Grenada -- Drop Shipment

Poor Boris. Yesterday afternoon I noticed him obsessively cleaning the area around his tail. On closer inspection I could see some blood and signs of infection, classic signs of an abscess. Lucky for us we had our Grenada cell phone and we were able to call around to get an appointment to see a veterinarian. The GSPCA didn't have one on duty yesterday but there is a teaching hospital at St. George's University and they had an appointment open so we brought him in. Sure enough, he did have an abscess and the doctor on duty was able to clean it and give us the proper medications, all the while explaining every step to the veterinary student who was also in the room with us. We also bought him an Elizabethan Collar which will prevent him from licking the wound until it heals properly so now he is stumbling around the boat like a cat with a lampshade on his head. I feel sad for him but sometimes can't help laughing when he walks straight into the wall. Like I said, poor Boris.

So we are still having power woes; the voltage is too low for Kevin's liking so a week ago he ordered a high-tech transformer from the US to help regulate the power to the correct voltage. He's been eagerly awaiting its arrival and spent all afternoon today getting the paperwork in order: he had to pick up forms at Fedex, then make two trips to the customs agent before finally going back to Fedex to pick up the box. Only to discover a huge tear down the side of the box -- not a good sign on a shipment containing a piece of highly sensitive and expensive electrical equipment. After noting the damage, and making the Fedex guy document it with photos, he took the box back to the boat and plugged it in. Nothing. Not a whirr, not a click, not a hum. After taking the housing off, he noted that the thing was broken in half-a-dozen different ways, it basically looked like the thing had been dropped (or thrown). So we are foiled once again in our attempt to get the power working correctly. We're still using the air conditioning even with the low voltage, but we'd prefer to run it with the correct voltage specified in the owner's manual. He's not ready to give up yet; maybe he can tinker with the thing to get it working MacGyver fashion.

Grenada -- On! On!

We are continuing to settle into life here in Grenada. Last week I began volunteering at the GSPCA (like the ASPCA, only G for "Grenada"). It's the island's animal shelter and they take in strays as well as do vaccines, spays and neutering. It's been a long time since I've been in an animal clinic atmosphere but on Thursday they were so busy that they had me draw blood and monitor anaesthesia during surgery, so it was a lot of fun and I started to remember all the things I've forgotten how to do over the years.

After we got back from the last Hash House Harriers event, we told the other cruisers here at the marina all about it and this week everyone was eager to join us. So Saturday evening twelve of us took a taxi into Grand Mal for the "moonlit hash". It started off at dusk, with everyone following the trail and charging through local folks' backyards shouting "On! On!". By the end it was dark enough that you needed a flashlight to see where you were going. Everyone had a great time and had lots of beers afterwards so the taxi ride home was a bit rowdy, with everybody singing "We Are The Champions" at the top of their lungs. Which was perfect, because everyone stuck around for karaoke once we got back to the marina. Our friends on Adventure Bound had just flown in from their visit home to the States/Canada, so it was a nice reunion and everyone partied til midnight.

Grenada - Cellphone search

[Kevin's Post]Sorry for the lack of posts, there's just not much going on here. We are gradually integrating ourselves into Grenada society. We've got the public transportation system mastered. We know where all the grocery stores are and even what days they restock. We know where to buy the cheap beer. And today we have obtained the grand prize: a Grenada cell phone.

Yesterday I figured we would just run into town to the main Digicel store and buy a prepaid cell phone. We found the store easily enough, right on the waterfront in St. George. There were about 20 people waiting in line (more of a mob actually) and 2 employees working. I stood in one part of the mob and Amanda stood in another part and after about an hour waiting Amanda finally made it to the front of the mob. We told the guy we wanted to buy a prepaid cellphone (the same thing we had watched several people in front of us buy - some of them buying more than one). "Are you a student?", the guy asked me. I said no. "Do you have a work permit?". I said no. He then told us that they could not sell a prepaid cell phone to anyone without a Grenadian ID. He suggested we find a Grenadian to buy us one. I'm not sure what the point of the policy is, if all I have to do is get some guy walking by the store (with an hour to kill) who is willing to buy it for us. So we shook our heads in disbelief and left. We walked over to the bus terminal to catch a bus back to the marina and ducked into the Esplanade mall to check it out. The mall is at the cruise ship terminal and filled with tacky little tourist shops. One of them we noticed had a small sign "Cell phones $125". Thats in Eastern Caribbean dollars which is about $46 US. So we go in to see what the deal is, and find that the store is run by a small Indian woman that has a box of loose cellphones in the back. Cool. She says that they are unlocked and you need to get a sim card and it will work. Hmmmm. I was a little skeptical, figuring if Digicel wouldn't sell me a phone, they probably wouldn't sell me a sim card either. There was a different Digicel store across the street so I figured I would try again to buy a prepaid phone. They weren't as busy as the other store and I went straight to the counter and asked for a prepaid phone. "Are you a student?". "Uh. . .Yeah". "Do you have ID?". "Sure", and I proudly display my Arizona driver's license. She was too smart to fall for that and said I would need a St. George University ID. So day 1 of the cell phone search ended with defeat.

