Store Bay, Tobago

The trip from Grenada to Tobago reminded me of a carnival ride. Not the smooth gliding rides you'd find at Disneyland, but the stomach-flopping, herky-jerky, leave-your-head-spinning rides you'd see at the state fair. Don't get me wrong, I love riding those kinds of rides -- the Tilt-a-Whirl is a personal favorite. But not for twelve hours straight. The waves weren't very big, it's just that every once in a while the boat would suddenly drop straight down into the trough and then a few seconds later the next wave would smack the side of the boat, rattling our skulls a little. It's unusual for me, but I felt very seasick. Pretty much the whole time. Neither one of us was too keen on spending a lot of time inside the boat, so nobody made lunch and all we ate during the trip was a couple crackers for me and three slices of bread for Kevin. Mmm.

We had left Grenada around four in the morning and we arrived in Store Bay around 4pm. It took a little while to get the boat settled, but the nice thing about seasickness is that it stops right away once you are flat and level again. It was almost 5:30 when we finally beached the dinghy and hailed a taxi to take us to Scarborough to clear in. We knew it was after-hours and there'd be overtime charges but we weren't prepared for the rigamarole once we got there. The customs agent told us to walk over to the ferry dock to check in with immigration. There was no one at immigration, so we walked up to the Information booth to find out if we could get someone to check us in. The booth was enclosed in darkly tinted glass, but we could just barely see a woman hiding behind a large purse who did not respond to anyone knocking on the glass. She was practically ducking under the counter and must have thought we couldn't see her. Helpful, huh? A little old lady walked up and asked us what we needed and offered to help us track down an immigration officers. The three of us approached some security guards and she asked them a few rapid-fire questions and then started berating them for being incompetent. As we walked away, she advised us to not even bother clearing through immigration since all the officials in this country "don't know their asses from their elbows". You had to be there: imagine this tiny spitfire of a woman, maybe about five-foot even, furious and cursing like a sailor. It was hilarious, but unfortunately not very helpful. We went back to customs to explain that there was no one at immigration and after another half-hour of negotiations he said we'd have to come back in the morning to clear immigration.

At this point it was getting dark outside and we just wanted to get back to the boat and get something to eat (after the bread and crackers we were absolutely ravenous). The taxis in this country are incredibly cheap and we soon discovered why. Our driver Emmanuel picked us up and asked if it was okay for him to "make one quick stop" along the way. He first picked up some gyros to go that he was bringing home to some friends. He handed me the bag of food to hold and the delicious aroma wafted throughout the car, torturing us. Then he stopped at a bar and ducked inside hoping to find some other friends of his to say hi. Meanwhile we are waiting in the car wondering if he'd notice if we each ate a gyro. Ten minutes later, he comes back and tells us he wants to take the scenic route instead of the highway so that we can "experience the ocean breeze". Ironically we'd been experiencing just that all day, but it was kind of useless to explain it to him. The road went along the coast and periodically he would slow down, pointing to the vast blackness (remember it was night time) and saying, "Just there -- that's the sea. Right there next to the road. Can you see it?" To be courteous we kept agreeing, "Yes it's beautiful." Our grumbling stomachs were also saying things, but not so politely. We finally arrived back at Store Bay and Kevin and I couldn't even wait to get back to the boat. We stopped at the first barbecue stand we saw and pretty much inhaled our dinner. The barbecue was tasty but to be honest we would've eaten just about anything at that point.

Where we are:
Location=Store Bay, Tobago
Lat=11 09.500
Lon=60 50.372

Tobago - Store Bay

We arrived safely in Tobago - more later.

Grenada - Everything must go

Kevin cleaned out our lockers this week and we found a whole bunch of junk that we haven't used in two and a half years. So we got on the cruisers net and announced a "yard sale". One man's trash is another man's treasure, right? In fact, most of the stuff we were just freecycling -- anyone who wanted could just come and take it. The only thing that we wanted to sell were the folding bikes. Remember how excited we were last summer when we bought those great folding bikes? Well, we haven't used them since Puerto Rico and we aren't likely to use them anytime soon, for several reasons. First: Caribbean islands are hilly! And I am no Lance Armstrong. Secondly, on a lot of the islands the roads are narrow and busses and cars come screaming around corners so you do kind of take your lives into your own hands. So needless to say the bikes weren't getting used at all, and Kevin has been on a quest to get rid of anything that could be weighing the boat down. So we announced that we would let them go for a really reasonable price (like $25 each but you can't announce the price on the net) and no one seemed interested. We even told people who came to sift through our other junk that we'd take the best offer for the bikes and still got no takers. Guess most other cruisers down here have already figured out the part about the hills and scary roads. Chalk that up to another lesson learned for us.

