For their last day in Grenada, we decided to make a little trip to the Atlantic side of the island and a visit to the River Antoine Rum Distillery! Grenville is the second most important town in Grenada and is very very different from St George's. We were the only white tourists there and enjoyed the Grenadians kindness and hospitality. We bought food on the street -pastries at the backery, soup with turkey and local vegetables and then rotis. The conch or lambi roti was extra-ordinary! The fish was good too but lambi was our preferred one.

The Grenada Yacht Club has a great view on the lagoon and we had lunch on their deck..thanks Lindsay and Karen for the invite! We had a wonderful mahi-mahi meal (blackened for us, broiled for them) followed by nutmeg ice cream! Wow! delicious...Heiner is seen here harbouring a jersey of the club!

We were really getting low on food and drinks and it demanded a lot of creativity to serve appetizing dishes to the crew! The cook had dreams of beef loin the night before departing for St George's where shopping was number one on the list of things to do!!! St George is charming and has international flair...lots of food stores, boat stores, and we had no problem refilling the pantry and the fridge!

Our first anchorage was located just after halifax Harbour and very pittoresque. Dragon Point offered good snorkeling all around. As we were fixing the dinghy and could not leave the boat...the invitation from Syd and Manuela on Paradise to go snorkeling with them at Molinieres Point was really welcome! Look at these intriguing scultpures on following link:http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Grenada/Molini%C3%A8re/blog-441765.html

We moved to Grand Mal bay on following day as there was too much surge and rolling in the bay! That's where we spent the Grenadian Thanksgiving!

The sail from Carriacou to mainland Grenada was just beautiful...Lindsay and Karen were amazed how beautiful sailing can be here..and so were we! We had not had these mild conditions (East wind 15-17 knots) very often in the last year! We passed the Grenadian islands and the underwater volcano Kick'em Jenny without problem. This volcano is 1300 m high but its peak is about 180 under water...its last eruption dates back to 2001!

There was a lot of haziness as we approached Grenada but its mountains were beautiful. The town of Sauteurs first came into view...this town has been named "Jumpers" after the Carib Indians who jumped into the sea to escape their ennemies.

Today was "administration day"...when you cruise, it means that you spend quite a bit of time checking out of an area (St Vincent and The Grenadines) and checking in another (Grenada)...and shopping and carrying garbages out. We had an enjoyable check out experience in Union Island - the staff was quite bored because there are so few cruisers at this time of the year - and we took the opportunity to chat with them about the upcoming referendum (November 25th) and the politics of the island. We sailed another 6 miles to Carriacou and checked in Grenada...after a beautiful sail. We encouraged the local economy bu shopping and having a couple fo beers at the beach Bar (Snug's) named after Cuthberth Snug, the owner: an aboslutely charming man. Good luck with your business Cuthberth!

From Mayreau to the Tobago Cays, we only sailed 5 miles and were so happy to see that boat traffic was almost inexistant...wow! the Horseshoe Ref Anchorage was empty with only 5 boats anchoring there. First we dinghied to the beach of the Turtles area and once again, Heiner and I enjoyed swimming with or above the Green Turtles! As for Karen and Lindsay, they were absolutely delighted!

After lunch we went for another snorkel trip on the reef itself and marveled at all the pretty fishes! Karen took millions of pictures underwater! The Tobago cays at this time of the year were just great!

After an enjoyable time in Bequia, we sailed towards the Tobago Cays with our first stop in Mayreau. The sail was wonderful with - unusually for us - soft 15 knots breeze..like in the magazines. We anchored in the picturesque Saltwhistle Bay and enjoyed the sunset and the starry night.

They have arrived to Bequia..not on time but earlier! Hard to believe! but it happens, even in the Caribbean. The day was spent swimming, eating, having drinks on the deck and looking at shooting stars. Hard life..........

The tropical wave has finally passed away...after raining on us for the entire day yesterday. Today is sunny and windy...good, we need to recharge the batteries after almost a complete day without sun and only too much - sporadically - wind up to 35 knots in gusts.

We are cleaning the boat, reacquainting ourselves with all spareparts and their storage places. The was a major meltdown in the "head" department...Heiner is still in there, replacing all discharge hoses...in this heat (32c), it's nice to know that the swimming pool is not too far away!!

While in Ottley Hall, we were given bananas..dessert bananas and figues, the yellow stubby ones! They are delicious...and ripe when their skin splits! Of course, they all ripen together...but they can be flambees, eaten raw or in fruit salad...or just like that, with a little rum. And, as our friends Karen and Lindsay are about to arrive here for a visit, they'll help us out!

Nous avons decide d'accrocher nos bananes dehors...comme ca, elles se croiront encore dans l'arbre!!! Ces bananes nous furent donnees en cadeau par un travailleur du chantier de Ottley Hall, Rudolf. Elles vont toutes murir en meme temps...ben, on fera du pain aux bananes, on les flambera, ou on les degustera comme ca, avec un ti-rhum. Pis n va les offrir aux amis qui arrivent sous peu..qui refuserait ces bananes exquises!!!

BEQUIA!
After a smooth launch, we spent at least 30 minutes just outside the Ottley Hall Basin to re-attach the back stay and rig the furler. It was not easy as there is a lot of surge and the wind comes from all direction. But all went well and we had a great sail to Bequia, with an easterly breeze of 16 knots, little wave action, and no squalls. It was great to anchor, feel the breeze, and swimm...............we had 2 ice cold Carib beers and lunch in the cockpit, feeling almost unreal to be back cruising. LIFE IS GOOD.
BEQUIA - apres une mise a l'eau sans problemes, nous avons fait les quelques 7 milles entre Ottley Hall and Bequia en 1 heure - le vent etait doux a 16 noeuds, presque pas de vagues et avec notre coque bien propre et la peinture fraiche, nous faisions du 7 noeuds! De nous retrouver sur l'eau, d'avoir de l'air frais, et de nager etait tout simplement extatique! Et que dire de la biere Carib bien froide que nous avons prise avec le lunch...LA VIE EST BELLE.

