…So I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum, but I’m afraid there might be a thousand pictures! 

Mark has finally finished the multi-step task of replacing about 200 bungs that came out during Nancy Lu’s time in the boat yard.  This has been an ongoing project for the last 10 years.  Happily, none of the hundreds that he’s replaced over the years, using the technique he’s developed, have ever come back up!  Though this has been a daily occupation, he has plenty of projects that come up and get completed in relatively short order.  Such as,

taking apart and servicing all the winches, and

installing an extra fan in the V-berth in anticipation of our daughters’ visit.  It’s unbelievable how much upheaval can occur when your garage and tool chest are in the main saloon!

He’s not the only one with daily tasks and other necessary projects to deal with.  When we finally moved to a mooring in one of Prickly Bay’s more calm and comfortable spots from the uncomfortable spot where we were anchored for so long, the anchor needed to be cleaned of all the marine growth it had accumulated.  If this task was neglected, the dying growth would quickly turn stinky while stored, as it is now, in the anchor locker!  So, I got out my snorkel gear, cleaning pad, and a toothbrush to painstakingly remedy the situation as Mark let the chain out of the locker little by little using the electric windlass!  Oh, the glamour of boat-life!

It’s not all work and no play, though!  I hope you enjoy the following pictures of our adventures of the last few weeks…Here’s the part where I let the pictures do most of the talking and I try to  keep the words to a minimum .

We took a short sail between pulling the anchor and mooring…

We enjoy beautiful views in our new spot in both the daytime and evenings.

The following pictures are of Saturday mornings at Grand Anse Beach with the organization for which I volunteer,

 Get Grenada Swimming:

The volunteer-newbies get a crash course in teaching beginner-level swimmers.

Advanced students are learning advanced skills as part of their training to be teachers themselves and life guards on beaches throughout Grenada!

Brothers, Elijah and Noah, are graduates of Get Grenada Swimming.  Now, they teach every Saturday! 

The following pictures are from Grenada Hash House Harriers’ Hash #1183 in Soubise, St. Andrews:

I represented my sister, Jenny’s forest preschool, Magnolia Forest Preschool on this hash.

Cocoa

We met a little boy carrying a knife (child sized machete?). This takes the risky play that Magnolia Forest Preschool promotes to the next level, haha!  Men walking the streets with machetes in hand are a common sight in areas with many gardens.

He and his sister were reunited with their proud dad at the end of the hash.

Hash #1183 honored a Grenadian treasure, Mr. Telfour Bedeau. You can follow the following link for a BBC piece on Mr. Bedeau.  The “Indiana Jones” of Grenada created many of the trails that we as hashers use!

Maybe the young man we met will follow in Telfour Bedeau’s footsteps!

Hash #1183’s version of Grenada’s national dish, oildown, was served at trail’s end.

The following pictures were taken on the way to a tubing adventure at the Balthazar River on Shademan’s bus.  He likes to stop and let us get what he calls “postcard” photos…

Mark and I  like to sit up in the front seat with Patrick as often as we can.

At one of our scenic stops, my body language expressed the temperature drop that occurred as we climbed into the mountain rainforest.

The boating community wouldn’t be the same without Patrick, aka Shademan, the yachting community’s trusty, premier (in my opinion) private taxi service.

The following pictures are of our relaxing river tubing trip:

Our guide, Ice, was very helpful and professional along with…

a couple of younger helpers.

We were treated to a grand finale of which the mama in me did not approve!

On the way home, we passed a restaurant with a familiar name .

The following pictures are from an adventure to a couple of waterfalls we’ve never visited before, The Seven Sisters Falls and Honeymoon Falls.  We took a city bus with our new friends, Penny and George from S/V StarShot, up to St. Andrew where the falls are located near Grand Etang National Park.  There is a hike through some private property to get to the falls:

Avocados

After The Seven Sisters, we were on to Honeymoon Falls, which we never would have found without Terron, the guide we chose to have come along.  We certainly didn’t need him to get to the first two falls, but we’ve learned over the years that you miss some hidden gems when you think you can do things on your own.  We hadn’t even heard of Honeymoon Falls.  The following pictures are from there:

Almost there!

After our invigorating time at the falls, we headed back down (and then back up, way up)…

Penny and I enjoyed playing hide-and-seek-the-piece-that-broke-off-my-toy-tractor with 3 year old Rasheem as his grandmother took lots of pictures!

I’m so glad that there was an upgrade to the facilities before our 2022 visit!

The following pictures were taken when I took a Saturday off from swimming lessons and Hash #1184 so we could take advantage of the free bus over to Le Phare Bleu Marina and spend the morning and early afternoon relaxing and enjoying some of the facilities at their little boutique resort and marina “village”!

The following pictures were taken during a LONG, HOT walk from our anchorage in Prickly Bay over to Hog Island.  We took the walk and had lunch at Roger’s Beach Bar with Penny and George.  We all agree that we will not be doing that walk again!

On the way back through Hog Island, we came upon a man working at getting the good-for-eating part out of sea urchins.  Behind him, we saw a hill of conch shells discarded over time after the “meat” had been harvested.

The following pictures are from a much shorter walk Mark and I took down the road that runs just behind the beautiful houses and resorts that sit in front of where our boat is moored.  We walked to the end of the point.  I would love to make this walk a daily routine.   We  have enjoyed it several times since these pictures were taken!

Our walk began by cutting through the University Beach Club, which is in front of our boat.  We tied our dinghy to their dock.

At the end of our walk, we realized that we are part of the beautiful scenery that the University Beach Club restaurant guests enjoy.  Nancy Lu is right in the middle!

The following pictures are from Grenada Hash House Harriers’ Hash #1185 at St. Theresa RC School playing field, Vincennes, St. David.  We skipped #1184 to go to Le Phare Bleu:

This hash was located in the breadbasket of Grenada as many of them are.  Wherever the hashes are located, many of the people from the nearby village come out to cheer us on, guide us, and show us things of which they are proud.  Sometimes, someone will ask to have their picture taken as did the man whose small pineapple farm we passed.

The dinner offering I chose at Hash #1185 was BBQ pork chops and potato salad.  Providing the food and drink at the end of a hash is another way that the local villagers get involved and make a little money.  Proceeds often go to a school such as St. Theresa’s RC School.

That’s about it for now.  My next blog entry will feature lots of pictures of 3 pretty girls…stand by for that!