We have spent two months in Prickly Bay on a mooring ball, dodging a few squalls which bring rain and wind, and collecting barnacles and a green moustache on the hull of the boat.
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| Storm approaching |
While swimming one afternoon, Andrew went under the boat to try and clean off some of the growth and saw that we only had two blades on our 3-bladed Kiwi prop.
We racked our brains to try and figure out how and when we could have lost it, and came up with no wise ideas. We didn't have a rattle on the engine at all while coming into Prickly Bay and we have not moved in two months. Trying to figure out where it fell off was pointless, so Andrew got onto the company in New Zealand to order new blades. They recommended that we buy 3 new ones as we were not sure if we had hit something or not and damaged the other two blades as well.
The next step was to get the prop off so that we could have a good look at it and clean it. At first, Andrew borrowed a hooka from Jim but he found that it wasn't allowing him to breathe properly. He has never scuba dived before, so he found it difficult to regulate his breathing.
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| Jim and Andrew |
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| Learning to breathe underwater |
Brandon offered Andrew his diving gear and gave Andrew a crash course in scuba diving. Under the watchful eye of Brandon, Andrew went below the boat to try and get the prop off the shaft. He struggled for a good few hours and then gave up.
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| Last minute recap |
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| Fins on feet |
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| Buff on the head to prevent the creepy crawlies going in ears |
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| Weight belt on |
Shaun came over the following day and used a puller and managed to get it off. We found that the blade had actually broken as part of it was still on the prop.
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| Part of the blade that was on the prop |
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| Needs some TLC |
Needless to say, Andrew is now hooked on diving and wants to buy a tank and do a course. Things we should have bought and done before we left SA, along with a fishing rod, stand up paddle board, and numerous other things.
While waiting for the blades we got on with life, washing clothes, keeping the boat clean, swimming, reading, exercising, and socializing with our friends in Prickly Bay.
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| My view while doing washing |
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| Two washing machines and two dryers |
I have started running again, with Brandon, and more recently, Claire has joined us. We do a gentle jog, between 4 and 6 km, three times a week. It is a wonderful way to see an island.
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| Post run selfie - bringing CrossFit Impi to Grenada |
Laura loves swimming whether it is off the back of the boat or from the shore.
We watch the Grand Prix at the Brewery on Sundays. Yes, beers are consumed whatever time the GP is. We are 6 hours behind South Africa, so sometimes it is beers with breakfast!
Laura and I took the opportunity to use the super fast WiFi and download series and update devices.
I am sure I have said this before, but this is the rainy season and we have had very little rain. I overheard two women talking in the shop the other day, saying that the farmers were very worried because of the lack of rain. The occasional shower passes over Prickly Bay, but it doesn't last long or drop much rain.
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| Squall passing through |
We usually go to Prickly Bay Marina on a Wednesday night for $1 wings. It is the best deal going and usually there is a whole gang of us from the bay, not only South Africans, but other friends as well that we have made along the way.
Brandon's friend Ian visited Grenada from South Africa for about two weeks.
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| Rob, Paulyne, Candi, Ian, Brandon and Siobhan |
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| Laura in her favourite spot |
Usually when there is a one-man-band he is not the lone drummer sitting on the stage. This guy plays at Prickly once a week. He takes all afternoon to set up his drum kit, speakers, and smoke machine. He plays from about 6:30 and is pretty good.
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| One man band |
Andrew went over to Twende, Tony's boat, early one morning to watch the rugby. I was up before sunrise and managed to capture some lovely photographs.
I love this series of photos of Laura! I told her not to laugh and she just couldn't help herself. She eventually managed a serious face! Love her!
Tony was fixing a mini for Bronwen, a friend of his. He very kindly took us shopping in St George's which was such a treat as we didn't have to lug our shopping back or walk back from the shops. People stop and stare at this little car driving by. We got asked several times if we wanted to sell it.
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| The mini |
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| The mini |
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| Kaylee - a fishing boat |
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| Necessary refreshment at Sails |
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| We don't often get a picture together |
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| Love this view - looks like a puzzle |
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| Drive through ATM |
There are a couple of things that have amazed us. They have a drive through ATM. What a brilliant idea! You don't have to look for parking just to go and draw money.
We went to the petrol station to get petrol for the dinghy and Andrew paid with cash. The petrol attendant opened up a drawer that was full of cash and gave him change! We laughed and told him back in SA that would never work. The drawer wasn't even locked!
A coconut which fell off the tree under which we exercise. Thank goodness nobody was under it at the time as it fell with force and could have killed someone!
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| Island coconut |
I can't remember where these two were going... some chandlery or other, but they look like two naughty school boys up to no good!
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| Andrew and Tony |
I spent a lovely Sunday afternoon on Grande Anse beach with some friends on a lady's beach day. It is probably the most beautiful beach in Grenada with clear blue water and a long stretch of white sand. It was lovely to be off the boat for a while relaxing under a palm tree with a glass or two of wine.
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| Grande Anse beach |
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| Looks like rain? Nope, just overcast |
You can't keep the South Africans away from a good braai! Although we haven't had too many braais, it is always good fun to get together around the fire and burn some chops and wors, and catch up with friends.
Tony, Brandon, Laura, Andrew and I went to a wonderful Indian place on the main road. It is in a container, so you order and sit outside.
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| Awful picture of me but the only one we had |
A group of South African yachties were planning a trip up to Carriacou and we were desperate to join them, but without our prop blades it would be impossible. Thank goodness DHL and Kiwi Prop in NZ are on the ball and we got our blades within a week of ordering them. When Andrew went to DHL to fetch the blades they asked him to open the package as they were suspicious of these "blades" he had imported. They were quite sheepish when they realised that it was blades for a prop.
Andrew also needed to finish a few other jobs on the boat. The deck repair was pretty much finished but we needed to fix the pulley that pulls up the spinnaker pole. We had pulled the whole mechanism off the mast on the crossing and Andrew had tried to fix it en route. However, it pulled out again at some point so he did a proper job of it this time.
After cleaning and servicing the prop Andrew put the new blades on. He borrowed Brandon's diving gear again and managed to put the prop back onto the shaft quite easily. It was quite nerve wracking not to have a working prop on the boat. If something had happened and we needed to move we would not have been able to do so. We were very relieved when the prop was back on and working again.
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| Still can't fathom how it broke |
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| Old and new |
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| New blades |
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| New prop blades |
This photo should have been in the previous post, but I had to share these Lithium beauties!
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| New SOK batteries |
We did a bit of provisioning and we were good to join the fleet heading to Carriacou.
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| Local fisherman off the point |
Watch the next episode where we spend a few days in Carriacou before heading back to Prickly ahead of a storm.
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| Cheers from the Calypso Crew |
