December 2008
Grenada
I arrived back in Grenada in late November to start preparing GD for this season's cruising. Jacky arrived a week later. GD is on the hard at Spice Island Marine in Prickly Bay. We are in a corner of the yard I have christened 'Maple Leaf Grove' because we are surrounded by Canadians - Chris & Belinda on' Nahanni', Scott & Steve on 'Boxxer' and Greg on 'Mary Madeleine', all of whom are working on their boats. It's good to have a community of fellow cruisers around to swap expertise, tools and moral support.
We have a huge list of jobs to do including anti-fouling which hasn't been done since I left Lake Superior in 2006. This involved stripping the hull back to solid antifouling and large parts of bare hull. A coat of sealer and two coats of anti-foul plus a third coat over the areas where it takes the most wear. Its a very satisfying job to do and wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be once I had found the right tools for the job.
Jacky has been working very hard cleaning the whole boat and all the cushion covers. This improved the 'old boat' smell no end. She has also been instrumental in getting me to throw out some of the junk I've been carrying around for two years 'just in case' it comes in useful.
The list of jobs we have to do before we can launch is shrinking every day and it looks like we'll be ready to 'splash' as they say here, early next week.
GD was launched on 10th December. We sailed around to St Georges where good news came: the rear oil seal has bedded itself in at last and is not dripping oil into the bilge - luxury!
From St Georges we had a long and tedious passage (29 hours of which 28 where motor-sailing - at least the oil seal had a severe test!) to Rodney Bay, St Lucia to meet Jacky's son Robert and his wife Pam who had just crossed the Atlantic with the ARC on "Nutmeg". We spent a couple of enjoyable days with them sailing down to The Pitons, exploring the island and hearing their experience of crossing 'the pond'.
When they had to fly back we set off for Bequia where we spent Christmas with lots of other cruisers. Our immediate neighbours at anchor where Tim & Val on "Valkyrie" and Chuck & Barb on "Tusan Takk II". Graham & Chris on "Eowyn" where moored further into the bay.
Jacky cooked a great meal on Christmas Eve and we ate ashore at the Gingerbread Inn on Christmas Day - a good meal with lots of local dishes and a great sweet trolley to finish!
After Christmas we were invited to various "sundowner socials" on Valkyrie and Tusan Takk. I can't think of a better way to wind down after Christmas - cool beers, rum punches and great food as you watch the sun go down over the Caribbean in the company of like minded and companionable people.
Our next cruising goal was to get to the Virgin Islands where we intend to cruise for a while as I rather hurried through them on the way south in 2007. We sailed northwards in a series of long days and a couple of overnights from Bequia to Rodney Bay, St Lucia - Fort de France, Martinique (where we spent New Year's Eve) - Deshaies, Guadeloupe - Nevis - Saba - Road Harbour, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands which we reached on 9th January.