Grenada - Tropical Storm Felix

[Kevin's Post]Well, it looks like we are in the crosshairs again. NOAA just decided an hour ago that the low approaching Grenada has closed circulation and is officially tropical depression #6. It is expected to become a tropical storm tonight, and a hurricane in 3-4 days. It is only 180 miles east of us right now so should pass right over us as it becomes a tropical storm sometime tonight. This is actually good news, as it will not have gained much strength by the time it passes. This time our preparations consisted of throwing on a couple of extra docklines and crossing our fingers.

Grenada - Transformer #4

[Kevin's Post]It's been a while since we've talked about our electricity woes, so here's a quick recap: The power supply at the marina is 220 volts (actually closer to 200, but I'll get to that) and 50 Hz, our boat is American and needs 120 volts 60 Hz. So, after our first week having no power, the marina cannibalized a 3 kw transformer (Transformer #1) from the laundry room and gave it to us. This transformer was too small and couldn't provide enough current to start our air conditioning compressor. So we gave it back. Then they gave us a 15 kw transformer (Transformer #2) and life was good. For a few days, anyway. Then they took it away from us and gave it to a bigger boat (which by the way is now unoccupied). Then they gave us another 3 kw transformer (Transformer #3) which can provide enough current to start our air conditioners. Unfortunately transformer #3 only produces 92-96 volts under load, which is bad for the compressors (at 50 hz, the nominal voltage is 100). After learning that these transformers only cost about $150 in the states we decided to just buy our own (transformer #4). We had it shipped from the states to Grenada which cost $250. By the time it arrived it had so many broken parts inside that it sounded like a 30 pound maraca. Needless to say, it didn't work and we filed a claim with FedEx.

The reason we ordered this particular transformer is because it has an automatic voltage regulation circuit in it and can take any voltage input from 160 volts - 250 volts and produce the correct output. You can even adjust the output +/- 10 volts. So, if it worked it would have compensated for low input voltage automatically. But it didn't work. After starting the claims process with FedEx, it was clear that they weren't interested in owning a broken transformer, so I decided I had nothing to lose by trying to fix it. Hey, I've been using electricity all my life, right? How hard could it be? So I took the whole thing apart, sketched out a wiring diagram, fixed the broken pieces, bypassed a broken switch, and managed to put the whole thing back together. I hardly had any parts leftover. I cautiously plugged it in, half expecting it to explode or at least burst into flames. Anyway, it didn't and now I believe it is working like it is supposed to. It has two output sockets, one for 110 and one for 220. On the 110 socket I am getting 110 volts between hot and neutral which is good. However I am also getting 110 volts between neutral and ground which the boat's electrical panel interprets as reversed polarity and so it won't let me flip on the breaker. So the 110 socket is useless. The 220 socket works great though, even with a 200 volt input I can adjust the output to be anywhere from 210 - 230. So I am running the regulated 220 output from transformer #4 into transformer #3 to step it down to get a steady 100 volts, exactly what the air conditioning specs call for at 50hz.

After all this, today the marina owner told us that starting tomorrow he is converting the marina power to 3-phase in order to solve the low voltage problem, thus making our new transformer nothing more than a $400 sacrifice to the transformer gods.

Grenada - It Ain't Over Til It's Over

So after seeing the extremely calm conditions Thursday night/Friday morning, we decided yesterday to take down our huge spider web of docklines. We went back to our normal configuration so that we could actually get off the boat (with the spider web we were suspended at least 3 or 4 feet off of all the piers so we were stuck unless we used the dinghy). Anyway we may have jumped the gun because in the evening on Friday we started seeing some steady 20 knot south winds gusting to 25 and it got a little rolly at the docks. Also it rained cats and dogs for a while. Sure enough, looking at the satellite imagery we were still feeling the last effects of Dean (not that Dean has dissipated at all, in fact it is strengthening as it moves westward toward the mainland). It wasn't uncomfortable at the dock, but we would've liked to see how the spider web of lines worked in wind and waves as opposed to flat calm. So we will be a little more patient and conservative next time (knock wood that there won't be a next time, of course).

Grenada - Hurricane Dean

[Kevin's Post]Well, we survived our first hurricane. After 2 days of preparations, Dean passed 140 miles north of us as a category 2 hurricane, and it was a big nothing for us here in Grenada. We had no wind, no rain, and no waves. We had worse weather at our wedding (which was outdoors). We had light and variable winds all night long, and this morning we have west winds 10-15 knots with partly cloudy skies. We used 19 lines to secure our boat to the dock, so we definitely erred on the side of caution. On the one hand we are glad we didn't experience any severe weather, but on the other hand we feel slightly cheated after all our efforts. Nonetheless, it was a good exercise for us to prepare the boat. Hopefully we won't get too many more close calls this season.

