Onboard In Grenada

It was a party day on Fine Line as Steve celebrated his 56th b'day.

Friends and neighbors came And soon the driveway was full of dinghys.

With the crowd cheering him on he blew out all the candles in one breath. Wow! Did you make a wish?Tessa helped Steve read his b'day cards. Help, where are my glasses?

The sun chased us from the cockpit to the bow. Staying cool was the number one priority.

Living onboard a boat in the tropics during the heat of summer can be a bit trying. To get a break we took a slip at Clarks Court Bay Marina. We have power, we have water and we can step off the boat whenever we want. The air conditioner is pumping out cool air, the DVD player is entertaining us and we have visited every imaginable web site on the Internet.

We are surrounded by lush hills. The marina has a great bar, pool table, big screen TV and

WEDNESDAY NIGHT HAMBURGER NIGHTLooks good, huh! It is. It is quite a social event. Boaters come from all around.

You meet the greatest people here. This is Anne and Pamela. Pamela is from Copenhagen Denmark. Her little girl is adorable.Young and old, we all line up in front of Chris and his BBQ to wait for our delicious "all meat" hamburger. Many restaurants here serve burger with filler. What do they fill it with???Along with the burger is entertainment. Sometimes it is a movie but our favorite is the steel drum player. He is very good.

See what you think.

We always look forward to touring the islands with a local tour guide. Kennedy from Kennedy Tours took a group of us all over Grenada. His mini-van/taxi had air conditioning. It stays on for the first 15 minutes and then the windows are opened, the air is off and nobody complains. Gas is very expensive here.

Grenada is very lush and green. The scenery is spectacular. We had lunch overlooking this beautiful bay.

The north end of the island offers spectacular views of neighboring islands.Since it is the rainy season, there is no shortage of waterfalls.

Grenada is known as the "Spice Island". The nutmeg in your spice cabinet most likely comes from Grenada.

We visited a nutmeg processing plant and learned all about nutmeg.

It must be dried properly. The racks are on wheels and can easily be pushed under the building if it begins to rain.

Quality control begins here with this group of women. Each nut is scrutinized.The final product has to pass inspection with this lady. Bad nutmeg does not stand a chance with her.It is hard work but should you need a break, the view is fantastic.The final product ready for shipping.Rum is very important on this island.....I mean on all islands. We went to a rum distillery and we were very surprised at how dirty it was. The rum here is not exported. It is 70%+ proof and is not allowed on airplanes. PHOOOOOF, up in flames. Would you drink it?? Steve wont eat Sushi but he will drink this stuff???? So did alot of other people, are they crazy?

Rum is made from sugar cane. It is a long process requiring boiling at various temperatures in these "not-so-clean" vats. See the scum on top? What is that? Good thing you can't see the flies or you might never drink rum again. Sure!The rum is ladled from vat to vat with this high tech ladle.

Soon we were returning to the southern end of the island.

from high in the hills we looked down on the harbor of St. George.

Our tour guide was a wonderful historian. His great grandparents were brought to Grenada from India as indentured servants when slavery was abolished. There are many Middle Eastern people here and they own many of the businesses. There is great Indian food here along with African, French, American (remember the hamburger)and Oriental.

In addition to the great food, the simple fact that most Grenadians like Americans makes this a great stop for us. Many of the locals have not forgotten the 12,000 marines that arrived in 1983 to help restore democracy to this small island nation.

You should definitely visit this island.

From Grenada,

Anne and Steve

S/V Fine Line