Sue joins SV Wyuna

Boy, it's a long way! I had a one-night stopover in Miami which was great. I arrived at night but went out immediately to Dolphin Mall to buy the 3 pairs of crocs the Wyuna crew had ordered! That left me with a free morning the next day to have a fabulous tour of the city - fascinating place! Arrived in Grenada at 8.30pm and immediately stripped off the outer layer of clothes. Great to see Mal after six weeks and he looks so healthy and relaxed. Took a 20min taxi ride to Port Louis Marina to be greeted by Bruce and Gina with champers. What a yacht! After my limited experience on sailing vessels, this was a treat - sooooo spacious and has everything (and more) that you could ever need. We sat outside chatting, drinking and soaking up the warm evening air before retiring to our cabins. I always sleep well on boats and this was no exception. I was out like a light and slept like a baby all night.

The next morning Mal took me on a tour of the marina - unbelievable vessels in port! A couple were similar to what I imagine the Onassis "Christina" would be like - enormous and each had a crew of 8-9 people.

Lunch in Grenville

Kindly, B, G & M had waited until my arrival to do a tour of the island. Gina negotiated with Mike, a local taxi driver, and we headed off after a morning swim in the Marina pool. Mike was fantastic as he knew his island inside and out - he pointed out historical features but also every type of spice plant know to man! We saw the following growing wild: nutmeg, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, sorrel, soursop, callaloo, coconut, cocoa bean, pawpaw, lemongrass and more. We visited waterfalls and lakes and stopped for lunch at a small local restaurant in Grenville on the west coast, Good Food. Very traditional - chicken or fish or lamb with rice, coleslaw, yams and breadfruit. We then travelled further up the west coast to the River Rum Distillery which manufactures rum for the local community - it isn't exported as it's alcohol content is too high! We had a tasting and nearly choked. We then went to the organic Grenadine Chocolate Company which manufactures my sort of chocolate! Dark in 60, 70 or 80% cocoa. Beautiful. By this stage I was having real trouble keeping my eyes open as jetlag had well and truly set in. We crossed the island to the east side and came back down the coast to our Marina.

We decided to go to Patrick's restaurant across the road from the marina for dinner. It was sensational. It cost us per couple 150 EC (East Caribbean Dollars) which is about $50AU. We had 23 small courses of traditional foods - very like tapas servings. We ate lamb curry, green banana salad, plantain, green papaya in cheese sauce, pumpkin puree, eggplant with parmesan, green beans with sesame, fried breadfruit, fish in sweet and sour sauce, crawfish, prawns, pork and finished off with black cake (local spice cake with fruit). We had a great evening.

The next morning we went for our morning swim in the pool and then headed into town for a small shop (as against a big shop)! We hailed down a bus (small van) and I commented that we wouldn't fit. B, G & M  said this would be a doddle, no problemo! We piled in to what seemed a fairly full van and made our way to the shops. Our fellow passengers were really friendly and chatted the whole way to the shops. We made all our purchases and caught a taxi home. On arriving back at the boat our neigbours informed us that we had a drama as the bow line had worn through and snapped allowing the boat to move backwards into the concrete wall. We were very lucky that the boat is stong and had a rubber strip around the stern hulls (called ice cream scoops) that prevented any damage. Our neighbours alerted the maina staff who put out a new line and secured the boat. Both Bruce and myself had misgivings with the arrangement from the begining and have learnt valuable lessons from the experience (number one, do not trust the marina staff). After making our own adjustments to secure the boat as the wind was gusting to 20 knots we had a relaxing afternoon on the boat and prepared for our dinner guests - a couple who had known the previous owners very well and whom B, G & M have befriended. Bruce cooked a fabulous paella and much wine was consumed. We had our latest night on the boat with us retiring around midnight.

Since I arrived the weather has been warm and wet. I haven't needed anything long-sleeved and most of the time I have a soft "glow" - in other words I'm sweating! There have been continuous rain bursts followed by sunny periods. Tonight we're celebrating NY here at the marina restaurant and plan to head off on 2 January.  The wind has been gusty so we're not sure if we'll set sail for Caricaou or whether we just go around to Prickly Bay which is apparently very pretty and where B, G & M were before Port Louis.

Happy NY to all our family and friends, love Sue & Mal, Bruce & Gina.

