Port Louis Marina, Grenada

After leaving our mooring in the harbour on Monday 24^th July we motored round into Port Louis Marina (PLM). In the UK you are given a berth number and left to your own devices (preferable) when entering a marina. Not so in some foreign lands, there is lots of shouting from pontoon staff, lots of arm waving and one is often left none the wiser as which berth they want you to go in and which side to prepare lines and fenders. PLM was no different, but in anticipation of the usual fiasco the mate and I were prepared with fenders and lines out everywhere. This was a success, until we saw the access to the aisle between pontoons – a motorboat was sticking out well into the aisle with its outboard engines raised. So incensed was I that I wasted no time in telling the marina manager that this wasn’t acceptable. The polite response I received was that all the berthing staff would be there to help leave and arrive should we wish to go anywhere, and that they even have a RIB ready to push people into position should it be required. I politely replied that it was access to the actual berth that was impeded and not the berth itself, so no matter how many staff they sent to assist, it wouldn’t make any difference. Oh well, I was told, that’s where that motor boat lives – the mind boggles…

Onto marina life: The mate is happy! She can shower in excellent showers with air conditioning. However, the air is very still in the marina and it is hot; the sun is actually around 18° N as I write and we are 12°N in latitude, so the sun is actually north of us and gradually creeping south. At some point in September it will be directly overhead and potentially it will be even hotter than it is now (although potentially/hopefully less humid as the ITCZ (area of very moist air!) should be pushed back to the south – Mate). The point of me telling you this is that the mate needed some form of cooling onboard, especially at night as it usually rains and you have to close all the hatches. So we spent a day on the bus to Budget Marine and back to buy two fans for the main saloon. I had them installed at top speed and the mate started to smile again. That was until she noticed that one of them was making a rather loud noise. So, back on the bus to Budget Marine where I was told “I need the box” in terms of returning it, by possibly the rudest customer service person I have ever met. “No problem” I said, “I don’t need a box so give me a fan that works and you can keep all the packaging”. After a grunt or two from said person, we left the shop with a working fan. We subsequently met an English couple who have permanently moved out to Grenada (in fact the chap comes not only from Bolton, but Horwich – this is where the mate grew up). They told us that customer service doesn’t exist in Grenada and you just have to be blunt…

The event where we met this couple was a monthly marina get together. The marina provides lots of beer and rum punch and invites the guests. Needless to say the mate and I fully intend to do justice to these events to balance out the extortionate cost of being in the marina in the first place.

Other than that, we’ve been getting to grips with marina life in all the usual ways. It’s nice to be able to step off the boat and pop to a shop, or simply refill with water, and we’ve got excellent wifi too. Quite a few boats are in here and we’ve already started meeting a few people, aided and abetted by something we joined in the other day, called a dinghy drift. The mate was keen to go, I wondered what it was, but what happens is that everyone meets in a specific location in their dinghies, ties up together and enjoys a chat and a drink etc. all whilst floating about in the sea. I have to admit, it was pretty good and rumour is that there may be one per week – we’ll see.

Our first dinghy drift – unsurprisingly we were the smallest dinghy there!

Back on land, it was our wedding anniversary the other day and we wanted to eat out that evening. The marina bar and restaurant is as you’d expect for a marina – expensive – however just outside and across the road is a locals restaurant called Patrick’s. We went and it was excellent: great food, plenty of it and very reasonable prices to boot (thanks M&D). We’ll definitely make it a favourite!

Other things about Port Louis are that there is nice walk to small beach which is never busy and also a lovely walk up a hill overlooking the bay outside. The walk has an almost English feel to it (except the weather’s better) – it reminded us of country lanes and dry stone walls.

Pierre on our (mostly) private beach

Skip or James Bond?!

So that pretty much brings us up to date as far as our marina life goes.

As for Stargazer we have our (very long) list of jobs and we are getting on with them; she’s had a major deck and hull wash today and feels much, much better. I’m very pleased to report that the genoa had only a minor piece of stitching coming loose at the head which was very easily repairable by the mate’s Speedy Stitcher (Google it if you’re interested, they are good!) We even found a nice bit of hard on which to spread out and wash the genoa. It dried so quickly we even managed to get it back up within the hour (almost).

Skip hard at work washing the genoa

Our plans for the next week or two are meet a few more people, and find a day where the wind and conditions are excellent for a good day sail to remind us what we are doing and to make sure the genoa is setting properly – I’m sure it will…