I HAD A DIRTY BOTTOM

So it was time to get the snorkel gear out and find my scraper.

Both my prop and my bottom are worse than the two sample photos.


When I finished I was contacted by a worried fellow boater who told me she had spotted 2 small Portuguese Man O'war in the bay that morning.

EEK!

A week to go before I am off skiing. I checked the ski weather and the resorts in Colorado and Utah are reporting between 3 and 6 FEET of new snow. As the locals say " It's nukin and pukin".

Should be good.

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR IN GRENADA

Christmas dinner at Taffy's bar and grill,

I joined the usual crowd of miscreants and neer do wells who have made the Southern bays on Grenada their permanent home. Sue did a magnificent job feeding 30 + souls from her small kitchen

I left when the kareoke started, too noisy for me.

New Year was at Whisper Cove and we had a boozy evening which is unusual for me but enjoyable never the less. I was feeling a little green but not as green as this fine fellow I caught in the grounds munching the fallen flowers.

I remembered the old trick of downing a litre or so of water plus some OJ on getting home before falling asleep.

Some one had rented Calivigny island for New Year and we got to enjoy their fireworks.

Some cruisers do their stuff on new million dollar aluminium sloops with all the modern conveniences including washer dryers, others like me wander on classic plastic old ladies like Elephants Child then there are a few who campaign there way around the world on 116 year old classic wooden racers.

Judd the owner does not let much bother him. When he dropped the rig over the side in the USVI he just had some timber shipped in and built new masts.

Galatea is anchored along side Elephants Child as Judd waits for a haulout and some topside paint.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE LONG TIME PASSING LIZARDS ATE THEM EVERY ONE LONG TIME AGO

It is not unusual to see the odd iguana feasting on the flowers that are so carefully attended to by the gardener at Whisper Cove Marina.


But we had three two males and a smaller female all busy munching on the flowers.

My red ensign which was looking a little motheaten around the edges was blown to shreds in the squalls that came through last night. 60 knots was reported by a couple of the boats on the morning VHF radio net.

The Christmas winds have arrived a week early.

It blew 30 at times last night. My red ensign looks distinctly ragged this morning.

I usually sleep well and only wake up for something unusual but something metallic rattling loudly on a neighboring boat made it hard to sleep. What is surprising is that the noisy boat is lived on. I was expecting to see bungee cords or lashings applied liberally to the offending item.

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD

It is 45 ft long and weighs about 20 tons.

But it is getting moved from it's summer berth in the mangroves to it's new mosquito free mooring by 'the little engine that could' all 4 hp of it.

Why is one bush displaying a wealth of colorful flowers and the other is a little bare.

The answer is simple, one is home to an iguana and the other is not.

OUT FOR A SNORKEL I COME BACK TO FIND THAT MY DINGHY IS THE STAR OF A SOFT PORN SHOOT

There are a few good snorkel spots that are accessible from a beach on an uninhabited island and I thought I wood make a visit this morning timing it so as I would get there when the light was best around mid day.

I beach the dink in a sheltered cove on a sandy beach and walk over to the reef. It is still a bit stirred up but not bad. I explore the reef a little further than usual but come across nothing unusual or worth photographing.

Making my way back to the cove and my dink I can see a local dive boat beached on the cove and some curious activity going on around my dink. People are waving around giant white shields and it is all being photographed.

A few steps closer and I realize that I have returned to find my dink is starring in a PORN shoot and a lovely young girl is displaying all of her abundant assets while draped across my dink.

I recognize the guy standing by the dive boat as he is a regular on the lionfish hunts so wander over slightly bewildered by all this activity as the make up girl is working on the stars flowing locks and dressing the girl in a single blue garter.

Joel soon fills me in and asks if I mind them using my dink. The photographer chimes in and says that the red color of my dinghy chaps sets off the brides natural colors.

Bride? I am bewildered I say but is that part of the story of the PORN film.

No they say laughing at me. She is getting married at one of the local hotels and this is called " The boudoir shoot " and is all part of the wedding package. It will be part of the wedding album.Really bewildered now I say sure go ahead as long as it does not take to long. I ask about the white shields and he explains that they are used to reflect sunlight and help with natural lighting of the bride. Still wondering if my leg is being pulled I ask the photographer to explain more about this boudoir shoot thing. She tells me it is all the rage and that brides seem to be competing to be the most daring.

The photographer wanders back as the make up girl indicates she is done, she clicks off the final shots and they are done. The bride now wearing some clothes comes over to thank me and I get a kiss on the cheek. The topless photographer topless shield maidens and the make up girl all get dressed and off they go in the dive boat.

Still unconvinced about this boudoir shoot and feeling that I had been the subject of an elaborate wind up I ask Mr Google about it when I get back to the boat.

Mr Google soon comes up with the facts that these sexy undraped shots are indeed the norm for many brides and that the hotel in Grenada is offering the boudoir shoot as part of the package is just one of many. It also explains that to make the bride feel less self conscious it is not unusual to employ an all girl crew on the shoot who also get undressed.

Realizing that the world has changed while I have been lotus eating on my boat I settle down to enjoy my sundowner and reflect on a very surprising day.

Realizing that this blog post needs a picture here is one of a sargent major.

BOAT THIEVES CAUGHT ** CAT SITTER and SUNSET

There has been a number of thefts from boats mostly at the weekends and generally when the boats are unattended. Based on the sort of things stolen it was clear that it was not being done by someone with any boating interests. Generally they were in other bays and not mine but just recently most weekends there was a break in to a boat in Clarks Court bay. The Grenada police acting on a tip off from a local raided an address in the St David area.

Rondel Jones and Jayar Ross, residents of Marquis, were apprehended during a police operation which turned up a quantity of items believed to be have been stolen from a yacht that was docked at Clarke’s Court Bay. They also recovered items believed to have been stolen from other yachts.

But one of the buggers has escaped Jayar is said to be armed and dangerous.


CAT SITTER ON BOOKS

Why does Dizzy take every opportunity to settle down on my chest ON TOP of my book.

He never gets on my chest unless there is a book there.

Ah well I shall ponder the matter of the cat book sitter as I enjoy my sundowner.

Not a spectacular sunset but a subtle one with gentle pinks and purples.

The G&T with salsa based nibbles was extra tasty this evening.