Jules
12/01/2012, Woburn, Grenada

New Year's Eve we spent the afternoon finishing off the re-construction of the stage and ended up staying on Hog Island making a bonfire on the beach out of all the old timber we'd taken down. There was about a dozen of us and it was fairly low-key but we managed to have fun. Jeff fell over the bench and crunched his shins, and I managed to fall off a picnic table and bang my nose, which bled quite profusely for a while.

Then there was the New Year's Day party on Hog, with live band on the new stage, then the Monday Holiday party. And then it was back to work.

James came back from Union and the boys have finished prep work on the inside of the gunwales, and have been chipping and grinding the hull between the rub-rail and the waterline getting it ready for painting. We've managed to do some spot painting, usually at seven in the morning before the wind picks up, and as soon as the weather calms down enough we'll be giving the whole hull a once over.

Devon came in the other morning with two tattoos. One all the way down his right fore-arm saying Spangla (which is apparently his nick-name), and on his left arm a gothic D and a spider ... nothing we can say about that.

The mega-yachts were around for the new year and one night we came back from Hog to see what looked like a small town moored not more than 500 yards away. It turned out to be Fountainhead which is a 287ft monstrosity (ranked 45 out of the top 100 mega-yachts), which was only launched in May last year. The next day Huntress came in too but at only 180ft it was hidden from view. Needless to say the jet-skis have been roaring round the bay, and around us. We get the occasional wave and thumbs-up but so far no-one's invited us over for cocktails - not sure why.

I've spent quite a while, with the help our friend Sylvie, setting up a new blog-site. It's fairly slow going but I'm getting there and hopefully it will be up and running before this one runs out in a month or so.

We've also had to make three trips up to Gouyave to get various starter motor problems fixed. Mike came with me once, and we managed to stop in the only bar in Gouyave (probably the whole of Grenada) that didn't have any beer. I've since made two trips on my own and am about to go again today, hopefully for the last time.

It's a beautiful ride up there along the west coast of Grenada. The not so good thing is the maxi-taxi that won't leave until it's full, which can take anywhere between ten minutes and almost an hour, while you're crammed, and really do mean crammed in a sweltering bus station; some of the mamas are pretty wide and if you get between two of them then you really don't have much room to move. Each time I've gone I've been the only white face on the bus, in fact the only white face in Gouyave, and when there isn't a cruise ship docked, quite often the only white face in St. George's.

On Tuesday when I went the bus back to Woburn was full of school kids finishing their first day back at school. It always amazes me how wonderfully well dressed and smart the kids are, and also how polite and confident they are, even the small ones. They take schooling seriously out here, probably because for most it's their way off the island and into a 'better' life abroad, and it's the ones who do best at school that make it out and can then send money home. It's a shame though that so much talent is taken away; I guess the grass is always greener on the other side, but there is a notable disparity between the educated youth who leave the island and the one's that stay behind, and unfortunately it's not good for the future of Grenada.

We still haven't seen anything of our fridge guy but luckily it is sort of working, even without the thermostat. We have had an electronics expert over who is fixing problems with the fire alarm system and various inverters, and we're actually getting close to having the generator on the side of the engine up and running again.

We also had Spanny the welder here for a day to finish off the last (we hope) of the holes and to weld the exhaust which had started to crack. Sometimes it seems like the problems/jobs are never-ending ... actually they are never-ending!

On Tuesday we went to a Hog Island Full Moon Party, which was a day after the full-moon but hey, this is the Caribbean. Ralph, the fat local and his buddies cooked up an amazing pot of oil-down (using 15 breadfruit, 20 coconuts, 20 lambi, chicken, pigtails, callaloo and dumplings) for all who wanted to partake, and Ray and Matt played guitar.

Last night we were invited to Rudi's for supper which was really nice as we tend to do a lot more entertaining than being entertained; something to do with having the bigger boat. It turned out to be a veritable feast with chinese pickles, Thai Tom Yum soup, Belgian stew with fries and home-made mayonnaise, and crème brulee to finish, oh and two of the thickest pina coladas to start. We didn't drink much, couldn't fit it in, and I'm not quite sure how we got off the boat we were so full. It's a good job we work so hard otherwise we might have to be thinking about a diet.

Love to all ...

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Jules
31/12/2011, Woburn, Grenada

So that was Christmas. And I actually got my Christmas wish: on the 23rd James decided to go back to Union to visit his family after all so we've been home alone for a week now. The first time for several years and wonderful!

