Grenada Hurricane Season

My good friend Wendy Berkeley recently asked how cruising has changed me and what I've learned about myself. I'm stronger,healthier and more patient than ever, but one thing is clear: I'm not a writer. If I were, well, I'd be writing. I wouldn't wait 2 months between blog posts when I had a perfect internet connection. Perhaps I'm simply lazy.

We successfully rode out hurricane season here in Grenada for 3 months. Only Tomas posed any threat at all 2 weeks ago, and the island prepared to be hit with 60+ mph winds. All day Friday, boats in the anchorages moved to more secure spots, put out extra anchors, laid in extra cases of beer and made plans to monitor the radio network all night. Boats at marinas, like us, put out so many extra lines the docks look like a spaghetti dinner, secured our dinghies, unrigged extraneous canvas and tarps and stowed all loose items. Locals emptied the grocery stores of everything fresh and canned. Then we waited, watched the weather sites on the internet and talked of nothing but updates of Tomas' predicted course, which early models showed going right over Grenada. The weather was slightly overcast, calm and, surprisingly, not at all buggy--one of the most pleasant spells of weather we've had here.

Then Tomas veered north and we got nothing but a few short rain squalls on Sunday. Unfortunately St. Lucia and St Vincents did not fare so well. We have plans to pick up Paul and Mary Beth in St. Lucia on November 20 and hope the island is recovered enough to allow movement and provisioning.

We left Clarks Court Bay Marina last week after nearly 3 months. Staying in one place for so long was productive as we used lots of power tools to completely strip and refinish all the brightwork (which already needs more coats of varnish in this brutal sun) and use our new Sailrite sewing machine. We got to know other cruisers and locals--better than we know our neighbors in Newmarket--as we all live in the open, sharing daily afternoon swims and a weekly shopping bus to the "mall" which has an excellent IGA supermarket. It's easy to hop on a local island bus for trips to the capital city of St. George's, and it's easy to spend hours reading books from the book swap or downloaded onto our Kindle, trying to stay cool.

We're now in Calvigny Harbour, 2 bays to the northeast, making our own water and power, swimming naked off the boat. We're anchored near John and Patti on Anhinga, who we met waaay back in Puerto Rico and who have also been here for the summer. We all enjoyed a divine meal of fresh Caribbean cuisine -- goat curry, barracuda, crabback (stuffed crab appetizer), at BB's Crabback Restaurant in St. George's on Saturday night, whose proprietor is a world class London-trained chef. It was a sort of farewell to Grenada dinner as we prepare to start leisurely cruising north in the next day or so. We'll check out of Grenada at the island of Carriacou to the northwest, then explore Bequia before getting to St. Lucia.

Highlights of our season on this lush, modern island full of spices, fruits, flowers, goats and warm people include, in no particular order:

---Lucky the African Gray parrot, who provided us with hours of amusement with her huge vocabulary. We taught her some whistles, but mostly she has us parroting her funny phrases.

---Playing a form of cricket. Who'd a thought? Average fluid consumption per match was 15 cases of beer and less than one case of bottled water. Bill took to the sport as easily as he takes to any game with a stick and a ball. I just stood there covered in Deet to deter bites from mosquitoes carrying dengue fever, and tried to stay in the crease. Final cricket match segued into a Halloween party.

--Live music and dancing at various venues. There's a steel pan school in St. George's--nice for a limited time but it soon becomes repetitive. One night I hula-hoop/danced with "Hula Mary", my new heroine, and can't wait to order my own hoop which comes apart for easy boat storage. Check out Hula Mary.

--Fresh sushi tuna for less than $2 per pound at the fish market downtown. Breadfruit ice cream. Baked Bakes. Fried Bakes! Never tried the fresh local wild iguana.

--The heavy-duty Sailrite machine paid for itself when I repaired our genoa and mainsail in the marina bar. I also fabricated effective and simple boat sunshade from a roll of "patio shield" material I bought at Walmart a long time ago for about $50. Ben was right to impress upon us the importance of shade capability on a boat.

--A leisurely Sunday afternoon dinghy raft, 14 boats strung together, as we floated across Clarks Court Bay to Roger's Beach Bar BBQ and live music (hot musicians from Switzerland-Pink and Lea Lu!) We swam off our dinghy island and passed appetizers and drinks, including a fine batch of herbal brownies.

We might have already reported this, but we are missing family and friends more than we expected and while this hot season in Grenada has been interesting, we want to spend the summer months in our home waters and visiting our children and grandchildren. Staying in touch with Skype and email is amazing, but it's not the same as being together. We'll chart a course home in May or so, although don't know from where.

Dear Readers: we love and miss you more than you know. And Bill and I still love being together as much as when we started. It's quite remarkable, really, and wonderful!