Grenada Carnival - Spice Mas 2008

Last week was a busy one. It was Carnival in Grenada!

The first festivity for us was Panorama, the steel drum competition. We bought tickets for the event at the Grenada National Stadium and headed out for the evening. The music was great, the band members were energetic and the competition was fierce. Some of these bands had more than 80 players and 120 instruments. The music started about 8:30 p.m. and didn't end until 1:30 a.m. I'm proud to say we hung in there until the very end! Because this was a competition, each orchestra played only one song. Most of the time was spent breaking down one band and setting up the next. Here's some video of the top 2 bands.

Two nights later we were at it again. Mike and Renee (Jacumba) and Jim and I headed back into St. Georges for the Monday Night Mas. We were told it would start around 6 or 7:00. You can never be sure because the carnival website doesn't even publish starting times. Grenada operates on what we cruisers refer to as GMT (Grenada Maybe Time). We arrived at 7:00 and the first band didn't come through until 10:30. The Mas is a big party where people sign up to participate in a parade where they follow a truck blaring music. They dance along wearing their sponsors' t-shirt, carrying glow-sticks and blowing whistles. This too is a judged event although I'm not sure what they're judged on. We watched the first couple of groups and then headed home. I think it's more fun to be in the parade/party then to watch it.

Tuesday, the day of the big Carnival parade. It was scheduled for noon but according to one of the participants it probably wouldn't start until about 2:00. We went to St. Georges with Mike and Renee and a van full of other cruisers. GMT was in play again...

Here's the parade route at 12:00. That's OK, we're going to lunch.

Here's the route at 1:00, no one even lining up.

2:00 and still empty.

3:00 Where's the damn parade!!!
These participants are just making their way to the start!

Things finally got going around 3:30.

This parade had a group of children and as is usually the case, the kids were quicker to smile and pose for the camera.

Here's a video with some of the sights and sounds of Carnival....

Trip to St. Georges

On Wednesday, Renee, Jim and I took the bus into St. Georges. The bus system in Grenada is great and an easy way to get around the island. There are bus stops but in reality the bus will stop anywhere you want. You can't walk anywhere without having them beep at you as they approach. The buses are large vans that can seat 18 but yesterday we managed to squeeze 21 in, although several were little kids. The trip costs less than $1 each way, far less than a taxi and gives you an opportunity to see a little local color.

Our first stop was Island Water World, a marine store that hosts a book/video/DVD swap each month. It's a great way to get rid of the books you've read and pick-up new ones all at no charge. I read several a week so I love the swaps.

Then it was on to the vegetable and spice market. Grenada is known as "The Spice Island" and the market is full of fresh spices such as nutmeg, curry, tumeric, pepper, etc. Here's just a few of the good things we bought. The large, round fruit at the top of the picture is a breadfruit. You "Mutiny on the Bounty" fans have heard about breadfruit as it was what Captain Bligh was transporting from Tahiti to the West Indies when the mutiny took place and Spencer Christain took over the ship. Captain Bligh later returned to Tahiti and was successful in bringing breadfruit to this part of the world.

Notice the yellow mustache? Jim was inhaling the aroma of the fresh spices.

I think we found our favorite spice lady. This is Theresa and she was great. Although, she was on to me pretty quickly. When I told her that I wasn't a very good cook and that Jim was she seemed mystified. Grenadian women are all good cooks. She just looked at me and said," I don't think you're a bad cook. I just think maybe you're a little bit lazy." Rats! My cover is blown! And she said this in front of Jim!

By the time we were finished shopping we had made a new friend. Theresa had hugs for all of us and made us promise that we would look for her at carnival.

Carnival has started with the main events this weekend through Tuesday. We're trying to get tickets to the Pan (steel drum) competition and we plan on going to the parade. Can't wait!

Another Hash - this one without the blood!

As if you didn't see enough last week, we bring you more hash pictures. Jim, Renee and two of her friends did this one. I was still healing from the previous weeks' wounds so I just went along for the scenic ride, to lend support and of course to have a beer at the finish line.

