Arrived back in Grenada on Wednesday 30^th November and despite fears of delay due to the strike in the UK our flight was bang on time.

We went straight to Spice Island Marine Boatyard and found Serafina safe and sound and looking very well. Sadly she was parked with her stern overhanging a working area and a large pool of oil which made getting on board nothing short of very hazardous. All was very well on board and we were very pleased that we had chosen to get Lesley to keep an eye on things and to open up the boat each week to air it and avoid mildew etc.

We then took a taxi to the hotel room we had booked for just the first night. Ricky was the first taxi waiting at the boatyard entrance and when I asked him if he knew the Siesta Hotel in Grand Anse, he smiled and repeated the name back to us signifying that he knew exactly what we meant. It turned out that he was merely proving that he was capable of repeating what we said, because it was soon apparent that he had very little idea at all.  Fortunately as he drove rather aimlessly into the right area, he chose to stop and get some directions, which lead to a quick U turn and all was well.

In the morning Sarah headed off to the nearby very smart supermarket and then took a taxi back to the boatyard with all her shopping, whilst I caught a bus straight there and got the boatyard to agree to move Serafina away from the oily area. I had sort of forgotten the excitement of these buses and as usual one pulled up within a minute of me reaching the main road. It took a few moments before we all could agree where it was I was trying to get to and off we shot. Very good value for around £1.50 as they managed to drop me off pretty much by the gate.

There was a bit of a delay to work in the morning as the lads from the yard spent several hours moving Serafina. Then in the afternoon as we got stuck into our jobs re-commissioning Serafina, two lads turned up to add a second coat to the antifouling paint. They were very good and did a wonderful job which was very reassuring. It seems that the waxing that we did before we left last May has been a big success. We took some advice back then to apply the wax, but not clean it off afterwards so it provided a barrier against the hot summer sun and heavy rains of the summer rainy season out here. Sarah has found that it now cleans off really easily and has done a wonderful job.

The other huge bonus was the Stainless Steel. We had found and trialled a fairly new product called Spotless Stainless (http://www.rochemarine.co.uk ) which makes the whole business of cleaning Stainless really easy, but the proof of the pudding lay in what it might all be looking like when we arrived back out here after 7 long months of sitting in in a boatyard. We were simply stunned by the fantastic condition we found it all in. Most of the stainless was near perfect and it was only some small parts of the lower grade stainless steel made in Turkey that had any rust showing – and that all simply wiped away. It is a quite outstanding product and just so simple to use.

The restaurant and bar next to the boatyard, De Big Fish,  was still going strong and it is undoubtedly going to be something of a lifeline for the next 8 days. The owner Rickky came and sat with us on Thursday evening and we chatted about developments since we were last here. We had an early night in the end as our body clocks are still on UK time (4 hours ahead) and it is hot and very humid. The best time of day for getting real work done is still at first light in the morning, so the alarm is set for 5.00am.