After a nap we returned to town around 1:00pm to watch the next Mas. The Pageant Mas reminded me a bit more of a high energy home town parade. It again involved the massive sound systems of the DJ Trucks playing a mix of the same 4 songs, followed by extravagantly costumed groups singing and dancing and representing different themes. This parade is also open to anyone who would like to purchase a costume and join in with one of the bands. A number of cruisers, who were staying at the Port Louis Marina, did just that. We walked the parade route and took quite a few pictures before settling down at a spot near one of the judges’ stations along the route. We were dazzled by the creativity and vibrant colors of the costumes some of which are quite elaborate. Everyone including small children walks the entire parade route in the same rhythmic small steps stopping to shake, shimmy, and gyrate along the way. Some of the women did this all in high heels, Yikes! The atmosphere was festive, the people beautiful, and the entire performance was repeated again the following day for the final judging, in even higher heat, with many of the previous days’ high heeled beauties now sporting tennis shoes. I wondered how long they could hold out!
Author: bearcruzer
Jouvert Mas
On Sunday morning we stocked up on a few groceries as stores all shut down for the last 2 days of Carnival. Ester, the clerk at Foodland, asked us if we would be attending Mas……now to me I did not think Carnival was affiliated with the Catholic Faith so I asked her what it was. Mas as it turns out are parades and street parties that take place during Carnival, Grenada’s summer festival. Flatbed trucks are outfitted with enormous sound systems, followed by roving bands of people singing and gyrating to thunderous rhythms. Each band is sponsored by different local businesses. We were informed that the first of the Mas Parades began at 5:00am on Monday morning. We set the alarm for 3:30am and put on some old clothes. We joined others in the streets some of who it was obvious had been up all night. We grabbed a couple of beers and downed a shot of rum. This has to go on record as the earliest in the day I have ever started drinking! The DJ trucks were keying up the music followed by pickups carrying large vats of different color body paint. Each band of Jab Jabs was represented by a different color. The Jab Jabs (or devils) main goal is to catch unsuspecting persons and smear them with paint, hence the old clothes, or in some cases used motor oil…..we tried to avoid those guys, we were only partially successful. The crowds were an amazing, sometimes hilarious mix of party goers all enjoying themselves and happily mugging for the camera. After the first couple of smears of paint, I took the old point and shoot into the crowd and tried to capture some of the spirit of this high energy event. After enjoying this Halloween Rave on Steroids the sun peaked over the island and the end of the parade passed us by. We made our way back to DD for a swim and a scrub with the loofa to erase from our bodies but not our memories the experience of this unique introduction to Carnival Mas.
Back for Carnival
We reluctantly left our new friends Ellen and Jim from s/v Boldly Go….sitting on the hard at the Carriacou boat yard to do repaint the bottom of their boat and do all those out of the water maintenance issues. We feel for them Yuck! But we had to return to Grenada after all….Carnival was happening. We made our way down the leeward coast of Grenada and anchored just outside of St. George where we will stay for the duration of Carnival. We contacted the Al Bernadine and dropped off our Alternator for repair, yet again, and then called and checked on the status of our Auto Helm. Herve the Service Tech here on Grenada says he is expecting the parts by the end of the month at the latest but is hoping they will arrive by next week. There are a number of events that take place over the days leading up to Carninval, a beauty contest, as well as Soca, Calypso, and Pan competions. We attended Pantastic, the Steel Pan Competion on Saturday Night and enjoyed a number of talented bands comprised of both young and old as well as Vocals by The Black Wizard a local popular musician.
