We arrived in Grenada safe and sound with no sight or reports of pirates! This is a terrific marina. Clean, working, landscaped, organised, everyone friendly and pleased to see you, great internet, Call me shallow and unadventurous, but I’m definitely a first world sort of person! We have been over to the yacht club for a welcome function and had a half day tour of the island. Some reminders of a few recent cyclones but otherwise a pretty place and very colourful. Lots of history in the spice trade with the French, British and Portuguese fighting each other over the centuries. The chocolate here is the best in the world and there is a chocolate festival here in May. They supply Belgium, Switzerland, France etc. The South Americans beat them in quantity but not quality. Nutmeg is the main spice but loads of cinnamon, cloves etc. These businesses are suffering because the young people don’t want to farm and are leaving the islands for more “exciting” places and “better” jobs. (how many computer programmers does the world need?) The Chinese are investing and donating money here so they probably will take over in the future, economically at least. The locals build highset houses for a number of obvious reasons but mainly so they can open a rum shop underneath! There seems to be no regulation as to selling beer, rum or anything for that matter. The tour took us to a waterfall where everybody swam and Pete set a benchmark for the tough by jumping from halfway up the falls! The island is very hilly and any farms cling to the sides of very steep slopes and cabbages etc are grown on road verges where it is flat. All dairy or anything that needs flat land is imported.
We are having the boat hauled in a few days to get some repairs done where the nylon line melted around one propeller and to fix the rudder squawk! While it’s up we’ll get an antifoul done and one or two other jobs ready to day sail after the final ARC functions in St Lucia in early April. Can’t wait after all the ocean crossings!