Hi Flite: Carriacou & Granada

On Wednesday, 4/5/17, we made the run to Hillsbourgh. It was a bit convoluted. First our driver needed to pick up more students, drop them off at the school, head out around the other side of the island to pick up his wife, stop at a teachers house to pick her up and then drop her off at the school. Then we made our way to Hillsbourgh where he dropped us and his wife off. We did a bit of wandering around the main street checking out the tourist center for information. After a bit we caught another bus to go out to Windward. We had heard of a man there that is still building wooded boats the old way. We saw a lot of the island and when dropped off we walked over to his yard where he has a 60+ foot boat under construction. His last boat was in the 40 foot range. He has been working on this one for two years and says he hopes to launch in December.

After riding back to Hillsbourgh we had lunch, bought a few vegetables and fruit from vendors and caught the bus back to Tyrell Bay. Thursday Cori went to shore to look for sea glass and I took care of charging the batteries and making more water. Later we dinghied around in mangove salt pond. While riding through the anchorage we came across a boat we recognized. It used to be next to us at Matthews Point Marina. The new owners are out cruising the islands.

On Friday we pulled anchor to make our way to Granada. Raising the anchor was interesting since the control for the windlass started acting up. First it would run intermittently then it stuck on "up". This worked until the anchor was on the roller and I had to quickly disconnect it to keep everything from getting jammed. Along the way I had time to take it apart and in spite of it being "waterproof" it had gotten salt water inside and corroded the electronics and the "up" micro-switch. When we put out the headsail we found that the winch that controls the sail was not working properly. We made do and I can take it apart later. The route from Carriacou to Granada takes you over the active underwater volcano known as Kick Em Jenny and you have to stay clear of the exclusion zone. Once past that we made our way down the west shore having a great sail in fifteen knots of wind with about a three foot following sea. We had an idea where to stop for the evening and maybe go ashore for their Friday Fish event but the anchorage was not one I wanted to spend the night at so we continued on. Along the way Cori had her fishing gear out and caught another barracuda that went back and then another nice black fin tuna. When we got to St George Bay we started scouting a place to anchor. We decided instead to move over to Dragon Bay and pick up a mooring. Just around the point at Dragon Bay is a dive and snorkeling site that features an underwater sculpture garden. Once we were settled on the mooring I noticed that the bilge pump would run about every five minutes. We pulled the cover for the engine and found that the pump that brings in the cooling water for the engine was leaking. After that I took the winch apart but could not find anything wrong and once back together it was working just fine. In the morning I jumped overboard with my snorkel gear and went around the point to see what I could find. The coral was in tough shape and there were not a lot of fish to see and I never did find the sculpture garden. I think I figured out where it was but it was further away then I cared to swim. Next time I will have to use the dinghy.

Saturday morning the batteries were low again so I ran the generator and watermaker before we moved on. I like running the watermaker while the generator is running since that way they do not have a draw on the batteries. We make between three and four gallons an hour so a couple of hours of charging the batteries also gives us a couple of days of water. We rolled out the headsail and sailed off the mooring heading for Prickly Bay. The guides show that most of the cruisers activities center around Prickly Bay and you can catch a bus or taxi at several locations when you need to visit town or go on excursions. We pulled into the bay and started looking for a spot among the many other boats to anchor..We came up to the mooring field and a couple of "boat boys" talked us into renting a mooring ball. It was only $10 per day in US money and gave us access to the marina facilities. In the evening we went in for their half price pizza special. Unfortunately there was nothing special about the pizza but at least they did the cooking for the night.

Late Sunday morning we went to shore and walked to where we were told we could catch a bus and made our way to St George to check out the Port Louis Marina. We had seen a notice of a music festival there. Once there we found out that it will be next month. We consoled ourselves with beer, a burger and fries and wi-fi. Once back at the boat I got the generator out to see if I could fix or replace the pull cord that chaffed through and broke. I got it working but it still needs some attention and a new rope. At least now I know how to take the generator apart.

