Tuesday, July 28, 2020

St. George’s, Grenada

Port Louis Marina

12.02.608 N

61.44.986 W

Happy Birthday Savannah!

We talked with one of our children this evening and were reminded that we left off our blog as a “hurricane” was taking a bead on Grenada and hadn’t posted anything since.  We’re fine and we do appreciate the concern, so this is how it went. 

I think the last time I posted, I had forgotten to tell you how I was becoming disparate to find a birthday present for Savannah to open.  I felt terrible that her Mom hadn’t been able to find a flight to Grenada as the airport is still closed, so she was celebrating a birthday away from home, no friends her own age and unless I could find something for her to open, no presents.  Islanders don’t celebrate their “name day” with presents. 

At one point, Gerry, Nicky, Gene, Renee, Dale and I had been out and about in a rental car on what could only be described as Mr. Toad’s wild ride.  The roads around the island are narrow.  The ones downtown are no wider, with cars parked along the sides with deep drainage ditches and speed bumps to liven your driving experience.  Renee had seen a toy store on one of her walks and was trying to guide us to it.  Except that most of the roads downtown are one way; up and down steep mountainsides and she wasn’t exactly sure where she saw it.  Gerry was driving and at one point said that now was not the time for sketchy brakes.  I have to admit, I closed my eyes a couple of times as I was sure we were going to hit pedestrians stepping out of store fronts into the streets without looking for traffic. After passing the same traffic cop at least 5 times, we gave up and made our way back to the marina empty handed. 

The next day, Nicky told me that she had picked up a Tshirt and little bracelet at the marina gift shop and suggested that I check there as well.  I did and found a little souvenir doll and Tshirt too.  OK, a couple of gifts to open. I had already checked at the marina restaurant regarding whether we could bring a birthday cake into the restaurant and were told that it needed to be brought in during the morning.  I had intended to make a simple sheet cake but Nicky started telling me about “butterfly cakes” a children’s staple in England.  How could you possibly have a little girl’s birthday party without “butterfly cakes”. 

Pinterest to the rescue.  They were adorable.  They were also made from scratch.  I’ve made cakes from scratch in the past that had resulted in something akin to adobe bricks so as I had already purchased a cake mix and ready made frosting, I figured I could just bake the cupcakes and use the frosting already purchased.  I spent that night making cupcakes; 6 at a time (as I only brought 1 cupcake tin), alternating editing the scavenger hunt Nicky had created and checking the latest updates on Gonzalo.  Still heading towards us but predicted to make a northerly turn as soon as it approached the 50^th longitude. 

Nicky & Savannah
How many stars?  How many stripes?

The next morning, everyone on the dock seemed to know that it was Savannah’s birthday and one and all came out to wish her a happy one as we walked in for our morning swim.  Kim on Dorothy Rose, offered to paint her nails and toenails for the party and Jen on Dragonfly gave me 2 different bags, a blouse and a couple of other items for her, that weren’t her teenaged daughter’s style but definitely Savannah’s.  I was thrilled that her birthday was going to be just fine with everyone making a fuss over her.

What are in the SOS boxes? 

After our swim, I sent Dale on an early morning trip to the grocery store for raspberry jam as the Pinterest butterfly cakes have a raspberry center in each of them.  Nicky dropped by to see how things were progressing and told me my butterfly cakes were OK and that she’d never heard of putting jam in the middle of them.  Well, too late now!  She also told me that the description of how to go about cutting the wings was not how she had remembered and told me of a simpler (and prettier) way of doing them.  Then I tried to frost them.  Its 90* here on a daily basis.  Today, I think it was closer to 95*.  Even in the air conditioning, the frosting was melting no matter how much I whipped it. I put it in the refrigerator to stiffen it up a bit.  I was quickly running out of time to get them to the restaurant before noon.  I frosted the cakes as fast as I possibly could, placed the wings in position and practically ran them up to the restaurant.  When I handed them over, I could see that the poor little wings were starting to droop in the heat already.  Nothing more to do at this point.

