November
12, 2020
St.
George’s, Grenada
Port
Louis Marina
12.02.608 N
61.44.833 W
I
started taking notes so that I that I wouldn’t forget what has happened since I
last posted, but when I sat down to compose said post, I got lazy. Here are my notes:
10/30 United won’t check Dale’s luggage all the way through to Grenada. They say their computers won’t allow it. He needs to contact Air Canada when he gets to Houston during his layover. I don’t understand why as it was Air Canada that canceled his flight and rebooked it through their “partners” in the first place.
The refrigeration guys return with a new board for the AC and install it. Now at least the pump Gerry had hard wired to the lower AC unit can turn off when the AC does. We follow up with the marina regarding the remaining pieces needed and learn that they are determined not to repair the main AC as the reason it is not working is due to a coolant issue which they are standing firm on that the power surge could not have caused. I’m resolved that we’re screwed and up my dose of St. Johns Wart. Nicky says there goes another Voodoo pin into the doll.
Gerry
texts me information he finds on Facebook where people trying to convince
incoming passengers at the airport that they need a geo watch. Truth is that only those (locals) self-quarantining
at home use the watches. Everyone else
has to have a prepaid quarantine hotel and do not require the watches; they
have guards on the doors. I relay the
information to Dale.
10/30 Gerry
texts that the Ministry of Health has changed the quarantine period again. Now its 7 days instead of 4. Nicky suggests that I keep that information
to myself as no word has come down regarding when it goes into effect. As there’s nothing Dale can do, there’s no
sense in worrying him while he is literally on the plane.
10/31 Halloween. Michelle texts me that Sean Connery has died. She knows that I was always a fan and thought he just got better with age.
Dale sends progressive texts as to where he is in regard to his flight out of Toronto. His plane is delayed for an hour due to mechanical issues. By the time the mechanical issues are resolved, the flight crew must be changed out as the entire flight will take them over their allotted flight times. He will now be 4 hours late leaving Toronto. I call his quarantine hotel and let them know that he will be late.
Port Louis Marina (PLM) sends a representative around to see when we will be leaving and what remains to be repaired on our boat as a result of the power surge on J dock. I tell her that as a result of the change in quarantine times, it will be at least another week and that I will keep her posted as soon as I learn something myself and remind her of the four remaining items of a surge protector and 3 gauges in the electrical panel.
Dale finally arrives and tells me not to bring his food until tomorrow. I contact our usual taxi driver and ask if he can meet me at 7:30 am.
11/1/20 I take a bag of food and a backpack of clothes to Dale in quarantine and he gives me his duffel of clothing, meds and chocolate for Gerry/Nicky.
Gerry/Nicky
leave their slip at Port Louis Marina for Spice Island Marine for their haul
out and bottom paint on Monday. I get
soaked taking a photograph of them as they leave the fuel pier across from Port
Louis.
11/2/20 PLM
email that they want to meet on Tues. about the remaining damage. Dale has been writing the original
refrigeration guys, who agree that there is a way an electrical surge would
have caused the coolant to leak out.
11/3/20 I meet Kim from Dorothy Rose on the dock and learn that she has been down with Dengue Fever for a couple of weeks. This makes 4 people in the marina that have contracted the mosquito born ailment. As they were one of the boats who lost their AC the 1st time the dock had a surge, I ask how they are fairing with repairs. They are happy and everything is being replaced. However, she tells me that Dragonfly, a catamaran that was on our dock that lost their AC when we lost ours, was told to file an insurance claim with their insurance and then a subrogation claim can be filed with the marina. Thinking this will be what our meeting later in the day will resolve to, I check our insurance policy. Our deductible is most likely higher than any repairs needed.
