Written 8/1/12
After a rolly day and an extremely rolly night, we are eager
to go to another bay. On Monday, all six
of us took local buses to St. George’s
and St. David’s Bay to investigate marinas.
Celtic Rover and Alibi are interested in mooring balls
and Wayward Wind is interested in a
slip for two months because we need to have a lot of work done and it will be
much more convenient to be at a slip with ample power and easy access. Also, admittedly, we’re treating ourselves a
bit. The marina in St. George’s is too funky (even by our
standards) and urban and right next to the main road so exposed to anyone
walking by. The boat yard in St. David’s
is quite remote in a lovely natural environment, which would be nice if you
were writing a book and needing isolation, but a bit too far from markets and
such for us. It is great for leaving a
boat on the hard for hurricane season, which is what our friends on Manatee did.
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| Beautiful Manatee all buttoned up awaiting her crews' return on November 2. |
At 7:30 every Monday through Saturday morning, the local
cruisers net is broadcast. I’ve mentioned
that these nets provide a wealth of information of local events and
services. One section, “Treasures of the
Bilge,” is where folks can offer up anything that they want to get rid of. The moderator or other cruisers are happy to
answer any questions a newbie might have.
In St. Martin, we asked about a good
refrigeration service. A local cruiser
who specializes in refrigeration chimed in and later came by saving us a trip
to a marina and a bundle of money. In
fact, he didn’t charge us anything (“I didn’t fix anything.”) because he
determined it was an electrical problem, so we contacted his cruiser
electrician friend to come by later.
Cruisers are the most helpful people I’ve ever met. Actually, regarding the refrigeration issue,
(I may have mentioned this) both Bruce and Scott almost seemed upset (bless
their hearts!) that we didn’t go to them first before we got a
“professional.” Scott called us to find
out what was going on then gave us suggestions.
Bruce simply showed up, started trouble shooting (which I’d done to my
limited ability) and the darn thing started working again so the electrician
did not need to come after all. Time to
clean the contacts. Both Scott and Bruce made it clear that we
should at least ask them when we need help. We are acutely aware of our mechanical
limitations and do not want to constantly burden our buddies with our problems.
Back to
Grenada.
Grenada is fringed with several
deep, well-protected bays along its south coast each sporting one or two
marinas, which we’d planned to investigate for our potential new “home.”
The day before yesterday, my interest was
piqued by an announcement on the cruisers net about a yoga class at Secret
Harbour Marina in
Mt.
Hartman Bay,
the next bay to the east.
Someone else
there was organizing a hike.
Yoga and
hiking, “Like.”
Yesterday Dave and I went
to
Mt. Hartman Bay
and visited Secret Harbour Marina.
It
seems to be what we’re looking for – close to bus stops and markets yet
somewhat rural and somewhere between funky and fancy.
http://www.secretharbourgrenada.com/ The entrance of the bay is edged by
swell-quelling reefs so little roll.
Yes!
While visiting the little
restaurant, we met a cruising couple on
Tiger
Lily who are anchored out and gave us the lowdown on the area.
We walked the docks and met a couple who’d
returned to the marina for their second season and gave it a good
recommendation.
We spoke with Marlene
(“like Marlene Dietrich”), a friendly French woman who runs the office.
Of course, it’s not perfect, but we’re
planning on heading over today and staying for two months.
Again, anyone who wants to visit lush, humid,
relaxed, green, hot, beautiful, intriguing
Grenada, please come.
Must mention two “interesting” encounters. First, yesterday morning while I used the
ladies room at Prickly Bay Marina, Dave began chatting with a British fellow
having coffee. He invited us to sit
down, so I ordered a coffee, too.
Quickly it became clear that his opinions on the
state of the world and religion were stronger than the coffee. He
spoke of “the illuminati” (which another friend had mentioned) who are a super
wealthy elite bent on controlling the world by controlling water and food
sources and putting two thirds of the world’s population into slavery. And they follow Lucifer. He spoke of his belief in the Almighty ad
nauseum. I don’t mean to offend anyone,
and I’m an equal opportunity believer, but there are Christians and then there
are Christians who give Christians a bad name.
I’ll say no more other than I can see why he is a single-hander.
As we walked over the hill toward Secret Harbour Marina, a
young guy in an SUV pulled up and asked us if we were going to the marina as
he’d give us a lift. We hopped in and he
raced off, driving like a madman on the narrow hilly lanes. Holding one Chihuahua on his lap and two more
in the back with Dave, he rat-a-tatted out like a machine-gun, “I’m in a hurry
because someone just stole my baby Chihuahua when I was in the parking lot and
the dogs were near me and I turn to pick up the “sheet” and throw the bag in
the bin and a truck drove away fast and I thought ‘Why he going fast with the
dogs there?’ then the baby was gone and I try to find him but I know who he is
I cannot believe he took the baby Chihuahua…”
We screeched into the parking lot, hopped out, and he looked again for
the puppy. There, in a little drain pipe, the tiny pup
peered out. “Oh, there he is! Sorry I drive so fast.”
