AN UNFRIENDLY LOCAL AND A FRIENDLY MEAL

I wake up to about 200 sugar ants on my nightstand.  UGH!! I left an open bottle half full of Ting on it overnight. Not a good plan.

I walk down to the restaurant and order the Spicy French Toast and then go in the pool for a dip. The location of this pool is unfortunate. I don't really want to swim and lay out here where every single lunch patron can watch me. Thus I make it a quick dip.

Spicy French Toast

I go to reception and get some info on a tour company here and go back to my room to make the call to book an 8 hour island tour for tomorrow and a market tour for Saturday. They are $90 and $12 US dollars respectively. The island tour includes lunch. I am really looking forward to seeing the rest of the island.

On the way to the Allemanda resort I stop in at the mall for a couple of drinks for the beach.  Once at the beach, I have to ask again for the chairs to be unlocked. It is a bit of an inconvenience but I understand it. Right next to where the resort is, there is a public park of sorts with a few shacks on it selling food. There is a big seagrape tree in front of the park on the beach and a lot of local men hang out under it for the entire day. They have a big stack of chairs in the park and they rent them out for the day. Some of them are also the beach vendors selling jewelry and massages etc. They look like a shady bunch and I guess the hotel doesn't want them, or anyone else for that matter, helping themselves to their chairs.

I get settled in and then go in for a dip. There are two women in the water and they greet me. We get to talking and their names are Lauren and Rosalie.  Rosalie is older and originally from Grenada but now lives in New York, as does Lauren - who is originally from Tobago. At one point I am sure I hear Lauren call Rosalie 'mom' so not sure how it is they are from two different islands. They are really nice and very friendly and we spend an hour floating and laughing.

Rosalie and Lauren

Back lounging in my chair, a huge cat comes in - Carib Cats. I have seen it (or rather HEARD it) way out on the water  earlier. It takes tourists out for a few hours and they play reggae music extremely loudly. As I watch them, a young local guy is hauled up the very tall mast by rope and a small wooden platform. It doesn't look any too secure and steady and I am riveted watching him go up and then shortly after, back down. They let him down too fast and he freaks out a little about half way. Poor guy! When he gets on the sand he actually kneels down and kisses it!

An annoying old ratty looking rasta guy, who has been talking at volume ALL DAY under the local hang out tree I mentioned earlier, comes over to where I am and starts yelling at some little girls playing at the water's edge.  It is obvious to me by the startled looks on their faces that they do not know this guy. They go back to playing and try to ignore him while he continues to yell at them. I can't make out what it is that has got him so annoyed but it seems to me that he is way out of line. He turns to see me staring at him, probably with a scowl, and he says something unintelligible to me and then says "Are you angry with me?" I say no but I guess he can tell I am annoyed with him and he goes off at volume about who he is, how much money he paid for a private island and some gas company (uh-huh, not buying it). He is yelling and is quite aggressive. He starts to walk off and then turns back to me yelling a bunch of stuff about how educated he is. He goes on and on and on and I finally have had enough.

"All I care about is that you're disturbing the peace of this beautiful place" I say.

He doesn't like that one bit. "ME?  Disturbing the peace? Is that what you said?"

"Yep. That's what I said."

He goes off again about the millions he has spent on land and companies. I just go back to my kindle and ignore him. He continues to yell and then finally leaves, walking to another small group not far from his tree and starts disturbing their peace.

Guys like that should be arrested. Loitering all day, ranting at tourists right in front of their resort. He was a total ass for yelling at those little girls like he did.

Every day that I have been on the beach here, there has been a couple my age under the shade of a tree a bit closer to the property line for the resort. He is white and she is black. Judging books by their covers, they seem really nice. I have started to say hi to them when I arrive, it is clear they are staying at the Allemanda, and they have been watching this whole exchange. I look over at them and grin and shrug. He grins back.

