Year 9 Days 117 and 118 Gettin’ Ready
27 May 2016 | Petite Martinique, Grenada
Dave/Mostly Sunny
We have been carefully watching the weather each day to see when it would be best to beat to windward, making our way to Barbados. We have been waiting for the winds to shift a bit to the south so we can get a better wind angle on each of the three or so long tacks it will take for us to get there.
The earlier weather GRIB files had originally shown that this Sunday would be the first time the winds would be shifting about 20 degrees to the south of east. However, as this week progressed, it now looks like tomorrow, Saturday, will be the best time to go. Furthermore, the winds will now only be about 10 degrees south of east, which will make our tacks a bit shallower than we would like. This could translate to a longer sail. It will just depend on what the winds really do once we get out in the open ocean.
Yesterday we were hoping to run over to the fuel dock at Petite Martinique and fill up with “the cheapest fuel in the Grenadines”. Unfortunately, when I called them to say we would be over in an hour, they told us that they were out of fuel and the earliest they would be getting more would not be until sometime next week. Darn!
On a positive note, our two fuel tanks are still pretty full so we really not need fuel for a while. I was just hoping to top up the tanks and fill the jerry cans while we have access to cheaper fuel. Oh well, that is just the way it goes sometimes.
Not to be deterred, we decided that we would take the dinghy to shore, explore a bit, have a nice lunch at a restaurant which is well known for its lobster, and check out the supermarket. When we arrived, we discovered that the restaurant was closed, as was everything else. We discovered that it was another holiday: Corpus Christi. We had never heard of a holiday called Corpus Christi and have since discovered that it is Roman Catholic and is called “the Feast of the Corpus Christi”. It is celebrating the tradition and belief in the body and blood of Jesus Christ and his Real Presence in the Eucharist. Protestants do not follow this celebration.
Because of the holiday, the little village was a ghost town so we just gave up and returned to our dinghy and then Leu Cat. So much for our little adventure. I have posted a few photos of our visit to this blog and above it.