Find a plant with pink,
green & cream colored leaves

As word started coming in about boaters who decided to head south to Trinidad in spite of the warnings not to consider it a hurricane shelter were being detained, we turned our attention to the scavenger hunt next.  Nicky had done a wonderful job getting Savannah out and about all over the marina looking for flags, flowers, leaves, nuts, shells, names of dogs on various boats, items on boats or safety items on docks.  We had to question marina personnel, restaurant personnel, other boaters (everyone clued in on the activities) and even had math equations built in to some of the answers. 

Tie a bowline.

At one point, I thought Gerry was going to have conniption trying to get her to identify the flag of Great Britain.   She had said that it was London’s flag but she didn’t recognize that London was a city, not a country.  He was giving her all types of clues finally resorting to “where the Queen of England lives.”  I thought he was going to fall through the floor when she said in a castle!  Its been a long time since he’s had a little girl to reason with. 

What boat has a Texas flag on it?

That evening, with her Mom on the phone, we had our droopy butterfly cakes, sang Happy Birthday, knocked over the fancy spinning candle and opened up not 1 but 4 presents.  Renee and Gene on Texas Crewed found a necklace at the same marina gift shop as Nicky and I, and we had put all of Dragonfly’s donations in a bag as well.  I think it was a success all round as so many people had enjoyed being a part of the scavenger hunt. 

That evening the latest advisory indicated that Gonzalo was not turning north as predicted but heading straight for us; possibly a little south but still as a tropical storm. 

Saturday morning, much to our surprise, Gonzalo never did turn into a hurricane, never turned north as predicted but passed directly over Trinidad as a storm; much farther south than is normal.  Boats that had sought shelter there were directed to the anchorage on a small island that was previously used as a leper colony.  They were told not to leave their boats; could rest for 12 hours but then had to return from where they had come.  To date, I’ve not heard of anyone being fined or jailed. 

On Grenada though, the marina had put into place their hurricane plan which called for turning off the electricity at noon.  As no hurricane had arrived, everyone eased into the non-event thinking there was no need for any further preparations to take place.  That idea was mistaken.  The electricity was turned off as scheduled and wasn’t to be restored until the following day.  Needless to say, we’ve all become accustomed to our air conditioning and being in a marina didn’t allow one to turn into the wind for the cooling breezes felt at anchor.  There were those on the dock who were very vocal about the heated situation.  Thankfully by evening, electricity was restored and most of us had cooled interiors by the time we went to bed.  Unfortunately, those who were the most upset, didn’t notice the lights had turned back on prior to turning in for the night and were still squawking about spending a miserable night in the heat the next morning.  Karma!

Sunday morning we took a taxi to the local brewery who host a fresh market and craft sale.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t returned my wallet to my purse, and the crafters only took cash, so I was without mad money.  Dale had enough to buy the “I survived the Grenada Quarantine Harbor” Tshirts we had actually gone for.  Guess that means we’ll have to return on another Sunday for anything else Savannah and I might have found interesting.  While we were there, a couple with 2 little girls about Savannah’s age came in and suddenly there was excitement all around.  All the girls played while Dale and I got to talk with the parents, Saxon and Leia.  We exchanged telephone numbers and I see play dates in our future. 

The last couple of days have seen a return to our routine although today it rained most of the day so we entertained ourselves inside.  We’ve introduced Savannah to the Harry Potter movies.  Friday we plan on renting a minivan again so that the crews of Opal, Texas Crewed and we can do our project and grocery shopping around the island. 

Until next time . . .

So, after this quarantine, will the producers of “My 600-Pound Life” just find me or do I find them?

Thursday, July 23, 2020

St. George’s, Grenada

Port Louis Marina

12.02.608 N

61.44.986 W

No jokes today.  I was excited to tell you that we put aside our normal routine and finally were able to tour the island and actually see some things but now there’s a hurricane looming on our doorstep.  Never a laughing matter.  

Grenada Tour

First, the tour.  Peter and Mary on Last Call organized a tour of the island requiring at least 8 people.  We asked Gerry and Nicky if they wanted to join us but Nicky is still nursing a bum knee and begged out.  Texas Crewed had already done the tour earlier, so it was just us. 

Cutty, our tour guide picked us up (the crews of Last Call, Escape Pod, Mi Bella and us) at 8:30am in the pouring rain.  Not necessarily a great beginning but so far, the rain in Grenada doesn’t last very long at any one time.  He handed Mary a map and off we went. 

