Back where we started this morning

2nd Jun 2006
Back where we started this morning

June 2, 2006 Friday Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou Traveled 4.5 NM

We left about 7:00 this morning for the final passage to Grenada. Shortly after we passed our second waypoint, we received a VHF hail from the two boats that we had met earlier. They both had been listening to the SSB morning cruiser net weather info and wanted to warn us that the weather prediction had changed. The tropical front that was expected next Tuesday had formed up more solid during the night and was moving much faster than had been anticipated. Weather was supposed to change about noon local time today; now expected to be small gales all afternoon with winds of 40-50 kts. NOT ideal weather to be in when sailing down the windward side of Grenada. So we abandoned our plans for the trip today and returned to this anchorage that we like so much. It is now almost noon and the rains are just starting, right on time as predicted earlier this morning.

Our first entertainment of guests last night went well. We again had a very enjoyable evening visiting with these folks. Bill made numerous trips to at least 8 little stores yesterday in attempts to find groceries; he even took the little bus over to the main town of Hillsborough and tried shopping there. (Judy was allowed to miss this adventure because she was busy sitting inside an air-conditioned boat doing laundry and playing on the computer.) Even after all that shopping, Bill still could not find all the ingredients for any one of the six dishes that Judy would have been happy to cook. So we had a hodge-podge meal. To give you an idea of what it is like down here, you find the best selection of produce in the auto parts store. In Grenada, if you need a battery for a watch, then you go to the funeral parlor. A "supermarket" sells no produce whatsoever. Things are found for sale at some really strange places. The locals can tell you where to look for things, but many of the food items are totally unfamiliar to them.

You cannot buy picante sauce or salsa here; you cannot buy tortillas or Doritos or Tostitos or anything remotely like that. Cannot buy horseradish, jalapenos, avocados, sour cream, or a whole lot of other things that we take for granted back home. But Bill did find a few fresh tomatoes, limes, onions, green onions, tiny red bell peppers and some of those really hot West Indian peppers that we think are a version of habenero. We had some fajita seasoning and dried cilantro in our few spices that we brought from home, so Judy cooked some picante sauce. Turned out pretty good but would have been better if we had some comino to add. That spice will now be added to our on-going shopping list. Maybe it will be available in Trinidad in July.

We also had frozen one of those Hormel vacuum packed "tenderloins" (really beef shoulder) that was marinated in tequila lime sauce. We had bought that back in St. Thomas. We grilled it and used the 2 packages of frozen flour tortillas to make beef, cheese and red bell pepper quesadillas. That with the picante sauce was a big hit with our guests, even without any guacamole or sour cream or garnishments. Judy also made a smoked salmon log with crackers in case any of them didn't eat beef. That was also a huge hit and the recipes had to be shared. It was a fun evening.

The Looneys on S/V SeaLoon (the boat with the 13-year-old girl) are also going to Grenada. They had also planned to leave today but changed their minds because of this weather. Maybe we will both leave tomorrow if this front passes by then. We are sure that we will see them again in other harbors. The couple on S/V Panacea live on their boat permanently moored here in Tyrrel Bay; not likely that we will see them again unless we come back to this harbor.

We were pleasantly surprised when we returned to the anchorage and turned on the computer. Sailmail already approved our application for service and had emailed us what we need to set-up that account. Everyone had told us that it would take about a week for that application to be processed, so we were surprised that it only took 24 hours. So Bill will work on that today. When we have that account up and running smoothly, then we probably will post that email address in this blog. But it is for text only emails, no HTML formatted messages will work. HF radio email is extremely slow, way slower than the slowest first modems; it cannot handle HTML at all and no attachments. But text only works great.

Now a rainy day in paradise. Think I will read another book.

Judy