What we do all day

Someone asked me how we fill in our time so I thought I'd give a snapshot of a week on Kool Kat whilst we're in port.

Whichever port we are in we tune in to the Cruisers' Network on the VHF. In Grenada it is at 7.30am Monday-Saturday and keeps cruisers up to date with security issues, boat arrivals and departures, social activities, local business offerings and provides a buy, swap and sell segment. So, this is daily must-do for us.

Monday  31 March: glorious sail from Carriacou to Prickly Bay (see previous post 31/3/2014). Went to Prickly Bay Marina for happy hour and 1/2 price pizza night!

Tuesday 1 April: After breakfast, we went shopping. This involves taking Kitty (dinghy) into a dock and catching a bus into Grande Anse Spice Mall which has a very good IGA. During the morning we walk by many stalls on the roadside, one of which sells fresh coconut juice. He cuts open the coconuts and fills either a 500ml or 2litre bottle with the juice. I bought the large one for 15EC ($6.50AU). We also stopped at a mobile food van which had been recommended to us; a woman from Trinidad who makes the best "doubles" outside of Trinidad. These are two small pancakes that are placed overlapping each other with a curried chick pea concoction on top. She then adds four different sauces, one of which is quite hot. It is then rolled and wrapped ready for you to eat. They are to die for in my book and cost 5EC (roughly $2AU). She and her husband have tap water and paper towels for you to use after you've finished as they are designed to be eaten with your hands! Back on the boat in the afternoon for a little reading and swimming. Ricky of De Big Fish tells us he's closing in a month's time so we decide to have dinner there as we will be gone when he closes his doors and we'll miss it - it's become quite an institution for cruisers.

Wednesday 2 April: Lazy morning reading and swimming but Pete and Dee from Wind Lass, who we met in Carriacou, have arrived in Prickly Bay and drop by for coffee. After lunch I use my new dinghy-driving skills and pick up Dee and we both join 12 other women for Mexican Train Dominoes. I'm the newbie as I haven't played dominoes since I was a child and everyone else is very experienced; I think it's a cruisers' pasttime. I had a great afternoon; loved the game and it was so nice to have "girl-time". It's a weekly event so I'll become a regular I'm sure :) We have grilled mahi mahi from our freezer (see previous post in Tobago Cays 14/3/2014) on the boat for dinner and we watch another two episodes in the series, Downton Abbey. Yes, we're loving it Jennifer & Wayne.

Cooking class

Book sorting

Thursday 3 April: After breakfast we drop off two bags of washing which will be ready the next day. I volunteer with other cruisers to "sort books". Two years ago Scotland donated a large amount of books to Grenada and they've been sitting in Customs ever since. They have now been categorised and can be distributed to schools, libraries and community groups. Back on the boat and Junior Kofi arrives in his boat selling fruit and veg. We have bought from him before and his produce is fabulous; very fresh and sweet! We buy tomatoes, pineapple, avocadoes and passionfruit. After lunch we meet up with Dee and Pete and some other cruisers to walk around to True Blue Resort for a cooking class. What a hoot! We watched how to clean and cook curry lambi (conch), scalloped potatoes and rice and peas (pigeon peas). There were approx 30 people and we each got a plate of food to try - all for 12EC ($5AU). Unbelievable value!

Friday 4 April: Mal's birthday! After cooking a delicious breakfast for my beloved we go ashore to pick up our neatly folded and clean washing. Back to the boat where we do some maintenance jobs: Mal polishes areas of gelcoat and I'm cleaning the stainless steel. Mal's always doing something on the boat even on his birthday! We have a swim, do a little reading and then get ready for dinner. We have been invited to a BBQ buffet with Doc Adams playing at The University Club (St George's University) which is on the shores of Prickly Bay. We had a table of 20 and Mal shared his birthday celebrations with Steve from Starshine. The food was fantastic and we danced and sang to some great music. We missed you Linda Moorhead (another 4/4 birthday)!

Mt Airey Reader's Program

Saturday 5 April: Whilst I attended the Mt Airey Reader's Program  (see previous post 2/3/2014) in the morning with 10 other cruiser volunteers, Mal "equalised" the batteries. As we had a number of volunteers on this trip, I was fortunate to only have three children assigned to me. Previously I had eight, which was much more difficult. Quiet afternoon on the boat: swimming, reading, checking emails, etc followed by a quiet dinner and another two episodes of Downton Abbey.

Sunday 6 April: Our 18th wedding anniversary! We decide to take a walk around to Secret Harbour and then another walk in the opposite direction to visit a new cafe and for a stroll through the University's grounds. Very interesting - they have studies in medicine and vet medicine and many US students come here for the first few years of their studies as it's cheaper. They have students from all over the world and the campus has a real buzz to it. They also offer arts programs. We decide to walk around to True Blue Resort to have dinner at Dodgy Dock - another very nice meal at this resort.

I should add that everytime I mention walking somewhere, it is only after we have dinghied into shore so we are very reliant on our little kitty.

Monday 7 April: We joined 11 other cruisers for an Island Tour with Cutty. What a fabulous day. Mal and I did a tour years ago with Bruce and Gina but I was very jet-lagged and must have missed alot of it! Cutty is a local who knows everything there is to know about this beautiful island. I think I'll leave that for another post as there is alot to cover and this post is already getting very long.

Cruisers performing at De Big Fish

Tuesday 8 April: We visit Grande Anse Spice Mall again for our weekly shop. We're nice and early so it's over and done with quickly and we drop into Budget Marine to check on our order for a pump for our water-maker. Alas, it was due to arrive today but someone has mucked up our order and it will take another week. Not happy Jan. We think we can manage with what's left in our tanks if we're prudent and there's not much else we can really do! The afternoon turns miserable - rain squalls come through consistently all afternoon but it's still warm and we take a swim between showers. We are due to attend an "Open Mic" night at De Big Fish which starts at 6pm but it's pouring and we don't know how we'll get in there. Finally there is a break in the weather and we make a dash for it. Open Mic nights are when cruisers get together to play music and sing. This one was organised by Jan and Larry on Sea Bear to encourage cruisers to visit De Big Fish before it closes. We had a fantastic night with an amazing array of talent on display.

Well, that's roughly how our weeks drift by. A little boat work, shopping, swimming, lots of socialising and meeting new people, volunteer jobs, reading, exchanging recipes and stories and learning more and more about KK.

Thanks for reading if you got this far, Sue & Mal xxxx

PS: We're now only 14 hrs behind AEST with daylight saving having finished!