Nutmeg nut; red mace surround

Chinese pagoda at
Crater Lake

Cutty was very informative about the history, flora and fauna of the island, stopping here and there to have a photo op or grab leaves, fruit or nuts to show us.  We were shown the building where bullet holes still remain from the American “intervention, rescue or invasion” depending upon how you looked at it, along with a bit of history that led up to the situation.  He would stop and show us various signs along bridges, buildings, sports facilities, park areas, that were “gifted” to the island by the Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Kuwaitees, in exchange for United Nation votes in the gifter’s favor, whaling rights, or something else.  With regard to who takes care of several Chinese pagodas that are literally rotting where they stand, the reluctant answer given was—no one.  The government does take care of the landscaping around the area but the actual park type structures are built, then abandoned, which is too bad as most are quite nice but starting to become dangerous with wood rotting off. 

Annandale Falls

Pastor Peter was 1st in!

Savannah was not to be outdone!

Our first official stop was at the Annandale Falls.  We had been told to come wearing bathing suits and bring a change of clothes.  Peter was the first one in and declared the water cold.  That stopped the rest of us—except Savannah—who agreed it was cold but it was an excuse to go swimming.  The walk to the Falls itself was paved and beautiful. 

Crater Lake

The rest of the tour did a figure eight around and through the island, so we got to see quite a bit.  Our next stop was at an area around the crater lake.  That entailed a bit of a hike.  First down steps to the bottom of the mountainside then across a canyon then up the same amount of steps to the top of the next mountainside to the lookout over the whole crater.  The whole path was well maintained but it was a hike.  While grabbing a drink before heading out again, Cutty found a huge, beautiful caterpillar which promptly took a dump on Dale’s hand before being passed around to everyone else. 

Our next visit was to the famous chocolate factory which was sort of open.  I think I mentioned in a previous post that the owner electrocuted himself working on power in the rain.  We were able to go in and have the tour but they weren’t actually making any chocolate at the time.  However, the gift shop next door was selling the 6 varieties of hand wrapped chocolate bars starting with 100% chocolate, down to 60% chocolate with the availability of nibs (chunky bits of chocolate) or salty flavorings added.  I purchased the 60% bars as the others were just too bitter for me.  In case you’re wondering, yes, I did pick up a bar for the well known chocoholic on Opal.   

By the Sea Lunch!

We stopped for a late lunch at a restaurant called By the Sea, which was literally, by the sea on the Atlantic side for a buffet lunch of fish, chicken, rice, noodles, salad and 1 special order of a grilled cheeseburger and fries for our youngest tourist.  It was delicious.  During lunch the skies opened up again and by the time lunch was done, we were moving our water glasses around the table to catch all of the leaks in the roof.  As long as it didn’t land in my plate or drink, it didn’t bother me.  In fact, I thought it added to the ambiance as we were the only ones in the restaurant at the time.  I suspect Cutty had some of these places opened for us as things were pretty quiet at the chocolate factory and the restaurant.  Its good to know the right people sometimes. 

Heliconia (Lobster Claw)

Obviously, I really enjoyed the all of the flowers and plants along the way and was content just looking out the window on the way back.  I noticed that Savannah wasn’t the only one snoozing on the long trip back. 

One thing that happened which will most likely forever haunt me, is that Cutty was constantly stopping the van to pick fruit from the trees by the road and offer us samples of it.  One of the things he offered was something called a mammee apple.  I cannot tell you how wonderful that “apple” was.  It looked like a mini husked coconut as it was brown on the outside.  Then he cut it open to reveal an orange interior.  The texture was crunchy but the flavor was kind of citrusy, yet sweet, and somewhere between a peach and an apricot.  He said that he wasn’t aware of being able to buy the fruit in grocery stores, so I plan on asking the local vendors that come to the marina if they have a source they can get it from.  Right now, it appears that unless you know where there is a tree, you can’t get the fruit anywhere else.  But you know me, I came back and immediately started researching whether it can be grown anywhere else.  Apparently so, but I only saw where you might be able to purchase a sapling in south Florida and it takes years before the tree produces fruit.  I’M DOOMED.  No, I’m obsessed.  I’ll just have to track down more of that fruit before we leave to see if its worth putting a pot on my front porch (as it needs a southern exposure and no less than 40*) but I know who’s on the ARB at home (hint, hint Geri!)