Some young boys arrive at the beach and proceed to have the Caribbean version of a snowball fight. It is highly entertaining to watch as they carefully form a small ball out of sand and a lot of water and then slowly pack more dry sand around it. They make a line of half a dozen or so and then start pelting each other with them. They are having the time of their lives and I am thoroughly enjoying watching them.

Carefully forming the sandballs

This ball landed smack on the side of the target's head!

I have finally called Joe, the taxi driver Mike recommended, to come and take me out to dinner.  He arrives right on time to pick me up and he is so professional, his van is new and pristine, and I am very happy. Not one single personal question.

Ready for a night out with mystery guests

Tom, the other driver, had told me about a resort on the south end of the island named Le Phare Bleu, that hosts a 'friendship table' dinner once a week on Wednesday evenings. The meal is set out, family style, in dishes, and you all sit together at one long table and get to know some new people. I LOVE the idea of this and so have made a reservation and that is where we are headed.

When I arrive, there is a long table set out and a few people at the bar. I walk up to the bar, order a drink and then say hello to an older gentleman sitting there. I ask him if he is there for the friendship dinner and he says he is. We introduce ourselves; he is Robin and he is British. I recognize another man down the bar from pizza night at Prickly Bay. He is rather loud but seems really nice and I am guessing from his accent that he is from the states, maybe Texas. I find out later that he is from Florida. There is a woman with him who looks to be about 20 years older than he is (he looks my age) but I think maybe she is the same age but has had a hard life and too much sun!

My wonderful dinner partner, Robin

It turns out that tonight we are dining buffet style and a server comes to tell us we can help ourselves whenever we are ready so we head to the table. The meal tonight is all authentic Caribbean cuisine and I am excited to try it.  Robin and I sit across from each other at the long table and have a great conversation. It turns out he has lived on Grenada for ten years, he is a project manager and built the beautiful Port Louis Marina, among other places. He has just returned from a trip to England and his wife is still there visiting family.  He is a wonderful dinner partner and I have a lovely evening. And the food is fantastic.

Robin and me

The guy from Florida is named Tom and once I am alone, because Robin has gone home for the evening, he comes over and offers to buy me a drink and I accept. He orders it and one for himself. He asks me where I am from and tells me he is from Florida and that he is a boat captain and delivers boats all over the Caribbean from Florida for those who don't want to make the trip themselves. Just as the drinks arrive, the woman he is with walks over and it is clear right away that she has had too much to drink. She more orders than tells him that it is time to go. He says "yes, in a bit", and turns back to me. She gets really rude at this point and grabs his arm and says "Lets GO! I want to GO. NOW!" and yanks on his arm. He can't ignore her although it seems he wants to. He apologizes to me and stands. She is loudly telling him she wants to leave NOW the whole time. I feel sorry for Tom as he seems very embarrassed and tells me she is his first mate. As they walk away, I wonder if he is also married to her. If he is, I feel very sorry for him.

What I really appreciate about my new taxi driver, Joe, is that he, unlike the other two, does not require me to give him a time to return for me, just a phone call giving him 20 minutes to get here - so I don't feel like I am leaving before I want to. I call him and then go sit with some other friendship table diners that were at the other end to introduce myself. I meet a lovely woman with a young boy on her lap. They are from Germany and here on business for two months and just arrived today. They are staying at the resort attached to the restaurant here. We have a nice chat until Joe arrives and then we walk out together, her to their room and me to the lovely shiny clean taxi.

OFF OF THE BOAT INTO A HOTEL

I wake at 7:30 but doze in and out for an hour. Today I leave the boat as the 'by sea' part of the trip is over, and I am trying to sort out in my head what to do about tipping Alessandra. I have $600 set aside for it but there's no way I am leaving that much so I decide to message a friend who used to do charters and is well versed in this business. He messages me back and says to leave $50 - $100 or nothing at all. He also suggests to talk to Rick, which I do.

