I picked a random day to take some notes about life aboard; I knew we would be moving but these notes were taken as things happened.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
I awake with the sun but decide to sleep in a bit. On most days, I would be up for the 0730 Grenada Cruisers Net, but it runs only from Monday to Saturday, so today I get up just before 0800. JP had been up for almost two hours already, working on various things to get us ready to leave the dock at Secret Harbour. He is in Scheherazade trying to open the lock that we keep on the dinghy engine; it's been in place about a month, but is stuck shut. I get some spray lubricant for him from the lazarette in the saloon (this involves removing three cushions) but that doesn't work so the lock is still on.
I make a third trip up and down the companionway to get my camera, because it is such a pretty morning; JP bungees the small blue kayak back onto the dinghy in preparation for our trip back to Prickly. At JP's request, I take a photo of the totally chafed rode that is part of the device we use to keep the anchor in place once it's down. JP then puts away the hose that is still out from the water top up he did yesterday. Moving the hose, filter, dock lines and power cords in and out of the cockpit lazarette is one of the joys of being at a dock.
I try calling Cattiva (Maria and Maurice) on VHF 68, the channel cruisers in Grenada use for communicating with one another; we know that they are heading to Trinidad soon but I am hoping they are still in Prickly and that we might be able to see them tonight before we go. No answer.
JP asks me if I will make breakfast; I say yes, and then I 1) Clean the last pot and two implements from yesterday (from the callaloo soup), dry them and put them away. Putting away the large pot involves getting down on my knees on the galley sole (there's a rug so it's not too painful), lifting out three smaller pots, and nesting them into the big pot. 2) Dig in the (top-loading) freezer, under the bag of ice and two bags of assorted protien) to find some kind of breakfast meat, and select two bratwurst. 3) Dig in the refrigerator for butter, English muffins and mango juice. 4) Move the large, heavy butcher block that covers the stovetop, and remove the pressure cooker and the pot holders that we store in the oven. 5) Cut mangoes, cook sausage, toast English muffins under the broiler (we had a toaster at one point but debarked it because it is useful only when we are plugged in somewhere. 6) Eat breakfast at the saloon table - Rosie-the-Veggie-Lady's mangoes are sweet, the sausages are good, and the EM's aren't burned.
I do a small fridge purge (not too many casualties - I am doing better with provisioning and using things timely - and then we decide to take a few things up to the Cruisers Jumble sale that starts at the marina at 1100 - in about 10 minutes. We select two small Breeze Boosters that work well but don't work for us any longer because we installed a dodger and it covers those particular hatches; the ionizing air purifier that runs only on a/c; the Seal-a-Meal that we used before we set off and maybe once while underway; the small OXO mandoline that I sent down to Trinidad with JP and Susan untested, because it is so much smaller that the one I had on board. Smaller - and MUCH less convincing; a full-length men's wetsuit size Large; and, after some deliberation, the port bike that we have used a few times on the ICW and once in Chaguaramas.
The sale is well underway when we arrive; we take a small table and chat with various folks we know; after a while we sell the wetsuit for EC100 to a guy on Starstream (not Larry), the mandoline to Hope on Starshine (for a contribution to the fund for the cruiser JT who suffered sunstroke), and the Seal-a-Meal to Larry on Starstream for EC40. We have some interest in the bike and the breeze boosters, and some curiosity about the ionizer, but these we take back to the boat. I have a long and fun chat with the folks on Miklo III about American politics, JP finishes up our departure preparations by taking a final electrical reading and putting away the cable, and we return to Raconteur.
I call Cattiva again, and this time Maria answers. When I tell her what we are doing, she offers to come handle the lines for us at Spice Island - such a sweetie. JP has said of course we can do it, but I am nervous, so happily accept.
We make a flawless (if I do say so myself) departure from the dock, and make our way out of the narrow entrance to Secret Harbour with no problem. It's blowing pretty hard (20 gusting 25) and the seas are maybe six or seven feet, but it's a very short trip.
It's a good thing the departure was flawless, because my arrival was anything but. We call Cattiva on our way in, and they jump in their dinghy and head over to Spice Island. I am so nervous about backing the boat into the slip (it's a concrete pier, really) that I don't notice the channel markers and I run us aground, briefly. It's soft mud and I know my baby pretty well, so I get us off in about 5 minutes. THEN I am backing pretty well, but TOO CLOSE to the corner of the pier, so I whack the rub rail on starboard toward the stern HARD, but Maria and Maurice are there to help straighten and the rest goes well. It's about 1600, and we agree to meet for pizza at the Tiki Bar (about a half mile back around into the bay for us) at 1800. They tell us that they are indeed heading for Trinidad overnight.
I take a most luxurious second shower of the day (very short) and change; JP also showers and changes and then gets the dinghy ready to roll (he had removed the gas tank this morning, for our trip). We dinghy over, tie and lock the dinghy to the dock, and take a table at the Tiki Bar. It's Movie Night and the kids feature is Aladdin; Maria and Maurice remember their kids (a boy and a girl) singing the entire score to them on long car trips. We share three pizzas and a lot of good talk (over the movie), and then they set off to get a little sleep before their passage and we head back to Raconteur.
We both stay up for a very short while after returning; it's rather warm for sleeping but it's only for a night or two (we hope).
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