Jan 1
Even though I didn't get to bed until 02:00, I was up at 06:00 when the security guard left. I went back to sleep, and thinking none of the employees were coming in, I didn't get up until almost 08:00. I was surprised to find that Augustine was here. He told me he had met the security guard as he was leaving. He already had all the garbage taken care of, which is usually all he does on a weekend or holiday day, so I told him he could go home and enjoy the rest of his holiday.
The day was pretty quiet, but there were a number of local folks who stopped by for a drink and to wish Bob a Happy New Year. In the afternoon, Bob, Leslie, and a couple of their friends went out for a couple of hours on Bob's power boat. They got back just before dark. By 19:00 we closed the bar and joined Bob & Leslie for steaks on the deck by the office. After we ate we were sitting around chatting when a taxi came in. It dropped of the owners of Never Never Land, the motor yacht that had the refrigerator problem a couple of weeks ago. They had a long day of travel and headed to their boat.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 2
Today's big project is repairing one of the finger piers on the newest dock. The third dock was added last spring and is aluminum and wood. Several weeks ago, Bob noticed an ugly squeaking sound coming from where the last finger pier was joined to the main dock. Turned out that the bracket that bolts the finger pier to the main dock had cracked. The squeaking was coming from the metal grinding against itself as the dock moved up and down with the water. We have arranged for a guy to weld the bracket back on, but we need to remove the finger from the main and move it to shore so he can weld it without it being a moving target. I went out and undid the six big bolts that connect the pieces, and pried the finger away from the main. I let the finger drift around until it was parallel with the main, and then I tied it off. I then went and got my dinghy. I brought the dinghy around and tied it fore and aft in the middle of the forty foot finger pier. I then untied the finger from the main and started to back away from the dock. When I got about a hundred feet out into the water, I tried to turn the dock and drive it into the boat ramp. Well, nothing in the process went as I planned it, but me and the wind managed to get the job done. It wasn't pretty, but I didn't hit anything either, so it was a success. The welder showed up just as we got the finger up on the land, and he was happy that he wouldn't have to do the whole job out on the bouncing dock. He worked on the project most of the day, and got it ready to re-install. That will have to wait for another day.
When we were down at Port Louis Marina last week, we had stopped to say hi to the large Oyster that had been here. There had been another Oyster on the dock that had a hailing port of Dallas, TX. They came around and anchored near the marina yesterday. Today we got a call asking if they could come into the dock. Of course we said yes, and they weighed anchor and came in. The reason they needed to come to the dock was that their shift cable had broken. So, when they came to the dock, the owner was at the helm steering, while the captain was down in the engine room manually shifting to forward, reverse, or neutral as required. They were using handheld VHF's to communicate. Their plan was to get close to the dock and let the wind push them up to it. This would avoid having to be too precise with the manual shifting. They got to a point parallel to the dock and stopped the boat. Ninety percent of the time, the wind blows more or less form the east and this would push them to us. Today, as they got in position, the wind died entirely. We all stood there looking at each other, with the boat not moving at all. Four of us on the dock, and four of them waiting to throw lines. The, the wind picked back up, but from dead astern of the boat. It never blows from that direction. What made this odder was that there wasn't even any local showers happening to explain the odd wind shift. To keep the boat in position they had to back up a little twice. Then the wind died again. By now, we were all laughing at the timing of this odd wind. After several minutes of doing nothing, the captain asked on the radio if he could come out. He thought the boat must be at the dock since nothing was happening. Finally, the wind shifted just enough east to move them a little closer. When they were still about thirty feet off, lines were thrown and we just muscled them into the dock. Once they were secure, we introduced ourselves to Jim & Marina, the owners. Turns out that they used to have a boat on Lake Texoma, north of Dallas, and are good friends with Sol Y Mar. They haven't seen Pat & Dori in a few years and were disappointed that they missed them by a couple of weeks.
