S/V Koinonia Weekly Sailing Log - Empty Nest in Grenada, Wk2 (Wed Oct 11 - Tue Oct 17, 2023)
Highlights this week, touring a local rum distillery, a video call with cruising friends in Yorktown, the best sermon we’ve heard in a long time, touring the forts of St George’s, diving the world’s first underwater statue park, boat projects, and helping friends do some provisioning.
Wed Oct 11 - woke up and did our quiet time, then did some boat chores. Ben did some consulting work and monitored the stock market. Went to dinner with Sailing Life Warrior and met Dave’s wife, Beth, who just returned from the US.
Thu Oct 12 - woke up early and drove the car about an hour to the north east end of Grenada to tour the River Antoine Estate Rum Distillery. The distillery has been in operation since 1785 and the rum is still made the in the same way. It is also the only distillery in the Caribbean with a water driven wheel that turns a cane crushing machine. Almost none of the rum is exported from Grenada and it is very unique, so it is highly sought after. Rum aside, the immersive tour was amazing. We ate lunch at Belmont Estates, which was a fixed price, three course meal for $75 EC (~$26 US) per person. The food and especially the service were very good. Drove back to St George’s and stopped at Island Water World to purchase some new snubber line. Stopped at the duty free perfume store and bought Amber an early birthday present. She says it’s the first real perfume she’s ever had (oops...clearly a missed opportunity). Went back to the boat and facilitated a video call with five couples of fellow cruisers, all friends from Yorktown, VA as they are preparing to head south for the season.
Fri Oct 13 - did some work on the shower, then went ashore to run errands and pick up our SCUBA tanks from L&M, then took the tanks over to Eco Dive Tours to have the tanks filled. Since they said we would need to pick them up later, we drove to the summit overlooking St George’s to walk around Fort Matthew and Fort Frederick. Unlike historic landmarks in the US with fences, plexiglass, guardrails, and people policing where you can/can’t go, we had free rein to explore the entire grounds - potentially, at our own peril. Amber suggested we explore an underground tunnel and, once inside, it was completely dark. Amber turned on the light on her phone and we got a shock as a number of bats began flying around. Amber made a speedy retreat from the tunnel, never looking back and leaving Ben behind (but not too far). We had a good laugh at ourselves! Went back to pick up our SCUBA tanks, then grabbed a couple of items from IGA, then went home. Made grilled Mahi Mahi and steamed broccoli for dinner.
Sat Oct 14 - continued working on the shower, sanding and applying another coat of varnish. Went to lunch at the Greek restaurant by the university and went to the store. Got home and binge watched old Seinfeld episodes on Netflix. Ben cooked Puerto Rican beans and rice for dinner with some freshly sliced local avocado.
Sun Oct 15 - woke up and joined worship virtually with our last home church, Bethany Place Baptist. Jake Glover, former team leader of the Mixtec Mission, now transitioning to a new mission in Lima, Peru, brought the Word and it was one of the best, straight-talk sermons we've heard in a long time; highly recommend watching it HERE (start at 37:49). After worship, we ate a quick lunch and got our SCUBA gear ready and loaded in the dink. Met up with Sailing Life Warriors and SV Knot a Clue to dive the underwater sculpture park in St George, the first one in the world. Had a good time but the sculptures were more spread out than we expected and local power boaters didn't seem to respect dive flags/ divers in the water. Nevertheless, it was good time and good practice diving from our dinghy. Came home and watched a movie called, “Operation Mincemeat” on Netflix; highly recommend.
Mon Oct 16 - today marks three full years since we moved aboard Koinonia full time. Went ashore and met Dave and Beth for breakfast at "Knife and Fork," then went to Ace Hardware, ate lunch at the South Indian Dosa restaurant, then ordered bubble tea at a small food truck. We asked for half sugar, since everything in the Caribbean is extremely sweet. Even with half the usual sugar, Ben’s tea was so sweet, it was undrinkable! Ran a few more errands before returning to the boat. Watched “Darkest Hour,” a movie about Winston Churchill.
Tue Oct 17 - took our friends, Dave, Beth, and Landon on Sailing Life Warrior to do some provisioning before they depart for Bonaire. Went to lunch at West Indies Brewery and then hit several grocery stores, mostly in search of bulk eggs and fresh produce. It was a fun day with friends. Got back to the boat and made preparations for the girls to fly back to Grenada tomorrow. They have been greatly missed!
God Bless,
S/V Koinonia