Back at the marina we met up with Chuck and Barb (Tusen Takk II) who I knew had a local cell phone. We asked them how they managed to get one and they said they bought the phone in St. Maarten and the sim card from bMobile (Digicel's competition) in Carriacou. So apparently you can buy a sim card without a Grenadian ID, at least from bMobile in Carriacou. So, this morning I went back to the Indian lady and bought one of her loose cell phones. No manual, no box, just the phone and the charger. She said I could bring it back if I couldn't get a sim card to work in it. Fair enough. I walked around the corner to the bMobile store and showed them the phone and said I wanted to buy a sim card. Them: "They are $40" Me: "ok" Wahoo!! Them: "Do you have ID" Me:crap. I sheepishly pull out my US passport and hand it to them. She reaches under the counter and pulls out a form and starts filling it out. Wahoo!! I left the store with an apparently working GSM cell phone. On the bus ride back to the marina I watched the signal meter on the phone constantly to see how the coverage was. I figured it would probably drop down to zero as soon as I got back to the marina. Luckily it didn't, and so far so good. We have a working local cell phone. Don't call us, we'll call you.

Grenada - I Get Older

For my birthday, Kevin made a lovely pancake breakfast and announced that we'd be spending the night at True Blue Bay, one of the island's nicest resorts. So we packed an overnight bag and headed over. We arrived just in time for lunch and we had a delicious meal at the Dodgy Dock restaurant, overlooking the bay. We splurged and ordered the specialty cocktails - a True Blue Bay Lemonade for me and a True Blue Margarita for Kevin. In the spirit of the resort theme, both drinks were electric blue and very tasty. Our room overlooked the bay and one of the pools; it was nice to swim in freshwater for once. For dinner we got dressed up (well, as dressed up as cruisers ever get) and headed over to La Luna, one of the top restaurants in Grenada. The restaurant overlooked the Morne Rouge beach and the dinner was fabulous - yummy tempura shrimp, tenderloin with porcini cream sauce, and profiteroles because it's not a birthday dinner until you've had a sinful dessert.

When we got back to the boat the next day, I discovered to my surprise that my birthday wasn't over. Our friends Linda, Ginette, and Barb had borrowed the key from Kevin and decorated the boat with balloons and streamers! They had also put some champagne in the fridge along with some delicious poached pears. It was such an unexpected surprise, I was really touched. So my birthday this year was full of wonderful surprises. Almost makes me forget that I'm getting older!

Grenada - Busy Saturday

"Bam!". On Saturday I went to a Caribbean cooking demonstration with some of the other ladies from the marina. Brian Benjamin is the chef and owner of BB's Crab Back restaurant in St. George (I think he also has one in Ealing, UK). He was born here but lived most of his life in London where he earned rave reviews and awards at the Renaissance Hotel Heathrow. He moved back here and is the Emeril of the Caribbean, specializing in West Indian cooking using local produce and meats. He showed us how to make curry paste, callalloo soup, and a whole host of other dishes. The nicest thing was that he showed us how to pick out ripe produce and I finally learned how to properly slice up a mango (they can be very messy if you don't know what you're doing!) Anyway he had a large staff working for him and a flair for the dramatic, so whenever he finished with a demonstration or needed another ingredient he would shout "Cinderella!" and one of his helpers would come and clean up after him or bring him what he asked for. I'm sure the rest of the staff didn't appreciate it very much -- they gave him some surly looks when his back was turned. But it was very entertaining to watch. After the demonstration we all sat down to a lunch of curried goat, barracuda with red wine sauce, breadfruit french fries, rice and "provisions" (cooked plantains and dasheen). It was all very good and hopefully I will be able to reproduce some of it (well, maybe not the curried goat -- they are too cute to eat).

