True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Today was rainy and windy; then ended with dead calm. We were all scrambling for a look a the grib sheets to see if we can sneak out a day early. It’s a definite maybe.

Dale managed to run up a new flag halyard and rearranged the cleat it’s attached to between the showers. I tried cleaning the isinglass to get out all of the red sand they’ve been collecting by being rolled up.

Then we both sat back down dripping wet from sweat. The humidity is amazing here. The sheer act of moving causes you to bead up. You’d think with all of the sweating we’re doing here, we’d lose a few pounds. Dale looks like a bean pole because he hasn’t been able to keep up his exercise routine. I look like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man.

We got together with Carol & Wayne and Mike & Sara on Wayfinder for our last social hour together for a while. Even if we don’t leave for Trinidad tomorrow, we’ll hoist anchor and head over to Prickly Bay for fuel and check out of customs. Then we’ll probably short anchor in Hog Island until we’re ready to leave.

The big problem is going to be hoisting our stern anchor, a/k/a our storm anchor. With the squalls that have passed by here, we’re pretty well dug in. Yesterday, the local charter company sent out a diver to pull up several moorings that, until they attached a float to them, were unknown to us. Then they moved one of their boats to a mooring that suddenly appeared very close to us. Once we lift the stern anchor, I think we’ll come way too close to that boat. Dale said he was more worried that we would swing too close to Wayfinder. Again, they anchored close to us but with our stern anchor holding us in place, it wasn‘t a problem. Tomorrow should be a very interesting day.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Bad day for Wayfinder today. We all learned that the motor they had ordered doesn’t fit. Apparently the manufacturer changed the design of the motor. However ,Nordhaven specifically designed a space for the motor to fit into and now the newly designed motor doesn’t fit into it. Distraught is probably too strong a word to use to describe their situation, so let’s just say they are frustrated to the max over the whole thing.

They do have a good mechanic who, after speaking with the design manufacturer, can jury-rig the whole thing. He doesn’t like the idea and now it’s turned into a ‘who’s going to stand behind the product once it’s installed’ dilemma. We really feel bad for them.

Carol and I reminded the guys that it was a very quiet night and we probably could have made the trip to Trinidad yesterday. The guys reminded us that there were squalls around Trinidad and if we had run into them, it would have been us screaming bloody murder. Stalemate!
Saturday is looking like the day we’ll have to go, come hell or high water. The next wave is supposed to be bigger and longer before the waves die back down.

We played Mexican Dominos with Carol and Wayne again last night. This time Dale won. Once again, I came in last. I’ve become rather adept at having the most points with the least amount of bones in my hand.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Dale was one happy camper today. It was the first morning in almost a month that he was able to have his morning cup of coffee. I really didn’t realize that he had given it up until I had to clean the grounds out of the sink today and it suddenly dawned on me that he had changed his morning routine during our power shortage.

On the other hand, I was happy that I didn’t have to choose between washing my hair or washing the dishes with hot water. I have actually grown accustomed to taking tepid showers. They’re refreshing in this hot, humid climate. Still, I prefer to have hot water for my hair.

With our departure time delayed, we immediately fell back into our routine of getting our chores done in the morning, reading or playing on the computer mid-day and heading up to the pool during the afternoons.

After discussing the relative ease of this blog site, both Carol (TakeTime48) and Sara (WayfinderTravels) have decided to open their own blog sites. Carol is uploading mostly pictures at this point. I think Sara is doing the same thing.

Indigo Moon is out of the yard and anchored right behind us. Now it’s Free Spirit’s turn on the hard. We bump into them every once in a while. They were here in True Blue with us for a short time about a week ago before checking out some of the other anchorages. While their boat is in the yard (waiting for parts from South Africa) they’ll be staying at the resort.

Carol and I both commented that the weather was much nicer today but the guys said there was another wave coming through and we’d most likely get caught out in it. So here we sit. Not too bad a life on the whole.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

What’s that saying about the “best laid plans of mice and men?”

This morning came with blustery weather and a swell we have never seen the likes of in this harbor. Still, Dale went to check on the status of the inverter with the idea that we were leaving by 5pm. It wouldn’t be delivered to the store until noon.

