We’re back!

On January 7, 2025, I flew down to Trinidad to join Andrew on board for our 6th season of Billy Ruff’n Sailing! Andrew came down a week earlier to get the crew cracking on finishing up our maintenance work. We had the boat painted top to bottom, rust spots repaired inside and out, thru hulls replaced, refrigerator & freezer repairs, as well as new water tank gauges and an additional freezer installed (the later two being game changers so we can measure our water usage and carry more fresh fish from the sea/ ice for drinks)!

We worked with the crew on the final touches before launching on Jan. 14th. The night before launch, the boat was lifted off the stands so the last applications of paint could be applied to the bottom & keel. The next morning, we were in the water by 10am, but a quick inspection of the thru hulls revealed two leaks. The boat was pulled back out of the water and over lunch our crack crew had the thru hulls fixed. We splashed a second time around 2pm. Although we had tested the engine the day before, as luck would have it, the engine wasn’t expelling water. The mechanics came down to have a look and she fired right up once they re-primed the system. Finally, we got to our dock around 3pm, just before our guests arrived.

Cathy Piccoli & Dick Rosene, two of our besties from Phila/Newport, RI, joined us in Trinidad to do some touring and help move the boat to Grenada. We introduced them to some of our favorite eats: Doubles for breakfast, Roti for lunch, and dinner at The Wheelhouse, where they serve huge portions of perfectly cooked fish or ribs that can be shared and still be filling. On our last full day in Trini, we went to ASA Wright Nature Center, joined by some sailing friends we met last season, Ted & Barbara on s/v Raven. The Center is a beautifully preserved estate, developed for nature walks, a delicious lunch and relaxing on the porch to watch the 15 varieties of hummingbirds on campus.

The night before we were to leave, we had a party in the Roti Hut for our crew. There was beer, music, dancing and food ordered from Sails restaurant, as well as an exchange of Billy Ruff’n crew shirts for the wonderful folks who did such great work for us; with honorable mention going to Rawle, Ricky, Kachelle, Shawn, Raymond, David, Curtis, Avi, Denis and so many others. 

On Sunday, Jan. 19th, we checked out of Trinidad, tied down our new life raft and made ready for the crossing to Grenada. We left Scotland Bay around dusk for the 90 mile trip that started out with 20-25 knot winds (gusts to 30) and 6- 8 foot seas. It would have been a long, dinner-less voyage if the conditions had persisted, but fortunately by 1700, the wind and seas calmed. I made chili for dinner and we set a rolling watch (which meant everyone was on for four hours and off for four hours). The rolling part meant that watch-mates changed every two hours, so you got to be with two different people and have a fresh set of eyes. I think it worked out well and we all enjoyed the 13 hour sail to Prickly Bay, Grenada.

After settling the rest of the day on Monday, we started to explore Grenada with Cathy & Dick. We went for a few walks but it was too bloody hot to go far. Dick and I swam around the boat at least twice a day (a precursor for short showers). One night we went to our favorite Indian restaurant, Spice Affair, which Dick has now proclaimed his favorite in the world! That night, we returned to the boat to discover our wind generator had been pulled over by a loose topping lift and shattered a few blades. Ouch! (said the wallet) but grateful it didn’t appear to do too much collateral damage!!

Cathy & I explored St. George’s University, True Blue Bay Resort and its Dodgy Dock Restaurant one day while the boys did boat projects. We ate at all of our favorite restaurants, including St. George’s University Club and Dexter’s (where a former cruise ship chef serves 6 to 8 tables a night from his garage converted to a kitchen and the front and side porches of his home. He does a five course meal with 5 choices of main dish, 3 choices of dessert and 3 appetizers of his choosing. The highlights that night were cheesy risotto, pumpkin soup, corona fish & plantain, beef bourgeon, lobster, etc. Too much to mention but all in small enough portions that we didn’t explode!

