It's Hard on the Hard

Blogger: John

Current Location: Grenada Marine Boatyard, St Davids, SW Grenada

It might have been Kipling that wrote:

In the jungle,
The jungly jungle,
The Tree Frogs croak tonight

But then again, perhaps it wasn't.

We have finally lifted and are perhaps 10m from the perimeter fence and the rain forest jungle. The cicadas are chirping, the land crabs are scuttling and the tree frogs are weep-ing. And yet 100m the other way is St Davids Bay, a whale sling for lifting boats out of the water, a pretty comprehensive set of services ranging from riggers to a sail loft, welders and engineers. There's even an Island Water World chandlery and, most important, a very sociable bar and basic restaurant maybe 3m from the water's edge.

Petronella, sails off, waiting to lift out

The boatyard bar. Petronella in the background. Sometimes life is just TOO tough.

The night before Jack and Fizzy left we decided to go out to celebrate. Not to celebrate the fact they were leaving but to look back at what we had all achieved over the last year. We ended up a the posh Calabash restaurant where we had another "trouser incident". Jack and I were wearing shorts - not just any shorts you understand, but our best shorts. "Not allowed I'm afraid sir." OK, no problem we'll go elsewhere we told them. "Wait. We have trousers you can wear. Go to reception and see what they have". We both have 36" waists and the smallest pairs were 38" and 40", and that's US sizes too. Here we are with our own shorts in our hands and our Grenadian smart "pants" covering our legs, after an excellent meal. Bye J and F. It's been a blast, see you in Reading!

We came out on Monday at 8am after taking Jack and Fizzy to the airport in their smart new Suzuki Jeep (shame it now has a slow puncture and only one brakelight but there you go). By the time I was back and we had untangled the very tangly bow ropes the marina was calling for us on Channel 16. "Petronella, Petronella, this is Grenada Marine. Please make your way to the hauling bay and enter stern first". Bugger. It's blowing a bit, there's another boat in the way and P doesn't really do backwards. Still, with a slight nudge from the boatyard's rib (rigid inflatable boat) we are in and hoisted. We thought we would be pretty furred up after 15 months in the water but we appear to have 3/4 of the total Atlantic fauna attached to our hull. So much so that the yard staff think the boat has been sitting at anchor for a year rather than boldly crossing oceans.

Oh no! My bottom does look dirty.

No wonder the bowthruster wouldn't work.

Anyway, they lift us, clean us (amazingly just the standard cleaning fee) and then off we trundle to our allotted space, right next to Carpe Diem. Excellent. THEY won't mind if we do a bit of grinding over their decks - especially as they are not here any longer!

Dropped in to place. Right next to Carpe Diem.

So, that was Monday. Since then we have been working like very hard working people. All the sails are washed, all the ropes are washed, half the hull is prepared for the next three months, all the washing is done, the engine oil has been changed, as has the filter, the raw water filter has had its crabs and seaweed removed, we've run the engines, changed the radiator cap, measured ropes that need replacing, taken the sails to the sail maker for stitching, dropped the anchor chain, inspected (and found wanting) the anchor locker and a host of other jobs too. Carpe Diem's wet cover and fizzy's shoes are stored below and Island Swift's dessicating crystals are in place.

Washday viewed from above.

On Sunday we make our way to La Sagesse for two nights of luxury courtesy of Jen and Emma for my 60th birthday present (I'm now 61 so it's a bit late really). By then we must be finished here with P all set for the next three months whilst we're in the UK. We're taking hurricane precautions so we are not just in our usual cradle but we are tied down by straps too to big buried concrete blocks. To keep the bugs at bay we will grease all points of contact with the ground, install cockroach traps and block up all holes in the hull and boom end. Today we have been watching as a pair of wrens set up home in the exhaust hole of the expensive Halberg Rassy next to us.

Phew. We're knackered.

World Cup Qualifier - Grenada v Puerto Rico

Jack came across last Tuesday morning from Carpe Diem. "Why don't we go to see Grenada play Puerto Rico this afternoon in their World Cup Qualifier?"  Great idea, the jobs can wait for a bit.


1.00pm sees the boys take the dinghy ashore at Whisper Cove. We walk up to the road and wait..and wait for a minibus. Eventually our friendly bus driver, Shademan, arrives. He takes us to the main road via a roadside garage who might have a Suzuki jeep for Jack to buy. We catch the Number 2 bus into St George's and walk to the ground. Its 2.30 and the game is due to kick off at 3.30. There is no one, just nobody around. Jack's T shirt generates interest from a Rasta. "Respect mon" but otherwise it is quiet. Finally we find a way into the Grenada National Stadium, often full for Test Matches, but rarely it seems for World Cup qualifiers. We determine that it is indeed a 3.30pm ko and we finally see some other supporters....the crew from Oyster Mist! After an almost complete circuit of the ground we finally get in. About 20 others greet us. No beer but for 16EC (£4) we can get a half bottle of Grenadian white rum, two cokes and two bottles of water from Grand Etang, the lake in the middle of the island we visited last week.




