July 1
This chapter's cliffhanger is that Bob finally has gone to Canada. When Bob first asked us to stay here for a couple of months, back in November, the reason was to give him a chance to go to Canada for a couple of weeks. Well, there were a lot of things going on for Bob, and even with us here helping, the getting away never happened. Well now it has. He spent the morning running around like mad, tying up loose ends, and I took him to the airport about 14:00.
Later in the afternoon, we got a visit from Ray, a local guy who has also lived in Houston. He stops by frequently to visit, and this time of year he brings us large bags of mangoes from the tree in his yard. He asked where Bob was, and I said on a plane headed to Canada. Ray got this odd look on his face and laughed. He had just dropped his parents off for the same flight.
This morning on the VHF radio net, we heard of at least fifteen boats leaving the area. Most of them were headed for Los Testigos, an out island of Venezuela. There were so many leaving at the same time that somebody joked about turning out the lights when the last one left. It will be interesting to see how burger night attendance is with so many boats gone. It also meant there were some friends in the group that we will probably never see again as they head west. That's the bad part of cruising. You meet so many wonderful people but sooner or later you have to say goodbye to them.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 2
Tonight is burger night. I was worried about low attendance because of all the boats that left, but that didn't happen. We were prepared to serve sixty burgers, and we served fifty-five. There were quite a few folks that we had never met before. After dinner we showed Pirates of the Caribbean III. A number of folks, including me, had not seen it before. It was a pretty weird movie, as the previous one had been. I found it hard to keep track of who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 3
I think I forgot to mention an important event a couple of weeks ago. The car that I have been driving since November is a early 90's Mitsubishi. It's a two door, with a hatchback. It used to Bob's father's car and Bob just kept it around as a spare car since his father died several years ago. It doesn't have a/c, nor a radio, the signal lights don't work, it has a slow leak in a tire requiring me to add air every two days, and it is an American car, so the driver sits on the left. The plates on the Mitsubishi were due, and it needs a little work before it will pass inspection, so Bob got a Suzuki Escudo from his friend who owns a rental company. I don't know if the model name Escudo is available in the states, but it's basically a small four-door 4WD SUV. At first I was a little uncomfortable with the Suzuki. For one thing, it was a nice car and it belongs to somebody else. If I were to damage the Mitsubishi, I wouldn't feel nearly as bad as if I had an accident with the Suzuki. Another thing making me uncomfortable was the fact that the Suzuki is a right-hand drive car. I have driven on the left side of the road for a year now, and had done that in other countries too. But, I had always done it in a left-hand drive car. The right hand drive car takes more getting used to for me than the driving on the left did. Not only are you sitting on the other side, but the controls are all reversed too. You have to make your left hand shift (thank God it's an automatic), your right hand gets the signal lights, and your left hand gets the wipers. I only turned the wipers on instead of signaling once, but I've gone to get in the wrong door several times. Cars sold new here are not built to American standards. All the little stickers that tell you something about the car are in Chinese or Japanese. And, there are other little differences, like no air bags.
The point of bringing you up to date on the car was because today one of my adventures was to get a flat tire repaired. When I came back from taking Ashley home Tuesday, one of the rear tires went flat within an hour. Wednesday, I found the well hidden jack, and put the spare on. The spare was flat too, but when I blew it up, it seemed to hold air. I blew the flat back up and ran water over it until I found the bubbles. It looked to me like it was an easy repair. When I spoke to Bob this morning, he told me what tire shop he uses, so I took the tire over there. I found the place with no trouble, and marveled at it's construction. It was a two-story, several bay, full-service garage, waiting room, office, and parts counter all made out of forty foot shipping containers. I took the tire out, and showed them where the puncture was. I left the tire while I went to the bank to make a deposit. In the last minute rush of leaving, Bob couldn't find deposit slips for the marina account, so all I had was the account number. I went to a teller, gave him the account number and the cash. I just happened to hit a time when the line was very short, so the whole transaction only took a few minutes. I went back to the tire shop and the repaired tire was ready and only cost $12EC. Painless!
The rest of the day was pretty quiet.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 4
Today is the Fourth of July. Of course that doesn't mean anything here. Whisper Cove Marina, across the bay is hosting a Yankee Doodle Dandy party for cruisers this afternoon. They are doing burgers, hot dogs, and chicken on the grill, and serving typical American sides like beans and potato salad. It sounds like a fun party, but since today is Ashley's day off, we won't be able to attend. A few of our marina guests came up for a nice happy hour gathering anyway, so we were busy until about 20:00.
