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