The Spice Island

Saturday early morning we are asleep on the blow up bed in our friend's apartment in Florida, happily having our 10 hour a night beauty sleep, thinking we were off to St Augustine that day to do a second viewing on a boat when the next phone call changed all plans. "Good morning Dylan, Mike here, my boat you were interested in a couple of weeks ago is back on the market". Not one for early mornings, this was a rare occasion when I shot out of bed and listened intently.

Turned out our first choice in boat that had disappeared from our grasp with a quicker offer when we first started our boat hunt had fallen through with the current buyer and the owner was offering us a chance to put in an offer. One small problem...the boat was in Grenada and we were in Miami. Unfazed by this, we put the phone down on Mike and an hour later we had booked ourselves onto flights the same afternoon, leaving Miami and flying to Grenada via Trinidad arriving at the boat yard by early Sunday morning...24 hours from now.

A hasty exit from our friend's apartment and a trip to Enterprise to deposit our hire car, we flew 2 1/2 hours to Trinidad and prepared for a 10 hour layover. Unable to find any accommodation near the airport in Trinidad we decided to kip at the airport. Eager to find a spot suitable for snoozing we had a quick drink and headed straight through to departures to find that there was no food vendors in sight. O well, having lived on an american diet we didn't really miss the food but what we did miss was the sleep. Our luggage had been checked through to Grenada and we had but hand luggage with us. Wearing appropriate Caribbean attire, we thought we were suitably prepared for the climate. However the air conditioning made our old flat in Peabody seem like the tropics, we shivered our way to 5:45am when our 20 minute flight to Grenada left.

Arriving in Grenada 'international' airport, we were met with 85 degree heat and high humidity...my favourite type of weather. With a huge smile on my face, we made our way to the only choice in breakfast where I munched on corned beef, bread and salad at 6:30am and Dylan chose the salt fish. Yum. Having made a last minute decision to go to Grenada, we had no accommodation booked and so rocked up at the closest hotel, woke the owner up (since found that no Grenadians are out and about on a Sunday morning) and booked a room for the night before moving to a more budget self contained apartment for the remainder of our stay.

Up till now we had only seen photos of this boat as well as a detailed specification so it was a big risk to travel to a small island in the hope that this yacht was the one for us. We had invested airfares, accommodation and potentially losing another boat to pursue this one... Luckily we were not disappointed, she is a beautiful boat and we hope that within the next week she shall be ours.

Boat aside we set about enjoying the island, and wow, what an island. We had done our homework before we arrived reading multiple cruising guides and blogs but nothing prepares you for the real deal. A silent nation of people they don't seem to greet each other but communicate in smiles, grunts and hand signals. Boy do they love the horn...and music! Us tourists get around the island by relying on the buses, easily identifiable by looking out for any number plate starting with a 'H'. EC$2.50 (50p) to wherever you want to go we climb aboard the minibuses, crammed in like sardines and bounce along the road listening to ear deafening reggae music which is practically nonsensical to the untrained ear (but is apparently English!) until we spot our destination and a tap on the roof brings the bus to an abrupt holt and we are bustled on our merry way. We are yet to wait more than 30 seconds for a bus to come by.

Living near Prickly Bay (probably one of the prettiest anchorages on the island), it is a short bus ride to the most amazing beach in Grand Anse. Clear gin blue waters and a white beach that stretches right around the bay this is the stuff for postcards. Without the tacky sea fronts you see in so many holiday destinations, there are no shops /casinos / seagulls/ beach clubs in sight. We lay there uninterrupted for hours, no one trying to lay their towel right on top of us, no squealing children or people trying to sell us fake sunglasses...heaven. That's Dylan in the photo below trying to re-enact his younger years of being a lifeguard:

Yesterday we decided to venture into the capital of St George. Whilst shading from the raging midday sun we looked out over the bay at the chocolate box houses against a lush green backdrop and breathed in the smells of spices as the local lady next to us sold her wares. School children coming back from sports day were lead single file around the water with impeccable manners (see photo below). We went to BB's Crabback recommended as a place to go to eat traditional Caribbean food. Looking out over the marina to the multi million dollar boats moored up, I ate kingfish, fried plantain, rice and beans and dylan had the same but with mahi mahi, delicious. This evening we tried to repeat the dish but with chicken, think we need a lot more practice!

Sick of being a brunette I have purchased blonde hair dye and shall attempt a home kit Grenadian style tomorrow (yes I must be desperate).

My christmas present from Dylan was a star named after me in Orion's belt...with this boat sharing the same name, hopefully the next post shall be about being new boat owners (it is a sign)!!