One of the things that the organizers of the party were encouraging cruisers to do, was to bring their expired flares to donate to the local fishermen. Boats like us are required to carry emergency flares which have expiration dates. Since the flares are usually good well past the expiration date, everybody has old ones. Usually on the Fourth of July, some dumbass sets off a flare thinking it's a good substitution for fireworks. In the States, that usually results in lots of radio chatter trying to figure out if there is an emergency or not, and if the Coast Guard catches you doing that you get a nice hefty fine. Well, I didn't see anybody set any off this year, and since the local fishermen go out to sea with no safety equipment at all most of the time, this sounded like a good idea.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 5
This morning when I opened things up at 07:00, Tammy wasn't here. Mom came running over to me and flopped down to be pet. In the past two weeks, she has gone from untouchable to acting like she has been around people being rubbed on all her life. Tammy not being here wasn't all that unusual. When the overnight security guard leaves at 05:45, he walks about three-quarters of a mile to the main road. From there he usually gets a ride about two miles to Sugar Mill, where he can get a bus home. I knew that some mornings Tammy follows the guard to the main road. So I assumed that's where she was. It wasn't until later in the afternoon, that it occurred to us that we still hadn't seen her. By late afternoon, I was worried that she had followed the guard too far and gotten lost. About 17:30, Fletcher, the security guard came walking in, and the first thing he asked was if Tammy was here. I told him that she had not been here all day. He said that this morning, he didn't get a ride and walked all the way to Sugar Mill. He kept trying to chase Tammy back, but she followed him all the way there. This made my heart sink, and I was afraid she was either lost, hit by a car, or taken in by somebody who wanted a nice dog. People were showing up for pot luck, and I was not feeling at all like partying.
We had about twenty people here for pot luck. By 18:30, the grill was going and people were starting to eat. It had gotten almost dark, and I was not feeling like eating, but I went to get my plate. As I walked by the big door to the bar, I looked outside and here came Tammy running up to the steps. She seemed no worse for the wear and wondered why everybody was so happy to see her. My appetite returned immediately and we enjoyed a good dinner. After dinner, folks were involved in several lively conversations, so we didn't do karaoke.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 6
This morning when I opened, Tammy and Mom were both here to great me. This was because I had told Fletcher to tie her up when he left. We had left a leash tied to the bar door rail that he could just clip to her collar. So, she didn't get to take her walk this morning, and Augustine turned her loose a little while later. When Fletcher came back in later in the evening, he said she looked at him like he had broken her heart, and he thought she would never talk to him again. But when he got here tonight, she bounded up to greet him like usual.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 7
This morning on the local VHF radio net, there was an announcement of two boats being broken into up at Gouyave. Gouyave is up on the northwestern side of the island and is the site of the weekly fish fry. Salt & Light and High Five are two family boats that we met a couple weeks ago. They chose to take the big boats up to Gouyave and anchor overnight to attend the fish fry. Most cruisers take a group taxi from the southern anchorages since the Gouyave anchorage is not very well protected in rough weather. But the weather Friday night was not an issue. When the families returned to their boats about 23:00, they found they had been burglarized. They lost computers, cameras, binoculars, phones, and cash. They reported the incident to the police, and in the morning the police came out and took fingerprints. Last year a boat spent the night there with the same results. This is not typical of Grenada, and it's probably just one or two bad guys responsible, but it gives the place a bad name.
Driving around the island today I saw lots of last minute campaigning going on. There were signs everywhere, stuff painted on the streets, cars with flags and signs attached to them, and old-fashioned loudspeaker cars slowly working their way down the road blaring a political message. The election is tomorrow and it will be interesting to see what the outcome is.
I went on a trek for beef again today. I knew that Foodland and Bulk Buy still didn't have any, and we bought all the IGA had last week, so I wasn't hopeful there. I was afraid that we might have to go with frozen this week. I went to the IGA first to see if they had enough Bubba Burgers to cover us. They had a full row of boxes in the case, so I loaded up four dozen. I had passed the fresh meat counter on my way to the frozen section, and there was no beef there at all. But after I got the Bubba Burgers, I went by the frozen meat case, and found they had New Zealand ground beef. This is what we used mixed with the US beef last week. Nobody noticed any difference in flavor last week, so I took a chance and bought the NZ meat and put the Bubba Burgers back. They had just enough of the NZ meat to make fifty-five burgers. Since I had the meat, I called the bakery and ordered the buns, and then continued to shop for the rest of what we needed. IGA had some large bulk bags of fries, so I just got them there rather than even check if Bulk Buy had gotten more since last week. This weeks challenge turned out to be cheese of all things. I haven't been able to get the bulk package of cheese slices that I like for a couple months now, but today at IGA, they didn't have any regular sliced cheese at all. They had fat-free slices, vegetarian slices, and several different flavored slices, but no plain ones. So, I have to make a trip all the way to Foodland just to get the cheese. I bought the last five packages they had there, so maybe next week cheese will be the issue.