Super yacht berths

View of St George's

Water falls during Island tour

Rivers Rum factory

Christmas Day and the 38th Day in the caribbean

Wyuna lined up

Merry Christmas to all my followers. Sorry I have not blogged for a while but not a lot has been happening.  During that time we endured some very strong winds from the north but did not drag the anchor as the bay had very good holding. I estimate there were about a hundred yachts in the bay all different shapes and sizes. Yesterday we weighed anchor and motored around to Port Louis where we have booked in until the 2nd Jan. The plan is to spend Christmas and New Year here and allow Sue to to get used to the boat before heading north on to more adventures. The marina here is first class with swimming pool, super yachts and a great view across the harbour to St George's.We settled in very quickly with a swim in the pool accompanied by cocktails then dinner on the boat with Christmas eve Champers.

Pre dinner cocktails

Bruce later, big day

We are having a seafood (another 2lb cray @ A$12) christmas lunch on the boat with all the trimmings.We wanted plumb pud and custard but had to settle for Fruit cake and vanilla cream.

The Day we Sailed

St Georges from Wyuna

Bruce returning damsels to Uni Club

An end to another day

We still have our fridge problem and we called Basil ( refrigeration person here)  to see if he was around on a Sunday but no response. So we decided to sail to Caraciou, but it looked like the wind would be on the nose. But we wanted to do a sail, so it was decide to sail anyway and check out the wind as the weather reports here and not very accurate. So up anchor and away we went, put up the main with one reef (using the windlass this time) and then the head sail. The boat sailed beautifully and as we left the coast we realised the wind was on the nose for Cariacou, so we decided to have an enjoyable sail and learn the boat. The wind started around 10knts and we were doing 5.5 knots and then as we left the coast we were experiencing 20 plus knots into the wind  and the boat was doing 8 plus knots we were hooting and the boat was very stable as Gina made salad rolls during this time for lunch. When it was time to tack we took quiet a while to sort out the procedure and we became stuck in irons (the boat pointing into the wind and going nowhere for the non sailing folk) for a while until we sorted it out and then headed towards St Georges. When we got close to shore we needed to gybe which is and easy manoeuvre as the winds were now light. It all went well and we cruised along the coast. Now we needed to gybe again and that is when we all lost it. My job was to centre the main sail and then bring it across, Gina was to do the head sail, Bruce was giving orders. It was all good except the traveller that I was bringing across got stuck. Bruce was instructing Gina how to do the heady. I'm shouting that I have a problem, Bruce is shouting at Gina and we are in a shambles. Good sense prevailed and we got around and we learnt some important lessons. Then Gina took the helm and we sailed back to Prickly Bay where we had been anchored for the last couple of days. When we arrived two young women paddled past in a kayak waved at us and capsized. We thought they will right it, hop back on and keep going. It was good they had life jackets on as they could not right the kayak and called for our help. Bruce then attempted to position the boat so we could pick them up, but this was difficult with the wind and a big boat. So Aussie Mal dived in and came to their rescue and saved the damsels in distress. When we go them aboard the older women had just finished 2 years of medical school at the Grenada Uni and was taking her younger sister for a paddle before returning to America to complete her studies. After anchoring it was time for happy hour and watch a really nice sunset.

Wednesday is hamburger night at CCBM

They did a great job

Lead singer with Jerry

Gina was ready to cook up a chicken dish and I said, but it's hamburger night at Clark's Court Bay Marina (bit different than Cray fish the night before). So we put the chicken on hold and decided to do the hamburgers (Bruce and I really wanted the chips). The night started out as usual, we had our hamburgers and noticed that the live band that usually plays had set up, nothing special as per last week. But this week we saw it was a different band and did we have a great time. The band started off a bit slow but they had a good beat and we tapped along with the music.Then a guy named Jerry came up and replaced the guitarist, well he was brilliant, full of personality and could he play the whole place changed and off we went on the ride. Then he moved to the keyboard well the place just rocked with the few people that were left. The women got together and started a little dance group at the back and the lead singer singled Gina out and said she could really move her hips. Then Bob (the marina owner he sounds like Satchmo) and another yachty had a sing along with the girls as backing (Bruce called them the rockets). It turns out that Jerry is the Hon Jerry Seales Senior Magistrate/Coroner and also has a music school. A great night was had by all. Tomorrow we are finally moving and will anchor in Prickly Bay before heading off up the coast to another Grenada Island called Carriacou.

