New Year’s Eve and Day: Promptly at midnight the Port Louis Marina staged a great fireworks display halfway up the hill behind the marina. The Lagoon here is somewhat bowl-shaped so you can imagine the echoing reverberations of each blast of powder - deafening! The charter cruise ship "Reverie" was hosting a New Year’s Eve (known here as Old Year’s Night) party so we were also treated to music from the live band entertaining those on board. On New Year’s Day we took our dinghy out to Martin’s Bay to have dinner on Sea Cycle with Debbie and Mark. What a splendid spread: turkey and all the trimmings with Kathleen’s cherry cheesecake for dessert.

Finally! Mail: We had been tracking our Fed Ex mail delivery since it left Florida, and were very happy to find that it had arrived on the 3^rd. That gave us a reason to take a long walk from the Lagoon to the Carenage where the office is located. It’s not really that long a walk, maybe half an hour. It was truly like Christmas opening and sorting through an eleven-pound assortment of magazines, Christmas cards, family photos, and letters as we sat under a tree on the waterfront. The article that Roland had written about Carriacou had been published by "Living Aboard" magazine so there was also a check! He was so excited at seeing the magazine that he just had to show it to two ladies who were sitting near us selling "kitchen necklaces" made of local spices. After the good stuff was transferred to our tote bag, the box was discarded to lighten the load for the return walk.

The Same Idea, Just Different Food: We have enjoyed eating at the street vendors, from Nassau to Venezuela, eating the local foods that are less expensive than restaurants. As we passed the tent of the Soup Master across the street from the Tropicana Hotel we remarked to each other that we had always intended to stop for soup, but the timing wasn’t right. And, as we passed the barbecue man at the entrance to the commercial shipping pier, the aroma of chicken and ribs smothered in sauce was so tempting, but we’d just eaten lunch. It was almost 3:30 when we came back past the barbecue so we decided that some of each would be good for supper. Then as we came to the Soup Master’s tent the aroma of soup was just too much to ignore. Since we already had the meat, callaloo soup was added to the menu. Fifteen minutes later when we were back aboard, we devoured every morsel.

Tying up loose ends: The boat parts we ordered from Budget Marine finally came from the Grenada airport on Saturday the 5^th. We waited while the manager put the data into the computer system so we could make our purchase, thereby saving us a return trip on Monday. On Sunday we moved out of the lagoon to the anchorage off the beach so we could make water and fill the tanks. Monday became a shopping day to stock up on a few more groceries. Gary and Sharon on S/V Elusive had a few requests for items they needed: sour cream, Nutter Butters, cheese slices, diet soda, and celery! Then we got the floating grocery store ready for the trip to Carriacou.

Finally, home in Carriacou: After a normal eight-hour motor sail to the northeast, which included an hour of rain, we anchored closer to the beach than usual. Our "usual" spot by the Lexiana was taken as the anchorage was incredibly full although there are always a lot of charter boats this time of year. One of the work boats we were anchored near had a mind of its own (it swung differently at anchor than the other boats) which was exacerbated by dinghy operators catching their outboard engines on the mooring and anchor lines. The next afternoon we decided we didn’t like the view so we moved even closer to the beach so that there is no one anchored in front of us, and just local boats on either side. We’re now so close to the beach we can swim to shore to take a walk. Yeah, right! It hasn’t happened yet.

Old friends and new: Our first visit ashore was, of course, to Lucky’s for chicken and chips. They were as good as we remembered. On Thursday when we went to the market for bread we discovered a new produce stand across from the sail shop. Denise, the proprietor, has just rebuilt after having been put out of business by the last hurricane. She has nice oranges and grapefruit, papaya, tomatoes and squash, plus a few other items for sale. She offers "take away" callaloo soup when you order ahead of time, and would like to offer rotis a couple of days a week as well. It rained so long and hard on Saturday morning that we didn’t get to shore for fresh veggies from Rufus, but we ran into him at the roundabout in L’Esterre so he knows we’re back. Even John Robert (he sells limes, takes trash, etc.) came rowing by one evening.

Boat friends are here as well: Gary and Sharon on Elusive, George and Jeanie on The Vagrant, Melodye and John on 2^nd Millennium, Mark and Debbie on Sea Cycle, Sam and Margie on Encantada, Deb and Cliff on Watermark I, Lizzie and Harm on Horta, and Hutch on Ambia. There are probably some others we will see as we dinghy around the bay.

Changes: When we were first here, Roland thought there was something wrong with our radio because it was so quiet, no boats calling other boats on Ch. 68. It wasn’t until after supper that we got a call from Gary who told us that now "all" the boats are monitoring Ch. 16. Well, not all the boats, because most of our friends are sticking to 68 as they don’t like to hear the commercial traffic on 16, especially in the middle of the night. One big change is that Heather on Union Island is no longer doing a cruisers’ net in the morning. No one seems to know why.