By kickoff there are perhaps 180 people in the ground. We think that Grenada are 1-0 down after the first leg. They play in green with a vertical yellow and red stripe (the national colours).  Grenada is known as the Spice Island so not surprisingly we are cheering for "D' Spice Boyz". Oh yes, there's a dog in the outfield too. This must be a pre, pre, pre qualifier because the finals are not until 2018 in Russia.



Before the teams come out the ref and linesmen come out to do their own warm up. They must be mates, or they were practising in the hotel the previous night, because every stretch, every jumping antelope, every twist and turn is done in unison. The sole camera there for the game laps it up and so do we.

The National Anthems are interesting because they don't appear to have Puerto Ricos anthem on their playlist. The Puerto Ricans all stand there with hands on hearts waiting for it to start. It's half a minute before they finally find it deep in the archives. Even when it does get going it is just the same as everyone else's. Nobody boos it, everybody stands and is thoroughly respectful.
Kick off and it is fairly evenly matched. Puerto Rico are the better footballing team, Grenada have lots of energy. Nobody knows the offside rule, or in many cases the corner rule either. We're just having a super afternoon out. Then Puerto Rico score. Luckily it's an own goal, a cracker from around the penalty spot. All square and suddenly Grenada believe they can win it. A wave of anticipation ripples through the meagre crowd. It stays 1-0 until half time when the teams return up the steps to the 'pavilion' more used to hosting test match players then soccer idols.

It must be free to get in now (rather than the £2.20 we paid) as people are flooding in and the tannoy lady has to tell us to keep the aisles free. It's chaos on the way to the toilets as I have to pass through the rum bar, now doing great business.

The second half starts and Grenada have more belief. The crowd is getting noisier (read drunker). Another great save from the goalie. Then he tries to throw it out to his left full back but it bounces in front of him instead. What the hell. I might as well dribble it past the halfway line, beating three men on the way and leaving the goal exposed. Wow! Biggest cheer of the afternoon. But now the captain is coming back to castigate him. Castigate him, my arse, it's high fives all round. Eat your heart out Hart.

With 15 minutes left it's a corner to Grenada. Great corner, great cross, great header. 2-0 Grenada and now the place is rocking. The dog gallops the full length of the pitch and the final whistle blows. The players come over to salute us, the crowd. Everyone seems to know at least one player personally. What a game. Grenada are into the next round of the 2018 World Cup.

Jack and I walk back into town looking for a roti. A woman tells us rotis are for the morning.  They will be bad by now and might kill us. We find one though at The Nutmeg Restaurant overlooking the harbour or careenage.  Great value and a fantastic local nutmeg ice cream to finish.

It's getting dark now and we've had a few beers. The bays along the south of the island where we are anchored are complex and we only know we are close to a hamlet called Woburn. We find a bus stop. We need a No 2 but not just any No 2. It's has to be a Woburn one. They all look the same but eventually yet another No 2 comes round the corner. "Stop", the Mommas shout. He stops. We are the only passengers for most of the four mile ride back to the Marina. It costs us 2.50EC* (60p). What an afternoon.

* ECs are Eastern Caribbean dollars. They are used in all the former British colonies over here,  whilst the French islands stick with euros. There are 4.6 to the UK pound. Prices are often quoted just in dollars and then you don't know if they mean ECs (cheap) or US dollars (expensive). EC notes and coins have a very young looking Queen adorning them. I've no idea why they can't get a more recent picture of Her Majesty. All this means we have one purse with ECs, one with euros, another with US dollars and then one with UK pounds for when we go home. Plus of course bits of Turkish lira. We never have enough of the correct currency when we get to a new country. C'est La vie.

Transatlantic Pictures

I really don't know whether these will work or the files may be too large.

For a link to our best Trans Atlantic photos click here

Do let us know if these work.

Changeover Time

Blogger: John

I was cold tonight. Not British cold but just enough to think "it's a bit chilly, perhaps I should have put some clothes on before coming to bed". I can't remember the last time that was the case. Things are changing. We get a squall most days now, usually early in the morning. Strong winds and often heavy rain for maybe 30 minutes. Yesterday morning I was caught out in one. In seconds I was soaked, the dinghy was bucking around and I could barely see the boat a couple of hundred yards away.

