Back in the Water Again

No matter how many times we have done this it is always exciting to see Celebrian picked up and taken to the water.  In The Bahamas it was all done with the travel lift; however here at Spice Island Marine Services the boats are stored so close together that a hydraulic trailer has to come and pick up the boat and take it to the travel lift.  Celebrian, being somewhat on the smaller side was shoe horned in beside a rather large boat and it took some fancy driving to pull her out of her spot.  The travel lift here can lift 70 ton so Celebrian was a light weight at her 12 ton;although she did get 200 feet of new anchor chain from the captain for Valentine's Day.   The old chain was literally disintegrating from the years of salt water.  I love to swim in salt water; however living in a salt water environment is hard on everything.

We are tied up to the launch well dock at Spice Island Marine Services for the weekend so that the captain can make love to the batteries until Monday morning.  Even though the batteries were new last winter storing them in the tropics takes its toll.  Only one cell is poor so we should be in good shape by Monday.  Friends had their whole battery bank dry out so we are feeling fortunate.
Last year we spent some time sailing with John and Kathy on Katerina.   I had kept them up to date with our travel plans and they surprised us with a visit yesterday.  They stored Katerina here at Spice Island and have been sailing since early January; although John was down in December doing some work on the boat.
This weekend will be very busy as we do our major provisioning.  We were happy to hear that the grocery stores deliver free if you are at the boatyard and purchasing a significant amount.  Grocery prices here are a little breathtaking....my $3.50 romaine heads are $10.00 ....we are eating regular head lettuce.  Once we are established we will have to check out the local markets.  Grenada is most famous for its spices and nutmeg and mace in particular.

We have just returned from two major provisioning trips.  This is approximately $700.00 worth of mainly bulk goods from CKs.  Gratefully they deliver so that was incentive enough to shop there.  Our second grocery shop was at the IGA Valumart where we handed over another $160.00 and took a cab back to the boat yard.  The good thing is that we don't have to row everything in the dinghy since we are tied up to the dock until Monday morning.  We are tired, hot and a little grumpy; however this too shall pass once we find a place to store everything.

Before the hydraulic trailer came for Celebrian  we had to hoist Goldberry up to the davits.  This picture shows that my fitness classes this winter are truly paying off. 

A Happy Crew Sees Celebrian Again

A happy captain sees his big girl again.

The admiral was happy when she saw her apartment accommodation.   As a rule we have stayed on  on the boat in the yard ; however it is so hot here that it is a luxury after working  all day to come back to an air conditioned room.  It isn't fancy as we even have to heat our water for dishes on a propane stove but it is much less chaotic than trying to live and work on the boat on the hard. 

Speaking of working on the boat here is the captain giving Goldberry a face lift.

It would seem that the admiral always gets the cleaning jobs. 

The Spice Island Marine Services boat yard is a very busy yard with about 130 boats.  Celebrian is probably the smallest yacht in the yard and when I am cleaning her I am glad of that fact.

I just love seeing the children in their school uniforms.  Of course they love having their picture taken.

Life is definitely different when you live in Grenada.  The girls in green are out canvassing for their upcoming election for president.  The goats escaped and were out looking for greener pastures. 

It's 29 Degrees Celcius (88F) in Grenada....Let is Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

We are very glad that we are not driving to Toronto today....the most snow we have seen all winter.  It is beautiful but we do not want a repeat of our trip to Detroit the year we missed our flight.

We have had several days of skiing just out our backdoor at the condo.  We have either skied along the beach or gone to the local conservation area.

While I am busy packing Rob has been working on a pocket door for our den.  The project was to have taken a couple of days; however when we took the drywall off of the wall we discovered some wires and plumbing at which point we almost covered the wall back up again.  Rob however, seems to like a challenge and despite the amount of work involved decided to proceed.  After just over a week of re-wiring, re-plumbing, new drains and moving the pantry in the basement he is ready to hang the door and put up the new drywall.  The new door will allow us to put another piece of our wall unit in the den and move the piano to the living room giving the den a more spacious feel.

This year's luggage is not nearly as eclectic as in some years past.  We do have two large suitcases and one smaller bag full of boat parts and our usual cereals, crackers and other assorted goodies.   Having not been in a Grenadian supermarket yet I really don't know what will be available; however Rob has assured me that the shopping will be just as good as the modern grocery store that we used in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas for our major provisioning.
I couldn't resist checking the weather in Grenada and I am happy to say that the day time highs are expected to be 29C and the night time lows 24C over the next week; however there was one day with a high of 28C.  The weather in Grenada will be much warmer than what we have been used to in The Bahamas as we are now at 12 degrees latitude and much closer to the equator.
Today has been glorious sunshine and we just came in from one more ski ....just couldn't resist the snow and the sunshine.  It is time to weigh our suitcases and go over lists one more time.  Brian from Ontario Shuttle Service is picking us up at 8:30am and we arrive in Grenada at 8:15.  Now it is time for the sauna and a glass of wine to toast the honeymoon sail adventure 2013.

See how close Grenada is to South America and why it is 29 degrees celcius!!!

Happy Birthday Captain



It wasn't easy but I was able to surprise the captain for his birthday.  He doesn't look a day over 60 does he?  Where does the time go?  We have found some benefits to the new age and Rob's airline ticket was a cool $30.00 cheaper than mine at the senior's rate.  You have to look on the bright side of aging!?!

The Melodys, Kings, Dotzerts and Westbrooks were gathered at The Albion awaiting the birthday boy.  He was more than a little surprised. 

