It rained a little more today but not as much as earlier this week. Here is a brief clip of the rain we experienced on Thursday.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tSb078LsGk[/youtube]
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Saturday morning we went to the flea market in Whisper Cove Marina. Bristol Roses were there looking to sell some of their US charts and guidebooks. Where IIs were wandering around as were the Jacksters. Helen and I took a little walk up the hill from Whisper Cove and found a lovely plot of land overlooking the bay. It would be a great place to build a home and we wonder why one hasn’t been built there. No doubt someone owns the land and is hanging on for the right event. Here’s a panoramic video from the location. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp6tiiewGuQ[/youtube] Back at the marina we again bumped into the Jacksters and ended up inviting David and Jacqui over for a curry aboard Dignity. Back aboard Dignity is was down to clearing and cleaning ready for our trip to Trinidad. I The evening came David and Jacqui joined us. We had a great evening sharing stories and the odd joke. I managed to find one that David didn’t already know which, if you know David, is quite a result. In the end they left around midnight, the real one, which is a testament to how much we enjoyed the evening. We have roughly similar plans so hopefully we’ll be bumping into the Jacksters (not literally) from time to time. Checking the weather this morning it is again looking like Monday evening offers the better weather window for Trini. For a while it was beginning to look like tonight would be better but now the odds are shifting in favour of Monday again. Probably for the best as we’re a little tired this morning. Final note. Yesterday I discovered a page on the winlink site that shows our current and recent positions on a single page. This gives you a better idea of how we’re moving about and should be pretty good when we’re covering larger distances. I’ve provided a link to it on our ‘Where Are We?‘ page for future reference. The following pics include views of the boat to give a sense of the place we’re anchored. After proving that using the winch power cables for my solar panel supply was effective, doing the job properly took a bit of extra effort. It was important to me to be able to put the wires back to their original use so cutting them or changing the ends was not on. Nor were the lugs on the ends of the wires the right size for connecting to my charge controller so I had to find the right pieces to make it all work. Nearby Budget Marine had some but not all the parts I needed. A longer walk to an electrical store found some of the other parts I needed plus they let me use their hydraulic crimper to place the lugs on the end on my leads which I’d brought to the store. Another possible piece of luck is I got talking to the store manager and he learned I may have some spare batteries. We may have a deal on where I can borrow some of his top end tools in exchange for a battery or two. Given that I’m unlikely to sell them all this would be really good if we can pull this off. Having the best connections possible has no substitute so getting hold of good tools will make my future rewiring work the best I can do.
We met Inge who showed up with her significant friend Hal at Prickly Bay Marina where we enjoyed a couple of drinks at their Tiki bar during Happy Hour. We then went back to the boat for more conversation and, whatever. We ended up back ashore for pizza. The whole evening was very enjoyable. Hal gave me some great tips for the passage to Trinidad and what to do when we’re there so we’re very thankful for that. Today we were tourists and took Cutty’s round Grenada tour. Cutty is the same fellow we took to go and see the turtles back in May I think. His tours have a very good reputation and he has a good gig going with the cruiser community.
Our first stop was at the prison overlooking town. The prisoners get a great view – something seems wrong here. We learned the prison was housing 3 times the prisoners it was originally built for which seems just like the rest of the world.
After that we followed the road up into the hills to 2,000 feet above sea level and Onward from there we made our way over to the Rivers Rum Distillery. Along the way we stopped for some local interest including some colourful caterpillars which you can see in the slide show below.
They passed around a book for feedback and we (I) wrote down our disappointment only to discover our rotis only cost EC$10 which is next to nothing. Oh well – had we known we might have ordered two each and been more than satisfied. Next came the tour which was fascinating. The rum making process was still dependent on the use of a water wheel to drive the machinery that crushed the sugar cane and squeeze all the juice out of it. Most of the rest of the work was intensely manual. The tour ended with a tasting session which included some of the 75%+ by volume strength rum. I felt all tingly after.
This was one of those picture postcard spots. We were able to splash around a little in our bare feet and explore a little before heading back to our various stops. This was definitely a very good tour and would recommend it to anyone. For a full day out and informative guide the cost was extremely good too. Back on the boat I was eager to check the effectiveness of the solar charging. The day had been a little overcast but I was pleased to note that the panels had fully charged our batteries despite this. I’m still feeling pleased about this one. Feeling stiff about now – here’s why. We left the boat this morning around 8am with only one slip up – forgot the map. After a brief trip back to the boat, setting the dinghy stern anchor a second time, and locking the dinghy a second time we were ready to set off. It’s only a small climb to the main road to pick up the busses. We had thought that all busses heading away from town would take us up island but that was not the case. A local fellow sitting on the wall set us straight and as he recognized all the busses he helped us identify the right one. While waiting we had a little chat about not a lot. Up and down the islands (except for Mustique of course) there is a similarity in the bus services. All rely on minivans which can squish in about 18 people. Both Grenada and St Vincent make use of ‘conducters’ who open and close the side door, lean out looking for new customers, help squeeze more people in and handle the money. This leaves the driver to concentrate on driving. And they need to here in St Vincent as they race along the winding roads at break-neck speeds performing acts of driving that would disqualify them from driving instantly in other countries. An example today was overtaking, at high speed, another bus which had stopped on a pedestrian crossing. Today’s ride may just well be one of those that sticks in our memory. The ride was more memorable due to the local radio station playing Michael Jackson as a result of his passing yesterday. The driving was not too “Bad” but it was certainly a “Thriller”. I thought the lyrics “Don’t stop till you get enough” were quite appropriate. They managed to fill the bus to capacity despite us with our rucksacks, several large people, mother with small child on lap, a man with a ladder and someone else with a box. Amazing.
