Dec 11
We got a couple of boats in today. One was a catamaran that will be staying for a month while they fly back to Europe for the holidays. The other was a 38' powerboat that crossed from Trinidad today. They are friends of Sol Y Mar's so we put the new boat next to Sol Y Mar.
Saturday we had about three dozen burger buns left over, since our sales at the bike race weren't as much as expected. In the past, we have had no problem with buns lasting a few days, but this time they all were showing signs of mold already. So, I made a call to the bakery to get three dozen more tomorrow for burger night. Good thing Barb noticed this when she did.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 12
We awoke to a rainy day and lots of wind. I worried about the rain affecting burger night. Not only will it be a pain to cook in the rain, but it will probably keep people from coming from the anchorage.
We got a call from a boat that has a reservation to come in Sunday, inquiring if he could come in early. We told him that was no problem for us, but that the conditions between Prickly Bay where he is and here are probably not great. He pointed out that while the conditions aren't great, they will probably get worse all week, which is true. So he came around and we got him settled on the south dock.
Early in the afternoon, I went to get the burger buns. This is the first time I have gone directly to the bakery for the buns. I have been by the place before when we were on our island tour, and Bob gave me directions, but I still managed to have trouble finding it. I knew it was across the street from the Coke plant, so it should be easy to find right? I successfully got to Tempe, the town where the place is, which involved going through a couple roundabouts that I had never driven through before, but then I came to another roundabout that I wasn't expecting. I took a guess and quickly decided this was not right, so I turned around. I needed gasoline anyway, so I stopped at a gas station by the mystery roundabout and got gas and asked directions. I asked where the Coke plant was since that was my reference landmark, and the lady pointed back up the road I had come down. I didn't see how I could have missed it, but I went back that way. I missed it because I was looking for a big sign that said "Coke". I wasn't looking for the two story neon Coke bottle on the front of the place. That was it's only marking. Once I found that, I turned around again and looked on the other side of the street for the bakery. I found it, but more by chance than skill. I spotted a small sign that said "Parking for Choice Bakery only". There was no big sign on the building that said "Choice Bakery". In front of the big bakery building, was a storefront where they did their retail sales. I went in and found a glass counter with baked goodies in the case, and racks of bread stuffs on the wall behind the counter. There was one girl behind the counter, and a security camera at the end of the counter. I patiently waited while the girl waited on three people before me, and then before she asked me what I needed, she decided she needed to enter a bunch of handwritten numbers into an electronic thing that looked like a credit card machine. This took her several minutes, after which she finally asked what I needed. I said I was from the marina and had called yesterday for three dozen buns. She started to just get six of the regular half-dozen bags from the shelf, when her phone rang. She said something I didn't understand, and then put the buns she had out back on the shelf and told me to wait a minute. A few seconds later, another lady popped out the door behind the counter and put three dozen-sized bags on the counter. How the lady in back knew I was the guy from the marina, I don't know. On my way back to the marina, I made a wrong turn at the first roundabout out of Tempe. I realized I had made a wrong turn, and was looking for a place to turn around when I spotted a road on the right with a cannon stuck in the ground to mark it. I recognized the cannon from when we did our island tour, so I turned there. This took me through Richmond Hills and Morne Jaloux, which are high end neighborhoods. The road climbs up the hill and runs along a ridge with great views. It was longer, but a pleasant ride.
I was concerned about the turnout for burger night, since I didn't expect anybody to brave the choppy waters in their dinghies to get here. But, there are quite a few folks in the marina, so I hoped it would be at least twenty. Well, I needn't have worried. Several boats that are anchored just off the marina did come in and we sold out all thirty-six burgers. We even had to turn down a few locals who showed up after we sold out. One of those was the Minister of Education and Labor and her husband. We promised her that we would save her two burgers next week.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 13
We had a pretty quiet day today. The Coke truck finally showed up, after several calls over the last couple of weeks. All they had onboard today was Coke and Fanta Orange, so we still need the other Fanta flavors and Sprite.
Something came to my attention regarding the problem boat we had here named FreeBirds. I want to make sure nobody confuses them with another large catamaran we met in the Bahamas last year named Freebird. Freebird has Jon and Joanne onboard, and they are a wonderful couple.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 14
I made an announcement on the morning VHF net today to promote the Saturday night pot luck dinner. I realized after the net was over, that I forgot to mention karaoke after dinner, and I didn't say anything about the grocery shopping bus this morning. So, I made a general announcement to the anchorage on the radio after the net was over. The shopping bus only had seven participants this week, which was the smallest ever. Keith, the driver, was late because he got tied up in traffic in town.