Gerry meets me for our meeting with Charlotte with PLM. We actually have a good meeting and leave with the plan that an electrician needs to ascertain what brand, etc of gauges/sensors needs to be replaced as they are beneath electrical wires behind the panel, so that they can be purchased and replaced. It is also decided that while the electrician is there, he is to locate where the overheat sensor is on the AC compressor, so that a determination can be made as to what came 1st. If the sensor is on the master board that blew 1st, that is why the compressor overheated and caused the blowout losing the coolant. They won’t replace the AC outright and they won’t come up to Dale’s suggested 50% but they might come up on their 10-15% contribution to its replacement. I feel better about where we stand now.
As I got a Grenadian driver’s license the last time we rented a car, I drive on the left hand side for the 1st time taking Gerry to their apt where Nicky and I watch movies for the rest of the day before heading to the Container Park for chicken curry salad. We drop off milk and coffee to Dale at the hotel. The guard tells me that I can pick up and drop off supplies but that I cannot talk to him. I’m wearing a mask and standing more than 6’ from him but she is adamant that I cannot speak to him. The rules have changed again.
When
Gerry takes me back to PLM, we drop off a chicken roti and a loaf of bread to
Dale. Dale wants me to call him when I
get back to the boat. I can tell
something is up. Aunt Tina, who Dale has
just returned from seeing, is not doing well.
She’s stopped eating again and was found by the nurse on the floor. She didn’t fall, she apparently got weak and
laid down on the floor. Dale has my
phone (which we’ve kept our American telephone number) and received a call that
my step-dad, who I had to leave in a VA facility, has tested positive for
CoVid. He has a fever but no other
symptoms. They are treating him
aggressively with the most current protocol.
11/4/20 Quiet day; no word from the electrician. Dale sends word that he had his return PCR test. Actually, he says that he had the back of his skull swabbed from his nose. He should be released in 48 hours. Gerry/Nicky pick me up for dinner at the container park. This time we have Chicken Pad Thai. The hired sanding on their boat is moving slowly but Gerry is trying to be patient. He plans on doing the painting himself.
Dale relays that Aunt Tina and Dad are both improving. Aunt Tina’s 90 year old friend, Yoshi, spent the day with her and got her to eat. Dad’s fever has broken and he is improving as well.
11/5/20 Aunt Tina is starting to decline again. Her friends who were staying with her say that she tried to get up during the night and that if they hadn’t been there, she would have fallen. Dale calls and requests the service he engaged, to increase visits from twice a day for 2 hours each morning and afternoon to include an overnight person as she is now considered a fall risk. In Texas, my Dad has been moved to a CoVid ward but is responding well to medications.
Still
no word from the electrician.
11/6/20 I receive an e-mail from PLM that the electrician will meet with us at Spice Island when we’re hauled out.
Dale surprises me by showing up on the boat out of quarantine. We have a long talk. He tells me that he thinks he needs to return to Pensacola and make a more permanent decision as Aunt Tina is continuing to decline. He wants to compare costs and services offered through nursing homes to extending the service he already has in place to a 24/7 in home service. At that point, he’ll decide what to do. I tell him, I want to go home. Although some islands appear to be opening up, their incoming PCR and quarantine requirements are constantly changing. This trip has been fraught with bad luck and doesn’t appear to be getting any better. Surprisingly, he agrees as says he had been thinking about it himself. I spend the rest of the day making flight arrangements for him through American Airlines who is now flying to the island on a daily basis and extending our haul out length and apt time to last the additional time he’ll be gone. We’re scheduled to have dinner with Gerry and Nicky, so we’ll tell them then.
Our
dinner went well and Gerry and Nicky take the news better than we could have
hoped. They say they’d been expecting
it. They even say that they don’t plan
on leaving until December, so Dale will be back by that time (barring any
further disruption to the airlines). In
any event, I’ll be in an apt and won’t have to worry about the boat. While he’s gone, the boat can be painted and
repaired. I can rent a car if needed and
plan on following up with the apt we’ll be staying in as I’ve heard that they
do quarantine rooms as well.
St.
