Merry Christmas from Grenada



Lynn Preparing for "Drinks in the Drink"

Cooling off at Seven Sister Falls

    What a season it is. Warm, windy, no snow of course but it is tough to believe it is Christmas after all those northern winters. But the beauty of it this year is that both our daughters have been here for a visit.

Hannah & Cameron above the Caranage

Touring Grenada Distilleries

     Hannah arrived a week ago Friday with her partner Cameron. He is a brave man traveling 1000 miles to not just meet the parents, but to stay on a sailing boat with them for a week. OK, he made a couple points with me right there, but in the end he is a nice man. Fun, confident, adventurous, kind, well read…maybe even a little quirky like the rest of us. Certainly a good fit. We spent the week hiking, swimming, sightseeing and in the evenings cooking and tasting various rums and spicing combinations.

X-Mass Eve Dinner

    Amanda arrived the night before Hannah and Cameron left allowing us one night of full family togetherness. Very fun as all the catching up, storytelling, eating, and rum tasting went late into the night.  Next day was pretty much naps all round. Since then we have been out doing much of the same with Amanda. Last night the three of us spent x-mass eve at Da Big Fish with traditional x-mass food, great friends Chris and Anne (Mr Mac), and excellent entertainment from guitarist/singer Baracuda.

    Today the cinnamon rolls baking, for dinner later we plan roasted chicken, potatoes, beets and a wonderful sticky toffee pudding made by Anne.

Happy Birthday Amanda

    Meanwhile…the rolls are done and out of the oven while I edited a couple photos so one more here of Amanda blowing out candles on her “Birthday” Breakfast Rolls.

Grenada For a Week

    Same theme right? But this time the plan is for more than a week. Hannah (and her boyfriend) are due to arrive a week from tomorrow and Amanda the following Wednesday. We are so excited! Meanwhile doing a few boat projects in preparation. and loving Grenada. With the exception of the occasional “Camp” atmosphere among cruisers and a couple camp “Councilors Gone Wild” it is nearly as great as Trinidad. BTW: Anyone who has been here for a week or so knows exactly what I mean by Camp & Councilors comment. Nuff said to use an old friend’s quote.

Some of the boats near the Fish Market

Lynn loves all the color

Preped and ready

    This week’s project, ah varnish. Oh how I love the beauty and texture of wood on a boat. It just belongs there instead of all the synthetics today. But it also needs a lot of love if it is to stay beautiful. While we are on the fast track in this sun to a natural gray finish for the toe rails, we’re still keeping all of our cockpit varnish. 

Radar and GPS leads all taped out of the way

One coat down, ??? more to go

A day of prep, a day of rain, a day of varnish. Frankly, I’m not very good at it, but a friend of ours, one of the word working “masters” provided some council after watching my struggle. Dennis bolstered my confidence by stating “Don’t worry, only the last coat counts”, after which he dashed my enthusiasm by also proclaiming that “when it’s on a sailboat; it’s NEVER the last coat.”  Tomorrow we’ll try another pass.