HOG ISLAND, GRENADA

Woke up at 6:30 but dozed till 8. I get up to see Alessandra on the couch on her iPhone and Rick at the computer and there is a sink full of two days worth of dirty dishes.  As it seems I am pretty much on my own for meals, this is the last straw... am I expected to do the dishes?  And I say exactly that. Rick mumbles something about them just having gotten up themselves. Whatever. They've been there since yesterday afternoon and they were both on board for well over an hour while I was at the pool and Alessandra was aboard alone for three hours while Rick and I videoed the girls singing last night.  I am getting the distinct impression that this is not a real charter so I guess I won't have to leave a real tip. I was prepared to leave 20% of the value of the prize but that is not going to happen.

Rick leaves to check in to customs and they charge him $140 EC and he isn't happy. He was checked in for 3 months already and I was checked in for the same at the airport when I arrived. I give him $100 EC as it is because of me, but I am not thrilled about it either. Seems like a money grab by the gov't aimed at sailors as I didn't have to pay anything to check in for three months at the airport.  And really, once you're checked in you should be able to come and go in that time without another fee.

At 11am we head off to Hog Island so that we can be there for the bbq later this afternoon. It's a nice motor all the way and I have a short nap. We get there at 1pm. We anchor close to the beach and, interestingly, Alessandra asks me if I am hungry and when I say that I am, she prepares herself a dish of avocado drizzled with olive oil and plops down in front of me and eats it, leaving me to myself. I eat the rest (4) of the gingersnaps.

We hop in the dinghy for a tour around and so I get to see Calvigny Island.  It is so cool to see so many of the places I've read about on Mike and Rebecca's blog.

Calvigny Island

Calvigny Island

We pass by the burnt out hull of a brand new yacht that caught fire a few months before I arrived in the islands, right in Prickly Bay. It burned everything but the aluminum hull. Such a shame. The guy who bought it has it tied alongside of a huge tug boat he owns and he has started to patch the hull with plates of steel riveted onto the outside of the shell. But the whole thing is so warped from the fire, I can't see what the point is nor how anything can ever be made of it.

It is an observation of mine that there is a great variety of people anchored in this place. Some of the boats are at least 50 feet, sleek and pristine. Then there are boats that are the water version of a gypsy caravan with all manner of 'junk' hanging from the lifelines and tied up anywhere else they found to stash stuff. The ropes are frayed, the hulls are small, faded, and some even rusty, with the sorriest looking excuse for a dingy floating behind and both the dingy and the boat needing some good old fashioned elbow grease. Some are obviously home to a lone sailor and some to young families and others to wealthy retirees. It's quite the mix.

We stop in at Clark's Court Marina, a tiny dive of a place, for a drink and watch the last 20 minutes of Hugo on the large TV over the bar, along with another half a dozen or so very worn-out looking customers.

We get over to Hog Island for the bbq dinner at Rogers Bar. The place is very rustic with a sand floor and cobbled together half walls and roof, open on the front to the beach. Strangely there is no music, not one note the whole night. The food is really good although the only chicken is all legs and I usually only eat white meat but I strip that leg down to the bone! At $25 EC it's a bit steep. Rick and Alessandra share one plate between them.

I meet a great guy named Bruce from a boat named 'Sold the Farm' and it turns out he is from Alberta (how is it that all Albertans are such lovely people?!) and he really did sell his farm to buy a boat and move to the Caribbean. His crew is a lovely girl from Switzerland, Regina, and I have a great night talking with them. He is so nice and someone I'd be happy to sail with. Wish I was more suited to it - read: young and fit! Oh to turn back the clock knowing what I know now!

