Jules
16/06/2012, SaltSpring Island

So here we are in Canada. I received notification, on my birthday, that my Permanent Residency had been approved and that I had to be in Vancouver on June 5th to attend an interview and bring all the original documentation that I'd previously sent as copies. I tried to re-schedule it but apparently it wasn't an option, and after waiting 18 months to get to this point I didn't think letting it go was the way forward. That gave us ten days to get organised!

Luckily James finally got back to the boat the following Tuesday and agreed to stay on to look after it (and Toby and Nellie), so we booked flights and left on Monday the 4th for Vancouver (via Barbados and Toronto). The flights were actually quite good, even though we ended up having two Mike Nelder announcements out of the three different airports. We arrived in Toronto at 9.30 pm and our friends Maurice and Sue, who we'd met in Trinidad and Bequia, picked us up and we stayed overnight with them. It was great to see them and even better not to have to attempt sleep in the airport like I did last time. We were back at the airport just in time (literally) to catch the 8.15 am to Vancouver. After the five hour flight we landed at 10.15, met up with our friend Sharon (who we met in Tobago Cays a couple of years ago), had sushi for lunch and made the Citizenship and Immigration appointment with time to spare.

After travelling 6,000 miles over two days to get there it took all of three minutes for me to get the residency. The card was already made up and I just had to sign for it, they didn't ask me any questions at all. It was something of an anti-climax, not that I'm complaining, it could have been a lot worse; like trying to re-new Mike's driving license which they won't do without two forms of ID and he only has his passport so we've had to send off to the UK for further ID. He's been issued a temporary one in the meantime and hopefully the further ID will arrive soon.

Anyway ... we stayed with Sharon and Phil in North Vancouver for five days, getting acclimatised and sorting out turbo fixing and stuff. Mike brought the broken turbo off the Yanmar generator but apparently they don't fix them anymore, they're classed as disposa items. We had sushi for lunch four out of the first five days and we've had drunken crab, salmon, prawns, halibut and lots of beautiful fresh vegetables: all the things we'd forgotten we missed.

The weather's been cold but beautiful with wonderful misty mountain mornings and thankfully not too much rain. Of course we're in boots and coats and had to make a few trips to the Thrift Store to stock up on warm clothing, but it's great to be snug and warm. It's the first time Mike's been in temperatures under 24C since we got to the Cape Verdes which was ... quite some years ago.

Last Sunday we met up with Mike's friends Rene and Claire. Rene is a marine surveyor and he'd arranged for us to go and look round the St. Eval which is currently in North Vancouver. We've had a brochure for the St. Eval for over six years; it's a private tug from 1931 which is almost identical to ours in shape and size and has been renovated extensively. To be able to go on board was great, it's obviously much, much better than ours on the inside but only has two main cabins and has nowhere near the amount of space inside as we do, and definitely no glass-roofed funnel.

We stayed with Rene and Claire in Tsawwassen for two nights, visited the Ladner Street Fair, had a great tour of the area, finally managed to get a Canadian sim card and a working phone, went to more Thrift Stores and then caught the ferry across to Vancouver Island on the Tuesday. Ian, our friend from Maryport who now lives in Brentwood, met us at the ferry and we stayed with him and his wife Kitty for two nights. On the Wednesday we went into Victoria to have lunch with Joanne who works for Transport Canada and who we've dealt with for the past five+ years, she has been so helpful and human in getting our ships registration sorted out, and so different to the UK officials that we first encountered. It was really great to be able to put a face to the voice and the emails; it's just a shame that the powers that be have decided to close all regional offices and transfer to Ottawa, an increasingly common problem over here apparently.

Yesterday we caught a local ferry over to SaltSpring Island and we're staying with Ted and Jane (Jake) for a couple of days before moving north to Naniamo, Gabriola and Qualicum. All in all so far it's wonderful being back, and sitting in the hot tub amongst the trees on SaltSpring is sheer heaven. The people we've stayed with have been so great and hospitable and we've been made to feel like treasured friends ... and the sun's even shining today. Oh and Mike's being his useful helpful self, he's done some dry-walling for Phil, killed a rat for Rene and is helping Ted put on a new roof as I type.

My daughter Jess who normally lives in Vancouver, left for the UK on June 1st for a month, which was great timing. And then last week she got notification that her Canadian Citizenship has been approved and she has to attend a swearing in ceremony on 22nd June. That means she's had to change her ticket to come back a week earlier ... it also means we'll get to see her sooner and be there to welcome her officially into Canada. It'll be great but has messed up our plans a bit; we now have to leave Vancouver Island to be back there next Friday and then probably come back again afterwards.