"Drinkers with a running problem" is the slogan of the Hash House Harriers. On Saturday afternoon, Kevin and I participated in the 560th Grenada Hash. "Hashing" got it's start back in the 1930's by three Brit ex-pats living in Malaysia who belonged to a club whose dining area was called the "Hash House". They wanted to get some exercise to justify all the beer drinking that they did and the Hash House Harriers were born. Here in Grenada, they hash every other Saturday. Each hash begins and ends at a different local rum shop. Someone has already laid a trail (marked by shredded paper) that you are supposed to follow, and you can either run or walk. Sometimes they put in false trails and so you have to go back and find the real trail. Today's hash had easily 200 people, and it was a lot of fun. Most of us were just walking, since we had to cross a river several times (very wet!) and part of the trail was extremely steep so we had to scramble up using our hands. It's non-competitive so everyone goes at their own pace and the trail leads back to the rum shop where you started. The party afterwards is the main reason people go to these things -- everyone had a beer or two (or three or four!), and they had a special ritual for hash "virgins". I am not supposed to say what it was, but I will say that at the end Kevin and I were soaked and reeked of beer. We will definitely be back again. (For those of you in Phoenix who are interested, there are several "kennels" there, see link: http://www.phoenixhhh.org/ Try it -- it's a lot of fun!)

We got back to Clarkes Court just in time for the Saturday night karaoke, so I played DJ despite the fact that I was dirty, sweaty, and stank of beer (no one wanted to do any duets with me!). Earlier in the week, Kevin and I had downloaded and burned nearly 400 karaoke tracks so there was a good list to choose from and we had three times as many people singing as there were on Tuesday. I had a blast helping people pick out songs that would "unleash their inner diva", so this could turn into a permanent gig.

Grenada - We Are Finally Cool

So yesterday we got a new transformer. No, it was neither an Autobot nor a Decepticon. (For those of you who, circa 1984, did not race home from school in order to glue your eyes to the TV set: the Transformers were toy robots that could be turned into cars, trucks, planes, etc. Or were they toy cars, trucks, and planes that could be turned into robots? Anyway, it became a TV show with an epic theme song that has been running through my head all week. Apparently it is also a huge blockbuster movie that's out right now but I prefer the 1980's version.) Where was I? Oh yeah. The transformer we got yesterday was of the electrical variety. You see, we've been without air conditioning all week because the electricity here has a voltage of 220 (like in Europe) whereas our boat runs on 110 (like in the US). So the marina has to give each US boat a transformer to decrease the voltage to 110. When we first got here all they had left was an undersized transformer that wasn't powerful enough to kick on our air conditioner. It's been a sweaty week for us because when it rains we have to close all the hatches. There's been a lot of rain this week so it's been stuffy and humid on board the boat. But last night Bob came by and swapped the small transformer for a larger one and -- Voila! Our air conditioning now works. Needless to say the grumpiness level on our boat went down along with the air temperature.

After getting our A/C working we headed over to Oasis, the marina bar, for drinks and karaoke. The owners, Bob and Leslie, have their hands full running this place and are basically here from dawn til whenever us cruisers go home so the bar can close. But Leslie is leaving this week for Canada (she and Bob have a home there as well as a dock-building business.) Leslie or Bob usually tends bar but this week Ginette on Sol Magique volunteered to take some shifts so they could have a break and she's been doing a great job. So when I heard them announce that they wanted to do karaoke tonight I figured I could help too: by running the karaoke machine. It was so fun! Everyone in the bar sang -- even Kevin! (Not voluntarily of course. Someone had to hold the microphone in front of his face and shout "Sing!", but he still sang!) There were lots of surprisingly good singers, and people were dancing and shooting pool and everybody had a good time. No one sang "Last Dance" or any Janis Joplin (where's Jamie when you need her?) but we did observe the cardinal rule of karaoke: the night's not over until someone sings "I Will Survive".

Grenada - Leatherbacks

Last night Inga (a former cruiser who now lives in Grenada and coordinates tours for cruisers) organized a group to go up to Levera Beach to see the Leatherback turtles lay their eggs. Once again Cutty was our driver, and eight of us wound our way up the twisty roads to Levera Beach which is the northernmost beach on the island. The turtles nest at night, so it was dark during the drive and it gave us an interesting perspective on local nightlife, since we are usually back on board the boat by sunset and rarely go out late at night. Driving through Grenville (where we were on Friday's tour) it looked like a street fair or something -- everyone was out in the streets, people were roasting corn and chicken in barrel ovens and of course the calypso music was blaring from massive speakers. Cutty said they weren't celebrating anything special; this is just a typical Saturday night.

