Tag Archives: Prickly Bay

Grenada — June 5-18, 2014

Arriving in Grenada is like arriving at home.   Through the years we have had so many good times here.  We have local friends, and we see so many of our cruising friends.  We know where to shop, where to walk, where to swim, where to catch a bus (and which ones) and where to eat.

But things evolve.  Things change, albeit slowly.  De Big Fish in Prickly Bay is closed and undergoing a major enhancement — reportedly to become an upscale restaurant under new management.  Roger has enhanced his rum shack, but has weekend competition.  The bridge to Hog Island is suddenly open and vehicles are driving across and parking in the southeast corner of the island so their passengers can party on the small beach there.  Whisper Cove has more tables than ever, but continues to serve delicious meals.  Mount Hartman has begun actively attempting to attract vessels to their under-used marina.  Bob at Clarkes Court Marina has lost out to the banks and must depart; new owners are already bringing in equipment to convert to a boatyard.   The docks will go and a breakwater will be built.   And if Bob’s dreams can be realized, the Oasis bar will be floated away to another location in Clarkes Court Bay, where Bob will start again with a small marina.  Bob was still on the premises while we were there; we attended some of the very last hamburger nights & potluck nights that will ever be held at Clarkes Court Bay Marina.  A tremendous blast of wind on Father’s Day dislodged the mooring for the middle dock at the Marina, causing it to rotate around the ramp and pinning a wooden sailboat up against the rocks for a time.  Bob is not the owner anymore, and no one else has stepped forward to pay for any damage to the vessel.

We stayed busy while we were there.  A large group noodled practically every morning off the beach at Rogers.  Ann gave a lesson on board Tusen Takk II on how to cook duck; the entire crews of TT2 and Receta and Asseance enjoyed the results.  I took Devin & Liz (Moosetracks) on a hike with the intention of showing them a high vantage point; alas, a former dirt road was so overgrown we had to divert to easier destinations.  We twice walked to Mickey’s Jamaican Jerk Chicken stand, once w/ Ann & Steve (Receta) and Heather & Don (Asseance), and once on our own.  We got together w/ Mike & Cynthia (Minx) in several venues, including Clarkes Court Bay Marina and Taffies and Whisper Cove.  We visited Nimrod’s for rotis twice.

And of course we saw Dwight & Stevie, the local fishermen who have become our friends.   I have already written about our nights at Stevie’s sister Charlene’s establishment.   (See previous post.)  We also had Dwight & Stevie over for dinner late one afternoon; Barb went to considerable trouble to secure turkey and the fixings so we could show them what an American Thanksgiving meal is like.

So it was with some reluctance that we left Grenada earlier than planned; we could not resist the opportunity to cruise down to Trinidad through conditions that were unusually mild when weather and sea forecasts promised soon-to-arrive long-lasting nastiness.  We left at 2 am on June 19 (Corpus Christi Day) and arrived in Trinidad at 3:30 pm, where we gratefully paid the holiday “overtime” fees to Customs and Immigration.

But I’ve gotten ahead of myself.   To read about our stay in Trinidad, see our next blog post.

Grenada — Nov 15 – Nov 24, 2013

On Nov. 15 we arose at o-dark-30 and idled our way out from Crews Inn, Trinidad.   Out through the darkness, through the choppy waters of the Boca and into the Caribbean Sea, straight north for 82 nautical miles.  We arrived at Prickly Bay, Grenada, at about 3:30 pm, just barely too late to check in.  We contacted the electrician Alan Reynolds, with whom we had been put in touch by Richard (Partners).  Alan came to the Bay Saturday afternoon and I picked him up and dinghied him to the boat, where we made preliminary plans for him to help install three solar panels on the pilothouse roof.  Using Alan’s specifications, I visited both Budget Marine and Island Water World in order to secure the appropriate wires and screws and bolts and deck wire clam.   I also went to Technick at Spice Island Marina to commission the construction of aluminum “legs” for mounting the panels on the roof.  I provided 9 feet of aluminum strip that we had purchased in Trinidad, at a cost of $22 American dollars.  The specs we had arrived at after our arrival in Grenada required perhaps another foot or so, and I asked Technick to simply provide the extra and add the cost to the total.   Over the next days Alan came out on several evenings after his regular job in order to run the appropriate wires.  For most of our time in Prickly Bay, the waters were uncharacteristically calm.  When our luck ran out, we moved over to Hog Island (on Nov. 21), but first needed our aluminum legs.  Barb picked up the legs after an afternoon of “women’s dominoes” at De Big Fish. She returned with the legs and some shocking news.  The total cost had been $473 American dollars, including a charge of $15 for the extra aluminum.  The fabricator said it had taken over seven hours to make the legs because our aluminum had been too rigid.  He said he had not charged for some of the work and had discounted the labor by 20%.  Richard also had Alan install 2 solar panels on Partners, but they were in Carriacou at the time.  The total cost to Richard for the legs, including materials and labor: $70. I don’t think we will have fabrication work done in Prickly Bay again!  Saturday, Nov. 23, Alan (who we heartily recommend) came to Hog Island and we completed the installation. Tune in to later posts for an analysis of effectiveness of the effort.