The Rockets happy with their performance

Jerry on keyboard and the rockets plus Bob and Yachty

A little bit more

Gina with our Crays

Gina & Bruce @ our favourite watering hole

Gina & Bruce posing Secret Harbour

Other than going by our tender to Secret Harbour for outboard petrol nothing really has happened to report over the last couple of days so this is really to say we are still here and will soon move on. The highlights of today was the purchase of a couple of crays from from a local fast boat. We bought a 2 and a 4 lb crayfish for $60 EC (A$22). We put them in the freezer then boiled them in brine and had the big one for dinner with salad and a lovely bottle of Chardonnay that Joe & Shawn (previous owners) had left on the boat. We then went to the Clarke's Court Bay Marina bar as it was movie night and watched the last half of a film with Michael Caine and ? Duval which was entertaining. We may move tomorrow or the next day to Prickly bay and anchor off before heading to Caracou. Any mistakes in this blog is not my fault as Bruce and I have been sitting out on the back porch sipping Cointreau watching fish swim by in the the hull lights that shine below the water. To give you some idea of the size of a couple of fish, Bruce said the big fish were at least a metre long, not true they were only 2ft 6" long.

A small private boat at Secret Harbour

A good day and Gina arrives

The electrician arrived this morning with a new duo charger. For the technical people out there, the duo charger senses the voltage between the house batteries and the engine battery to give a the required charge from the engine alternator where required. We needed this regulation because the house batteries (6 six volt) are lead acid and the engine battery is gel, so a different rate of charge is required for each. Now wasn't that interesting. The good news was that when it was replaced everything that works and runs from the port engine now works how it should. The main benefit appears to be the fridge/freezer which we struggled to get to the required temperatures. Now they seem to be operating as per the instructions.The other good thing is I had a hair cut with Bruce's clipper No1, wow is it short. The weather today is the best we have had and at the moment (8:30pm) it is 26c and feels 26c with a full moon and light breeze, absolutely beautiful. Bruce has now headed off to the airport to pickup Gina, then we will pop open the bottle of Bollinger champagne that the previous owner left for Bruce to celebrate the boat.

Bruce waiting for Gina

Almost bald

Back at Clarke's Court Bay Marina

Waitng to go

On the way to the water

After some delay caused by an unhappy french couple who would not move their boat from the slip we finally slipped the boat back into the water, refuelled and headed for CCBM.

Waiting for the French to get their act together

 As the winds were light we decided to hoist the main sail as we had not done this yet. Bruce pointed the boat into the wind and I prepared to hoist the sail. We can hoist it using the windlass which is an electric motor that can hoist the anchor or mainsail. But we have a problem (yet to be fixed) that the port engine in not charging the battery and so we decided not to use the windlass and not waste the battery. Silly me would hoist it using the winch. It started off easy enough but with a 20 metre mast the going got harder and harder, by the time I got to the number one reefing position (5 m from top) I was pooped, so we decided to leave it at that (few).

Bruce cleaning deck in a downpour

We are now waiting for Gina (Bruce's partner) to join us on Friday, then we will do exploring of Grenada and its islands and return to meet Sue on the 29th.

Back in the water tomorrow

After 6 days of cleaning the hull, antifouling the bottom, new anodes to protect the props polishing the sides, fitting a new hull fitting and coercing the workers we are finally ready to go back in the water tomorrow. I will do an update tomorrow with pictures of our relaunch and hopefully the hoisting of the main sail which we have not done yet. We did settle in here at Grenada marine liked the food, the outlook to the bay and went on a bus to do some some shopping in Saint George, which was a nice scenic drive. The standard footwear for the workers here is crocs and the OHS leaves a lot to be desired. The worst bit of being here has been the mossies due to the creek and rain plus a lot of water laying around.