There is a boat in the marina that has been here for months. It is owned by a Frenchman named Jon Pierre. He has been here for a couple of weeks now working on the boat. Mid-afternoon, I went to pick up the buns for burger night. When I returned, I found Jon Pierre in the bar, sitting at a table with his head down like he didn't feel well. I walked up and asked him if he was ok, and he pointed at his foot. He had his heel out of the back of his sneaker, and a white tube sock on. The whole heel area of the sock was soaked in blood. Fortunately, I was coming in on the tail end of all this. What happened was that he was using an electric grinder in the boat, and somehow cut across the back of his heel with the grinding wheel. The cut was a couple inches long and half an inch deep. (I was told this. I didn't want to see.) Barb had already been helping him. We all thought he should go to the hospital, but he is a surgeon in France and was adamant about not going to the hospital. He had called for the rental car company to bring him a car so he could go to the pharmacy and get some bandages. While waiting, Barb had gone to our boat and gotten some bandages, and also alerted the lady on the boat next to us who just graduated from medical school. She looked at it and agreed to stitch him up if he could get sutures at the pharmacy. His car came, and he went to town. He came back without sutures, but with bandage material. He got it all bandaged up himself.
Tonight is burger night, so with the excitement of JP's injury past, we got on with the normal Wednesday night affairs. Turnout was light, but ok. We sold about twenty-five burgers. The folks enjoyed the steel drum player as usual, and hung out for a couple hours after he left. Knowing JP was supposed to be staying off his feet, Barb was going to take a burger down to him on the house. As I finished cooking it and gave it to Barb to fix, JP hobbled in. He had a large bandage on his heel, and now it wasn't bleeding. Much better.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 3
We had a boat leave today. The boat had come in a few days ago. In learning of their plans, they were planning to leave the boat in a few days for a month or more. I mentioned that we do long-term storage, and told him to talk to Bob about a quote. When he did, he asked Bob if we could guarantee that the boat would be exactly like he left it when he returns. He also explained that this was the boat that had been left on a mooring in the care of a local yacht management company, and had been broken into. Well, of course, even in a marina with round-the-clock security, you're not going to get a guarantee that nothing could happen. I understand his point of view, having already been a victim, but he's dreaming if he thinks anybody would make a guarantee like that. So, he didn't stay. I hope he's happy at the place he's going to leave the boat.
After the bar closed, we again had dinner on the deck with Bob & Leslie. This time Gary & Jeannie from At Last also joined us. Gary & Jeannie have a boat very similar to a boat Bob used to have, and they kept them in the same marina in Toronto for years, but never met each other there. They had a lot of things in common to chat about. We enjoyed a couple of hours with them before heading to bed.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 4
Today is shopping day. Last week there were fifteen people crowded into one bus that was late. This week, the bus showed up early, and he brought the bigger bus. So, of course, there were only six people. If I were running this deal, I would want an advance headcount, but the bus driver has said we don't need to do that. Since it really isn't our gig, I won't worry about it. After the bus left, Rollin, from Winsome, and I went to pick up FedEx packages. Mine didn't come with a proper invoice from the shipper, so I have to go to the main Customs office to figure things out. We stopped at FedEx to pick up Rollin's paperwork. Then we went to the main Customs office. I have never been to this office before, but have heard stories about these guys hanging around who want to be your "broker". I forgot to warn Rollin about this. I had made up a totally bogus invoice on my computer and printed it. It had all the exact same info on it that the FedEx airbill had, but it had the word INVOICE bold across the top. The girl at the main desk said to go upstairs and talk to Mr. Bell. I went up and explained that I had the company e-mail me this other invoice. He scrutinized it and explained that they don't accept the FedEx airbill because people try to declare a value less than the real value. I told him I questioned the value too, since I thought it cost too much. This made him laugh and he stamped my invoice. Then I needed my C-14 form which declares that this is for a boat-in-transit stamped. He asked where I had originally checked in with my boat, and I said Prickly Bay. He said I had to go there to get it stamped. I thanked him and left. Downstairs, I found Rollin talking to a broker. I walked up and heard the guy explaining that he had to go to Prickly Bay, get it stamped, and then come back here, where the broker would be waiting for him and expect him to pay for his services. This was totally bogus. Once the C-14 is stamped, we don't need to come back to this office. We left the main office, and before driving all the way to Prickly Bay, we stopped at the Yacht Club, just down the street. The man there asked where we checked in and we said Prickly. We played stupid and acted like we didn't realize we should have gone there, but we're here now sir, and can't you please do it? He stamped the forms and we headed for FedEx where we got our packages.
Avolare was planning to leave the dock today, but last night their guest dropped her wallet between the dock and the boat as she was boarding. Their captain was going to dive for it and I told them we could get a hired diver if necessary to look for it. A little while later, I was walking down the dock and observed the owner, his wife, and the guest all standing by the edge of the boat. Suddenly a cheer went up as a hand came from the water with the wallet. The captain had earned his salary today. A little while later, they left the dock and went back out to anchor.