On Dick & Cathy’s last full day in Grenada, we did an island tour and visited Annandale Waterfall (where you can pay $15 USD for a rotund guy to jump off a cliff into the pool), Grand Etang Rain Forest & Lake, The Rivers Rum Factory (where our guide, Lyons told us how they still make rum 90% the way they’ve made it for 200 years) and the Belmont Estate Chocolate Factory (a beautiful estate, where we only had enough time to buy their delicious chocolate and briefly view the grounds).

Sadly, on Jan. 25th, it was time for Dick & Cathy to leave. The boat is very quiet without them but we are so glad they were here to kick off our 6th season of adventures on Billy Ruff’n. Next stop, Carriacou, on our way to pick up guests in Martinique in February.

Grenada Foodie Tour

Shortly after I returned to Grenada from visiting the grandkids, the swell in Prickly Bay had become untenable, so Andrew and I decided to move to a more protected bay around the corner. Secret Harbor in Mt. Hartman Bay is tricky to get into but once you negotiate the rocks and reefs, it is amazingly protected from the swell. We were surprised to find so few boats here with the strong breeze and no rocking… it really must be a secret!

With a few weeks to go before we plan to head to Trinidad, Andrew continued to trouble shoot a fuel leak and an underperforming water maker. In between picking oil rags out of the bilge and running water tests, we rented a car for running errands and squeezing in our own self guided (for the most part) foodie tour of the island.

I guess you could say it started on Mother’s Day when we signed up for the Sunday Brunch at Secret Harbor Marina. For $150 EC per person (about $50 US), we treated ourselves to spicy hot Bloody Mary’s, chicken suzette crepes, tuna curry, fresh vege (as they call the combination of island vegetables usually including carrots, greens, potato, squash, etc.) and dessert.

The next evening, we had reservations at a highly rated place called Dexter’s. We drove by it during the day (to make sure we could find our way at night) and found a small, unremarkable sign on an overgrown patch of land off the main road, which led up a cement road to a plain looking place that looked like a private home. The tidy, but small kitchen on the ground floor at the end of the drive, looked like it was formerly a garage.

Not sure what to expect, that night we arrived to find the two second floor porches lit up with party lights and a buzz of happy customers coming from the building. Dexter, a local that was trained as a chef, worked on cruise ships for years before opening his own place. He provides a menu of five courses (3 appetizers and a choice of main meal and a dessert) and comes to each and every table to describe the evenings courses in mouthwatering detail. Our appetizers included a cheesy risotto, the best pumpkin soup I’ve ever had and seared tuna on a plantain fritter. They were all to die for! As if that weren’t enough, Andrew chose steak and I chose duck for a main course but for some reason, they served us both duck.  It was not a disappointment as it was perfectly prepared and served on a roasted potato that soaked up the spectacular flavor. For dessert, the double chocolate cake and salted caramel ice cream was an easy pick and lived up to my expectations. Overall, we were very pleasantly surprised by the whole experience (so much so that I neglected to get pictures of the food) and highly recommend Dexter’s for special occasions. 

A few days later, we were looking for another highly rated place called La Plywood that was supposed to have a beautiful view and great food. We found a run down looking shack by that name right on the beach, serving burgers and bar food, but it didn’t look as appetizing as the place up the hill called Brisa Mar. There we found the beautiful view and enjoyed some colorful drinks along with a salad for me and fish & chips for Andrew. 

It is currently Chocolate Festival Week in Grenada, so when I learned about a chocolate themed foodie tour, we had to sign up! The morning of the tour, we met our bus in the mall and drove to a park off Grande Anse Beach. There we had a typical Grenadian breakfast of coconut bread, salted fish cakes, eggs & salad and we learned about all the different healthy products that can be made from sea moss (including chocolate drinks)! After that we drove to the rainforest where we learned how cocoa is grown and roasted into chocolate tea (a much better version of hot chocolate than Nestle’s). 