Grenada -- Waiting For Dean

So far this week has been filled with vacillation and indecision. We've been keeping an eye on Tropical Storm (soon-to-be-hurricane) Dean, which earlier this week was out in the Atlantic on a westerly path headed straight for us. At the time, weather forecast models were all over the place, no one knew where it was going to hit, and our "weather guy" Chris Parker kept repeating the word "Venezuela" like a mantra when boats asked him where they would be safe. Knowing that we would have great weather through Thursday, we listened to Tuesday's afternoon and evening forecasts with bated breath. In the afternoon we were nearly sure we would just run to Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela, which is about 210 miles southwest of here and well out of any potential storm path. But we are really reluctant to go to Venezuela. Not that we have anything against Venezuela (can't say they feel the same way about us) but we just really like it here in Grenada and don't want to have to bash through the tradewinds for 210 miles on the way back here. So even though we weren't sure what we were going to do we started preparing for departure: we had the props scrubbed free of oysters and sea critters, and Kevin checked the engines. All was going along smoothly until -- crack! -- the dipstick for the saildrive oil broke off while Kevin was twisting it back on. You have to feel for the guy. After it broke, he paced around the boat muttering "I just want to be able to touch ONE THING on this boat and not have it break...". Poor kid.

Still undecided, but prepared to run at noon on Wednesday if there was no change, we both got a good night's sleep on Tuesday and woke up to a somewhat happier scenario. Finally the forecast models have reached a consensus, that Hurricane Dean is moving more to the northwest and will strike somewhere near St. Lucia or Martinique (150 miles north of us) sometime on Friday. So given the distance and the wind forecast for Grenada we think we'll stay put. We've already started preparing the boat for the possible worst case scenario -- stowing stuff down below, lashing stuff down if it can't be removed, and cocooning the boat in a spiderweb-like cradle of dock lines. (Kevin has worked out a diagram where we use 17 dock lines and 15 dock cleats. We'll take a photo when we're done.) We are prepared for worse conditions than they are predicting for this area, so the upside is that even if nothing much happens we will have got some practice prepping for severe weather. Plus Kevin was able to fix the broken dipstick with super glue! So things are looking up.

Grenada -- Panorama

So this week is Carnival week in Grenada. All kinds of events have been going on, starting with Children's Carnival, the Soca Monarch competition, and ending with two days of parades and events (Mon 13 & Tues 14). Earlier in the week I headed into town on a quest to find tickets to the big steel pan competition, the aptly titled Panorama. I stopped at a tourism booth and they weren't able to give me much information, the girl knew it was on Saturday at the National Stadium but had no idea what time it started or where exactly to buy tickets. I went to two tourist stores and finally found the tickets being sold in a shoe boutique of all places. I now had a ticket which claimed that the show started at 7pm, and a paper schedule that said it started at 8pm. Hmmm. I asked around -- other cruisers, locals on the bus, the people I work with at the GSPCA -- and no one could tell me for sure what time to be there. So when Saturday rolled around, I called the cab to pick us up around 6pm just in case the thing started "on time". (Grenadians reading this should be laughing uproariously at that.) So sure enough we arrive at the stadium at 6:37 and even as we are coming through the gate, I ask the security lady what time it'll start and the answer was a shrug and a nonchalant "Not too sure...". So as it ends up we are pretty much the only people there, other than the bands. We are even there earlier than the vendors who have yet to set up their beer booths (GASP!). Okay, I exaggerate, there were other people there. Of course they were other white tourists, sitting patiently in their seats in an empty stadium, waiting for the show to start.

But the nice thing about being there so early was that we got to walk around and get up close to the bands as they practiced. I should explain that this is not simply a steel band competition, it is a steel orchestra competition. There were 8 bands ranging in size from 30 to 75 kids, with sometimes 150 instruments. Back in July these kids (grade school age to high school age) competed with other orchestras to win a spot at Panorama, so they are the best the island has to offer, and they are truly amazing. They play an original piece, and if you look closely at the videos (which we'll post) you'll see no sheet music whatsoever, and no conductor in front of the band. The competition finally started (at 9:30pm -- needless to say, the local Grenadians somehow knew not to bother showing up before nine!). Kevin and I got right up close to the stage so we could get the full sound experience (there was no amplification so back at the stadium seats you couldn't really hear very well) and I've never seen anything like it. It was intense -- there was so much energy and the kids were all jumping around to the rhythm as they played each piece, really something to see. Hopefully the video will do it justice. Unfortunately we couldn't stay to hear all 8 bands, by midnight they were only through band number five, but it was still a great experience.

