Dec 5, Friday

Yesterday after listening to Chris Parker’s weather on the Internet, it was a GO for us to leave to sail to Grenada. Then we listened to the Cruiser’s Net and heard that a woman on Homeward Bound was looking for a ride to Grenada. After talking about it, we hailed her and found out Inga Luce was on the boat on the hard behind us (SV Agnes) and so we quickly got together and decided that it would be a good fit for her to crew with us for the overnight passage. An extra hand at the watch schedule is very welcome. This meant that we had to go to Customs and Immigration together to get her off the crew list for SV Agnes and onto our crew list. Also women need to wear dresses and not show any back or shoulder, so as I had already put on a dress for the warmer weather, I brought my shawl which worked well.Yesterday after listening to Chris Parker’s weather on the Internet, it was a GO for us to leave to sail to Grenanda. Then we listened to the Cruiser’s Net and heard that a woman on Homeward Bound was looking for a ride to Grenada. After talking about it, we hailed her and found out Inga was on the boat on the hard behind us (SV Agnes) and so we quickly got together and decided that it would be a good fit for her to crew with us for the overnight passage. An extra hand at the watch schedule is very welcome. This meant that we had to go to Customs and Immigration together to get her off the crew list for SV Agnes and onto our crew list. Also women need to wear dresses and not show any back or shoulder, so as I had already put on a dress for the warmer weather, I brought my shawl. Lucky for us, Jim Wrangler owner of SV Agnes, rented a car and drove us to the Customs and Immigration office at Crews Inn. After about an hour, we were on our way back to the boat, stopping at a road side stand for a few onions, pears, and bananas.

I worked on organizing the boat while Inga got her things and bought some bottom paint for her boat. She lives in Grenada, but was born in East Germany and moved to West Germany before the wall was erected. She came to sailing later in life learning when she was 40.

At 1115am, we left the dock with the assistance of Libby and David on SV That was docked next to us. We motored to Scotland Bay to stage for our overnight passage. It’s a beautiful calm anchorage. Very protected! Phil and I took naps while Inga read in the cockpit.

We raised the main first at 353 pm and raised our anchor at 358pm, later than we wanted, but it turned out good that it was later as we found out. The beginning of the trip was bumpy with apparent winds 20kt from the east, so following the north Trinidad coastline was out of the question. You want to get as Far East as you can so the west moving Equatorian current doesn’t push too far west of Grenada. I had taken a Marazine, an anti seasickness pill, but it didn’t work. So I went down below to sleep. When I woke, the motion of the boat was better, but not good enough. Soon enough I was sleeping on the starboard cockpit cushion. The second time was a charm, and I didn’t have any more problems the rest of the trip.

Inga took the first watch until 9pm, then I was on for the next 3 hours, Phil on at 12 midnight, then Inga on at 3am. We had only one place to sleep, as the starboard bunk doesn’t have a leecloth and we were on the starboard tack meaning that was the high bunk. Inga said she was glad to sleep in the cockpit, and that’s what happened.

The winds were mostly 10-14 Kts from some easterly direction. The moon was almost full with a clear sky so we could see easily. We had passed the oil field platforms on Inga’s watch, so my watch was pretty uneventful. We were coming close to Grenada and started the engine at 533am, dropped the main once we got inside the harbor at about 545am and picked up Jim’s mooring Ball at 6am. Prickly Bay is know for being rolly, but it’s not this morning.

As I write this, Phil is sleeping. We wait for the 730am cruisers’ s net on International channel 66, then time to go to Customs and Immigration to check in.

Today is the actual full moon and Inga told us about a dinghy raft up going on tomorrow in Hartman Bay. We will walk over close to her house, and then learn a shortcut to get to the bay.

It’s now 715 pm and we finished dinner of chicken breasts, potatoes and fresh spinach for supper. We had Sunshower late afternoon which had cool water, but I was so hot I didn’t care.

About our day: we were the first ones of many that arrived at accustoms and Immigration which is within sight of the dinghy dock. Grenada has a web site: Sailclear.com for checking in and is good in many other Caribbean Countries. It took a while to sign up for it, but now it will go by quickly and we can do it from the boat if we have Internet. We said goodbye to Inga with plans to meet tomorrow for the Full Moon dinghy raft up. We will meet at a street corner and she’ll show us a short cut to get to Mt Hartman Bay.

And 1130 this morning we met Patrick aka Shade Man Taxi for a trip for shopping. We were lucky that there were only Chris and his son Christian in the van. First we went to the bank so we could get EC Eastern Caribbean dollars. I waited in line to exchange my US dollars for EC dollars and found out I definitely need to keep my ID with me. Waiting for me and we are able to use his ID. First we went to the bakery for lunch. They had hamburgers as the special. Inside the bakery was a round table loaded with fresh buns, shredded lettuce, sliced cheese, tomatoes, and the other condiments needed. We paid 10 EC dollars per burger, then went outside to get the hamburger off the grill. Phil and I shared a burger but then I was still hungry and bought a burger of my own, half wrapped up for later. We went to Island Water World to buy a SS screen from a fuel filter kit to replace the screen on our toaster. Next we went to a grocery store, then we went to a veggie and fruit stand, and last to see CK’s Super Value which is like her BJ’s or Sam’s Club but way smaller. There are you can get soda and alcohol and other items in bulk. They have case prices on everything. Once we returned to the boat it was my job to put everything away but before I could do that, I had to clean out the refrigerator. It turns out we left a few eggs in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator and it smelled pretty bad. Even washing down with soap did not get rid of the odor so I wipe down with vinegar and that did the trick. I also had to review what was in the L locker and put some items in there. By this time my feet were hurting me and I’m was tired so I took a nap. Then it was time for supper which was very good.

Now I’m relaxing, doing the blog and getting ready to work on knitting a pink sock that I started on the airplane. It’s taking a little adjustment on my part to get used to being on the boat, but I’m trying not to be too crabby and just take my time. I’m sure after a few days that I’ll be sleeping better, not be as tired and then will do better overall.