Jules
05/02/2012, Pampatar, Venezuela

A very brief update from Isla Margarita.

We spent a wonderful week at the Bequia Blues with friends who took us up on their sail boat. On the way back (last Wednesday) we got a call to say a freighter had broken down between Grenada and Trinidad and could we go pick it up.

We set off 6 pm Wednesday to the given co-ordinates only it wasn't anchored, as we'd been told, but still drifting. By the time we reached it it was 10 miles off Margarita and the Venezuelan Coastguard were in attendance.

We were told we had to tow it into Pampatar so that they could check out the boat (theirs not ours). That was Thursday at 10.30 pm and now it's Sunday and we're still waiting for clearance. Hopefully we'll be leaving tomorrow at some point.

As well as James and Devon we have Mike and Audrey and Phil on board who thought they were coming for a couple of days. Luckily they're all ok with being prisoners on the Buzzard and we're managing to have some fun too.

Never thought we'd be back in Margarita but so far so good and we've managed to meet up with Charlie and even buy a case of rum and some beer, although the prices have definitely risen since the last time we were here two years ago.

Internet contact is really sporadic but I'll try to update when I can ... and fill you in on all the wonderful things that have been happening.

Love to all ...

Comments [1]

Jules
25/01/2012, Woburn, Grenada

Just a brief update as we're just so busy and about to leave the boat for a few days.

Over the last couple of weeks we've finished painting the outside from the waterline to the rub-rail, and the crane, and the wheelhouse and saloon roofs. We've had various generator and fuel pump issues, some of which are resolved and some of which aren't quite.

The weekend before last we had an emergency call from Tanya whose battery bank melted and she couldn't start her main engine. It was decided, as James is more than capable of looking after the boat, that instead of taking the Buzzard we'd go on the 8 am Sunday fast-cat ferry up to Carriacou and spend the day working for her and come back late that afternoon.

We got there fine, well except for the weather being a bit rough and the vomit comet living up to its name. Mike spent six hours re-wiring and sorting our the problem but wasn't quite finished by the time the ferry left so we stayed over with the intention of getting the 6.30 am ferry Monday. We were up and organised by 6 and just about to go to the dock when the ferry left. So ... another day working on Tanya's boat, for which she sure wasn't complaining.

We eventually got back Monday around 7 pm, tired and dragged out, definitely a busman's holiday that one.

Last weekend we spent a night at Pat's house which was really good. And Mike gave her a massage to try and alleviate some of her mobility problems which have been bugging her since she had surgery a couple of years ago. He's getting quite a reputation for his 'magic fingers'; even Jeff's been over for a session to get his back sorted out.

I've been working away on the new blog site but got a bit side-tracked when I inadvertently opened a spam email which then went through our address book and then locked us out of our hotmail account for a few days. (Many apologies for anyone reading this who got caught with that one ... the moral is NEVER, EVER click on a link, from anyone, that says 'Click here to see ...".)

We've been waiting for some fuel for the last few weeks and more than twice have been all set to leave before the plans changed, yet again. In fact we were supposed to be leaving yesterday but aren't.

Instead we've going to take our friends Mike and Audrey up on their offer of a trip up to Bequia in their 60ft sailboat to go to the Blues Festival. We're really looking forward to it, and to seeing friends we haven't seen for quite some time. It'll be strange being there without the Buzzard though ... a real mini holiday, can't wait!

Love to all ...

Comments [5]

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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