When he came back, we discussed the merits of crossing in weather such as this. With wave heights of 7-9 feet on the beam and wind speeds of 20-25kts, it was at the border of our comfort level. The wind never did shift around. We were already leaning toward the “no go” side of the equation when our buddy boat Take Time radioed and said that it was a definitely a no go for them (they’re a power boat.) That pushed us over the edge and the anxiety levels dropped off immediately.

Later, when Dale went back to get the inverter and was told that it couldn’t be delivered to us until after 2, it wasn’t a problem. He had laid hands on the box, checked that it was the right part and was whistling Dixie on the way back to the boat. When it was delivered at 2:30, he had it installed by 3, the batteries were charged by 4 and a whoop of satisfaction could be heard throughout the harbor. We were up at the pool by 4:15.

We joined the crews of Wayfinder, Indigo Moon, and Take Time standing at the railing watching about half of the boats that had wanted to leave, take off. The rest of us decided to wait for the next window. We radioed Moon Goddess when she was about 3 miles out for a weather report. They were taking water over the decks on a regular basis and were traveling with a double reefed main and several rolls in the jib. When we saw lightening on the horizon later in the evening, we said a quick prayer that everyone made it without incident.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Since it looks very promising that tomorrow we’ll have an inverter, I’m trying to get all of my posts uploaded before I lose my internet connection. The previous sentence doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but here’s my train of thought.

Once the inverter is installed, we’ll stow all of the loose gear, say our good byes to everyone we leave behind here, head over to Prickly Bay to fuel up, check out of customs and then leave for Trinidad about 5 pm. So the more things, I can get done today, the less I have to do tomorrow when Dale installs the inverter, stands up with arms in the air like a cowboy in a calf roping contest shouting time! and it’s a mad dash to secure the boat (after a month of sitting) for an open water transit.

I guess you can tell that another weather window has opened up. The only problem is that we have to wait to get the much awaited part until tomorrow, to leave. Today was the better of the two day window for wind speed but tomorrow is better for wind direction and lower wave heights. The next window is not expected until the end of the week leaving no room for error and a weekend arrival. (We try to always enter and leave a country during the week to avoid the overtime charges.)

Diane & Joe off Moon Goddess made it in late this afternoon. They found us up at the pool with Mike & Sara, Carol & Wayne, Buddy & Melissa, Brian & Lisa and Susan (their guest on Wasabe). Diane & Joe want to catch the window to Trinidad tomorrow, too. From what we can gather, there will be quite a few of us leaving. One boater said that it was going to be a parade all the way down; once you get in line, don’t slow down or you’ll get run over. In other words, “it’s a convoy!”

We caught up with Diane & Joe over dinner at Bananas and learned that they have reservations at the same marina as we do in Trinidad.

Now the only thing we need is that dang inverter!

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Mike & Sara joined us on our daily walk to Budget Marine; today was definitely exercise rather than a needed trip. We stopped to say hi to Nicholas in the store, now out of habit rather than anything else.

There was supposed to be a truck bringing fresh fruits and veggies to the marina at 11:00 but by 12:00 when he hadn’t arrived, we figured it was 11:00 GMT (Grenada Maybe Time) so, we turned around and hiked back.

Again we stopped by Indigo Moon to give Buddy a hard time. He had a gallon of paint that he was going to thin down to paint the entire bottom of this boat.

Later, when we were all sitting around the pool, we saw him come trudging back to his room. It looked like he had been through a war. He had cuts and scrapes from a zinc that had jumped out and attacked him and more paint on him than on the boat.

We heard from Moon Goddess. They finally arrived in Grenada. They anticipate meeting up with us tomorrow.

Photo: Cocoa Nut.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Dale is practically dancing a jig; the inverter left Puerto Rico for Grenada this morning. Once it gets out of the customs office, it should be here first thing on Monday morning.

We did our customary walk to Budget Marine, more out of exercise than anything, and told Nicholas the good news. Of course, he’s been following it just as anxiously as Dale has.

