Happy New Year - Back on the Water!

Hello from Grenada! We’re back on Making Connections for Chapter 3 of our adventure, sending best wishes for a wonderful 2023.

Our intent was to return to the boat at the end of October, but we had an issue with our sail drive that didn’t get fixed until mid-December. During our time on land we enjoyed many rounds of golf, a little water skiing and even snow skiing.

I was able to join my friends for Wednesday Adventure Club for beautiful Colorado hikes, and we had a wonderful Christmas with Tyler, Wesley, my sister, and our family and friends. We savored each moment until the 25th then quickly de-Christmased everything to depart on December 28th.

We splashed Making Connections on the 30th out of Clarke’s Court Marina in Grenada, then moved over to the dock near “The Hulk,” their big green boat lift.

After five months on land, we both felt like we forgot everything we had learned in Chapters 1 and 2 of our adventure. For instance, I completely lost my mind when I said to Joe, “Let’s to move off the dock in two days so we can go around the corner to anchor.”

We were quickly reminded that things on a boat break when not in use. Luckily, Captain Joe didn’t move and instead, we spent a week testing our systems to find all that needed to be fixed before we left the dock. We have a list of our favorite mechanics and helpers below for other cruisers to contact.

During our first week, we learned how to walk on the boat again without bumping into everything, which was a steep learning curve as we have the cuts and bruises to show for it. We cleaned and sprayed vinegar on anything that got moldy while we were gone, scrubbed away the rust and had the vessel ship shape in no time.

We made a couple of runs to the local IGA for groceries and found great meats and vegetables through locals who set up shop outside the Budget Marine on Tuesday mornings.

Our dinghy is our “car” which is transportation to get out and about every day. Upon arrival, our Yamaha engine wouldn’t start. We can get along without a lot, but we cannot get along without our dinghy. It was Friday afternoon, the 30th at 4:30pm, the day before a long holiday weekend. Margie quickly went on the Grenada Facebook page and tracked down Nigel, a wonderful Yamaha mechanic over in Woburn across the bay. After several rings (and praying “pick up, pick up” by Margie,) Nigel answered and said he’d send a friend to pick us up. His friend arrived within 5 minutes, much quicker that AAA in the states. He towed Joe off with the dingy and he was gone for quite some time.

Joe got to witness Woburn on the Friday before the new year weekend. Nigel was fileting several snappers, while his friend worked on the dinghy engine and Joe got to interview a local guy who was hanging out enjoying his Friday afternoon. You’ll have to ask him about the conversation because it would take too long to write about.

The bays in the south part Grenada are huge so we were able to do lots of touring on our dinghy from the dock. From Nimrod’s in Woburn, to Benji Bay where we met the local guy Tyler, to La Phare Blue, Hog Island with some new friends, to Secret Harbor for our only “bougie” lunch.

We met other cruisers including a couple from South Africa and Ireland, who sailed on a monohull from South Africa over to Brazil, up the Amazon, and over to the Caribbean.

Our neighbors on the dock are a darling Canadian couple who have been sailing for 10 years on a monohull. They started in Vancouver and sailed down the coast of California and Mexico, through the Panama Canal with a stop in Bocas del Toro for 2 years, then up north over to Cuba and on to the Caribbean Islands.

And waiting to splash their catamaran, is a family of four, from New Brunswick Canada with two girls, ages 11 and 9 and their dog named Crew. They sold everything and have moved onto their 44 foot catamaran. Right now they’re living on their boat on “the hard” (boatyard) while they wait to have it inspected.

We were also reminded what it’s like to live outdoors.

Roosters crow all day, not just in the morning, dogs bark in the middle of the night, goats sound like babies crying and babies crying sound like goats, and when it rains, it comes on you fast and leaves you fast.

And we’ve only just begun Chapter 3!

A special thanks to the folks in Grenada. Contact Margie for their information:

• Terry O'Connell looked after our boat on the hard and did his best to keep the mold away.

• Ralph cleaned our sails and reinstalled them, and painted the bottom of our boat a beautiful blue.

• Kyron and his team waxed and polished the boat.

• Craig and his team, especially Kelly, from Grenada Marine decommissioned and recommissioned our engines and fixed the sail drive and serviced our generator.

• Tevin serviced our AirCon and he's a professional singer on YouTube.

• Stephen and his team did a beautiful job on our upgraded solar panels and rack.

• Jose and his team at Clarke’s Court safely lifted, stored then launched our boat on time.

• The team from Turbulence re-ran our halyard - twice - with a smile.

• Sim and his team, especially Nickel from Palm Tree fixed our diesel leak.

• Bronwen and Kelly from Ullman Sails repaired our sail bag and bimini.

• Terry Carmichael and his team serviced our generator.

• Nigel from Woburn fixed our Yamaha dinghy motor.

After Tyler’s First Hole-in-One - in August - 196 yards out!

Christmas Night with our Friends

After our three suitcases got unloaded

Our “baby” getting launched by a tractor instead of The Hulk

Our view early on New Year’s Day - “Somewhere Over The Hulk”