Late in the afternoon, we tackled a project that we have to do today or tomorrow. One of the t-head pieces of the south dock is cracked where it bolts to the main dock. This happened on the other half several months ago, and we had a guy come weld it. In order to weld it, the section needs to be removed from the main and brought to shore where it won't be bouncing around. I unbolted the section, and then hopped in my dinghy to tow it to shore. Barb rode on the section of dock, in case it came close to any boats, she could fend off. We got to shore without incident. I then went and got the tractor, put a chain around the end of the dock section and lifted it as I pulled it up out of the water.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 8
Last night I sent an e-mail to a guy that we met here in the bar months ago, who has something to do with promoting Gouyave and the fish fry. He maintains a website called www.gogouyave.com, and I found his e-mail address there. I sent him a mail about the boats being broken into thinking that he might have some influence in addressing the problem. I got a mail back from him this morning asking for more details so he could look into it. I tried to call Salt & Light from the marina, but they are now anchored outside of St. Georges and we couldn't hear each other. So, I hopped in the car and drove over to St. Georges to a beach parking area near where they were anchored, and called them on my handheld VHF. They filled me in on the details of the incident which I then passed along via e-mail to the guy in Gouyave. Hopefully this won't continue to be a problem up there.
Today is election day. The election process here is short and sweet. It hasn't been eight weeks since they called for the election, so listening to all the political commercials etc. has been short by US standards. Most of the signs seemed to taken down already, and the polling places I passed had long lines but everything seemed to be orderly. Given the lack of 24/7 media coverage like in the States, we weren't subjected to the constant barrage of polls and predictions, but there did seem to be a feeling that the opposition party, the NDC, was doing well. We closed the bar about 19:00, and went to the boat. The local TV did have election results coverage, and it looked like NDC was not only winning, but by a landslide. Once this news started spreading around the area, the partying began. We had just sat down to eat when we heard an urgent sounding knock on the hull. It was Gary from At Last, who is docked next to me. He told me that people were firing aerial flares from the other side of the bay, and that one of them hit my boat as it came down. Barb turned on the deck lights and I ran out to look. We found the parachute from the flare in the water next to the boat. It apparently hit the mast as it descended but didn't land on deck or on the canvas. A second one landed in the parking lot next to the bar, and a third landed in the water just shy of the last boat out on the south dock. Two more were fired while I was on the dock and went in the water. I called the police and was told to "stay on hold for a while". While my "while" passed, I made sure the security guard knew what was going on and was watching for any more coming in the marina, and I went to every occupied boat and let them know what was happening. After fifteen minutes on hold, I hung up. No more flares had been fired, so I returned to the boat and my dinner. Ironically, the flares were probably donated to the fishermen on the Fourth of July. There were no more incidents.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 9
This morning, the election picture was clear. NDC (National Democratic Congress) has not only won, but they trounced the NNP (New National Party) by a landslide. NDC won eleven of the fifteen seats in Parliament, and they won most of those by a wide margin. The New National Party isn't new at all, they have been in power for fifteen years. I think I described the way the government works here incorrectly some time ago. I originally thought you just voted for your party. In fact, you vote for your choice of the candidates for a seat in Parliament. The country is divided into fifteen constituencies, each with a seat. The Prime Minister then is the party leader of the party with the most seats of Parliament. Another interesting difference from the US system is that the new government takes over immediately. The new Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas, was sworn in at 14:00 today. No messing around for a couple of lame duck months like the US.
The people of Grenada got off to a good start, because late on election day night, when it was clear the NDC had won, they declared today a national holiday. There was a lot of confusion about what would be open or closed, since the announcement was so sudden. Bottom line was nearly everything was closed. The impact of that on us was that we get the buns for burger night directly from the bakery, on Wednesday afternoons. So, I called the bakery a little after 08:00 to see if they were open. The person who answered the phone wasn't the normal lady. I asked the guy if they would be open this afternoon, and he said to call back in five minutes and he would find out. I called back and he said "yes they would be open - after all they are the bakery". I didn't realize that being the bakery was such an essential national service, but I'm glad they feel that way. I usually get the buns about 14:00, but Barb was nervous that my information might be inaccurate, so I went at noon. The bakery was open, although they had noticeably less stuff on the shelves, and they had my order waiting behind the counter.
The guy who is supposed to do the dock repair today didn't show up. It would be easy to attribute that to the sudden holiday, except that the guy is a Brit, not a Grenadian. Given it was a beautiful day, and nobody would be looking for him at his shop, it would have been the perfect time to spend the day here. But no, it's a holiday.
