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Fish n Chips

by KC2RIY, on May 16th, 2009 (Arctic Tern, Grenada)

My first order of the day, yesterday, was to hunt for 2 or 3 pieces of cutlery I dropped off the back of the boat the previous evening while washing them. A rogue wave (so to speak) had knocked things about while I was on the back step.

We were in about 20 feet of water. Going down with my scuba gear I discovered we were over fine mud and the visibility was only a few feet. Undaunted I collected some string and a long screw driver to drive into the ground so I could create a search pattern. I was down for nearly an hour but in the end I did have to abandon the search as I realised the swing of Dignity simply created too big a search area and there was a distinct possibility the cutlery was sitting just under the mud, impossible to see even if the water was crystal clear.

Later we moved Dignity back behind Hog Island to be in dinghy range of Clarks Court Marina where the Fish and Chips were to be sold in the evening. Although it doesn’t show on the google maps a new bridge joins Hog Island to the mainland. One used to be able sail between the two but not any more. This location is our best compromise. The alternatives would either have been to dinghy from where we were (too far in the dinghy) or to round Hog Island in Dignity (unnecessary extra distance).

We didn’t do a whole lot bar read for the day until it was time to go. At the marina we met a bunch of old faces. Devi & Hunter from Arctic Tern were there among others. Everyone we meet at the moment are on their way through, most of them laying up either here or in Trinidad. It will be interesting as the place fills up with those that are staying.

Today we’ll shift Dignity into Prickly Bay and go into town to look around. I may pick up a mobile phone so we can communicate while on the island. In the afternoon we have the Hash Hound Harriers event to attend. Devi and Hunter from Arctic Tern have intentions to go as well. They have been to events on other islands and said they’re a lot of fun.

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Category: Arctic Tern, Grenada | Here is my comment

South of Latitude 12N

by steve, on May 14th, 2009 (Arctic Tern, Bees Knees, Grenada)

As planned, Helen was collected by Anne and went off to Yoga hosted by Devi from Arctic Tern. She came back looking all fresh and stretched having enjoyed herself. We hung around and did our calls before heading round the corner to Mt Hartman Bay where we anchored for the first time south of 12 degrees North (Helen looks at me weirdly on this point).

We had lunch then went ashore to look at Martin’s Marina and to have a walk around the peninsula that separates Prickly Bay and Mt Hartman Bay. Without a decent map we made a few wrong turns but got to see some interesting places and properties. We visited Prickly Bay Marina too which saves us taking Dignity there which we may have done tomorrow.

Our walk took us to the very end of the peninsular to Prickly Point where the fancy houses gave way to a small bit of rugged land.

One of the more interesting places we saw on the way back was a yellow castle like home. It would be cool to live in a place like that.

Tomorrow we have one more marina to look at. We’re pretty sure we’ll anchor Dignity in Prickly Bay while we’re in New Jersey. However, when we return we’re due to get our upgrade on the control board and we need a marina for a night or two. Where this will be we haven’t decided. After tomorrow we’ll have seen them all and can decide.

Tomorrow night we’re almost certain to go back to Clark’s Court Bay for their Fish and Chips evening. On Saturday there is a Grenada Hash House Harriers event planned. I hadn’t heard of the Hash Harriers before but it’s world wide. It seems to be a casual Rotary Club aimed at runners/walkers who like a beer or three. They describe themselves as drinkers with a running problem. Despite all this it is a family thing. Apart from the fact this seems to be right up our alley, this will be a good way to meet some of the indigenous population. They have a walk/run planned for Saturday afternoon so we reckon we’ll join them. They have an open invite on the VHF net every morning so we should be more than welcome.

Category: Arctic Tern, Bees Knees, Grenada | Here is my comment

Burger Night Out

by steve, on May 14th, 2009 (Arctic Tern, Bees Knees, Catalyst, Grenada, Mimi)

This was a lot of fun. Got to meet a bunch of folks who are either settling in for the summer or preparing to leave the Caribbean for the summer season. We bumped into the folks from Mimi and Catalyst who we last saw in Carriacou and ate our burger & fries with them. Another inexpensive night out all reinforcing our belief summer will be a lot of fun here. We bumped into Devi and Hunter from Artic Tern who we last saw on the beach in the Tobago Cays. We recognised some from last Sunday’s beach BBQ and no doubt some more of the faces will be known over time. Anne & Jim from Bees Knees were there but we all managed to find time for everyone else.

The cooks, Rene & Cherryl, who are cruisers helping out also run a fish & chips night every other Friday. If we don’t make this coming Friday we must make the one in two weeks time.