Christmas Eve was spent tidying up the Buzzard, and de-moulding our main fridge because the compressor had decided to pack up, just when it was over-flowing with food for the festive season. Luckily we have an old back up fridge/freezer, which sort of works even though the freezer door falls off every time you open it, but at least it meant we didn't lose everything; and we did manage to get the beer fridge working so that was ok.

There were seven people for Christmas lunch, Mike and Audrey and three guys who are on their own (Jeff, Chris and Rudi). Jeff spends most of his time with us anyway so he was alright but the others were definitely suffering from the Single Sailor Syndrome ... which we've come across quite a lot and means that once they actually get among people they have a tendency to make up for all the not talking they do on their own.

Anyway, it was a good day and no-one over did it, well apart from the food. We cooked a big ham and had our last Venezuelan lomito which was still great even though it had been in the freezer for over two years. We all ate too much, but then who doesn't on Christmas Day.

Boxing Day was ... interesting. The morning was spent cleaning out the cupboard under the sinks in the galley after discovering a cockroach infestation; that was real fun. We've done really well on the cockroach front over the years but apparently they've caught up with us. I should have known they were making inroads when I tipped Toby's dog food up a few weeks ago and suddenly the 'kibbles' were running in all directions (as was I!).

In the afternoon we had a Boxing Day Boat-crawl which was an idea we'd got from our friends Stan and Cora who are now up in Bequia. There were nine boats involved and 13 people. You start on the smallest boat and everyone gets one drink on each boat, then end on the biggest (ours) where you get food and even more drink. We had a variety of rum punches and cocktails and everyone was merry by the time we got back to the Buzzard. There was also some card game involved but I can't quite remember how that worked out and I have no idea who won.

Even though Mike organised it we didn't know all the people taking part but it all worked out well and everyone had a great time and were firm friends by the end. The smallest boat was 27ft and with 13 people on board it's hard not to become acquainted. It was also good to have a look at different boats and their set-ups, just in case we ever decide to down-size.

The last few days have been fairly quiet. Apart from getting the refrigeration people in, going to buy a new compressor, picking up our pump seals, getting the drawings for the generator on the side of the engine, having a few drinks in the yacht club, oh and spending time on our own. The Christmas winds died down for a few days at the beginning of the week but they're picking up again now ready for the new year. And the hills around Woburn have suddenly sprung a whole host of yellow trees (which I'll try to find the name of) and look really pretty.

Thursday we were hoping our fridge would be up and running again. The guy came out at 8.30 am to fit the new compressor and was still here at 12, plus the thermostat apparently isn't working right so he has to come back. We had planned to take a maxi-taxi up to Gouyave to try and get the solenoid fixed on the Onan starter motor but that had to wait another day as the quick job fixing the tilt on the outboard has turned into something of an ordeal and we ran out of time.

Friday morning the fridge man was supposed to be coming back to fit the new thermostat but, after several phone calls and promises, he still didn't turn up. Mike went over to Hog Island, with a whole heap of 2 x 4s we had in the hold, to help Roger and a few others reconstruct the stage so he can start having bands again. The last one was deemed unsafe, which is hardly surprising as at high tide the musicians were standing up to their knees in sea water and electric shocks were not uncommon.

Saturday morning still no fridge-man so it looks like we'll be struggling until after the new year now, aaarrgghh!!!! It's raining and blowing but still warm enough to sit around in next to nothing clothes wise, so we're just hanging out reading and drinking coffee. Guess we won't be finishing the stage just yet, but the band isn't due until Sunday afternoon so I'm sure it'll be done by then.

We've had several phone calls from Totong in Indonesia who is enjoying being back with his family. Apparently our friends Julie and Twent are going to Indonesia to visit with him and maybe also Johan and Anton (ex crew, who returned there some time ago). I hope they have fun, it will be quite the experience either way.

We don't, as yet, have plans for tonight although I'm hoping we get to see some fireworks somewhere ... wherever you all are, we wish you a Happy New Year (or Old Year's End depending on your point of view) and hope that 2012 is good year for us all!

Lots of love ...

Comments [2]

Jules
21/12/2011, Woburn, Grenada

Just wanted to wish a very Merry Christmas to all our wonderful blog readers ... and to give you a quick update since the last one.

We finally got the Onan generator working at 9 pm that night and luckily the old wind-up Lister/Isanthall did its job the next morning. And the main engine was ok once we'd bled the fuel rack. So then we were all set to go.

