August 2013

August
A month without buying anything for the boat, and coincidentally our cheapest month yet!
Thurs 1^st
Last swim in marina pool before heading out into the bay.


Fri 2^nd
Early start to check out of the marina and head round to Clarkes Court Bay otherwise known as Woburn. Drop anchor with brand new G4 (high strength) chain. Windlass operation is very smooth. Happy hour in the Oasis Clarkes Court Bay


Sat 3^rd
Dinghy concert in roly waters “Pink” a Swiss guy was due to play but Eastjet cancelled his flight to London. So we had a local pan band at short notice. Followed, in the Oasis bar, by a set with Dave from Pavane, Peter from Too Much Fun and me. Three guitars and Dave sang, very enjoyable night.


Sun 4^th
Jam at Whisper Cove. Probably the best so far. There were so many good musicians and singers that the standard was extremely high.


Mon 5^th
Bank holiday for Emancipation Day


Tues 6^th
Jazz set at Whisper cove. Renato turns up with a tenor sax so we have thee horns. Peter and I play guitar. There are four people in the “crowd” plus Trudy and Mandy and the four staff! Two leave early...


Wed 7^th
We are back to a three piece band and the crowd has increased to six plus staff. This is our last set at Whisper Cove as Gavin is leaving for the UK.
There is a new service being provided by a local butcher, you order meat on Wednesday to be delivered fresh on Friday or frozen on Saturday. We order lamb Shanks, look forward to these.


Thurs 8^th
We move round to the next bay. “Hog Island”. This is a haven for live aboard cruisers. A quiet bay and a real beach bar. Quite busy with yachts though and we sneak in at the North end near the mainland shore.


Fr1 9^th




Sat 10^th
Country Dave plays with Peter and I at the Oasis.


Sun 11^th
Jam at whisper cove and then we had planned to go to Hog island. We stop off at Pink Panther on the way, 50 metres from the shore, and get Pantherized with Cuban Cigars (Cohibas) and Rum – Cuban, five types! We discuss pros and cons(none) of a trip to Cuba and pick up some good tips.


Mon 12^th
We wait in to see Robin, he has bought a new (very old) steel boat and picks it up from Grenada today. We meet on Hog island at Roger's beach bar. Our first time this year. Much the same thank goodness. Still the most authentic beach bar in the Caribbean. Robin, Angie, Mike and Julie from the Flying Buzzard, a tug boat from Maryport. Long way from home! James their crew and Gary from Margaritas and Tony (the tattooed lady) from Woiee. John the Gringo from Stingo brings out a guitar and we sing a few songs.


Tue 13^th
Visit Carnival parade. Not as good as previous years. Everybody seems to agree. But spectacular all the same and music is not so “insistent” less Soca and out of tune horns. Trudy plans to send out photos.


Wed 14^th
Keep eye on hurricane Erin.


Thur 15^th
Head to Roger's beach bar on Hog Island for early doors. Turns out late...meet Gro and Jason form Inanna and Gary from Margaritas.


Fri 16^th
Play Petanque at Clarkes Court Bay Marina. Trudy is semifinalist I am out in the second round with a near whitewash 10-1 to Jackie from Highheeled.


Sat 17^th
Dinghy around to get some fish and a few supplies.


Sun 18^th
Afternoon on the beach at Hog Island. Local food, barbecue chicken, cilantro salad, bread fruit salad and rice and peas. £6. huge plate and fantastic quality.


Mon 19^th
Trudy goes noodling in the morning and picks up a hull scraper designed and built by Mike from the Flying Buzzard. Works a treat, or so Trudy says!


Tue 20^th
Take shopping bus around town collect the new gas bottle.


Wed 21^st
Noodling and hull scraping for Trudy. Watch Louis Vuiton Americas Cup. Amazing racing between two top class crews and catamarans. They fly! In 14 knots of wind the can reach 40 knots of boat speed and are suspended 1 to 2 metres out of the water on hydrofoil type lifting keels and rudders. You must check it out on Youtube. Listen to some music from Gilfy and Jomo, barbecue supper and I get a birthday surprise in the form of an announcement over the mic, a chocolate cake with three flare sized fireworks and a present from Hans and Betina five Cuban cigars, including two Cohibas. Very generous. Lots of hand shakes and kisses. Its a day early, but who cares! Country Dave asks me to play again on Saturday. Pretty good last day as a 57 year old teenager.


Thurs 22^nd
Make Trudy tea in bed, Take her ashore so she can go to a book swap while I clean the bottom of the dinghy and remove barnacles from the outboard engine. Hang on, Its My birthday...Meal out at Whisper Cove and back to the boat for rum and Havana Cigars mmmmm.


Fri 23^rd
Cricket at Clarkes Court Bay. 28 to 50 and I drop two catches and I'm out for 2 but I'm still on an unbeaten side. A few youngsters have started turning up and the standards have vastly improved. Bowlers are actually bowling now, not chucking! We still have a no LBWs rule though.


Sat 24^th
I do another set with Country Dave in the Oasis. It is not advertised so we only have a small audience. Later we watch Leonard Cohen in concert on the big screen. He is much improved since the 70s! We finish up watching his three encores at 1:30.


Sun 25^th
Another day on the beach at Roger's bar on Hog Island. End up chatting with locals and the German contingent in the early hours. There is talk of two more birthday celebrations, a 50^th on Tuesday and a 70^th on Wednesday. Looks like being another busy week...


Mon 26^th
Chill out day. John from Stingo visits with guitar and we go through a few songs in preparation for the birthday parties. I glue my acoustic guitar back together and readjust the neck.


Tue 27^th
Rumour has it that the pig roast will not go ahead but Trudy checks this out (after noodling 09:30) and the pig is already on the spit. Great party, great pig, home after dark..(somewhere between 18:30 and 05:30!) Gary has paid for the pig roast and all the trimmings, very generous.


Wed 28^th
Another party, this time for Phill on Beothuck (extinct aboriginal tribe from Newfoundland), he is 70. Just a “pot luck” barbecue on the beach from 14:00, but loads arrive including guitars, blues harps, Tom toms, and singers. There is a great atmosphere, even for here, with cruisers and locals mixing. We get away early about 8pm. When we go for our dinghy it is out in the bay. Someone has been in our boat and set us adrift; probably by mistake as the dogs and kids seem to play in all the dinghies. A young chap kayaks out to collect our dinghy and another that is also adrift.


Thurs 29^th
Our usual service provider is not providing a decent signal so..Hunt for internet connections. There is no 3G on the island so we need a 2G USB dongle to connect via the mobile phone network. Unfortunately after a day searching there are none in Grenada. Hans and Betina from Pink Panther do an excellent talk on visiting Cuba which lasts into the night. He has provided three page handouts and burned discs with charts and pilot for all those attending. He must have spent hours.


Fri 30^th
Dinghy to Secret Harbour to get internet. It looks like we will have to do this whenever required. Bit of a pain. The marina has been done up since last year and now has an open kitchen and does food all day. Very handy. We buy petrol in the marina and head back to the boat.


Sat 31^st
We advertise for a 2G dongle on the morning cruisers net, and Stewart and Julia from Desiderata offer one free of charge. We put XCD50 on the number and discover that it is the wrong one! Finally get the correct number, put another XCD50 on it, select a data plan and were off and running.
Night time is pot luck in Clarkes Court Bay marina and Country Dave and I do another set. This one was advertised and coincided with the pot luck so we end up with the biggest audience yet. We (He) now have a regular Saturday night spot.