Thursday, December 10, 2015

Halloween And The Final Days In Grenada

We were beginning to count down our final days in Grenada as Hurricane season was over and friends were moving on. There was one final big event that seems to signal the time to leave, the annual Halloween Party. Dirk and I dug out our Pirate costumes that we have been carrying onboard for several years now, hung them up to air out and started prepping the boat for our departure. We had all of our sun awnings up with the mizzen boom removed to make more room on the "back porch" as I call it. Dirk did all of the outside preps as I started stowing all of the numerous items that we tend to pull out when stationary for more then a day. I made a final provisioning list of things I hoped to get at the store before leaving and just about got them all. They only had one box of kitty litter which I jumped on. Being here has proved difficult with the cat. Many times I would go to buy litter and they would be out. I use the clumpable rather then the clay but now I have resorted to mixing it to go further. They say not to do this but one must do what ya have to do to make it work. The party was to be on a Wednesday and our plan was to leave Mt. Hartman the day after or 2 days later. Secret Harbor put on the kids Halloween party on I think it was Monday where they had a jump jump and a bubble machine along with games. I didnt go but you could tell the kids were enjoying it as you could here their screams and laughs into the anchorage. On Tuesday we had the final jam session that turned karoke soon after. Dirk and Gary were the only musicians that showed up but Jod, a bartender from the marina joined in on the drum and the kitchen staff joined in for some singing. A great time was had by all that attened and we made some great memories to carry us on our way. The following evening all the kids piled into several dinghys and proceeded to Trick Or Treat through the anchorage.
Trick or Treat
Guess where theres a will ther is a way. Shortly after the kids were done it was the adults turn for some fun. We all started piling into the Secret Harbor Marina where they had a DJ playing some great tunes. Just about everyone made some sort of attempt to dress up and I was surprised to see what people came up with.
Of course we were the pirates
Gary & Venessa from Neptune II
Sherry & Paul from Tehani
Izzy &Jeff from Izzy R
Carolyn & Dave from Lequesto
Thats just a few of the couples that came. There was also the crew from Gilligans Island that looked great and Dirk ended up taking some nice photos for them. Soon they got the bubble machine cranked up and even the adults were having fun.
Bubble Queen
To say the least we all had a great time which I think in part was due to the wicked Witches Brew the bartenders whipped up. Whew, that stuff was potent. We didnt get home till almost 3 am and Dirk never moved off the salon settee the whole next day. I on the other hand had to push through the hangover that plagued the entire anchorage the whole next day in order to do several loads of laundry as we were leaving in a couple days. Later that evening I had dinner with Gary and Venessa from Neptune II, Dirk stayed behind still glued to the settee unable to join us. While we had our pizza we sat and pieced the night before together and we came to the conclusion that it was the bartenders fault. Hey, we had to blame someone right? But I tell you, I wont be doing that again for a very long time, or in till the next time. The following day, on Oct. 31, we pulled up the anchor that had been keeping us attached in Mt. Hartman for a while now and headed to the fuel dock to fill up on some diesel, get some gas for the dinghy and go ahead and fill up the water tanks. It was cheap enough here and it would save us the trouble of running the generator in order to make water. During this time several folks saw us at the fuel dock and came to say goodbyes. I didnt tell too many people we were leaving as I hate goodbyes and we knew so many folks now it would have taken all day. It wasnt like we wouldnt see these folks again. In a crusiers life its more like see you later as you usually do run into them somewhere down the road. We have seen several people we have even met years ago. Of course once we were ready to leave the dock a huge black cloud started rolling in. We ended up staying on the dock till the squall passed and the winds died well enough to allow us to get off the dock with no problems. So, we were off, as we were leaving Mt. Hartman I actually got a bit teary eyed as we had spent so much time here, gotten to know some wonderful people here. It is always nice to be on the move again, but it is also a bit sad. We made the short sail to St. George and attempted about 3 times to set the anchor before we got the hook to set. I set about heating some dinner and we called it a night. The following day we Did yet another short sail up to Carriacou which is an island north of Grenada but still considered part of Grenada. We pulled into the crowded Tyrrel Bay and set the hook. Looks like we would be here for a couple days as weather was coming in. We ended up staying 6 days here with various squalls coming in. One poor boat in the anchorage drug so often I have no clue how they managed to get any sleep. And of course when they would re anchor everyone would keep a close eye to make sure they didnt anchor in front of them. We re connected with some friends we had last seen in St. Martin on Amaroo, a German couple that was part of the original rat pack, they still had not made it to Grenada but were on their way. We eventually checked out and said our final goodbyes to Grenada and Carriacou, next stop Bequia......Let me end this blog by posting some sunsets we were blessed with in Grenada.