Our maiden voyage

13:00 – Orion is bursting at the seams with provisions we had bought the previous day. Tins, rice, pasta, coke, rum, treats etc – all stowed away in our copious amounts of storage space in the saloon. We prepare her for sail by taking the mainsail cover off, stowing all loose items in lockers, doing the engine checks, closing the sea cocks, turning on the new navigation instruments. By this time Dylan is like an excitable puppy, anxious to get away and start our maiden voyage. We had done a test sail the previous day but that was with another friend Myles. We had yet to sail just the two of us on a boat...ever. I seem to have fallen into the role of anchor lady, great responsibility as I get to choose the location whilst Dylan follows my hand signals. Not so great when the anchor chain fouls and I have a minor panic thinking we are about to be pushed onto the rocks!! We pull up our anchor and head for the marina.

13:15 – We radio ahead to Prickly Bay marina office and inform them that we want to come in to refuel and get water. Heading over to the fuel dock in Prickly Bay, Dylan steered us through the marked channel, turned us around and brought us alongside. I chuck the bow and stern lines onto the dock for the guy to catch and secure. Killing the engine we breathe a sigh of relief whilst our hearts start to go back to their normal speed. At the dock we are met by Keith and David, part of two sailing couples, they reward us with 2 beers for making it and present us with a bottle of rum for our maiden voyage. All water tanks, fuel, gasoline and jerry cans full, we slip the lines and head off to Grand Anse where we are planning on anchoring for the night.

15:00 – After sailing for well over an hour we have already slipped into a routine. I helm whilst Dylan sees to the mainsail and gib on the foredeck and then Dylan helms whilst I do the navigation. Always wanting to know where we are on the map I happily slip into this role, calling out the course to steer and keeping track of our path on the GPS. The sailing conditions are great, no clouds in the sky, 10-15 knots of wind and a slight swell. We reach our maximum speed so far of 8.8 knots as Dylan continues to tweak the sails, eager to make Orion happy and easier for me to helm. We round Point Saline looking out for the shallow shoals and head for a place to anchor for the night.

16:00 – We spot a place between a German catamaran and a Canadian yacht that doesn't look too rolly and is a decent depth for us to anchor. Sun still strong in the sky for now but we are keen to drop the pick whilst we still have daylight hours to play with. We anchor first time and I send Dylan over the side with his snorkelling gear to check the anchor. Turns out the bottom is coral which really isn't the best but as we plan on leaving at sun rise and there is little wind, we figure it will do.

17:30 – Rum and coke all round as we sit in the cockpit and prepare to watch the sun go down. Chris Doyle's cruising guide to hand (thanks Gem and Dave) we start to plot our course for tomorrow where we intend to leave Grenada and head up to Carriacou on the west coast, avoiding Kick Em Jenny which is an active volcano – should make things interesting and put my day skipper navigation to the test!!

The 'Hash'

Dylan and our new friend Myles convinced me that Saturday afternoon's were best spent doing a hash. I had no inclining what this was other than it was a form of exercise and people seemed to love it. Not one to miss out on these opportunities I found myself on the bus, destination Westerhall Rum Factory with my hiking shoes in tow.

When arriving at the factory, Dylan and I were ushered into the 'virgins' group. This team was set up for all the new people to hashing. I still didn't really have a clue what I was getting myself into and listened in anticipation whilst the main guy explained how to follow a paper trail with such commands as 'are you?' and 'on on'. Slightly clueless we decided that we were going to laugh off the running trail and stick with the walkers.

We started up the hill with around a hundred other people, all dressed in red to mark valentines day. There were people of all shapes and sizes ranging from the American student energizer bunny with chihuahua accessory to an obese local lady with a kid strapped to her back. We kept up the pace and continued to look out for the mounds of shredded paper. The trail took us up and down steep inclines and at one point had no choice but to slide down on our bums. We crossed a river with no stepping stones as an aid, I admit that I fell in once and have the bruises now to show for it! Whilst we were progressing with the walker's trail, at times the runners would cross our path, a slight rustle of leaves and a runner would come careering down beside you, knocking you out of the way with no prior signal. Certainly made for an interesting river crossing!

The hash gave us a great opportunity to network with other foreigners and gave us a glimpse of the Grenadian countryside, far away from the tourist spots and cruise ship passengers. The end of the trail was marked with a big drinks hut, stocked to the brim with beers and local rum. They say that 'hashers' are drinkers with a running problem. I tend to agree after seeing the drinking games enforced on certain individuals after the hash in front of all participants. Us 'virgins' had to go and hug each other whilst getting sprayed with beer and then a certificate presented to each of us for 'loosing our virginity'.

A fantastic day out but don't think I will be doing it again, I value my ankles too much!!

Afloat at last...

We are floating...my version of our launch.