A Carriacou Birthday
While we were in Carriacou we met and were befriended by James T and his wife Ellen…..capitan & crew of the S/V Boldly Go (Trekkies?). We spent quite a few evenings getting to know each other and found out that Ellen and I both grew up in Orange County, CA. She went to Corona del Mar HS and I to Tustin High. Our fathers both worked for the same company, Autonetics that became North American Rockwell and spent a lot of our teen years along the beaches of Newport and Corona del Mar. Small world. We also met JT and Jayson, at a local birthday celebration. They are father and his young son who had sailed over from Trinidad aboard S/V Stillawa to enjoy the regatta. They had lost their dog a couple of days before and everyone had been on the lookout for her. She turned up that day and they were as delighted to have her back and she was to be back. I spent a little time showing Jayson the hand slapping game of Over the Top and how to Thumb Wrestle and we became good friends. The Birthday celebration was in honor of, Cigarette…..yes that is a nickname. Owner along with his son, of the Lambi Queen Restaurant and Bar. There was food and drink in abundance and everyone was having a great time. We enjoyed the music provided by a local DJ and after singing the traditional birthday song, it was time to……as they like to say, Stick the Cake. This is a fun local tradition of raising money to help pay for the party. It is something like a cross between the dating game and a wedding cake cutting ceremony. People pay money to nominate who will have the honor of Sticking the Cake. That person has to stand in front of the cake and other people then pay to nominate who they think would be the best match to share the honor as well as the first bite of cake and a kiss. There were a number of changes to both the female and male participants over the course of about 20 minutes along with much laughter and banter back and forth. At one point a gentleman teasingly nominated a very young teen girl who seemed more mortified than delighted to be nominated for the honor. In the end the Birthday Boy and his Ex-wife were left standing together to Stick the Cake. Amidst howls of laughter, they shared a bite of cake but the kiss was conspicuously absent .
Carriacou Regatta
July 27 – August 6
Back to Carriacou for the Regatta, We buddy boated back up to Carriacou along with our friend Laurel who Singlehands her Prout Catamaran s/v Here Today. She is a Grandmother who has sailed most of her life and had her own sailing school. She has graciously shared with us her friendship and is teaching me more of the terminology and technical aspects of sailing. Laurel was up and out of the harbor even before we got our dingy raised. We finally weighed anchor and headed back north the 35 miles to Tyrrell Bay. On the trip north we discovered that one of our newly repaired alternators is still malfunctioning. We’ll have to take it back to the repair shop when we return to Grenada. Ughhh!……I need a sunset! We had previously anchored in Tyrrell Bay on our way to Grenada and had promised John and Melody, S/V Millennium II, we would return and volunteer to help with the regatta events to raise money for the Carriacou Childrens Education Fund. The efforts of s/v Millennium II and other volunteers have raised about 16,000 dollars this year and have raised 124,500.00 over the course of the last 10 years. We spent time enjoying the Cruisers BBQ, the Mexican Train Domino tournament and the not-so-silent Auction and Rummage Sale. It was an honor to be asked to participate as well as a whole lot of fun. We also spent a couple of days enjoying the plethora of local events that Carriacou Regatta is so well known for. Cruisers and Locals alike participate in numerous racing events. Yacht races include a course race as well as an around the Island race. There are also many classes of open boat races that get very competitive. Most of the open boats are not very large and hold a crew of 3 to 8. Racers come from all over and sail from their respective Islands to Carriacou to compete. The onshore events include not only the well known, Egg & Spoon race, Balloon Shaving, and beer drinking competitions but also the lesser known but no less humorous events such as, Donkey Races, an eating event called Buns & Coke, and the most popular event…….The Greeeeassssy Pole. Don’t worry I too, had to ask a local, somewhat hesitantly, what this event entailed. It is one of the regatta’s oldest events and has been a favorite of the crowds for over 45 years. A long pole is greased and suspended out over the water at an angle. At the end of the pole the prize awaits anyone who can make it to the end and grab hold of it before falling in the water. I was told they used to hang a bottle of rum from the end but today it was a couple of bottles of Coke. It was a wonderful time even with the intermittent rain showers (which did little to deter the racers). The Carriacou people are warm and welcoming and laughter abounds. I also saw my 1st Green Flash from the Anchorage here on Carriacou. A stellar week to say the least.
