Well, it's now 2007! We hope everyone had wonderful holidays, and we wish you all the very best for the coming year!
The last two weeks have been fun with lots of activity here in Grenada. We've been playing Mexican Train dominoes with friends, and giving our memories a workout with Tuesday night Trivia matches. Two weeks ago our team won the match, and we were treated, by the marina restaurant, to a bottle of rum with Cokes as the prize.
Since we didn't want the boat to grow roots too quickly, we moved her to the Lagoon anchorage in St. George's a few miles up the west side of the island. From that location we were a very short dinghy ride away from the food store, the boat store, and the Carenage (a carenage is a shallow area, where once boats were careened for repair/painting purposes. Today, the Carenage is a large bay where commercial boats tie-up and the street passes along the water's edge). One morning we walked up the hill to Ft. George, built in 1706. We lost track of the number of steps, somewhere around 60, before the steps became a blacktopped sidewalk of sorts. It looked a lot steeper from ground level. Another day we finished up Christmas shopping and bought sheeting to make new pillow cases. Apparently there are no king sized pillows in the Caribbean, and, therefore, no king sized pillow cases for sale in the shops. We had a surprise visit from Brian and Anna (SV/Trekker) as they had just arrived from Trinidad. They had shared Thanksgiving dinner with us and "Vixen".
Back in Prickly Bay for Christmas, we had a cookie exchange with three other boats so we had some rum balls and fudge as well as cookies. Christmas morning we were up bright and early so we could get to church for the 8:30 service. As luck would have it, the outboard decided to take a rest just as a sudden rain shower decided to blow over. Even the umbrella didn't help all that much, and while we weren't totally soaked, we did get pretty wet as Roland rowed us to the dinghy dock. We were able to get a bus (like the maxi's on Trinidad) to church, and by the time we arrived we were a little drier. Joe and Diane from SV/Moon Goddess went with us. The Grace Lutheran Church is a young congregation and has its services in a large suite upstairs in the Grand Anse Shopping Center. Folks were very friendly and welcoming. The assistant pastor is from Denver. His son couldn't get to Grenada for the holidays because of the blizzard out there!
On Christmas afternoon about forty of us gathered at the Prickly Bay Marina for a pot luck dinner. The food was plentiful and delicious, ham, turkey, salads of all kinds, even pumpkin pie (our contribution) and cakes for dessert. The people were from the U.S., England, Australia, Norway and Europe. And, oh, boy, did it rain!!! Buckets! All afternoon! Fortunately, we were under a roof, and everyone had arrived between raindrops before the deluge. After we had all gone home, the skies cleared, and we had a beautiful starry evening.
After getting some laundry done and shopping for a few groceries, we moved a few miles to the east to Clark's Court Bay, anchoring near the marina at the north end of the bay. Hog Island is nearby, but we didn't get back over there this time. We did take a walk one morning up the hill to the north and east, and had an easy walk downhill to return. We also went to the Little Dipper Restaurant on the hill overlooking Hog Island and the Bay. Kathleen got to have a lobster dinner, while Roland had the Creole fish. Both were great choices!
New Year's Eve was spent at home, but there were fireworks ashore to light up the sky at midnight. And now we're back in Prickly Bay after a few days away from the hustle and bustle of a busy anchorage, kind of like taking a vacation! Yesterday afternoon was filled with dominoes, today is busy with working on the Internet, and tonight is Trivia Night. After doing a little more laundry and grocery shopping this week, we will look for a weather window to make the 37 mile sail north to Carriacou where we will either meet up with old friends or meet new ones!
Speaking of new friends, a few days ago we met Gretchen (Youngstown, NY) and Frank (Ithaca, NY) on SV/Infinity, which they purchased two years ago from a man (don't remember his name) at the Buffalo Yacht Club. We're sure we'd seen the boat in Lake Erie as it had been raced there, and we'd spent lots of time watching the races on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Once again, let us wish you all a wonderful New Year 2007, and share with you Roland's new favorite saying, "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space!"
Thanks to all who visit our website and especially those who put notes in the guestbook. Please take time to let us know you're following our trails. (1/2/2007)
