In the News

Check out the February issue of Caribbean Compass Magazine.

There's a great article on page 21 written by our friend Hope (S/V Starshine) and featuring Jim's photography.  For those of you who can't get the printed version, you can read it on-line at www.caribbeancompass.com.

It's been fun clicking on various websites and seeing ads for Cafe Press that are featuring some of the items that are available with Jim's photography.  This ad appeared on the Windfinder weather site and shows Jim's calendar and shark coffee mug.  Jim was very happy to see that his stuff was positioned ABOVE the Kardashians!

And for our last news item, our friend Renee (formerly of the S/V Jacumba and now residing in St. Kitt's) has a book coming out soon called "A Sail of Two Idiots."  She asked Jim if he had any photos that might work for the cover and a picture of a group of us holding a pirate flag was in contention.  The only problem was that Jim took the picture and therefore, he wasn't in it.  Problem solved.  Look closely at the flag.  Jim fails to see why it didn't make the cut.  Book editors have no sense of humor!

By the way, you can pre-order "A Sail of Two Idiots" at www.amazon.com. 

 Grenada celebrated 38 years of Independence on February 7th
and we were there for the festivities at the National Stadium.

Here's our group, all dressed in red, green and gold, the national colors of Grenada.

The colorful homes on the hill-side above the stadium.

The National Stadium, host to world-class cricket and cultural events.

The festivities started with the children dancing around may-poles and then moved on to historic native Indian dancers and moko jumbie stilt walkers.

The main portion of the show was the parade of all branches of Grenada's military and service organizations.

The Venezuelan government sent a contingent of soldiers and paratroopers.

The Governor General and Prime Minister presided over the festivities.

The Grenadians are very patriotic and for days leading up to the celebration you saw them wearing the national colors. The stands were a sea of vibrant red, green and gold!

Jim (green shirt) and Tom (red shirt and hat) enjoying a beer and some conversation.

Leslie and Wendy enjoying the day!

This is the first time that we have been in Grenada at this time of the year so Independence Day, the Work Boat Regatta and many other events are all firsts for us.  We are enjoying them all and hope to bring you many more in the weeks to come.

 Last weekend, February 4-5, 2012 was the annual Work Boat Regatta on Grand Anse Beach.

Part of the Grenada Sailing Festival, this regatta showcases the traditional boats that have been built in these islands for generations.

 We arrived early to stake out a spot in the shade and watched the vendors setting up for the day.

 We really enjoyed walking the beach for an up-close look at these beauties.

What is a boat without a name?

These boats are built by hand and without plans.  The booms are bamboo.

 A little duct tape will take care of that torn sail, hopefully!

Stepping the mast.

 The starts were amazing. The boat is pushed into the surf and held in place while the rudder is attached.

One crew member has to wait on shore. At the sound of the race horn, he sprints into the water and jumps aboard followed quickly by the rest of the crew.  The race is on!

 Capsizing occurred frequently and with the high wind conditions some boats weren't able to recover quickly.

They ended up swamped and had to be pulled to shore.

The many faces of the regatta.

A broken boom.

 There was also an Optimist class for the young sailors.

It's been a long day of rigging the boat and sailing 4 races.

Tomorrow is another day.