My first taste of living aboard a yacht full time was in a dusty, hot, mosquito infested yard – only onwards and upwards from that situation!!

We had been waiting for our triducer to be shipped from America and paid priority shipping with fedex to get it to Grenada quicker. Unfortunately the parts we wanted were not in stock so we waited a week for them to get to the warehouse and then the fabulous fedex service got it from Las Vegas to Grenada in 36 hours!! Now THAT is first rate service. With the transducer now plugging the hole in our thruhull, we were good to launch. With this being Friday, we booked to launch on the Monday figuring all the wiring of the depth and wind instruments could be done on the water.

Monday morning we rose early and went on a hunt for outboard parts. We had yet to get our motor working and it required at least a new impeller and gasket. We were feeling rather anxious at this point thinking that we may have to result in rowing the large dinghy ashore considering the likelihood of this auto-parts firm stocking our Mercury specific items being very slim. Luckily, Prestige motors came up with the goods and with a little help from Desmond in the yard, we had her purring again and ready to go.

Fenders out, dock lines tied on the bow and stern we awaited for the travel lift to come and get us. We took this opportunity to run through our anchoring process, hand signals we would use to each other and who would do what role. As I was newer to this than Dylan, we decided that I would be on the anchor (we have an electric windlass) and Dylan on the helm. I practiced a good few times on the hard to build my confidence in locking and unlocking the windlass.

Tipping the yard boys, we managed to buy some time to drop the centreboard and give it a slick of antifoul whilst the boat was in the slings. Our hearts were in our mouths as the lift took the weight of our boat that represents all of our life's earnings and all our worldly possessions. Sure these guys do this activity every single day but it doesn't stop you from worrying and grimacing as the machine creaks and groans under the boat's weight.

Paint applied, we raised the centreboard and lowered her into the water. Myles, a guy we met at drinks nights earlier, agreed to come and help us anchor on our first time. We piled on board and slipped the dock lines whilst the engine started first time. We were finally motoring with no leaks and no hiccups so far!

Wind in our hair we navigated away from the shore and through the channel markers, I was on lookout for any oncoming traffic whilst Dylan headed for a possible anchoring spot – beaming smiles on our faces.

Puttering through the anchored boats we waved at familiar faces and were cheered on by fellow cruisers that had heard our story and were genuinely happy to see us finally out on the water.

Having eyed up a nice big space in the boats to attempt our first anchoring, Dylan put her into neutral whilst I lowered the chain and counted the markers (white paint every 20 ft). On our second attempt we were happy with our position relative to other yachts and cracked open the beers to observe the bite of the anchor.

Next step was to haul the dinghy over the side and put on the outboard. It worked first time – woop! Myles, Dylan and I piled into the dinghy and headed to shore, planing along in our big dinghy with a 10HP engine. No splashes, no wet shorts, no grumbles from me. Finding a tin flag of Grenada we hoisted up the flag and breathed a sigh of contentment. 

This evening we have enjoyed our spacious cockpit with no mozzies in sight, watching the sunset under a full moon. An activity we couldn't have done in the yard for fear of being eaten alive. As I write this it is close to bedtime (8pm!) and we are gently being rocked to sleep by the swell....heaven.

Splash day...

The big day of the launch.
We can't wait. Having spent 2 weeks on the hard, we can't wait to be on the water and bobbing on an anchor.

We have learnt something new every day that we have been on land, but now it marks a new set of things to learn. How to not block the head, how to conserve fresh water, how to not drag anchor, how to sleep in a rolly anchorage etc.

Getting her prepped for launch is an entire process in itself. Everyone has their own processes. We have seen a bunch of people come and go in the yard over the last few weeks and noticed a few things and learnt a few tricks. Lesson 1 - make sure your dinghy and outboard work as it is a long row into shore.

1. We pumped up the dinghy and made sure there were no leaks.
2. We prepped and tested the outboard engine. (it seemed to have a water pump issue which required spares to be bought)
3. Bought gasoline for the outboard
4. Mixed in the 2 stroke oil (at the right ratio!)
5. Put on all the sails (as you would need them if we had an engine failure)
6. Put on all the sheets
7. Made sure the anchor chain was marked (we did ours every 20 feet)
8. Filled the water tanks and solar showers
9. Do all the washing (sheets, towels, bedding etc)
10. Stocked up on large / heavy items (as heaving heavy stores in and out of a dinghy is not the best)
11. Toilet roll! (we did not have any as we used the yard facilities for ablutions) 
12. Charged up all our electronics as we will be 100% green once on the water (solar and wind)

Our first week as boat owners

Perfume of choice - Baygon


Day One - Friday 20th Jan

We liked the boat, the survey and sea trial had gone well and we had a verbal agreement with the owner as to the price we were going to buy her for. Next step was to get the money to him and sign a bill of sale - both of which are rather tricky when in a country where you know no lawyers and have no local bank accounts. Luckily Alex jumped to our rescue and we managed to transfer the money within a couple of hours using an FX exchange account. Living in a budget apartment a stones throw away from the boat made us want to get onboard her as quickly as possible. Practically unheard of we went from a verbal agreement to transfer of money and signed bill of sale in 48 hours. 