We walked by Indigo Moon in the yard and gave Buddy a hard time about all of the holes he’s punching in the keel of his catamaran. His boat was set up in a fashion where bilge water could spill into a void below it. So he drilled holes in the lowest section draining the water out and is filling the void with epoxy. Hopefully alleviating the problem of blisters which alerted him to the situation in the first place.

Mike & Sara had people on their boat completely disassembling their water maker motor; although they did find a frayed wire, they still came up with the same diagnosis; it needs a new motor.

By the end of the day, we were all sitting around the pool relaxing until we remembered that Friday was Mexican night at the resort restaurant. So we all jumped up, ran to change our clothes and met back up at the restaurant for Mexican food with a island twist. It’s not bad when it’s the only Mexican food in town.

Photo: Buddy & Meslissa off Indigo Moon.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Dale was delighted with the tracking number he was provided. He was able to see that the inverter left California this morning. Later in the afternoon, he saw where it had reached Memphis. By evening, it appeared to be in Puerto Rico. He seems to be comforted with what appears to be positive progress. I’m worried that if an inverter doesn’t appear as promised, he’ll snap and I’ll need a couple of men in white coats with a big net to control the situation.

Mike on Wayfinder seems to be on an even narrower ledge. The consensus is that he needs a new motor for his water maker. So now he’s waiting for parts. Of course, he’s been told that it’ll be here next week. Since he’s watched us for the past 3 weeks, you can hear the defeat in his voice. We have our fingers crossed for him.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Buddy & Melissa are back in town. They had taken a quick trip home while their boat was on the hard.

Dale & I made our daily trek over to the Budget Marine. The manager wasn’t in when we got there, so we killed some time having lunch at De Big Fish, a little bar & grill next door where we met Brian & Lisa off Wasabe. They’ve been sailing for 6 years; starting off from southern California and crossing through the Panama Canal. Of course, we had to swap our California stories; Dale was born and raised there and that’s where we met.

We convinced them that it was a lot less rolly in True Blue than it was over in Prickly so they joined out little group later in the afternoon.

We said our farewells to Mike & Sara on Wayfinder and they pulled out shortly after I washed my knickers and hung them out to dry. When they went by, Dale & I stood and saluted telling them that we were giving them the 21 panty salute.

A couple of hours later, they radioed that they were returning. They had spent a considerable amount of money having their water maker repaired at the local marina. They got out a ways, turned it on, and by golly, it had the same problem. They are not happy. We welcomed them back with open arms and rum punches. They certainly needed to relax.

On a happier note, we got word today that our insurance doesn’t require us to be in Trinidad for hurricane season; Grenada is still OK. It’s good to know we have an option. A lot of people don’t and with the rumors of increased violence coming out of Venezuela, it’s forcing more and more people into Trinidad. In my humble opinion, setting the entire marine insurance business at risk for catastrophic damages should a hurricane ever strike Trinidad.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Dale walked over to Budget Marine first thing this morning to confirm that the inverter had been ordered from this end. Now it is a question of waiting until tomorrow to confirm that it has been shipped. He swears that if he doesn’t get a tracking order immediately, we’re getting our money back and ordering the part through another company. I’m staying out of his way.

Sara & Mike radioed over inviting us to join them for lunch at Bananas. We ran into Wayne and Carol while there. A bunch of boats are catching the window on Wednesday night to Trinidad or Venezuela. Mike & Sara will be one of them. We’ll miss them but hopefully will catch up with them again someday on down the line.

Photo: Mike & Sara on Wayfinder

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

You are not going to believe this! It happened again! Our inverter still has not been sent.

As you may recall, when we last left our most unhappy camper, he was told that since St. Martin did not have the inverters they said they had, one had to be ordered from the manufacturer. As the Grenada store is a branch of the St. Martin store, St. Martin still had to do the ordering. We started becoming concerned when we couldn’t get a tracking number for the part shipped and sure enough, there was no tracking number because no part had been shipped. The cost of the part had not met the minimum required to ship to this area. The Grenada store manager was just as frustrated as Dale was, saying that if St. Martin had simply told him this when they first encountered the problem, he would have ordered two.

This means another week here. The manufacturer ships on Wednesday, it takes 2 days to get here, another day to clear customs, which, of course, brings us to the weekend and everything stops until Monday. Only this time, we’re shut out of a very nice weather window we’ve been watching for the past couple of days in which to transit to Trinidad.