While anchored in Hog we did some socializing, of course.  Chris and Yani (Magus) were there, and we had them over for pizza and a movie.  We joined Mike and Cynthia (Minx) for Shwarmas near the University, fish & chips at Taffy’s in Clarke’s Court Bay, and saw them again at a pot luck at Clarke’s Court Bay Marina.  A pot luck that was very sparsely attended, I might add, presumably because everyone else had remembered the Rum & Beer Festival at a different venue.  And of course Dwight & Stevie stopped in and spent time with us every afternoon.

When I was not messing with solar panels or socializing, I was varnishing the cap rails.  As I have mentioned previously, the ruts were very deep when this project began.  Even after much sanding before doing any varnishing, some ruts remained.  So it is taking many sessions of varnishing and sanding, varnishing and sanding, varnishing and sanding, in an effort to get a smooth surface.  I am not there yet.

On another note: here is an update on the outcome of our car accident in August while in Norway. The total cost of the damage to the car was $6,477.  We sent American Express the electronic version of all of our paperwork and accident photos right after we filed the claim. We were told by American Express that they would handle all communication with Europcar and we would get weekly summaries.  Week after week we saw that Europcar was not responding to AmEx’s request for more information.  Of course a lot of the information they requested was ridiculous, such as a police report, salvage value, etc..  Barb called them numerous times but was told that they understood all of the documents were not required and to have patience.  One day we got a note that the claim was being closed since it had been inactive too long. It would be reopened as soon as some progress was made. Barb hit the roof and began regular communication with AmEx and Europcar.  It turned out that Europcar had not billed us since it appeared they were waiting on all the tolls to be logged that had been automatically charged (by camera or sensor) during our passage along Norway’s highways.  Barb asked them to please bill so we could get the claim progressing.  When the bill was finally submitted, it was a combined total of the rental and the damages, so she had to go back and get them to break apart the charges.  She got that statement to American Express and thought all was well.  After a period of inactivity, she called to see what the latest delay was.  It turned out that the claims person never saw the original documents Barb had sent two days after the accident and wouldn’t proceed until those were filed.  After reviewing the date and time it was sent, the email was found, the attachments read, and finally the claim progressed.  A week later we got notice that they were paying $4,877 of the charges but would not pay the Norwegian damage tax of $1,219.  At this point we were happy that something got paid but Barb called about the damage tax and learned that they cannot/will not pay the tax.  We were bummed but about a week later discovered on our AmEx statement that Europcar had refunded the damage tax.  And the foreign transaction fee also disappeared.  Halleluia!  So after all that hassle we can say that the credit card car collision rental insurance did work.  Would we use it again?  Yes, but we will ensure that we have liability insurance too since who knows what would have happened if another car or other people had been involved in the accident.  We will also read more carefully the details of the rental contract (unless it is again in a foreign language, in which case we will once again be dependent on the competence of the rental staff — competence sadly lacking in our original Europcar experience.)

 

Trinidad to St. Lucia: Nov 17-Dec 3, 2012

Life at Crews Inn, Chaguaramas, Trinidad can be pleasant. Nearby chandleries, nearby roti shacks, nearby grocery store (and nearby transportation to larger grocery stores), and nearby swimming pool. Interesting restaurants, both in the immediate area, and toward Port of Spain. By the time America’s Thanksgiving arrived, we had much to be thankful for. While back in Savannah, Barb had had her cholesterol tested. She was shocked to learn that her cholesterol was 287! The doctor advised that she immediately go on statins, but she had heard about so many negatives associated with the drugs that she decided to try diet and exercise first. So for over a month she stuck to an almost-total vegan diet, and exercised every day by doing yoga, walking or biking, and totally eschewed alcohol. Then we both caught a maxi-taxi to the West Shore Clinic, where we had our cholesterol checked and I had tests done to see if the high-risk drugs for my arthritis were causing any problems. Two days later we got the results: Barb’s cholesterol was down to 185, mine was about the same as last time at 177, and my liver and blood counts continue to be normal. Yes!