Ginger Lily

It was after 5 when we got back to the marina and we were all exhausted.  We checked back in with Gerry & Nicky to let them know we had survived and were heading to the marina restaurant for a quick pizza.  They met us there for drinks and we gave them a recounting of our day.  However, during the day, a collection of clouds coming off of Africa and crossing the Atlantic went from being disorganized to a full fledged tropical storm named Gonzalo and seemed intent on heading straight for Grenada.  Apparently, Gonzalo doesn’t know that Grenada isn’t supposed to get hit by tropical storms.  Last evening it appeared to be developing into a hurricane but then dropping back down to a tropical storm before getting to Grenada.  This morning it was developing into a hurricane and staying a hurricane until well after it passes us. 

OK, time to reassess.  We’re packed into this marina like sardines with literally no more than a foot between each med-moored boat.  A check of our insurance policy surprised us in that we are still a little less than 2* too far north for coverage.  A check with Trinidad regarding maritime emergencies (can’t turn away a ship in a storm) informed us that unless it’s a life threatening event (defined as a cat 4-5), they will not allow any vessels into their country.  In fact, scuttlebutt has it they’ve already detained 66 people who were trying to enter the country to get out of the path. 

Dale has already purchased a couple of extra large fenders for the occasion and doubled up lines.  We’ll wait to take down all of our shade cloths and enclosure for tomorrow or if the advisories don’t change the forecasted route.  In that case, we’ll do it today. 

Tomorrow is Savannah’s 8^th birthday.  It might be one to remember. 

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

St. George’s, Grenada

Port Louis Marina

12.02.608 N

61.44.986 W

Coronacoaster:  Noun:  the ups and downs of a pandemic.  One day you’re loving your bubble, doing workouts, baking banana nut bread and going for long walks and the next, you’re crying, drinking gin for breakfast and missing people you don’t even like.

Still here.  Nothing really new to tell you about.  Dale went through another one of those, ‘I can’t believe this is what it takes’ days.  We had checked prior to leaving the quarantine anchorage about the proper procedure to have mail sent to us at the marina before sending a request for our medications to be forwarded to us.  The marina informed us that FedEx was the way to go as it was just across the road.  We followed the procedure as described and then waited to be notified that our mail was here.   Supposedly the marina would send us a notice as soon as they knew.  After 2 weeks of waiting, we decided to ask the marina folks what was going on.  They suggested we obtain the tracking number and see if it had made it to the island.  We did.  It had.  Three days after we had made the request. 

Apparently, everything runs as described if its flat mail but if it’s a box, then there seems to be a missing step.  Mail arrives at FedEx and is checked in.  If its flat mail, the marina is contacted, they pick up the mail and then we are informed that our mail has arrived.  However, if it’s a box, its forwarded to Customs; once Customs inspects the box, an invoice for taxes AND the box is sent back to FedEx.  Unfortunately, FedEx has no way of handling a second check in to their facilities for the same box.  So the box and invoice gets shelved.  That forced Dale to go on a walk about around St. George starting first to the FedEx station right next to the marina to learn about this new procedure, then to the Customs house in downtown St. George (about a mile away).  Then he’s directed to another facility on the other side of the block that takes credit cards as the Customs house didn’t.  Once that is done, he obtains a receipt showing payment, it’s taken back to the Customs house where the receipt is stamped showing that the duty has been paid and that the package can be released.  Then he takes the stamped receipt in his hot little hand and walks all the way back to the original FedEx station to exchange the stamped receipt for the box.  Whew!  As the temps here are in the high eighty’s/low ninety’s every day, he was drenched with sweat by the time he returned.  But he did have the package. 

