Saint Lucia to Grenada Part 3

Grenada Mon

We arrived at Port Louis marina in St. George’s around 11 AM. The Marina and Town are fantastic. We checked in and walked around and waited for my sister and niece to arrive so we could start exploring. Once again we found Grenada to be a Caribbean island that is different from all the others. It’s not the geography that’s different, it’s the culture. Each island was settled by European countries and slaves from different regions and then most islands gained their independence in the 1970’s. Now they have a country and culture all their own. Grenada is friendly. People wave, smile, nod, and everyone is very helpful. We will visit Grenada again. Oh yeah…back to the touring….mountains, volcanoes, rain forests, waterfalls blah blah blah.

Island Dreams

Funny name for a business. What are they selling?…. Yacht management !

One of the most common questions people ask us is how do we leave our boat? Most cruisers are full time. This commuter cruising thing we do requires secure marinas and someone local to look after the boat. Each marina has them and all our experiences were good, but Island Dreams with Mark and Anita was exceptional. They have a little office right in the harbor and they walked the boat with us and made a detailed list of what we wanted done and they executed flawlessly. Including importing my new rudders and have them removed and reinstalled on the boat. Leaving Grenada was hard because a yacht management company like them will be hard to find.

Annapolis Sailboat Show and Nike

Just do it! Annapolis sailboat show is by far the saltiest, sailiest, show out there and we attended our 3^rd. We missed last year due to a final parents weekend at FSU for our son Parker. I know you would think I wouldn’t let that get in the way since I am pretty good and putting boating first……   Anyway, we missed our flight due to Hurricane Mathew. Funny thing that Mathew. We dealt with him thrice. He came close to the boat in Grenada and we had to batten down the hatches. Then he came 50 miles from our house in Florida where we battened down the hatches and finally we got to Annapolis and his outer bands came full force with high wind and rain for about 36 hours. He wouldn’t leave us alone! But on Sunday afternoon he was gone and we had clear skies and perfect boat show weather. Once you own a boat you will find that going to the show is not so much about looking at boats but about looking at gear. We spent all day Saturday and Sunday in the tents and on the docks evaluating gear, upgrades and some new safety stuff. Also you want to get to know the senior management of the companies whose gear you use. We are on first name basis with the Yanmar and Northern lights management. Rocna anhors, Quick windlass, Maxprop, Victron and the list goes on. You actually need these relationships because you will need tech support and you want to call someone in charge who knows you. This strategy has saved a lot of hassle on several occasions and it’s fun. I think the boat shows are sort of like a continuing education class for professionals. You have to do it or you fall behind. If you never ever EVER went to a show you may find yourself lost at sea one day because your sextant was rusty.

Oh yeah…..and on Monday we looked at boats. That’s a little bit fun too

See our latest video Saint Lucia to Grenada part 3. It includes the show!