weather update

source: www.crownweather.com

As we're watching the weather closely it seems that we're off the radar!
The low pressure system Invest99L was upgraded to Tropical Depression #5 and may still form into Tropical Storm Ernesto BUT as you see in above graphic the track moved slightly north of due west with landfall in St.Lucia at around noon Fri3. We're staying alert as it's in the nature of weather that it may change. But other than a lot of rain and some increased wind we don't really expect tropical strom conditions down here in Grenada.

Someone who seems to be benefiting by the current weather conditions is our marina. It's almost full with sailing boats! Only the big boat docks are empty with the exception of two vessels: 211ft trimaran "Pilar Rossi" and 164ft motor yacht "Arianna".

unusual to see so many boats on "our" dock

empty big boat docks

Pilar Rossi & Arianna

With love from paradise
Rahel

unexpected visit by Ernesto?

source: www.crownweather.com

As you probably know (and we've written about it here) it is Hurricane Season in the Caribbean and that's why we're staying in Grenada at the moment. So far there was no real threat to come up on the horizon. But since yesterday we are reading the weather emails more thoroughly and exchanging news on a regular basis with other cruisers.

We are not yet sure if we have to go into "Hurricane Mode" or not. In today's Tropical Interim by Chris Parker (Marine Weather Center) the forecast said:  
Folks from Martinique-Grenada could be in for a direct hit by a strong TropicalStorm (possibly a Cat1 Hurricane, but more likely a strong TropicalStorm) somewhere in this area - IF there's development (there's a 50% chance this will not develop).
Now the chance is 50% that the area of low pressure in the Atlantic (called Invest99L) will strengthen into Tropical Storm Ernesto but what areas in the Eastern Caribbean will be affected is still uncertain: First it was Martinique then Trinidad/Tobago and now Grenada. The later two are normally very unlikely to be hit by hurricanes. But with the uncertainty between the different models (GFS, European, Canadian) there is no way to run, besides that we feel very safe in the Port Louis Marina. Officially it should withstand a Cat3 hurricane. So let's keep the fingers crossed there is no need to proof that!

Windlass Replacement Part 1 - Preparation

old system

As you might remember our windlass broke during the last anchor manoeuver just before heading to the marina here in Grenada for hurricane season.

In the meantime I discovered, that the old motor housing from the windlass sheared off. A repair was possible but since the model is not built anymore we did some further research: The brushes are on the edge (would cost 200 USD), we missed a manual retrieval (the needed part was not found on board) and spares are in general hard to find. This made me rethink a repair, I mean we use this piece so many times and the windlass was on the lower limit of power anyway. So we opted for a new one.

Our new windlass arrived a few weeks ago from Miami, some electrical parts are still underway though. We decided for a Lofrans Tigres. We went for a horizontal windlass as I prefer the second gypsy on the side and the Tigres is known to be among the most powerful machines in this size range (see the comparison on the bottom). They also have a very simple manual retrieval mechanism in case of an emergency. I could go with an even much more powerful windlass as Habibi already has very thick cables for the windlass. These 12Volt wires have 67mm2 - each! That's needed to transfer the immense power, over 100 Ampere, while it's running. Replacing the cables was out of question as you pay up to 50 USD per Meter and laying two cables in this size through the whole boat would be a nightmare, in terms of work and cost. Thanks Island Packet for not economizing on this!

But still, changing a windlass is a lot of work. BEFORE you even get started you find yourself measuring and checking sizes with paper templates all over the place. You want to make sure that the new windlass fits before you're spending the money. And did you know that there are at least 20 different chain types on the market? No? There are different sizes in Imperial US, Metric (to choose between ISO and DIN) and you have to order the right gypsy (chain wheel) for your windlass as well. Just in case, we have a 5/16 HT (High Tensile) chain. If you do that part wrong you'll have to order a new gypsy (250USD) or alternatively a new chain (1500 USD)! I know a guy who went through two gypsies before it worked out...

The existing holes will never fit (and our deck at the anchor plattform is unbelievably 60mm thick). So before we even could think of mounting the windlass we needed to do some preparation: Thanks god we found a great Swiss guy, René, to help us with the whole wood work!

First of course we had to remove the old, now grease spilling, windlass and all the associated parts. Plan a day for that as you need to remove most of the existing chain stoppers and so. It's lovely to work from below over your head in a cramped hot anchor locker while your wife yells from above turn left - ah, no right....but when you're finally done you can start with the real work:

Marco in his "work room"

the disassembled old anchor windlass motor

the existing hole

Day one: We moulded a piece of teak in epoxy into the existing big hole where the old windlass motor used to be mounted to ensure that we won't lose any stability. I mean at some point the boat basically will be hanging on to this windlass, right?

René at work

teak moulded in epoxy into the hole

Day two: We built a new teak platform above the existing one. This was done to cover all the existing cut outs and bad looking edges. You can call it cosmetic but it makes the whole thing watertight as well. Never forget to ensure your measurement and alignment is correct by moving the 28kg windlass around...

new teak platform layed out

Marco creates a template for drilling holes

Days three/four/five: When all the epoxy was dry I could apply the sealer into the edges of our new teak plattform. As soon it was dry I started to sand and used Cetol to paint the teak with multiple coats. I'm not a big fan of Cetol anymore... But it was used on the toe rails already so I have to keep on doing it.

painted teak

Happy with the woodwork and the painting the actual job starts. Fitting and adapting the electrical system for the new windlass....can't wait for that, really!