Come to find out, this was not a 'crewed' charter, just captain only. I was expected to pitch in and fend for myself and no tip at all is expected. I am rather stunned and Rick says that it was stated as such in the initial contest post. This is news to me. The prize was described as a 'share the sail' charter and to me, that means I am not the only guest, there will be others that I won't know aboard who are also guests. This was to be the case but the only other guests, a couple, backed out a couple of weeks before the sail. Other than that, that this was not a proper crewed charter was never explained to me. And although it is good to know, it is rather too late and I am somewhat embarrassed as I must have seemed like a lazy, entitled idiot the entire time.

I decide to leave Alessandra $100 US because she did all of the dishes the entire trip and, I now realize, cooked more than her fair share of the dinners. It doesn't help me feel less embarrassed about the whole thing though and I really wish it had been made clear what the expectations were right from the start.

I get all packed up and the eat some of the coconut bread for breakfast. Alessandra is still in bed as she is not feeling well today. Rick is at his computer editing the footage we shot of the girl who sang the other night.

I have, overall, enjoyed this part of my trip. I loved the sailing but not how the boat heeled over - it makes for an uncomfortable time of it; I loved that Rick took me on so many dingy explorations - I really enjoyed them and saw a lot that way; I absolutely fell in love with Union Island, the Tobago Cays, Petit Tabac, and especially Mayreau - truly, truly paradise on earth and I would go back in a heartbeat and, if I could take my family with me, never, ever leave. I am forever grateful to Rick for making those places part of the itinerary. I didn't see any dolphins, which was a big disappointment - but saw loads of flying fish and they were fun to spot! I really liked Alessandra and just wished she had been more social - the one time we sat on the side of the boat and talked for an hour or two was so great and I think we could have had many more chats if she'd shown interest. I was also very grateful for both Rick and Alessandra's gracious acceptance of my instability getting in and out of the dinghy and helping me greatly so that what had been a very big concern to me was almost a non-issue. I was very leery of Lucky the parrot as he bit Alessandra a couple of times, but was shocked when he said - in my voice - 'Where's Rick?' one afternoon after I had said it to him about a dozen times in an hour while Rick was on shore (he said it many many times after that) - I loved how many things Lucky could say and, as long as he was in his cage, found him very amusing.  I was very comfortable in my little cabin and the bed was a lot more comfy than I expected - but I hated the bathroom. The cabinet on the wall had hinges that had broken so it fell down every time I opened it and I was constantly in fear of plugging the toilet - which never happened, thank the Lord. And showering in there was a challenge as you soaked the whole room and there wasn't much space to maneuver - if I lived aboard there would definitely have to be a proper shower.

I am really looking forward to the second half of this trip and I hope the hotel is clean and in good repair. I tried to see where it might be from the water each time we sailed between Grand Anse and Mourne Rouge Beach but I'm not sure if I saw it or not. I'm just trying to recognize buildings I am seeing from pictures on the website but nothing is quite the same. I am thinking that it is not as close to the beach as they make it out to be on the website. We shall see.

Not having my iPhone is horrible!

Just before noon, Rick dinghys me and my bags to Clarke's Court Marina where we wait just a few minutes for Cat Eye, the taxi driver, to show. Rick and I make arrangements to get in touch to go to half price pizza in a couple of days at Prickly Bay and maybe to Gouyave fish fry Friday together later in the week.

Cat Eye arrives and we say our goodbyes for now.  As we drive the 20 minutes from the south end of the island up to Grand Anse - Cat Eye pointing out places of interest along the way, and it strikes me again how different this island is from the BVI.  There are no multi-million dollar villas on the hills here, just a lot of brightly painted shacks and cabins with a few stucco or clapboard houses here and there. There are people walking on the side of the road everywhere, and there are no killer hills.  This really does feel like a third world country. We pass a 'squatters village' that is pretty awful - loads of ramshackle shacks on a steep hillside, crammed together with palm trees and bits of wild jungle growth between - super tiny structures smaller than most people's living rooms back home, the majority are of faded raw plywood but some are painted bright colours.