On a brighter side, a couple of really neat things the marina restaurant does is a “Texas BBQ” on Fridays (you have to have the beef brisket) and a packed “to go” dinner on Sundays.  You pick a protein and 4 sides for the Sunday dinner and make reservations for the BBQ.  We split both dinners (which were excellent) with Gerry and Nicky.  As a funny side bar, Nicky and I almost duplicated our desserts for the Sunday dinner.  She made a pineapple crumb dessert and I made a pineapple cheesecake.  You know we ate both. 

The guys have kept busy with boat projects.  Dale’s first project was replacing the anchor salt water wash down pump which went surprisingly easy so we can now wash the mud off the anchor when we pull it up.  This was not to be a trend however.  He next ordered and replaced the pump on our guest side shower sump.  Of course, as a newer model it was a different size, requiring him to MacGuyver the float switch and the new pump back into the sump pump housing.  (He had moved the original one from the guest side over to the master side when our side died.)  However, before he could do that, as he opened the bilge access to get to the shower sump, he noted water in the bilge which the bilge pump should have pumped out. His investigation of this new and unexpected problem lead to a blown fuse to the bilge pump. He replaced the fuse and went to check on the pump’s operation. You would have been proud of me!  I didn’t say a word although Dale used several “sailor speak” words when smoke, aka “the magic” escaped from the top of the bilge float switch. We have lots of fire extinguishers on board; no need to get excited.  Dale rapidly removed the fuse and set out to replace the float switch.  Fortunately, we had one on board that was slated to go into the port bilge when we get hauled.  You guessed it, it now resides in the starboard bilge and we will need to obtain another one at some point.

Dale’s also hired a local man to spruce up the gelcoat on the Palace.  He had been working on another Manta located at the end of the dock and Dale thought he was doing a pretty decent job.  This meant that Dale and I had to disconnect the louvers over the front windows and mark all of the stress cracks we’ve found with blue tape before we could let him loose.  I mention this as I find it fascinating that a worker of this type doesn’t have any of his own equipment.  He started out asking for money for the materials needed, understandable, then to borrow a hammer and chisel.  After the first few minutes of trying to do math lessons with the constant tap, tap, tapping, I suggested that Dale dig out his Dremel tools for him to use.  I think its going to take a few days as he leaves after each step is completed and there are 4 steps to the repair. 

On the auto pilot front, we’ve received word that the part is in and can be picked up tomorrow.  Once its in hand, we can schedule Sheldon to return and hopefully, finish fixing Lt. Schmuckatelli, our auto pilot so that we can once again travel without the need for constant hand steering.   I’m all for that. 

Gerry, on the other hand has been up to his elbows in their aft loo.  If you remember, I told you how Dale had torn our loo apart many times trying to track down a small leak.  Apparently, Gerry thought that sounded like great fun and has been doing the same thing over on his boat. 

Savannah continues to improve with her swimming and, I’m happy to say, piano.  She’s not having as much luck trying to convince us that her teacher tells her that you can subtract 4 from 3.  We’re not sure if she’s trying to tell us about fractions or what because she knows how to subtract two and three digit numbers that require “borrowing” from the next number.  So we’re waiting for something else to clue us in on what she’s trying to describe. 

In another area, we (as in Dale and I) learned that we can’t dismiss Savannah’s farfetched ideas as being, well, farfetched.  I’m not sure how this came up, seven year old minds are fascinating, but she told us that gorillas burp when they’re happy.  Really?  Dale looked it up!  They do, in fact, burp when they’re happy.  I had to look up the butt breathing turtles and found that that was true too.  Yep! Its called “bum breathing.”  Just goes to show that you’re never to old to learn something new too!

Finally:  Day 15 – Anybody else feel like they’ve cooked dinner about 395 times this month?

Thursday, July 9, 2020

St. George’s, Grenada

Port Louis Marina

12.02.608 N

61.44.986 W

Happy Birthday Robbie!

2020, written by Stephen King, directed by Quentin Tarantino

No, I haven’t given up writing posts for this blog, I just don’t want to bore you with our mundane lives at the moment.  We’re still here at the marina in Grenada and according to the latest word from Trinidad, most likely will be here through the hurricane season.  Although they still haven’t figured out an opening date for inbound cruisers, they will be instituting a 14 day quarantine when they do open.  Needless to say, we’ve all had our fill of Quarantine Jails.

