Log 44P - Back in Grenada

Written at: Ordnance Bay, English Harbour, Antigua, Dec. 14/07

Hi Folks,

It has been a while completing this log of our time back in Grenada after being in Venezuela. We are now here in Antigua where we will stay until after Christmas when we will make our way over to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic for the rest of the winter and early spring. I understand Canada and the U.S. are having an early and heavy snow fall already. We are enjoying 30 degree weather and swimming in the warm waters of the Caribbean.

It is good being back here in Antigua, meeting the many friends we made with the Royal Naval Tot Club when here last year. I may get another log out before Christmas as we are on WiFi every day. Happiness is...! But, if not, let me take this opportunity to wish you all the best for the holiday season, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Judy and I feel very privileged to be able to enjoy our cruising life style. At times like this we reflect on our good fortune in being able to travel and in our good friends and family, who are with us in our thoughts, as well as by E-mail.

All the best,

Aubrey

 

Log #44p Back in Grenada

Hog Island, Grenada

Nov. 30, 2007

Today is the official end of the hurricane season! We had fewer and less forceful hurricanes again this year than were predicted. However, Mother Nature reminded us yesterday that she is still a force to be reckoned with in the form of a Richter scale 7.4 earthquake between Martinique and Dominica. We felt it through the hull of Veleda like a vibration of the boat from a vibrating mast. It was nothing alarming, but we wondered what it was, to find out later it was the earthquake 100 miles north. No tsunamis or even landmass damage as it was in the deep trench between Martinique and Dominica. We hope "Kick Em Jenny", the undersea volcano just north of Grenada, will not decide to erupt.

Back here in Prickly Bay, Grenada (12 00.14N, 061 45.90W), October 26, arriving from a 140 mile passage from Porlamar in Venezuela, at 0630, we got a couple of hours quiet sleep before going over to Customs at Prickly Bay Marina. We spent a couple of days in Prickly Bay to get supplies in town and at Budget Marine, located shoreside. Before leaving on October 29, we went alongside the fuel dock to fill our jerrycans and water tanks. The dock hand there is very uncommunicative, and just took the data from his pumps to the office where I paid whatever was asked without knowing or having a chance to check just how much diesel, gas and water was charged. It was only after getting my receipt and back on board Veleda that I realized I was charged for over 245 litres of water, when I filled only one tank that holds only 125 litres. Oh well, win some, lose some! It was not worth going back to have it corrected. But I have not felt comfortable at the fuel dock at Prickly Bay Marina.

Over we went, just after noon, the four miles to our favourite anchorage at Hog Island, where we waved to several boaters who were still there from when we left two months earlier, and were welcomed back by John on Sea Witch. Hog Island specifically, and Grenada in general, we consider our southern Caribbean home: the anchorages are so good; the facilities, buses, chandleries, grocery stores etc. are so convenient; and the people are friendly, some we have known for almost two years now.

Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, Grenada

Dec. 7, 2007

I am hopefully finishing this log from Tyrrel Bay here on Carriacou, as we start making our way up island to Antigua for Christmas, and then the DR for early January.

At Hog Island we got into the pleasant rhythm of the anchorage. We went over to Whisper Cove, now under the new management of a French couple, Luc and Marie, for morning croissants and coffee while accessing the free WiFi service to read our E-mail and the Globe and Mail from Toronto, and to surf the net. Reading the Globe and Mail lets us know the snowy weather they are already having in Canada and Toronto in particular. It gives us a sadistic satisfaction as we are down here in 30 degree weather in shorts and bathing suits.

We also surf the net to contact the suppliers of our depth sounder and our wind instruments as neither are working properly. We will be mailing them back to the manufacturers hoping for repairs and delivery later up island. We bought a new JRC radar, and a new starter motor and solenoid, both of which are installed and operational. It seems strange to press the starter button and have the engine start immediately, after a couple of years of having to press it several times in order to get it to engage. We kept the old one as a spare. The radar is installed, after a three week wait for the mast bracket which was promised in a "few days" - Ha! We got the radar as we are considering a trip up the eastern seaboard in a couple of years, perhaps up to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where because of fog, radar is a requirement. We have operated the past ten years without such, but we thought we may as well get it now so we are comfortable with its use, and since the Canadian dollar is at par with the U.S. dollar. We have the screen mounted on our aft facing bulkhead in the cockpit where all the other non-working instruments were located. When we get our depth sounder and wind instruments fixed or replaced we will have to redesign that bulkhead and fibreglass it to accommodate the instruments and our radar display.

The radar is working OK, but we are having to learn its tuning strategies. A handy use of it may be for identifying rain and avoiding such. However, one weakness we have already noticed is that if the sun is aft and shining on the instrument, a moisture haze develops inside, blocking out up to half the display. This disappears when the sun no longer is on the instrument. It has not been exposed to any amount of rain or moisture, and should be weather resistant. We let Island Water World know about it and may send an E-mail to JRC regarding this limitation. We don't want to go through the trouble of removing the whole thing to send back. We also want to explore the NMEA connections to our Garmin GPS so we can have the display indicate Lat and Longs, perhaps course and speed, and hopefully be north up oriented (i.e. - stabilized) rather than heading oriented (which then changes as the heading changes). We'll see.