We arrived at Levera Beach around 9 pm and met Karl, a researcher from Ocean Spirits which is a non-profit research group that monitors the turtles during their nesting season from April to July. We were lucky; a female turtle was already up on the beach and beginning to dig her nest. Leatherbacks are the largest species of sea turtle; this one was a little over four feet long but they've been recorded at up to nine feet long. She was digging in the sand with her back flippers and as we watched she began to lay her eggs. Throughout the nesting season the same female will come up to the beach on several different occasions, laying up to 150 eggs each time. The eggs incubate for more than two months before hatching. The hatchlings are tiny -- only about 3 inches long -- and as they make their way to the ocean, many are gobbled up by sea birds and crabs. By patrolling Levera Beach during nesting season, volunteers from Ocean Spirit keep the predators at a distance allowing more hatchlings to make it to the open ocean. We saw several of the little ones making their way to the water. They are very sensitive to light and would get confused occasionally, doing donuts in the sand while trying to figure out which way to go. We had to be really careful where we stepped -- the moon hadn't risen yet and the beach was pitch black so we had to use flashlights with red filters to find our way around.

Due to illegal hunting and egg poaching worldwide, leatherback turtles are critically endangered. But this season Ocean Spirits recorded more nests (900 in all) than the previous two years combined, so that is encouraging. Tonight we saw three females nesting even though it is pretty late in the season. The whole experience was really cool. Due to the turtles' sensitivity to light, we weren't able to take any flash photos but Kevin brought along the videocamera which has "night vision" mode. It looks a little creepy like the Blair Witch Project but you are able to see the turtles pretty clearly. We'll try to edit and convert the videos and get them posted soon.

Grenada - Rum Punch

I know you've all been debating amongst yourselves: "Is it pronounced Gre-NAY-duh or Gre-NAH-duh?". I've heard cruisers pronounce it both ways but the locals say Gre-NAY-duh so I'll take my cue from them since, you know, they live here. Long day today. We went with several other cruisers on an island tour guided by local taxi driver Cutty. Ten of us, "Seamans Elixir" (Steve & Linda), "Tusen Takk II" (Chuck & Barb), "Sol Magique" (Paul & Ginette), and "Minx" (Cynthia & Mike), all piled into Cutty's minibus for our first stop at Fort Frederick overlooking the city of St. George. Yeah, I know, another old fort but while we were there Cutty gave us the skinny on the events surrounding the US invasion in 1983. Back in 1979 Maurice Bishop, a moderate Marxist, seized power from the democratically elected leader in a bloodless coup. Over the next four years Bishop strengthened ties with Cuba (Fidel was a close friend), much to the consternation of the US. But the situation got ugly in 1983 when Bishop's right-hand-man, Bernard Coard, stabbed him in the back and seized power. Bishop was executed and in the ensuing upheaval the US saw the opportunity to help the Grenadian people while sticking it to ol' Fidel and the pinko Commies. Because there were American students at the medical school, the US (in conjunction with Jamaica and the other Eastern Caribbean countries) sent in a "rescue mission" of 1200 troops and after several months of scattered fighting (including a few mishaps such as planes bombing the nearby mental hospital instead of the communist headquarters. Ummm...oops, my bad!) peace and democracy were restored. Cutty did say that the invasion was welcomed by the Grenadian people and as we were driving around we saw graffiti that said "Thank you USA for liberating us". So that's one US invasion that worked out well for all involved. Even for the leaders of the coup: the Grenadian people magnanimously commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment. Amid much controversy, some were even released recently. So everyone wins.

We also hit one of several nutmeg cooperatives where the local farmers bring their nutmeg to be dried and processed. Hurricane Ivan decimated the nutmeg trees and the industry is not expected to fully recover for another 15 years. Processing the nutmeg and mace from the plant is a labor-intensive process so the economy has suffered with people having to look for other work. In fact, most of the island apart from the prosperous southeast coast (where we are) is still reeling from the effects of the 2004 storm. Houses and businesses are still showing lots of damage. Cutty lost the roof on his house and everything in it. At the time some of the local cruisers gathered donations and one of them sailed to Trinidad for supplies to help rebuild the roof and repair the windows. Everywhere we went today we could hear the sounds of hammering, so bit by bit the Grenadian people are recovering but it's a slow process.

We stopped for a swim at Annadale Falls -- a pretty waterfall where, for a "small donation", some local guys will jump off a cliff into the pool beneath the waterfall. These guys have their act together, wearing uniforms emblazoned with "Annadale Jumpers Association". We were wondering how they could afford them, because really...how much is it worth to watch someone else jump into a pool? (We donated 5 EC, about $1.85). But when cruise ships come through town they must make out like bandits, so the jumping business must be pretty profitable.

