It was glorious but not really devious - although we had hatched a plan !! The plan was we were going to sail out of Mt Hartman Bay, follow the markers and stay clear of the reefs, go 'round the corner (Pt Saline) and find our way to anchor just outside St George's, wait for the most excellent weather coming up on the weekend, and then start adventuring' North.

(Being sailors and cruisers, we well know what happens with Plans, don't we?)

After stocking up on provisions, doing last minute laundry, getting one more Yoga Class in, and one more Volleyball game in, we then (oh dread !!) found ourselves cleaning and scrubbing and scraping our anchor chain trying to remove the two inches or more of grassy growth that had accumulated on there this past month!! Then, with all that said and done, we felt we were finally ready to go !!

Before long, Mt Hartman Bay was almost just a great memory,



the cliffside homes and lighthouses offering up some magnificent views as we sailed by.



If you were flying into Grenada, you'd be landing just there...



We were having a nice ride of it, the seas relatively calm, winds just right,



so out comes the jib,



and we motor sailed along, as we simultaneously generated some power, and turned on the water maker to fill up our tanks.

This area is always a vibrant piece of water to get through, the currents can either push you along, or slow you down, and depending on wind direction can make your ride a bit unpleasant. Thankfully we had neither of the above, and even spotted friends on Amoray, who were out and about enjoying some great sailing weather themselves.



Then wouldn't you know it, something just had to happen. The red light on the watermaker panel clicked on and it stopped working. It has been rather finicky lately and we've both been dealing with that knot in your stomach feeling that comes when you know something isn't quite right and will soon give way every time you turn it on, you know?

I took control of the helm while Dave performed a few quick inspections: no leaks (good!!), no pressure (not good!!) and a few "hmm, wonder if..." moments. We figured it was best to keep the thing off after a few tries at starting/re-starting it, and were, as a result, purging more water than we had on hand to purge.

Once around the corner and out of the turbulent washing machine effect, we kept motor-sailing ever closer to St-George's with its unmistakeable view of the picturesque clay coloured "fish-scale" tile roofs that is the Carenage.



We dropped anchor and once felt settled in, had a swim on it just to make sure. We splashed into the 20 foot depths of blue water under our keel, loving it's see clear to the bottom clarity and cool freshness after the last couple of hours out and about in the high heat of the afternoon sun, until the view through the snorkel mask had me realize with shock that I was seeing nothing and swimming in nothing but blobs and blobs (and more blobs) of jellies! They were everywhere!! I was surrounded by small, see through, round, jelly like BLOBS, and that was enough of that, I was out of the water ten times quicker than I had gotten in. UGH !

That adventure over, some vinegar on the jelly stings and we had a phone call to make. X-Marine was accommodating and super responsive to our late afternoon request. "Sure..." they said, "c'mon in tomorrow first thing, we'll take a peek at it" and after that was said and done, we could relax into the evening,



but not until we first dinghied over to PLM to meet up with everyone for a few reunion hugs and some of their famous PLM rum-punch!

Back on the boat that night, we spent a god-awful, sleepless night rolling from side to side with the swell and grumpily got up some very long hours later so that we could arrive at the dock the next morning at the appointed hour. No sooner had we entered the channel then the rolling motion ceased and we instantly felt better, as we pulled up alongside X-Marine's dock with ease, keeping an eye on the depth, relying on their assurances that there was "more than enough water" for our 6'4" draft. And there was, barely. Although given the reputation of the Bay, I'm sure there was many feet of soft muck.

Long story short, the water maker's pump needs a new pressure gauge, a few brushings and things, but other than that, they couldn't find anything too drastically wrong with it, which we suppose is a good thing. X-marine's dock however, was close to the noise of the main road, and by the end of the day, we opted to head into PLM for some secure dock time, eagerly anticipating a quiet night of sleep.



So we're here for a few days more, while the parts are sourced, and looks like we're not leaving Grenada (yet), but are attending the 2013 Rum and Beer Festival.