Houses along the roadside near the finish of the hash. I love the beautiful colors they are painted. Why are all the houses in the states white, beige, tan and gray?

Jim, Renee, Jennifer and Chuck looking clean before the start.

It rained hard before the start so the hashers had some mud to look forward to.

Hashers heading out along a riverbed.....

....along the trail........

...... and up the steep hillside. Those small dots are people climbing the hill, using their hands to help pull themselves up. The course was shorter than the previous week but this hill was a big one!

These kids were having a great time playing in the mud while mom was out hashing.

I'm happy to report that everyone stayed on their feet this time. Only muddy hands and feet! This location had a river for everyone to wash off in afterward which was a bonus.

The rest of the time we've been taking it kind of easy and just hanging out. I think that's because we know we don't have to move the boat and we can just sit for awhile. We played dominoes on Jacumba one afternoon accompanied by a jug of Jim's rum punches. We need to do that more often! We went to see the movie "Iron Man". It's the first time we've been to a theatre in 2 years. And Jim and I have been playing Scrabble all the time! We got on this kick about a month or so ago and we haven't stopped. We play almost everyday! We're trying to exercise our brains a little bit more!

We'll try to come up with something more exciting next week!

A Short Sailing Video

a Hashing we will go!

On Saturday July 19th Jim and Wendy went hashing!

Grenada's Hash House Harrier's are a local group of runners and walkers who meet bi-weekly to trek through the countryside. Our friend Renee has been hashing for the past 2 months and we had been following the events on her blog. So the 3 of us headed out Saturday afternoon taking a busride to St. George's where we were picked up for the hour ride across the island to this weeks' hash.

There are 2 hashes, one for runners and one for walkers. To make it more interesting, there are a number of false trails. If you head the wrong way you'll eventually come to an X which tells you you're on a false trail and you have to double back and find the right trail. These are not, let me repeat NOT groomed trails. They are treks through the woods that have been marked by the person laying out the course. Because we have had so much rain they were muddy, slippery and treacherous!

Here's the Hash Master giving us instructions at the beginning.

Jim headed off with the front group who were running and walking. Renee was toward the middle and I was with the back group. I didn't take any pictures during the walk. There is no way I could hold on to a camera. I needed both hands to claw my way up the steap hills, slipping and sliding the whole way. It was the most difficult hike I have ever done. I've hiked for 5 hours at a time, climbed up the island of Saba into the rainforest and many more. It can't compare with how difficult I found this. At one point I slipped and fell off the edge of the trail ( I use the term trail loosely!) and slid 10-12 ft. down the hill before I managed to grab some vines to stop myself. Luckily the guys behind me saw me slip. They handed a long branch down to me, I grabbed on and they pulled as I struggled up the slope. I don't think I could have made it up alone. The terrain was too muddy and covered in slippery, wet leaves. There was a point about 90 minutes into this that I thought I couldn't go on! I was so tired! But the people with me were so great and encouraging.

This is the road we came out on at the end. Jim had walked back to find me. Did you notice he's getting re-hydrated with a beer! The man to my right is Che, who walked with me towards the end. He was great! Check out the young med students on the left. They look pretty tired too.

Here's Che showing everyone how muddy I am.

Another guardian angel. She was hiking with family and friends and helping all of us up the steep parts.

Look closely. I'm not the only one with mud on my butt!

At the end of the hash all of us Virgins (1st time hashers) lined up to run past the old-timers while they sprayed us with beer. Then we were presented with our certificates that proudly state that we are no longer hashing virgins.

Jim getting a beer shower.


Proudly displaying our certificates.

When I took off my sweats, I found the first injury, a baseball-size lump with scrapes and cuts. I didn't even know I'd done this. Later I found a few more bruises in places I can't show you!

The bitter end. Renee looks as fresh and beautiful as she did at the start. Jim is so happy to be trail running again. Wendy is red-faced, sweaty but managed to smile!

Will I do it again? Probably.

