Our Weekend Sail - Part 3 (Finally!)

So much for keeping up to date with our blog! We've been busy with lots of visitors since December, so I've been a bit distracted! Now... let's finally finish with this story!

The next morning we got up & took our time having breakfast before heading over to Tobago Cays for snorkeling. (The other 2 boats that we were traveling with had already left.) Tobago Cays is a marine park south of St. Vincent consisting of 4 small islands and a series of reefs. There is an area marked off where you can swim near the beach with the sea turtles! Scott & I had been here numerous times on Windjammer's Mandalay... but I think the turtle area is fairly new. We anchored our boat in about 40 feet of water with our friends (and about another 8-10 boats) nearby. Then we geared up & jumped in the water! It was about a quarter mile to the beach area, so that's where I headed directly! (Still not real sure of my swimming ability!) I took a short break on the beach, then went back in to look for the turtles... which weren't too hard to find. At the time, there might have only been about 5 in the area. We probably kept seeing the same ones all afternoon. They didn't seem to be bothered by our presence at all, although they wouldn't let you get close enough to touch them. It was fun watching them nibble on the grassy patches on the bottom of the sea! On my way back to the boat, just after I left the corded off area, I even saw a spotted ray swimming below me! It was all pretty exciting!

We stayed there at anchor for the night, and had dinner aboard one of the other boats... about 12 of us on the largest boat in our group! It was a fun gathering, and we ended up meeting a man who actually lives about 5 houses from us! We all helped to clean up afterward, and later headed back to our boat. (Bedtimes on a boat are often earlier because of having to generate electricity... and by the time it gets dark, we're all exhausted!)

On Sunday morning the 4 of us took the dinghy to a little reef nearby for more snorkeling. The water there was very shallow, and I was a little nervous about the wave action, and afraid I might brush up against something that might sting, so I was happy to just hang out in the dinghy waiting for the rest to get back! But Scott came back for me & said that I shouldn't miss this reef because it was a pretty good one! I should be able to swim around the outer edge of it, which was much deeper... and still see all the good stuff. So I ended up joining the gang. (And I was glad I did!)

That afternoon we packed up the snorkel gear & pulled up anchor. We were heading back to Union Island for the night & would check out tomorrow before sailing back to Grenada. We had a chance that evening to check out a little sand bar called Happy Island ... a really interesting place! The owner even greeted us to tie up the dinghy when we arrived. If you ever have a chance to get to Union Island, be sure to check it out!

On Monday morning we prepared for the long sail back to Grenada... and watched Seaduction head out (again) before us. A little later, our friend on the other (larger) boat came over on his dinghy needing help... He was having engine trouble and the mooring he was tied to came loose, so his boat drifted onto a reef in the harbor! He needed a tow to get off of it quickly before it damaged anything! A few of the local boat boys must have seen what was happening, because they sped by on their motorboats to help. I bet it only took them about 10 minutes to resolve the problem, and then he was on his way! So once again, we were the last ones to leave.

The ride back was pretty uneventful... we knew it was going to be a long one. Going home, we planned to come down the east side of the island which is closer to their home anchorage. This would be a change of scenery at least! So we settled in for the approx. 8 hour sail, trying to get back before dark.

We got back just before sunset and after anchoring, gathered our things for the short dinghy trip to the dock. Our car was across town at the yacht club, so Barbara & Dave would give us a ride. Today was a holiday in Grenada, so we had a little trouble figuring out how we were going to "check in" with Customs tonight. We thought we'd try doing it at the airport, but that was not an option. So they called someone in & were meeting us at the yacht club for check-in.

The only other excitement we had before we parted was when we came INCHES from hitting a cow on the road from the airport! It was dark; it was big; it was "scary"! Fortunately no one (including the cow) was hurt!

So overall, it was a pretty fantastic weekend adventure with our friends Barbara & Dave! We all seemed to get along quite well, and we survived all the little "hiccups" along the way! We hope to do it again with them sometime!