On Tuesday, we got new neighbors on our port side; another catamaran.  Although we had never met, they had been our neighbors out in the Quarantine anchorage for the last week we were out there.  Topher, Kim and their son, Tanner, on Dorothy Rose.  We helped fend off any catastrophe when they backed in and gave them the heads up that we were anticipating a sea trial the next day, once our autopilot was repaired, and that we’d have to go through the same routine again.  

Dale has been busy trying to fix everything that broke on our last transit but decided that we needed a Raymarine technician (Sheldon) to have a look at our autopilot.  We were somewhat surprised when he crawled into the area where the autopilot actually connects to the rudder and found a broken wire.  Dale took over from there and stripped the wire back to find “good wire” (wire that’s not corroded) and reattached it, heat shrunk the connection and thought we had dodged a bullet when it came to all of the things that it could have been. 

Since he was already here, Sheldon updated the software to the chart plotter and ran diagnostics on the whole system.  Unfortunately, he found that one relay to the autopilot wasn’t responding and another was intermittent, so he asked if he could check the cables.   Those ended up being crimped severely possibly causing the issue and he suggested that they be replaced.  As we were still under the $100 mark we said fine. 

When he came back a couple of days later with new cables in hand, we were ready for our impending sea trial.  Shade cloths were down, enclosure panels removed, keys in the ignition, neighbors tasked with holding the dinghy until our return but the cables still didn’t fix the lack of communication problem.  Since counseling wouldn’t work in this particular case, he back tracked farther and found that when we hired (an idiot) to install a new chart plotter, autopilot head, and radar system, the guy taped the heading sensor to the bulkhead bracket with white electrical tape (so it wasn’t immediately obvious) instead of screwing it into the bracket as intended.  It’s amazing the thing worked at all.  The thought now is that this particular unit is no longer functional, so a new unit has been ordered.  I just smiled. 

For those friends and family who followed us on our 1^st trip through the Caribbean, we spent over a month here in Grenada back in 2006 ordering a part on Monday, waiting for it to arrive on Thursday, anticipating it clearing out of Customs on Friday, discovering that it either wasn’t shipped or what was shipped was the wrong part and having to start the whole procedure again on the following Monday, you’ll understand why I just smiled.  What else can you do?  Needless to say, I let our new neighbors know that we wouldn’t be jostling the line up this week. 

As I mentioned earlier, its pretty certain at this point that we won’t be going to Trinidad.  So this afternoon, Dale and I got on the phone and called Spice Island Marina for scheduling times, where we can get the boat hauled and the bottom painted, as well as repairing the broken stanchion and hopefully the broken port light replaced.  I called around to various hotels and apartment complexes for prices on short term rentals while the boat is in the yard as well as the cost of staying at this marina for the season. 

Other than that, we’ve had Gerry and Nicky over for dinner a couple of times and they invited us over to Opal for dinner.  Dale and Gerry keep each other busy fixing this, that or another on our boats or off to the closest marine store for pieces and parts.  The bakery that they found on their first excursion makes Roti’s on Fridays.  Of course, I had to check their quality and found it to be excellent.  They add pumpkin to their version which I found rather nice. 

Savannah is excelling in her swim lessons.  Gerry and Nicky got her a boogie board for an early birthday present that has been used to strengthen her kicking.  Within a day or two, the light came on and even strangers commented that she’s improved just in the time that she’s been here.  I do my laps most mornings, so I’m content to wait it out here.  Then we hit the hot showers before heading back to the boat for piano, reading, math and science lessons; not particularly exciting but definitely keeps us busy. 

Until things open up, there’s not really a lot going on. 

Finally:  I don’t think anyone expected that when we changed the clocks we’d go from Standard Time to the Twilight Zone.

Saturday, July 4, 2020

St. George’s, Grenada
Port Louis Marina
12.02.608 N
61.44.986 W

Happy Independence Day America!!

Went to a new restaurant called “The Kitchen.” You must gather all the ingredients and make your own meal. I have no clue as to how this place is still in business.

I can’t say anything new and exciting has happened in the last couple of days.  Nicky and I checked out the fresh market that is brought to the marina each Friday.  Nicky found some veggies; Savannah and I purchased some home made banana yogurt; it was delicious. 