George’s, Grenada
Prickly
Bay Anchorage
12.00.274
N
61.45.888
W
We
return our internet box to Port Louis Marina’s office, pay our final bill and
finally pull out. We had good weather
and sailed south to round the southern tip of Grenada heading east to Prickly
Bay just past True Blue where we had stayed back in 2006. We enter Prickly Bay, lower our sails and look
for a spot to anchor where Gerry and Nicky had suggested. There is a partially sunken boat close by but
we go ahead and drop anchor. Unfortunately,
it drags and we can tell we’re in rocks.
Dale hoists the anchor and we circle around and go to the opposite side
of the channel. We select a spot behind
a sand bar and near an unoccupied mooring.
We sit in the cockpit and watch for an hour or so. We’re snugged in for the night.
11/9/20
St.
George’s, Grenada
Spice
Island Marine
12.00
N
61.44
W
I hear a boat pass us about 5:30-6am but ignore it. However, when we get up about 6:30, there is a boat in the haul out slip. We were told that we had the first haul out and to be there by 8am. We decide to wait until 7 and start calling the office asking for directions. Gerry texts about 7:30 and then arrives about 7:50 to see if he can figure out what’s going on from his direction on shore. We get word that it’s a survey and that they will be out of the slip by 8 and to be prepared to slide in as soon as they leave.
We up anchor at 8 and move into the haul out slip quickly and without drama. However, I’m told that I need to get off the boat before they lift it, so although I’m in a bathing suit and coverup, I grab the boat papers and jump off. Dale and Gerry are supervising the lift and pressure washing, so I figure I can be of more use by going up to the office and checking us in. The office worker is asking for one document after another and finishes by asking where my mask is. Not one soul in the haul out area, in the yard that I saw while approaching the office, and not a single person within the office is wearing a mask, but I’m questioned as to where mine is? So I tell her, its still on the boat.
Dale
shows up a bit later and fills out the work order. He has been speaking to the owner/general
manager during the pressure washing and learns that the owner is ex-military
and of course, they have to compare notes.
I feel he’s made a good connection and that his decision to have the
marina do most of the work while he’s gone will work for us in the long run.
11/10 Dale and I head over to the boat early from the apt. and I take the refrigerated and some frozen foods off the boat. Our refrigeration system on the boat is air cooled, so we can leave it running as long as we have good sun and wind to power it. My job will be to check on it daily to make sure all is well. My little tomato plant will have to stay as well, as the guys rewired it to be 12 volt.
Dale starts working on the swim ladders as they have small leaks around where the screws attach to the hull. He’ll have to do a bit of gelcoat work on the starboard side as it also has a small hole and crack where it looks like the swim ladder smacks against it when in use.
The apt. we’re in requires up front payment so I’m taking care of that and learn that yes, they do have quarantine rooms (although extremely basic) but at the same rate as the previous one we both used. However, this time when he returns, I’ll be able to take him food and provisions a lot easier than having to get either a rental car or a taxi.
We join Gerry and Nicky for dinner at the Container Park fast food area and learn that the Voodoo doll is being overworked. They are having issues with their refrigerator system and their dinghy has some major leaks where the transom connects to the pontoons. Gerry takes care of the latter rather quickly by purchasing a new dinghy. They need reliable transportation and once they leave here, the marine stores become increasingly harder to find.
About 7:30pm Dale and I try to do laundry at the apt during the limited hours of 5pm-7am but all of the machines are in use. We check back about 9:30 and find that whoever was using them, has not cleared them out. We’ll try again tomorrow.
I
get a call from the VA Center that Dad’s oxygen levels are declining although
he seems to be doing well.