We pull in to the Siesta Hotel and I check in at the open reception area. I realize at once that I never saw this place from the water as it is not where I thought it was - I thought it was between Grand Anse and Morne Rouge but it isn't - and it is much farther off of the beach than I supposed. Cat Eye drives me up the steep driveway to my building and leaves my bags at the door to my room, which is standing open. I walk inside and the young maid is still in the room, hanging curtains. It is stifling hot inside and ask her about turning on the air-conditioning - something the hotel clerk asked her to do when she radioed up that I had arrived. She apologizes and turns it on and I take a look around. As the entire establishment is almost empty of guests, I have been upgraded from a room to a 'suite'. It is rather sparsely furnished, no decor at all - it is very bare bones. It's not super clean either but the whole place passable and I remind myself that I got it at a very good price.  Then I find a spider in one of the kitchen cupboards! I call the maid to come and remove it, hoping dearly that is the only one I will see in here. I am happy to see that there is a small safe in the bedroom closet for valuables.  The air conditioning unit is in the bedroom and it quickly cools off that room but the rest of the place stays too hot for comfort.

From the living room to the kitchen area

From the kitchen to the living room

Kitchen

Bedroom (note the lovely curtains)

Bathroom which was very clean except for the light fixture

Looking out of the window, the view is great but it's looking like it will definitely be a bit of a walk to the beach as what I thought was a lawn between here and there (when looking at pictures on the web site before booking it) is actually a plot of jungle. The mall is five minutes to the right, the way to the beach about the same to the left, apparently.  The pool looks nice and the restaurant right beside it looks like it will be a good place for some lunch.

View from my little balcony

I head down to the restaurant for a bite of lunch and order the callaloo quiche. Certainly not cheap at $25 EC. I haven't ever had callaloo - I don't even know what it looks like so this will be interesting. When it arrives, it is just a slice of quiche - no salad or garnish - and it appears to be full of spinach but this is the callaloo I guess. It tastes pretty good!  As I sit there and eat, it starts to rain - hard. I wait it out and then set out to walk to the beach. The receptionist confirms that I need to head left, take the first road on the right, and there will be a path to the beach at the end.

Callaloo Quiche

And...... the rain

As I walk down the narrow road which has no sidewalks, I start to notice that there are huge holes in the dirt at the side of the road, everywhere - about 50 every 10 feet. I stop and look at one, warily. If these are made by some earth burrowing spider, it is going to make for terrifying walks to the beach every day and if I actually ever see one of what ever big ass arachnid makes these holes, I might never go to the beach as I won't dare step foot off of the hotel property! As I continue to walk, heart somewhat in throat, looking down at my feet, which now look very exposed in flimsy flip flops, to make sure no spiders are ready to attack me - I start to look ahead a little and notice that there are orange things outside each hole and as I get within 10 feet or so, they disappear into the hole and I realize - with huge relief - that the holes belong to land crabs.  The crabs are various sizes from the size of a small cookie to the size of my hand. There are ditches that run along each side of the side of the road, and on the far side of the ditches, the crabs that are lucky enough to live there don't run into their holes when I walk by. It's almost as if they are standing there, their one big claw in the air, saying 'HA! You can't get me... I am way over here and there is a ditch between us that you'll NEVER cross.' I imagine that these are the smug aristocracy of the crab community here.

WHAT lives in there?!?!?

Oh, whew! It's just some crabs.