Slipping Wyuna

We left Clark's Court Bay Marina and headed for St David's Harbour which is about 5 nautical miles away. After negotiating the channel between Hogg Island and Calvigny Island we headed south east in a very confused sea. We put up the head sail and the boat settled for a much gentler ride. On arrival at Grenada Marine the slip was not ready for us as they had to move another cat. We stood off for nearly 2 hours waiting. I got a bit impatient and launched the kayak and paddled ashore. As soon as I got close to the jetty they moved the other boat so I quickly turned around and paddled back to the boat. Then the exciting/nervous bit for Bruce (first time he has done this with such a big boat) was that he had to back the boat in between 2 concrete walls with less than a metre on each side. All went well he did an excellent job, did not touch but we had our moments and the yard's handlers did a great job of securing and keeping the boat safe. They hoisted the boat, Scraped off the barnacles, gave the bottom a high pressure spray then moved it to a location in the yard and set it up on blocks. The boat is now solid but I am still rocking as if I am on the water which is a bit scary. We should be here until the weekend as they will clean and antifoul the hull and replace the anodes on the props. After a long hot and demanding day relaxing with a nice cold beer.

Prep for antifoul

Grenada Marine Bar

Cruisers Trip by bus to Black Bay & Concord Falls

Crowded Bus sooo hot

Well it sounded like a fun day when announced on the Grenada Cruisers facebook page. There were 15 people and the cost was $35 EC for a trip to Black Sand Beach, a look in a bat cave, then lunch (a traditional dish called "Oil-down"), and on to Concord Falls for a swim in a cool pool below the falls.

The main coast road

A small bus turned up (there was to be two), we all crammed in and Bruce and I rushed to the back. There was three of us across and it was ok, but then there was more people, so another person squeezed in to make four (very tight very hot). In the end we were 16 including the driver, I said to Bruce here we go again. We bumped along on the tight winding roads and stopped for drinks. Then we continued and turned off the main road onto a very narrow road. The driver stopped at an intersection and we thought we were going down the road  the way we were pointing. The driver then put it into reverse and we found ourselves going backwards down this hill at a fast rate with a big gutter on my side (being in the back it was frightening). He then stopped outside a small shop which was preparing our lunch.

The stop for lunch

My Oil-Down

We then found out that the beach we were going to was dirty due to the rains overnight, so no black sand beach or bat cave. Up the hill we went on to a better beach, but alas it to had muddy water pouring into the sea and the beach had a lot of rubbish washed up. We walked a little way down the beach and had a swim. Then back to the little shop and careering backwards again. We then partook of the "Oil-down" which was quiet good, it is a combination of breadfruit, coconut milk, turmeric, dumplings, taro leaves and salted meat (we had chicken but could be beef or fish).

A cute little poppet at the falls

After lunch we headed to Concord falls which was a short distance from our lunch spot. The drive and the falls was spectacular. The pool at the bottom of the falls was great fun as the water created a whirlpool that you could not swim against. Bruce and I was first in and found we were hanging on to the side so we did not get swept under the falls which were huge. We then found if we swam across the centre the current sent us around and to safe ground. An American tried to do the same and went around another time as he could not get back to the start. Bruce and I had to rescue him as he started to panic a bit. We became the masters of the whirlpool and others did not dare unless they asked us what to do and to watch out for them. It was so refreshing and fun it made up for the crowded bus and the crummy beach.

The day of problems

We decided yesterday was the day to take the boat out for a spin. We started the starboard engine, then tried to start the port engine and found we had no charge in the battery, which was strange as we have started the port engine every day first shot, which we use to cool the fridge and freezer. So after much investigation trying to see if we could get power from the house batteries we rang Joe the previous owner who gave us a complex method of connecting the house batteries. This worked, we then realised that there was no charging taking place on the port engine amp meter. So now we are waiting to make contact with a marine electrician to fix the problem.

So as we had the two engines running and decided to take her out. As the boat has been in the marina for 4 months we thought we should check if  the props were working ok as they are auto feathering type props. We left the boat tied up and tried forward and reverse with not much reaction. That ended our trip out. We then donned flippers, goggles and scraper and spent the rest of the day scraping the props to remove the barnacles until the blades would change angle when the shaft was rotated. We have to get it all going by Tuesday as we are slipping the boat for an antifoul and other underwater maintenance tasks.

