This boat looks nice and peaceful...but she's on the rocks. Her mooring snapped in the night and she drifted across the bay. Ten dinghy's went to try to pull her off but to no avail. Local Coast Guard finally pulled her out. One prop ripped off. Much damage to the hull. $$$.
After we got Rascal back in the water, Aloha and Rascal sailed from Grenada to Carriacou, an island north of Grenada; about a 6 hour trip. We went around a bend and found the beautiful and isolated Sandy Island. We put our dinghy back in the water and just relaxed over the next few days. We went swimming, snorkeling, had dinner and drinks on each other's boats, watched the sun come up, watched the sun go down... We were doing exactly what most people think we are doing 365 days a year...
A friend asked two years ago this month..."What would you be doing say, two years from now, as an objective measure of a successful transition from the dog-eat-dog world of work?" Said I, matter-of-factly, "Linda and I will be somewhere in the Caribbean on our own sailboat eating sushi or sashimi from a fish I caught with my own rod and reel earlier in the day." And so it has come to pass... Catching a Black-Fin Tuna... About a mile off the east coast of Grenada... Rascal was "on the hard" for the last 5 days while we had her gussied up with new bottom paint and polished and waxed top sides. Hopefully we won't need to take her out again for at least two years. Hurricane season officially over on November 1 and we're ready for a great new season. We'll soon leave Prickly Bay, Grenada for points north.
This little boat (almost as long as a football field) pulled into safe harbor a few days ago when we were threatened by (what became) Hurricane Matthew. The name is "Venus." Looks like it was packaged by Apple, right? I asked about it at the marina office and, HA!, they said this was Steven Jobs' boat. He commissioned it but didn't live long enough to see it finished. (It allegedly cost $200+ million to build--more than twice the cost of my boat! 😊). It now belongs to his wife. I told a crew member that I own an Apple iPhone and an Apple iPad but it wasn't enough to get me invited on board...
We've been holed up at the Port Louis Marina in St Georges for hurricane season (allegedly we are below the hurricane belt). There are three Amel Super Maramu's (Rascal, Aloha, and La Bella Vita) tied up side-by-side in the Marina. Our friend Steve Davis on Aloha flew his drone over our boats the other day and got this SPECTACULAR 360 degree video of St. Georges and the marina. At the end of the video, the camera pans down so you can see our three boats. The prediction 24 hours ago was that Invest 97L would form a tropical storm just before arriving over Grenada and would become a Category 1 Hurricane. After spending the last three days prepping for the worst scenario, The center of Invest 97L moved a little north in the last 12 hours and formed into Tropical Storm Matthew as it passed over St. Lucia. It is highly likely to become a Cat 3 or 4 as it continues to travel west and north. We are on the southern end of Matthew and will be getting high winds and lots of rain but nothing close to anything a full blown hurricane could produce. Everyone here relieved. After it settles down I have to undo all the things I did in the last few days. Exhausting! Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers!
Looks like we will get at least a Category 1 hurricane through Grenada. We are in a marina that was totally wiped out by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. One choice was to make a run south for Trinidad (several boats around us did that). Decided to stay here. Good decision for us since latest says Trinidad will be hit as well. Spent our day prepping for the storm. Took off and stowed anything that could be ripped from the boat by 70-100 mph winds, doubling and tripling our lines, making a run for the supermarket, filling our tanks with fresh water, topping off our diesel fuel. (If we lose shore power, we can make our own power with diesel generator, solar panels and wind generator (assuming the wind vanes don't get ripped off). We will stay on the boat unless it becomes a Category 2 or 3 or 4 in which case we will follow the Grenadians to safety on the high ground per their evacuation plan. Storm will hit us on Tuesday night. Woe are the folks west of us--Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao where, after it passes Grenada, will likely strengthen and turn into something far worse. More to come... Now things are getting much more interesting! Invest 97L is a disorganized low off the coast of Africa that now has a 60% chance of turning into Hurricane Matthew (I said "Lisa" below but Lisa has come and gone). The old salts around us are getting worried ergo we are getting worried...The current weather models have the storm making a direct pass over Rascal (we're in Grenada). Normally, the storm would turn north but there is a high that is north of 97L that is apparently continuing to keep it on a westerly track...more to come...
Here in Grenada, we are allegedly below the hurricane belt where it is rare for a hurricane to hit. However, the meteorologists are projecting that Tropical Storm Lisa could turn into a hurricane--and she's headed straight for us. We're not too worried right now because what usually happens is a low pressure starts near Africa, turns into a tropical storm and moves directly west towards us. Then, due to other weather factors, the tropical storm (which may turn into a hurricane) turns due north and goes into the Atlantic, or it turns northwest and hits islands north of us or skips those islands and goes directly to Florida and the East Coast of the US. At least that's what usually happens. Hmmm...What will be our fate?
|
AuthorRick and Linda Grimes bought a sailboat and left the U S of A for the Caribbean in 2015. Archives
April 2018
|