New to us dink is home after some repairs and valve replacements. I had to bring her back from Prickley Bay and that was quit a venture as usual. To cross the point, you have to enter the open ocean for a bit. Though it is protected, the waves can be pretty high with reefs all around you. Pups and I went for a ride today to check her out. All is looking good.
Avocados for dinner (made a big batch of Guac) and it is yummy. Grocery shopping is on Tuesday and I have a larger than normal list. I need to restock a few things like onions, peppers, cheese, fruit, etc. The rain stopped this morning at sun rise, so my clothes did finally dry. All freshly rinsed in tropical wave rain water. I hope it doesn't rain like that for a few more days even though it made sleeping really nice with the sound of the rain hitting the boat. It was also cooler last night; I had to throw the sheet over my legs to sleep.

I had lunch as Whisper Cove with neighbors on a Mason 54. Not much else going on. The wind started blowing a bit and that has helped to cool things down, but not by much.
Someone was roasting a pig on the Hog Island Beach last night and there were 100 people on the beach when we went for our walk.
Cinco has been back in his life vest after I caught him licking… I thought we were over that, but he started again and I don't want him getting a hot spot in the tropics, no telling what that could lead too.
Today will be a laundry day, I hope the Sun stays bright and the winds keep blowing.

The AB dink needs valve repairs and a couple patches. Hopefully she will be back on Monday. The dogs are having a blast in the old dink cause it is shallow and they can put their front paws on the top of the tubes and let the wind blow in their little faces. They have also taken to barking and barking for no reason when we are riding in the old dink. I also have to clip them in (specifically Cinco) since he wants to jump out at the beach, especially if there is another dog on the beach.

I went to Prickley Bay in the Dink today so I could get some documents notarized and see the dink repair folks. I'll have to return Friday morning when SeaSafetyServices says they have an opening to inspect and repair the valves on the "new-to-me" dink. The only leaks I see are in the valves. I swapped out the engine and the old dink is now just floating. She is a bit shallow and wet in the chop. In addition, Cinco can see over the top of the old dink and so the past few rides have been a "bark fest" as he barks at everything he sees. It will be nice to be in the deep V-bottom boat so he can't see.
I'm not sure what dinner will be tonight… maybe guac and other veggies, may be roasted chicken at Whisper Cove.
It is Very hot and humid here in Grenada.

This week's CBIP (well I wish it was every week) was bacon, grilled onion, and blue cheese on a local baked Bun… Yum Yum Yum. I haven't had one of those since Tuesday night at EYC an Annapolis. Otherwise. a lazy day in Grenada. It is really to hot and humid here to do much at mid-day.

Today was a stay at home day to read books. Not much else, fresh puppy jambalaya, hot solar water for a shower and ripe fruit for dinner. Tuesday is shopping day.

There was a dinghy concert today in the bay just to the east of us. They pull up a tow boat and two barges and all the dinks tie up and other folks to far away to dink ferry into the show.

The dogs came with me and it was lots of fun. The pups had lots of attention from all the kids in neighboring dinks. They made Cinco dance and two of them just loved to hold Jupie in their laps. I went swimming a few time and the pups stayed with the kids for lots of attention. They are going to sleep well tonight! After the show we went to the beach on Hog Island for a walk and then came home for dinner just before sunset.

I took the dogs to be beach, read a book, had lunch with friends at Whisper Cove, took a nap, had left overs for dinner, did some internet research for investments and now getting ready to shower and sleep. No rain today and that is good for now, after all the TS rain from DON.

They have a local jam session at the Grenada Brewery every Tuesday, but this week it was delayed until after the TS passed.

These are all local boaters on the stage playing some awesome music (two saxes, drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars and a vocalist doing Van Morrison). The beer is good as well, they have special water chillers to keep the beer cool while fermenting - the only way to make good beer in this climate. I got a private tour of the brewery. Nice pub grub too — for 20EC you get a cab ride there and back + two pints of beer. I had more than 2 pints :) and some food.
Picture of Pat and D (from Iota LA) at the Brewery.

