Blogs from Grenada, Grenada, Central America Caribbean
November 23rd 2009
Avant de quitter « le paradis », la Grenade, il nous faut faire un dernier tour et voir encore trois des «activités typiques » de l’île : une rhumerie, un « oil down » (variante locale d’une épluchette de blé d’inde) et les Seven Sisters (les 7 chutes). Le rhum est une tradition dans les îles antillaises (en fin de compte, ici, la rhumerie c’est comme chez nous la cabane à sucre!); sur Grenade, il y a plusieurs fabriques de rhum mais une seule a gardé le mode d’opération traditionnel, c’est la rhumerie Rivers. Quand on dit traditionnel, on veut dire comme dans le bon vieux temps! Pour la cabane à sucre on utilisait des chaudières et un cheval pour la récolte de l’eau d’érable; ici, la canne à sucre est récolté à la main et ... read more
October 11th 2009
Splash! The Rum Runner is back in the water. And looking better than ever! We have new bottom paint, the hull has been waxed, the plumbing re-done, and we completed just about everything on our to-do list (not the entire list, but good enough). We got new cockpit cushions (our old ones were stained and falling apart) and even a new grill (which was necessary after 4 years of heavy use- we grill every chance we get). So we are decked out and ready for another cruising season. Best of all, we installed new underwater lights and they are awesome! They are so much brighter than the last ones and attract thousands of fish. It is like having our own aquarium at night- love it! The first night we turned them on we had a 4 ... read more
Oil Down: The National Dish of Grenada
Published: October 6th 2009Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Grenada
September 5th 2009
One weekend we got invited to go to an Oil Down, which is a traditional neighborhood party here in Grenada. Oil Down is the national dish of Grenada and is a hearty meal of meat and provisions stewed in coconut milk over an open fire. It is called oil down because the coconut milk simmers down and releases its rich flavored oil into the pot. Yum! It is Caribbean comfort food at its best. Traditionally it is the men who cook the oil down, but this time we all pitched in and helped. It is quite a production to make, with lots of peeling and chopping and grating, truly an all day event. So we gathered everyone together in the afternoon, rolled up our sleeves, and got to work. The first layer of the oil down ... read more
February 25th 2009
OIL DOWN The national dish of Grenada It was a great afternoon with about 20 cruisers and 20 locals. The recipe kind of says it all! Take a swig of rum, preferably Rivers. Grate fresh coconut and saffron. (about an hour with 8 people) Peel breadfruit, ripe green bananas & pumpkin. (get locals to help with this). Go to nearest callaloo bush & pick 1/2 dozen leaves. Take another swig Rivers rum. 8-9 garlic cloves, 1 very, very small onion. Green papaya, 2 carrots. string beans, ketchup, 1 Tbsp. "Complete Seasoning" Slaughter pig, cut off snout & tail, discard rest. (Definitely need a hefty gulp of rum at this point) Marinate in "Green Sauce" along with some old chicken. Get yourself a massive black cauldron & start up fire, making sure that lady from up the ... read more
February 23rd 2009
Peacefully bobbing at anchor at Hog Island, Grenada, we have just finished dinner of bbq’d pork chops and are now enjoying the serenity. Tree frogs are a constant hum. The temperature is still in the low 80’s; (I have given up trying to translate to Celsius) but the heat is over for the day. It sure is nice to have Ace here; she arrived two days ago after having given me ten days to launch the boat and put it in some semblance of order. Today was the first day in two weeks where the rhythm of the Caribbean seems to have returned... slow and easy. The past two weeks have been a bit of a blur. My brother Bill and I met in Toronto, flew down together and were to provide each other with some ... read more
November 8th 2008
November first is the official end of hurricane season, so it was time to leave Trinidad and start our trek north. We are very excite to start another cruising season in the Caribbean, not only because our first stop is Grenada and the Grenadines (which are amazing) but also because we have so many islands to explore this year. Unlike last year where we had to travel over 2,500 miles and therefore skip many countries along the way, this year we are already here in the Caribbean and can take our time to explore all the islands. And our first stop north is Grenada- yohoo! We left Crews Inn Marina at o'dark thirty, just as the first rays of sunshine lit the sky. We were traveling with a flotilla of other boats and many of our ... read more
Grenadines, Grenada, and Tobago
Published: July 27th 2008Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Grenada
July 27th 2008
We spent most of June in the Grenadines. We visited Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Tobago Cays, Petit St. Vincent, and Union Island. While sailing in the Grenadines we started traveling with several other boats from island to island. At one time we had as many as 8 boats traveling together. It was great fun and we made a lot of new friends. Toward the end of June we made our way further south to Carriacou and Grenada in preparation for hurricane season. After a couple of weeks in Grenada we decided to go to Tobago with Tom & Rose of s/v Sojourn and Cheryl and Griff of s/v Mystic Journey. For my nonsailing friends the abbreviation s/v just stands for sailing vessel and is typically placed in front of the name of a sailboat. As cruisers ... read more
July 18th 2008
We have been sailing around the Grenadines, jumping from island to island and traveling back and forth. After our short stay in the Tobago Cays we went back up to Bequia for a reunion with S/V Verna Breeze- which was great fun! But then hurricane Bertha started forming and was going to create some nasty weather, so it was time to turn back and continue south again. We did a quick sail down to Carriacou and spent the night in Tyrell Bay. We decided to throw the Q flag up, Q for quarantine, and agreed to set sail for Grenada the next morning. Even though Grenada has been hit by a couple of hurricanes in the last decade, it is still considered to be a safe harbor for hurricane season and the final destination for many ... read more
June 27th 2008
A good friend of ours decided that the opportunity to escape the delights of a Canberra winter and come and bludge off us was too good to pass. So Svenny joined us for a couple of weeks which happened to coincide with the Australian cricket team's tour of the West Indies. Having been starved of any decent sport for the last 18 months this was too good an opportunity to pass up and we decided to book some flights and get across to catch two of the One Day International games in Grenada. Unfortunately Fiona was stuck at work and couldn't make it, so it was just Sven and I for the week - yes I have the most understanding and awesome wife in the history of the world and quite possibly the universe. But, Grenada ... read more
December 11th 2007
Pete decided not to go with us. We rented a 4 wheel Susuki for a week. We went on the West side of the island,through the Carrenage, down the tunnel, and away we went. Downtown by the Carrenage, the streets are 1 way, we kind of got a lost, but then found our way, whew...On the way to Gueyave, some of the road was washed out, detours, and of course we went the wrong way, to end up in a dirt road, so we then knew we had made a wrong turn. Of course there is no signs, very few... We found the Concorde falls, they are putting in a dam on the other side, not sure how that is going to work. On the way there, this very narrow road, we found some of the ... read more