I turn off this road down the first road on the right (more crabs) and see the local police. I cannot find the path that is supposed to be at the end of the road so I turn right along a road that runs alongside the beach (and more crabs) but has big resorts in between and I finally decide to just walk through one of the resorts, Spice Island, to the beach. I walk as if I belong there and no one stops me as I go through the marble clad open air reception, past a gorgeous bar and restaurant, and then a private outdoor seating area around a pretty fountain. I step onto the sand of Grand Anse and am immediately accosted by a young man with dreadlocks and a diamond stud in his nose. He is carrying a backpack and flashes a big white smile. He holds up a necklace made of cinnamon sticks, nutmeg with the mace lace still on, and various other leaves and spices and tells me I need one. It is a beach vendor and he is unrelenting when I tell him I'm not interested at the moment, thank you anyway, and he walks by my side as I start to walk down the beach. I tell him I have just arrived, that I am here for 10 days, and that IF I want one, I wouldn't buy it until the day before I leave. He realizes I am unmoved by his pleas and the smile disappears. He says everyone says that and then he never sees them again. I tell him that if I decide to buy one, I will look for him on my last day here and then I go on my way, leaving him behind. I have read that the beach is full of these guys but they accept it when you say no and move on. This guy sure didn't do that and I wonder if I am going to be fighting them off all week long.

Ahhh! The beach!!

I find a small dive shop on the beach with several local guys sitting out front. I walk up and ask them where the path is from the road to the beach and they point it out to me, not far away, and I find it on my way back, after a nice long stroll along this new-to-me end of the beach. No wonder I didn't see it, it is clearly a path from the beach side, but then it cuts through a small dirt road that doglegs and leads to a parking lot for a Yoga gym, which I saw from the other side but had no idea that was it.

I walk to the mall for a new iPhone 4 cord with no luck but buy some snacks and drinks to put in my fridge back at the hotel. As I head to the doors to leave I see that it is absolutely pissing it down out. There is a small group of shoppers waiting at the doors for the rain to pass and I join them. It slows down but doesn't stop so I head out into the drizzle and make my way back to the hotel. I haven't gotten my bearings yet - I do know how to get back - but I am sure there has to be a quicker way. As I walk the long way around from the front of the mall to the road that takes me home, I realize that the peach stuccoed, long, low building with the red tin roof that I passed on my way to the mall IS the mall - the back side - and that there is a small glass door into the mall at the end of a long path from the road, over the ditch, and through a bit of lawn that I could have taken. Great to know for future visits!

Waiting out the rain

As I get dressed to go out for dinner, I realize that I forgot to empty the drawer under my bunk on the boat. My tank tops and my bras are in there! I am gong to need those items!! I private message Rick on FaceBook and send him an email - I now have wifi in my room so can use my iPad. An hour later he hasn't replied to either. This is not good.

I have arranged to meet Bruce and Regina at Port Louis Marina tonight. Cat Eye comes for me and drives me about 10 minutes to the port. Bruce seems a bit distant at first but he soon comes around and we chat about his life on the farm and what prompted him to sell and come here, and about his life since.  Regina also shares a bit about her life in Switzerland. I have a really nice evening with the two of them and Regina and I agree to meet up on the beach tomorrow.

The ride back with Cat Eye is strange, he is either high or drunk. Either way, I do not feel safe with him at the wheel. I won't be using him again. (I was sure I took a pic of Bruce and Regina but a search of both my iPhone and camera turns up nothing.)

Mike from Zero to Cruising has messaged me asking if I would proof read an article he has written for a sailing magazine so I do that and then head to bed, leaving lights on in the living room because I don't want cockroaches running about. I haven't seen any. And I don't want to.

TURTLES, TABAC, AND TROUBLE IN THE CAYS

It's an absolutely gorgeous morning here in the Tobago Cays.

I am standing out back, soaking in the sun and the view, when a boat appears from around an island and it looks like it's making a straight line for our boat. I watch, curious, and sure enough, the driver pulls up beside me and asks if I want to buy any t-shirts or cigarettes. I grin; this fellow is one of the 'boat boys' I have read about on a friend's blog. These guys have bright coloured wooden boats, bigger than a row boat, that they use to sell fish, freshly baked goods, t-shirts apparently, and also will scrub the hull of your boat for a small fee, help if you run aground... and any other number of ways they can make a living.

