Facebook, Facebook, this is Delphinus, Delphinus with another blog post.
Since the last post (which was actually quite a while ago... sorry), we've left Grenada. We spent six months there and have enjoyed it exceedingly. I'm sorry I haven't posted much about it, and put such large gaps in between my posts. It's just that we've been so busy, and I usually forgot to post something because there was always something happening to distract me.
I won't bore you with every little detail of what we've been doing since the last post. I will just give you the highlights.
I wonder if anyone remembers me mentioning the Grenada Cruiser's Radio Net. It's run on the VHF radio, which is used to communicate with other boats. Every morning, at 7:30, should you turn to channel 66 (a VHF radio has different channels which you can turn to to talk privately to another boat and not on a main net. Channel 66 is used with a repeater so it can be heard all around Grenada) and listen to the net, which is basically a scripted broadcast run by a volunteer "net controller" which includes sections like "social events" (for cruisers' fun events), "parts and services" (for if you need assistance with boat jobs or similar), treasures of the bilge (to buy or sell items) and businesses (where local businesses advertise their goods, services and specials).
Did I say I had been a net controller on Saturdays? Well, Denise, the head of the Cruiser's Net, took back her Saturday slot a few weeks later.
A month or two later, a man called Andy who used to do Thursday slots left for Florida, so I took the job for up until I left Grenada, doing every Thursday's net. I was still head of the Kids' Net at the time, but now I've left Natasha, Denise's daughter, in charge of it on a Saturday.
This was the time of year when the hurricane season was coming to an end and most boats, including Delphinus, were leaving Grenada to see the world some more. This included kid boats, so Natalia, who ran the K.O.S (Kids' Organized Society) meetings every Saturday morning decided to put the meetings to a stop for the rest of the year. The last meeting we had was up at the pool in Secret Harbour, and we were told to bring t-shirts for writing on. This was four days before we would leave Grenada, so I brought a t-shirt, and everyone who came wrote their names on it. Then we all went for a dip in the pool and then it was back home to our boats.
A few weeks before, there were still quite a few kids, who all came to the Kids' Halloween Party on the 22nd in Secret Harbour. Most people got dressed up, including me. I had a shop-bought Halloween costume coming a few days too late for the Kids' Halloween Party, so I made my own. I decided to be a pirate this year. I got a green and white striped sleeveless shirt and red leggings. I wore my mum's anchor headscarf, that I stretched out to look like a bandanna, and I wore fingerless gloves and my mum's black cardigan. I also wore a belt, in which I slotted a cardboard cutlass Paul made me, the blade wrapped in silver tinfoil and the handle in black tape. It looked really cool.
The bar was decorated with fake cobwebs strung all over. In one corner there was a table which Sarah from Magical Face Painting (look up her Facebook page "Magical Face Painting") set up her kids' Halloween face-painting table; in another corner, there was a darts board where you throw darts at balloons and try to pop them; in the doorway to the bar there was a bubble machine that blew foam everywhere; in the car park there was a bouncy castle with a slide; and there was also horse-riding (or rather, sitting on top of a horse that a man guided from one end of the car park to the other and back again). That was more or less it. It was more for younger kids and I didn't enjoy it as much as I would've done if I was eight years old.
The adults' Halloween Party, on the 28th October, was a little better, though I wasn't quite sure why you were charged 40 dollars to go up to the pool, decorated quite like the kids' Halloween Party, and dance in a hot, crowded area to the same music we heard every day that was, as usual, blasting in your ear. It got even more crowded when the vet students from the university in St George started arriving so that you could barely move around.
We got in free, though, because we were on the dock. We still had to pay for drinks and such. We had great fun, even so, up until we were all ready to leave by midnight and totally sloshed (well, not me, of course), and then of course it started pouring with rain when the majority of our hatches were open. Great. We waited a few minutes, hoping the rain would stop. Yeah right! Mum and I eventually had to totter down the hill (I was a complete genius and was wearing Mum's high heels) through the pouring rain back to our boat to shut the hatches. I was beyond relieved to find my cabin's hatches was closed, though Mum's and Paul's cabin hatches were of course wide open, as well as the main hatch in the saloon. A perfect end of the night. We laughed ourselves to sleep.
Then came my 14th birthday, on the 31st October. Thanks to everyone who gave me presents and cards. I really appreciate them.
My grandad, Derrick Eames, came out from England to Grenada for my birthday, so that made it special, especially since I love my grandad to bits. He also brought out all my presents and cards from England, and went out with me and Mum for the day.
First of all, Gwen drove us to True Blue Resort for a breakfast buffet, where we met our friend Susie. I had granola and yoghurt to start with, then pigged out on a couple of pancakes with syrup, and toast with guava jam. I was so full afterwards that I felt slightly sick, especially when I got in Suzie's car and it started to move.
Next, we went to a hairdresser's, and I got a whole new haircut from an experienced hairdresser, who knew exactly what she was doing. I have a photo somewhere that I'll show you.