There is a dinghy concert this Sunday at the bay just to the east of us. I'll be going there this weekend with the pups in our dink. It should be fun, they anchor a couple of barges out in the bay and everyone ties up for a party.
Carnival will start here in a couple of weeks. It sounds awesome, to I'll be at Jouvey by 2AM for the kick off in old clothes so I can get painted by the locals before marching through town. I guess I'll have to bring a change of clothes as well so I can get back on the taxi after the march through town. I'll try to remember to bring my camera.

Max winds of 25.8kts for this TS and very little rain until after it passed. Today the clouds are clearing and we've got a bit more sun but the ocean swell is still at 9ft.
I'm making more puppy jambalaya and I plan on taking them out to walk early so I can catch the bus to the brewery for the party tonight.

TS DON is heading our way at 20MPH. Should be in interesting night. Almost everything is secured. I still have some seat covers to store. Charging the Batts for the storm.
Ready to brew a pot of coffee. TS winds shouldn't hit us until 8PM.
I went shopping today and stocked up on all the goodies for the pups. I'll make a chicken sauce piquant on Thursday with key lime pie :)

I have a sat phone and in-reach unit that I pay for these each month or every 6 months… The deal is that most of the time these devices are turned off until I'm sailing, but I sail less than 10% of the time. The rest of the time I'm on the hook and enjoying an island or country and these devices are turned off. But all the same we have to maintain these connection and subscriptions to satellite services to keep everyone we know back on shore happy that they can track us, contact us, and know we are okay. There must be a better way to track us and know that we are okay.
Another tropical storm is brewing and Grenada is in the red cone for now. It looks like it will go north of us at this time. I'm keeping an Eye on her all the same.
Boudin for lunch on Monday!!! Yeh, thanks to my sisters!
I think the pups and I will go swimming again on Monday. They did so well yesterday. They won't like it, but its good exercise for them. And the water is 82deg F.
I sent a propane bottle off to be refilled. The 20lbs bottle last about 5 months. It should be back here later today. We have two bottles so we still have cooking gas.
I also had a case of Carib beer delivered this morning… That stuff is good when it is ice cold and since I defrosted the plates in the freezer a few days ago, the frig is really cold.

I found one of the hidden CHOCOLATE Bars after dinner!!! :) ;) Oh, Grenada has some of the best dark chocolate in the world. Really this stuff is wonderful. The beans and the sugar are all grown within a couple miles of the chocolate factories… No milk used… pure 100% or less chocolate. I like the 70% with or without nibs… This stuff will curl you toes!!! And i've eaten 1/2 of a bar of 70% chocolate with sea salt…. YUM! YUM! YUM! The flavors linger sooooo loooong… Grenada has AMASSING CHOCOLATE See if your local store can import it!!! Definitely worth every penny paid.
Another thing that has change in Grenada since I was here 25+ years ago —They have Coffee!!! Yes, they have always grown the beans but being a BRITISH Island everyone would drink tea…. Great tea and well prepared, but not coffee. The only coffee you could find was "nescafe" instant…UGH PUKE!@#! So we always carried our own Cajun Coffee when we came to the West Indies… Well now there is - Grenada "Grand Etang" Roasted coffee that is as good as any dark roast I've had. It's better than Pete's French Roast or Community Pack a'Rouge. See if you local store can import it as well!!! I've already consumed 5lbs of the stuff and started drinking coffee every morning (something I haven't done in many years).

Grenada is a very friendly island and still rustic. Everyone says, "Hello, Good Morning", Hello Good Afternoon or Hello Good evening when you encounter them on the streets. There is no Graffiti anywhere and there is very little litter. St. Martin is also nice, but very modern compared to Grenada. You could not starve on Grenada as there is always something in season and growing wild all over the island. Currently it is Avacados, Mangoes, Bread Fruit, Passion Fruit, Sour sop, star fruit and wax apples. St. Martin doesn't have the local agriculture however, St. Martin doesn't have the high tariffs and duties for imports. It is a trade off. If you eat local in Grenada it is cheap as most things are grown here. Leafy lettuce is 2.5 EC locally grown, in St. Martin it is 4 EU and imported from France. But imports cost extra in Grenada, whereas they are about the same cost as in the US when in St. Martin. Now wine is another deal. In St. Martin you can get amassing french wine for a few dollars a bottle as well as french butter, cheese and bread. In Grenada the only wine is either US or South American and the best is from South America, but it cost more than $10 US a bottle whereas the French wine in St. Martin was $4 a bottle and in general better quality.
I'm going for the Whisper Cove Brunch on Sunday. I hear it is very good… More to come.