Thursday morning James (our six months AWOL crew from Union) re-joined the Buzzard and we left Carriacou about 1 pm with the aim of getting back to Woburn before dark. We got about 2 miles out and had a phone call from Fred (on Dream, a 37ft sail-boat). Earlier in the week we'd taken his broken mast out for him and he was now on his way motoring back to Grenada, now he was about a mile ahead of us, and his engine had broken down, could we tow him the 30 miles to Woburn?

Even though it was flat calm, by the time we got a rope over to him and then slowed down to accommodate the tow, it was 5.30 by the time we got to St. Georges and we decided to anchor there for the night; much better than trying to navigate the reefs in the dark, especially when you're towing another boat.

Unfortunately St. Georges was particularly rolly and we were up at 5.15 am after listening to doors bang, stuff clang, and chairs slide around the top deck. As we were in the metropolis we took advantage and I caught the bus up to the travel agents who had messed up Tony's flight once again which meant that he now had to change from Gatwick to Heathrow when he was in London. Oh and then my credit card wouldn't work so I had to get a friend to go in with a cheque to secure the flight.

Mike and Jeff spent most of the morning with customs trying to retrieve our awning material that had been shipped in from Miami whilst we were in Carriacou. And also taking in our exciter coil to be re-wound, along with Tanya's starter and windlass motors, none of which are light items.

Eventually the Buzzard, with Dream in tow, left St. Georges around 2.30 pm and made it safely back to the mooring buoy well before dark. I wasn't on board at the time as I was out having a girly Christmas shopping/drinking afternoon with Angie and Lucy.

The weekend was relatively quiet although we did take Tony over to Hog Island on Sunday afternoon. He spent Saturday shopping (more successfully than I did), and then Sunday morning cleaning his cabin; wherein he found seven glasses and various items of cutlery that had been 'lost', but not my black knife which went missing yet again about three weeks ago.

On Sunday we also picked up 17 gls of 2-pack epoxy paint that a friend of a friend had brought up from Trinidad. First thing Monday morning James, Devon, Mike and I started the outside of the gunwales, and we now have a bright, red shiny, much better looking boat than we've had in a long time. We've had four 200-300ft mega-yachts anchored in Woburn over the last three days and one of them came real close to wave and take pictures, so we must be looking good.

Monday morning Tony went in to send himself some money to Indonesia so that he didn't have to carry it all with him and Monday afternoon we were off to the airport, courtesy of Lucy. We were almost late as Tony was starting to panic a bit and couldn't find the new socks he'd bought himself in readiness for his English encounter. He didn't miss the plane though, and sent us a text at 5.56 am the next morning to say he was in England and it was cool; not sure if he was referring to the weather or the country. By now he should be safely home although we haven't heard anything as yet.

Tuesday we went to pick up the coil, only they made it wider and it doesn't fit so we had to take it back for a further tune-up. Oh and the starter motor on the Onan's gone so we're struggling with generator issues once again.

Our friend Peter is now back from Canada for the winter and we had supper on his boat last night. Freshly caught and cooked whelks, snapper and slipper-lobsters in a spicy coconut soup. One of the beauties of living here and snorkelling for your food, just wish we had more time to do the fun things ourselves.

The Christmas winds are picking up and there's a strong north-easterly swell. Tanya's boat in Carriacou was rolling that bad they had to go book into a hotel to get some sleep, and Mike and Audrey have just arrived back to St. Georges and have gone to the marina as they haven't been able to sleep properly for nearly a week. And when our friend Don sailed up to Carriacou on Tuesday the normally 3 hour (for him) trip took ten and he ended up travelling 64 miles to go 30.

Given the state of the weather (although it's still sunny and 28C so we're not complaining too much) it looks like we'll be staying put here for Christmas. Just need to go shopping at some point as we have no turkey, no vegetables, not much of anything. We (I) had hoped that with Tony gone we'd manage some time alone on the boat over Christmas but James doesn't want to go back to Union, he doesn't want to get caught up in the Nine Mornings of Christmas where everyone drinks from sunset to sunrise from the 16th to the 25th. Can't say I blame him.

We're both feeling tired at the moment (not helped by some particularly sad news I got from home at the weekend) and we're more than ready for a break. Hopefully all will be working normally by Friday and we can actually take some time off.

So ... we're wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS from the sun(and RUM)-soaked lands of the Caribbean and we hope you have a good one wherever you may be!!

Love to everyone .... Jules and Mike and the Flying Buzzard Crew

BREAKING NEWS: The Yanmar is now up and running and normal service has been resumed, well except it's not running the crane for some reason.

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