For lunch, we drove to the beach, where we experienced an oil down; the national dish of Grenada which is a stew made in coconut broth with chicken, pork or fish, carrots, callaloo (spinach like green stuff), tubers, and bread fruit (a white starchy potato like vege). We had a really interesting, international group on the bus, which included two film makers from England, an ambassador to the Commonwealth, a few Grenadian locals and two travel consultants from Trinidad. As a result, there was some dissension on board between the local’s and the Trinidadian's that disputed whose oil down is truly the best, so we’ll have to try it again when we get to Trinidad.

After lunch, we visited a chocolate maker and sampled his products made with mango, ginger, nuts and other ingredients, mixed into bars of 60 - 90% cocoa (as opposed to the 4-6% we get in ‘chocolate’ bars in the U.S.).

Just in case we hadn’t had enough chocolate, we stopped by a roadside stand on the way back to town for some home made chocolate ice cream, served up by this lovely lady who gave everyone a hug after she gave them their dessert. Including Andrew after he refused her motion for a fist pump.

On the last day of our car rental, Andrew fine tuned his left hand side driving skills and kept us out of the ditches and on the road as we drove cliff side to the town of Gouyave near the Concord waterfall. To cap off our self guided foodie tour, we had lunch at Kelly’s Hot Spot, where we got a typical local meal of chicken or pork served with rice, plantains, pumpkin, carrots, green stuff and white stuff, but something this cook does with the spices takes it to another level. It was one the best local fare we’ve had yet!

So, that concluded our self guided foodie tour and next week we’ll be back to the regularly scheduled boat projects and preparing in earnest for our voyage to Trinidad at the end of the month. 

Chilling in Grenada

On April 12th we arrived in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou (part of Grenada) and after checking in with Customs during their lunch break (for which they happily charged us overtime!), had the best fish tacos in the Caribbean at Las Iguanas. Due to some developing weather, instead of continuing onto the main island of Grenada, the next day we moved the boat to Sandy Island and the beautiful anchorage off Paradise Beach. There we enjoyed some good snorkeling off the island and a fine dinner with Barb & Ted (s/v Raven) at Paradise Beach Club.

A few days later, the weather had cleared and we sailed the 35 miles south to Grenada. We decided to go down the eastern shore of the island, where there was still plenty of wind (17-24 knots) and 6-10 foot waves… not an easy, breezy passage! Instead of going all the way to our originally intended destination of Prickly Bay, we pulled in at Woburn Bay for relief from the dead down wind sailing coming around the southern end of Grenada.

Shortly after our arrival in Woburn, a 128 foot monohaul named Genevieve, parked her ‘professionally’ crewed butt (auto correct from ‘boat’) right where we had just dropped our anchor. It wasn’t blowing hard, so not a big deal but the crew on the boat knew they were in our space and guiltily covered the boat name on the transom with a dark blue and a white T-shirt and sent the tender over to say that they would be putting out a second anchor and leaving first thing in the morning. The harbor was basically wide open but I guess they wanted a close up view of Billy Ruff’n!!

We spent a few pleasant days at Woburn, visiting the second hand boat shop hoping to find a fitting that broke off our Mantus chain hook, running to the Clark’s Court Chandlery and enjoying the locals sail by on their cocktail cruises.

On 4/17, we moved the boat to Prickly Bay and spent a few days doing errands and enjoying the local eateries. We got laundry done and caught up with our cab driver friend, Short Boss, for a ride to the grocery & hardware stores. We took a walk out to L’ance aux Epines Lighthouse for a rooftop view of Prickly Bay and scoped out St. George’s University Club as a good spot that we could dinghy to for lunch. We also walked to the West Indies Beer Company brewery to burn off some calories before consuming flights of beer and fried food.

