EC$800  which equates to around US$300 - that will not go far in USA.




Don spent 5 weeks in Australia working. Once he arrived back in Grenada he only had a couple of weeks before leaving for Alaska and he is currently doing a survey in Cook Inlet - been gone 4 weeks and due back in 2 weeks.  

Meanwhile I have been re-varnishing the companionway and teak surrounding our hatches also installing a new hatch.  Of course I had just taken the old hatch out (which required epoxy repair work, awlgrip paint then new hatch) when tropical storm Ernesto decided to pay a visit, it was a busy time packing up the boat and getting the new hatch in.  Ernesto passed 167km away so just some wind and rain - the 2 days prior were eerily quiet, no wind in our usually windy anchorage, quite spooky.   I am in the best hurricane hole that Grenada offers and boats came from everywhere squeezing in where they really should not be - so my safe spot turned into a nightmare - one boat was so close that I could not let my dinghy down - I spoke to the owner who was very abusive so the harbor master made him move on, which he did - right in front of me so now my anchor chain is almost on his dinghy - what do you do !!!!  Many boats have left for Trinidad to avoid the storm.  It is 3 days after the storm passed and now Florence is headed our way - she is big and serious whereas Ernesto was disorganised from the beginning.  I am monitoring the hurricane sites.  I am sure she will again pass to the North but many more boats are leaving just in case.  Please tell me again why people do this (life on a boat) - I just can't see the attraction at the moment :-)  Storm prediction when in the USA is accurate – the weather gurus predicted Hurricane Irene’s arrival a week in advance and were correct to the day, hour and minute of her arrival, length of stay, strength and departure.  The storms are born to the east of the Caribbean islands therefore still very disorganised when they reach the chain of islands and any prediction in this area seems guess work at best.

Tropical Storm Seven went over us yesterday afternoon and overnight -sunny skies again this morning - this once a week tropical storm/hurricane is becoming a little tedious.  

We had the boat’s bottom cleaned before Don left but when I took a look, the propeller was virtually unrecognizable - a large round fuzzy looking thing with tendrils hanging off - oh dear Don had requested I put the engine in gear and run it quickly in forward and reverse each time I recharged the batteries and I had only remembered to do that once.   Also some big orange jelly like marine creatures have taken up residence in our bow thruster..... I taught myself how to duck dive with the snorkel and flippers and cleaned the propeller and shaft - one helpful cruiser going past in his dinghy offered  the use of his weight belt - I laughed and said I would be too scared I would not come back up - it does take a lot of effort to stay down but I would be too scared to use a weight belt without someone looking out for me. I tried the engine in forward and reverse and it did grind and shudder but became better quickly so hopefully that was just some barnacles getting pulverized :-) 


Carnival


Carnival is the highlight for the year.  J’ouvert is the opening of the Carnival program - I caught the marina bus at 4.30am to watch all the devils and ugly creatures come out to play, it finishes after the sun comes up.  Participants get drunk, cover themselves and everyone else in used oil and paint and dance down the streets.   The next parade “Petit Mas” is held that afternoon (after the streets are cleaned up as the road is very oily and slippery).   This parade shows off the costumes.  That evening is a night parade that consists of trucks playing very loud music and hundreds of participants drinking, dancing and singing their way into town.  The “big” parade follows the next day where themes and costumes are judged – Grenadians love their carnival and everything shuts down for a week long party.

One little excursion we did which was a bit different was to the Moliniere Underwater Sculpture Park. It is home to 65 sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor.

 
www.divegrenada.com/sculpturepark.htm

It is on the western side of the island a few miles north of St Georges and is only accessible by boat. We were lucky enough to hitch a ride on Dave’s beautiful classic 65 ft ketch “Rewa”.

The sculptures are in about 3-4 metres of water and provided the water is clear can easily be snorkelled.


The day we were there it was a bit murky so was a bit spooky to snorkel down and see these body shapes appear out of the gloom. Unfortunately the condition of many of the sculptures is not as good as shown in the website photos – some have heads missing or limbs missing or partially buried ! Anyway it was something a bit different and a unique Grenada experience.