We spoke to James earlier today and things are going ok on the Buzzard. He's had a few minor problems with Toby, apparently he ran off on Hog with his girlfriend again and James had to spent a couple of hours waiting for him to show up, but apart from that alls fine as far as we can tell. I'm surprised Mike's not missing it more but he seems pleased to be back here for a while. We didn't book return tickets as there's no financial incentive with WestJet and we weren't quite sure how long things would take. It's probably just as well really as we're now waiting for things to arrive from the UK and for Mike's driving and radio licenses ... and then we have to see exactly what awaits us on Gabriola ... should be fun !!

Love to all from the wild west of Canada ...

PS Sorry for the delay in posting this. I couldn't remember our Sailblog password ... I know it now so will endeavour to update more regularly.

Comments [1]

Jules
24/05/2012, Woburn, Grenada

Yet another fun-filled action packed few weeks here in paradise. So .. what's been happening?

We ran out of water and had to make a trip with the Buzzard into St. George's to fill up at the dock. Stan, Cora, Jeanne, Ron, Chris, Linda and Jeff came with us for the ride, which was just as well as we still don't have any crew. The water's cheap ($80 US for 30 tonnes) but because we're over 200 tonnes we have to pay $300 US for a pilot to take us into the dock. Still it's good to know we're full again and won't have to worry about that for another six months or so. By which time, fingers crossed, we should have the new awning up and be catching our own anyway.

The weather was relatively calm which was good as we've been having quite a lot of wind recently. A squall came through the other night and several boats dragged, including Calabuig, the 100ft yacht anchored near us. We didn't hear anything above the wind and the rain and because we're the furthest out and the wind was blowing in, but apparently there were horns blaring and dinghies roaring around and people shouting for help.

We bought a new (used) 15 hp Honda 4-stroke outboard with the hope that it would be more economical that the gas guzzling Yamaha and easier for me to run. Mike promises me it will be once he fixes the choke and carb, but so far we've had to be towed twice which doesn't inspire my confidence. We now have five outboards, or parts thereof, on the deck ... maybe we should open a shop. (Breaking news: Mike's fixed the problems and it now starts first pull.)

Last Saturday we were at Island View to watch the Champions League Final which was a great afternoon, not least because Chelsea won and our friend Joe is a Bayern Munich supporter, but the whole atmosphere and local involvement was quite something. Afterwards we went to see Stan and Cora et al play their final gig before leaving for the summer and Mike was in such a celebratory mood he was up dancing on the table.

We finally got rid of all the truck tyres that we used to use as fenders which has really opened up the back deck and created some space. It started a bit of clean up campaign which included the crews and led us to a stash of rotten fish that had been buried under a pile of flags on the shelf just inside the crew quarters' door. Tony wasn't a particularly keen fisherman so we think they must have been there since Johan left; the smell was horrendous and days later we're still trying to fumigate the place.

Last Friday night we thought we'd lost Toby on the beach. He's normally not far from the water and constantly bringing sticks or coconuts or conch shells for us throw, but when we went to leave he just wasn't there. Mike wanted to leave him there till the morning but in the end we stayed and had two more beers waiting for him to eventually show up. The next night we found out some locals had come hunting and left a young bitch on the island. We've seen her twice now, a cute little brown and white thing which may or may not be in process of creating Toby dogs ... if she does there's already a waiting list of people who want a dog just like Toby.

Yesterday we went with Jeff to take his boat round to St. David's ready to haul out. It was fairly rough and we were heading straight into the wind so it was motoring all the way but it all went ok. He leaves next Tuesday and is really looking forward to getting back to the family ... apparently there's only so much sun and rum you can have before you get bored, but we'll miss him and will endeavour to stop off in Toronto to see him and June when we're in Canada.

After St. David's we went up to Grenville to visit a friend of Mike's on one of the Cariacom mini-freighters that go between here and Trinidad. The local dock was a hive of activity reminiscent of our time in the Cape Verdes. There was yelling, and bustling and crates being loaded and crabs being tied in boxes, there was also supposed to be cows but they didn't want to go. As so often happens when we're out and about and not in the tourist areas, we were the only white faces to be seen and were more than welcomed.

We heard from James today to say he'll be back tomorrow, and this time I'm holding my breath; there can't possibly be any more people to die on Union. Once he's back we've got a week or so of work that Mike needs help with and then we're booking flights to Canada. It will be the first time Mike's been off the boat for years, and it will be great for him to see all his long lost Canadian friends.

Yesterday afternoon we were supposed to be having a stuffed breadfruit cook-off on Hog Island. Mike mixed up his three different stuffings and off we went, only the locals who were supposed to be joining us didn't turn up (probably something to do with the rain we had in the morning. It's now the end of the dry season, not that we had much of one, and the beginning of the hurricane season so we're getting more rain.). Anyway, luckily Jeanne and Ron were there with more than enough food to BBQ so we just cooked the stuffing without the breadfruit and a good time was had by all.

Saturday it's my birthday and I'm not sure yet what the plan is, it may even be turtle watching. Many thanks to all that have sent birthday wishes.

Love to everyone ....

PS It's now the next day and James hasn't turned up ... guess it's time to stop holding my breath, and look for more crew.