This is a test to see if I can export 180deg photos to the blog.

Last night I made Crawfish Etoufee with crawfish Julie and Noonie carried over to me. Guest were Y-Knot and Island Dream. They were told to bring their puppies, but neither did (Jupiter was not happy with that). All the same It was a great dinner with friends. I had the leftovers (only one plate) for lunch today. Yum Yum Yum, I haven't had Crawfish Etoufee in several years.
THANKS Julie and Eugenie!!! They were a hit as are the cheeses you dropped off. I've only eaten one chocolate bar :) Honest. The other two are hidden.

I stopped the engine by opening the fuel filter line and letting air into the system. I took 5 primes to get her started again. According to the Yanmar document I need to crack the injectors to stop her next time. I may have a bad relay. I'll find out today when I try to stop the engine all the same, I have the 17mm wrench ready to crack the injectors. Nice day today, went shopping and picked up everything for Crawfish Etoufee. Yum… Can't wait.

I inflated old dink and I'm patched the floor so that I can use here while I try to find the leaks in new dink. New dink fooled me by holding air for only one day…
Also yesterday the solenoid for the engine shutoff did not work. I have to debug that electrical problem. Chances are it is caused by the lousy wiring harnesses used on Yanmar engines. I took the panel apart this morning and this afternoon once it cools down a bit outside I'll start testing for continuity and voltage.

Yesterday I got the fitting to allow me to pump up old Dink since new dink is leaking air and has to be pumped up every time I use her. Well yesterday after putting old dink in the water, new dink has not leaked air at all. I pumped here up yesterday morning and I was able to take the dogs for an evening walk on Hog Island, go to the neighbors for sundowners, returns home at 11PM, and then take the pups to the beach this morning. New dink is holding air… I guess the threat worked :) New dink is behaving. I still have to pull the inflatable floor out of old dink cause that is leaking air. That will be one of my projects for today. I will also go to Prickly Bay today to pickup some fly paper… The flies are swarming and I'm sick of swatting and picking up dead fly bodies. According to the locals this is temporary, and cause by the large number of Mangos on the Island that are ripe and falling on the ground to provide the fly larvae food to grow.

Sorry for not posting this past week, but I had visitors. They flew out of Grenada today. So I have lots to update and it may take a day or two for this to make it up to the web site given the slow internet access I have here.
Here is a selfie of the gang.

On Thursday when they arrived we had dinner at Whisper Cove (roasted chicken). On Friday I made them go shopping with me. On Saturday we went to St. George's to see the Fort, Market and other stops. After the tour, we had lunch at BB's Crab shack. On Monday we hung around the boat and then went on an evening Turtle watch. This was great, the leatherback turtles lay eggs on the North beach of Grenada. It was a two hour drive each way, but watching a giant leatherback turtle lay eggs and swim back to the sea great. On Tuesday our island tour was rescheduled for Wednesday (good thing cause I only had 3 hours of sleep) so we had an active day with the puppies, lunch (very good Chicken Roti) at Nimrod's, dinghy trips to visit the other Bays, and naps in the afternoon. On Wednesday we did an island tour with Cutty (WOW)!!! Highly recommended! The tour took all day and we covered a large part of the island. Cutty is a great guide as he knows everyone and he was once a farmer and knows all about the plants etc. Chances are he saved Julie's life as she was about to pick on a plant and taste it, he stopped her just in time. We went to the Chocolate Factory and a traditional Rum distillery where they still use the water wheel to crush the cane. The picture below is the cane evaporation process where the boil off some of the water. Each one of the kettles is 600 Gal and they use the dried cane remains after crushing to fire the furnace under these pots. All the rum they make here is OP (over proof) and not sold outside of Grenada (I don't think they can keep up with local demand). This Rum cannot be carried on air planes (over 70% alc.).

At the end of the day they went to a resort for an overnight stay. On Thursday I met them for lunch and took them to the airport.