Greetings from Grenada!!

Yep, you’re right – Grenada is the opposite direction from the Venezuelan rivers of South America. Since my Trinidad visa was due to expire on the 17th of March, we sailed up here for the rest period and will return to Trinidad in April. Earlier, back in Trinidad, we did take in a few Carnival festivities culminating on Tuesday, the 5th of February, with the “Pretty Mas” road march. We were able to enjoy a kid’s parade of Old Time Carnival (Viey La Cou) characters, where each school group had studied these historical characters and then made their costumes for the parade and judging. Viey La Cou in 2006 was one of our favorite activities, and we were pleased to see some of the adults who traditionally portrayed these characters on hand to help the youngsters get the “feel” for the presentation of the various characters. The traditional street Mas on Tuesday was in the typical Trini-style – very loud music, bright colors and teensy tiny costumes for women of all ages, shapes and sizes. Men are also in costume, but there are more women participants and they draw the attention, naturally. Prior to any departure, we always have a “work list.” At the top of our current work list was inoperative solar panels – a very important part of our electrical system. Within very short time span both of our Kyocera 120-watt solar panels quit working for no apparent reason. We were days away from ordering two new panels ($1500) when, through the cruiser grapevine, we learned that Kyocera had some faulty production of panels in late 2000. Our panels were, in fact, manufactured in October 2000. One phone call to Kyocera and THREE days later we had new solar panels in Trinidad – no charge! They also bore the cost of shipping the old ones back. We are Kyocera fans for life!! In the middle of our departure “To Do” list – canning 36 jars of meat, repair parts and stores load out, engine and transmission repairs, scrubbing the boat’s bottom and propeller, and new alternator installation – was a day off to visit two of Trinidad’s renowned nature conservatories, Asa Wright Nature Centre and Caroni Swamp, which is where the pictures in this post were taken. Avid “birders” come from all over the world to pursue serious bird watching at Asa Wright. We have finally found a weirder group of humanity than the American Ham Radio Nut; it is the English Birder… A brief guided tour from the main house on the nature center gave us an overview of the nearby grounds, as well as some of their more abundant species and their habitats. I could have spent the entire day sitting on the veranda at the main house just watching the humming birds! Such diverse species! The vibrant colors After a delicious buffet lunch, Jesse (of the famous Jesse James Maxi Taxi Service) had us back on de bus for a 1600 arrival at Caroni Swamp, where the Scarlett Ibis nests at nightfall. Our guides gave us an “up close and personal” swamp experience in their open pirogue, pointing out many of the swamp’s inhabitants. Thousands of Scarlett Ibis fly in just at dusk, and they are a beautiful sight. Our overnight sail up here to Grenada on the 11th of March was exciting, boisterous, even surprising. The weather forecast was for 10-15 knot NE to E winds, falling off to less than 10 knots after midnight; so we left Trinidad with the expectation of having to motor sail the last half of the voyage. However, the winds held all night, more in the range of 15-20 knots; and we averaged 7.5 knots for the passage, sometimes even reaching up to 9 knots!
Things have been quiet here in Grenada. We’ve renewed some old cruiser friendships, and made new ones. The highlight of our stay has been a tour of the island we did with nine other cruising friends. We hired a local taxi (mini-van) driver for the day and organized our own personalized tour of some of Grenada’s most interesting areas. Some of those included: Grand E’tang Lake in the rain forest, lunch in the seaside town of Grenville, a tour of the River Antoine Rum Distillery with a tasting of their white rum, a Belmont Estates Cocoa Plantation tour followed by a chocolate tasting (yum, yum!). Our driver Michael was also a very knowledgeable and accommodating guide, as he made several unscheduled stops to point out various crops growing and buildings or areas of historical significance. One of the highlights came toward the end of the day as we were driving south along the west coast by Duquesne Bay, where we came upon fishermen laying their seine nets, and then pulling them in full of fish. This stop offered Tom his first opportunity at seine fishing as he helped them pull in a net (after taking a few pictures).
Later this week we will be heading back to Trinidad. Fair winds to all…..!!

Tom Service and Schatze the Dog
S/V Jean Marie
Hog Island, south coast of Grenada