We’re happy to be back on Nancy Lu in the Caribbean after about one and a half years.  At the moment, our “neighborhood” is Prickly Bay on the south coast of Grenada.  This year, instead of sailing to different Caribbean island countries, we’re going to stay in Grenada the whole season.  I gotta say I’m happy about that ‘cause I love Grenada, and I’ve always disliked the leaving part of sailing!

The journey back to Nancy Lu started with our friend, Kenny, taking us to get our PCR test in Dallas and then dropping  us off at our daughter, Claire’s apartment, where we rested a bit with her dog, Daisy, while we waited for her to get home from work.

We enjoyed being able to go out to dinner with Claire and  her friend Kay and Kay’s boyfriend, Jonathan.  Then, Claire dropped us off at our hotel where we slept a few hours before our 5:30 am flight.

We flew into Maurice Bishop airport on Wednesday, February 19, over a month and a half later than is usual for us to start our sailing season.

I didn’t remember the very helpful, LARGE signage from our previous experiences here, hahaha!

Mark treated me to a stay at True Blue Bay Eco Resort for our first 3 nights in Grenada! That was a new experience for us!

From the beautiful grounds of the resort, we could see St. George’s University right across True Blue Bay.  It is easily recognized by the orange roofs of all the campus buildings.  SGU is right at the end of Maurice Bishop International Airport!

Enjoying breakfast from the land was a switch from what we’re used to doing.

Taking yoga classes every morning and some evenings is something I enjoyed doing while we stayed at the resort.  I continued to go after we switched to the efficiency apartments at the boat yard when our stay at the resort was over; although, the walk was a bit longer.  I even plan to go one morning this week, but  a dinghy ride will be added to the journey to get there!

Our accommodations at the boat yard were not near as scenic, but they were painted a friendly blue!

This is where Nancy Lu spent the last 1.5 years at Spice Island Marine…

waiting for her captain and 1st mate to get her back into ship shape…

She was in need of a lot of cleaning!

On February 28, 13 days after we arrived in Grenada, Nancy Lu was ready to launch! She was transported from her spot in the boat yard…

to the travel lift where she was splashed down into the water, ahhhh!  This is when we moved on board permanently!  Nancy Lu proved to be seaworthy, but when Captain Mark fired up the engine, he discovered a leak in the exhaust elbow.  Johnny, the boat yard manager, fixed the problem temporarily with some epoxy, and we were good to go anchor out into Prickly Bay where we’ve been ever since!  I am continuing a neighborhood ladies’ Bible study from back in Texas using the Bible Study Fellowship App.  I zoomed in for our first meeting while Nancy Lu was still at the dock.  I was able to give them a little virtual tour of the less than glamorous side of boat life, but I couldn’t stay for the whole meeting that week.  We’ve since enjoyed meeting together through zoom!  That’s how we are able to continue attending our home church, as well!

It’s amazing how it feels like it’s been no time since we left our boat-home in 2020!  After owning Nancy Lu for eleven years, getting back to life on board felt very natural, but we have had some issues due to how long she sat unused…

One of them was an issue with the seawater intake on our electric head. After much trial and error, a lot of time spent in a very awkward and cramped position, and a few trips back and forth from Budget Marine, Mark solved that problem! YAY! It is with great appreciation and thanksgiving that I go to the bathroom these days, seriously!  I have to brag on my captain!  He is so tenacious, patient, calm, resourceful, and smart when it comes to solving boat problems!  I am appreciative and grateful for this because if you’ve got a boat, you’ve got problems!  There is a saying that living the yachting lifestyle means you are fixing boats in beautiful places…that is true!  It’s definitely a lifestyle,  not a vacation!

Other problems encountered and solved so far:

corroded solenoid on the stove + clogged gas ports,

a watermaker diverter solenoid failure,

and a broken wind speed indicator…

That problem required us calling in a professional.  Yep! Fixing things in beautiful places!

We’ve also spent quite a bit of time making things nice and shiny…

Mark has waxed and polished Nancy Lu’s blue stripe, and

I’m still working on polishing the bright work outside and

inside!  Of course there’s always the day to day stuff like…

laundry,

grocery shopping (the most enjoyable is when the market comes almost to you),

make a couple of sandwiches for lunch(easier said than done when your fridge is evil and the meat is on the bottom!),

cooking (Goodbye, Hello Fresh; a couple of new recipes were lemon butter chicken and deconstructed egg roll),

making my fresh fruit juices (passion fruit juice is our favorite!),

drinking the homemade juices (this year, I did my version of Chick-Fil-A’s frosted lemonade),

having a little fun making a cairn with the gutted passion fruits,

and going(dinghy ride + walking) out to eat when I’m too tired to cook. This year’s favorite so far, has been Indian Summer in the Container Park.

We’ve also done some just-for-fun stuff!  Every Saturday, we take part in the weekly Grenada Hash House Harriers event.  I’ve explained what that is in a past blog.  If you want to educate yourself about it, you can follow this https://2ufromnancylu.com/2020/03/05/sweet-grenada-this-is-home-away-from-home-january-31-2020-thru-february-22-2020/.  It’s a wonderful way to see parts of Grenada and meet people that we never would, otherwise!

Our first Hash of the season was actually the Grenada House Hash Harriers hash #1181 at Mt. Gazo, St. David.  It was a night hash and very challenging because of that!  There was a bonfire when we got back.  This time the offering for our after-hash-meal was Bull Head Waters.  We had no idea what that was, and it was dark when we were eating it.  Later, I asked our bus driver, Shademan (Patrick).  He said it is chopped up cow’s head soup…Y’all, It was delicious! I ate every bit!

The next Hash was #1182 in Windsor Forest.  As usually, Shademan picked up the boater participants from their different bays and delivered us there.  Often, the journey there is almost as scenic as the hash itself and Shademan imparts lots of knowledge along the way.  This time, Mark and I were lucky enough to sit in the front seat of his full bus with him!

People start to gather and sign in 30 minutes before start time.

And we’re off!  ON ON!!

There’s a walker’s and runner’s trail.  We’re walkers in case you’re wondering!

Callaloo

There was a lot of farm land on this hash.

The offering this week for the after-hash meal was oil down, Grenada’s national dish! It’s a stew with whatever the cook puts in!  This one had chicken, bread fruit, potato, green beans, dumplings (the banana looking thing), some other beef-looking meat, and yummy spices including curry.  Y’all, it’s delicious!!  I ate every bit!

Afterwards, there’s a ceremony for the first timers.  They get a certificate and a surprise spraying with beer.  Yep, it happened to us a few years back!  I’m amazed that there are always newbies.  Each hash has about 100 participants!

On our bus full of happy hashers headed home, we had two newbies smelling of beer!

On the way back, Shademan stopped at a bar owned by his cousin.  He lives in the house right next door.

The little restroom at the bar was an adventure!

This year, I’m volunteering for a group that gives free swimming lessons to children and adults all over Grenada.  Every Saturday morning, I get a ride with the founder of the program to the Grand Anse Beach location.  I am in charge of 1 child for each of the two hours we’re there.  It is a really fun and tiring experience!  The waves are a challenge for me!!  One perk of teaching swimming in the ocean is how easy it is to float!

That’s about it for now!  We plan to move around to Woburn Bay later this week, but other than that, things should  be sailing along much the same throughout the rest of March.  We are looking forward to our girls coming for a visit in April!  I think of their visit for motivation with each application of elbow grease as I continue to polish on Nancy Lu!