A few weeks ago, we had found a problem on one of the docks. A finger pier was making a nasty metal-to-metal sound as it bobbed up and down. Upon inspection, we found that one of the brackets that bolt the finger pier to the main dock had cracked. There was a large boat on this dock during Felix, so we guess this may be when the crack happened. Bob got a welder to come to weld the crack, but we found that it was longer than was visible. To fix it right, the welder is going to fabricate a replacement bracket, and we will have to unbolt the finger pier and move it up alongside the main dock so the welder can get to the whole length of the crack. While looking at this problem, we noticed a scary sight. There is a boat here that has been here forever. A couple times a year, the owner comes down and spends some time on it. He had come in a couple days ago. He wanted to plug in his power while he was here, but his plug didn't match ours. Instead of asking us if we had an adapter, which we do, he just took the plug off his cable and mashed the bare wires into each of the three holes in the receptacle on the power pedestal. We shut of the breaker, which promptly brought him out of his boat to see what was wrong. We asked him to replace his plug and I got him the proper adapter.
One of the boats that recently came in had a new dinghy delivered yesterday. Today, the guy wants to get rid of his old one. It is a hard bottom inflatable. What is wrong with it is that it leaks air slowly from it's seams. The owner asked me if it would be ok if he offered it to our workers. I said sure, so he asked Augustine if he would like it. All he had to do to have it was help get it off the bow of the boat. Augustine, Dexter, and Calvin all went over to the boat and lifted the dinghy over the lifelines and to the dock. The little boat they usually use to commute across the bay to work each day has been out of commission on our shore for several days now since it had a hole in the bottom that they are repairing. The kids put the motor from the old boat on the new one and took off. Augustine, who is Dexter's father, said he was going to fix the hole in the old boat for the kids, so he could have his "private jet" for himself. It was nice to see the generosity of the cruiser be appreciated by the recipient.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 15
I got an early wake up call from the security guard this morning, as the weekend grounds guy wasn't here on time. I told the security guy to go on home, and I went back to bed for an hour. When I got up to unlock things, the grounds guy was here. He told me he passed the night security guy down the road a little ways. Seems the grounds guy thinks he should be here at 06:00, and the security guy expects him at 05:45.
We got a new boat in today. This boat was here a month ago with a buddy boat. They both planned to go back to Europe for the holidays, and we knew that the buddy boat went to the marina across the bay from us. When we heard that on the radio, we expected both boats would go there, but this one called us and reserved a spot a few days ago. Once they were docked, I mentioned to the owner that we heard their friend went across the bay. He shook his head and said "it's cheaper, but you get what you pay for". He specifically said they came back here because they were very happy with the way they were treated when they were here before, and they wanted the finger piers, not med-mooring. It was the perfect example of the fact that this marina sells a different product (floating docks with finger piers) than any other marina in Grenada. All the rest are Med-moor style docks where you either drop your anchor or attach your bow to a mooring, and then back up to a dock or wall. Some people are fine with this, but I hope I never have to do it.
Barb started a new jigsaw puzzle yesterday. She has always enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles, but this one is different. It has no straight outside edges, it has five extra pieces to confuse you, and the picture on the box is not the whole puzzle picture. She has been at it for two afternoons now, and is making slow progress.
We had a good turnout for the pot-luck, even though there is still a big wind blowing, keeping a lot of the people out in the Hog Island anchorage from coming in. We had twenty-six people, and most stuck around for karaoke. Amanda from Solstice is back from her trip to the States, and she filled the karaoke DJ role for most of the evening. We had a good time with the karaoke, as Pat and I sang a lot and coaxed a few others up there.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 16
I got my 05:45 knock from the security guy again this morning. I told him to go on home. When I got up again an hour later, the weekend guy was still not here. We never did hear from him today. Weekends seem to take their toll on him. I took care of moving the empty bottles and trash from the bar myself, and restocked the cooler. The stray dogs had knocked over one of the trash barrels, so I picked all that stuff back up.
The morning was pretty quiet except for one boat that came in to fill their water tanks. The couple aboard were an older British couple, and they were heading north today. They didn't seem to worry that nobody else was moving due to the high winds and seas, nor were they worried that they had no weather report to go by. The boat looked to be a bit long in the tooth too. People like this both scare me and amaze me. They just do it, without always waiting for the elusive weather window that most of us wait for. On the other hand, I worry about their safety and the safety of those that may try to rescue them someday.
