Grenada Marine, and Grenada
We arrived on Sunday and Colin met us at the airport in a sunny
humid St Georges, Grenada.
Colin got a deal on a car… and good thing it was a deal… it was a heap, but it got our errands done. Over the first few days we got to know Colin and the boat. We seem to get along well and Colin turned out to be as much fun in person as he is on Skype and FB. Always good for a laugh or a story or two. With Colin being from Australia, NOW I have TWO accents to contend with… and don’t even get them started on Monty Python skits.
We commenced provisioning, boat parts shopping, WiFi configuring, etc,… all the “normal” boat things.
Finally My Darling is a Lagoon 440, owners version. Its rigged for cruising- watermaker, dive compressor, washing machine, generator, solar panels, all the “necessities”. Oh yes, the sails and rigging are in fabulous shape with a newer cruising main, all the electronics you would need, safety equipment, the list goes on.
Monday we started getting to work in between our errands on getting FMD ready to launch. We had hoped for a Wednesday launch, but as things go, we would be delayed until Friday. We commenced cleaning, organizing, polishing, fixing, washing, hanking, and getting to know our new mode of transportation. A few exhausted days, early nights, bottles of wine, some rum, sunburns and sweaty clothes, and we are ready to drop FMD into the water!! We can’t wait to be floating again.
Finally!!! Friday morning came and we were ready! Just in time for Grenada Liberation weekend celebrations.
The launch went almost flawlessly, the ground was a bit soft in front of the Travellift, and the wheels slopped into the ginormous pothole. When the boom smacked into the rear of the Lift, our heart had a jump in beats. It could have caused some serious damage, but as luck would have it, none was done,… that we know of yet. Although we have not quite lifted the sails.
WE worked the remainder of the day getting the mainsail rigged… and as boat things” go,.. into the next day as well. It’s a HUGE main and we had to get the three reef points back how they were supposed to be, inside the stack pack, and on the correct sides of the sail. It took a couple of efforts, some picture reviewing, and a bit of ‘siphering. Having not seen how it was rigged before, Darren and I could only guess. We did eventually get it all correct.
Friday night, lucky for us was a big celebration at Grenada marine, to help celebrate the Liberation, and we lucked out and managed to get there in time for FREE Lobster dinner!
Next Post- Gunk holing/ parts waiting