Update from Grenada
Taking a break from the voyage recaps to update you on the present.
After the first week of getting the boat cleaned up after the passage, and sending the Mark and Emmy off to their next adventures, I left Sage in Port Louis marina to go back to California for two weeks. While I was gone, Shaun Tarr checked on her from time to time and I had the cameras to keep track of any comings and goings. I returned on Nov. 20th and Liz joined me on Nov 25th. We are currently on a mooring ball in Prickly Bay Grenada, and enjoying some of the good things on the island as well as getting a few things taken care of on the boat.
We intend to head north to Carriacou on Thursday December 22, since LTD sailing, who handles Balance’s warranty claims here in Grenada, will be going on their holiday break and we might as well move on. If some things are left undone, well, that’s boat life!
While here we’ve had some great times. There are some cruisers who have been here for a while, and some who are passing through. We listen to the Cruiser’s Net on Channel 66 each morning and get to know some of them by boat name if not by face. This is a common thing in the islands to have a morning check-in on some VHF channel. It’s a useful way to see who’s doing what and to make new friends.
After an initial period of very wet weather, the dry season has arrived, which means it sometimes doesn’t rain all day. This means we can go ashore for walks and not bring a kilo of mud back with us in the dinghy. We did a tour with Pete and Corey of the island. Our driver, Cutty, was knowledgable and very proud to show off Grenada. He took us to chocolate farms, showed us the fruit trees, and took us to a rum distillery that sadly was closed for a staff party.
We went on a “Hash” which is a hike/run in the jungle followed by BBQ and Beer. It was still pretty muddy up there, but it was fun. It was not an easy hike, with some steep slopes both up and down. Because we were first timers (“Virgins”), they have a whole thing which resulted in us getting a certificate.