We found an interesting news story online, http://www.state.gov/m/ds/rls/93964.htm, about a guy who ran a repair business across the bay from us. The business was there when we got here in July, than it seemed to be closed up. Recently, there was an announcement on the VHF net that they were re-opening, but without the guy who had been running it in July. The news article explains why he had been away a while.
The afternoon and evening were devoted to football. The early game was Green Bay vs. St. Louis, while the second game was Philadelphia vs. Dallas. This week, we had a split result in the eyes of the crowd, in that Green Bay won, but Dallas didn't.
Bob took the whole day off to work on projects at his home. His wife gets here in a few days, so he is getting things ready.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 17
It took four days, but Barb finished the jigsaw puzzle she was working on today. All the pieces were there, including the five extra ones. So many people have seen her working on it, that she left it assembled for them to see the finished project. The picture is an underwater reef view with fish and seagrass, and there is supposed to be a hidden image of a cat in it. We were looking for it and a young kid who was there with Dad, took one look at the picture and picked it out. We would have been searching for hours.
A boat named Happy Hippie left the marina today. They had been here a week making some repairs. In the morning, at high tide, Bob and I launched the trailered Chris Craft power boat that is stored here. The owner wants it in the water for a few weeks over the holidays. We used the tractor instead of the guys truck to move the trailer, and had a successful launch. It's a lot easier to launch a boat from a trailer, than it is to load it back up.
Barb woke up yesterday with a large red area on the white of her left eye. It looked like she had been hit or her eye poked. Today the red had increased to cover half her eyeball. It looked pretty spooky. Assuming it was a broken blood vessel in the eye, but not knowing what could have caused it, I took her to the private hospital. Grenada has a public hospital and a private one. We got to the hospital while the doctor was still at lunch, so we filled out a short form, and a nurse took care of getting all her vital signs while we waited. After about twenty minutes, the doctor was back and we went into his office. He looked Barb and asked what the problem was. She turned her eyes to the right, fully exposing the red area, and the doctor said "Whoa!". He immediately asked her if she had been coughing a lot. She said no, but over the past several days she has been sneezing a lot, which we attributed to something she may be allergic to that is blooming this time of year. He said that it was just a broken blood vessel and probably nothing to worry about, and that it probably was caused by a big sneeze. It is not affecting her vision at all, and doesn't hurt except that it feels like there is a piece of dirt or something in it. He prescribed her some eye drops to relieve the feeling of something being in it, and that was it. He said it should start to clear up in a couple days.
Late in the afternoon, a car came through the gate that we all recognized. There is a FedEx employee who drives a metallic orange rice-burner that has a wing on the back, a loud muffler, and a loud stereo. He has come here before to deliver paperwork to people who have to then go clear their package through Customs. He always gooses the gas on the gravel road and spins his tires some. Today, he came flying through the gate, mashed the gas and swerved some, and came down the hill near the bar where he spun around in a circle and went back up the hill. As he headed for the gate, he mashed the gas again and started to fishtail. He over-corrected and did a 180 in the road. He missed backing it into the rock embankment by about a foot as he came to a stop. Several of us were in the bar watching this whole show which got better as Bob came running out of the office and up the grassy hill to yell at the guy. The guy gave Bob some lame excuse about his foot getting stuck on the gas pedal. It was funny watching Bob flailing his arms quite animatedly as he yelled at the guy. I'm guessing we won't see him in here doing that again.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 18
It was another day of goodbyes. Kevin & Amanda on Solstice left today. They have been here ever since we got here, with the exception of spending about a month down in Tobago. They are moving around to Prickly Bay to get their standing rigging replaced and then they will be headed north. Maribel & Pete on Paper Moon also left this morning. They are headed around to the Lagoon in St. Georges for a couple of days before leaving Grenada.
We expected to get a large power boat in today from Venezuela, but they never showed up. They also never called or sent a follow-up e-mail to say their plan had changed. I know I have to accept this as part of the job, but it irritates me when people do that.
