Nov. 06, 2017

We start our second season in the Caribbean where we left off last May, in Grenada.  After spending the hurricane season at home in Canada, where we were able to catch up with family members and friends, we were happy to be back to our soon to be floating home aboard BnG.  We planned for a month more on the hard at Clarkes Court so that we could make sure BnG was in good shape for our sailing season.  In addition, Robert had some repairs to do on our keel from the damage incurred while at anchor in Simpson Bay, St. Martin last season, which we anticipated would take 2 or 3 extra days to complete.  Generally speaking, our put-away for hurricane season list done in reverse becomes our prepare to launch for sailing season list.  Lists, lists, what would we do without them?  Well, for me, I know I’d forget something if not for my list!

Roberts birthday is Nov 13th, and with all the people working in the boat yard near us, it seemed only fit that we have a little party!   I spoke to the restaurant staff at the marina and arranged for them to bake a cake.  Later that evening, a bunch of us met at the restaurant for drinks and birthday cake.  It was probably the most expensive cake I had ever purchased, at $60 Caribbean dollars, but what are you gonna do, when your not equiped to do it yourself!  

Every Tuesday there is a bus, driven by “ShadeMan”, that comes into the yard and for a mere $10 (Caribbean dollars) will take anyone who wants to go into town for grocery or hardware store run.  The bus arrives promptly at 10am and has two return times, 1 hour and then 2 hours later.  The two returns allows for room on the bus for your purchases.  It amazes me how many people they can cram into what we would deem a 6 passenger van.  I think he limits it to 14!  You better not be claustrophobic!  When you’re a cruiser, you learn to coordinate, combine, and consolidate tasks as a necessary part of getting through your day.  

During our first season in the Caribbean, we had haulled out and stored the boat in Grenada, but we didn’t get a chance to really see much of the island.  So this year, we decided to take some time and get to know Grenada better.  We had heard from other cruisers that a local guy named Cutty provided a tour of the island for a reasonable price if we could get a group of six or eight together.  That was pretty easy, since there was a yard full of cruisers that don’t need much of an excuse to take a day off from doing boat jobs.  Mr, Cutty, our tour guide, picked us up at the marina gate promptly at 8:15am and we were on our way.  He made sure to stop at areas where pictures could be taken, and also talked about the various plant life on the island.  Ginger root seems to grow wild everywhere.  We hiked through the Grand Etang National Park, and had a short swim at the bottom of the Annadale Falls, which was a welcome escape from the heat of the day.  Grenada has some of the most beautiful and colorful plant life, and even some of the bugs are pretty cute!  We stopped at a park where we saw the Mona Monkeys and even had a chance to feed them pieces of banana, as they crawled along our arms and heads while we stood linking our arms together.  We had a nice lunch at one of the local restaurants and then toured through the local Rivers Rum Factory and even had a tasting at the end.  Honestly, it’s not the best rum we have tasted, but it was definitely interesting to see the process going from sugar cane to mash to final product.  It was a full day and very enjoyable, and we would highly recommend doing it if you’re ever in Grenada.