Well good morning Campers!

I hope you are all being safe and that the summer sun is infusing you with...new vigor (how do you like that one? Eh?😊). We're still in Grenada and today marks three weeks since we've been back in the water after our haul out, which went very smoothly on the whole. Hull bottoms have been repainted, bits of interior revarnishing done, maintenance on both sail drives, check, props polished and trying a fancy new coating for them, putting new gaskets on fridge and freezer doors, fixing the fridge draining hole - which, untrue to its name, wasn't doing any draining to speak of, resulting in condensation from inside the fridge to leak onto the counter in front of it and into the cabinet located under it - and lots and lots of rubbydub on the exteriors - she's shiny! While on the hard, we organized a private ride to go and renew our cruising permits, get visa extensions and fully replenish our stock of non-perishables which were later neatly stowed under our settees. We otherwise spent the days between the boat, and the little..."colorful" apartment outside Clarke Court's Marina which we rented for that period and that included, among the neighbors, the cutest couple of white goats ever.

Lockdown and restrictions have been mostly lifted in the area since the end of Since the end of our time in the boatyard. There hasn't been a new case of the virus on the island in weeks and no active cases, gatherings of max 20 people are now allowed, restaurants are serving meals, etc. You still have to wear a mask in public and observe social distancing to some extent. Buses from the marinas run on a specific schedules to take folks to supermarkets and other stores and take in a limited number of people. Rumor has it that airports should reopen on July 15 2020, with entry in the country allowed to travelers from low-risk countries and test/quarantine procedures in place. Many boats have been pouring in from St.Martin, BVIs, USVIs and other Caribbean islands, whether to haul out or spend the season and, after completing quarantine in a specific anchorage in Saint George's, as required by law, they have been spreading (not a a happy choice of verb, sorry) to the other bays. Many people in the existing Grenadian cruising community, as well as many locals, have been very helpful to the new arrivals, the clueless and the slightly more clued, the eternally complaining and the more proactive alike, whether providing information (the Cruisers' Net widely listened to broadcast on Channel 66 Int.l starting at 7:30 am, Mon-Sat, covers local business infos, emergencies, departures and arrivals, local Covid info, weather, FAQs, and has even some interesting trivia questions!), running errands for them, clarifying the various rules and regulations, assisting with wi-fi and Internet (the no.1 request as it so happens) etc. Some cruisers are also trying to organize charter flights to weave their way back home to other countries, with mixed outcomes.

Us? We's just hanging out and sticking to the plan which, as a reminder, is to spend hurricane season here, with the blessings of our insurance company, keep monitoring things, and check out other parts of Grenada we haven't seen yet. We've asked permission to sail to Carriacou, including whether we can later come back to Grenada, do we need to quarantine again etc. and, in line with the charming-yet-slightly-irritating Caribbean "fluidity" of things we've been given a complete set of mismatching, at times even sibylline answers, blurring the boundaries between a Predict-o-Pen and fortune cookies: "Not in a million years!", "If you're lucky!", " A feather in the hand is better than a bird in the air", "Sure, but you have to call Immigration", "Sure, but you have to call the Coast Guard", "You will be unusually successful in business", and so on. So we said scr* it and, leaving once again our "home" off Calivigny Island, we've just been doing some nice day sails to let Boundless - and ourselves - shake off some cobwebs and hit her traditional 10-12 knots on a close reach, with about 22+ knots apparent wind and some solid wave action!With bottoms clean, repainted and barnacle-free, what a different feel that is!

We've spent a couple of nights at anchor in Old Harbour - including a solid stroll in the Westerhall area, a very pleasant and (sort of) gated community drowned in lush vegetation just revived by the seasonal generous squalls... In fact, a massive squall in the forecasts caught us right during our walk. The Cap'n decided to take shelter inside the open garage of a house just off the road we were walking on. I wasn't too crazy about the idea as it was private property, and decided to get soaked for a while instead before changing my mind... and in fact, nobody came by and if they did they'd have probably taken pity upon this couple of really wet ducks, especially yours truly. We then spent a couple of nights in Prickly Bay, whose pretty scenery was made even more special by the rising of a massive full moon over Fourth of July weekend, and then Mount Hartman Bay, where our first, more exposed anchoring spot of choice left us vulnerable to a bobble at the beam, very annoying on a light catamaran (for the record, there haven't really been many days of calm-seas-no-wind lest you think it's all rose e fiori down here, fun and games). We then switched to a more protected and mostly bobble-free section of the bay, with the only little disadvantage being that wind gusting through the "v-cut" of the mountains in front of us would make Boundless jerk a fair amount at the anchor chain. Oh well. The quest for the perfect anchorage continues aaaand now we're back to Calivigny, also so that we could do a little fresh food shopping at the one and only Meet and Meat.

Well, I believe that's it for now. As it's tradition, I'd like to invite you to visit our Gallery for some new pictures and thank you for reading, commenting and emailing, it brings you very close to us!

Quasi dimenticavo, almost forgot: last year today we arrived in Bay of Islands, Newfoundland after an overnight from Ingonish, NS. The beginning of a very special experience (which you can refresh if you like by scrolling to the older pages of this blog!) I see a commemorative toast in the near future (like, around 6:00pm tonight)😉.

Be safe and have a great month of July!