Dog Antics!
We spent several weeks taking care of this furry friend, Baker. Having a dog on the boat keeps you moving and on your toes.
We had lots of fun going on walks and having play dates with Crew, another dog at the marina.
We were happy to see Heidi and Erik return from their visit in the states, but we were sad to see Baker move back to his boat. We had gotten very attached in the short 15 days that he stayed with us.
Fun with Friends
Several of the guys had planned to join in the Race Around Grenada on Doug’s Outremer Catamaran for a weekend. So I thought I was going to have Crew, (Amy and Doug’s dog) for a few days as Amy was back in the States, but the race got canceled for lack of wind.
So Erik, Heidi, Ben and I decided to go into St. George’s and visit the House of Chocolate and Museum. We took the bus into town because it was difficult to park in the busy city center.
The museum was very small, but informative and the chocolate cake was incredible!
We walked around town afterwards until it was time for dinner. We stopped at Sails Restaurant and Bar as we had heard it was a great place to eat, and it did not disappoint. It was situated at the end of the Carenage right on the water. The food was superb as was the company and the sunset!
Short Water Reprieve
The time had finally arrived for us to break away from our 3-month home at Port Louis Marina and head over to Grenada Marine for our annual haul out. This year we planned to get the bottom repainted and have the daggers repaired where they were cut by a fish pot as we were sailing to Dominica. To read about this unexpected encounter check out: http://daggersdownsailing.site/sint-maartin-st-martin-the-island-of-enchanting-colors-and-flavors/
We were so lucky the lines caught the daggers and not the sail drives or rudders!
We also planned to have a survey done for insurance purposes. We hoped to only be out of the water for 3 weeks, but timelines for haul outs always seemed to run long. Maybe we would be lucky this time. Fingers crossed.
We left Port Louis Marina on September 1 and motored along the south coast of Grenada to the furthest east bay, St. David’s Harbour. We motored because we took our main sail to a sailmaker to make repairs, as needed, and to store. We were required to remove all the sails before hauling out in case of a hurricane or other named storm.
It was a beautiful day and it felt great to be back on the water even if it was just for a short 2.5-hour motor. The shoreline was beautiful with tall cliffs and water crashing along the shore. Being on the water was such a happy place for us both!
We entered pretty St. David’s Bay and picked up a mooring ball right outside Grenada Marine. We would wait out the weekend in the bay and hope that the weather cooperated for us to haul out on Monday.
Restaurant Woes
On Friday Doug and Amy brought our car to Grenada Marine. We would use the car to travel to and from the Airbnb where we had reservations during the haul out. Later, we met up with Amy, Doug, Erik, Heidi and Shane at a restaurant to celebrate Ben’s and Doug’s September birthdays.
The restaurant was an example of how things could be on a small island outside the main tourist season. We called to make reservations. Then they called back to say they would not have a bartender on Friday. I laughingly said to my friend, “That’s ok as long as they have a chef.” When Ben and I arrived before the rest of the group, the waitress said that since we didn’t call back to confirm, they did not think we were coming. She also said that she was the only server for the night. We said we were fine as we were not in any hurry. It turned out we were their only patrons, all night. They allowed us to move the table outside on the porch to catch whatever breeze we could.
Then they brought us the menus and proceeded to inform us that they only had one item available on the menu or we could have barbecue chicken wings. So Erik had the one menu item available, grilled tuna, and the rest of us had Caesar salads, fries and chicken. It was not quite the delectable birthday dinner we had hoped for especially since the online menu said they had Lobster Thermidor and New York strips. It was even funnier when we asked if they had dessert and their response was, “Absolutely not!” HA!
Nevertheless, we had a great time visiting with each other and the staff was super friendly. However, I will not be recommending this restaurant in the blog. LOL
On Saturday, Ben and I took a drive to another restaurant which I had read had wonderful views. It was located on the Atlantic side of the island at a resort. So I felt fairly certain that it should be open. We turned off the main thoroughfare and headed down the road towards the water. I began to have my doubts about this location as the further we went the road became narrower and narrower, and finally it turned into just a jeep path.
Nevertheless, Ben persevered as there was signage for the resort along the way. Finally, we reached a beautiful point on a cliff situated above the Atlantic. As we entered the facility, we gathered that they were not open for business and when we inquired, they looked at us like we were crazy. Ha!
I asked if we could walk around the lovely grounds, and at least, they allowed for this. Thus, the drive was well worth the amazing views of Crochu Harbour and Menere Bay.
Overall, we had a lovely drive along the eastern coast into Grenville where it was market day. After buying some limes, I asked one of the girls if I could take a picture of her hair as it was remarkable!
Haul Out 2022—So Far So Good
Monday, September 5, 2022 was our scheduled haul out day and with the weather’s cooperation, it went very smoothly. By 1000 the boat was on the hard and I was doing laundry while Ben was working with the staff laying out the plans for the next couple of weeks.
We had decided to stay at an Airbnb while the boat was on the hard because we could not have air conditioning on the boat. Well while our Airbnb was super nice and the people were very friendly, it did not have AC as advertised, only ceiling fans. However, after retrieving fans off the boat and opening all the windows, it was certainly cooler than the boat!
Last time we hauled out, we had planned to be out of the water 4 weeks which turned into 7. We hope and pray we will not end up in haul out jail again this year. Only time will tell.
So, stay tuned to find out does Grenada Marine make the grade? Do they keep to the timelines as well as the budget????
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