The Grenadines to Grenada

Our first landfall in the Grenadines was the island of Bequia. Much of it's population is of Scottish descent, perhaps even some of my ancestors as Wallace was my great, great grandfather's name and it's a common name on this island. There's a strong tradition of boat building here. We visited one of the workshops where they build model boats and the craftsmenship was beautiful. Some owners of their work include Queen Elizabeth and Mick Jagger. It was funny listening to one of the men describe the day Mick came in. Apparently he was flying around the workshop and this man thought he was a bit much. Mick needed to chill!

Model boats under construction and the finished product.

Two of the hand-crafted sailboats on the beach.

We ended up skipping Mustique, the island of the rich and famous. We didn't have good wind direction to sail there and we're concerned that with the weather that was predicted, we might get stuck there. We joked that they might not let us ashore anyway. It's a private island and homeowners include Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Rachel Welch, Paul Newman, Tommy Hilfiger and Princess Margaret. So we headed to Saltwhistle Bay on the island of Mayreau. Mayreau (pronounced My-row) is only about 1.5 square miles and home to less than 300 people. It was a beautiful spot with a "Tahiti-like" beach.

Watching the storm approach.

Merengue at anchor in Saltwhistle Bay.

Jim "limin" at Saltwhistle Bay.

The view from Saltwhistle Bay across a narrow strip of land to the Atlantic side beach.

The beach at Saltwhistle Bay.


We hiked up over the hill to the village of Station Hill. This is the view back towards Saltwhistle Bay with Merengue at anchor.

As we walked through the village, we were greeted by two island dogs, the generic breed you see all through the islands. Most of the time the dogs are indifferent but these two decided to walk around town with us. When we stopped at the Robert Righteous Rasta Bar for a cold drink, they laid at our feet. When we headed back out of town, they came along. They were incredibly well behaved (except for one little goat chasing incident) and the male in particular walked right next to us, stopping when we did. When we arrived at the dinghy dock, the male sat there and watched us board and then stood in the shallow water watching us leave. As we headed across the bay, we glanced back and saw that he was swimming after us. Our boat was easily 300 yards away and this dog was determined to come with us! We didn't know what to do. If we pulled him into our dinghy and took him back to shore he would probably just swim out again. We decided that we had to give him some tough-love. We jumped in the cockpit and sat down where the dog couldn't see us. We watched him swim all the way to the boat, go back and forth across the stern and along the side looking for us before he gave up and swam back to shore. It's probably not the first time he has done this but it broke our heart. He really seemed to want to go with us!

Here's the potential stowaway swimming to our boat.
The good news is that 5 minutes after he was back on shore he was running and playing with his girlfriend. I'm sure we were quickly forgotten.

The next stop was the Tobago Cays a group of small islands in the Grenadines that is a National Marine Park. The water here is crystal clear and looks much like the Bahamas. This is a favorite spot for cruisers, charters and day-trippers and it is crowded. But the snorkling makes it worth being with the crowds. At anchor off the island of Baradal, we swam with the sea turtles seeing as many as 6 on one trip. They are fairly unafraid of humans here so we were able to observe them up close. They were beautiful. Then we spotted a large school of squid, the first time we'd seen that. On the way back to the boat, we noticed some movement and when we turned to investigate there were a whole school of stingrays! Not 3 or 4 but more than 20! What a beautiful sight to see them moving through the water. Sorry we didn't have a camera for that one.

Boats at anchor in the Tobago Cays.

Our next stop was for lunch at Palm Island. We were here on a day trip to the Grenadines 20 years ago and we couldn't help wonder if this was still a little piece of paradise. The 135 acre island has more homes then it did then but it still looks beautiful. The Palm Island Beach Club still looks like a wonderful spot if you're looking for an out-of-the-way island vacation.

The beach at the Palm Island Beach Club.