Our Weekend Sail - Part 2

On to Part 2 of this weekend... At the yacht club we got the keys to the "restrooms" for our showers. By this time it was dark out. They were in a separate building behind the restaurant, so we followed the path back there. Scott & Dave unlocked theirs and went inside to shower. Barbara & I had to walk a little further (in the dark) to our door. We unlocked it and felt for the light switch... but nothing happened. It seems we had no light on our side of this building. We were able to see just slightly because of the light spilling in from the men's room side... the tops of the walls were open. But we were having a hard time finding the shower stall, as there were a number of doors scattered throughout. All of a sudden, we heard someone shout (on our side of the building)... "occupied"! Oh my gosh! There was a man in there showering! So we retreated to outside to wait for him to come out. Now while we're standing there we all of a sudden started getting bitten by mosquitoes... relentlessly! Barbara had a few of those packets with OFF towelettes, so she starts scrambling frantically to get one open... with tremendous difficulty! (Probably because we were panicking!) By this time, we're both "dancing" and trying to avoid all the bites! She finally got one open & we got some relief. The mystery man finally came out & we were able to have our turn at the shower in the dark!

Afterward, we sat down for drinks while we waited to see what the rest of the group were going to do. Just in front of us, the restaurant had a small shark pool (containing nurse sharks and I believe one ray). There was a floating platform sitting in the middle of the pool with a table and 4 chairs. To get to the platform, you had to step over an extremely large chain bordering the pool, onto a few rocks which were stacked precariously across to a small patch of dirt. On this patch of dirt was one of those grass thatched umbrellas... short enough that you had to duck under it.

(The roof edge of it was only about 5-6 feet from the ground.) From this patch of dirt then, there was maybe a 10" board that stretched across to the floating platform. Got the picture?

Now imagine our amazement when we watched as an older gentleman... dressed smartly in white shirt, white pants, and white shoes... began crossing over the big chain heading toward the floating platform! (I turned my head and said, "I can't watch this!") The waiter was there to help him (and his younger girlfriend) get across to the table. But of course, when he stepped on the rock, it wobbled and he fell up to his knees in the shark pool! But they continued on! So the waiter (and our "hero" friend Dave) proceeded to guide him across the patch of dirt to the skinny board and finally got him "parked" at the table! By this time, we decided to stay for dinner... and the "show"!

A bit later, Dave noticed the gentleman got up & started back... but the waiter wasn't around to help. So Dave jumped the chain and worked his way across to help... joined by the waiter, who then took the lead. They held the guy's hand as he gingerly shimmied across the board to the dirt. Still holding his hands, they continued to guide him toward the rocks... but no one was watching the height of the thatching... he got poked in the eye! When the man finally reached the safety of solid ground, he motioned to our friend that he wanted to buy him a drink as thanks. (He was French and didn't speak any English.) So we hung out at our table while Dave reaped his reward!

We didn't catch up with the other boaters... they decided to stay on board this evening. So we rode the dinghy back after dinner. (Getting soaked with saltwater again on the way! So much for the nice shower!) Tomorrow, we plan to sail to Tobago Cays to swim with the turtles!

Our Weekend Sail to Union Island &Tobago Cays

About a month ago, Scott & I had an opportunity to go on a weekend sailing trip with our good friends Barbara & Dave on their sailboat, Aloisious. It was a holiday weekend here in Grenada, so we planned to leave early Friday morning (Oct. 23) and return Monday night, the 26th. This was to be the first overnight trip for them on Aloisious, so we planned to travel with 2 other sailboats.

We made arrangements for a friend to feed our parrots for the weekend. Then ended up heading down to the lagoon (near the yacht club) and slept on the boat Thursday night. Aloisius has 2 cabins... one in the front, and one in back. There's a bathroom (head) on board, with shower... but we planned to shower ashore when we got to Union Island. We brought bagels for breakfast, lunch meat, PB&J for sandwiches, and BBQ chicken for meals, and planned to eat a few meals ashore as well.

On Friday morning, we waved to our friends as their boat "Seaduction" headed out (around 4 am). We were in preparation to pull up the anchor, but didn't actually get going till around 5:00. We were barely out of the harbor when Barbara (from below deck) called up and said "there's water all over the floor down here! Sure enough... when I looked down, there was water sloshing around on the floor! Now, Scott & I really know NOTHING about sailing, so unless they gave us specific instructions... our function on this trip was primarily "moral support"! So I go below deck to offer some of my moral support! (I also intended to gauge the level of panic on her face, so I could decide if this was a "jump ship now" moment... while we're still within sight of shore!) The bilge was full of water, and the pump seemed to be working to pump it out... but not nearly fast enough. We were able to determine that the water was coming from the fresh water tank (and not the sea!), but it seemed to be gushing from the side of the boat. The problem was solved by turning off the pump to the tank (which stopped the water leak), then cleaning out the filter on the bilge pump (which increased the suction on pumping out the water below the floor. Of course, by this time we had no idea how much fresh water was left in the tank!

