Thanks For The Memories

I thought I would include some of the memorable occasions from Randy and Aleitha’s visit that didn’t make it into the blog.

Martinique – eating sandwiches made from baguettes while sitting outside of the supermarket; Aleitha taking pictures in the library and then seeing the sign saying photography was not allowed.

St. Lucia – seeing munchkin sailboats in Rodney Bay – a sailing school out for lessons; Randy and Aleitha setting out to listen to jazz, but unable to go because the dinghy motor would not run properly.

St. Vincent – finding a munchkin rowboat; Griff turning into Our Favourite Martian; trying Callilou and Pumpkin soup; seeing the sets from Pirates of the Caribbean; Griff diving in to retrieve a towel that had blown off the deck only to discover that it was about 50ft down not 20ft – the towel stayed on the bottom.

Bequia – Randy buying Griff a fishing rod and then getting the line tangled while showing him how to use it; Aleitha getting her hair braided; Randy diving in to retrieve a rug that had blown off the deck only to find out we were going to throw it in the garbage; the guys having to use the ladies’ washroom because the door to the men’s washroom was locked and nobody in the restaurant had the key; seeing cows grazing amongst palm trees; having diesel and water delivered to the boat by barge.

Canouan – teaching Randy how to close the sail cover to protect the main sail; learning the ropes; picking up a mooring ball.

Tobago Cays – buying bread from Walter, the boat boy with a mouthful of gold teeth; the colour of the water; seeing turtles close to the boat.



Union Island – speaking with Lisea in the restaurant about her trip to Toronto; watching sharks in the pool by the restaurant; Randy borrowing the dinghy so he could take Aleitha back to town to buy her a hat and then ending up playing pool with some of the locals.

Carriacou – Randy trying again with the fishing rod and asking one of the boat boys if there were any fish in this ocean, the boat boy had just offered to sell us some of the fish in the bottom of his boat; Randy drooling over a motor boat that anchored next to us – he did like his speed; Griff using up all of his air while diving.

Grenada – The Three Caballeros sailing to Grenada while Griff sat in the pulpit taking pictures; walking through downtown St. Georges on a Saturday morning, taking in all the sights and sounds of the people; seeing the remaining devastation from Hurricane Ivan and the rebuilding that is still ongoing; houses on stilts rather than closed in basements so the rain can run down the hills and it also gives a place to hang clothes.

Miscellaneous – playing crib every night, men and women won about equally over the three weeks; getting The Wards hooked on playing ‘Brain Age’ every day on the Nintendo DS; watching them both become more comfortable with the physical part of sailing – putting up and taking down of sails and taking turns at the wheel.