Testing our Shirley Temple

We did rent a car and drove to various marine and hardware stores.  Nicky and I were able to check out a couple of grocery stores along the way. It appears we will have to do as we did in St. Thomas and pick up the basics at the closest store and then rent a car every couple of weeks to get the rest of our purchases. 

We had lunch in the True Blue area at a restaurant called the Dodgy Dock.  Dale and I had anchored in their cove on our first trip down 13 years ago and love it there.  Dale said that the little marina that is located there was in need of repair.  I still thought it was beautiful.  Gerry and Nicky saw the constant roll in the anchorage and weren’t impressed. 

Unfortunately, most of the attractions and restaurants on the island are still closed.  We had been hoping to visit some of the gardens, waterfalls and forts.  Hopefully, as time goes on, they will open. 

Finally:   Half of us are going to come out of this quarantine as amazing cooks. The other half will come out with a drinking problem.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

St. George’s, Grenada
12.02.608 N
61.44.986 W

Dear July, I don’t want any trouble from you!  Just come in, sit down, don’t touch anything, and keep your mouth shut!

We’ve been settling in and trying out a new routine for the time that we’ll be here.  We start the day at 7:30 with a trip to the pool; I do laps while Dale and Savannah continue swim lessons.  We hit the showers on our way back to the boat as they have hot water we don’t have to make!   Then we go back to our previous routine of piano, reading, and math lessons before lunch and science in the afternoon. 

Dale was able to hire a welder that has already fixed and reinforced our steering wheel.  The Raymarine tech he located came out to look at the auto pilot problem before giving us a date of when he’ll return to fix the problem.  Sounded like he knew exactly what the issue was.  He said that he wanted to conduct a sea trial once he fixed the problem, so that means detaching ourselves from the quay wall (unplugging from electricity, taking down all of the shade cloths and opening everything back up) heading back out into the open water, conducting the sea trial, then back to the quay wall and reattaching ourselves.  I suspect that it will take longer to detach and reattach than it will to fix the problem. 

Dale and Gerry located a bakery on their scouting expeditions that I have made use of.  We’ve already tried their cinnamon rolls, baguettes, and banana nut bread.  On Fridays they also make roti’s!  I’ve put my order in for a couple that are boneless chicken. 

Dale, Savannah and I walked over to the closest grocery store.  Dale remembers it as being the one we used to shop at all the time.  My recollection was shopping at a much larger store but then it was 13 years ago, so who knows. 

Nicky found a local merchant that you order your food from that actually delivers your order to the boat; no shlepping the heavy items back in a wagon or grocery cart. We still need to do some price comparisons to see just what we’re paying for.  Both of us still have quite a bit of food in our boat stores but it’s the fresh veggies and things like milk and bread we need to replenish.  Of course, the first couple of days, we took full advantage of the restaurant here at the marina.  They have a rather limited menu and I think we’ve exhausted trying everything we’re interested in.  We’ve made arrangements to rent a car to do some more extensive exploring on Friday and to find the second hand marine shop the guys found advertised. 

I think everyone here at the marina is fighting the internet battle.  They offer “boxes” that are hardwired to the dock connection that brings the WiFi into the boat.  However, we, and many more, cannot connect to the internet even if we can connect to the box.  The local telephone company has been contacted to “ping” each box to see where the problem lies.  I’m still using Dale’s phone’s hot spot to upload my posts, check the mail and surf the web.  This morning he told me I need to stop watching the Jeanne Robertson videos I get a kick out of as I’ve gone through all the data we had purchased and he’s had to “top off” our data plan.  The last time we made this trip, we walked miles just to find a WiFi/internet connection; so I can’t complain too much that we can’t connect to the ones provided free of charge right at the back of the boat. 

We’ve kicked around the idea that it is possible to stay here though hurricane season if necessary, so we’ll be looking at what it will take.  We still need to get the boat bottom painted, the stanchion that was damaged in George Town repaired and of course, the broken port light replaced.  Other than that, not a whole lot is happening. 

Finally:  I would hate it if this CoVid pandemic kept going all the way through to tick season.  I really don’t like Corona with Lyme.