The rest of the morning's sail was pretty uneventful... we just enjoyed the view of Grenada's coastline as we sailed north toward Union Island. Along the way we kept an eye out for our friends on Seaduction, but they were at least an hour ahead of us. We expected the trip to take about 8 hours, and we planned to get

into the harbor and anchored before dark. Just after we reached the northernmost part of Grenada we noticed some buoys in the water directly ahead. Assuming this was probably someone's fishing net, we quickly turned the boat so we could sail around it... but the buoys seemed to go on forever! Instead of going north toward our destination, we were sailing east for nearly a half hour... looking for the end of this line! Finally we made it around and were once again on our way!

While under full sail, we pretty much had to stay wherever we were seated... the up & down motion of the sea was a bit like riding a horse! Barbara had to strap herself to the counter below while trying to make our sandwiches for lunch! (Note: Next time we'll make the sandwiches before we leave!) During the afternoon, we all seemed to get in a groove of riding the waves and enjoying the ride. Then one of us noticed a dolphin jumping out of the water nearby... then 2... then 5... then more! There must have been a pod of about 20 dolphins swimming with us for about 15 minutes! They swam along side us and underneath! They jumped out of the water in pairs and sometimes as many as 4 or 5 would jump together. They really seemed to be showing off for us! It was such a wonderful bonus! (Of course, because the water was splashing up while we were sailing, I kept my good camera below deck and only had my point-n-shoot on me at the time. I kept trying to aim at the dolphins to get the photos, but I couldn't see my screen because of the bright sunshine! So I had no idea if they were in my view or not!)

When we got to Union Island, we put down the anchor & then took the dinghy to shore to check in with Customs & Immigration. Seaduction was already there, and I believe the 3rd boat in our group had arrived as well. We decided to get showers at the yacht club, then hook up with our friends and have dinner ashore.

But for now I'll leave you... to continue this long story on another day!

Life Happens!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we're still here... and still enjoying life in paradise!

We've been busy the past few weeks and I planned to update our blog with a report on our first weekend off the island... we sailed to Union Island and Tobago Cays for a long (holiday) weekend with friends on their boat. The following week we had an afternoon visit with friends from PA who stopped in Grenada aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship. And then we were busy putting together our Halloween costumes for the annual Halloween hash.

And that's where I hit the "bump in the road"... literally. I slipped on some pebbles on a steep concrete road and thought I broke my arm. Fortunately, nothing is broken, but I've been trying to recover to get full use of my right arm again. And since I'm right-handed, it's been difficult doing much more than reading, sleeping, or watching TV! I'm slowly getting more movement in my arm, but still can't fully extend it, or bend it enough to reach my face, or turn it to open a door!

So as soon as I can get it together... I'll be back here to post some of the photos from the events of the past few weeks!

Until then...

It's a Dinghy Party!

So... we get a call this week that we're invited to a dinghy party. "What is a dinghy party?" we ask... and "How does that work?" The plan is for anyone attending to tie their dinghy to a mooring near the host's sailboat, then somehow they'll be serving chili to everyone there! We are to bring our own chili toppings, drinks, bowls & utensils. Now, YOU may be wondering... when did Crystal & Scott get a dinghy? Well, we didn't... so once again we rely on our good friends, Barb & Dave to come up with a choreographed "plan of action" to get 7 people to the mooring. (I wasn't quite sure how they were going to manage that since the last time we had 5 in their dinghy, and my butt was skimming the water!) When we got to the dock, we were fortunate to meet up with another boater who gave 3 of us (the girls) a ride directly to the party... while the 4 men went out to Dave's sailboat before joining us.

The site looked a bit comical as we approached the group of dinghies... they looked like a bunch of refugees huddled together, waiting to be "rescued"! A few were tied to the mooring, then later arrivals just tied up to the other dinghies. As we sat there mingling, the boats would jostle around, giving us access to someone we hadn't yet met! (When it came time to depart, the ropes had to be untangled first.) I ended up moving about into other boats with people who had more room, each time meeting a couple new faces & getting to know them.

Each of us took turns passing our empty bowls to our host & hostess, Hal & Inga, sometimes crossing through about 3 or 4 dinghies before reaching the pot of chili! The chili was great (although a bit too spicy for me)! Unfortunately, the "boy boat" from our group had all our toppings AND my drinks! I tried to hold off on eating mine to wait for the guys, but there was no sign of them yet. As Inga called out to anyone wanting "seconds", we were still wondering where the men were? Finally, we could see them approaching... it was too late for any toppings on my serving of chili, but I sure was ready for that drink!

