December 7
If you read Frank’s Facebook posts, you’ll know that Frank arrived in Grenada mid-November. (Note: Granada is in Spain, Grenada is in the Caribbean Sea.) He prepared Komeekha, our sailboat, for a new sailing season and launched her on November 20th. During this preparation period, he had a mix of hard work, broken high-pressure cooling radiator of the fridge, heat and rain, but also sharing beers, meals and stories with good friends.
Gail and Dick, the AirBnb owners, have lost a white towel and face cloth. They are now pink, bubble gum pink. And, Frank now has pink t-shirts, underwear, a baseball cap, and shorts. I don’t have to tell you how this transformation happened, do I? LOL! We’ll go shopping for a replacement in Martinique. They have everything there. Thinking about it, maybe I need to be in Grenada with Frank next year; just to ensure the white towels stays white. LOL!
From Grenada, Frank sailed to Bequia (76 nautical miles) by himself. He had prepared well: making his meals in advance, wearing his lifejacket and being tethered to Komeekha at all time. It took 14 hours. This day sail was pleasant: perfect winds, no precipitation. He had chosen well his weather window.
In the meantime, in Owen Sound, I also had my own list of preparation. My social life – friends, Justin and family, volunteering at the theatre and the thrift store – did not slow down. The last few days were quite hectic: wrap up Christmas gifts, get my pills for the next few months, get an oil change and break job on the Jeep, enjoy last-minute meals and conversations with family and friends.
Our good friends Drew and Jill brought me to their home in Brampton 2 days before my flight, due to bad weather forecast. It was a great decision: the day before my flight, a snowstorm closed parts of the highway we took Southbound. What a mess we avoided! Thanks, Drew and Jill!
Frank met me at the St. Vincent airport. How good it felt to see his beautiful eyes and smile, and being in his arms! I had no checked luggage; so it was a breeze to get through the formalities, get in a taxi; and we had an hour to spare before our ferry from St. Vincent to Bequia. Frank had left Komeekha in Bequia because St. Vincent doesn’t have a lot of quiet anchorages and very few places to moor the dinghie when we need to go to shore.
Yesterday, my first day on Komeekha, drinking my first cup of coffee in the sun, on deck, a turtle and a stingray came near to welcome me to their beautiful island. Aaaah! This is the life! I then decided to re-organize some areas in the boat: the kitchen, my clothes, foodstuff. Of course, I had to put my 2 cents on where things go! LOL! The heat is bearable if you wear very little clothes, stay in the shade and drink a lot of water. It’s a balmy 27 degrees. Not too hot, really! Our friends Andrew and Barbara on Falcon came for dinner: pork loin coated with Frank’s creole dry rub, rice and vegetables cooked in the pressure cooker. Simple and delicious! This first day was a typical day at anchorage in the Caribbeans: some work, some downtime, and a good meal with friends.
You remember, I wrote before: “There’s always something ...”. Many other boaters say it too. An aging sailboat – Komeekha is 24 years old – always has something breaking down or needing some improvement, some maintenance. In Grenada, near the end of our sailing season, the fridge compressor died. This November, the fridge's high-pressure cooling radiator died and the dinghie motor carburator died. And this morning, the toilet bowl is cracked. Frank has gone on shore to find a replacement and all its necessary parts. The boat vendors would say: “Ching Ching!”.
We’ll stay in Bequia for a few more days. We’ll wait for our weather window to sail North to St. Lucia and on to Martinique. Our goal is Martinique for Christmas. We’ll see how things go ....
