Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Marina Queens

We are becoming Marina Queens... folks that have a boat but don't get out of the marina.
Tied up
What!!! Another Blue Pearl
After dropping John and Jan we decided to stay an extra day to get groceries and stuff.  Then Glen got involved in varnishing and that added a day.  Now we hear that Glenn and Sylvie on Gemma's Inspiration are coming in to the marina today so we've extended our stay so we can have a beer with them.  We've got all kinds of rationalizations but eventually we are going to have to unplug the yellow dock line and head out into one of the bays on the south of the island.

We are looking at moving to Mt. Hartman Bay tomorrow.  We know a couple of boats who have over-summered there and they seem to enjoy it.  A new place to explore!

The Carenage in St. Georges.  I guess they used to careen boats here?
Fort George - Where the 1983 coup took place

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Tobago Cays

Weird.  We haven't had internet for days and then way off in the Tobago Cays we picked up a stray signal.  Time for another report.

We've had a great shake-down cruise with John and Jan.  There was hardly any wind at all on the trip up to Tyrell Bay so we motored.  Felt good to charge the batteries.

At Tyrell Bay Jan and John took off for a great morning walk and checked out the area.  We bought 2 bottles of white wine from boat-boy Simon at a premium just to keep him happy.  Cleared out from the new Customs Office and set sail for Sandy Island - after learning that our windlass battery doesn't have the ooomph to turn the windlass.  So John and Glen got to raise anchor the old fashioned way.

Pam making breakfast... mangos, golden apples, oranges and baguettes with butter and jam
At Sandy Island, we ran into Harry, our travelling companion from two years ago.  He is doing charters down here now so he knows the area very well.  We got some tips from him for our "must do" stops.  Sandy Island is beautiful... it will be on our agenda for other guests.

John liming under a coconut tree on Sandy Island
Clearing in at Clifton was easy... but more expensive that we remembered.  It costs 45 EC per person ($14US) so that put a small hole in our Grande Heffe wallet.  The Grande Heffe (Big Boss) wallet is carried by someone and is a good way to share expenses.  When the wallet is empty, we all ante up and start spending again.  Glen orders champagne at most bars.

Saltwhistle Bay is only 3 miles from Clifton so we didn't get much of a charge on the batteries.  Again, John and Jan swam ashore and took their own little island tour while Glen stayed on the boat to properly worry about the dead windlass battery.  It's weird.  The volt meter says 12.75 but it just won't turn the windlass unless the house bank is piggy-backed in.

The Tobago Cays are spectacular.  It was quite windy so we didn't explore as much as we might have, but we got to shore, snorkelled with the turtles saw a piddly 20 inch shark and stayed cool in the crystal clear water.

Jan and Pam fitting chaps on Murphy the dingy
After a leisurely breakfast this morning, we took off for Mayreau again, this time Saline Bay.  We walked to the top to take in the view and then rehydrated at several bars on the way back down.  We picked up a giant lobster (about 6 pounds) for $100 EC - we think we made the fisherman's day.  Our little tour kicked the snot out of the Heffe wallet. 

Cruisin' down to Mayreau

Chillin' at the Rasta Bar after our view hike on Mayreau

Lunch at Dennis'


Larry the lobster is dinner tonight!


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Back in the Saddle!

John and Jan arrived last night and it was great to get them onto the boat.  Glen drank too much rum so he was last up this morning.  No rest for the wicked... we had a great island tour planned for 9 AM and even though the skies opened up, we jumped on a bus with Cuddy and had a spectacular island tour.  Chocolate factory, rum distillery, waterfalls, monkeys (actually they didn't appear when requested,) volcano lakes, beaches, beers and a lesson on all things edible.  Cocoa, limes, oranges, papayas, passion fruit, grapefruit, golden apples, tumeric, ginger, shadowbany, lipstick fruit, lemon grass different varieties of bananas, cinnamon and on and on and on.  You won't go hungry on this island.

Thanks to our wonderful children, we now have a way to import photos onto Pam's iPad so we can actually post some of these great sights. Thanks for sending that down, kids!!

Nutmeg
Cocoa

Caribs on the beach
River's still
Missing monkeys... maybe all hunted?  Who hunts monkeys?
Lipstick/fingernail polish plant... check out the manicure

Cuddy digging out some ginger root

Papayas
I think he's going to jump!
Going to visit the town tomorrow - the Carenage!  We will check out the market, buy lots of beer, groceries, etc.

Wooo hooo!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Oh No!!!

Dear Reader... we have suffered a major setback.  Blue Pearl still floats and the sun still rises but alas, with a puff of smoke, Glen's computer has died.  No more easy editing, photo uploading, no access to old files - nothing.

So this is a new and exciting experience, writing a post on Pam's iPad.  We'll see how that goes.  We are hoping that the MacBook Pro only needs a new "DC-In" board and will be back in service again soon.
The culprit

Pam crocheting a new computer
Glen making conch (lambi) salad
The dinghy concert was a great hit.  We got some good photos which we will come back and insert around here when we have the wherewithall.  In the meantime, you can watch a great video here...

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Big jobs done, enjoying some downtime!

We actually have had some time for swims and a few G & Ts.  We are getting to the end of our "start-up" tasks and the boat actually looks like it is supposed to.

The sails are on, the canvas is up, all systems are working! It has stopped raining so now it is just hellish hot.  The locals tell us that it will cool down soon.

One of our new toys is a Roku wireless streaming device that allows us to watch stuff like Downton Abbey on our boat TV so we are feeling quite decadent.  What the #%$* is the deal with Matthew?  OMG!

Our daughters have been contacting us via google-chat and putting our grandchildren onscreen so we are feeling well connected.  It's all good.

We dinghied over to Woburn and walked up to the Little Dipper restaurant - run by Joan, the wife of Roc, our taxi driver.  Pam had the lambi (conch), Glen had the lobster.  The lobster cost more than twice as much as the lambi and was half as good.  Live and learn.
View from the Little Dipper - out to Hog Island

Delicious!!!
Ackee tree - fruit is poisonous until it ripens and opens up
There is a big dinghy concert happening here at Le Phare Bleu on Wednesday so we are indulging ourselves for an extra few days of dockside power, AC and swimming pool so we can be here for the big event.

The next day we will head out for a week at anchor.  God, that is going to be hot.   We will have to spend the day in the water like hippopotomi.  Then we strike out to Port Louis Marina in St. Georges to pick up John and Jan for their "3 hour tour" of the Grenadines and the Tobago Keys.
Staying cool!