Suzie then drove us to Port Louis Marina, St George's, to get my nails done. I chose a blue nail polish (if you know me, you'll know this is a very obvious choice) with a simple but effective white flower design on my wedding ring fingers. As I was waiting for my nails to dry, I heard people singing "Happy Birthday" around the corner. They came into my view, and I saw it was Suzie, my mum, Grandad and, unexpectedly, "Fast Manicou" John and his girlfriend Anna from the boat Celtic Dream, who were close to our spot in the anchorage (while Grandad was with us, we were in the marina). They were carrying a beautiful birthday cake, baked by Anna herself. It was a carrot cake, with a layer thick white icing, and decorated with blue icing that spelt "Happy Birthday Lily" on top. I felt I could hug them if I could move my hands, which I couldn't while the nails were drying. It was so kind of them, especially since I have a suspicion that John was working at the time, especially since he and Anna disappeared almost immediately after they set down the cake on the table.
That wasn't the only birthday cake I got that day, but I'll say more about that when we get there.
After a dip in the luxuriously refreshing and unoccupied pool in Port Louis, we said goodbye to Suzie for the day, thanking her for joining us, and took a bus to Prickly Bay for a couple of hours of trick-or-treating unlike your average. Don't start telling me I'm too old to be trick-or-treating! There's no such thing as growing up if you don't want there to be. ;)
When I say trick-or-treating like no other, I mean that. We split into groups of five or six children and rode in dinghies from boat to boat, whichever boat bore an orange balloon, shouted out "Trick or Treat!" and held out our carrier bags. The crew on the boats that volunteered to give out sweets tipped the goodies into our bags, and we drove off to the next boat. And by the time we left the last boat, our bags were bulging with treats. When we went to the boat Penny Lane, Sam, who was the kid on that boat and on the same dinghy as me, reminded his dad about something he has for me, and when I opened it after we got back to the dinghy dock. It was a card and a beaded necklace made by Sam himself. I thought it was really nice of them. It was so pretty.
That evening, after trick-or-treating, we headed back to Secret Harbour, and spent the evening in the bar listening to Jomo and Gylfi, two men who played and sang along to music on their MP3 Player. They made a fantastic two-man band, and sang a special "Happy Birthday" song for me. I felt it was the best way to end my birthday.
But that wasn't all. After we finished eating pizzas, Paul walked through the bar and placed a lit birthday cake in front of me, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me - everyone meaning my mum, Paul, my grandad, the crew on Neptune 2 (Gary, Vanessa, Elliott and Marina) and Suzie (who showed up as suddenly as John and Anna at the nail salon). The cake was a beautiful nutmeg cheesecake baked by mum, my favourite, with strawberries and raspberries on top! "Big deal," you say. "We get strawberries and raspberries every day!" Well, you might, but to us in the Caribbean that kind of fruit is little less than a luxury, since they're imported all the way from places like America and England and are therefore very expensive. We had little pots of strawberries and raspberries, and those disappeared in seconds, as well as the cheesecake. Then we all got up to dance to Jomo and Gylfi until I nearly fell asleep on the sofa and decided to go back to the boat, after thanking everyone for an amazing day, in which I was spoilt rotten.
Now I'll tell you about the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. I had written the script for a play called the Mad Hatter's Tea Party the past month. The story is basically about the Mad Hatter organising a tea party to celebrate the 151st anniversary of the book Alice In Wonderland. He invited guests far and wide to join him, but one uninvited guest shows up...
We didn't have long to practise, so I can proudly say, as the script writer and director, that I think it went really well. The props worked fantastically - cups and mugs and teapots scattered across the clothed table, as well as plates of cakes and scones and party food. Hung up above the table was a string with cards stapled to it, like a banner. We'll put the final production on YouTube and I will let you all know when it's out.
The night before departure was Tuesday Jam Night. We spent our very last night in Grenada listening to songs we'd heard and loved over the past six months played live by various cruisers. I got up to sing "Space Oddity" and "House of the Rising Sun" with Paul and a few others for the last time. It was an emotional night for us on Delphinus.
We left Grenada on Wednesday morning, going to Carriacou to sign out before heading up to Martinique. It was so hard leaving this beautiful island and all of our friends - especially seeing Gary, Vanessa, Marina, Diane and little Ian, our closest friends in Grenada, standing on the dock and slowly fading into the distance - but we did meet up with Suzie in Carriacou, and a lot of our other friends from Grenada in Martinique.
I, personally, wasn't too crazed about Carriacou. Maybe I would've enjoyed it more if we stayed a bit longer than a day, but in Tyril Bay there wasn't that much to do, to be honest. There was a grey-sand beach and a couple of restaurants, including one called the Lazy Turtle which Susie took us out to. It was bright and funky-looking. We all had very different meals. I had a Penne-au-something, which was basically a bowl of Penne pasta with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. The staff there were friendly and we had a good time chatting to Susie and her two crew members, Lottie and Max.
It was sad to say goodbye to Suzie the next day as we departed from Carriacou. We had an overnight sail straight from Carriacou to Martinique. This was only our second sail after six months, so we hadn't got our sea legs yet, but we got to Martinique without mishap. Our dog, Sky, spent most of the night sleeping in my bed.
We've already met some friends after less than twenty-four hours in Martinique: Henry (who ran the volleyball in Secret Harbour in Grenada) and Catherine from Mowser; a kid boat called Wakataitea and her and some people Mum met at her cooking classes in True Blue Bay. I met up with two kid boats called Avanti and Saosar Mór (sorry if I spelt it wrong), both of whom I was very excited to see as I thought we wouldn't be seeing them again after they left Grenada.
Okay! I think that's all for now. If I don't see you again in Martinique, it'll be in Bonaire!
This is Delphinus, out.