Bequia and St Lucia

On the 26th of Dec we decided to go for a hike at Fort Rodney, St. Lucia. Weather was great with a light breeze and from the top of the Fort you could see Martinique.








After leaving Bequia we stopped at Soufriere on St Lucia. We cleared in and then spent two days on a mooring at Malgretout. Swimming, hanging out, and I got a much needed haircut. Lesley took the dinghy out for a test ride after I repaired the prop.









While we were still anchored in Bequia we decided to take the dinghy out and explore the ruins called "Moonhole". Very interesting site but not really sure about the background and history











Another shot of part of "Moonhole"

Anchored Admiralty Bay, Bequia

We've been back on the boat for over a month now and I've been remiss in taking pictures, updating this blog, and doing just about anything else - except working on the boat. We have everything put back together that we took apart last year. Autopilot is working well with the new substitute Raymarine RAM (in a B&G autopilot system), generator is generating and no more oil leaks, solar panel is working great, and the water maker is providing all the fresh water we can use.

We've been casually moving North this year as we are not meeting guests or on any kind of schedule.

We were able to provision pretty thoroughly in Grenada but like always there is something that can not be found - this year it is beef bouillon and canned potatoes but we are making do and hoping that we will find these items in St Lucia.

We continue to use Windguru.com as our primary wind/wave source and again this year find that it is a great source for planning trips between Islands.

We saw our first "Green Flash" of the season two nights ago and I was of course very excited about that. Lesley must think I'm nuts!

I've been enjoying swimming more this season than last for some reason and we have not had as much of a problem (yet) with charter boats or those from a certain European Country trying to encroach on our anchor site! Will see if this holds true as we continue on our trip North.

Finally, we had such a great experience shipping material to Grenada via Tropical Shipping this year, we plan to ship some of our cold weather gear and unused equipment back to Florida when we return there in April.

Back In Grenada

We arrived back in Grenada late evening 6 November and have already sanded the bottom of the boat and completed bottom painting. We hope to have the boat back in the water on the 10th and then will move to Le Phare Bleu to complete re outfitting the boat.

We've been enjoying our afternoon swims at La Sagesse and the food in the restaurant is good as always.

We met several nice couples from England, Canada and Norway and found out about a new music club in St George's and hope to try that out in a week or so.

Weather has been nice with a brief shower early this evening. Hope to post a few photos of the boat yard tomorrow.

Our Barrel Shipment to Grenada is complete

Our shipment of boat supplies to Grenada is complete. Island Dreams Yacht services, located at Le Phare Bleu Marina, has our barrels and solar panel and all we have to do now is fly to Grenada, launch Gra'inne, and move to the marina where we will load/install everything.

Vulture strike

Yesterday we were headed to the Tropical Shipping office with our shipment when a Vulture flew up and hit our windshield. The vulture did not survive and neither did the windshield. We were both covered with small shards of glass but other than a good scare we were none the worse for wear! The window has been replaced and we are going to try again today.

The Barrels are full!

We finally finished shopping for the remaining items that we want to send back to Grenada and are now ready to take the barrels to the Seaport in Riveria Beach, FL. We've topped off the barrels with paperbacks and a few last minute additions and added desiccant to each barrel to help control moisture while in transit and temporary storage. The shipment has been booked with Tropical Shipping and Island Dream Yacht Services (in Grenada) will receive and store the shipment awaiting our return.

The paperwork process was fairly easy and Tropical Customer Service has been wonderful.

We finished loading the barrels in the truck this morning and will head to the East Coast of Florida on Monday morning. It is amazing how much stuff you can put into one of these barrels!

La Sagesse Nature Center, Grenada

As we prepare for our return to Grenada this November we have again made reservations at La Sagesse Nature Center. While we work on Gra'inne in the yard at Grenada Marine we love staying here. La Sagesse provides courtesy transportation to and from the boat yard and they have a great staff and restaurant.

Seventy gallon cardboard shipping barrel

Cardboard shipping barrel that we purchased from Tropical Shipping. We will fill these barrels with an assortment of boat supplies and personal items and then ship them to Greanda in advance of our return there in November 2009.

Barrel number two

Small Honda generator, new docklines, and other items will be added to fill this barrel. Being able to ship these items back to Grenada for a reasonable price really is a convenience. We do not have to worry about dragging heavy luggage through the airport, having the luggage pilfered or worse lost completely. Best of all the material will be cleared through Customs and stored for us at Le Phare Blue Marina by Island Dreams Yacht Services. All items will be in secure storage and readily available when we pull into our slip at the marina.

Barrel partially filled

Barrel is nearly full. Lesley has some sewing to do on some bedding which we will add to this barrel and then some small miscellaneous items and we will seal the barrel and drop it off in Riviera Beach, FL at the Tropical Shipping Office.

Summer in the US

With Gra'inne on the hard at Grenada Marine we returned to our home at Burnt Store Marina, in Southwest Florida.

Burnt Store Marina

We then took off headed West and had a wonderful time camping in Big Bend National Park, visiting friends and family in Texas and Colorado.

Chisos Mountain Range

Hiking in Big Bend National Park - area called the window - once you look out over the waterfall area you can see why it's called the window.

The Window

While visiting friends in Boulder we were able to go for a nice hike in the Canyon above Chataqua Park. Views from the top of the mountain were spectacular!

Hiking Near Boulder, CO