Grenada, week 1

    We were headed here as a stopover point enroute to Trinidad. But with Lynn flying home we learned flights from here were quite a bit less, so we booked it from here. But then we got here and really like it; decided we’ll stay at least through Carnival. Plans change…the life of a Sea Gypsy.

    Lynn is back in the US for a while with her family so I’m taking some time for boat projects and of course continuing the search for the best Happy Hour. I believe our friends Bob and Kitty of Equinox took on the same challenge in Key West last summer. Dang the luck but someone has got to do it right?. I’m happy to report last night’s deal was 3 beers in a bucket of ice for $10EC ($3.71 in US dollars) OK, so it’s hot, windy, broken only by thunderstorms several time a day/night thus far, but between the fellow cruisers we meet up with, the socializing, and the ability to get some work done in between…it doesn’t suck.

    First project: figure out how to get the windscreen to open farther without having to undo all the hardware and prop it up with a stick. Not a problem last year as we were headed north and trying to stay warm vs cool. Lynn came up with this solution. I measured the swing room, looked like it would work so took the old (shorter) slide in to the machine shop and they built two new longer slides. As you can see, the window opens flat out and a nice breeze blows through the cockpit.

    Now working on some shade so the saloon has temporarily been converted to a canvas shop. This big piece used to go over the boom but with lazy jacks and a Stack Pack (sail cover) both now atop the boom, it doesn’t work. Besides it was too heavy and cumbersome so we rarely used it. But it is hot here (did I mention hot yet?) so on to it. I’ve ordered channel to mount down each side of the boom as I’d seen on a couple big schooners. I’m splitting the canvas in two, will sew in a couple boltropes so each side can go on separately. More to follow.

    This last photo is for Lynn since I know she doesn’t believe I really eat while she’s gone. Guess I’ve used that old college line “Beer; a pork chop in every can” at least once to often. Anyway here is today’s tortilla pizza lunch, lots of onions, garlic, olives, a leftover frank which Adjima took a liking to, and lots of cheese. Not too bad, followed by the obligatory after lunch nap of course.

Refit Content on the Way.....

The refit of CELEBRATION was long and hard, but a very rewarding part of the adventure as well. We truely enjoyed building this girl in the vision of how we thought we'd use her, but the absolute best part was the knowledge we gained from a large group of friends and experienced sailors, and the in-depth look we got at our little ship and home. While I kept taking pictures and preparing inputs for these posts, the work took first priority. Now I'm organizing notes, plans, and photos to post here, so please be patient. There is a lot to come. Here are a couple photos from the repower.

First one of my alignment jig as it sits on the new mounts just before drilling and tapping the holes in the mounts and next the new Nanni 4.220HE the day we set her in place. As you can see this was not the run-of-the-mill pull and replace project. We built new mounts and moved the Nanni diesel to the stern by several inches as the transmission is shorter than the old Volvo, and we had ideas for driving several attachments off the front drive. I'll take you through the thoughts, plans, and actual step in the process. I also intend to add some follow-on feedback as to how it's working now that we're using her daily Feel free to comment and ask questions as we go.