It was a great evening with friends and good food.

 I had made a birthday cake in the morning and The Albion was happy to serve it complete with its singing candle.  You might ask how did I do this? There is a story.  While baking the cake I was also cooking muffins so that Rob did not wonder why there wasn't any baking for him to eat.  While he was working away in the basement the cake was cooling upstairs in the bedroom.  In order to get away to The Albion with the cake and decorations I had Gayle call and ask for my help.  When I told Rob that I was going over to help Gayle he offered to come too.  Naturally I did not want him to come with me but in the meantime he had come up the stairs following me.  I threw the cake out on the front step so he wouldn't see it in the hall.  Before I could get out the door he decided to go and get the mail.  In the meantime I grabbed the cake and put it in the kitchen cupboard; however then I couldn't leave because Rob decided to have a snack in the kitchen.  Eventually I made it out the door and over to The Albion to decorate but the birthday boy hadn't made it easy.   Even after all of that he never suspected a thing and the evening remained a wonderful surprise for a wonderful husband.
Of course the best birthday present of all was the green light to travel from the cardiologist Dr. Kim.  He feels that the medication that Rob is taking for his arrhythmia is working; however Rob will live the rest of his life with a heart that listens to its own drum beat....not a surprise to many who know and love him?!?

A Cottage Interlude

It finally has started to look like winter along the shores of Lake Huron.

It was the promise of a sunny day that lured us out to the cottage and we were rewarded with three days of sunshine.  We had several walks and thoroughly enjoyed our mini holiday. 

 

There is a huge rock on the beach up past Kitchigami that is up on the shore.  When I was a child my parents helped me carve my initials in to the rock. 

The sun made the ice crystals sparkle beautifully.

The ice hummocks were just beginning to form.  The next time we visit I expect we will not see open water.

The beach looks very different in the winter.  We want to return for a visit when everything is white.

The view from the upper deck is quite different in the winter when you can see the lake.  Over the summer the leaves make it impossible to see the water; however the shade from the trees make the cottage very comfortable in hot weather.

Thanks to the propane stove both Woody and ourselves were toasty warm.  Of course he has fur, but we have an electric blanket too.  What a joy it is to experience winter at the cottage.   Both Rob and I love the cottage so much and feel so fortunate that we can be comfortable there during all kinds of weather.  

Countdown to Christmas

Every once in awhile the McGuffins get dressed up and enjoy entertaining their friends.  This year the Westbrooks, Dotzerts and Melodys joined us for a Chrissymas celebration followed by a splendid buffet at The White Carnation. 





We spent a day at the cottage fitting the cedar sink surround and the new drawer fronts.  The sink surround was like building a barrel and proved to be a challenging wood working project for Rob.  There are two door panels that hinge on either side to add to the front.  Rob was ever so relieved  to finally get things to fit.  The varnishing will be left until the spring.



Never ones to sit around we decided to re-do the bathrooms at the condo.  Both of the bathrooms received quite the face lifts with new countertops, sinks, taps, and paint.  In addition we have added new knobs to the cupboards and a splash of new accessories and colours.  What a difference it makes!  It felt good to be spending some time working on the condo.  Rob is now heavily into manufacturing drawer boxes for his dream shop.  At last count there were 16 new drawers being sanded and readied for their first coat of varnish.

On the 23rd of the month we joined Aimee, Craig, Ava, Landon, David, Linda, Sarah, Scott and last but not least Dude at a Christmas celebration in Brantford. 



 

 

 

On Christmas day we spent some time with mom and Santa at Huronview.  From there we drove to London where we joined Bob and Jan for a lovely dinner and overnight.  The next day we visited with Alison, Scott, Chase and Sherry in Exeter.   It is always fun to see what Santa has brought the kids.

Speaking of Santa he did in fact leave some things for us.  It would seem that he was into fitness this year as we received snow shoes, walking poles, a fitness mat and four pound weights!?!  Of course he may have seen how much chocolate and nuts were under the tree before he made his decision?? In addition Elvie (Land Vessel) did quite well with a new GPS and several guide books to the East Coast. 

The driftwood Christmas tree receives its first snow just in time for the holidays. 

 

We never get tired of the view out our bedroom patio door especially when it is snowing.







If You Can't Fly South.....Fly North

Our  cottage neighbours Doug and Jane have shares in an airplane that is kept in Stratford.  After this summer they decided to leave their sailboat Cyrano in Killarney and use the airplane to fly back and forth to the boat.   We were asked to join Doug for a trip in December to help winterize Cyrano.  Needless to say we jumped at the offer and met Doug at Sky Harbour Airport in Goderich. 

My first inclination was to hijack the plane and head south; however the captain told me to keep my hands and feet off of the controls.

The farther we flew north the more snow we saw on the ground.  In fact Killarney airport runway had not been ploughed and it made for an exciting landing but Doug handled things like a pro.  We hiked into town and spent about two hours working on the boat.  Doug does not have his night license so we had little time to spare before heading back to Goderich.

On our way  Doug flew us over the cottage.  It was great to see all of the sand on our point; however seeing the cottage was a bit of a challenge. 

It was very interesting to fly over Goderich and see the harbor and the town from the air even though it was getting late in the day and the light was poor for picture taking.  Doug dropped us off at Sky Harbour and we watched him take off for Stratford....a 20 minute trip in the airplane.  It had been an amazing day and once again we are reminded of the power of flight.  It takes a good 8 hours of driving,  close to 30 hours of sailing but just 1.5 hours of flying to get to Killarney.