All the rain, which heralds the start of summer here, is bringing out new green growth on the bushes. The previously nondescript black trees along the shore are now speckled with gorgeous white frangipani flowers. And it feels as though the season for sailing is just about over. Although we are still hopping slowly along the southern Grenadan coastline it's more about renewing friendships than sailing. Tonight we are anchored off Hogg Island near Whisper Cove and we went with Jack and Fizzy to Taffy's little bar cum restaurant for fish and chips (and probably one too many beers). Many of the people we have met on the way "down island" were there along with sailors we'd never met before. We ended up with 15 on our table from England, USA, Germany, South Africa and N Ireland. Jack was able to ask a former air traffic controller what Miami airport was like as they have a 7 hour stopover there on their way back to the UK and we learned to take spare set of clothes to tomorrow's hash on the west of the island.

The bays we've anchored in over the past couple of weeks are well sheltered and picturesque. Most of them have at least one jetty with a small bar. Buses are frequent and everything seems to work pretty well. Life is cool. However this time of year is also boat work time. Petronella has been on the move now for over a year. During that time only essential maintenance has been done. Rust needs attacking (thanks for the loan of the rotary blaster Graham). Paintwork needs sanding down, treating with rust inhibitor, primer, undercoat and topcoat. We washed the mizzen sail in a squall the other day, folded it and stored it and are waiting for another squall to do the same to the staysail. There is still a long list of things to do but Gill is doing a great job slowly working through the tedious paintwork task. P is now spotted with grey paint prior to getting her final coat when we return in October.

Yesterday the footpump that brings water into our little sink started to wheeze after 8 years of flawless performance. So my unplanned job yesterday was to take it to bits to see if I could fix it. It sits under the cooker so first that had to be wedged out the way. Then it took 20 minutes to work out how it was fixed in place (three very inaccessible screws). After it had been installed the bowthruster cables had been run behind it so it was hard to extract even once it was loose. Finally it was out, disassembled and the problem identified. As expected one of the two rubber diaphragms had split leaking a small amount of water on every pump. Amazingly, but not surprisingly, I found a used spare one in the pump spares bag. That should do the job until I can buy a repair kit back in the UK.

Talking of the UK my parents, as well as my brother and his wife who selflessly help them manage on a day to day basis, are finding life increasingly difficult. It remains to be seen what the future holds for us in this respect but along with the seasons here in Grenada I think we might be seeing some changes.

Meanwhile we have been exploring Grenada. We rented a car with Jack and Fizzy for a couple of days. First we went looking for spares parts; canvas, CO2 bottles, mould inhibiter, boric acid to feed to the cockroaches etc, then on to St Georges Medical University for a look around. Into the capital St Georges and then to a gorgeous beachside restaurant for lunch. The effect here was somewhat marred by a very black gigolo and his overweight white companion bouncing around making whoopee in the sea just a few yards away!

Next day was exploring day up through the middle of the island to the cool central lake or Grand Etang. Onwards from there to Grenville which felt more like the less developed islands further north. We had a great roti (spicy fish or chickpea filling in a wrap type of envelope) here which we ate by a disused airfield amongst old rusted planes with cows munching around them. Very odd. Made even odder by then driving fast along the old runway making plane like noises and videoing a simulated take off.

The Grand Etang

Yum, yum. Rotis!

Grenada International Airport

In the afternoon we visited a traditional rum making establishment. It's a modern commercially run distillery producing Rivers rum but the machinery and health and safety is out of the industrial revolution. Owned and run by three locals it employs 70 people who manually load the sugar cane onto the conveyor driven by an overshot water wheel made of British steel and through the crusher. Then through pipes, furnaces and tanks until it comes out as rum at least 75% proof. It has to be diluted to be allowed on a commercial plane. Testing at the end was very enjoyable.

Then it was a cocoa processing plant. More modern with most of the production going into the famous Grenada Chocolate this was also a fascinating process. Cocoa beans develop inside a pod a bit like a coconut in size. There are about 30 in each pod. White and slimy they need to be dried before they turn into the beans we might recognise. All in all a fascinating day.

Our cocoa plant guide

A cocoa pod. The seeds are inside; white and slimy

Traditional cocoa driers at work

Only nine days til lift out now just five miles east along the coast at St Davids on 22nd. The daily hurricane warning emails we get say no hurricane is expected for at least five days. However there are a couple of "Tropical Waves" predicted between now and 22nd with winds in the squalls up to 40k. Fingers crossed the anchor is well dug in and we don't get a nasty shock so close to haul out day.

Right. It's 2am and time to go back to bed.