We also took an eye-opening and stomach-churning tour of the River Antoine Rum Distillery. The rum here is made using the same processes (and tools!) that were used in 1785. "Oh how quaint and unique!" you might say. It's definitely unique, but I can't say it's very sanitary. Huge open pools of fermenting rum amid flies galore. The vats and equipment look like perhaps they had their last cleaning around the year 1872 so it was with great trepidation that we sampled the product at the end of the tour. The fact that it's alcohol probably kills all the germs, right? Needless to say the day-old rum was as smooth as sandpaper and several hours later my throat was still burning. What's the old saying? What doesn't kill you (or blind you) makes you stronger. Let's hope so.

Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada

We knew we wanted to move the boat to the marina today but we were waiting on an estimate for some canvas work so we got a late start. By the time we pulled anchor and headed off on our quick four-mile trip to the marina, the wind was blowing a steady 22 knots and the seas were really ugly with the waves close together. How ironic that our last "passage", which should have been so short and simple, turned out to be one of the worst we've had on the whole trip south. But once we got into the protection of the the bay we were alright and got tied up right near our friends on Seaman's Elixir (there's a funny story to go with that name) and Sol Magique.

The marina is pretty nice. Hurricane Ivan in 2004 completely wiped out the docks so Bob (the owner) rebuilt them with a few hurricane-resistant adjustments. They look brand new and he is in the process of building a really nice marina complex with apartments/condos, but for now there is just a bar and a shower and a laundry. It's a quiet neighborhood compared to the other anchorages we've seen; there's not much out here in the way of bars or restaurants or shopping and it's a good hike to get into town but if we dinghy across the bay we can pick up the minibus so we should be able to get around just fine. Of course the first thing we did was hit the marina bar for a couple Caribs, just to check things out. It's a rustic place -- they don't serve food or anything, only beverages. But a big plus is that they have draft beer -- usually the bars on other islands only have bottled. Ironically the Carib draft is more expensive than the bottles whereas back home it's usually the other way around.

Where we are:
Location=Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada
Lat=12 00.628
Lon=61 44.349

Prickly Bay, Grenada -- Mall Rats

Today we took the local minibus to the shopping centers in Grand Anse. Riding the bus in the Caribbean is always interesting. It's not really a bus, it's more of a van into which they cram as many people as possible. Then, once the bus is good and full, everyone gets to sit and sweat (no AC) while the driver slows down to honk and say "hi" to all his friends on the street. Sometimes they even stop the bus and chat and the passengers either sit and wait patiently or join in the conversation. No one seems to mind or be in a hurry; everyone here is on island time. But the drivers are pretty friendly and they will usually let you off and pick you up anywhere along the route even if it's not a bus stop. Plus it only costs 2.00 EC (1 Eastern Caribbean Dollar = about $2.70) so it's a good deal.

Spiceland Mall is tiny compared with malls back in America, but it's incredibly nice -- they have flat screen TV's throughout advertising their shops and, of course, showing soccer and cricket matches. (Cricket is a huge deal here -- they just completed an enormous new stadium). We hit the IGA grocery store (this is the mall's "anchor store" instead of Dillards or Macy's) and also the food court for roti, which is like an East Indian-style burrito wrap filled with curried chicken, potatoes and other yummy vegetables. About halfway through our shopping the power went out in the entire mall, which served as a reminder that we were in Grenada and not the US.

Prickly Bay, Grenada -- 4th of July

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Not much is going on here for the Fourth; the Canadians had a big to-do for Canada Day (on the 1st) but it seems like the Americans are keeping it low-key. We plan on having our friends on Blue Wilderness over for dinner (Mark & Nancy and their 3 kids: Summer, Solomon, & Sam). Yesterday we moved the boat to Prickly Bay on the south side of the island. We're in a beautiful area (called Lance Aux Epines), with lots of stately homes. When walking through some of the neighborhoods in this area it sometimes feels like we are walking through a community in Paradise Valley, except none of the houses here has the same floor plan, and all of them are painted different colors. It was nice to get off the boat and get some good exercise, walking around the bay and scoping out all the restaurants and shops. We had a drink at the True Blue Bay resort (beautiful views of the bay) and ate pizza at the Prickly Bay Marina (which probably negated any calories burned on our walk!)

Speaking of exercise, one of our neighbors in the harbor seems to be a fitness nut. This morning as I was hanging out the laundry I could see him doing push ups and sit ups on the deck of his catamaran about 100 feet behind us. Of course it was impossible not to notice him, as he was completely nude at the time. Kevin took a few discreet photos (we couldn't resist!), so when we have internet access in a few days we'll be sure to post them. I guess we should be happy he wasn't doing jumping jacks or -- heaven forbid -- toe touches!

Where we are:
Location=Prickly Bay, Grenada
Lat=11 59.838
Lon=61 45.750