Thanksgiving fell on the normal Crews Inn potluck day. Barb decided to celebrate by roasting an 11-lb. turkey for the event. (The standard protocol is for each couple/person to bring a covered dish to be shared, and to bring their/his own meat to be cooked on the grill.) Other couples learned of her intention, and brought mashed potatoes and dressing and cranberries and vegetables. Not everyone was in on the plan, so many had their own meats, but everyone got at least a taste of the traditional American thanksgiving menu.

On Nov. 28 the Wheelhouse Pub enhanced their normal “swordfish or ribs” night with seasonal entertainment: the parang band called “Los Hombres Sexuales”, whose motto is “the more you drink the better we sound”. Parang is a type of music imported from Venezuela. The songs are sung in Spanish, and often have a Christmas theme, but also sometimes include social commentary and in no way sound like North American Christmas carols.

On Nov. 29 it was time for another Crews Inn potluck. It was also Barb’s birthday and she decided to save her restaurant birthday dinner for St. Lucia, so our shared contribution was a German chocolate cake that I made. Alas, the cake was such a hit that there was none left over to take back to the boat at the end of the evening.

Early the next morning, we arose at about 4:15 and prepared the boat for departure. We had decided several days in advance to leave for Grenada on that day, and stuck with the plan even though the sea conditions had not moderated nearly as much as had been originally forecast. It took us 13 ½ hours to cover the lumpy 84 nautical miles from Chaguaramas to Prickly Bay, Grenada, a trip made all the more lumpy by the fact that the port stabilizer failed almost immediately, and had to be disabled. That night in Grenada I stayed up late and replaced the knuckle that joins the hydraulic ram arm to the yoke that swings the stabilizing fin.

Next day we motored the 37 nm from Prickly to Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, where we anchored well in front of a sailboat that immediately began to suggest we were too close. His wife was nervous he said, because they had recently been rammed by a boat dragging on its anchor. How much chain did we have out, he wanted to know, and he expected that we would soon be starting a loud and stinky generator.

We were in no way too close. Fortunately, good-natured Barb did the talking. She pleasantly explained that we had backed off on the anchor to check its holding, and that we were secure. That our generator was neither stinky nor loud, and that in any case we had no intention of using it that evening, since our stateroom was well-ventilated and our batteries were fully charged. That we had never drug in five years of cruising the Caribbean, but that she would snorkel out and check that the anchor was firmly set in the sand. (It was.)

The irony was that the boat flew a French flag. Fellow cruisers will understand that sentence.

Next day (Dec. 2) we travelled another 39 nm in another 6-hr. passage; from Tyrrel Bay to Bequia. We always have trouble getting the anchor to set in Bequia, and this time was no exception. The sand layer is too thin, and the substrate too hard, apparently. Finally, on our fourth attempt in a variety of locations, we were secure. There were no nervous French cruisers behind us, and in fact no boats of any description to our rear, which would make it easy to depart at o-dark-thirty the next morning. After supper and after letting the engine room cool a bit, I tackled another project: I had noticed during the engine-room checks during the day that the raw water pump on the John Deere was leaking a little. So down into the warm and sweaty holy place I went, in order to change out the pump. While I was at it, I trimmed off about 2” of the feeder hose; its attachment point to the pump had gotten soft.

As this is being written, it is Dec. 3, and we are on our 69 nm trip from Bequia to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. The seas are extremely calm and the winds are slight; this is a lovely day for a trawler. Shortly after landing a small mahi-mahi, some of which we will have for a very fresh lunch, we passed right by a sperm whale that revealed its presence with periodic blows. Life is good!

Later:

When we arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, Barb bought some fruit from the “flag boat”, and also impulsively decided to try once again to raise her own herbs.

Later, we had Cathie and John (Oceana) over for sundowners. Good to see them again and trade news and rumors.