I had to sail down to Grenada. I needed new batteries, buy anti fouling paint and get other bits and pieces for Golightly. I chose to sail down the windward side of Grenada as it’s a shorter distance to Prickly Bay. The currents were horrendous, I was at times making 45 degrees leeway. This was while I was between Carriacou and the north of Grenada. It only slacked off half way down the island. I made it safely in and dropped anchor. So while I’ve been here I’ve bought new batteries, anti fouling paint, primer and new canvas to redo the dodger, Bimini etc. It’s been fun here with all the events and happenings. The only downside was being here for 2 tropical storms. This is a southerly exposed anchorage and large swells and a chop were coming in to the bay. It made it very uncomfortable to say the least. Dangerous too. Many boats dragged anchor and 3 went aground in this bay alone. Two are a total loss.
I’ve also made a reservation to haul the boat out in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou, to clean and repaint the bottom. This is for 11 November.

And then on Sunday October 27, the worst day of my life began.
At about 8am AST, Daniel, my youngest son, phoned me to let me know that Matthew, my oldest and Dan’s brother, had passed away.
It’s Tuesday 29, and I’m still at a loss for words. I’m flying to Miami and then catching a bus down to Key West on Wednesday. Gary on Mystic Blue and Greg on Nebula are going to keep an eye on Golightly for me.

Wednesday 30. October.
Gary on Mystic Blue, picked me up and delivered me to the Budget dock in Prickly Bay. Took a taxi to the airport. Flight delayed 1 hour. Flew to Miami and it took 2 and a quarter hours to clear immigration. Ridiculous! I missed the last bus to Key West and had to spend the night in the airport. It was a long, cold and very uncomfortable night. I had coffee and a banana.

Thursday 31 October.
Spent the night in a steel chair in Miami airport. Not fun. I had a good Cuban sandwich for breakfast. The first bus down to the Keys was at 11am. I was dropped at Joel and Helena’s house at about 3pm.
Darren and Pauli, Matt’s friends, came to the house to fetch me. We then went to the hotel where I met up with Daniel and Eudi.
We then all went down to the Green Room, where Matt had worked. We stopped at Jack Flats for a couple of peanut butter whiskey shots. At the Green Room a party to celebrate his life was going on and we joined in. His friends, Darren and Tiffany, Pauli, and many others made us feel very welcome. By the time I got back to the house, it was 0200.

Friday 1st November.
Darren fetched us and took us to the funeral home to see Matthew. We spent about two hours there chatting etc amongst ourselves and including him. It was a good time. A time to say goodbye.
The funeral director took us home

Saturday 2 November.
RWC 2019. SA v England. We won.
Then before sunrise a crowd of us gathered on the beach for the lighting of lanterns, sprinkling of his ashes and roses into the water. It was in front of Matt and Jeff’s apartment and a rainbow appeared above the building. All very cool on this calm morning. Grant and Mel were there too. From Australia. Then went up to Jeff’s apartment.
Helena and I went shopping and the others rested up.
That evening we went down to Mallory Square to watch the street performers and the sunset. Had a mojito there. After sunset we had a drink at Hogs Breath Saloon then walked up to Jack Flats where we had peanut butter whiskey shots. After a few of those we walked up to Mr Zs for pizza slices and philly cheese steak sandwiches. The boys treated us well there.
We were treated so well everywhere.


Sunday 3 November.

Pauli, a lovely lady and one of Matt’s best friends, picked me up and we went to Hog fish grill Tiffany arrived with Daniel and Eudi. Had lunch there. Shared van den Berger. Huge!

That evening we met down to the waterfront for the remembrance cruise. It was a great send off for Matt again. About 80-100 aboard. Another boat with friends also followed. Eudi sprinkled his ashes and said good words too. When we came ashore, we went to Mallory Square to light lanterns again. Too much wind. Then we traipsed up to Ricks, where Matt first worked. Had a drink there and then off to the Green Parrot. Lots of drinks there. Someone paid for an Uber home for me at 11. The rest got home at 5 the next morning!

Monday. 4 November.
It was a slow day all round. Most of the crew had only got to bed at around 5am and couldn’t be roused until about 3pm.
I hung around waiting at Helena’s house till 11. No response from Daniel or Eudi. I then went down town to buy a few things. Since I hadn’t heard from anyone, I decided I’d have a quiet evening as I was going to have a early start. We had a delicious dinner of roast loin of pork with roasted veg. Very nice. At about 8, Pauli, Daniel, Eudi and Grant arrived to say good bye. It was good to see them although I would have liked to have had more time with Daniel. Early night.

Tuesday 5 November. Up early, coffee, pack and to the airport by 6. Joel also flew to Miami for a business meeting.
A huge thank you to Pauli, Darren for carting us around. Big ups to you!
I had a sweet cheese and a cherry danish for breakfast. The flight to Grenada was good. Taxi to Sails restaurant and had happy hour with Gary, Ang, Jenny and Greg. Then back to Golightly. All good aboard.

Thursday 7 November.
Put dinghy in the water. Yoo-hoo!
Went shopping with Ang today.
I cried a bit more today. But not yet enough.

I’ve picked up a bad chest infection and am having difficulty throwing it off. On antibiotics now. I can’t sail single handed not being at full strength so I’ll hopefully sail up to Carriacou next week.
I motor sailed up the leeward side of Grenada and on to Carriacou on Tuesday 19 November 2019. It was pretty easy going. I fished all the way, tuna were jumping, but didn’t even get a strike. The fish are becoming few and far between. For me that is. I then anchored in Tyrell Bay and confirmed my haul out date for Tuesday 26 November.