Grenada - That Sinking Feeling

[Kevin's Post] Ever since we moved aboard the boat (with everything we own) the boat rides a little bit lower in the water than it ought to. The bottom paint was painted based on a fairly lightly loaded boat and now that the boat is heavier, the bottom paint doesn't even extend above the waterline at the bows. This is bad because stuff grows really fast on the bare fiberglass if it is underwater. I've watched the bows get lower and lower and at this point I would estimate the bows are about 5 inches lower than when we bought the boat while the stern is about 1 inch lower. A while back somebody mentioned to me that I should check for water trapped under the floors of the forward lockers. The front 8' of each hull is a huge locker with a fiberglass floor about a foot above the waterline. Under the floor is a big dead space and one of few places on our boat that you can't stick your head in and look around. I asked them how it would be possible to check for water and they said to use the inspection port. Hmmmm. Our boat doesn't have an inspection port. Apparently newer Mantas have an inspection port because the older boats (like ours) had a tendency to accumulate water under the floor. So I contacted Manta and they said that on our boat that whole dead space was filled with foam for floatation, and that yes it is possible for water to get in there. I figured that with the foam there was no way for enough water to get in there to effect the waterline and decided not to worry about it. That was about 9 months ago.

Now we are trying to plan our next haulout and one of the things we are considering doing is raising the painted waterline. Before we resort to that, I thought it would be prudent to finally check for water under the forward locker floors. So yesterday I got out a hole saw and cut a 2" hole in the floor of the locker exposing the foam. Sure enough the foam was damp. Eureka! I scraped out as much of the foam as I could with a screw driver and the foam was getting wetter the deeper I went. I had about 3 feet of foam below me and a screwdriver wasn't going to get the job done. So I attached the hole saw bit to the end of a pole and started working my way down through the foam (do you see where this is going yet?). Now I wasn't using a drill or anything (I'm not completely crazy) I was just twisting the pole with the hole saw bit and pulling up a little chunk of foam at a time. After about 2 hours of this I knew I was getting close to the bottom when all of a sudden, whoosh! The hole floods with water. Uh-Oh. (Not my exact words). I went inside and told Amanda that I had just cut a hole through the bottom of the boat. She thought I was joking, but then she freaked out when she realized I was serious. Let me just stop for a minute and explain that the forward locker has a watertight bulkhead between it and the rest of the boat, so I could cut holes in the bottom of the bow all day long, there would be no danger of sinking. I put on my mask and snorkel and jumped in the murky water to inspect the damage. I searched the whole bow for a hole but couldn't find one given the limited visibility. Back out of the water, we grabbed a hand pump and start pumping the water out to see how fast water was coming in. After pumping 20-30 gallons out, the water level in the hole was dropping. We watched the hole expectantly waiting for the water level to come back up. It didn't. I looked over the side at the waterline, "Uh, I think the bow is higher". Living on the boat for 2 years I have learned a few things about seamanship: 1) The water is supposed to be on the outside of the boat, and 2) sinking boats go down not up. Amanda took over pumping and pumped until it was dry. We excitedly jumped to the dock so we could see the bows from a better vantage. Sure enough, the port bow was at least 3 inches higher with all the water pumped out. Apparently for 2 years we have been carrying around several hundred pounds of water in our port bow. I am sure there is an equivalent amount in the starboard bow, so my next project is going to be performing the same surgery there. Verrry carefully.

Grenada -- Fish Friday

Last night about 15 of us took a 1.5 hour bus ride up to Gouyave (rhymes with "suave") for the Friday Night Fish Fry. Gouyave is on the northwest coast and is known as "the Fishing Capital of Grenada". By the time we arrived around 7:30 pm, the party was already in full swing. It was like a huge street fair, with lots of booths set up offering different fish or shrimp snacks at great prices. The most expensive items were the shrimp stir fry and yellowfin tuna kebobs at 10 EC apiece ($3.70) and the cheapest was the fried fish burgers for 2 EC (about 75 cents), so we were able to fill up without spending too much. There were throngs of people wandering up and down the streets and we ran into another big group of cruisers as well as a group of some of the veterinarians who work at the Animal Shelter. The town of Gouyave puts on this party every Friday, rain or shine. We had brought our umbrella (hoping if we came prepared, it would stay dry!) but of course it started pouring halfway through the evening. That didn't stop the party though, all the people just crammed into the booths with the cooks until the rain let up. We were a little disappointed that there wasn't any live music, but the music they were playing (giant stacks of speakers are a must at any Grenadian get-together) was pretty fun and the local kids tried in vain to teach some of us to dance. It was a friendly and welcoming scene and we enjoyed people watching as well as sampling the food (and drinks!).