The boat will be launched sometimes this morning...let's hope all will go well. We had an interesting meeting with the yard manager yesterday...we argued quite a bit regarding his creative accounting and his responsability with regard to damages to our boat. We won...but he still operates the travellift this morning.... We are so much looking forward to sail away to Bequia and have a holiday!
Apres une rencontre fort animee avec le gerant du chantier hier apres-midi, nous avons enfin regle nos differents et "gagne " nos arguments. Mais, c'est lui qui nous met a l'eau ce matin alors esperons qu'il sera quand meme bien dispose....Nous serons heureux de mouiller a Bequia! en vacances!!!!

Sunday - a good mix of work and play. We got up early this morning, at 6h00, and 15 minutes later, heiner was applying the first coat of antifouling ...coffee was still in the making! Thta's how dedicated we are ! We worked on several projects and by noon, we had our work done! The3 afternoon was fun and began with a creole lunch prepared by Toni and a friend, Gisele. Both worked hard in the kitchen to serve us a very full-sized meal. As a starter, Toni had prepared a seafood potage with tender pieces of conch and whelks, chillies and cucumber. The main dish was an assortment of breadfruit, two kinds of sweet potatos, macaroni pie, and rice with pumpkin pieces. The chicken was juicy and well spiced. And as a drink, we had home made Mauby juice: it s bark of a tree that is boiled and sweetened. Served on ice, it has a refreshing flavor.

After such a succulent meal, we sat on the balcony overlooking the St Vincent passage betwen St Vincent and Bequia. We then took a drive to Fort Charlotte and were once more admiring the breathtaking mountains and ocean views of the island.

We ended up going to the famous Basil's in Kingstown for a couple of Hairoun beers and tremendously enjoyed their air conditioned and dark bar! Great way to end the hard work week!

Saturday night: it is a cool 29C and we are sitting in the cockpit, enjpying the fresh air and listening to birds and cicadas. The work is almost all finished: tomorrow, first coat of antifouling. Heiner finished polishing the hull today (2nd coat) . His arms get bigger and bigger!

We get started arouond 6am in order to stay cool...Launching is planned for Wednesday.

Qu'il fait bon de se retrouver dehors, sans soleil, et de profiter de la jolie brise rafraichissante: il fait apeu pres 29C et la temperature a l'interieur du bateau baisse tranquillement. Tous les travaux sont presque termines. Heiner s'est leve de bon matin pour commencer a faire son deuxieme round de polissage...il commence a avoir de serieux muscles, le capitaine!!!Demain premiere couche de peinture antifouling...nous aimerions avoir la mise a l'eau mercredi!!!

A little break due to rain showers...
Yesterday, the heat would have been brutal as there was NO wind! but luckily, frequent cloudy periods made it more bearable.
Our work days have become more productive since we started getting up at 6h30 and working at 7am....more work hours and more showers!!!
We finalized several projects on the weekend, despite having gone to Kingstown on Saturday afternoon. We managed to finish the work below the waterline: all rusty spots sanded, with 2 coats of clear epoxy and 4 coats of white epoxy. The latter one thin and still soft so that the antifouling would stick to it. Then Heiner fixed the damage to the hull: sanded and applied clear and white epoxy. Today a bit of West System will be applied to make the dents less visible. And some rust in the cockpit along the seats and the main sheet track - whatever that thing is called##!!! - also sanded and epoxied. With 35C...it's a lot of effort. When the temperature sinks to 29C during the night we find it cool!!!

The creole dinner was a very rustical thing organised by a community group (to fight local youth violence) and taking place in one of the street of Kingstown. There were several different fish dishes, black fish (small whale), smoked hering, and salt cod. There was some breadfruit, plantain, and dasheen...this is some veggie very popular here but not so good looking or great tasting for us! Anyhow, the whole thing was fun and we went there with a scottish family also working on their boat in the yard...their daughter has been getting involved with the local groups and sold us tickets for this dinner. We then went to a concert of steeldrums by a local youth band - the kids were great and played wonderfully, without music sheets and with lots of rhytm. We had rum and ginger ale...4/5 rum and 1/5 ginger ale..the right proportion!

Today Monday, we will go back into Kingstown for a bit of shopping, and also to have a drink with a man whom we met on the Liat flight from Trinidad to here. We met him on Saturday while strolling in the town streets and decided to have a drink together...

It's 10am..got to go back to work...

October 1st...the weather is great, without squalls or rain: we wish we could be sailing! We see sailboats on the sea, waiving with their martini glasses...

Yesterday after our workday, we went to town with Tony and had a couple of Hairoun beers in a nice local restaurant. We enjoyed the ride through the mountains and came back to the boat less tired than when we left...

Our work is going well: rust has been removed from both sides of the underwater hull and the first coat of clear epoxy has been applied. We have to get up a little earlier though...

Avant le paradis, c'est le purgatoire comme dirait mon amie Carole. Ben elle a raison, on va l'avoir notre paradis. Mais le purgatoire est chaud et je voudrais pas connaitre l'enfer ici!
Notre travail va bon train malgre la chaleur...mais le corps n'est pas encore habitue a tant d'effort physiques!!! Carpe diem...