Comparison:
Simpson Lawrence Sprint 1500 vs. the new Lofrans Tigres:

Power                 1000 Watt vs. 1500 Watt
Weight                18 kg vs. 28 kg 
Max Pull              680 kg vs. 1500 kg
Recovery Load     100 kg vs. 190 kg

bite, suck, spit

Chin-ups

I just had my morning coffee when Joel, a Grenadian skipper, passed by to say hello. (He is married to a Swiss, but she lives back in Switzerland - he told me this was a long story he would tell us some day. I guess, that will be an interesting one...) While we were chatting he nibbled on a fruit I haven't seen - or I didn't take notice of - before:

He offered me some to taste. The round green fruits connected to a twig are slightly bigger than grapes or cherries and the skin is quite firm.

"You have to bite it open, suck the pulp and spit out the seed", Joel told me. Hesitant I did as I was told and heard a popping sound once I bit into the fruits skin. It's almost like to split open a boiled egg with the only difference that the content has a jelly-like texture - like lychee.

Then you turn the fruit around in your mouth like a candy and suck the juicy flesh off the seed. I like the taste, it's sweet and sour best to compare with the flavor of passionfruit mixed with grape.

And once you're finished extracting all the pulp you spit out (or more ladylike: dispose of) the seed.
I then asked what they're called? In Grenada they call them chin-up, but on other islands they go by different names like ginnip, skin-up or chinette.

It's a fun fruit, very cheap and almost addictive - I'm glad I was introduced to it!

With love from paradise
Rahel

I hate boats but I love pizza

Did I tell you that I actually deeply hate boats? 

I mean I'm starting to be an expert in so many things already I didn't have the vaguest notion of a few months back. It looks as if I had the fridge problem under control by now (fingers crossed). I'm going to mount a new anchor windlass the next week and Yes, I'll do an engine service all by myself. But as soon as I lay back and start to enjoy the fruits of my labour, a new challenge seems to be popping up.

Today Rahel prepared a pizza for dinner, and believe me there's a long process behind. Even though her pizza topping was tasteful from the start, sometimes the crust was so hard that you actually needed a diamond bladed chainsaw with a 200 horsepower engine to cut it into pieces. And if you wanted to keep your teeth you refused to chew and just swallowed whatever was served. Thanks god that's changed in the meantime. Her pizza is completely homemade and simply delicious. I'm really looking forward each time she takes the trouble to make one. But how is the saying on a boat? If it's not broken just wait...

So today, after preparing the dough and the topping the pizza was finally in the oven. And then I heard this: "Honey, I think the oven is not working anymore!"

Yes, of course, for some reason this damn oven thermostat broke exactly when my pizza (which finally doesn't scare me anymore)  was in the stove. You need to know that I have no clue about propane ovens. Niente, nada. So I had to dig into the manual, consult the web while working over a still damn hot oven. Always scared that I do something wrong and a possible propane leak could blow me, the boat and worse the pizza up into the blue Grenadian sky. I guess I found the minor problem, just a stuck thermostat - nothing that couldn't be solved with some grease. 

Still, do I really need to be an expert in everything just to get a simple pizza????

Wish you were here?

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

J.R.R. Tolkien

got fish?

Please note Marco's shirt - how suitable!

I feel sometimes like the wife of a fisherman - wait, I AM the wife of a fisherman! What Marco started in Dubai as a hobby he now tries to bring to perfection on our sailing trip. And I have to live with that... Don't get me wrong - I love to eat fish. But there are pros and cons:

Pros:
- if Marco is lucky, we get a delicious fresh fish for dinner/lunch (and you KNOW it is fresh)
- there is always a surprise factor included - we never know what he'll catch therefor we don't know what's for dinner/lunch
- we get to know different creatures of the sea
- if Marco is unlucky he always tries to improve his fishing methods (trial and error)
- it's a way of spending some time outdoors, empty the mind and drink some beer
- if he is lucky it's economical and it saves money for our cruising kitty

Cons:
- Since Marcos luck is still random, I always have to have an alternative dish ready
- if I join for a fishing trip, he usually has to release most fish as they are too cute - means we end up with no fish but some serious discussions about the benefits of being married :-) As a result I'm not that often invited anymore for fishing trips...
- I don't know what's the reason but Marco sometimes catches really ugly, funny looking , poisonous and definitely unedible creatures of the sea! The  result is the same - no fish for dinner/lunch!
-  And that's usually the time to spend more money for all kinds of "bullet-proof" fishing gimmicks. I guess that's a boy thing - getting more and better gadgets we cannot afford while the locals usually catch more fish with simple bamboo sticks... Which of course drives my fisherman then crazy and it's on me to cheer him up again!

Yesterday Marco went out fishing with some buddies and returned home with a big catch! He caught this huge and beautiful and edible JACK FISH! Since his friend got a smaller Blackfin Tuna which he shared with us the day was made.

Jack Fish

Then I was actually dreaming of a Yellowfin Tuna (Yes, I can be that precise in the meantime!) but Jack is just as delicious if not tastier! And if you have a fish as fresh as this one, there is one dish you have to use it for first: SUSHI

So off I went to get all the ingredients needed but unfortunately couldn't find a sushi rolling map and nori seaweed sheets - so no Makis this time! Instead of Sushi rice I could just find Jasmine rice - but that worked out great as a substitute. We once participated in a Sushi cooking class but that was ages ago. Means I had to improvise in all respects...

May I proudly present you the result of today's lunch: self-made Nigiri and Sashimi!

And that's for dinner: Sesame crusted Jack and Tuna fish with Teriyaki stir-fry vegetables and rice. Mmhhh..
You see, sometimes it is not bad to be married to a fisherman... ;-)

From paradise with love
Rahel