After luch, we motored across the channel to Union Island where we picked up a mooring from "Herman the Germon". Herman took us ashore, introduced us to his sister who sold fruits and vegetables and later, after we had walked around town and done our shopping, he met us for a beer. What fun sitting in a bar with the locals just watching the world go by in downtown Clifton. Herman is quite a fan of "Larry King Live" and CNN so he brought us up to date on what's going on in the world. He along with other people we've met are very interested in the presidential campaign in the U.S. and are anxious to see the outcome. What goes on in the U.S. affects them all eventually.

From Union Island we sailed to Carriacou, which is a territory of Grenada. We cleared customs in Hillsborough and them moved down to Tyrrel Bay for a few days before heading on to Grenada.

Our course to Grenada took us very close to an active, underwater volcano called Kick 'em Jenny. I say close because Jim wanted to sail right over her but I thought we should obey the exclusion zone. We find out later that gas from the volcano can cause bubbles that reduce the density of the water causing a boat to sink! The summit of this volcano has been rising steadily over the years and researchers have estimated that Kick 'em Jenny could emerge above the sea level in the early part of this century. Cool, a new island! There's a very small island for sale nearby for about 100 million dollars but if you decide to buy it, be prepared for a very noisey neighbor.





We're finally in Grenada!!!

We have been looking forward to this landfall for years! We arrived on July 7th and anchored in the Lagoon off of the town of St. Georges. We wanted to explore the town a little before heading to one of the anchorages on the southern coast. Grenada (pronounced Gre-nay-da) is an island 133 square miles in size with about 90,000 people. About 30,000 people live in St. Georges. We visited the fort, the fruit and fish markets and walked around the town. The next day was election day and by early evening it was clear that Grenada had a new Prime Minister. Cars, trucks and bicycles were driving along the Lagoon Road honking horns, blowing whistles and blaring music. The celebration went on all night and needless to say, we didn't get any sleep. We were only anchored about a hundred feet from the shore. Then the new Prime Minister declared that Wednesday would be a holiday so businesses stayed closed and the partying continued. Only in the Caribbean!



The view of St. Georges from the fort.


The view south from the fort toward Grand Anse Beach.

Hard to picture U.S. Navy ships anchored here instead of these yachts but this is where they were located in 1983 when President Regan sent U.S. troops to Grenada. The fort sustained damage from bombs during that invasion.

While we were anchored in the Lagoon, Jim climbed the mast to retreave the staysail halyard that had come loose and gone up the mast. Here's the view looking up.......

...and the view looking down.


We're are now anchored in Prickly Bay on the south coast. We finally caught up with Renee on Jacumba. Renee and Mike left the Dominican Republic 6 weeks before us last fall so we haven't seen them in 9 months. We anchored right next to Jacumba and dinghyed over for rum and tonics and to catch up. Mike is working on a resort development project in Mexico and Renee is here taking care of the boat, a 37 ft. catamaran. Mike and Renee took a 2 year break, bought a boat and sailed the Caribbean. Now Jacumba is for sail and Mike and Renee are planning the next phase of their lives. Renee has been showing us around and the other night we cooked dinner on Jacumba. You can see pictures of that evening and of their beautiful boat on their blog www.jacumbaatsea.blogspot.com.
Hey sailors, the boat is already here in the Caribbean just waiting for you to take possession and go sailing!

We are definitely in the rainy season! I think it's rained everyday. It seems like all we do is open the hatches, close the hatches, open the portholes, close the portholes. The good part is that we are catching lots of rainwater. It's free and we don't have to lug it from shore!

We'll get out and take pictures between showers. More soon!

Videos

We've added two videos for your enjoyment. The Sint Maarten carnival was my first attempt at shooting video with my pocket-size digital camera. While Jim was taking those great still photos, I tried to capture some of the excitement live. Jim edited out the shots of my feet, the sidewalk and me saying "I can't tell if this thing's working!"

The second video was taken more then a year ago when we were in the Bahamas. Jim used our friend Frank's camcorder to shoot video of him on his beautiful Westsail 32' "Warm Rain" and then Frank included some video of a squall in Allen's Cay and his departure from us in Staniel Cay. Thanks Frank (we're waiting for you to come down and join us)