Burns Night – as our visitors departed we got a bit melancholy and reminisced on the fun we have had at Burns Suppers with friends over the years. We couldn’t source haggis so resorted to playing Eddie Readers interpretation of Rabbie’s work.
The whiskey stayed in the bottle though!  (turning over a new leaf and giving our livers a rest)

We have had fun being stationed in Prickly Bay at the southern end of the island and doing lots of land based touristy things with Joy and Cliff. Dignhy to and from the shore was at times a tad hazardous as the winds continue to blow quite hard and so the waves were quite high at times.

We visited a rum factory – (now there’s a surprise!) . It is one of the prettier ones (Westerhall) and has a lot of history around it. The most impressive being when one of the kilns leaked and  some alcohol dropped onto the flames,  the whole lot went up in smoke. The ruins are still lying around and some of those huge pieces of machinery flying through the air must have been quite a sight. It is amazing how much heavy machinery came from Glasgow/Gourouck back in the 1800′s and some of it still working today. Nowadays they import ingredients and produce masses. The whole process takes less than a month and the longest for a fermented one is a couple of years. The whiskey industry could learn a thing or two perhaps given that their 20 years old casks literally take a long time to reach the market place. Anyway we went by local bus and had fun getting there and back.

Next bus trip was to the northern end of the island. This involved three bus trips. The first was in to town, then one to Grenville which is second largest town, then another one out to Belmont Estate (chocolate producers for Lindt and Hotel Chocolate to name but two). It was a beautiful location and quite interesting. It also was home to 2 donkeys and several monkeys as well as tortoises and parrots. The bus rides were hilarious, better than a trip to a funfair. The big hills,twisting and winding north are a bit hairy when the driver is hammering along them.  Anyway a great day all round. Course we had to try the chocolate sorrel cake  (a bit like black forest gateau) and some 82% chocolate bar (delicious)

The other days were spent walking and visitng some lovely eateries.  Grand Anse beach is absolutely stunning and we walked it several times.  As I have mentioned before the music around the islands is just terrific. We did the usual round of De Big Fish, Tiki bar and Aquarium where we were treated to some impressive soca steel pan, jazz, rock and regaae.  The Aquarium is a lovely place situated in the side of a cliff it is a great place for a family Sunday at the beach.  The food is great, the place usually jumping with lots of locals, visitors and children having fun on the beach and in the water.  The band starts about 3.00 and plays till the sun goes down.  Life’s a beach!

Anyway it is back to ‘auld claes and porridge’ as we get ourselves organised to head west to Bonaire.  Dawn and Richard have arrived back in Grenada and are busy getting their boat ready for the trip through Panama. We hope to spend some time with them before they make that big jump.  This weekend is the Grenada Regatta but none of us are participating – sign  of the times!  The entries are down on last year but the marina is definitely gearing up for a fun long weekend.  If the winds continue as they have then there should be some interesting gybes and broaches.  Independence Day is just around the corner here and the locals are gearing up for the celebrations already (it’s not till Feb). That’s the problem here there always something that tugs at you to stay.

Here hoping for a fair passage to cover the 400 or so miles west and to some new sailing waters.