A couple of boat boys setting out early

This fellow has numerous battered suitcases in the bottom of his boat and numerous huge fenders hanging off the side. Once I tell him that I would like to buy some t-shirts, he ties alongside our boat, tossing me the line. He proceeds to open up his suitcases and show me what he has. I love the shirts with original island artwork on them and quickly choose two tank tops for myself (one has a cartoon drawing of 3 boat boys on the front) and then select a small one of colourful turtles swimming for Malia.  He doesn't have my size in the boat-boy shirt but says he will come later with the right size. I tell him that we will probably have moved by then but he says not a problem, he will find us. I tell him we will most likely be at Mayreau but he cuts me off before I can say where with "no problem, I will find you". I toss him the line and he takes off, cutting a swash of frothy white foam in the crystal azure water as he leaves.

Alessandra makes mango smoothies for breakfast with the mangos I bought yesterday.  It's delicious!

We move the boat around to the other side of the island we are at, between Petit Bateau (Middle Cay) and Petit Rameau (North Cay) so we can go snorkeling in the protected area off of a beach on Petit Rameau. We take the dinghy to the beach and pass 8 or 9 turtles. I get my snorkel gear on and swim out into the reserve. I am out there for half an hour and I don't see a single turtle! I give up and take the gear off and go around the corner to a gorgeous patch of water that is like a swimming pool and just float under the sun for an hour.  Bliss!!!!

Turtles to the right, swimming pool to the left

Beautiful spot to float for an hour or so

Floating!

Panorama of both sides (click on it to enlarge)

We see another 8 or so turtles on the dinghy ride back to the boat! I so would have loved to swim with them! Alessandra keeps telling me that there was one right in front of me at one point, but I never saw it. That is frustrating!

We take the dinghy through the reefs to Petit Tabac. This is the island where the scene from Pirates of the Caribbean was shot where Jack Sparrow asks "Why is all the rum gone?"  It is a small deserted island and I am really excited to go see it. It will be my very first time on a deserted island.

Petit Tabac in the distance - there are reefs galore between here and there

It's really shallow going through the reef and there is coral on both sides with just a narrow path between them. Alessandra stands in the front of the dinghy, spotting and pointing the way for Rick. We go really slowly and its a bit nerve wracking so I try not to look down into the water.  Not very successfully. 

 As we set out - just look at that water!!!!!

Alessandra keeping watch

Getting close!

When we get close, I can see we aren't alone. Drat. I really wanted to be the only ones on a deserted island.

Not alone

There's another couple and their boat driver here, but they leave almost as soon as we arrive so that makes me happy! Normally I love to meet new people but I really want to be alone on a deserted island!!

Even before we get out of the dinghy, I see a faded small conch shell under the palm trees. As soon as I am on the beach, I claim it and put it in the boat. 

Rick and Alessandra both need haircuts and I brought my scissors just in case (I used to be a hair stylist in another life, back before I was married). So I set about cutting both of their hair. We decided to do it on land rather than the boat to avoid a mess of hair to clean up.  

Once that is done, they head into the water and I go explore. Pictures can show more than I could ever describe so here is a whole bunch that I took on the island...

Rick and Alessandra swimming

The area where Kiera Knightly burned the rum

Looking down the beach from the palm trees in above pic

On the windward side of the island

The surf on the windward side

Heading back to the lee side

Very reluctantly I climb back into the dinghy when it is time to leave. I never want to leave this island. If I thought I would survive, I'd have them go get my stuff and bring it back and leave me here forever.

Alessandra makes avecado spaghetti and we eat it as we get underway to Mayreau - a very short hop from where we were anchored.

Saltwhistle Bay on Mayreau is a gorgeous beach and we drop anchor in a soft sand bottom.  There isn't a rock or coral head in sight, just pure white sand as far as one can see. I jump in off the boat and float about for an hour or so, swim to the beach and walk it for a bit, and then swim back.

I see a boat approaching and it's the boat boy from the morning with my tank top. People here are so trustworthy. I paid for this shirt with all of the others this morning and I had no doubt that he would return as he promised.