We were soon on the trail sweating in what felt like 100% humidity. The vegetation varied along the route as we climbed from bamboo woods to rainforest to more like scrub towards the top. The trail
We eventually parted company with the students and teacher who wanted to see if they could descend into the crater further round. Having made it back to the trailhead we set about walking down the road we had been given a ride up. Close to where we were picked up the first time a minibus stopped by – it was John and Lynette with their guide on the way back down. They gave us a ride back to Georgetown saving us a bit of a hot walk and an EC$ each for the short bus ride (it all counts). After picking up a couple of drinks we caught a bus back to Dignity. From the start of our walk to the end of the final bus ride I had my GPS running so you can see our walks, our rides and the bus ride home on the following map (if you care to).
Back on the boat we’re resting our weary limbs. Finally – here are our pics. We started the day, yesterday, by moving Dignity back round to Prickly Bay so we could shop for drinks and be close to the turtle tour evening pickup. The short motor round from Hog Bay, with the wind and current behind us, was a breeze. Before it became too warm Helen and I went ashore, walked to the nearby highway and visited a number of shops: ACE Hardware (for a power multiblock), NY Bagels (for a snack), a Cash & Carry and the Grenada Brewery outlet. At the latter we picked up a couple of crates of beer and a crate of Ting which we lugged back to the boat on our trolley. We rested through midday. In the afternoon I picked up dinghy fuel from Prickly Bay Marina and made another trip back to the brewery outlet for two more crates of Ting and one more crate of beer. We are now set, drinkwise, for June and July. At 6pm we met up outside Budget Marine with Cutty and a number of other cruisers to be taken to the north of the island to see turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. For the record, among the group were Liz & Bob from Yanena (probably spelt incorrectly) who arranged the group outing, Judy, Jim & Charlotte from Heatwave and Marianne and Theo from Double Dutch. Hopefully we’ll see these folks again. The trip north took around 90 minutes. We stopped off about 10-15 minutes before the target beach to pick up our guide who was associated with a local research group. She gave us a short brief on what to expect and some do’s and don’ts – in particular no white torches and no camera flashes as these would disturb the turtles.
We first made our way over to where the baby turtles were surfacing. The average nest has around 100 eggs, most of which will hatch successfully. In this case we saw around six to eight early arrivals scrambling around roughly making their way to the sea. A few who had red light torches were able to guide the baby turtles to the sea by shining their light ahead of them as they had an instinct to follow the light. Here is a brief video of the baby turtles crossing the sand [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrU1FAqiCNw[/youtube] Next we trudged to the other end of the beach to see the turtle reported to have landed there. Along the way we were nervous of treading on other baby turtles that may be hatching and making their way to the sea. Fortunately, I don’t think we squished any. Nor did we see any others. In the low light our eyes would play tricks on us. In the distance I thought I saw a massive turtle but it turned out to be a boat. E
The researchers knew when we were able to come close to watch. During the early digging we were asked to stand well away which we did. As the hole developed we were allowed to come close. When this turtle made a second attempt she was left alone with just the researchers to help as this was clearly going to be a difficult night for her. Fortunately, another turtle
In order to preserve the species they were prepared to move the nest if it was too damp which would put the eggs at risk. The researchers felt this nest was ok so no preparations were made. Two types of eggs are laid. Normal yolk filled eggs are laid which will produced babies. Around these, smaller yolkless eggs are laid as filler so that the yolked eggs don’t get too much sand between them. Midnight approached so we had to head back to the taxi careful again to avoid any possible hatchlings. We saw a third turtle ashore to nest and lay her eggs along the way. It was nearly 2pm before we finally returned to Dignity. We were exhausted and fell asleep immediately. This was a one of a kind day and if you ever get an opportunity to do this yourself, seize it. Here is a video of the two turtles we saw digging their nests. You should see the difference between the injured turtle in the first half and the fit turtle in the latter. Enjoy. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iquyH7qJJ6I[/youtube] Finally – all the pics. |
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