A handshake and our boat keys (well in our case, combination code) on Friday afternoon officially made us boat owners and we hurried over to get on board and have a good rummage around. The boat is like an aladdin's cave full of goodies. All the lockers are full of useful 'stuff'. Opening up all the cupboards, lockers and lazarette we made a 'to do' list as we went to organise our impending work effort.

Unfortunately that night we could not stay on the boat and so we begrudgingly went back to our budget apartment for one final night of air conditioning, water on tap, hot water, electricity on demand and free wifi. To celebrate Dylan made me some 'tuna noods'..yeah we are really rock n roll...and Dylan snuck outside to smoke a cheeky Cuban cigar to celebrate (courtesy of his brother).

Day Two - Saturday

Waking early we paced over to our boat (still feels good to say that!) and moved our belongings onboard. Having only 2 big sailing bags with us, it didn't take long to find places for our items. 

Keen to check out the local chandleries and price up the kit we needed to start the work necessary on the boat, we caught a bus into the capital. Having persuaded Dylan to make this a fun trip and as it was Saturday morning, there is only one place to be in Grenada at that time...the Saturday market. This small square in St George is heaving on a Saturday, full of locals selling all sorts of foods and spices, it is how I pictured the Caribbean before we arrived. Bright colours, larger than life stall owners and bizarre looking fruit on display (I forgot my camera on this trip so see photo courtesy of trip advisor below). We met Rhonda, a huge, friendly Grenadian lady who taught us how to prepare breadfruit. The passion in her voice when talking about her country and produce was infectious and Dylan and I came away with spices, whole nutmeg and a keenness to go and try a truly Caribbean dish.

Laden with bags of goodies to fill our galley we went to the chandlery and paid an eye watering price for 2 tins of anti foul...here starts the realisation of how expensive anything with the word 'marine' in the product actually is.

Back at base we got stuck in with our to do list, Dylan commenced scraping and sanding the hull whilst I painted 20ft lines on the anchor chain and cleaned the cabin.

Content with our productivity on the first full day of being sea gypsies (although to remind you...our hull is yet to touch the water) we went and treated ourselves to a meal and several buckets of beer in the Happy Hour at De Big Fish. 

Perhaps still on cloud nine that our dream is actually going to happen, we fell asleep with little mosquito protection on and no net. The next morning I awake to find my entire body covered in red blotches. On a huge learning curve, ever since we have stocked up on Baygon (the local bug repellent) and dug out the mozzie nets...my red blotches are yet to go down, an angry reminder to bathe myself in the stuff at dawn and dusk.

Day Three - Sunday

My apparent chickenpox like blotches aside, this was another day of working through our to do list. Very little happens on a Sunday in Grenada and hardly any shops are open. With the sun blazing in the sky, Dylan concentrated on cleaning out the bilges and anchor locker whilst I continued cleaning the cabin. 

Having done a considerable amount of walking in the past couple of days in cheap flip flops and feet now covered in blisters, I didn't even leave the marina all day.

O, I must mention the showering and toilet facilities. For those of you not up to speed on yachtie life this is the score. When 'on the hard' you obviously can't flush the toilet onto a passerby and we also don't want to flush the toilet into a holding tank (think of the smell) so most people decide to use the bathroom facilities in the yard. 3 showers and 3 toilets for the people living on the yard is more than adequate and a key gives you access to these 24/7. Although at first I felt like I was back on a Duke of Edinburgh camping trip when lugging my toiletries and towel to the opposite side of the yard and returning my journey with a towel on my head, I soon got used to this way of doing things.

We choose to sleep in the v berth and above us is a mozzie proof hatch. After a night of being rained on and continuously being woken to close the hatch every time it started to pour - we put an awning over it and later replaced that with the inflatable dinghy.

Day Four - Monday

7:20am - Dylan's watch alarm goes off and he scrambles up to turn the radio on - this was the first time we listened to the cruiser's net. Found on channel 68 this is a forum specifically for yachties in Grenada to hear about local events, businesses, gain advice from fellow cruisers and buy /sell goods. Its a great way to stay in the loop and hear about the opportunities to explore the island on a budget.