Just another day

Nothing to report other than adding one of Bruce's pictures with the new boat name. Tomorrow may be the big day when we take the boat out for a spin. Watch this space. If you would like to comment/ask a question  email me at suemalcom@bigpond.com as I can access my emails on my phone or computer. Malcolm

Well did we have some excitement today. We decided to go into town to register for a cruising permit. As per instruction from another Aussie we scooted across the bay in the dingy to the bus stop. We found the bus stop and before to long a bus arrived. It was like a mini van and quite new and comfortable.  We took off like a missile and careered along narrow winding roads tooting to let others know of our approach.We stopped numerous times thinking that we were full but oh no the more that could fit the better, I counted 21 persons, some school children, but one row had 4 equivalent sumo in it which looked quiet uncomfortable. The buses have a person who collects the money ($2.50 EC) and tells the driver  when to stop ( the driver goes flat chat unless told otherwise). The picture is when most of the passegers have departed. The guy straight ahead is the money colector and passenger spotter.

The nice thing we observed was the conductor held the hand of a little school girl across the road. I think on refection Luna park is for kids after this ride.The ride home was a little better even though the bus was chokers at the start, we had a women driver who did not quite max out in the gears, but I thought the rear tyres could have done with a bit more air. After returning it was time to rename the boat, so after removing the old name and scrubbing and polishing we added the new name (Wyuna) and hoisted the Aussie red ensign.

Its all happening I can tell you. Our new Aussie friend David called us up and said we should meet him across the bay and he will introduce us to Nimrod Rum Bar. So to be polite we did and found that we had to do the crossing of the bridge. What is that we asked? The proprietor Sep had a couple of glasses and added white rum and put each at either end of the bridge (a bit like London Bridge), we had to scull the drink then cool water to take the fire away. We then sighed  his book and made a comment to mark the event. After a couple of beers and some very interesting drunken talk we returned back to the boat after a great hamburger at the place next door.

Later in the day.

Around 2:00 pm the rain cleared and we decided on the dingy trip to La Phare Blue marina which is located around the point from Clarks Court Bay. With two of us in the dingy and me up front it goes like a cut cat with Bruce the mad captian on the tiller, we were boucing over the swell with great force. We got there in no time. A beautiful spot with clear water and great bar. We sat and watched the day go by and had a couple of the local beers (our favourite is Stag). We headed off to Wisper Cove which is on the way back. There we found another Shop/Bar that was full of cruising people with 10 of them with either a guitar, banjo, violin or canasters. We found out that it is a Sunday event and they put together some good music. After chatting with a few people and another couple of beers we headed back before it got dark. Darkness comes quickly here and it is dark at 6:00 pm.

Clarks Court Bay Marina Grenada

After the shopping day we stayed on the boat all day yestarday. We did a few jobs, removed the old name (Libertas), which was not an easy task, we got the ice maker going (yipee), we erected a big shade cover which works a treat, commisioned the dingy, went for a paddle in the Kayak, had a sleep and I have found a taste for an almond rum that Bruce bought on his boat buying trip. We are finding out things about the boat all the time and there is still a lot to learn. Today started off fine, but as I'm typing this it is raining (still hot) and our planned dingy drip to another marina might be cancelled. Water temperature is around 29c. I know this is a bit of a boring blog as life has slowed down from the first couple days, we are now in go slow mode and doing what takes our fancy. Some pics of the boat and Clarks Court bay marina.

Shoping Day

Today which is our second day in Grenada we met a fellow Aussie waiting for the Friday bus that picks up the Cruising people for weekly shopping in Saint George ($10 Eastern Caribbean dollars return). Our new Friend David has been here for the last 6 months and is a wealth of knowledge which was fantastic to learn the lay of the land. The people and town of St Georges has a great vibe, they are very happy people and very relaxed. David showed us all the good spots and we had to have a beer at different places along the way. The pictures will tell the story.

Miami to Grenada

Some reflections on Miami South Beach, you would not know you were in America as all the people speaking English have a Spanish accent and speak Spanish between themselves. There is not a lot to do, the beach is like Surface Paradise but with coarse sand, fixed structures and hotel beach umbrellas.

We are now in Grenada, wow what a lovely beach that met us when we walked out of our over night stay after flying from Miami the night before.  Bruce was saying things like "oh my god" and this is what it's all about. The locals are lovely people with beautiful smiles.
We got a taxi and travelled through the peak hour towards Clark Court Bay Marina and the Boat. I think Bruce was a a bit nervous and excited as we approached the marina. It was all there and as big and beautiful as he imagined. We spent the day cleaning the hull as after 4 months of mold and dirt to clean off.and it came up a treat, but there is a lot more to do. The weather is warm around 29c and the humidity is a little high 85% but there is a breeze which balances in out.