11/11/20 I’m worried that I need to get what limited cold weather clothing Dale owns washed and returned to his suitcase and decide that 5:30 am is a good time to try to do laundry again. However, the clothes left the night before are still there. One washer only as a bit of clothing in it so, I transfer it to a dryer and start a load of my own. I set a timer on my cell phone so that I can transfer my wash and hopefully get another load going as I know that I will be past the allowed times by the time I’m finished. On my second trip, I transfer everything and start a second load. On my third trip, I fold the clothes in the dryer and transfer my second wash load to the dryer. I’m sitting in the apt when the security guard calls me and asks if I’m using the laundry, so I explain what I’ve done. I have no idea who the clothes belong to that he is trying to track down.
Dale starts to work on repairing the gelcoat where the swim ladder smacks against the transom. The yard guys start the sand blasting and in short order reveal tiny blisters on the forward port hull (whoever has the Voodoo doll, please put it down.) This means that now we have to have the hull sanded down to below the blisters, fiberglassed to fill in the area, apply an epoxy barrier coat, before the bottom paint can be applied. As Nicky would say “It’s a boat. Break Out Another Thousand!” However, she was also quick to point out that you get a marina tee shirt for every thousand dollars you spend. I think at this point, we’ll be able to outfit all of the kids and grandkids by the time we leave.
I have a hankering for pizza and I’ve seen where there is a Pizza Hut near where we do our grocery shopping. I contact Gerry and Nicky to see if they want to join us at the apt. for pizza and beer. The plan is that I’ll pick up the pizza, circle around and pick up Gerry, Nicky and Dale at the boat yard to head back to the apt. However, when I get to the store, I find its closed. The security guard at the KFC next door tells me that there is another one down by the Carenage (back by Port Louis Marina) that is open. I know the area and there is no parking along the very busy street. (Remember Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride when Gerry was driving on one-way streets?) No one is volunteering to go with me so that I can kick them out to pick up the pizza while I circle around during the wait. So, Plan B. I pick up everyone, we head to another set of container fast food offerings and pick up a pizza there to bring back to the apt. The only thing I can say about that was that it was edible. We drank all of the beer and put a pretty good dent in the rum. Good thing the dinghy dock is within walking distance from the apt.
11/12 Today is Dale’s departure date back to Pensacola. He’s been out of quarantine 1 week to the day. Dale and I start the day early with a trip to the boat. I water my tomato plant and get a few more spices to transfer to the apt. Dale finishes up his gelcoat work on the transom. The sanders start back to work on removing the bottom paint but stop when the rain comes in. I really don’t understand why as they are using a water type of sand blasting to take the old paint off. Seems to me that they are already getting wet, so why stop?
Dale
comes back to the apt to finish up his packing and we transfer his suitcases to
the rental car. He gets a call from the
nursing service, that Aunt Tina has been admitted to the hospital. The only thing we know for sure is that her
blood sugar levels are high.
On our drive to the airport, I
realize I need to refuel the car before turning it back in. Dale helps me find the little gas door (they’re
different on every car we rent) and the little lever that releases it. Unfortunately, there is no gas station
between the apt and the airport, so after I drop him off, I go in search of one. In Grenada, you have to prepay to fuel, so I start
feeding money over to the attendant to put fuel into the vehicle. This is slow going, so I increase the amount of money I hand out the window. It took 3
attempts before I finally called it full.
I don’t think the attendant was very happy with me.
I do make it back to the apt in one
piece and not aware that I caused any accidents. Its not the driving on the left hand side
that takes the concentration, it’s the driving on the left hand side while
navigating on your own. Yes, I’ve been
riding in the back seat all this time and have a pretty good idea as to where I’m
going but it’s different when you’re behind the wheel. At least its an island and if I really get
lost, I can just keep driving, I’m bound to end up back where I started.
Back at the apt. I hear a jet fly over
about the time Dale was scheduled to take off.
I figure that was him. He will give
me progressive updates as he gets to Miami and then Pensacola. At least this time, he’s able to transit in a
single day.
I guess you can say this is Take
Two! At least, this time I don’t have to
worry about the boat sinking.