After the morning departures, we had a very quiet day. Pat & Dori took off exploring the island with Gary & Jeannie from At Last, who have a rental car. I took advantage of the quiet afternoon and went to town to shop for burger night tomorrow. I got everything but the buns which we will pick up fresh from the bakery tomorrow. Late in the afternoon a group of folks from the anchorage came to use the Internet and have happy hour drinks. We had a nice visit for a couple of hours and then closed down relatively early.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 19
The day was pretty quiet, with no boats coming or going today. I went to town and picked up the buns from the bakery, and stopped by the store to get a case of wine for the bar. Dori gave me a haircut, and has renewed my Sean Connery look. Mid afternoon, Bob's wife got here from Toronto. She was tired, as she had been up all night. Her flight was delayed six hours due to weather, so she had spent the night in the airport instead of flying here. It was good to see her again, and she had goodies for us, like cat food and some Pepperidge Farms stuffing. Amanda on Solstice had also brought us some stuffing, but you can't have too much and it keeps forever. It was interesting to see the Canadian version in very different packaging (see photos). She also brought new pool cues which we desperately needed, and a new motor for one of the washing machines, so we can have two again.
I worried all day, as usual, about how many people we would get for burger night. We were a tiny bit lighter than last week, but still sold thirty-three burgers. Everybody got served, including a few people who came back for seconds. The Minister of Education & Labor, Claris Charles, and her husband have come by late on burger night a couple of times, and we were already sold out of burgers. Tonight they showed up late, but since we still had burgers and had not put everything away, we were finally able to serve them. The crowd enjoyed listening to Smokey play the pans, and being almost Christmas, he worked in several seasonal songs, including a reggae Silver Bells which sounded great. The crowd lingered for quite a while after the burgers were done and Smokey had packed up. I ended up playing pool with Pat until almost midnight.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Dec 20
Barb's eye is starting to look a little better, but it's still kinda spooky. I think the red has spread a little more, but it's also getting lighter in the area where it first started. Pat and I went to town today. I had to go to Customs to clear in a package from FedEx that has some parts I ordered, and Pat is going to clear out of the country and depart in the morning. We went by the Yacht Club to do the Customs & Immigration stuff, and found a nice lady who was the Immigration officer. There was no Customs officer around. I went first and she asked me where my boat was. I told her and she asked where I had originally cleared in. I told her at Prickly Bay. She then asked why I came to the Yacht Club instead of Prickly Bay for this clearance. I said because it was closer to FedEx and that I had done it here three times before with no questions asked. Turns out, if the Customs officer is there with his laptop, it doesn't really matter because he can look up your boat info online. But if the Customs officer is not present, then the Immigration officer is supposed to look up the boat's papers in the file. However, she was very pleasant and said since I was here, she would clear it. All this means is stamping a piece of paper. Pat then filled out his form to depart and we were off to FedEx. I must be living right today, because on the crowded Carenage, I found a parking space that I got into in one slide, right in front of FedEx. Inside I had to wait a few minutes since they were fairly busy, but I got my package. This time, for the first time, I didn't have to go in back and sign the huge ledger book. I don't know if the procedure has changed, or they just forgot, but I didn't ask.
Back at the marina, after lunch, Sol Y Mar pulled out. It's sad to see them go, and I know they are disappointed that we aren't going with them. But we know we will see them again in the spring as they move back south, if not sooner.
I had two funny dog stories today. As I left the marina early this morning to pick up Ashley, I saw a dog ahead that was on it's back with all four legs pointing in different directions. I thought one of the local dogs had gotten hit. But, as I approached, it rolled over from it's nap and got out of the way. Later in the afternoon, as I was taking Ashley back home, there was a dog curled up in the road, just a little ways outside the marina gate where there are two one-room homes that have been built since we have been here. As I approached, the dog didn't move. I came to a complete stop about ten feet shy of the dog. Two guys were sitting on empty beer cases talking in the yard, and one of them started yelling at the dog. The dog just gave him a look and stayed put. The guy then picked up a small stone and with great accuracy, nailed the dog in the butt with it. This brought a yelp and a running dog. We had a good laugh and moved on. Ashley said it was a good thing it was me, or there would have been a dead dog.
When I got back from taking Ashley home, we had another rain shower. We knew there was not going to be any bar business, so we were ready to close up a little after 18:00, but Alma, the lady who cleans the office and bathrooms was here working, and she would need a ride home too. So, about 19:00, we closed the bar, and Alma was done soon after. I took her home, which wasn't very far, but it was a little stressful driving after dark, with light rain, and the windshield steaming up a bit. But, I made it and got an early night on the boat with a good left-over enchilada dinner.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.