In an attempt to get out of the swell and change the scenery, on 4/22 we moved the boat around the corner to True Blue Bay. From there we could walk to St. George’s University campus and visit the Container Park for lunch where you can get a great selection of inexpensive international foods including Greek, Lebanese, Italian, Indian, American, etc. One of our favorite dishes is the curry at Indian Summer…highly recommended!

While in True Blue Bay, we decided to take a break from the boat and check-in to True Blue Resort for two nights. We had a wonderful room with a kitchen & bathroom (that more than one person could fit in) with fresh flowers strewn about for our arrival. Our view overlooked the bay, where we could see the pool and Billy Ruff’n from our porch. We enjoyed a couples massage, yoga, Water Zumba class and a local street food dinner at the resort’s Dodgy Dock restaurant, during our stay but had to return to the boat before we even stopped rocking! 

On 4/28, we moved back to Prickly Bay to prepare for a new batteries installation in a slip at Spice Island Marina. Everything went well, including a rig inspection and oil change, so now we are back in our new favorite Prickly Bay anchorage with a view of these nice homes with orange roofs and sailboats moored out back. Tomorrow, I fly off to Boston to visit the grand kids and leave Andrew to his own devices for a few days!

Two weeks on a tear!

We have been on a bit of a mission the last few weeks to get from Guadeloupe to Grenada by the end of April. It’s really only a little more than a couple hundred miles but it includes 7 different countries and two different currencies, so if you want to do it the hard way, you stop in each country along the way!

3/26 - We left Marie Galante (part of Guadeloupe) and sailed 28 miles to check-in to Dominica at Portsmouth. Changed money from EU (Euro) to EC (Eastern Caribbean dollars).

3/27 - We motor sailed 16 miles to Roseau, Dominica to break up a long day. Enjoyed a visit from a dolphin who came by our boat 3 times trying to get our attention; first with a water spout, second by slapping his tail and once he knew we were watching, he jumped out of the water for us. What fun!

3/28 - Sail 30 miles to St. Pierre, check in to Martinique. Get out the EU again.

3/29 - Sail 20 miles to St. Anne, Martinique. Delicious dinner (especially the dessert sampler) on shore at La M (next to Paille Coco on the beach).

3/30 - Sail 20 miles to check-in to St. Lucia at Rodney Bay. Get out the EC. 

Spent a few days in Rodney Bay (including Easter Sunday) to get boat work done and clean the hulls (including the dinghy which was growing a forrest on its bottom). Vincent from Regis Electronics found some loose wires that resolved our battery charging issue with the main engine and his boss, John helped us diagnose issues with our water maker. We also caught up with old friends including Pat & Jim (s/v Capers).

4/5 - Sail 20 miles to The Pitons (St. Lucia) to break up a long day to Bequia. Spent the night with a dozen other boats (including some very large ones), being dwarfed by the mountainous scenery.

4/6 - Great 50 mile sail to Bequia to check in to St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Greeted by our friends Will & Margaret (s/v Gollifox) and caught up with a bunch of Salty Dawgs at Plantation House that evening.

Stayed for a few more days in Bequia to provision, enjoy a music jam on Kalunamoo, eat more food with friends and do some hiking.

4/9 - Sail 20 miles to Salt Whistle Bay in Mayreau. It was really crowded so we continued to the next bay where there was a new resort. I wanted to spend the following day (my birthday) there but they didn’t answer the phone or return my email until we had made alternative plans.

4/10 - My birthday! We sailed to Chatham Bay (Union island) and enjoyed some snorkeling, napping, cocktails at Tenuta Resort and dinner (& dancing on tables, I’m told) on the beach at Vanessa & Seckie’s.

4/11 - Checked out of St. Vincent & The Grenadines in Clifton, where we had front row seats to a sail & kite boarding display of talent and could hear the party on Happy Island late into the night.

Next stop, Grenada!