Monday morning we went to shore at Spice Island Marina because there is a Budget Marine store there. They do not handle the pump we need so we walked down and caught a bus to the Island Water World store. They also do not carry our pump but were able to tell me who to contact to maybe have it rebuilt. From there we caught a bus to take us downtown to be tourists and to stop at Digicell to get a SIM card for my phone. I now can make phone calls and have a data plan. We are able to communicate again without having to sit in a bar or restaurant. Back at the boat we went to the marina office to pay since they were closed when we came in on Saturday. We got the code for their wi-fi, got keys for the showers and treated ourselves to nice long hot showers. Back at the boat we connected our wi-fi extender to their signal and settled down to downloading and getting up to date. It is amazing how we take having the Internet, emails and messaging for granted and miss it when we don't have connectivity. Unfortunately we were not getting a great signal from the marina and after the signal dropped one too many times our extender could not attach to it. We had the same problem while in St Martin and there is no easy solution.

Thursday we decided to stay on the mooring ball another day so we went in to pay and then walked up the road to The West Indies Brewery. They make Cori's new favorite beer. We hung out for the afternoon using their wi-fi and then went back to the boat to get ready for the evenings entertainment. There was a cruisers music jam scheduled for the evening at the brewery. There are some very talented musicians in the cruising community and they provided an evening of very good and entertaining music.

We had been making phone calls on Monday and Tuesday to make arrangements to get our leaking pump to the repair shop and since they are located at Clarks Court Marina we made arrangement to rent a slip, I don't want to be sitting at anchor or on a mooring with the engine dismantled. Wednesday morning we dropped the mooring and motored the five miles around to the marina. Once tied up we needed to wait for the engine to cool down before I removed the pump. I also talked with the marina about getting a 110 volt connection. I want to give the batteries a good charge and run an equalize cycle on them. We had heard on the morning cruisers net that there was going to be a full moon party at one of the other marinas. We took the dinghy across the bay and caught a bus with a group of other cruisers to the party. They had three bands playing and food and drinks for sale. A good time was had by all. Thursday we hung out on the boat waiting for their technician to get us connected to the electrical system. They use a 220 volt system and we use 110, By the end of the day he had it figured out, he made a patch cord that connected the appropriate sized transformer to one of our shorepower cables and we would be set. By now it was 5:00 pm. It doesn't work and he can't figure out why, it may be a defective transformer. Did we mention that Friday and Monday are Holidays and they also don't work on weekends. We still so not have power. Maybe on Tuesday. Also while we were waiting we decided to do what is called "pickling" the watermaker. This process cleans the membranes and prepares it for storage. We won't need it until next season since we can fill the water tanks here at the marina for free. It is a simple process but not everything happened to match what the manual says to expect. I have been emailing the manufacturer (in Minneapolis) and they have given me a number of things to try. They believe that it is OK but want me to give them a call after the weekend.

Friday was Good Friday and is a Holiday here so almost everything is closed. We spent the day with the boat, Cori washed the boat, I did some troubleshooting on the watermaker and then I hoisted Cori up the mast to reset the wi-fi antenna. The reset button they want me to hit is on the radio that is attached to the top of the mizzen mast. While she was up there the reset didn't help so I had her remove it and I can deal with it on deck if I can get some network cable. Did I mention it is hot here? It is in the 80's and 90's with a stiff wind blowing all of the time