Hike to Mt Qua Qua & Grand Etang Lake
July 26th, 2010
We joined a group of cruisers including many of whom are anchored in Mt. Hartman Bay on a hike up to Mt Qua Qua. We took a bus up into the rainforest and got off at the trailhead near Monkey Point named for the Mona Monkeys who frequent the area in hopes of a handout. We gathered at a picnic table to take a few photos in the event we lost track of any of our group…..but really, it’s an Island, how far can you go if you get lost? The trail started out very nicely maintained but due to the recent and continuing rains that have graced the Island, soon became quite the mud fest. We wandered along becoming a little taller with each step as the mud accumulated on the soles of our shoes. This I am certain is what caused the change in my center of gravity thus disrupting my amazing balance and causing me to end up on my butt on a number of occasions. As evidenced by the back side of my shorts after a few slips and slides. We traversed along the shore of Grand Etang Lake which is situated inside of a volcanic crater. The trail in some spots reminded me of knife ridge back in Colorado as it was no more that 2 ft wide in places and dropped off steeply on both sides of the trail that followed the ridgeline. The views as always were spectacular. Some of us were looking forward to taking the trail all the way to Concord falls, a 10 mile hike but the only information we had was to take a left at the fork in the Mt. Qua Qua trail. When we got to the fork, that section of trail was not maintained and had quite a lot of razor grass and wait-a-bit scrub that constantly grabbed at our bare arms, legs and clothing. The combination of the muddy slippery conditions, and additional forks that were not in the description, convinced us to hike back out on the Mt. Qua Qua trail. We stopped at Grand Etang Lake and enjoyed our lunch. We headed back out to the trailhead and got to see the Monkeys just before catching a bus. I have been playing with the little handheld GPS unit that Mike has had for a few years but never used. After cleaning it up I downloaded a map of Grenada sent to me by my friend Rebecca on S/V Passport and entered the coordinates for a Virtual Geocache that was listed near where we were going to hike. The Dock at Grand Etang Lake, next to where we had lunch, was where the coordinates finally led me, so I successfully located my 1st Geocache. There are 3 other traditional Geocaches here on the Island so I may take some additional side trips to see if I can locate any of them.
Baking Bread
I have finally begun to get the hang of baking in the BBQ. As you may or may not know I do not have an oven on the boat but I was assured by the previous owner that the Galley Mate BBQ that came with our boat can be used to bake. I am using a no kneed wet dough recipe that I have taken from a book I have called Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day. The secret is that you prepare the dough ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator for use, then it only takes the 5 minutes to prepare it for baking. The loaves turn out wonderful and rival what we were able to get in Martinique at the French bakeries. I have also baked cookies and brownies and will attempt an Angel Food Cake for Michael soon and maybe even a pie. It has given me a new challenge though and I have been on the lookout for a larger baking stone and a pizza peel, neither of which I have been able to locate yet. We don’t realize how spoiled we are in the US where you can get whatever supplies and equipment you need quickly and inexpensively. Maybe I’ll find them when we get toTrinidad.
Fixing Stuff
As always we continue in the definition of Cruising, fixing our boat in beautiful and exotic locations. We are having our second alternator repaired and Michael has reinstalled our non functional Autohelm so that the Authorized Raymarine Service Rep can see for himself that it is installed correctly and still not working. The Raymarine service Rep, Herve, was an extremely nice French speaking young man, who’s English was prettly good except when trying to communicate with the Raymarine warrenty department maintenance technician with a southern accent via a sketchy cell phone connection in the US. After about an hour of troubleshooting our Auto Helm, the conversation was just coming to a close without a definitive resolution to our problem. Mike finally got on the phone with the US Raymarine Technician and explained to him that we had downloaded the service manual for the Autohelm and had followed the procedure and determined that the motor was bad. After talking with Mike for 5 minutes the US technician agreed and told Herve, they would more than likely send down a new motor as a replacement. We are now awaiting the parts and hope they will arrive soon at which time we will remove the Auto helm, again, and deliver it to Herve to repair. At times so many continuing repairs can get us a bit down……but when that happens we sit on the bow with a cool drink and watch a beautiful sunset while gentle breezes carry away our burdens, and remember how lucky we really are to be living this lifestyle.