A little after noon, Barb and I went back to town to have lunch and do our weekly grocery shopping. For lunch we went to a sushi place. We had tried to find this place a couple weeks ago, but thought it was closed. Turned out we were in the wrong place. It was a relatively expensive lunch, but the sushi was very good. For the first time, I actually sat at the bar and watched the chef prepare the sushi. That was fun. After lunch we hit the grocery store and then headed back to the marina.
When we got back, there was a couple sitting at a table in the bar. I recognized them from a few days ago when they came in for a drink. We had a nice long chat with them on their first visit. They live on Lake Ontario and have a power boat there. They are thinking about bringing the boat to the Caribbean, and we had spoken about the options of bringing it here yourself or having it shipped. Anyway, they are leaving for home tomorrow and they stopped by to drop off a couple of bottles of wine they didn't finish. That was very nice of them and totally unexpected.
The evening turned out pretty quiet. We had a few folks in for happy hour. Some folks from another boat that had been left here over the holidays came back. They had been in the UK, so they were enjoying the warmth. We closed up about 21:00 and went to bed.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 5
We had an interesting call yesterday. A person who does mega-yacht provisioning, wanted to know how much we would charge for them to be able to use us as a point for picking up and dropping off passengers. We had no idea, so a price was mentioned. It was way more than we would have asked, so we gladly agreed. The big dinghy from the mega-yacht came and went several times to unload passengers and their luggage. Turned out those were all but one of the guests on board. Later in the afternoon, a young guy (twenties) and four young crew members (also twenties) were dropped off at the dock. They had already been over-served, and they were headed to one of the local resorts to party some more. They also planned to spend the night there, which was probably a good thing. I called Dave, the taxi guy we regularly call, and he picked them up to take them to town. Once I realized just how drunk they were, I felt bad for Dave having to deal with them. The guest did come in and buy just about everybody in the bar a drink.
We had our regular Saturday night pot-luck dinner. However, since there weren't many people, and we are in playoff season, we watched football on TV instead of doing karaoke.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 6
Several days ago, I wrote about bringing the broken finger pier to shore to be welded. We have a large sailboat anchored out in the bay that may want to come to the dock, so Bob and I spoke last night about getting the repaired finger back in place so we can use that t-head for large boats again. Since there was almost no wind first thing in the morning, I decided to try to move the dock myself. The first challenge was getting the whole thing floating again. It was low tide, so two-thirds of the finger pier was out of the water. I got an eight foot long piece of two-by-six and started using it as a lever to move the dock back into the water. After quite a bit of effort, I got it in the water and tied alongside the first slip on the center dock. I then got my dinghy and tied a line to the end of the repaired piece. I slowly towed it out to the end of the dock it belongs on and with Augustine's help, secured it alongside the remaining half of the t-head. I parked my dinghy and got on the dock. We pulled the loose piece of dock up near where it belonged, and let the wind drift it in place as I got a couple of bolts in place to hold it. Although the big boat never did come in, we have the dock repaired.
Mid morning, the partying crew members from the mega-yacht came back. They had to wait almost half an hour for the tender from the boat to come and get them It was pretty obvious that they had a big night. The rest of the day was pretty quiet. We were watching football and considering closing, when a taxi came in to drop someone. It turned out to be Scotty from Jossie Bird, which has been on a mooring for three months while he was back in the UK. We had a couple of drinks with Scotty and the crew of Milinka, a large sailboat that is anchored in the bay. When we were all ready to call it a night, Milinka's tender took Scotty out to his boat so I didn't have to.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 7
Today was pretty quiet marina-wise. Leslie came down and cooked a nice lunch for the four of us, which we enjoyed on the deck by the office.
We had a few folks come in for happy hour drinks, and then closed early. Scotty, from Jossie Bird wanted to take us out to dinner to thank us for keeping an eye on Jossie Bird while he was gone. We went to a Chinese place near Prickly Bay. This was the same place we had eaten with once with Pat & Dori from Sol Y Mar. Dinner was good, and we shared a number of stories with Scotty.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 8
Bob was at the marina early this morning, because he dropped Leslie off at the airport. She is on her way back to Canada. Today is Ashley's day off, so Barb watched the bar while I went shopping for burger night. I made the usual rounds of two or three stores to procure everything we need.