Dale’s fried! Instead of having 4-5 days of time toodling around Trinidad until our reservation date on the 1st, we are now are up against a 4-5 day crunch of hoping a weather window opens for us to make the 20 hour passage. It can happen but we might have to do it alone. We’ve been more inclined to travel in groups the closer we get to Venezuela, just to be on the safe side. Who knows, Rainbow Rider may catch up to us yet.

We finished the day by playing 15 rounds of Mexican Dominos with Carol & Wayne on Take Time. (They have a really big set of Dominos). It was fun and a great way to get Dale’s mind off the inverter. We finished about midnight.

Photo: Carol on Take Time; Wayne's underneath cleaning the bottom.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Happy Father’s Day to all of you Dads!

As mentioned before, nothing happens on Sunday, so all was quiet today, particularly with the on and off showers. Dale has been making steady progress through his Patrick O’Brian series of books, taking the opportunity to lay in the hammock and soak in all of the brownie points due a Dad on Father’s Day.

Jim & Freddie off Chez Freddie dropped by for a quick visit before heading into town to look for a restaurant to celebrate Father’s Day.

I tried my hand at making a pizza for dinner again. I broke out the bread maker to make the dough this time. Still not quite there. Too much bread in the crust. I told Dale that at the rate I’m going, I should have this down by the time we get back.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Today Dale & I rented a car to run our errands and invited Mike & Sara to join us as they had turned in their car last week. We checked at Budget Marine, still no inverter. We dropped by the pharmacy and tried to pick up some medicine but they were out of what we needed until Monday afternoon. We were able to do some grocery shopping and pick up fresh veggies. We stopped at a restaurant too far for us to walk to from the marina and enjoyed a tasty meal surrounded by beautiful flower gardens.

When we returned, I spent some time repackaging and vacuum sealing everything before heading over to Take Time. Wayne & Carol had invited us to return to their boat for the nickel tour. They have a 48’ Kadey-Krogen Whaleback trawler. Very nice. Wayne and Dale talked forever about their various improvements to our respective boats. Wayne is just as handy as Dale is and apparently grateful to have someone who speaks the same electrical language as he does. Carol and I talked recipes. The four of us joined Mike & Sara and Freddie & Jim at the pool later in the afternoon.

Wayne and I and a couple from Ireland took advantage of the slide at the pool. It’s the size where you can’t tell if it’s for children or for everyone. Since there were only adults at the pool we figured what the heck! We had a blast.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

I can’t say as we did a whole lot today. We dinghied over to Prickly Bay only to find out that our part was still not in. Not only was it still not in but they didn’t have a tracking number in which to tell us where it was in the process of being sent (not that we could have counted on it anyway).

We did have dinner with Sara & Mike (Wayfinder), Freddie & Jim (Chez Freddie), and Wayne & Carol on Take Time. Carol really outdid herself in preparing smoked pulled pork with homemade buns. All the rest of us brought cole slaw, baked beans, long grain rice, 3 bean salad and green salad. A regular down home barbeque.

We finished up the evening by playing Mexican Dominos. Of course, it was another version. Each time we play with new people, we use different rules. Then again, that’s half the fun!

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Today was a beautiful day. It was also a holiday and everything was closed. So we read our respective books. I tried my hand at making calzones again (my last attempt with pizza dough was better).

Then we ended the day by visiting with Sara & Mike on Wayfinder. That is, after Dale fiddled with the dinghy engine again (guess there’s water in the gas tank that we’ll have to address.)

Sara and I both contributed two appetizers each to our visit and called it dinner. We decided that great minds think alike. She brought barbequed meatballs and brie with crackers and I brought barbequed smokies and Flutes au Fromage; a French bread/cheese stick I picked up in one of the French islands. The guys didn’t seem to mind the similar dishes and everything was gone by sundown.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Although we still had the occasional rain cloud pass through today, we were able to retrieve the laundry we left over in Prickly Bay on Monday. That is, after Dale did a minor adjustment to the dinghy engine. It seems we picked up a bit of water in the engine. Once he cleaned the spark plugs and changed the reservoir of fuel, it fired right up. Thank heavens it conked out on us 20 feet from the Palace instead of out in the ocean as we were rounding the tip of one harbor into the next. That would have meant a lot of rowing; most likely for both of us. Plus some anxious moments.