Hurricane season is coming to an end and we are ready to get moving again. So tonight we are going to motorsail the 75 miles southeast to Tobago (which is part of the two-island nation of Trinidad & Tobago). We kind of planned this trip spur of the moment. Kevin has been watching the weather and conditions are pretty ideal for leaving today or tomorrow, but if we wait any longer the weather looks like it will deteriorate and we might not be able to go. So we spent a few hours today getting the boat ready to leave, including clearing out of Grenada. We were lucky customs was open because today is a holiday. The Grenadians call it Thanksgiving, but it is also the anniversary of the 1983 US invasion. So happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Grenada - Cheeseburgers in Paradise

Kevin's fix held, so the saildrive seacock no longer leaks. On Tuesday we motored back over to Clarke's Court Bay Marina and got our old slip back. I had called ahead and Bob even had our transformer ready so the air conditioning is on and we are staying cool. For the past few weeks a rock band has been playing at the Marina every Wednesday night, and it really packs the house. Unfortunately the lead singer is a cruiser (Steve from Liward) and is heading off to Barbados, which means no more band. So this week Bob had a local steel pan player come play on Wednesday instead. And as an added draw, Bob wanted to serve up some burgers (the bar doesn't usually serve food). As we've mentioned before, it is tough to get a good "American-style" burger here in the islands. Most of the local hamburgers are really ground beef mixed with lots of breadcrumbs and egg and taste a bit like meatloaf.

If you are in the mood for a meatloaf sandwich they are pretty good, it's just that they don't taste like a "burger". So Dave and Sue from "Pirate's Hideout" helped Bob out with the shopping and prepwork, and Dave grilled up some fabulous all-beef cheeseburgers for the crowd. It didn't take long for the burgers to run out, and lots of people would've gone back for seconds I'm sure. The steelpan music really added to the ambience. We posted some videos if you want to check it out. Smokey can really play and sings well, too. He played two sets and everyone really had a great time so we hope Bob makes this a regular Wednesday night thing.

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

Grenada - "Go For Launch"

After waiting for the rain to abate, which it finally did on Friday, the boatyard crew was able to finish the waxing on the boat by midday Saturday. The guys that work the travelift don't launch boats on Saturdays, so we were stuck for the rest of the weekend. We took the opportunity to do a few loads of laundry and do a couple of other small projects on Sunday. Finally Monday morning rolled around and they had us in the water before lunchtime. Hooray! Or so I thought...

"Houston, we have a problem..." We had planned to spend one night in the harbor just to make sure that the saildrives didn't leak. (A saildrive is what links the propeller to the engine.) The mechanics had installed new seals to prevent seawater from leaking in, but just to be sure we didn't want to stray too far from the boatyard. So we anchored in the harbor and had lunch. Kevin then looked at both engine compartments, and sure enough the starboard side had a slow leak. After ten minutes of inspecting, Kevin found that the saildrive wasn't leaking but the seacock was. The mechanics had removed the seacock to take out the saildrives so something went wrong when they reinstalled it (the seacock wasn't leaking before we hauled out). So Kevin got on the phone to Craig, the mechanical manager, and let him know what was going on. Unfortunately Craig didn't have anyone available to fix it until tomorrow and he couldn't guarantee that we wouldn't get charged for a second haulout. What???!!! Kevin mentioned that he had a spare seacock and all that they needed to do was lift the boat out of the water and change it while we were in the slings and then just drop us back in. Kevin wanted it to be no charge since it was part of the job to put the boat back together with no holes in it. Craig countered with "Well you must have known the seacock was bad if you are carrying a spare." What an idiot. We carry ALL KINDS of spares for the engines! Because you never know where you will be when something breaks. (In fact we WISH we'd carried spare sail drive seals since the ones Craig ordered took FOREVER to clear through customs.) Obviously customer service is not Craig's strong suit. Kevin was hopping mad, and is determined to fix this problem himself. For now, we are taking on water (albeit very slowly).

[Kevin's Post]I was actually kind of relieved when I saw that it was the seacock leaking and not the seal itself. The seacock was leaking from the valve, not the threads, so they must have damaged it somehow during the process of removing and reinstalling the saildrives. After talking to Craig, it was clear that they weren't going to take responsibility for it. So rather than pay for another haulout and the labor to fix it, I decided I would fix it myself. I've changed 2 seacocks in the past (this was one of them actually) while in the water. Both those times the water was too murky/dirty to dive and plug the thru-hull from the outside, so water poured through the thru-hull until I could get the new one on. This time I dove and wrapped saran wrap around the saildrive to plug the intakes while I removed and replaced the seacock. It only took me about 20 minutes to get the new seacock on and so far it appears to not be leaking. The engine room is drying out and I'll have to check it again in the morning to make sure the repair is good. We won't be hauling at Grenada Marine again, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Grenada - Haulout week 3

[Kevin's Post]On Monday this officially became our longest haulout ever. But the end is in sight. The saildrives have been reinstalled and have been painted with the correct antifouling for the first time. The boot stripe is done. The bottom paint is done with a new higher waterline. They are currently trying to compound and wax the boat in between rain showers and are about 75% done. Hopefully we will get back in the water before the weekend.