R & R in Les Saintes & Marie Gallante

The first day after the CCA/NYYC cruise we slept in and were having breakfast at 11am when Lawrence & Cinde (s/v Bermudian Escape) came by to make plans for Andrew and Cinde’s birthdays the next day. The plan was for an extended celebration starting with reservations that evening at our favorite restaurant in Les Saintes, Au Bonne Vivre. We spent the rest of the day snorkeling off Ilet Cabri and lounging around the boat to rest up for the four course dinner.

March 22nd was a big birthday for Andrew! I spent the day trying to get laundry done (but the islands’ water got shut off) and updating the blog using Multi-Services Wi-Fi (until their customs computer blew up and they decided to close). That evening we celebrated three birthdays on board Bermudian Escape with two other sailors named Mike & Michael, the former a solo sailor and the later cruising with two ladies (one who had a birthday the next day)!!

The next day we moved to a mooring right off the town dock and next to our friends, Bob & Brenda on s/v Pandora. From there it was easier to grab our daily bread, get laundry done and join them for drinks at Cafe de La Marine, before we all sailed off in different directions.

On March 24th, Andrew and I motor-sailed for 3 hours to Marie Gallante, an island neither of us had been to. Friends, Sue & Denny (on s/v Evening Star) who have been there said it was worth the usually challenging beat to get there so we went for it, despite the unfavorable conditions. Andrew caught a large mahi on the way, which in itself made the trip worthwhile!

We arrived at the wide open anchorage of St. Louis that afternoon and Andrew set about cleaning the fish while I defrosted the freezer to make room for some of it. We ate fillets that night, ceviche the next night and we still have half a fish in the freezer!!

The following day, we rented a car to tour the island. This was no easy task since no one seems to speak English and my French classes on Duolingo apparently teach a different dialect. It took 3 providers to find a car but fortunately, pick up in the morning was relatively easy. I was surprised by the $850 required deposit on my credit card but assured that if we returned the car by 4pm, it would be cancelled, so off we went. We drove clockwise around the island from St. Louis, past the beautiful beaches at Mustique and Vieux Fort to Guele Grand Gouffre, which is a large hole in a big black rock that is striking with the aqua blue ocean water passing thru it. The most exhilarating part is that you have to lean over a 50 foot cliff to get a good picture of it! Not sure that my selfie does it justice tho!!

Next, we headed for the Distillere Bellevue, but when we passed a truck full of sugar cane going the other direction, Andrew suggested we had gone too far. Sure enough, we turned around and followed the truck to this old, but still working, rum factory. It’s on a beautiful property with a crusty looking (non-working) wind mill but seemingly the rum making was in full operation with trucks and forklifts moving the sugar cane and hot noise coming from the main building. Since all of the explanations of what was going on were in French, we didn’t linger and spent just as much time in the artisans shop and tasting bar!

After the distillery, we drove the southwest coast of the island to Capesterre, a nice beach town but it was too early for lunch and not much was open so we continued to Grand Bourg. Since this is the capital city, we had high expectations but there were an only few restaurants, a relatively busy ferry dock and a few other souvenirs shops and not much else going on. We decided to drive back to the beach for lunch at Toutouloo, a beautiful venue on the water, where we ordered fritters, ceviche and coconut curry chicken; Caribbean staples  made to perfection!

After lunch, we drove back to St. Louis to fill the gas tank in our dinghy and do some provisioning before we returned the car. We were done by 2pm and went by the shop where we originally got the car only to find it locked up. We called the number we used to arrange the car and got some guy that said (en franchise) to come back at 6pm. Trouble was, the lady said I would be charged if not back by 4pm! While trying to figure out what to do, we noticed a french couple returning a car to a competitor nearby. They spoke some English and explained that the lady they rented from said to leave the car unlocked and take a time stamped picture of the car in the lot and the key in the glove box, so that’s what we did!!

Well, the jury is still out on that plan since the charge is still “pending” on my account and I cannot contest it until it goes thru. We left the next day to work our way south for a battery installation in Grenada and are hoping for no surprises on the credit card!!