Comments [4]

Jules
06/05/2012, Woburn, Grenada

Two and a half weeks since Tony left for Indonesia and not much happening. We heard from a friend of his who said his hernia is apparently getting bigger but he's adamant that he'll rely on traditional medicine rather than go for an operation. It's no longer our problem, and there's not much we can do, but we really hope he sees sense soon otherwise things could go horribly wrong.

James still isn't back; he's apparently been to eight funerals since he went to Union at the end of February. Considering there can't be more than 3000 people on the island that's an awful lot of his friends and relatives who are dying ... Mike reckons staying there is a danger to the island and he should leave asap. We should hear tomorrow if he's coming back next week, or not.

I guess we should just be enjoying the peace and quiet while we're on our own but it's difficult to relax when you know there's just so much still to do. We had hoped we'd have started with the decks by now but don't seem to have the enthusiasm at the moment. Things aren't helped by the problems we're having trying to get paid for the work we did for the freighters. They were all over us when they needed our help but now we're getting the Caribbean run around and Mike's constantly on the phone trying to come up with solutions and sort it out.

Jeff's friends, Alex and Gavin, arrived from Canada and we've spent some time with them. Mike took them out fishing last Sunday but unfortunately they didn't catch anything, apparently they even had trouble catching the mooring buoy when they got back!

Our friends Stan and Cora are back from Bequia waiting to leave their boat in the mangroves when they go back to Germany at the end of May. Lots of people are starting to haul boats and leave now the hurricane season is once again upon us and the weather's warming up.

Robin from Bequia also turned up last weekend. He was supposed to be delivering his plasma cutter for repair, only he flew into Grenada and then realised the company it had to go to was in Trinidad. He spent a couple of nights with us on the Buzzard though which was nice.

On the Saturday we took him out to the monthly Victoria Food Fair, which is a bit like the Gouyave Fish Friday but not only fish. We went on an organised(ish) tour with Jeff and his friends, Phil from Beothuck, and a few others from the anchorage. It wasn't the most successful trip we've had. The maxi picked us up at 5.15 pm and, after a making a 30 minute detour to pick other people up, and then going through the St. George's rush-hour, we didn't get up there until 7.30, and when you're crammed in the back of a maxi a two hour journey is an awful long time.

One of the main roads was closed off but the stalls weren't even finished setting up which was our first inkling that it might be a later night than we'd imagined. Followed by the fact that the driver said he'd be back at the maxi any time from 11.30 to 1 a.m. Given that yatchty midnight is 9 p.m, and us oldies are no longer used to such late nights, this wasn't a welcome development.

We wandered off to explore but the pounding music was just a bit too much for us. On either side of the 15 foot wide road there were banks of loud speakers stacked 10 feet high and three feet deep, and the beat was so strong your whole body vibrated and your heart jumped as you passed them. A hundred feet further on there was yet another bank pounding out different music, and on and on up the whole length of the street.

We got to the end of the road, turned down the main street and found a quiet pool bar next to the police station, which is where we stayed most of the evening. We did make one foray out for food, which included iguana, crab, manicou (possum I think), cow-face souse and various other delicacies that were all over priced and under-served. The only thing I could stomach was fried breadfruit.

By 9 pm we were all ready to leave, except Phil who wanted to listen to the steel pan band. At 9.30 we braved the vibrating street once again, getting hustled by the crowd who were all letting their inhibitions go with the music and gyrating to the beat and each other. We found the maxi and then spent an hour trying to round up the rest of the travellers, just getting one on the bus as another went to get a last minute beer. Eventually we headed out around 10.30 and were back just after midnight; the real midnight.

It was quite the experience though and obviously very much a local affair with families dancing and meeting and letting the kids run free. Not quite sure what it would have been like at 2 in the morning though.

Last Wednesday the SV Irene, an old Baltic Trader, came into Hog Island. The boat has been trying to set up a trading route between Europe and the Caribbean, bringing wine and olive oil here and taking rum back. They hosted a wine tasting and tapas night which went down well, apart from the fact that Mike doesn't like wine, not good wine anyway.

I had my last dentist appointment (for a few weeks anyway). They attached the back of my loose tooth to the two adjoining ones which has hopefully stopped its wobble, although it took me a while to get used to what feels like a gob of chewing gum stuck to my teeth. Now I'm just dealing with blurred vision, caused by astigmatism I think, and a right shoulder than keeps going into spasm for some reason ... oh the joys of aging!

Yesterday we were supposed to be sailing from St. George's back round to Hog with Jeff but Mike decided the FA cup final was more important. Then we got over to Island View to watch it and it wasn't being televised. Still, at least he did get to see the Chelsea v. Barcelona match the other week which was quite the event.

We still haven't given up on getting some time off the boat but until James gets back it's hard to organise. At this rate it may well be straight to Canada a the end of May.

Love to all ....

Comments [2]