2^nd Hurricane Season in Grenada

August 1- November 1, 2012

 

CAN NOT believe we have been here in Grenada for 3 months, and now it is time to leave !! We are not really ready to leave a place we have come to love & know like a second home. We are even less ready to leave all our friends we have here. BUT with this lifestyle that is the way it works. Some of the people we may see again but some we will not, but we will always have these memories of our wonderful time spent in Grenada. This season was VERY different for us as we spent the whole 3 months at the lovely and wonderful Port Louis Marina. We do NOT really like being in a marina this long, in fact we have never stayed longer then 2 weeks in a marina. Being in the marina has its plus and minus, as does being at anchor. In the marina we can step off the boat any time either of us feels like it and either go separate ways or together. Out at anchor we always have to coordinate the dinghy ride to shore. We do have a pool here at the marina, but it does not even come close to just jumping off the back of the boat to go for a cool refreshing swim when ever we get a little hot and sweaty (which down here in the summer is always). The social life at a marina is a little more active, since you are always walking by each others boats and or docked right next to others also staying on their boats. It is easier to stop to talk people walking along the dock then when you are driving by in your dinghy when at anchor. Whether at anchor or at a marina there is usually a meeting place for happy hour, it is just easier to walk down the dock to HH then getting into your dinghy and going to shore for a drink, not sure if that is on the plus or con side. So after another fun & crazy Carnival and getting the generator fixed, we made plans to get some other work done while we were in the marina. It was supposed to have started back in September while I was back in Texas visiting family so Steve stayed in the marina instead of going out to anchor the day after I left. All the hatches and porthole “glass” (acrylic) is sun crazed = lots of little cracks. None of these cracks leak, it is just wear and tear and sun damage to the windows being exposed to UV rays every day for the last 14 years. Two of the hatches have bigger cracks by the handles, again NO leaking but signs of weakness. So preventive action is to take care of it BEFORE they start leaking or break. As it often happens down island things got delayed. Also has it often happens down island is that the delays are always stretched out. Waiting on parts to be delivered is a way of life, and we understand that. What throws us off is that we get told things will be here first of next week, then its at the end of the week then its the first of the next week then again at the end of the week. This goes on and on, NOT that “they” (the company you are doing business with) is trying to deceive you. Either they truly believe the parts or materials will be in on the next shipment OR they are telling you what they THINK you want to hear. So instead of the company saying we are not sure when we will be able to start, but will let you know when things arrive, we get the in a few days answer. The thing with marinas is that once you are there for 2 weeks the next two weeks are “free” as the monthly rate is ½ of the weekly rate. So that is how we came to spend 3 months at the marina. Now it is time to go, so we have made contact with another company up in St. Marten to get the work done there. The company here did finally get the seals we need for the replacement windows, and we took delivery of them today Oct. 29^th and will bring them up to St Martin with us. They were also very good about refunding the deposit given so all is well. In the mean time our hot water heater also died. We have had problems with it before with different hose leaks but this time it is the actual heater. So we have ordered one of those to be delivered to St Martin as well, and it works out better since they are a duty free country it is cheaper then getting it shipped there. We did escape from the marina for 2 days and went over to Prickly Bay to have 2 modifications done to our arch. Nick from Tech Nick who did the work last year removed the 1 D ring that was rubbing against the dinghy when it was lifted and fixed the life raft holder. The closing tab did not match up the same with the life rafts weight in it as it did empty. Once again he did a wonderful job re-welding those 2 spots. While over there we ran into friends Judy & Gordon on Dreamcatcher down from Carriacou. Our visit with them back in August in Carriacou was cut short due to the threat of TS Ernesto, so it was good to see and visit with them a little. They were down to get a new stove and batteries and we plan on meeting back up with them in November up in St Lucia. While in Prickly in cleaner water, Steve dove on the boat to see how the bottom looked. A lot of times when in a marina, since they are usually in a protected harbor without good water flow, bottoms of boats get more growth on them. Steve was very happy to see that our bottom paint job from last year was holding up well and only had a few small barnacles on that he easily removed. We did get our salon cushions re covered with a beautiful ultra-leather material. Grenada Canvas did the work and did a wonderful job, we love our new cushions. Steve battled some major computer problems as well as a cough he had for over a month. He also got some cream to treat some pre cancerous spots on his arms. We went on a few hikes and to a few hashes, attended several music events, and other fun activities. Had several fun parties and gatherings at the marina. All in all it was another wonderful season in Grenada. Our last night there was Halloween and we had a big party at the marina.   Steve & I have never been big on costumes and were so impressed on how creative and elaborate most of the costumes were !! Especially since most of them were made with things people had on there boats, which for most of us does NOT include extra costume making materials. Halloween is not celebrated by the locals, only visitors like boaters or college students from the states and others staying here, which makes it even harder to make or find costumes. But we had a blast at the party and it was a great way to end our stay in Grenada. Thursday morning we were ready to leave, with the help from the marina on our bow lines and wonderful friends JoAnne & Bill from Ultra on our stern lines we were underway by 8:30. With mixed feelings, glad to be on the move again but sad not knowing when we will see some of our friends or Grenada again.

 

Link to Pictures; https://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/2ndSeasonInGrenada?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOzh96LxzdSEtQE&feat=directlink