We arrived into Grenada with our two duffel bags, two overhead bags and two backpacks after two days of travel. First PHL to MIA, spent the night in Cambria Hotel and caught up with Dr. Nicholas. Day 2 MIA-GND and landed in the country about 430 pm. Passed thru customs and our car rental drive was waiting for us with a sign with our name on it. How wonderful. We love it when a plan comes together. Let the new sailing season begin.
But first, getting there….
We asked out dear friend Jenna is she would UBER us to the Philly airport because were were leaving for 6 months and wanted to leave out car in the garage. Well she was a real pro. Jenna and her cute son arrived right on time and she even had snacks and drinks for out ride to the airport. What a great friend. Thank you Jenna!
Arrival in MIAMI, the best
We have flown into Miami many times but this approach was incredible. The pilot flew down the coast at about 5,000 feet just offshore and we watched the coast and the famous sights of West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, South Beach and the City of Miami pass by our wind. What an amazing sight to see.
UBER Drive # 2 Dr. Nicholas
Our other personal UBER drive was Dr. Nicholas who is the son of Dr. JB our great diving instructor and close friend. Nicholas picked us up at the MIA and took us to our Cambria hotel where we all three enjoyed dinner together and we caught up on his Doctoral work in Psychology. How proud we are of him and all his hard work. Thank you Doc Jr.
Day 2 of travel to Grenada
Back to the MIA airport via shuttle van at 0830 for out 1130 flight. We like to be early and it has always worked out. We were told to dress up like you are going to Sandles Resort so that customs does not look for boat parts. We failed, as we always look and dress like boaters. My IPY hat and my Whiteaker Yacht Sales shirt were not helping me sneak in to Grenada.
Welcome to Grenada
We are happy to be back and we are looking forward to Caribbean sailing Season of 6 months! No schedule, no destination, no plans, just get this boat up and running, get her launched and lets go sailing. Let season 18 on Island Spirit begin NOW….GRENADA!
WHAT NO CELL, NO GOOGLE FI?
You all know how much we love out Google Fi service and since March 2019, when we started using our first two Fi phones, Motorola X4 $150 shipped into St. Thomas, thanks to JENNA. We love this service. Since March we have taken the service to 19 countries and we have connected upon arrival. Here are are in Grenada, where it worked fine in May, and we can not get onto the grid.
Well, 6 hours of tech support, with Google Fi and three different techs via WiFi chat, no one could get our two phones onto the grid. So, I asked my good boat buddy, Dr. Don of sv Fezywig and he gave me the answer in 4 or 5 clicks. POOF, we had 4G LTE just like that, just like expected, just like before. So, a BIG thanks to Don for connecting us back to the net.
Let’s Get to WORK, unwrap, prep for paint
Job #1 was to remove the 1,200 sq.ft. of coolaroo sunshade cover. This is a 90% UV blocking fabric that we buy and fit to the yacht. This is the third time we have done this and it works great. We simply cut the sip ties dropped it and then folded and rolled the fabric back into 4 rolls. We are thinking of storing it here, but Radeen wants to pack it into the sail locker and take it with us. YIKES! Not sure we have enough room for it, we will see.
Next Task, PAINT THE BOTTOM!
We have painted the bottom of our boats since 1991. We know the process well and we have painted this IP 35 nine times. It takes us a couple of hours to prep, we do not sand the bottom. We simply flake off any loose paint, sand that area, and then tape the boot stripe and roll on new paint. Painting takes 2 hours with both of us working on the job. Radeen has always helped paint the boat, she helps on every job and THAT makes us a great team.
Power in Grenada = 220v 50 htz
When we travel, we always travel with power plug adapters, and here in Grenada, the power grid is 220 volts, much like the rest of the “real” world. Look at this plug, it is like the one used in England. Also notice that our room has 110 volt next to all 220 v. This is very kind, but also very unusual. They know many Americans come here so they are trying to accommodate us all.
A nice Break at UMBRELLAS with Dean and Kim
We are here in the yard with another Island Packet Owner, IP 38 DreamCatcher owned by Dean and Kim. They invited us to go to Umbrellas on the beach for burgers and PainKillers. YAHOOOOO….great idea. So, after we painted the boat, we cleaned up and hit the beach bar at 1230. Dean and Kim have been cruising their IP 38 now 4 years and they have sailed from Florida to Grenada and they know the area well. They have helped us with this area and this boat yard. We are following their lead.
We picked up two pets
These are the local goats and they are everywhere. Herds of them roam the boat year and come down out of the hills. These are the two at out yard exit. Should we take them on the boat? nahhhhhh
Up next
We need to have the jack stands moved and paint under them on Monday. We need to keep cleaning and unpacking and get the rust off all the stainless. We have hired helpers to help us out. We hired out the hull wax, thank goodness. We need to re-run all running rigging Sunday. We need sails and canvas put back on. We need to recommission the dinghy and 15 hp Yamaha. All by Tue when we launch and move aboard. Lots of work recommissioning a boat that is in storage. Welcome to the boat yard.
Thanks for sailing along.
Remember we are SOCIAL MEDIA people too 🙂
If you look at the menu on http://svislandspirit.com/ you will see all our social media links. Follow and like us there as well……
- https://www.facebook.com/svIslandSpirit/
- https://www.instagram.com/svislandspirit/
- https://www.youtube.com/user/IslandSpirit35/videos
- https://twitter.com/svIslandSpirit (We do not tweet much, but our InReach does :-))
Great start to the new sailing year. Great discussion and pictures as always…helps me live vicariously through your adventures
Every sailboat leaves a small insignificant wake as evidence of our cruising momentum.Island Spirit leaves a wake of human kindness to cab drivers.dock hands, school children ,cruisers and anyone else who are fortunes to be in the periphery of her course.THIS wake of beneficence is not insignificant.The relationships we make,maintain and most times leave behind are the journey .We are so blessed to be in your wake.
Beautifully said, Mister Knox! That is what cruising is all about. Sail on Hayden and Raydeen and thanks for sharing that message.
First: I’d like to ‘third’ Mr Knox’s comments.
Everyone is unique and special in their own ways but Hayden & Radeen just stand out a little bit on their own as two VERY SPECIAL folk. It’s an honor to count them as close friends.
Welcome back to the Commonwealth! I see you have a proper right hand steering vehicle. You are in practice to be a London Uber Driver. Just trade goats on the road for sheep and you are set.
Safe Travels. Looking forward to traveling with you on season 18.
Greg & the Gang.
Ps A shout out to Reuben way up there at the top of the comment pile. Hey Reuben!
Have another great sailing adventure year, and many more! Are you thinking about sailing further South to Trinidad?
My Best Chuck
Looking forward to sailing along with you and experiencing all kinds of new adventures! Loretta and Jim Elliott s/v Plan Sea