November 7
We're back, Grenada! We flew in yesterday on an uneventful 5-hour Air Canada flight. The day started at 5:15 from the home of Drew and Jill in Brampton. Our wonderful friends had picked us up at home on their way from their cottage in Lion's Head on Sunday. We had a delicious home-cooked dinner before an early bedtime. They generously drove us to Toronto airport at 6:00 (I hope they went back to bed afterwards).
While waiting for our flight, we were so happy to meet up with our friend Joe from the Maritimes who was also going back to his sailboat - Lady Seagull - at the same marina as ours, Spice Island Marine, in Prickly Bay. Joe also had a busy summer working for a sail making company in Halifax. He gave us the sad news that his wife and he will be selling Lady Seagull in the spring. Joe will sail North to sell her in the States.
What a happy surprise to get in Komeekha and find no bugs, no mould and very little dust. I guess our effort to prepare her for the rainy season was well done. We'll start cleaning and organizing the inside tomorrow. Before we left in the spring, we gave a list of chores to the marina and sail maintenance staff to perform during our offseason. Only the hull painting is not completed. But it should be done before Komeekha returns to the water on Thursday.
It felt good to be back in familiar neighborhoods, meeting friendly locals, eating Caribbean food. The weather when it's not raining is still very humid. No need to apply body lotion when my skin in constantly damp. At the tail end of the rainy season, the vegetation is a vibrant green and lush.
We spent plaisant hours with my cousin Carole and her husband Martin today. A few weeks ago, we were so glad to hear that they had booked a Caribbean cruise and would be in Grenada on November 7th, the day after our planned arrival. We had no difficulty finding each other at the Digicel store (we bought our cellular plan for the month) across the street from the cruiseship dock. The rain didn't stop us from walking everywhere in St. George - Grenada's main city. Being known as the Spice Island of the Caribbean, the local markets had a lot to offer: big cinnamon bark, fresh or dried bay leaves, vanilla, fresh nutmeg. Mmmm, all the smells - fireworks for our noses! After we left them, we had a chance to do some groceries for our AirBnB and went home by bus.
We now have a chance to relax home before the busy days ahead of us.
