report from grenada, west indies

This is our first blog for the 2009-2010 winter cruising season.

We returned to Grenada on Nov 5 and started preparations for launch. Still acclimated to the near freezing weather in Nova Scotia, we suffered much at 30 deg C (86 deg F). The hell never ends down here!

After passing the hurricane season ashore at Spice Island Marine,

the "Charlotte D" was launched on Nov 19.

It has been 4 years now since the "Charlotte D" has been tied to a dock. We continue to spend all our layover times at anchor, where we produce our own electricity (wind, solar and generator), and our own fresh water (reverse osmosis). Fuel is hauled in jerry cans and filtered into boat's tanks. Our thin cruising budget requires that we do our own maintanence and repairs.

Normal maintanence prior to launch included varnishing, applying antifouling paint on bottom, servicing engines, stocking foodstuffs, and filling water tanks. These routine items usually take us a week to complete.

This season our launch was delayed by several problems.

Our 20 year old diesel generator, increasingly balky for the past two seasons, refused to operate even after we installed new glow plugs and fuel injectors. After many hours of sweating in a hot engine room, we finally decided that compression is low due to both worn piston rings and valves. So, we purchased a Honda portable generator.

Our battery charger/inverter developed a "communication fault". Tech support at Xantrex told us that the likely cause of the problem was poor quality AC shore power, judging from the error messages displayed. In fact, we were made aware of a hot-neutral reversal in the shore power line when our shrouds carried 110 V! Xantrex is hopeful that the unit is repairable, so we will carry it back to Canada in the spring. In the meantime, we purchased smaller charger and inverter to carry us through this winter. We will be less trusting of shore power in the future!

And efforts at recommissioning continued even after launch.

Our sailing dinghy looks bristol with new paint and rigging! The big boat was rigged with help from our friend visiting from Cedar Key, FL.

Our 6 year old Yamaha outboard, running fine when we left in April, would not start. It was taken for service and some wiring problems corrected (corrosion continues even when the boat is laid up ashore).

The malfunction of the HF radio was easy to correct, after many hours searching for the poor power connection responsible for the trouble.

The manual bilge pump that we had been nursing along finally proved to be irrepairable and was replaced.

An eye splice was replaced here and there.

Supply stops were needed for the aft shower before the dripping head could be repaired. Replacement of teak bungs is a continuing chore.

We were pleased to accept a gift of 2 solar panels (110 W total) and installed them on starboard rail. Thanks to our new friends from South Africa! We will think of them for years as the amps flow into the ship's batteries!

Of course, not all our time in Grenada was occupied with boat maintanence. We enjoyed Jazz sessions at the museum with our friends from The Isle of Mann and from Grenada.

Le Phare Bleu is a wonderful spot for Happy Hour, which, on wednesdays, is followed by a West Indian dinner, served "family syle". We met many interesting cruisers at the "Friendship
Table".

Our friend from Grenada arranged for an "oil down" which was enjoyed by all.

The Grenada Yacht Club was a cool spot after a long hot walk through downtown St. George's.

There is always lobster to boil or grill and Happy Hours are well attended, here with friends from Isle of Man and Denmark.

Pot Luck Dinner on US Thanksgiving held at de Big Fish was a great success thanks to organizing efforts of our friends from Iowa.

We explored Grenville and the east coast of Grenada.

Catherine participated in saturday tutoring sessions at Mt. Airy and found them rewarding.

The Steel Pan Concert fridays at Prickly Bay Marina is a favourite event for us. Click on the short video clip to sample their rendition of "Hotel California".

The fiddle playing is improving steadily. She's almost ready to produce her first CD, to be titled, "Persistence is the best substitute for Talent."

Grenada has many beautiful beaches, one of our favourites being the Grand Anse on the west coast, lined with open air bars; perfect for "liming" (sit long, talk much).

Catherine is enjoying having her hair braided, island style. It's a much cooler and suprisingly long-lived "do" even with ocean swimming and shampooing.

Roger's Beach Bar is renowed for sunday afternoon BBQ's, enjoyed by many.

Skype continues to provide free voice and video communication with other Skype users. It does require highspeed internet service, which is not always available at the internet cafes. Since we do not receive snail mail, the internet continues to be very useful for email, banking, bill paying, retrieving tax information slips, downloading tax programs, as well as for world news, weather forecasts, and communicating our cruise news through this blog.

Catherine continues to do most of the cooking aboard the "Charlotte D" in her fine fashion, while Peter struggles along with simple things like plantain fritters and scooping out jelly coconuts.

We sailed away from Grenada on Dec 19 for a lovely passage northward over 2 days to Bequia, one of the 30 or so islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Conditions were perfect in late december; 15 knot trade winds, sunny skies and 28 C (82F).

Peter and Catherine, aboard S/V "Charlotte D" at Bequia.

"To err is human, to really screw things up one needs religion."