On Saturday the supply store here at the marina was open in the morning so I was able to buy a new control for the windlass. They also told us where we could catch a bus into town if we walked a ways. We walked to where we thought they said to go but no bus came. One of the marina employees stopped and told us the bus did not come there but she would give us a ride. On the way she showed us where to catch it but it is further then I care to walk. We told her we wanted to go to Prickly Bay so she dropped us off at the Prickly Bay Marina. We should have been more specific, we were at the wrong part of the bay and had no way across. Cori asked a gentleman at the dock if when he finished refueling if he could give us a ride across. Not a problem but we would have to wait until his passengers arrived. About a half hour later we were ready to go. We wanted to go to The True Blue Resort for their Easter craft show and from the other side of the bay we could walk there. Instead he gave us a ride around to the next bay and dropped us off at their dock. There were a few thing there Cori was interested in and when we left we needed to find an ATM to get more of the local currency. Google maps showed where to go and we started walking. We let a number of buses pass by and when we got closer and stopped to check the map a taxi stopped and offered a ride, $10 EC. We told him we didn't have it but he said to get in and he would take us to the bank. It was a good thing, it was going to be a lot further on a much busier street. Once we had cash he was ready to take us anywhere. We wanted lunch, and we wanted local food, as in "where would you eat?" He took us downtown and around several side streets to the back of a supermarket with a restaurant upstairs. It was where the locals eat, we were the only two white people there and not sure what we were eating but it was good and inexpensive. The cab driver not only took us there but showed us how to get upstairs and led us to the buffet line for his $10 EC ($3.75 US). After lunch we walked around a bit, I bought a network cable, my big purchase for the day. I had figured out how to fix the wi-fi extender. We walked down to the market with all of the stalls selling goods and wandered into the fish market. I pointed out a big tuna to Cori but the vendor said that is we wanted to see a big tuna to follow him. He led us in back and opened a bin. Under the ice was a yellow fin tuna around 150 pounds. It was caught just a couple of miles offshore so it was fresh. After buying some fruit from one of the street vendors we started back to the bus station but stopped to take a look at the old meat market. It is a very old building with the windows broken out. Inside are several booths set up with rusty steel partitions and each booth had a chopping block, a big knife and various chunks of meat sitting out with no refrigeration. Very different than what we are used to. From there we loaded up on a bus to go back and it was packed. Instead of taking the number one and getting dropped off at the end of the run with a long walk ahead we caught the number two that goes to Woburn. We explained to the bus driver that we wanted to get dropped off at the closest spot to the marina. We figured that would be a shorter walk. His understanding of closest is to drop us off near the town dock where we would have caught the bus if we had crossed over in our dinghy. Once again we were on the wrong side of the bay. There was no other option then to start walking. Fortunately we had not bought much. Eventually, as we neared the marina a taxi that someone had called to pick them up offered us a ride. After arriving hitting the shower felt real good.

Sunday, Easter Sunday, everything is closed but we had heard that the Woburn Sailing Club would be having their Easter races. They are the local working boats so when we saw them getting the boats ready we dinghied across to check it out. It turned out to be an all day event. The boats are wooden construction with a wood mast, a bamboo boom and a piece of bamboo lashed to the mast at an angle to reach the top of the sail. The sails are lashed to the mast and boom with no provision to raise or lower them. All of the rigging is done on shore with the boat on it's side and then pushed into the water. There were four races. The start is uncontrolled chaos. The crew is trying to get into the boat, someone is bailing like crazy and the boats and sails are bumping and hitting each other until they get enough maneuverability to separate. Cori made friends with the escort boat and she got to ride with him for each race and at one point towing one in after it broke it's rudder. In one race one of the boats had to go ashore, lay the boat on it's side, re-lash the mast extension back into the race. It was a great day except for the pounding music they were blasting us with. Cori got handed a plate of the lunch they had cooking in a pot over an open fire, some kind of rice and meat dish. I never found any meat on the bones, they may have been there to just add flavor. In the evening we dinghied back to our boat for the night but could hear the music that went on until 1:00 am.

Monday, still a Holiday so everything is shut down. I was getting ready to start the generator again when Cori looked into the bilge and noticed the water was higher then usual. The automatic pump was not coming on. I spent several hours troubleshooting and splicing wires trying to figure out why it was not getting power. I believe it is the switch that connects the float switch and the pump. The pump is not getting the message that it needs to run. We have a spare but can't find it. They sell them at the store here in the marina so in the morning I'll go get another. They are not expensive and I would have to buy another spare anyway. Cori spent her afternoon repairing sails. With the generator running she got out her sewing machine and repaired several sails from the race boats. She had tried to repair some of their sails with adhesive sail tape but it did not hold and one of the boats tore their sail when they got too close to another boat. At the end of the evening she had collected their sails and rinsed them down so they would be ready to sew today.

On another note, several weeks ago in a message to our good friend Weezie, I said that things were going great and nothing had broken. Since then we have had problems with the windlass, a winch, water pump, wi-fi extender, watermaker and the bilge pump. I should know better.