Grenada -- Lazy Sunday

So it's Sunday afternoon and we are still in the boatyard. I wish I could say that the end is in sight (we were supposed to be finished with everything two days ago), but unfortunately our saildrive parts are STILL tied up in customs and the bootstripe is still not 100% completed due to all kinds of issues. Our painter, Steve, had started on it earlier in the week but the water hose incident (from Kevin's post) caused a big delay. Then, when he fixed that part and finally got around to painting the rest of the starboard hull on Friday, something went wrong with the paint machine spray nozzle and he had to re-do that part. Each time he has to re-do something, it takes a day for the paint to dry, be sanded down, and re-sprayed so it can get very frustrating. On Saturday, Steve sanded and re-sprayed the starboard hull and a few hours after he left it rained pretty hard making all kinds of water drip marks in the paint. Sunday is their one day off for most of the yard workers, so it definitely isn't going to get fixed today. And although Steve is a good guy and a good worker, he's the one who parties too hard and usually doesn't come in Mondays. *Sigh*.

Meanwhile, Kevin has come down with some tropical disease (kidding, it's just a sore throat/cold) and has been pretty miserable the past few days. He is up all night coughing and sneezing and I think between the stress of the haulout and the cold he is just getting worn down. Poor guy. Of course as of this morning I have it too. It's pretty much a given that if one of us gets sick, the other catches it also. So we both get to share in the misery. Yay.

Of course all of this would be a cakewalk if we were still in the hotel (ah, the beautiful, beautiful hotel, with it's A/C, satellite TV, and enormously decadent shower!). But I made the reservation according to the haulout schedule (it was a mistake to be so optimistic!) so we checked out Friday morning and have been living on the dry boat since then. It's kind of like camping -- we can't use the boat toilets or showers (everything would go out the thru hull and onto the ground below -- ick!) so we use the showers and restrooms at the boatyard. Which is fine during the day but kind of sucks at night having to climb up and down a ladder and find our way around the yard using a flashlight to avoid the mud puddles and the toads. That's right -- big old toads come out at night after it rains. Also it's pretty much too hot in the boat kitchen to cook anything with the oven or stove, so hooray for sandwiches -- we'll be eating a lot of those! We still have the air conditioner we rented to keep the boat cool for the cat, and thank goodness for it. It doesn't cool the whole boat, but it does keep one cabin cool so that is where we are right now. We've got the computer, wifi antenna, and several books down here and basically haven't moved much all day.

Grenada - Haulout week 2

[Kevin's Post]Today is launch day. But we're not launching. In ten working days, the yard has not completed a single task on the work list. Since my last post, the only thing that they have done is paint half the boot stripe. On Wednesday, they were ready to paint when the guy in the boat behind us announced that he needed to put his boat in the water. That meant that they had to stop working on our boat, pick it up, and move it out of the way so they could get to his boat. After that was done, they realized they didn't have the color of paint I wanted. Thursday morning it rained and all the masking got wet and pulled off the boat. After it dried out and they remasked, they finally started painting the boot stripe. About 5 minutes into painting somebody walked past the boat and stepped on the spray nozzle of a water hose spraying water all over the wet paint on the starboard hull ruining it. So the painter could only paint the port hull, and had to wait overnight for the starboard hull to dry enough to be sanded and repainted. This morning of course it rained again, so they had to pull all the masking off and remask. That's where it stands now. It looks like it is going to rain some more, so they are waiting for the skies to clear some. The yard still hasn't received the saildrive parts they need to reinstall our saildrives, despite ordering them 2 months ago (they say). I've inquired about them 3 times and every time they assure me the parts will be here "today". We checked out of the hotel this morning and are now living on the boat in the boatyard until the job is finished. The sad thing is, even with all these problems, this has still been one of our better haulouts.

Grenada - Haulout week 1

[Kevin's Post]We've been hauled out of the water for a little over a week and the progress on the boat has been excruciatingly slow. Last week all that they did was scrape and wet sand the bottom and mask the new boot stripe. The boat is supposed to go back in the water on Friday (4 days from now) and most of the work is yet to be done. I've started to be a squeaky wheel which seems to be helping speed things along. This morning I tracked down the head mechanic and told him that I had removed the propellers from the saildrives and drained the oil so they were ready to be pulled. Boom! Within 20 minutes there were 2 guys at the boat, and within 2 hours they had unmounted the engines, pulled the engines forward, and removed the saildrives from the boat. This is not an easy task, and we were amazed at how quickly and expertly they got it done. The saildrives are already in the paint shed and have been stripped in preparation for repainting. All the workers seem to really know what they are doing, which is a distinction from some of our other haulouts. The challenge is just getting the yard to assign workers to our job. Today they were supposed to prime the boot stripe, but apparently the guy who was supposed to do it parties too hard on the weekend to work on Mondays. That's life in the Caribbean.