Hey, Mr. DJ: Actually, it should be "Hey, Mr. Weatherman". Never one to sit idly by and just accept some changes, Roland has become the new cruisers’ net weatherman for Tyrrel Bay and anyone who listens in nearby anchorages. He started on Sunday, the 13^th, with a short synopsis of the weather gleaned off the reports we get daily. He has fine-tuned it to include the day of the week, the date, the times of sunrise and sunset, and the tides. Then Gary called to ask if he could make a brief announcement for Denise so that was included. Hopefully, he won’t be besieged with too many requests of that nature, and maybe someone will be inspired to carry on should we decide to do more traveling this winter.

Work is a four-letter word after all: Out of the forty items on our to-do-list we have a half dozen or so left. Not bad. But then Roland started a new list with a couple of major projects. He cut an opening in the fiberglass below the drawers in the rear head to put in an access panel so he can reach the ball valve for the fitting for the head. It was impossible to reach it through the open door under the sink. Roland replaced the caulking around the mast where it goes through the deck. When it rains hard, somehow the water is finding its way down the mast to the bilge, but on the way it soaks the carpet around the mast. Well, that will be two more chores off the old list. Also, Roland patched the mainsail, about 12 small patches in all. Most were due to our own mistake, using bungee cords for sail ties, which eventually lose the plastic over the ends, and then the steel wears into the sail while sitting in an anchorage. No more bungee cords on the sails! Kathleen repaired both of the mainsail covers. One to put on and one for a spare. The next major project is replacing all four engine mounts and re-adjusting the engine-to-shaft alignment, then installing a new flexible coupling. Roland replaced the front two and on in the rear, and then was stopped by a broken lag bolt that needs to be replaced.

But then you get to play: One day eight of us walked to Paradise Beach mid-morning, relaxed in the shade of huge sea grape trees, ate chicken and chips at the Hard Wood Snack Bar, played in the sparkling blue water for a while, and stopped for ice cream cones at the roundabout on the way home. For a total of six hours. See, this is what some people think we do all the time, but it usually only happens once every month or so.

Harvey Vale School: Kathleen and Lizzie walked up to the school one morning to visit Ms. Lambert. The school’s copy machine was not working so Kathleen left one copy of the "Living Aboard" magazine so everyone could see the article, "Going Native in Carriacou". For the first term the library was functioning as planned, but with the departure of two teachers for the second term, it will be difficult. Even Ms. Lambert has to spend some time in the classrooms to make up for the shortage of staff.

Budding Sailor: Zachary, daughter of Ted, who coaches the kids’ sailing club, competed in the Opti races in Trinidad recently. The events were held at TTSA where we spent the hurricane season of 2006. Even though Zachary didn’t take any firsts, she finished every race, and did well in a few. This is quite an accomplishment as she was also one of the few girls to compete.

Roland’s Forced March: Okay, maybe not forced, but it was quite a hike up the hillside overlooking Tyrrel Bay from the northeast. It started out on concrete roadway, became a two-rut road of sorts, and then turned into a trek through brush and fields shared with goats and cattle. We never did find a road out to the east so we had to retrace our steps as much as possible. Kathleen spotted a green bottle laying in the weeds next to a fence, and recognizing it as older than most, she retrieved it. It had some dirt inside, and we’re not sure if it’s been laying in that same place that long. It’s definitely a hundred years old or more, but it has a chip at the mouth. We brought it home and cleaned it up, a souvenir of our hike.

Mark’s Forced March: Well, this time (on a Tuesday) it was Mark’s turn to take us traipsing over the hills. We walked up the road at the school where the Independence Day festivities had not quite started so six of us headed up into the "heights" in search of the path to the top of the highest hill. These two-rut roads meander through the brush on the proverbial cow paths. The view of the bay and the south coast of Carriacou was spectacular. Isn’t it always! We reached the spot part way up where there is one house, and then headed "up de road," not sure what we’d find in the way of trails. Imagine our surprise, after walking through all the brush, to find ourselves in what appeared to be an old-growth forest which apparently had never been damaged by hurricanes. The actual climb to the top looked a little too intimidating to us. Our hike took a turn across and down the hill to L’Esterre and Paradise Beach where by 11 a..m. we were settled at our usual table for lunch.

Chicken ‘n’ Chips: That was lunch at the Hard Wood Snack Bar at the Beach, and it was supper at Lucky’s as well. It was not intended, but, oh, well, you do what you have to do. Cliff and Deb’s daughter, Melissa, and girlfriend had arrived at Union Island the previous Saturday for a week’s vacation aboard S/V Watermark I. They arrived in Tyrrel Bay Tuesday afternoon, and invited Mark and Debbie and us to accompany them to Lucky’s. Lucky’s chicken and chips are definitely the best around.

Another Calendar Page Turned: We actually did get two 2008 calendars. One is from the Grenada Co-Op Bank with lovely local artwork reproduction for each month. So, we’re on to the next month (how fast they come!).