Another day of boat work, Dylan became an electrician and fixed the wiring to the port nav light and fan in v berth, ordered Garmin depth instrument to replace the original (then cried silently inside at the price and how long it would take to arrive - 10 days) and took off the mainsail and dodger and sent them to the sailmakers to be repaired. We reminisced about our day skipper course whilst flaking the mainsail beautifully on deck - it was one of the tricks our instructor Mike taught us, how to impress fellow sailors and intentionally leave the sail bag off to show your skill.

Not wanting to use marinas in our trip, we are trying to make our boat less reliant on electronics so they chew through the batteries. As such, we signed up to a Facebook group to get rid of a microwave, toaster oven, air con, TV and DVD player that came with the boat from the previous owner. Facebook is everywhere! One item we can't live without though is our Mac and thankfully, the inverter works really well charging this device until we find a suitable 12v replacement.

Continuing our search to try new food, we came across Rosie selling her wares near the yard entrance. Christophene was our new vegetable of choice and as usual, the seller was more than happy to prepare it for us and give a recipe prior to taking any money. That night we dined on minced beef and mashed christophene - tasted very similar to pumpkin but was green in colour and white inside.

Day Five - Tuesday

Keen to crack on with our boat work whilst waiting for the depth sounder to arrive, we got up early to beat the blazing sunshine and completed the following: Dylan replaced the anode on the prop shaft, masking taped the hull and performed minor fixes that the survey had highlighted. I cleaned the brass inside (a satisfying yet tough job) and empty and cleaned the port water tank. Yet to finish all the brass work, here is a photo of one of the lights half cleaned and half not:

After another physical day that our bodies are slowly getting used to, we headed to De Big Fish to meet a Vernon and Donna, a Canadian couple that own a Tartan 40 in the same yard.

Day Six - Wednesday

Feeling like we hadn't seen daylight for a while whilst scrubbing away inside, we treated ourselves to a day of tanning...whilst working on the deck. Dylan angle grinded the hull (courtesy of Vernon's orbital sander!) and I took my bottle of trusty Brasso and attacked the rust on the stanchions. Cooling ourselves down with the excuse that the deck needed to be cleaned, we then tested the theory of soapy water apparently making lines softer - it works! Revelation over, we located the Bosun's chair and hauled an eager Vernon up our mast to check out the Windex. Unfortunately when we bought the boat one of the cups had already broken off so at present we are without wind speed. Upon Vernon's descent he informed us of the problem and we hope to find suitable parts before launching.

Our day was completed with sun downers on Vernon and Donna's boat, now part of the elite and self formed 'Tartan Club'. Wow what a beautiful boat they have (1985 Tartan 40 - Endless Love Too).

Day Seven - Thursday

We had decided that today we were giving ourselves the day off to explore the island. I wake to find Dylan on his hands and knees, contorted into a weird shape under the galley sink. Having not been able to sleep, he got out of bed at 4am and decided to start fixing the manual water pump - although Dylan is not one to stay still, I had stern words and after using the radio for the first time to invite ourselves to a fish braai the following evening, we commenced a day where I chose what to do.

First task of choice was to make a typical Caribbean breakfast of salt fish. Usually bake and salt fish is the dish but we did without the 'bake' part and put our energy into fish preparation. The fish (bought salted) needs to be soaked to remove excess salt, then we added tomatoes, garlic, oregano and onions. Not what I would have chosen back in London but when in Rome....verdict was that it was far too salty and we had rumbly tummies for the rest of the day! Not one to be defeated, I shall be trying it again but perhaps soaking the fish overnight to remove more of the salt.

By the time we got to Grand Anse beach the heat was phenomenal so we popped into the local mall to cool ourselves down with their homemade mango smoothies, mmmmm.

A couple of hours spent sun bathing on Grand Anse beach we caught a taxi into St George and went exploring. The roads in the capital that veer off the bay are very steep so we worked up a good sweat to get to Fort George and beyond (see picture below). When at the top of Church Street we witnessed a funeral procession where an entire town had flocked to mourn the passing, jamming up the narrow one way street for a good 10 minutes. People dressed in black and white followed the Hearst with the ladies tottering up in high heels!! Ever friendly Grenadians, despite the circumstances they all gave us a wave or stopped for a chat. For the second time since our arrival, Dylan was offered 'hash'. This time from someone in a graveyard at a funeral! Politely we pointed out that Dylan was now too bald to be a Rastafarian and too conservative to be a hippie.

Thanks to the Cruisers Net, we were aware of the Budget Marine billfish tournament taking place in Port Louis so on our way back home, we stopped in for a beer and to check out the size of the sea monsters they had managed to haul. A respectable 141lb tuna was the winner of the day and I started to dream of how good that would taste on our boat with some wasabi and soy sauce....no pressure Dylan but I am expecting some pretty decent fish to satisfy my sashimi cravings as soon as we get underway!!

All in all, life is pretty darn good just 'chillin' on de island'.

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)!!