We were concerned that our Garmin 128 GPS no longer communicates with our computer chart plotting system, as the connection has corroded. However, Russell on Lady Pauline helped us by suggesting we get a Garmin 18 GPS, a small puck size receiver that can plug into the laptop via a USB connection to give our chart plotter the GPS data directly. He also spent several hours getting our chart plotter operational as we had not used it for several months. We now have it operational on both our laptops. Thanks Russell.

We went over for sundowners on board Receta, anchored just astern of us, after we finished. They, Steve Manley and Anne Vanderhoof (author of Embarrassment of Mangoes), had a couple of locals aboard earlier in the afternoon watching Judy up the mast attaching the bracket and scanner. They expressed to Anne and Steve their surprise, and were impressed at a woman being up the mast drilling holes and riveting a bracket (my wife the riveter, the plumber, the bag lady!). Judy is a good mechanic.

Ordnance Bay, English Harbour, Antigua

Dec. 14/07

We made a presentation on sailing in Venezuela at Whisper Cove, regaling the group of about 25 cruisers with glorious pictures of the Manamo River, Laguna Grande, and Angel Falls, to encourage them to visit that beautiful country. Luc has not got a digital projector, but we were able to hook up to a reasonably large TV he has available. I recommended to him to get a digital projector and host sailing seminars and movie nights to attract customers to his enjoyable French cuisine. His restaurant was full the night we presented, and he had to turn away some who did not have reservations.

In the past month or so, I have written a couple of letters to the editor of the Caribbean Compass, one appearing in the December issue and the other to be in the January issue.

The first was a rebuttal of the crude offensive rant appearing in the October issue of Compass of an idiot who arrogantly misinterpreted my September article about the hazardous night entry we made into Christiansted on St. Croix for a medical emergency, accusing me of needlessly endangering my boat and others who might supposedly have to rescue me. He was so offensive that I had no choice but to rebut his outrageous accusations. Christopher from Hummingbird, a British friend we have met the past two years, also sent a letter on my behalf, describing the critic as a "mindless scribe" who rushed into print before engaging his brain, nominating him for an award for "dentopedology" for his erroneous arrogance, and pointing out his fallacies.

The second letter was in response to an interview in the Compass with Peter de Savary, the investor who is building the mega-development of Port Louis in St. George's in Grenada. Among other aspects he has plans for a 350 slip marina that will occupy all of the Lagoon, eliminating any anchoring in that convenient protected bay near downtown St. George's. When asked about this aspect he claimed he had no sympathy for the "freeloaders" (who have anchored there for hundreds of years) and cruisers would be welcome to pay to use his marina services and slips. I took great exception to being referred to as a "freeloader", and indicated that as a cruiser anchoring in Grenada, I contribute over $5000 (EC) a month directly into the economy of Grenada in my purchases at markets, hardware stores, restaurants, grocery stores, chandleries, and other local services. My money goes directly into the economy, "not into the hands of some rich foreign developer!" I also lamented the over-development happening on many Caribbean islands, restricting anchoring by needlessly expanded marinas and mooring fields. These and other such developments are often not completed, linked to corruption and sweetheart deals made with governments, and raise land values beyond the reach of locals.

If you would like a copy of either of these letters, let me know, and I will forward them to you. [Use the Contact form - also, the two letters (but not the original one that caused the offence, are available at http://www.caribbeancompass.com/readforum.htm - Ed. ]

We had an enjoyable visit from Stephanie and Stan Czachor, friends from Toronto, the first week of November. We were at anchor with them in Hog Island, the Lagoon of St. George's, Grand Anse, and Tyrrel Bay on Carriacou. Stephanie loved the sandy beaches and enjoyed long periods of swimming, although unfortunately she had a bad sting from a jellyfish that created a 6 inch long welt on her leg. Meat tenderizer helped reduce the immediate sting, and cortisone cream eased the following discomfort. Judy has occasionally noted a few minor stings from jellyfish, but has not had the reaction Stephanie had. I have not noticed them at all. I suppose different people have different reactions. On a tour around the island with them, we enjoyed a visit to the Belmont Estate, which has been closed until this year. The grounds were beautiful, the restaurant very good, and we learned about the cocoa bean harvest for which the original estate was noted. At least this time to tour the island we used the services of a taxi driver who explained much of the island to us, as opposed to me driving a rental car around the dangerous roads of the island, as we have done previously.

After finally mounting our radar, we were ready to leave and sail up island to Antigua for Christmas. We left Hog Island Dec. 5 for the Lagoon to go to Island Water World charity book swap and kaffeeklatch for the Grenada Heart Foundation, after which we continued on up to Tyrrel Bay for a couple of nights before our major 250 mile passage to Guadeloupe.




Next log -soon