We need a rest so today we don’t intend to do much at all. Let’s see how that works out. Now to catch up.
Friday evening, while on the dock) we were joined aboard by the Where IIs, the Bristol Roses, the Arctic Terns and Diane from Jabulani.
It’s always pleasant when we have company aboard and this 
was no exception. The conversation was broad but the topic of batteries came up once or twice, either because I was getting the subject off my chest or others were interested.
Saturday morning was spent putting things away and/or back to where they should be. The removed drive battery was replaced and everything cleaned up and reconnected. Bar putting on a shackle (lent by Where II) to connect our new anchor to our new chain no projects were attempted yesterday. I did play catch up on some of my regular checks which have got 
a bit behind. Everything was fine. The morning was also spent catching up on ‘admin’ such as reading remote mail and paying bills – yach.
Late morning I paid and we said our goodbyes. We didn’t see Fletcher the very friendly night watchman but we promised to include his picture on the website – Hi Fletcher. We ate lunch aboard before setting off. Rene, who helps out a lot at Clarks Court Bay Marina, helped us leave. I showed him how an electric boat motors – no noise. I think he was impressed.
We then motored around to Prickly Bay as the winds were very low. The waters were calm so we glided along. At Prickly Bay we had our first chance to try our new anchor, a 57lb Manson Supreme. We’ve always been very pleased with our 44lb delta but even when it sets well there is always some hesitation as it ploughs its way into the sand. The Manson just set and let us know it was not going to budge without any hint of needing to settle in. The next test will be getting it out again. That won’t be for a few days. Our first impressions are very good.
We had an hour or so spare before we left for the Grenada Hash so we made a little water and this was when I caught up on my checks.
On our way to De Big Fish where we were going to leave the dinghy we popped by Sweet Caroline to congratulate them on their 50th wedding anniversary. At De Big Fish we bumped into the crew of Cirque de Soleil who we’d last met in Dominica and shared the Boiling Lake hike with (well – just Angie). We had a brief catch up before heading to the roundabout to catch a bus into town. In true local style we hadn’t quite made it to the roundabout when a local bus went past. The conductor had spotted us so the bus reversed and came back round the roundabout just to find out if we needed a ride. It seems crazy but it’s most welcome and a lot of fun.
We were soon down at the Caranage waiting for a pickup. Not long after we arrived, Mike and Jackie who we’d met on the first hash drove by on their way to the hash. They spotted us and soon we were chatting. They made room in their vehicle (they already had two passengers) and squeezed us in. This hash was not too far from town. The numbers were more than we’ve seen before, somewhere between 150 and 200 I reckon. A lot of these were new students at the St Georges medical school. We bumped into more cruisers who we’re beginning to recognize more including Jim from Bees Knees. I spent a little time on battery strategy with Jim (I have a one track mind at the moment).
The hike was basically a big scramble along what would be optimistically described as a single file track to the top of the highest peak around us and then a more leisurely descent first on a wider track and then on roads. Unfortunately we started near the back of the pack 
and many of the students were ahead of us. A number were out of shape and others kept stopping to take pictures which meant progress up the single track was incredibly slow. Whenever we could we skipped past the photo takers to try and pick up the pace. Along the way I lost my sunglasses as well as slipping over and getting a stick go in my eye (youch). I did take a photo when I couldn’t make any progress as the views were pretty good.
On the way I learned my reputation seems to be building. I was asked by Barb (a complete stranger to me at the point) if I was ‘the battery guy’. It seems that someone buying 36 golf cart batteries for their boat is becoming a talking point amongst the cruisers here. A few are beginning to show interest in my throwaways so I’ll be getting on the net soon to start lining up folks who would be happy to take old batteries off us and maybe even pay a little for some of the better ones. I met Diane (from the night before) once again and chatted for a while. Once we were on the road I ended up running the last mile or two. We’ve been constrained to the boat (mainly) for the last week and I felt the need to flush the system.
Back at the start we had a beer each but didn’t stop long as we had an urge for a Chinese meal at the restaurant near Prickly Bay. We started walking into town and made about a miles progress when a bus passed. On it were Devi & Hunter from Arctic Tern and Dianne and Barb. They had been more sensible and waited for the bus without walking. We parted company at the bus station as we had different onward busses to catch.
After dinghying back to the boat we showered then headed into Prickly Bay Marina to make our way to the Chinese Restaurant. It was a little further than we remembered – about a mile walk each way. The meal was very nice and the price even better.
Eventually, back on the boat it was straight to bed and to sleep. That was not without raising the dinghy as we usually do. I did open the drain between the inner and outer hulls and there was barely a trickle. I can close off the dinghy leak project – finally.
This morning my eye is pretty sore and red where the stick went in. Vision is unimpaired so I’m not concerned. Eye drops are helping so I’ll stick to that unless things get worse. I’ve checked on the house batteries. I never reconnected the worst battery. The charge levels this morning are the best we’ve seen. This will be some combination of the equalization and the removal of the crappy battery. The fact that the house batteries are worn as well as the drive batteries tells me they’ve had a rough life and it really is the best thing to replace the lot. The more I think about it the more I like the idea of adding the 4 spare batteries to the house circuit. That will really make life pleasant. The downside would be that we’d spend less time with them over 14V which means I could create a sulphation (or is it sulpatation) problem down the line unless I equalize periodically. If I do lose a cell somewhere I would have plenty of spare capacity in the house bank to remove a pair without suffering unduly until we can find a fair priced replacement. The future looks good.
So back to today. We don’t intend to do much. We think we’ve earned it.
We arrived a few minutes early only to find the place jostling with cruisers looking to sell unwanted gear and those looking for bargains. We managed to pick up some free guides to Australia and an RS232 cable splitter which I need to talk to some of my gear.
wanted to check and clean the props and decided if I was down there on the hookah I may as well clean the hulls too. I’m beginning to despise this job as it takes all the fun out of being in the water. Down here the wriggly critters are prevalent so despite putting my wetsuit on they still got into my hair and neckline.
