Hurricane Season In Grenada

Clarkes Court Bay, Grenada

So nearly 2 months have passed since Carnival and what have we been up to?  It’s hurricane season so first and foremost not very much sailing, it’s the time of year to find a nice spot drop the hook and catch up on all the boat maintenance that needs doing.

To that end my work has mainly been the unseen, uncelebrated type eg remove the pulpit, replace a couple of broken bolts and reinstall, while Linda has been doing some wonderful eye catching boat improvements mainly of the sewing variety.

New cockpit cushions make life more stylish and comfortable, new cockpit sides to keep the sun and water out, adding gutters to our sunshade to make a rain catcher, re designing the stack pack and finally as a nice change from that, the varnishing. 

It certainly makes a nice change this year to be doing the more mundane boat chores rather than major improvements, eg the engine last summer. 

Perhaps a good time to say that last summers work has paid great dividends this year. 

The engine is superb, great to be able to relax and enjoy the ride without fretting about what might break, great to be doing 8.3 knots under motor rather than 6.3 knots, and easy to maintain because of the clean and tidy engine room.  The new fridge and freezer are a revelation, we never have to think about when to run the generator, what temperature they are and so forth, and instead we can just enjoy cold beers and ice cream out of our own freezer.  But in many ways the best of all is the installation of the electric heads which have done 15 months now without a single blockage!

Aside from boat chores we have been enjoying the routine of life here.  With the cruising community collectively putting their feet up for a few months, the seeds of stable community life bear fruit and the ways to fill your days expand.  The list of things we have been doing is much shorter than the list of things we have missed, yoga twice a week in the classes run by Gabrielle from Santosha, beach volleyball, cricket, half price pizza night, trivia night, and of course the weekly hash house harriers run.

Hashing has been a revelation, it’s basically running or walking through forests, grassland, mud, river beds, steep hills and even wading through the sea following a trail of paper left by the hares.  Usually it takes about an hour, leaving you hot, sweaty, muddy and thirsty which is lucky as there is ample opportunity to refuel at the lime afterwards with beer, BBQ chicken or Grenadian oil down if feeling strong enough! Grenada Hash House Harriers

Given the unforgiving nature of the terrain, and the fact that usually I am running mean that the photos from these events are sparse but hopefully this selection will give you an idea.

		Hashing VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

From a tourist perspective we have done a couple of island tours, some hiking usually terminating at a waterfall, and a snorkel trip or two.  Buzzing round the island on the excellent buses with a sound track of blasting Soca music.

		Grenada Living VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It’s now time to start heading north, and I hope to be updating this more regularly from now on as we explore the islands, it’s a resolution type thing, let’s see how I do!

Thank you Grenada and Grenadians for being our hosts for the past few months we will miss the island and the people hugely until we return next year.