A couple of boat boys from Mayreau approach and they know Rick. They offer to scrub the bottom of the boat for a small fee. Rick had attempted to do it when we first anchored here and didn't get far. He agrees to their price and they get to work. When they are done, one asks me if I would like to order a loaf of freshly baked coconut sweet bread for the morning. I ask how much and he says $3 EC a loaf. I tell him I will take two and he tells me he will have them here first thing in the morning. I ask him to wait till at least 8am. 

Jomo and Ricardo, two hard-working boat boys

It feels very decadent to be laying on the deck reading while two young boys, barely out of their teens if that, scrape away at the bottom of the boat. It makes me uncomfortable, actually, and I have to tell myself that they want to do it, that this is how they make a living. But it doesn't help much.

Once the boys are done, I get changed and we take the dinghy ashore for a drink at a bar at the end of the beach called 'Last Bar Before the Jungle'.  Which it is and it is very rustic, as are most bars on the beaches of tiny Caribbean islands. 

At the end of the dock that we tied up on, as soon as you step off on to the beach, there is a small stand where a woman has jewelry and shells for sale. She also has conch shells of various sizes and there is one that is huge. I ask how much, fearing that it will be well out of my reach. She quotes $15 EC!! What a bargain. I tell her I will take it along with a shell necklace for my youngest daughter and a black coral bracelet for my other daughter. I wear both for the rest of the trip because I love them so much. Little do I know how handy they will come in for the latter part of my trip on Grand Anse Beach in a week.

Just as we order drinks at the bar, it starts to rain and I realize, with horror, that I have committed a major no-no when living on a boat; I have left my hatches open!!! This means my bunk will be soaking by the time we get back if this drizzle turns to a deluge as it usually does.  With a little trepidation, I tell Rick but to my relief he just laughs and says he hopes I like sleeping in a wet bed.

There is a delicious aroma coming from the back of the bar area, which I assume is a kitchen. I ask what it is and the lady tells me that its chicken. I am dying to order some but Rick and Alessandra don't want to eat here - Rick says something about it being expensive to eat out all of the time - not that we have. I am longing for some protein. But I am not going to eat alone so I ignore my growling tummy.

View from the deck of The Last Bar out to the anchorage

It is dark by the time we head back and the dock is super rickety and I cling onto Rick for dear life as I stumble my way along it and try to avoid the gaping holes in the planks. 

Checking my bunk, it is just damp as it didn't rain heavy.  Thank goodness!

Not long after getting back, there is a shift in wind direction and not long after that I feel a big 'bump'. Alessandra pokes her head out of her bunk and asks what that was. Rick does not seem too concerned but I look over the side. I can't see anything in the dark. Suddenly there's a shudder and a grinding noise. Oh-oh, we've swung around in the wind into the shallows and we are aground in the sand. We are in trouble but at least its not rocks we are grinding on!

We are deep into the sand though and Rick tries to get us off using the dinghy but we aren't budging an inch.

It takes half an hour and help from a boat boy named 'Mr. Fabulous' to get us out of the sand. And it costs Rick $60 EC for the help and he is not happy about that.

We have risotto and christophene for dinner and I am in bed by 9:30.  

I lie in my bunk and go over the day in my head. It was a fabulous day!!!

CLIFTON, UNION ISLAND

It's very cloudy this morning but there is blue sky to the south-west. I hope it is headed here.

The plan today is to go to shore to the town of Clifton for a bit and then to Happy Island again this afternoon.

I make myself some toast and jam for breakfast. I eat it slowly, hoping I can keep it down.

Rick is on the computer again so I sit out in the cockpit and check online to see if there are any restaurants in Clifton that we can have lunch at. I find one called Big Citi. They serve a lunch buffet, apparently, and judging by the comments on Trip Advisor, it is really good and really reasonable. I run it past everyone and they like the idea. Rick is still on the computer so I settle in on one of the cushioned seats, with my feet up, and read.

