Mid-September update, St George’s, Grenada

It’s been a little too long since our last blog as we like to keep it no longer than two weeks - unless we’re actually going anywhere, in which case it could even be daily – but there’s none of that at the moment. So we’ve been in Port Louis marina, in our berth and it’s been HOT. The shade temperature rarely drops below 30°C and in the sun ‘all bets are off’ as to what the temperature is. We had intended to go out for a day sail at least, but apart from the marina parking all manner of large boats in unsuitable berths making access more like a game of It’s a Knockout, we’ve been doing a small job.

For those who don’t own boats, let me explain what a small job is: it is something that once started can go on for days… and days… and days, or it could go for well from the word go. Obviously in our case it went on for days and days and days. We won’t bore you with all the details, particularly as I’ve no desire to relive the pain, but when we first bought Stargazer, we laid new teak in the cockpit. Last winter, in Falmouth, we noticed that the teak on the bridgedeck was flexing and I assumed the epoxy bond had failed. I’d always had it in mind to tackle this job once we arrived in the Caribbean. It started over a week ago and entailed having to use various tools and pieces of equipment all of which were in inaccessible places under different bunks, so all the cabins had to be emptied, things found, everything put back together in the cabins and the reverse for putting the gear away again. Some people will know exactly what I mean. So without a lengthy explanation, we managed to re-use the teak panel without any issue as the bond had failed and we now have a rock-solid bridgedeck. We would include a picture, but as I write it is covered in hardback books to weigh the teak down against the new bonding. Before, I leave this topic, naturally, the process involved having to deconstruct the panels in the rear heads and re-fit it all again.

So that’s the main reason for blog delay. Today (17/9/23) is a self-appointed day off hence time to do a short blog. The next blog won’t be as long coming and will probably include plenty of photos.

Apart from our boat job(s) what else has been happening? We had my birthday a week or so ago – a much lower key affair than the mate’s as mine wasn’t a significant number (not this year at least! – Mate), thankfully, especially as the next significant number sounds rather old… We’ve had a couple of friends come into the marina, David and Trudie from the US. We met them up in Le Marin and they’ve been great to know. We’ve had another visit to some South African friends watching the sunset from the top deck of their catamaran, the view is spectacular, I must admit. I also had to go to the Grenada government to extend our visas. This was a simple, but pricey process. It seems that you can apply for any length of stay (up to 12 months) as long as you are prepared to pay for it.

In addition this we had an Ocean Cruising Club gathering at the Grenada Yacht Club. This was organised by the mate, aided and abetted by David. It was attended by 23 people from all over Grenada and a huge success. The mate will write a report for the OCC and will no doubt show some pictures in the next blog.

A final update is that the mate was upset that her fan broke (in the middle of a very hot and very still night after the OCC gathering!). In addition to the main boat fans we have small portable fans each. The mate’s had obviously been used a lot (she is a very good product tester). Sadly the fan didn’t  make it and faced with the mate being hot and bothered, I made it a priority to get the ‘bus’ into St George’s only to find they were sold out. Luckily, after I’d been almost everywhere I found a small shop near the spice market that had some left. The mate was overjoyed and normal service can now resume…

Finally, over this weekend there had been a Billfish tournament in Grenada and a boat from Trinidad was berthed next to us. They were a great bunch, one of them owned a food distribution business and he kept handing over bottles of hot sauce, cans of this and that and so on. But the best thing was, when they arrived back yesterday, they offered the mate a very large Mahi mahi. We had a wonderful dinner last night – thank you the winning team from Trinidad!

A short blog, we know, but more to come - and for now, we’re going to enjoy our day off!