N12.00'110 W 61.43.28W - Current Position - Le Phare Bleu Marina, Grenada
Well, I am actually back in Thunder Bay as I write this. We have returned to fly and visit for a few weeks. We renewed our IFRs and PPCs last week and I have been flying ever since while Laurie has been instructing; both Captain Renewals on the Mu-2 and a new First Officer.
Back to Dominica....
Our Electrical stuff arrived fairly quickly (only one day late) but installation was another thing. We did the majority of the manual labour part, running wires, installing the transformer (70 pounds in the back locker, raising it straight up over my head while I laid on my back and bolting it in place. Was careful not to drop it!) and the new battery charger.
Unfortunately, the electrician was a little over his head not being familiar with marine electrical and the requirements. Both he and his helper got seasick (at anchor) which did not help anything. When not sick (day 2) the helper spent all day laying on the floor texting while the electrician spent 60% of his time on the phone. On day 4 we ran the generator all day so we could run the air conditioning so as to keep things cool for them. (so they would actually work) We had moved the boat and were tied stern to the fuel dock to keep the rocking (and them getting sick) to a minimum but were still about 10 feet from it as the swells would not allow anything else but at least we were bow into them. We still had to dinghy to the dock. At noon the electrician left "for a few minutes". He still wasn't back at 4 but his helper did get a good days sleep while I finished up connecting the charger. The only reason we wanted an electrician was that he was familiar with the 230 volt three wire electricity here and I wasn't. The transformer was going to be complicated...
Anyhow, by 4 PM I had had enough. I took the helper to the dock and told him to wait there. I went back to the boat and got their tools and when I returned to the dock the electrician showed up 30 minutes later. I explained that he was "fired". It was apparent that he had no idea what he was doing and could not follow even a simple wiring diagram. I had checked everything he did when he left each time. He had wired the transformer backwards. (Incoming power into the output side for example)
I had explained this to Hubert (Dominica Marine) who explained that he too, was having problems with him. Anyways, I told Hubert and the electrician that I refused to pay for his work. (The electrician's) He had only done about 4 hours of real work in 4 days and had wasted out time. Hubert agreed. I paid the bill for the parts the next morning. Hubert knew we were upset with the almost one week delay and did not charge us for the mooring.
It took us most of the next day to put the boat back together where we could do the sail to Grenada. So, the day after that we set sail for Grenada bypassing St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and made landfall on Grenada's south coast 33 hours later.
The sail was fine but the winds were all over the place. Anywhere from 50 + kts to 12. Reef in, reef out, reef in...
In the middle of the night we were contacted by another boat calling "Hedonism". It was a fellow Salty Dawg that had left with us from Hampton ahead that saw us coming up on him from behind. He had an AIS receiver only so we never did see him. We chatted a bit an I told him that I was changing course to move closer to the islands (we were about 30 miles offshore east of St. Vincent) as I had just downloaded a up to date current forecast. We had been against 2.5 knots of current (as had he) and the forecast showed it better closer to the island chain. It was, we picked up about 1.5 knots of "ground speed". He changed course too.
We arrived at Le Phare Bleu Marina at about 330 PM on the holiday Monday (May 25, Whit Monday) and cleared in the following morning right at the marina. We have had a reservation for dockage for 2 months while we head back to Canada. On the way down from Dominica I had been emailing back and forth with Mark at Island Dreams Yacht management in Grenada. We have a contract with them to monitor the boat while we are gone. Having a "Guardianage" contract is a mandatory requirement at most marinas here during hurricane season. Mark arranged for us to meet with Simon, a certified yacht electrician. Simon is from Britain and has an aviation background as well! Simon took on the job and had us up and running on 230 volt 50 hertz shore power quickly hooking the 230 volt output from the transformer to our new "euro outlet" and the new charger. He will be back on board while we are gone to complete the installation with the 115 volt 50 hertz side of the transformer which will power some of the things that we have on board that are compatible with 50 or 60 hertz. Sound complicated? It is when you consider that you need to have a lock out to make sure you do not power items on the boat that are 60 hertz only! We will still be able to use our 60 hertz outlets by way of our inverter so once all is done, we should be all set.
Getting the boat ready for our departure took days. Sails all down, dinghy off the arch, removing the bimini and tying everything down like it has never been done before in case Grenada gets hit with a tropical storm or worse, a hurricane before we return. In that event, Mark will do what is required to secure the boat further. The earliest that a hurricane has hit Grenada was in 2006 when a cat 1 hit on July 15th. That was the year after hurricane Ivan devastated the island. Otherwise, Grenada has been south of most of the storms. They used to say they were south of the hurricane zone but they can't say that anymore. 2006 was the last though.
I should been posting photos to our album later today if I don't go flying so keep an eye!
We are returning to Grenada on July 12 and are planning on a hauling out to do the bottom paint once we return.

The photo album has been updated. When you click on the link on our Homepage you are now taken to the "Albums" page. Just updated is a new album for Dominica including 4 videos. Other photos from Barbuda, Antigua, Guadeloupe and The Saintes have been added to our "Cruising 2105" album.