ende

2012
28
Apr

Bad news

Yesterday we thought we were almost ready to launch Pitufa again and eager to get away from the boatyard and the mosquitoes. The last job was to change the upper shrouds, but when the rigger fixed them on the mast he discovered a crack at the very top of the mast. A catastrophe. On Monday we’ll have to pull the mast and then hope to… Continue reading »

2012
21
Apr

So much work to do…

The days fly by with all the work we’ve got to do on Pitufa while she’s on the dry. We’ve taken off the skeg, then the rudder and discovered that we need new bearings (as expected). Additionally the mechanic found that the bearings of the propeller shaft had too much play, so we replaced them as well. I’ve been sanding the hull for the past… Continue reading »

2012
18
Apr

On the hard

This morning at 9 we had an appointment at the boatyard to haul out Pitufa. We were quite nervous, because we had to take her into the berth stern first (so that the forestay wouldn’t be in the way of the crane). Unfortunately our smurfette doesn’t like going backwards–she usually goes unpredictably either sharp left or right… Not so this morning: she turned like a… Continue reading »

2012
14
Apr

St. David’s Habour

Today we moved a few bays further east to St. Davids Habour. We didn’t bother hoisting any sails and motored the 6 miles upwind (we had to run the watermaker anyway). Navigating Grenada’s southern coast is somewhat scary because there are reefs everywhere. The anchorage is a bit rolly so we dropped also a stern anchor to keep us aligned to the swell. We then… Continue reading »

2012
13
Apr

Mount Qua Qua

We wanted to hike up Mount Qua Qua, partly because Lonely Planet recommends it and partly because of the cool name… So we took a minibus up to Grand Etang Forest Reserve only to discover that dozens of buses from a cruise ship had arrived before us. Stalls had popped up because of them, musicians, traditionally “decorated” ladies–far from the peaceful area we had been… Continue reading »

2012
12
Apr

A new pet

Today we went to the veggie market and then the fishmarket in St. George. However, we forgot two basic things you should bring to an island fishmarket: a bag (you don’t want the leaky ones you’re given there) and small change (the change you get there might well be covered in fishblood ). Anyway, right after we got back Christian did some belly-scraping (not his… Continue reading »

2012
10
Apr

Busy pitufos

We’re still in Prickly Bay, doing lots of jobs on the boat and I’m also working as a teleworker on an e-learning program for a company in Graz. It’s just the right time for earning some extra money for the kitty box–we’ve already spent two monthly budgets on spare parts for Pitufa and we’ll soon have to haul her out to do a new anti-fouling… Continue reading »

2012
05
Apr

Friendly Grenada

Our guests have left this morning–it’ll take them 24 hours to get back home… We had a really good time: we visited the Seven Sisters Falls in the rainforesty interior of Grenada, tasted loads of delicious dishes at Fish Friday in Gouyave, went sightseeing in St. George and spent a few relaxing days anchored off Calvigny Island. Grenada is great to get around, cheap minibuses… Continue reading »