The "Velcro" island

Well several friends have recently asked, "Why are y'all still in Grenada?".   First Grenada is known amongst cruisers as being one of the Velcro islands of the Caribbean.  That is, that there is just so much to do and see here that you can't seem to pull yourself away.  We recently went to Kim & Joe's home for a Bar B Que and got to enjoy there beautiful home.  Below are a couple of photos of the vista from their home.

Thursday, Babs and I along with our very good friends from Louisiana, Robert and Carolyn went to a cooking class presented by a local restaurant that emphasises the use of local spices and vegetables.  The menu for today's class was "Creole Chicken".  Robert and I had a lot of fun with the chiefs comparing notes about our variations of the dish but their version being served over a bed of stir fried vegetables and spaghetti was outstanding and we acquested the title of Best Creole Chicken to Ester and Omega.



Omega and Ester

The presented dish

OK,  we have never been known to ignore a good deal when we hear of it.

This week we were informed of a rum special at a local distillery only a couple of miles walk from the dingy dock so of course we had to make the trec to check out this rumor.  Gee wiz Bubba the rumor was true!  So we restocked our rum lockers.  At $26 US per gallon how could we go wrong.  What do you think Jerry?

Carolyn is holding a "Bread Fruit." This tree was brought to the West Indies by Capt. Bligh of the " Bounty" made famous in the "Mutiny on the Bounty."

The concept that the King had was to introduce this plant from the South Pacific so as to be used as food for the slaves working in the sugar cane fields.  The breadfruit is a high starch content fruit and tastes and is prepaired much like potatoe.

             

The Friday before Christmas Joe & Kim invited our crew to Hog Island to share in a "vispot" or a fish pot cooked in the fashion of a "potjie kos" or a pot dinner,  this is a South African meal somewhat indicative of the method used in the "Bush."  The meal was quite enjoyable and tasty and reminded me of a fish courtbullian simular to those prepaired in South Louisiana.

Merry Christmas Every One

Tim & Babs

Dec. 18, 2011

Just to let you share some of the visual delights we have been enjoying.  Here are a few pictures taken over the pass few days.

We went to bed admiring a beautiful moon rise from our anchorage then woke to see this stunning rainbow.

We took Sunshine II out for a sail just to check out everything, everything was fine.  We are not planning to leave Grenada until after Christmas, then probably just a short cruise to a neighboring island then who knows?

On the way out of our anchorage we pass by a private island (Calivigny Island) rumored to have been the honeymoon get a way for Prince William and Princess Kate.

The mega yacht anchored off of the island is in excess of 200 feet long probably crewed by more than 50 crew members. 

 

Sunshine II approximately 8 miles offshore.

See it's not that hard to be Limin Mon.  :)

Tim's Birthday 11/25/11.

Tim's birthday,  we celebrated again with a swim at Roger's Beach Bar, one of the last beach bars in the islands.  Just a shack, a few BBQ grills and some cold beer.  Not much overhead!

The celebration continued with a trip to Victoria for the monthly food fest which provides a sampling of local delicacies such as "manaque" (aka) opossum,  "monkey" (aka) monkey, "tatu" (aka) armadillo, (Tim tried this, he said that it did not taste like chicken, enough said)

We've got to slow down!  Next we were off on another trip, this time to Black Beach, a volcanic sand beach then to an "Oil Down" the national dish of Grenada.  Then on to Concord Falls for an invigorating COLD fresh water rinse. The falls are located in an area of rain forest and surrounded by nutmeg, mangoes, papaya. and  beautiful tropical flowers

Thanksgiving day dinner 11/24/11.

The Caribbean hosts quite an international crowd and as Thanksgiving is a U.S. holiday, life on this island pretty much goes on the same as every other day.  Such a minor inconvenience can't stop a bunch of U.S. cruisers from another reason to eat and drink.  Here we are enjoying roasted turkey and all the fixin's and of course a sufficient quantity of beer was available.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS 11/23/11

After almost three weeks on the HARD, cleaning, adjusting, repairing and various other things required to make Sunshine II ours, it is finally time to put her back in the water where she belongs.


This machine is called a stacker and is used to maximize the storage space available
 on the yard, some boats were placed less than two feet from each other.





Sunshine being transferred to the travel lift so she can be placed into the Caribbean Sea.

FINALLY!!