Matt has been so good and diligent about blogging that I didn’t feel compelled to interject and ruin his flow. It has been a very restful trip, great weather, little rain, no squalls, visits to our favorite bays with some of our favorite locals, and of course good food! The trip started off fabulous as I was able to procure an entire case and a half of Shandy! For those of you who know me, you might think I am a bit of a picky drinker (some might even know my drink order by heart :). I do have several bottles of vodka on board, but mixers are hard to come by and a girl cannot drink vodka all day. Shandy is a pseudo beer made by Carib that has all of 1.2% alcohol and lots of fun flavors. In addition, the local IGA in Grenada (it’s like a real U.S. supermarket) had diet ginger-ale and diet sprite–SCORE! Not only can I have a cool refresher with Matt, I have mixers for my vodka. I think this was the first trip that we bought more liquid for me than for the boys.
Without our dear friend Wayne, I have had the opportunity (or duty) to help on deck a lot more. So far, not so bad (with the exception of putting on the main sail – that sort of sucked at 600lbs). Well, cleaning the bilges weren’t much fun either. Matt and I have found a comfortable pattern for setting/dousing sails, anchoring, and sailing. To be honest, the boat is so awesome it is not hard to handle with 2 people, just easier when you have a bartender and an extra set of muscles.
I know its a boat (Break Out Another Thousand or Bend Over Another Time), but this trip seems to be challenging all of Matt’s Tool Time Tim skills. So far he has already fixed or “jimmied” the port light switch, the gas stove burner, grill stand, auto pilot, kitchen faucet, latch on the starboard engine hatch, port side battery (had to buy a new one in Grenada as our trusty one from St. Lucia decided it did not want to play anymore), and two of my bikini tops!
Of course there are always boat projects on the pending list…install rear speakers, install latches on bow compartments, clean out engine rooms, fix interior ceiling, re-teak all the exterior wood, stain interior wood, and replace belts on port engine–these are just top of mind. Of course this is in between sailing, reading, chilaxing, going ashore, and enjoying the Caribbean sun. We will most likely have St. Lucia rebuild our windlass (poor thing just isn’t right), rebuild our port large wench, replace our large zincs, rebuild the outboard motor and look at our port sail drive seal.
The only truly frustrating aspect has been the lack of internet and inability to communicate with my family. But they are in good hands and I trust in God to protect them while I am away. So, for this first week, I’ve learned a lot, got a little suntan, read some good books, learned that I cannot limbo as far as I used to, but I can hold my breath long enough to retrieve some sea treasures, and met many new friends! Great way to end the year!
In the islands you but sugar, flour, etc… In baggies