As we approached the laundry hut, the wash woman had my bag ready as I walked up. She said that she remembered me because of the large amount that I had left. (Oops) She did a great job. Nothing lost; everything neatly cleaned and folded. Best yet.

When we got back, we touched base with Sara on Wayfinder (Mike had gone to the dentist). She loaned us 5 gallons of gasoline until we can rent the car on Friday. Otherwise Dale was going to have a long walk to the gas station in town.

Sara was telling us that they made reservations at Isla de Margarita since the mainland of Venezuela is rumored to be getting more and more violent. She told us that Margarita is supposed to be safer. “Just go into the marina; don’t anchor“ she told us. That doesn’t give me warm fuzzies either, no matter how inexpensive it is. It seems to me, the islands beyond Trinidad are becoming more difficult to justify going to. Dale says we need to weigh everything before making up our minds. We’ll see.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

It rained today; all day.

We didn’t go anywhere or do anything. I couldn’t even hang up the hammock.

All of the boats are doing fluky things in the water. We either had 30kt gusts of wind preceding the squalls or dead calm once they passed.

Dale jury rigged the power board so that he can divert power to what needs to be run by flipping a switch, instead of manually rewiring it each time he starts the genset. Pretty nifty. He just doesn’t like the idea of jury rigging it for any length of time.

We’d like to watch a movie tonight but the TV is acting up. When there’s a lot of moisture in the air, it refuses to play DVD’s and local television just doesn't cut it.

The marina restaurant has a pretty good band playing tonight so we’re sitting in the cockpit listening to the songs over the water. It’s become a game of name that tune.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

It was with high hopes that Dale left the boat this morning bound for the marine chandlery. Unfortunately, as is the norm more often than not, miscommunication ruled the day.

Apparently one of the two inverters located in St. Martin and ordered last Wednesday for us, didn’t exist. So the information that it had been ordered, that it had been shipped, and that it was sitting in customs waiting to clear was in error. Today a very apologetic manager told us he had been informed that St. Martin didn’t have any inverters at all and the package sitting in customs was not ours. So it was back to the drawing board.

This time the chandlery ordered the inverter from the dealer. The only problem is that it will be another week of cooling our jets waiting for the shipment as weather windows to Trinidad open and close.

Dale reminded me that we’ve been pretty lucky as compared with others who have had to repeatedly wait for parts to be shipped. I really don’t mind as I like it here. In fact, if the grocery shopping was more convenient, I’d stay here for quite a while without complaint. As it is, we have to rent a car every time we need to go to the grocery store (unless we want to lug the groceries back on the bus.)

Later, we dinghied our laundry around to the next bay to have done. The one here in the resort doesn’t work. Once there, we took the opportunity to confirm with the chandlery that the inverter had been ordered and then dropped by the local watering hole for a hamburger. Considering we haven’t had a cheeseburger in paradise in a while, it tasted pretty good in spite of the fact that it was more of a meatloaf burger. You just can’t get too picky in these parts.

When dark clouds appeared on the horizon, we made a made a mad dash back to the boat and almost made it.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

Nothing happens on Sunday, so we climbed the steps to the pool again and actually swam in it. It was a pretty neat little pool. It has two dolphins depicted on the bottom made out of little 1” tiles. It creates a 3-D effect, particularly with the water over it. Really cool!! Sara and I just floated around while the guys read their respective books.

True Blue Bay, Grenada
11.59.955N
61.46.170W

It started off rainy this morning but by afternoon it had cleared out. Since the inverter is held up in customs, we decided to check out the pool at the resort. Mike & Sara are at the marina, so they invited us to check it out.

Unfortunately, our timing was off. The staff had just cleaned it and had added chlorine. We had to wait at least an hour before going in. So, we rinsed ourselves in the pool shower, laid underneath the cabanas until we dried and then did it all over again. It was actually rather refreshing.

Photo: True Blue Bay Resort, Grenada