Thought it was about time we started blogging again as the launch date for Dulcinea is fast approaching and we need to get back into the swing of things.
In general life has settled down into a family routine as it so often does regardless of where you are. For us the routine is a bit out of the ordinary in that Scott is around most of the time, Sam is schooled at home and we are living in the Caribbean but apart from that its a pretty “normal” existence with the “normal” highs and lows. We are currently getting ready for the first of two sets of visitors who are arriving over the next couple of weeks. Dave and Jenny, friends from Australia arrive tonight for a few days and then next week Sue and Mike, Nics brother and sister arrive for a couple of weeks. It will be great to see everyone and to catchup. In addition we have Calleys birthday coming up in two weeks time.
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| View of SW Grenada from Mt Qua Qua |
The kids are great and enjoying life ashore. Calley is going to the local Montessori School every day and is just so happy she is almost bursting. She can’t wait to get to school in the morning and rushes us out of the door insisting we get there just as the gates open. Once there she rushes into school quickly in case anyone sees her being kissed by her parents. She has three days of after school activities and when she eventually gets home she is singing and laughing around the house most of the time until she collapses at bed time. She still gets her occasional Calley strop on but generally she is very content with life.
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| Calley at the Montessori School |
Sam has been plodding away at home trying to complete the home schooling curriculum and we have just finished the final set of tests. Everyone is very relieved not least of all Sam. We will get the final tests posted off to Calvert and then take the rest of October off until the boat is launched. We already have the next set of materials for the next year. It was a real hard slog for all of us for the final month but overall we are pretty pleased with the way its gone over the year. Over the last month we had to incentivise Sam with the promise of a dive course. He has been talking about doing a dive course for most of the year and this was the perfect opportunity for him. Also it got him out of the house for spell.
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| Sam learning his dive equipmen |
Scott decided that he would do the course along with Sam even though he had learned to dive years ago in Scotland. Since his last dive things have changed quite radically so for safety’s sake it was thought prudent. It had been probably close to 20 years since he had dived. The dive school called Devotion 2 Ocean is run out of a shop at one of the island resort hotels near the airport on a beautiful short stretch of beach. One of Calley’s teachers is an owner and she had done some summer camp activities from here. The school is run by a really nice guy called Ocean with the help of a couple of assistants. Over a period of about two weeks Scott and San completed all the theory, pool sessions and the open water dives. Sam was a natural at it right from the start. He is so confident in the water and had no problems what so ever and is now keen to get in more open water dives during the remaining time in the Caribbean. For one of the last dives we went to an underwater sculpture park here which was interesting.
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| Sams first dive |
Both kids have soccer on Saturday and Sam is in trials for the local St Georges team. He has made it through the first round selection and goes on to the next round this weekend. Both of them really miss soccer and this has been a great opportunity for them to play for a while.
When not hammering spelling into Sam, explaining the meaning of some obscure educational text or trying to come to grips with diagraming a sentence, Nic does most of the running around and organising for everyone on a daily basis. Unfortunately the shopping is very limited in Grenada so her usual leisure pastime is severely curtailed. In addition the coffee houses here are no great shakes and so her favourite indulgence while shopping has also been dealt a savage blow. Now that school is finished she has started a project to try and make decorative bowls out of Calabash shells. Charlie who manages the house has supplied her with half a dozen fruit and she is busy cutting them open, scooping out the wicked smelling fruit and steeping the shells in limewater. At the weekends we try and get away to walk or see a local sight although recently have been content to spend time around the pool at home.
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| The beautiful Seven Sisters Waterfalls |
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| The family ready to start a hike up to Mt Qua Qua |
The boat has been in a shed for most of September getting painted. It came out last week and since then Sam and Scott have been working away varnishing the capping rail. The boat looks fantastic now. The mast is still off the boat and getting some touch up work carried out. The mast and rig were in great shape but there is always things to be done to them. Hope to have the rig back together by the end of this week. Then there just remains some electrical items below and some punch listing and the boat will be ready for launching at the end of October. The boat yard we have been at has been a pleasant experience however it is infuriating trying to get a fairly accurate timeline of when things will get done. The concept of island time is very much in play here.
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| Dulcinea in the paint shed |
The life on the boat is a bit of a distant memory for everybody and think it will be a bit of a shock when we have to move onboard again. Calley will probably have the hardest time adjusting to life afloat but think the rest of us will be ready to move on by Mid November.