Regina at Rogers Bar

There are a lot of full-time cruisers and a handful of locals at this bbq and what a motley bunch! And such drama! One lady comes over and starts talking about her ex boyfriend (who is also present somewhere here) with Rick and as I listen to both of them it dawns on me that as much as some people are here to escape life, they just bring all the drama with them. I get the distinct impression that most of these people never leave this anchorage. They're not really cruisers, they just happen to live on a boat in the water. And they have the usual gossip about those they live near. Looking around I, once again, get an overwhelming feeling of not belonging. As much as I dream about living full time on a boat in the Caribbean, hanging out with this crowd is not for me.... I have nothing in common with them and I despise gossiping. And although I don't think this trip is a great gage of how I'd do as a full time live-aboard, I am feeling like it isn't for me. But I never did want to live on a mono-hull sail boat. A cat (or a nice big luxury yacht - hahaha) is the only way I could go, if I could go for it at all.

Hog Island regulars

Just a half empty bottle of Ting between me and 
the parrot that likes to bite people

I need to figure out what it is I want.  At 55. HA! I say that as if I have choices as to how I will live out my retirement. I don't. Not at this point in my life and not unless there is a dramatic event that brightens my prospects; I will be working till I drop dead.

Sigh.

BACK TO GRENADA

At 7am we pull up anchor and set for Grenada.  When I get up Rick and Alessandra are readying the boat to sail. There's no word about breakfast and I am thankful for coconut bread I bought on Mayreau as I set about making tea, a cold drink, and buttering a couple of slices of the bread.

There's a rainbow in the sky as we leave the harbour. It is sunny with clouds. I have to wear a light shirt as my back is sore with sunburn.

When we sail past Kick'em Jenny, Rick suddenly realizes that we are in the no-sail zone.  Eeek.

Off Grenada we hit a storm and I am ordered below. It's raining very hard and the wind is really strong, blowing the sails all over. Lines are whipping about as well. It's not fun. After what feels like an hour, we get through that and eventually head in to Port Louis Marina.

Rick has been asked to video a local girl singing at a club there tonight and he has agreed in exchange for moorage at the marina. There's a pool there and I am looking forward to that, especially because there is no breeze at all in the sheltered port and it is stinking hot and particularly stifling below deck. It will be hard to sleep tonight. What I wouldn't give for some air-conditioning right now! I am teeming sweat.

It's almost 4pm and we haven't eaten today, other than what I made for breakfast, and I decide I am going to make a meal for the three of us. I use lots of the vegetables we bought and have barely touched, chicken breast, and cook up some rice and make us a huge stir fry. It is absolutely delicious and Rick certainly seems to enjoy it. I honestly don't know how these two survive on the slim pickings that have been our meals. We never do use the fish we bought and not even half the bag of chicken. At one point I asked Rick about the bar-b-que he has on the rail, wondering if we could use it to cook up some burgers if I bought some ground beef. He didn't want to use it, citing it needing a new grill or more propane or something or other. I was dying for a burger (I rarely eat red meat) at that point and was very disappointed. As this will most likely be my only charter cruise, the whole meal situation has been quite the let down.

I am super frustrated because an adapter I recently purchased for my iPhone 4 enabling me to use the iPad cord, thus needing to pack only one cord for charging both, has broken. I bought it very cheaply online direct from China. It's a piece of garbage now and it leaves me without a way to charge my iPhone and for some reason I can't get online with my iPad.

The swim in the marina pool is very refreshing and I float about for over an hour waiting for Rick and Alessandra to join me... they were supposed to be right behind me. They eventually show up, just as I am thinking about getting out because my fingers are prunes. I stay a bit longer then leave to use the showers at the marina to clean up... what a treat and they are so much nicer than I expect!

Rick and I head over to YOLO, the bar at the marina, toting lots of video equipment. And it is air-conditioned!! Oh wow, does it ever feel amazing. What a relief!

We get a drink each and then Rick sets up the equipment. There are a few people in the club and I get to talking to a fellow beside me. Turns out he is the captain of a big luxury yacht in the marina called GO. We first saw the boat when we left Port Louis on our way to the Grenadines. We also saw them everywhere we went up there and we were so surprised to see them behind us when we pulled into Port Louis today - basically they had the exact same itinerary we had. He is a really nice guy from Texas and he shows me some photos on his iPhone of the interior of the yacht. It's gorgeous.