In my driving around to get the buns, I found the country eerily quiet. I would have expected lots of people out celebrating and enjoying their unexpected day off, but instead, the streets were empty and all was quiet. I did find the IGA grocery store was open, although they were going to close early. I was able to get some change there since the banks were closed. Since they cater to the visitors on the island, I wonder if they were open to accommodate us, or if they just had enough employees show up not knowing it was a holiday so they stayed open for awhile. At any rate, I got my change, so burger night will proceed.
We had a good crowd for burger night again. We came within five burgers of selling out. Smokey the pan player was here. I had not verified that he was still coming, holiday or not, but most musicians I know never pass up a gig. After Smokey was done, we showed a short movie. Around The Horn, is a Mystic Seaport production that was put together in 1980. The footage was shot in 1929, in black & white of course, by Capt. Irving Johnson, from the boat Peking as it rounded Cape Horn. Some of the footage was taken from the top of the mast, in storm conditions. It was quite interesting, and nearly everybody stayed to watch the movie. After it was over, pretty much everybody left, so we had a relatively early close for a burger night.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.
July 10
I did my normal stuff this morning, including being on the boat for the Coconut Telegraph SSB net. For the last few weeks, several of our regular net controllers have been here in Grenada, so I haven't had to be the southern relay like I usually am. This week, Southern Cross, who hosts one day a week has been in the marina, a couple hundred feet from me. You would think that would mean we would hear the same things and be heard by the same folks. But no, in the magic of SSB land, she hears people I don't and visa versa. A few days ago, we had to do a triangular relay because Southern Cross was trying to talk to another boat. They could hear her but not me, and she could hear them but I couldn't. So between the three of us, they had a conversation. Today, when Southern Cross was hosting, we got several reports of piracy in Porlamar, Venezuela. Porlamar is on Margarita Island, and is generally considered safe. But, it seems that anything left on deck is fair game, and two boats were boarded, occupants restrained and stuff stolen. Granted, nobody's been hurt, but there seems to be a rise in occurrences. I'm glad we aren't planning to go there.
We got a new boat in the marina today. Voyager C is from Nova Scotia and plans to stay a couple of weeks before heading further south. After chatting in the bar this evening, we realized we had been near each other several times over the past few years, but had never met.
Dave & Sue from Pirate's Hideout left today for a three week trip to the US. We'll miss them, especially since Dave could be a backup burger flipper. Why would we need a backup burger flipper? Because today was also Ashley, the bartenders, last day for a month. She is going to Cuba for a month with her family. She is half Cuban and half Grenadian. That means on burger nights we will need a bartender. It's probably easier to find a replacement burger flipper than a bartender who knows our procedures. Anybody need a part time job for a month? We don't pay worth a darn.
A week ago, we hauled a small (20 foot) power boat out of the water on a borrowed trailer. The deal is, the owner of the boat is paying us to store it ashore for several months, paying Mick, a local wood worker to build a cradle, and paying Palm Tree marine to organize the whole deal. Mike & Lucy from Palm Tree had originally pulled the boat out on their trailer. Then Mick started building the cradle, putting a part under the stern of the boat first. He then built part of the forward cradle, but we had to get the trailer out form under the boat. So, Mike & Lucy came and hooked their truck to the trailer. I got the backhoe and parked sideways next to the bow of the boat. Mike secured a line from the backhoe bucket to the boat, and I lifted the boat. Since the stern was already on the cradle, when I lifted the bow, Lucy could pull the trailer out from under the boat. With the trailer out of the way, Mick set up the pieces for the forward cradle, and I lowered the boat onto it. Remarkably it all went as planned and nothing was damaged. I did discover a significant hydraulic fluid leak on the tractor though, so that's something to be added to the list when Bob gets back.
I did another bank run today. The banks are known for long lines, but last time, I arrived and was second in line. I made up for that today. I was in line for thirty minutes to do a two minute transaction. My other venture out today was to pick up Ashley. She was at Spiceland Mall, where the IGA grocery store is, so when I picked her up, I went inside to check on their supply status because of yesterday's holiday. We run the shopping bus to IGA every Friday, so I wanted to be sure that the holiday hadn't disrupted their restocking schedule. I was assured that the container was already on premise and was being unloaded. So shopping will occur tomorrow.
Our late afternoon/early evening was pretty quiet and I thought we would get an early close. I took Alma, the cleaning lady, home about 18:30. I returned in time to take Ashley home at 19:00. When I returned, I found a local couple playing pool. Gary & Jeannie from At Last were also keeping Barb company in the bar. Then another local couple came in for drinks. We ended up not closing until 21:00. Barb had some fish defrosted for dinner, but didn't have a plan of what to do with it. We ended up with crab cakes and green beans. The Food Channel watching must be paying off, because it was quite tasty considering there was no plan prior to cooking.
GPS N 12-00.639 W 061-44.360 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 9539.