Fourth of July: This was a pretty quiet day for us. We made some water and did some laundry. Kathleen put up one large Stars & Stripes windsock and 10 smaller ones in addition to our large American flag that we fly from the stern all the time. Hutch said he loses track of the days, and noticed we had up all the "flags". No fireworks! The only time they have them around here is for "Old Year’s", our New Year’s Eve. We walked up to Lucky’s for chicken and chips for supper, and as soon as she saw us, lucky shouted "Happy Fourth of July!" We watched the "Eyewitness News 7" from New York City while we ate and visited with the locals who were there.

Local Boat Building at Windward: Up in Windward at the northeast tip of Carriacou wooden boat building is alive and well. A group of us filled a local bus for the ride up there on the 5^th to see a sailing dinghy that is being built for the kids’ sailing club, and also to take a look at one of the local boats that is being finished for launching. A 25 year-old Kayak, Reagan, is building the dinghy in his yard. We know his cousin, Bucky, who has a trimaran anchored near us. It’s amazing to watch these fellows put together a seaworthy vessel without blueprints or even strict measuring tools. Most people would even consider the tools they use as primitive. We think these craftsmen are born with a special boat building gene. After checking out the work, we walked up the road to Turtle Hut Beach for a swim before catching the bus for the ride home. The group included Ted (from the sailing club) and his daughter, Maia, Hutch, Daniel and Sophie (from Switzerland), George and Jenny (from the U.S. and the Philippines), and Daniel, Linda, Katie and Sam (from South Africa).

Wooden Boat Launch: On Sunday, July 8, our small band again boarded the "chartered"bus for another visit to Windward, this time to watch the 42-foot wooden sloop workboat built by the local boatbuilders. When we arrived at 9:30 A.M., the men were finishing up with the painting of the rudder which had been put in place since our last visit. One young man was finishing up the detail painting along the top edge of the hull, a 35-foot long snake. Others were putting strings of red, yellow and green pennants up on deck to compliment the red flag on the stern, proclaiming the name of the boat, the "Margeta-O II". The first Margeta-O was sacrificed to Hurricane Ivan. The spectator crowd grew to several hundred people as the morning progressed. Beer tents were erected, the local Grenada TV videographer set up her camera, and the cooks were filling huge caldrons with pork, rice and other foods for the celebration afterward. It was definitely a party atmosphere as the beer flowed freely. Just after noon the priest arrived to bless the boat, and a "string band" (guitars and fiddle) played an accompaniment for the group which sang hymns and songs about boats and sailing. The owner invited children to climb up the ladder to the deck to participate in the ceremony. As soon as the priest had recited the prayers of blessing and sprinkled holy water all around the deck, the owner and some of his family sprayed the deck with two bottles of champagne. A few of the other workers liberally dowsed the deck and hull with beer! You could say that this is one blessed boat. Now the hard work began as about 20 men worked with lines on very large block and tackle to steady the hull of the boat as sand bags were laid on the ground and the barrels and poles that have supported the boat during the building were removed from one side. At that point the boat was leaning at a precarious angle as the men worked it down the logs that had been placed under the keel. Cheers went up each time the boat was moved forward a few feet until finally it splashed into the waters of the bay. Since this boat has no engine or mast and sails yet, it was tied to a large motor vessel to keep it from floating away. Kathleen took lots of pictures and some videos with the mini camcorder. It was an awesome sight and we are so glad we were able to attend the festivities. Somehow quite a number of cruisers in Tyrrel Bay had heard about the launch as well so we met a family on a sailboat from Virginia and another couple from the States, all "first-timers" down here. When we finally got home about 4 P.M., all we wanted was a quick bite to eat and a nap! We did have a beer each, but we didn’t hang around for the food as the group wanted to get home. This experience is just one of the benefits of staying here for a while! (We heard later that the rudder was damaged during the launch, and the boat had to be hauled out here at TBYH for repair.)

Boat Launch #2: Two weeks after the first launching we went to another one. This was a much smaller affair as the boat was one that was damaged by Hurricane Ivan and had been rebuilt. The owner, Cheesman, is 80 years’ young! Yachties on the bus included folks from the U.S. and Holland, more new friends. When we arrived in Windward, local men were working to finish last minute details. The truckload of Carib beer arrived, and a very large (5'x5'x5') plastic crate was turned into a cooler filled with bags of ice. A tent for the DJ and his huge sound system was fashioned out of a tarp imprinted with the word, "USAID" (a remnant of foreign aid provided by the US after recent hurricanes). Three corners of the tarp were tied to the tops of some trees, while a couple of poles held up the remaining corner. These folks are certainly resourceful. About a hundred folks gathered for this launch, and the audience, a.k.a. yachties, were welcome to participate. And participate they did! At least the men did, helping with the pushing and pulling. (See Roland standing in the water helping with the pulling.) Unfortunately the launching was delayed because a lengthwise crack developed along the keel. A three-foot long threaded rod had to be found, and a hole had to be drilled through the keel. The blessing was done by the retired principal of the high school with the string band and ladies singing. Plenty of food was provided for all, rice, cornmeal dumplings, plantain, beans, and goat or chicken stew, all quite tasty.

Short Trip to Grenada: Getting mail is such fun. This time FedEx couldn’t ship our packages from Grenada to Carriacou without a C-14 form from Customs. We had ordered a new battery charger, and that held up the delivery. Once we had the proper form from Customs we mailed it to FedEx on a Thursday with the assurance from the young woman at the Post Office that it would arrive the following day. Roland called FedEx every day for almost a week, and the mail still had not arrived. So we sailed down to St. George’s on Wednesday the 25^th. Naturally the form had arrived that morning!. However, we got our packages that afternoon, and all was well. We ate dinner at the Grenada Yacht Club, a late celebration of our wedding anniversary. Our friends, Paul and Denise on Vixen, were anchored in the lagoon so we had a catch-up visit with them. The next day we did the usual grocery shopping, although this time we didn’t need as much as last time. One treasure hunt find for John on Second Millenium was Pik-Nik Shoestring Potato Sticks. He was a happy man! On Friday we headed north again, a long sail with wind and current conspiring to slow us down. It’s strange how the wind nearly always blows from the direction in which we need to travel.

Carriacou Children’s Education Fund: Activities started gearing up for raising money for the kids the last week in July. Funds go to "Meals from Keels" lunch program and school uniforms for children at the Harvey Vale Government School, and for scholarships to Carriacou’s T. A. Marryshow Community College, including a stipend for textbooks. On the 31^st we played dominoes and had a book swap, two events that raised $135 EC. There’s lots more happening the first week in August so we’ll put that in the August update.

Current Weather: The weather for the month of July has been largely benign although we still watch it closely. As this is written on the last day of July, there’s a tropical wave, which is almost combined with a low pressure system (only 1010 mb) headed our way. Forecasters aren’t sure if this will develop into a tropical depression or not. As it stands now, we expect winds in 20-40 knot range, but it’s possible to be more or less than that. We’ll let you know next month what happened.