My cousin informed me that I hadn't written in a while. I checked and found that he was right. I'd better get right on it. Tim and his friend went out to Prickly Bay to eat $1 chicken wings at a weekly Thursday night happy hour. In USD, it's 37 cent chicken wings. Can't beat dinner for under $5. I usually go along, as does Tim's friend's wife and get a chicken Cesear salad, which is pretty good. I just am worn out by the heat, humidity and latitude. We are only 12 degrees north of the equator - closest I've ever been. They took the 20-minute walk, ate outside, as most restaurants offer, and walked back in the dark, with flashlights. I begged out. Tomorrow, we will spend the morning on a hot "cruisers shopping bus", going to the bank, the supermarket, Ace Hardware and possibly elsewhere with lots of other cruisers. We always need food and stuff.
Last week we went to the fish market with our next-door neighbor. The ride and the downtown area were quite interesting - "Colorful" as Grandma would have said. Lots of hustle and bustle, people selling native fruit, vegetables and spices, small shops and stalls. I ran over to buy some local honey, while the guys waited for the fresh fish to be filleted. Lots of fun!
We have been doing many boat projects and getting ready to set sail toward Martinique and beyond. I have learned how to get Tim up the mast, with the help of more newfound friends. That was quite a job. I found muscles that I never knew I had! Tim needed to check the upper rigging and clean the mast. He still has to go up the mizzen mast (the smaller of the two masts), to check that rigging.
When we leave Grenada, we plan to stop to visit most of the islands along the way. Carriacou, which sustained much damage from Hurricane Beryl, has recently opened for tourism. We plan to stop there, as well as Ronde Island, Petite Martinique, Union Island, Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Canouan, Mustique, Bequia, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and then Martinique. We will spend a couple of weeks in Martinique as there is an Amel Sailboat Facility there. That will happen after I return from New York and Maryland, as I am flying in for my nephew Jonathan's wedding.
Our social life has exploded to epic proportions here in Grenada. We host friends for dinner, as well as visit others. Last night we were treated to a 4-course sailing charter dinner. Our new friends live and run a charter boat and are staying in Grenada until they sail back up to the Virgin Islands to begin their charters. We were their "Guinea Pigs" for some possible new menu selections. On their beautiful boat, we enjoyed cucumber/honeydew gazpacho, carrot Dijon mustard vinaigrette salad, Grilled Mahi with aioli and jade rice and a "deconstructed" painkiller - coconut cake, Soggy Dollar caramel and ice cream dessert. Uber-Yum!! We also were treated to two drinks - "Dark and Stormy" and a "Painkiller", so we could taste the difference between the drink and the dessert. We were more than happy to oblige.
Another win for me was I learned how to drive the dinghy. It has an outboard engine, so it took some concentration to steer it correctly. I drove the whole way out of the harbor, between the reefs, and into the next bay. I did a turnaround, and a couple of other maneuvers and went back home. Tim explained and showed me how to park the dinghy next to our boat. Next time, I'll give that a try.
I borrowed a Sailrite sewing machine from a friend, to repair the bimini and the winch covers. This extremely heavy machine was quite intimidating at the start, but soon I got the hang of it. I began by making three roll-up tool bags so that I could get used to the Sailrite. The tension was extremely difficult to balance. It was helpful to begin with some smaller projects before attempting the repairs. I didn't want to destroy our precious covers. All-in-all, it was a success.
That's all for now.
Happy Sunshine,
Miriam
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