Oceans Dream

02 August 2014 | ENGLAND
15 March 2014 | Malaysia
29 January 2014 | Thailand
26 December 2013 | Phuket, Thailand
30 November 2013 | Langkawi, Malaysia
03 November 2013 | Puteri Harbour Marina, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
04 October 2013 | Indonesian Borneo
22 September 2013 | Lovina, Bali
05 September 2013 | Komodo Island, Indonesia
18 August 2013 | Flores Island, East Nusa Tengarra, Indonesia
06 August 2013 | Kupang, Timor island
26 July 2013 | Northern Territory, Australia
21 July 2013 | Uluru, Australia
29 June 2013 | Fannie Bay, Darwin
17 June 2013 | Shelburne Bay, Cape Grenville, Australia
08 June 2013 | Carins, QLD
29 May 2013 | Townsville
12 May 2013 | Queensland
26 April 2013 | Mooloolaba, QLD
24 March 2013 | Mooloolaba, Queensland

Marina life

13 March 2010 | Clarkes Court Bay Marina, Grenada
OD on pontoon

Clarkes Court Bay Marina, Grenada is where it's at for Oceans Dream and her crew right now. It's quite nice being tied up against a pontoon for a few days; to use showers without worrying about water consumption (too much), to watch Six Nations matches (live), to enjoy English fish 'n chip nights (although the battered fish is mahi-mahi and not cod!), to use a laundry which doesn't have dryers available but plenty of lines and at last, a chance for the wind to blow through the towels and sheets without the salty, damp air getting into them.

One of the highlights the marina-life is the daily arrival of a local bus at about 09:00. We wondered for a short while who the people were jumping off the bus, donning life-jackets and climbing onto kayaks for what is, quite a rigorous paddle up to the mangrove swamps.

Kayaks for cruise-liner passengers

Curiosity got the better of us and we soon discovered they were cruise-liner passengers who had been sold a half day 'leisurely' kayaking trip among the mangroves. After about 3 hours they return absolutely shattered, sunburnt and sometimes sea-sick ... a case of mis-selling?!

The novelty of marina life is now beginning to wear-off and we'll head off tomorrow. We're always amazed at how many people do seem to camp out in marina's though, some seem to become permanent residents and it doesn't come cheap.

CCB marina

Having had the wind generator fitted, we've been keeping a close eye on power consumption and replenishment and are extremely happy with the results. As with most wind generators, a slight whistle can be heard (anyone who tells you theirs is silent has just got used to the noise!) but it's not intrusive and certainly doesn't keep us awake - so overall, a good purchase.

We've also found that the lighting in the cockpit hasn't really been sufficient - yes, we have some surround 'bling' lighting which lights up the walkway at the back of the cockpit but there's hardly any sign of illumination near the cockpit table should we chose to eat outdoors at night - which we do. Thanks to the Caribbean chandlery 'Island Water World', yesterday we bought a 10 bulb dome light AND the bulbs are LED so a means of saving on that all essential power again!

LOCAL LINGO
Whilst the guys (Floyd and Sheldon) were finishing the electrical work, they were offered a beer to see them on their way but what was their response? This is what was said:

"Nah problem, tanks."

Eventually, we realised this was a "yes" but it took a bit of working out! Another saying we hear in these parts is "Whassup captain?" Rather than respond with "Nothing's up" (which has be known!), an acceptable response would be something along the lines of "good thanks, 'you OK?".

WATER
Just touching on the water situation here in Grenada. It doesn't take much to realise there's a water shortage. In fact there are limitations to 6 hours a day, just 4 days a week. The rainy season didn't really happen here and where other Caribbean islands are lush and green, this one is brown, dry and lacking Caribbean colour. The driest year that many remember ... not unlike the coldest and snowiest in the UK - must be something to do with global warming.

Lush Clarkes Court Bay
A 'lush' Clarkes Court Bay in previous years

The grassy area near the marina
Dry 'grassy' area in Marina grounds today

Needless to say, despite being in the perfect place to be scrubbing the salt water off the decks, we're reluctant to do so due to the lack of fresh water - rather someone had it to drink, than we use it to clean the decks.

We're sticking around the Marina until tomorrow as they're showing the England v's Scotland Six Nations game this afternoon. In the morning, we'll head north for the island of Carriacou.

To All Mothers out there (only in the UK we think), we wish you a Very Happy Mothering Sunday.

With our very best wishes,
Jackie & Adrian
Comments
Vessel Name: Oceans Dream
Vessel Make/Model: Admiral 40 catamaran
Hailing Port: Plymouth, UK
Crew: Adrian & Jackie
About:
Having both worked hard we decided we should enjoy an exciting and challenging retirement whilst we were young enough and fit enough. To realise this dream, we replaced our monohull with an ocean-going liveaboard catamaran. [...]

About Us

Who: Adrian & Jackie
Port: Plymouth, UK