We’re back to life on the sea in Grenada…A life where you have dinghies for cars only able to transport you as far as a nearby dock; public transportation, costing only about $1 USD; a dwelling that rocks you to sleep at night or can pitch you to your knees and is surrounded by a moat of turquoise water; a refrigerator requiring a deep dive to retrieve the mayo; pleasant, unplanned visits from friends old and new tying their dinghies along side your boat for a chat; planned social activities arranged over a VHF radio; a perpetually extreme UV index rating ; scenic waterfalls; weekly Saturday hikes provided by the Grenada Hash House Harriers, offering awe inspiring vistas and glimpses into a culture and lifestyle much simpler than what we see in Texas; the sound of a most pleasing accent spoken every where you venture; evening walks to a point offering views of waves crashing onto volcanic rock and tranquil sunsets; I could go on and on.  It’s a life very different from our life on land.  I’ve come to think of Grenada as my Caribbean “hometown” ( I know it’s a nation, but it has the feel of a town). Even though we sail to other Caribbean islands and nations during our boat-life portion of each year, I experience that nostalgic feeling of coming home every time we sail or fly back to sweet Grenada. 

In this blog post, I’ll offer a photo diary of many of the things I mentioned about life on the sea in Grenada + a photo diary of some of the fun we experienced with our guests, Alan and Judy, Mark’s brother and sister-in-law, when they came for a 10 day visit on Nancy Lu!

As always, you will find descriptions underneath the photos…

Nancy Lu spends about 10 days at the beginning of the season in disarray. We spent those nights on land as we accomplished the many tasks to be done after she’s been left for months. 

After we made it into the water, we attached the sunshades that our mooring ball “landlords”, Frank and Jules, on s/v Ever After made for us last year…Shout out to Ever After Canvas Company!

At the end of last season, we got rid of the carpet that covered every inch of floor on Nancy Lu and had new rugs custom made.  We were a little worried about cleaning up the sticky residue that was left by the old carpet on the beautiful floor.  Thanks to a simple solution of spraying soapy water and letting it sit for 10 minutes on the residue recommended by our daughter, Claire, we had nice clean floor for our new rugs!

Clean floor, but no new rugs yet…

I thought you might like a partial, pictorial tour of the Nancy Lu with the last picture showing our new rugs that finally  arrived!

Colorku- a fun game like Sudoku that doubles as decoration + my daily afternoon coffee-slushy courtesy of my wonderful captain’s secret method of making use of my leftover morning coffee- DELICIOUS!

Grenada celebrated the anniversary of 50 years of independence this February! The Grenada colors were in abundance and the spirit of patriotism was high!

At the beginning of the season, which is the tail end of the rainy season, we were treated to some spectacular rainbows. These pictures are not all the same one!

Sunset is always a special time on Nancy Lu.

Nancy Lu looks peaceful in the glow of a sunset.

We’re racing to take our walk to enjoy the sunset from the point at the end of the street…

Another day; another walk to the point for exercise and a view…

I’m back to my regular morning yoga classes at Sankalpa Studio located at True Blue Resort.

I also gave Yoga With A Smile a try this year at Prickly Bay Marina…I’m a little rusty .

We’ve enjoyed live streaming our Cedar Creek Bible Church service under the shade of a palm tree on the grounds of The University Club right in front of our mooring.

As is often the case, we met new friends at the beginning of the season. I met Michelle while we were both doing our  laundry at Spice Island Marine. Marty and Michelle are at the beginning of a circumnavigation on s/v Platina II. I shared with Michelle about one of my favorite musical artists of all time (like right up there with James Taylor!), Sabrina Francis, and that led to us attending the premier of her new project, Meet Me At The Mango Tree, together.  It was FABULOUS!!!!! I’ve been to many of her concerts at multiple venues, and  I still can’t get over the immersive, storytelling, multisensory, one-of-a-kind, musical experience that we had that night!

We’re off…

The venue, Sabrina’s Treehouse, is a wonderful hideaway up in the mountains.

Waiting for the show to start…

Sabrina and her band are a Grenadian national treasure. Every time my eyes feast upon a beautiful sight in this country, her love song to Grenada, This Is Home, comes to my mind and I start to sing!

Our special guests arrived on February 13…

First on the agenda was a Cutty tour with the renowned Mr. Cuthbert! It was Valentine’s Day…

We had a Grande Anse Beach Day…

We sailed to Carriacou…

We visited waterfalls….

We enjoyed a leisurely time at Le Phare Bleu and gave Mark a chance to redeem himself at the game, Sequence, sadly he couldn’t

We went on a river rafting tour…

Alan jumped off the bridge, but the picture didn’t make it on the blog.  See disclaimer below…

Alan and Judy joined us for some sunset walks to the point…

We enjoyed many game nights on board…

DISCLAIMER!!!!:

This blog post was hurriedly done right before catching a flight to visit my parents. Alan and Judy’s visit did not get the photo representation it was due because I did not have time to go back and find photos that inevitably don’t make it to the photo folder like I thought they did.  Photos are not in order as I usually put them…I hate that I have run out of time to document their wonderful visit right!

I’ve gotta run, now! I’m looking forward to seeing my family, but I’ll be back to Captain Mark and Nancy Lu in a few days and our life on the sea will continue!