We then sat around in the "pod", chatting with some new friends and finding out about their "life on their boat" stories. Some of the group took a swim to cool off while the rest of us just sat around talking.

Then one by one, as the sun sank lower in the horizon, the dinghies began to peel off from the pod heading back to their "live-aboard" boats. And when they were ready to leave, "homeless Crystal" would move once again! This continued until the last 3 boats were ready to call it a night. We then disconnected ourselves from the mooring and just drifted toward the dock at the marina.

It was Barbara's birthday, so we moved the party off the dinghies and back to their apartment nearby. Unfortunately, I lost steam very quickly after that. (I'd been awake since 5:30 am!) I remember Scott making an announcement: "Oh wow, it's 10:30 already!"... and thinking, "Yes, it is... now can we please go home?" (I didn't say it out loud, but I was seriously having trouble staying awake at this point!)

It really was a great afternoon... and another new "fun" experience! (And I finally crawled into bed at around midnight!)

More Painting!

I've been slacking in keeping my house clean lately because I've been working on this new painting project... creating a fake stone wall! I'm sure Scott thought I was "out of my mind" for even considering it... and extremely frightened of what the outcome would look like! But I think I've surprised him (AND myself)! Who knew I had this in me?!!

It's not completely finished, but I thought I'd share these photos anyway. (This posting is for all our "non-Facebook Friends"... because I've already added these images to my FB album.)

As you know, all the walls in the house were white when we moved in last year. There are a few doorways that allow you to see into a hallway or another room from the living room, and I've been having trouble deciding what color to make them. (I need something that won't clash with the orange & green.) There is a small hallway to the guest bathroom & 2 bedrooms, and I thought it might be interesting to make the walls look like a fake stone wall. Since I didn't know if I could do it (& make it look real), I decided to try it out on this straight wall in the master bedroom first.

And I LOVE IT! I'm still working on adding bits of greenery growing between the rocks... and even a lizard (or two)! Scott now wants me to add a bunch of vines coming down from the top... but I'm a little hesitant to tackle that. If I mess up now, it's going to be very difficult to fix!

So I guess I'll just take my time... Tomorrow I MUST clean the house!

(Today I found myself looking at the kitchen walls... and wondering how they would look in "stone"!)

The Book Boat!

On Thursday, August 13 the ship Logos Hope arrived here in Grenada for about a 10-day visit. We had never heard of this ship, but we read about it in the local newspaper and decided to check it out. This non-profit organization has been sailing the world since 1970, and can house about 600 volunteers from 70 countries. They promote education, aid relief, social awareness, and a personal relationship with God in the ports & countries where they travel. They offer books for sale at very affordable prices... many of them religious books and text books. They had quite a selection of cook books and children's books, as well as some games. They also had a pretty large variety of christian music available. It very much reminded me of a christian book store... only floating! There really aren't any big book stores here in Grenada. Although there are lots of places where you can "swap" books, it's hard to find a nice variety of books for sale all in one place. At one point during their stay, the ship had to move from the pier to find calmer seas. (Hurricane Bill did not affect us, but it made the seas a bit choppy along the shore lines.) They must have still had trouble when they tried to come back in the next morning because they ended up docked at the shipping dock in the Carenage... which is where our Windjammer ships used to dock. If you have some time, it's worth a visit to their website (click on their name above)... they even have a few webcams aboard the ship so you can see the view! And there's an interesting video tour of the ship on their site as well.

Nothing much going on lately. As I mentioned, Hurricane Bill did not really affect us... except there was one day that was absolutely stifling hot with no breeze to be found! (I'm told that's because the hurricanes suck the moisture up and away from us as they pass by.) We're watching another weather development that's off the coast of Africa and may become another hurricane. Apparently, this one is beginning lower than usual and causes Grenadians to hold their breath as they wait for it to turn north.

Our hash last Saturday actually should have been called a "mud slide"! It rained quite a bit earlier in the day... and looked like it might rain on us during the hash. (I think many of us would have welcomed the rain, thinking maybe it would wash some of the mud off!) I slid off a boulder in the stream and ended up to my thighs in water... then managed to go through the rest of the trail with squishy, muddy boots. YUK! (It was fun though, seeing all the first-timer hashers at the end of this one!)

I'm still working on painting my stone wall in the master bedroom. The stones are finished, but I'm slowly adding some greenery (and lizards) to make it look more realistic. Watch for another blog entry in the next day or two & I'll post some photos of it!
Until then...