Whew! What a Happy Holiday!

To say that I am a little late in telling you about our holiday is an understatement!

To say that we have been VERY busy and have not had time is not an exaggeration!

Christmas day was spent with our good friends John and Linda on S/V Kool Kat, a beautiful Leopard 47 catamaran.

 Wendy and Linda......

Steve and Hope (S/V Starshine, an Island Packet 37), John and Wendy......

and Rikky and his mom Garda who was visiting from Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Yes, Jim was there too but as usual he manged to take pictures and not have his taken.

Ahhhhh, Christmas in the islands!

There was lots of great food, mimosas, bloody Mary's, wine, oh you get the picture.  The typical holiday overindulgence!  It was great!  Thank you John and Linda for a wonderful day!

 Two days later and it was time for more food and fun at De Big Fish's Pot Luck and Music Jam.

 Linda and I helped with the organizing by making announcements on the morning cruiser's radio net, taking reservations and organizing the food and lists of performers.

More then 100 people attended bringing with them lots of great food and musical talent.

 de Big Fish staff singing Bob Marley's "One Love."

You don't see this everyday, at least not in the northern hemisphere.  This cruiser is playing a didgeridoo.

The music jam was a huge success, the highlight of the season.  Thanks to de Big Fish for the great venue.

News Year Eve and we were back at de Big Fish for their annual party.

The sun hasn't even set and we're ready to party!

John, Lorna and Jim.

Wendy, Kim and Linda.

Larry and Jan (S/V Sea Bear)

Steve and Hope

Because they recognize that cruisers rarely stay out late, de Big Fish celebrates the new year at midnight GMT. They had the countdown from London, England playing on the big screen and we were all celebrating at 8:00 p.m. local time!  This is great for cruisers who like to be in bed by cruiser's midnight, 9 P.M!

However, our happy group headed out to Sea Bear for more drinks and to await the midnight fireworks over the bay.  We no sooner headed out in our dinghies when it started to rain.

So much for dressing up and trying to look good!  We arrived soggy but happy. 

Ahhhh, life on the sea!

In between the holidays were numerous happy hours and dinners with friends and lots of football.  We've been able to watch several Green Bay Packer games as well as the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl.  This was the before picture.  There wasn't a happy after picture.  Oregon 45-Wisconsin 38 in the highest scoring Rose Bowl ever.  More football fun to come as the Packers head into the playoffs.

Merry Christmas!

Prickly Bay

Life moves at a nice, slow pace in Prickly Bay, Grenada and then all of a sudden you wake up to some excitement!  I was making a cup of tea at 6:30 the other morning when I noticed a friend zoom by in his dinghy.  Where could he be going so early?  A few minutes later Jim took his coffee and went to sit in the cockpit and noticed what all the excitement was about.  A boat had broken loose from it's mooring, bounced off of a pier and went aground along the west shore of the bay.

 The boat was unoccupied and apparently the line was cut.  It could have happened in the night if someone ran over the line in the dark and cut it with their outboard prop.  Or I guess it could have been foul play but that sort of thing hasn't happened here before and with no one aboard it's doubtful that the owner had angered someone so it remains a mystery how it happened.

 Several dinghies were already on the scene offering assistance.  Here the man with the dinghy on the left has taken the main halyard (look closely and you'll see the line from the top of the mast running to the dinghy) and is pulling the sailboat over on her side to free the keel from the sand.  A little more pulling and the boat popped free with no damage!  Phew!  Glad that wasn't us.  It's not a good feeling to go to sleep in one place and wake up in another!

 In Prickly Bay we are surrounded by beautiful homes. 

This home is right off of Merengue's stern.

 We've come to think of Grenada as home and have decided to make it our home for the next year.  We'll stay here to do a few boat projects while we enjoy all this island has to offer.  Oh, maybe we'll take a trip to  the Grenadines but we have no plans to sail any further north.  It will be a nice, lazy year.  We're looking forward to it.

Merengue in Prickly Bay, Grenada.

Only 3 weeks Until Christmas. Yikes!

We've had several inquiries asking if Jim put out a calendar for 2012 so at the risk of shameless self-promotion here's the link again.  There is also a great Christmas card with a Caribbean theme. 

If you hurry, you'll still have time to address the cards and get them mailed!

http://www.cafepress.com/Merengue 

Front of card

Inside message

Thanks for your interest.  It is truly appreciated!

Sophie's Sojourn

Yahoo!  Another niece!

We have 2 you know!

Sophie came to visit us in Grenada, her first time in the Caribbean.

 The first day begins with a noodle-float in the ocean.  It's a great way to begin a vacation!

 Celebrating Jim's birthday with friends at De Big Fish Restaurant.

 Sophie and Jim

Sophie and Wendy



Jim and Sophie doing a little cooking together.

 It's thirsty work!  Just a little sip as this is 15 year old El Dorado rum.

 The result of their effort was a delicious chicken curry with breadfruit.

 Beach day at the Aquarium restaurant on Magazine Beach.

 The surf was really big so we had to skip the snorkeling.  Instead we ate......

 drank.......

drank some more......

and hung out on the beach.

 Island tour time with our guide and friend, Cutty.

 Cutty always teaches us about the local plants.  This are cocoa pods.

 Annandale Falls

River's Rum Distillery

 Rivers is the oldest working, water-driven distillery in the Caribbean established in 1785.....

 ...thus the old pictures.  Oh wait, cameras hadn't been invented in 1785!

 Tasting the overproof rum.  All smiles, Sophie's ready!

 Oh, that's rough!

 What is this stuff?  Look at Jim thinking "I got her!"

 Oh, there's the burn!  Will I ever feel my throat again?

Cutty's favorite neighborhood rum shop.  We stopped for a cold beer on the way home.

 Another beach day.  You can't have too many! 

This is the view looking out from Umbrella's Restaurant on Grand Anse Beach.

 Our waitress strikes a pose for the camera.

Not to be outdone, Sophie strikes a pose of her own!

We loved having you here sweetie.  Come back soon!