Off to an Oil Down!
July 17, 2010
Oil Down? What’s an Oil Down? Well it is a local gathering that operates on the same principal as the story of Stone Soup. Friends and Neighbors all get together everyone bringing something and layer a large pot with locally grown Vegetables and Meat cooked in spiced coconut milk. Everyone works together to prepare the ingredients and it is all assembled and cooked over an open fire. Margie from S/V Encantada organized the cruisers and got enough interest to hire Cutty from Cutty’s Taxi and Tours to put one on. He gets his friends and neighbors together who do most of the preparation of the meat and veggies. Although they toned it down for the cruisers and left out the chicken feet and beaks, and the pigs tails. For the cruisers part we all bring either an appetizer or a dessert and then help with grating coconut, cutting the last of the veggies, and make dumplings. I have been in baking mode this week and have gotten much better at using my BBQ ( I do not have an oven). For my contribution, I made spicy Caribbean Curry Patties which looked much like miniature empanadas. They were a big hit while we were waiting for the Oil Down to Cook. Cutty also takes the guests up to his home where he picks fresh fruits out of his yard for everyone to take home. We were graced with Pineapple, Mango, French Cashew Fruit, and Avocados. His neighbors also get an opportunity to sell beer and other drinks to generate income as well as the cruisers each paying for their meal and taxi ride. Everyone had a wonderful time and the locals really enjoyed the unusual variety of delicacies and treats brought by the cruisers. A great time was had by all.
Seven Sisters Falls
July 14th, 2010
Mike and I joined Dave and Michelle from S/V DaniellStorey on a walk to the Seven Sisters falls. We caught the bus from Woburn into the Main Terminal and then on up into the mountains squealing around corners to Grand Etang. The bus let us out at a place called Monkey Point in Grand Etang but we were not lucky enough to see any. Mona Monkeys were introduced to Grenada from Africa. We walked down the road about ½ mile to the trailhead to the Falls. We paid our fee to cross private land and then picked up a walking stick and headed down the trail. We crossed a working farm where a wide variety of fruits and veggies were being grown including Nutmeg, Mango, starfruit, Avocado, Pumpkin, Melons, Long Beans, and many others crops we did not recognize. The trail was a little slick from the recent rains but not too bad. The walking sticks were very helpful. Michelle had brought some samples of some seeds she was hoping to collect and asked the local who was collecting the fees if any of them were found along this trail. The seeds , shells and sea glass she has found in her travels she incorporates with beads to make some beautiful jewelry. http://web.me.com/daniellstorey/Seed_and_Sea_Caribbean_Jewelry/Welcome.html As we were walking along she spotted an oblong pod on the ground and suddenly the treasure hunt was on. We had found what are referred to as Donkey Eye Seeds. I helped her collect a nice bag full before continuing on our hike. After taking some photos, Dave and Mike meandered further down the trail where we met up with them when we finally exhausted our search efforts. We made our way to the Lower falls of the Seven Sisters and changed into our swimsuits to take a cooling plunge after our hike. We enjoyed the lunch we had brought with us and were soon joined by a few others and their guide Cliffon Castle. Cliffon is certified to be able to dive from the top of the falls and gave us a great show by doing a back flip from the top of the falls into the pool below. It was amazing to watch. After relaxing at the falls for a while we made our way back, stopping under a Nutmeg tree as we waited for a small rain shower to pass. We met a local Rasta Farmer walking the road carrying a bunch of bananas on his head. I found and photographed a Torch Lily also called a Porcelain Rose. Our hike concluded back at the trailhead where we sat and talked with Cliffon and a couple of other locals about the area and showed them the footage we had taken at the falls. I will try to post it to You Tube when I have the bandwidth. It was a wonderful day in the hills of Grenada and we look forward to many more hikes and adventures with the Crew of DaniellStorey.
Living the Dream 