Tammy Baldeo arrives with her accompanist, a fantastic guitar player, and we get busy filming them. I take the camera on sticks and Rick works the steadi cam. The singing is really good, especially seeing this is one of her first public appearances, and I very much enjoy the evening.

While we were there the Prime Minister and Governor General of Grenada show up with a retinue including a female uniformed guard, red braid and all. They sit outside on the patio and have a meal and then leave without coming inside to hear the music. Rather exciting, regardless.

RELUCTANTLY LEAVING THE CAYS

I set my alarm to be up by 5:30 so I can pop my head out of my berth hatch and see the sunrise. WOW! It is GORGEOUS!!

Sunrise in Saltwhistle Bay

I stand there and watch the show for at least 20 minutes before I lay back down and try to sleep but can't so read.

Once up, I watch La Boriel, a 'small' luxury cruise ship from France, sail into the Cays.

I wait for the coconut bread I ordered from yesterday to arrive and when it does it is delicious.  I pay $10 EC instead of $6.  It just seemed too cheap to pay that little and it is obvious to me that the local people do not have a lot of money so I feel it is the least I can do.

When we go to leave the bay, the same boat boy that helped us off of the sand last night wants $60 EC for the mooring ball. Rick is angry about that and refuses to pay more than $40, as that is what they go for around the other side at the turtle reserve. He seems really angry at the amount of money he has spent since arriving here so I give him $100 EC to cover most of it. When you consider the exchange rate, it isn't that much money.

I am sad to be leaving the Cays - it is beyond gorgeous here, truly a paradise and I don't know if - let alone when - I will ever be back. It saddens me almost to tears to leave.

We stop in at Union Island again to sign out of the Grenadines. We girls stay on board although I am alone most of the time as Alessandra prefers her cell phone to my company, it seems, so I sit on the swim grid and dangle my feet in the water. A squall comes over and it rains hard for 10 minutes and soaks everything not below deck. Rick is still away and doesn't return for over an hour. He stopped at a bar when the rain hit and ended up staying half an hour.

Alessandra

Alessandra is planning on making pasta again today. I am starting to get annoyed. I paid for a good portion of the groceries we purchased and there was chicken and fish in the cart. Where aren't we using any of it? This trip is almost over and we've had chicken once and pork one other night. I tell her as nicely as possible that I need protein, that there has been way more carbs this week than I would normally eat in a month. She doesn't seem happy to hear this but, oh well. I will cook myself a chicken breast to go with the pasta whenever our next meal is.

Once Rick is back, we head over to Petit Martinique for fuel. It is sunny and very hot and I try to stay out of the sun as it feels like my back is burning. It takes us about an hour to get there and Alessandra is in her cabin pretty much the whole trip over. I thought perhaps it was because she was upset about me wanting protein but apparently she is feeling seasick.

We arrive for fuel and then take the dinghy over to a spit of sand named Mopion just off of the island on the other side.  It is just tiny with a palapa on one end that is being taken by the sea as the sand shifts.

Heading in to Petit Martinique for fuel

The idea was for me to have my picture taken under it but the waves are very rough and the water too deep around the island. I am afraid I'd never be able to get back into the dinghy so I don't get out. Shame really. It would have been a cool pic to have.

What Mopion used to look like

Mopion today

After a pretty motor sail past Carriacou's backside while the sun, we drop anchor in Tyrrel Bay at the south end just before dark. Rick comments at the close call on the timing as he doesn't like to drop anchor after dark.

Carriacou

Carriacou

Carriacou

Sailboat in the sunset

Boats in the sunset

There doesn't look like there's much here. Hillsborough, around the other side, is the main town but there is no sheltered anchorage there.  Apparently one used to have to clear customs into Grenada at Hillsborough but they, just in the last month, moved the office to Tyrell Bay as cruisers complained a lot that it was inconvenient to have the customs office where you couldn't overnight.

