Good morning everyone:
Hope this email finds everyone well and happy. We are still enjoying life in Port Louis Marina, St. Georges Grenada.
We have all been busy, there is always something going on. We signed the kids up for Steel Band Drum classes. They go three times a week and are loving it. Brett plays what is called "Double Seconds", and Dylan playes "Double Tenor". They both play a set of two drums, and there are actually fourteen notes on each drum. They are steadily working their way through learning the notes along with the rest of their class of about 20 kids. Jennifer from OPUS is also playing Double Seconds. We found out about this from other cruisers and decided it would be a great opportunity for the boys. The registration fee and cost of the sticks was about $25 US per person, so we jumped at the chance. The lessons go for a few months.
Brett celebrated his birthday last weekend, on the 19th. It's hard to believe he is 15 years old. We had two celebrations, Friday night we went out with a bunch of the cruisers from the Marina. We went downtown to the museum where they have Friday night entertainment, to hear a group called "Men From the Mainland". They were incredible, the lead singer had a fabulous voice. In addition there was a guitar player, a bass player, and the highlight to be sure, was a steel band player. They played a variety of songs including some local numbers. It was impossible to stay in your seats, so by the end of the night, alot of us were standing around the small room dancing. Afterwards, we went out for a casual dinner to Grand Anse. There was a large seating area outside, and you had your choice of ordering from the Sushi or Italian restaurant. The food wasn't great but we had a ball nonetheless. Jim, Linda and Jennifer, our friends from OPUS who are anchored in Prickly Bay joined us as well.
Saturday was a great day. As Galley Wench I made Brett his favourite breakfast, toasted BLT's. He LOVES tomatoes! As we wandered down to the pool, we noticed some balloons floating in the breeze on the Bulletin Board by the bar. We went to check it out. Our friends Lucy and Richard from Montreal made and posted a "Wanted" poster for Brett's birthday. As a result, all day people we didn't know would come up to Brett and wish him a Happy Birthday, it was pretty neat (see photo).
In the early afternoon we went downtown to the Fish Market, to buy some fish to cook for Brett's birthday dinner. His choice was Mahi Mahi and Red Snapper. Back at the boat I made another of Brett's favourite, Bahamian Rice and Peas while the boys went to pan practice (their drum classes). Our friends Doug and Wendy, and another cruiser Scott, who has the world's cutest and best behaved dog called Radar (see photo), came over for dinner. I cooked the Mahi Mahi on the stove, and wrapped the Red Snapper in tin foil which the guys cooked on the Barbie. Greg made his homemade and always awesome caesar salad. Mango cheesecake (are you drooling yet???) finished off a beautiful meal.
From Greg Brett got a gorgeous woven hammock, hand made in Panama, he has always wanted one. I got him a whistling tea kettle and some fancy green tea, because he drinks green tea every day and I got tired of heating up the water in a pot on the stove, now he can do it with his own kettle. From Dylan he received some dark Grenada chocolate, and a bottle of hot sauce (Brett loves hot food!) He also received a beautiful leather bound journal from Scott, two Stephen King books (his favourite author) and some plastic folders to help keep his downloaded music tabs dry and organized from Doug and Wendy. Another cruiser Becky, who is an incredibly talented artist, gave him a hand painted birthday card. OPUS gave him a gift certificate for three sailing lessons on their sailing dinghy. What a wonderful group of friends we have made here!
Wendy finished sewing my curtains last week, and they look amazing! So nice and bright, and because they are lined, they help keep the sun and heat out during the day. They are great friends. We call Doug the 13 year old. He is very young at heart and misses his kids (23 & 27 I think) and has adopted the boys. He taught them to do can openers in the pool, but still holds the record for the highest splash (we rate them from 1 to 10). They also have pool noodle fights and other antics in the pool. It is quite the sight seeing the three of them go at it! Speaking of heat, the weather is HOT, HOT, HOT. Usually in the 90's during the day, and lows of near 80 at night. Our AC is not working again, so it is hard to get to sleep if there is not much breeze. We spend a lot of time going for cooling dips in the pool. Dylan and I swim laps, he is an amazing swimmer, and Brett is just like a porpoise in the water, he is always diving under and manages to do so much more gracefully than I do. I love the exercise and it is perfect for my Fibromyalgia. It is not a very big pool, about 40 feet long, but I am up to 50 laps, which is pretty good. It sure beats going to the gym! Unfortunately for Greg, he has been spending the last week in the engine room, because of engine problems. He is troubleshooting and will have a solution soon. His motto is, "there are no problems, only solutions".
We have also signed up for more diving lessons. We are all taking the PADI Advanced Open Water Dive Course, isn't that exciting? As Brett is now 15 he is no longer a junior. Dylan can take the Junior Version of the course. The five dives we are studying for and will be tested on are: Drift Diving, Deep Diving (130 feet maximum), Wreck Diving, Underwater Navigation and DPV (Diver Propulsion Vehicle) Dive (we thought that would be fun!). We have been too busy to do anything but study but will hopefully start the dives next week, weather permitting.
Friday night we are having a pot luck supper as a send off for Lucy and Richard who are going to fly home to Montreal for a couple of weeks, and then off to Paris. We are going to put together a few picnic tables and everyone will bring a dish. It should be a lot of fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment