Landlubbers Once Again

Its been a busy week but we have safely stored the boat onshore and moved into a place to live for the next three months or so.  We also have a local number now as well which is +1 473 420 5070.

We shifted out of the marina as planned and anchored off the south coast at a place called Clarkes Court Bay for a few days.  We did manage to catch up on some school for the kids but were also busy organising to get a place onshore and have the boat hauled.  In the end everything came together pretty well.

Nic went and looked at a house on Monday at a place called Westerhall Point.  It was perfect and was available immediately so we grabbed it.  The house sits on the waters edge on a peninsula overlooking a narrow inlet called Chenin Bay.  It is surrounded by beautiful gardens which lead down to the water.  There is a lovely balcony overlooking the bay where you can relax in the afternoon.  There is also a pool which the kids are thrilled about.  The house itself is three bedroomed and quite spacious especially after coming off the boat.  As a bonus, because it is low season the price for rental is drastically reduced.  The house address is No 66 Cush Cush Hill, Westerhall Point, Grenada WI.

No. 66 Cush Cush Hill

View of the pool from the balcony

Once the house was organised we arranged with the boat yard (Grenada Marine Services) to bring the lift out date for Dulcinea forward to Friday 26th.  The next couple of days were about getting the boat ready to be lifted.  We moved from our quiet anchorage around into a small marina in the next bay called Le Phare Bleu Marina.  This is a boutique hotel and marina.  There are a couple of jetties with slips and onshore there are some cottages, a pool, bar, restaurant etc.  It is a really pleasant place to stay.

Le Phare Bleu Marina

The first task was to take on fuel - may seem strange but when the boat is stored the fuel can get contaminated with bacterial growth which would then clog up filters, injectors etc when we next came to use her.  By having the tanks as full as possible and minimising the air gap it reduces the likelihood of this occuring.  We also add biocide to the fuel to eliminate as far as possible the formation of the growth.  Once fueled up we moved the boat off the fuel jetty and alongside a slip and started to sort through our gear and carry out some of the decommissioning.

We signed a lease on the 24th and on the same day Nic organised a car for us.  We spent the next two days moving our stuff off the boat into the house.  It is amazing how much stuff you can cram on a boat and over a year it kind of builds up.  It was not only our personal gear which had to be taken off but also all the food, linen, toys etc.  The idea is to try and empty the boat as far as possible to let it get aired out but also to let us go through the stuff we have onboard and to get rid of anything which we do not need on board.  There was a lot of stuff onboard when moved onboard last year which either we did not know what it was but figured if it was on the boat there was probably a reason for it or that we took “just in case”.  Having been on the boat for a year now we feel we can rationalise this a bit.  Luckily the house is not too far from the marina and so the trips were relatively short.

On the decommissioning side there is limited work which needed to be done.  We changed the oil in the genset and the main engine and then circulated a chemical solution through the watermaker to preserve the membranes.  We managed to remove the staysail but the remaining sails will be taken off in the yard.  Sam did a great job cleaning the underside of the dingy which had attracted a ridiculous amount of growth over the last few weeks.  It was like a green carpet had been stuck to the hull.

On the Friday once the boat was unpacked we had to move it across to the Grenada Marine which is in a place called St Davids Harbour about 4NM away.  Scott and Sam sailed out of the marina in the morning and motored across to the yard.   Dulcinea was ushered into the travel lift slip almost immediately and after a couple of hours was lifted out of the water.  The hull looks pretty good considering it has been in the water for the best part of a year.  There was quite a bit of growth on the propellor and shaft but after a good pressure wash it most of it was removed.  We secured the boat and installed all the covers on hatches, winches etc and then returned to our new home.

Dulcinea out of the water in the travel lift

We spent our first night here last night and today getting settled in.  Everyone was really excited about moving ashore for a while , especially the kids!  It is very strange to be back in a house after living onboard Dulcinea for the last year.  In that time Nic and Scott have only slept off the boat for about a week tops.  The really great thing last night was that no one had to get up to close or open hatches when the rain started and stopped. The house feels huge to us but its nice to have to walk around to get between the rooms.

The pool at the house

Grenada looks really interesting.  So far all the people we have had to deal with have all been really helpful and friendly.  The island is big enough and interesting enough for us to have fun exploring for the next three months.  Nothing is that far away but the winding narrow roads make driving anywhere take much longer than the distance alone would suggest.  The countryside is green and lush and there are flowering trees and bushes everywhere which light up the hills like a daytime fireworks display. There are plenty of shops so that we will be able to get most of what we want.  Immediate plans are to get Calley into summer camp here and then in September she will join the local Montessori school.  Sam will stay with the home schooling and help Scott on the boat.  There is a fairly comprehensive list of work that needs to be done on Dulcinea which ranges from important maintenance work to upgrades and cosmetic improvements.  How much we get done will be primarily a function of cost.

For now we are all just enjoying being in a house and experiencing a little of the Caribbean life.  We all feel extremely lucky to be able to spend some time here in such an amazing place and we would love to share it with any of our friends if they can make it over.  Not sure what we do with the blog but will try and keep it up to date and interesting.

Rather curious sign at the entrance to the estate