I am getting antsy as its been a few hours and there is no sign of Rick getting off that thing. He is editing a short video of clips he has taken over the years of Grenada. He is hoping that the Grenadian tourism board will like it and hire him to do more. I get that he wants to do this, but he has a guest - me - and I want to get going. I can't stand sitting around when we have plans. I finally say as much and we are underway in about 45 minutes.

 Heading in to Clifton

Welcome to Union Island!

The town is so tiny! Just one very narrow road with a couple of tiny shops, the restaurant we are going to, and a little market area comprised of small colourful huts in a semi circle on hard-packed dirt and a few trees at the street with a couple of picnic tables under in the shade.  The sun has come out, the sky is blue, and it is so so hot!

Looking down the main street in the direction we came from 

(the restaurant is on the right edge of frame, Rick and Alessandra

on the left)

Looking down the main street in the other direction

We head around the back of a white building and then up some stairs to the restaurant.  The whole place is open on the street side and we take a table right at the rail overlooking the road. The 'buffet' is about 10 dishes under glass near the till. We walk over and tell the girl behind the counter what we want. She seems surprised that we want to try almost all of it. I pass on the pigs tails and try the turkey leg stew, chicken wings, veggie dish with christophene - first time I have had that and I love it; sort of cross between a turnip and broccoli stem in consistency and flavour, rice, chow mien, and half a roasted potato. It was delicious although there were a lot of bone fragments in the stew as they just chop the entire thing with a cleaver into bite-sized chunks. With drinks it came to $76 EC (Eastern Caribbean Dollars) with a $10 tip which works out to $29 Canadian - a great deal. I pay the bill as that is what one is expected to do when you go out for a meal on a crewed charter.

View from our lunch table down to the main street

My meal

After lunch, we walk along the street and stalls. I buy two christophenes to cook up at some point, and a Caribbean flip doll for Malia, my granddaughter.

Locally grown fruit and vegetables

 The lovely lady who sold me christophenes and told 

me how to prepare them

Bright clothing at the stall where I bought the Caribbean doll

Looking out over the anchorage from the shore of Clifton

We hop in the dinghy and head over to Happy Island for a drink. Janti is much more subdued today. We walk through the room in the back (not his house) and see pictures of the progress of the island over the years.

With Janti before we leave

Back at the boat, we change into bathing suits and then dinghy over to Palm Island, it is a very bumpy ride. Palm Island is a gorgeous place but for guests of the resort only. Too bad because I would have loved to go ashore and look around and maybe have a drink at the beach bar.

Palm Island

We go looking for another beach and end up at the reef. We have to drop anchor in waist-high water and then walk to the reef. The bottom is very rocky and hard to walk on. I keep my flip flops on which makes it harder and I am wishing I had worn my water shoes which are back on the boat. Once we get to the beach on the reef, there are loads of anemone shells, my favourite shell. I gather as many as I can, using my tankini top to hold them by holding the hem up to make a pocket. As I am stumbling my way back to the dinghy I have a premonition I will drop them all in the water and as soon as I get there and try to take them out of my swim suit, that is exactly what happens - every last one of them. I spend the next fifteen minutes getting them all off of the sea floor and into the dinghy. When Rick and Alessandra join me (they were exploring a little island at the end of the reef) I have a hard time getting in the dinghy and have to get in from the back using the engine and Rick's hand to get up and in. I hate how hard it is for me.

The reef

I take a quick shower when we get back and the hatch is open above my head. I look up at one point and Lucky, the resident parrot, is peering down at me and makes like he wants to hop down. I kind of freak out. This bird bites. I don't want to be bit. I try to push him away from the hatch so I can close it but he is having none of it. I try to scare him with my towel but he hops onto the towel which really freaks me out. It takes me 5 minutes to get him to move so I can close the hatch and I am not happy.

We don't have dinner that night as I guess no one is hungry enough although I could eat something so I have some ginger snaps and lay out under the stars in the cockpit and read till quite late.  I love this time of day as much as the sunshine and only head to bed when I can't keep my eyes open any longer.