As ever, when we’re having the most fun I forget to take photos. Oops.

Today we have some calls to make and make our last on line orders for things to collect in NJ. In a few minutes Helen will be off with Anne for yoga at Clark’s Court Bay Marina hosted by Devi from Arctin Tern. Later we will move the boat to explore more of the possibilities to the west of us. Today we’ll certainly look at Mt Harmon Bay where we may stop for the night. To the west of that is Prickly Bay which is a real cruiser hub and there’s also True Blue Bay which has some moorings we could possibly use too.

Category: Arctic Tern, Bees Knees, Catalyst, Grenada, Mimi | Here is my comment

Day Trip to St Georges

by steve, on May 13th, 2009 (Bees Knees, Grenada)

Quick synopsis of the rest of yesterday. We ran the water maker for two hours and filled our tanks. While doing this I called Spectra tech support. They decided to send us a new salinity probe free of charge plus firmware upgrade. That will go to out friends in NJ and we can take this back to the boat at the end of the month. In the afternoon the failure alarm went off again. Good job we have a new one going. Great support from Spectra. I also learned that the flush cycle continues to make water so continued fresh water flushing should eventually make battery compatible water.

In the afternoon went snorkeling. Visited a couple of nearby spots anchoring the dinghy each time. Saw a mean looking barracuda (I know – they all look mean) about 3-4 feet long.

Bees Knees turned up beside us. It seems like we’re on an elastic band. Swapped books/movies with them.

Today we took the bus into St George, the capital, with Anne and Jim. Before going we moved Dignity a little nearer to Woburn, the little town here. Bees Knees have offered to keep an eye on Dignity while we are in NJ so we invited them over to learn how to move Dignity. Don’t think they’ll need to as we’ll take a mooring ball but better to be safe than sorry.

We had a nice walk around town. Visited the market. Picked up some wine and basics. We took a look at the marina in town. Bees Knees have decided to take a dock there for the summer. We may pop in for a week or two. We want to pop down to Trinidad, maybe Venezuela, over summer so it’s not worth us booking anywhere up front.

We caught the wrong bus back to where we left our dinghies. Turns out there are two Number 2 busses. We ended up getting a bit of an island tour as a result.

Tonight we’re off to Clark’s Court Bay Marina for their burger night.

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Category: Bees Knees, Grenada | Here is my comment

Calivigny Island

by steve, on May 12th, 2009 (Grenada)

Not a lot more done yesterday. We finished of the Tuna caught a couple of weeks ago and watched ‘A Knight’s Tale’ on DVD. Another one of those implausible movies that just make you smile throughout.

This morning we listened into the Grenada Cruisers VHF net which comes on every morning except Sunday on Ch 68 at 7:30am. There seem to be many things to do on the island and the costs seem far less than further up the islands. For instance, an all day island tour costs only $25 US – much cheaper than elsewhere. There seem to be quite a few things aimed at attracting cruisers. We’re likely to go to the Clark’s Court Bay Marina burger night tomorrow.

At 8am we listened into the ‘coconut telegraph’ to see how things would be without the water maker on. In the first few seconds we were astonished as to the clarity of the signal but soon learned this was due to the net operator being in the bay next to us. However, with a bit of fiddling we were able to hear a lot more of the boats calling in than we used to so things are getting better.

After all this we shifted Dignity around to Calvigny Island and anchored right outside where we heard we could get a good internet connection and clear water to run through the water maker. We followed the markers back through the reef, the reverse route we took into the bay behind Hogs Island.

Here we ran into our first bit of trouble for a while. When I turned the water maker back on the console said “Salinity Probe Failed.” It doesn’t sound good. I don’t know if this error message is related to what we did yesterday but I can’t rule it out. So far I’ve tried the basics such as reseting the system and making sure cables are connected properly but this has not fixed the error. Given that the unit was left switched off overnight I am wondering if it could be something analogous to a ‘warming up’ issue so right now I have the unit switched on with the error flashing. The next thing is to call Spectra support but as they’re on the US west coast I’ll have to wait.

We’ll probably stay around here tonight and tomorrow as we’re essentially in Clark’s Court Bay and we may just dinghy over for the burger night out. For now it is back to troubleshooting. Later we hope to go snorkeling on the nearby reefs.

Footnote: After writing the above I went back to the water maker, switched it off then on again and now it is working. I think I’ll still call Spectra support and see if they can shed any light on this.

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Category: Grenada | Here is my comment
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