Bob had Dexter, one of the employees who usually runs a weed eater, start pressure washing all the wood on the premises. He spent the whole day working on the deck by the bathrooms. A little slow by my standards, but it's island time. We had a good crowd at happy hour. A couple of boats are leaving in the morning, so there were goodbyes to be said. Watermark I and Encantada are heading north, although they will both be back sometime.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 9
The power washing continued today with the bar. Dexter did the outside wood, and then started working on the floor inside. Of course this meant moving things around to clear the area he was working in. He got about a third of the floor done today. Tonight is burger night, so Barb spent a hour or more making burgers and slicing up the onions, tomatoes, and lettuce. I went to get the buns from the bakery. I was expecting a light turnout for burger night since more boats left yesterday. Both of the guys on those boats had been eating two burgers each the last couple of weeks, so we'll miss them. We did have a couple of new boats come into the anchorage today though, and they showed up, so it turned out fine. After Smokey the pan player finished, folks stuck around for another hour or more.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
Jan 10
We had a boat leave today that has been here for about six weeks. He is going to be hauled out for a bottom job. We had warned him that he ought to have his prop cleaned before leaving, even though he thought why clean it in the water when he was just going to haul out anyway. I convinced him to have it checked, and got Adrianne from Native Scuba to come check it out. Adrianne said it was not recognizable as a prop due to all the growth on it. So, with a clean prop, Allan got underway to his haulout a little late.
A boat called on the VHF and asked for a slip. I told him that was not a problem and just to call back when he was getting close. He called as he was entering the bay and said his engine had quit, so he was sailing in and would just drop his anchor instead of trying to get to a slip under sail. Sounded prudent to me.
We learned more news of the guy on FreeBirds today. His website has been continually updated with negative comments about his behavior, his second captain has quit, and his boat has been impounded in St. Maarten as a result of some of the bills he left unpaid in Grenada.
I had an early morning call from Bob. He told me that today "would be a very special day". We were going to have a visit from the Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell. He is going to be having lunch on Calivigny Island with the island's French owner. He is expected about noon. We got Dexter to finish the power washing of the floor and got all the tables rearranged like they should be. About 10:30 a nice car pulled in with a guy from the PM's office. He introduced himself and was just there to check things out for later. About 11:45 the owner of Calivigny pulled in the marina in one of his small power boats. He had two guys with him, that probably are hired to drive the boat, but he was driving it himself and his lack of docking expertise showed. Bob and I got him secured and went back inside. At noon, the guy from earlier and another staff member arrived. They said the PM was running a bit late and would be here at 12:30. Sure enough, at 12:30 two large black SUV's with darkly tinted windows came down the drive. As they stopped, two guys in fatigues with machine guns took up positions behind the cars watching the property. The PM, his wife, and three other men got out. Bob was out there and shook hands with the PM, and learned that he would stop in on his was back, since they were running late for lunch. So we went back to waiting. The two drivers and the one guy who had showed up first stayed here. About 13:30, a Coast Guard boat approached the marina. They pulled into a slip and passed a box to one of the guys waiting here. It was their lunch being delivered from Calivigny. The guy had told us the PM was expected back at 14:00, but there was no sign of him until 15:00. The guy waiting got a phone call, and we saw the boat coming followed by the Coast Guard boat this time. While the drivers moved the SUV's to the end of the dock, Bob and I went out take the lines. This time the owner of Calivigny came in even faster than the first time. Bob and I both had to take the lines to cleats to stop them before he slammed the dock. We tied the lines and just backed down to the end of the finger pier. Everybody got out of the boat and the PM had a few last words with the guy and then walked down the dock towards us. He shook Bob's hand and then Bob introduced me. I shook his hand and then he and Bob walked up the dock talking. I undid the dock lines of the Calivigny boat and cast them off. It was clear that the entourage, including Ms. Mitchell expected the PM to hop in the car and go. But, he and Bob stopped away from the car a little still chatting. I walked around the cars and came in the bar. Next thing you know, here comes Bob and the PM into the bar. Bob brought him over to where Barb and I were standing and introduced him to Barb. He then introduced him to Ashley. He then shook my hand again and asked how we liked Grenada. We told him we loved it, that's why we haven't left yet. He only spent a minute, but it was cool. I hadn't been aware of it, but Ashley pointed out later how the security guys had moved around to each door as the PM came in. I guess that's their job, to cover him even when he departs from the plan. Just like the Secret Service except for the machine guns at street level. As quick as they came, everybody loaded back up in the SUV's and off they went. We were back to being a quiet little marina.
We had a nice happy hour, where several of the other boaters in the marina inquired about the black cars and the guys with guns. We closed up about 20:00.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.