It takes a few tries to get the anchor set and then we finally eat at 18:25.  The chicken tastes amazing as I was actually craving it. I can't say I've ever craved chicken before. 

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!!!

TO THE TOBAGO CAYS - OTHERWISE KNOWN AS PARADISE FOUND

I wake up at 3:30am with something banging about in a rolly sea.  Sounds like it is something stowed just ahead of me in between the wall of my cabin and the hull.  I don't sleep much after that. Later when I mention it to Rick, he thinks it might be something in my medicine cabinet and, sure enough,  the culprit is a can of hairspray that fell over.

I make myself toast and jam with some grapes for breakfast.

Rick has pretty much completed the video and set it to music that someone on the island wrote. It has lyrics and is actually quite good. He wants us girls to add a line at the end so we record that and then he finishes it up. It has turned out great.

Rick's video for Grenada Tourism

We head back into Clifton at about 10am. Rick forgot to check us in yesterday. Ooops. I also want to buy and mail some postcards. I buy 10 and sit down at a picnic table next to one of the fruit stand huts and write them all out while sipping on a frosty Ting. I am so grateful for the shade as it is easily 100 degrees out. Before I leave, I buy some fruit and vegetables from the lovely lady who owns the stand, as a thank you for letting me sit there for so long.

 Postcards all done

Buying tomatoes and mangoes 
from the lovely lady who owns the stand

I head back over to the little shop down the main street where I bought the postcards and stamps, to mail them in her cute little mailbox.

Mailing the postcards, hoping they will get to their destinations

this year.  Turns out most got there a week or so after I got home.

We dinghy back to the boat and have a lunch of salad. We pull up anchor and head off to the Tobago Cays at 1:15pm.  So excited!

It doesn't take long to get there, we can see them from where we were anchored. They are GORGEOUS. Not what I pictured at all but I love it here. We drop anchor close to an island and we all jump in off of the transom and swim to the beach.

I swam from here to there, and back in beautiful clear, warm water

When we get back to the boat, we hop in the dinghy and go explore. We saw 3 turtles pop their heads up out of the water! Tomorrow we will snorkel in the protected area where they all live.

Off in the distance is Petit Tabac, the island in Pirates of the Caribbean where Jack Sparrow is on the island alone with Kiera Knightly and she has set all of the rum on fire and he asks "why is all the rum gone?"  We will go see it tomorrow and I am so excited about that although, truth be told, I am excited and pretty overwhelmed by all of this. It is so so beautiful here and is the paradise I dream of all the time. The sky is blue with puffy white clouds on the horizon, the air is warm, the water is too, and is so clear and that amazing Caribbean blue, there are palm trees everywhere, white soft sand, beautiful dark skinned people on every island... my heart and soul and mind are full to overflowing. I have read so much about the Cays and longed with every atom in my body to be able to see them someday. I actually get choked up and try to hold back my tears when Rick asks me on the way back to the boat if I am enjoying it. "Enjoying" doesn't even touch how I am feeling.

 A huge pile of ancient conch shells - I will show this to customs in 

Canada if I find a nice one to bring home and they refuse to 

let me in with it because they're endangered or some such stupid reason

A gorgeous deserted beach, one of many around here

Our boat, Sophisticated Lady, silhouetted in the setting sun

Another gorgeous sunset

When we get back to the boat, Alessandra and I sit on the side of the boat with our feet hanging off into the void and talk about the English language (she is Italian) and about reading for an hour or two. It's an interesting conversation and really the first one we've had. It ends up being pretty much the last one we have as well. She isn't very social and spends pretty much all day either sleeping or on her iPhone texting.

She makes chicken for dinner and it ends up being super salty. She added salt without tasting. Rick gives her a hard time about it, in a joking way, and she won't eat hers. I eat mine because I am so hungry, while she protests the whole time that I should toss it out.

After dinner I am in the usual place, the cockpit, reading. I fall asleep and it is all quiet aboard when I move into my cabin at 9:30.

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.