On The Hard- Spice Island Marine, Grenada

Prickley Bay
Grenada
Caribbean Sea
12'00.2N/61'45.9W
Altitude 20ft
368 miles from SV Christa
(Click On Photo To Enlarge)


Greetings All! Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy.

This week we have been busy at the Spice Island Marine in Prickly Bay, Grenada. We had the boat hauled out at 9:30am Monday and have been busy these last few days sanding, polishing, and painting. Once Sandpiper was hauled out the yard hooked us up with a steady ladder, which is very important since I am not a fan of ladders or heights. So a steady/solid ladder is always a good start. We were also hooked up with scaffolding, water, and power. So we instantly started on jobs.

My official job title in the yard is ‘Parts Girl’. My first assignment was to try and find a condenser for our outboard motor at a nearby chandlery. I wasn’t even half way there when I fell down a gravel road and tore up my leg. You would think an island that is only 20 miles long and 7 miles wide would be easy to get around. But no. It is actually easy to get lost here because nothing is marked, which explains why I walked right past the chandlery. Two hours later, in the blazing sun, I made it back to the boat yard empty handed, dehydrated, and with blood running down my leg. 

Since leaving California we have hauled the boat out every year to repaint her bottom. Last year in Thailand we raised the water line a few inches. Even though the rest of her bottom paint was looking good, the waterline itself was not. This year we paid special attention to her waterline and gave her an extra bit of sanding and primer. The paint should last longer this year.

Even though I keep saying "we", I am actually referring to two guys we hired from the yard to do the bottom work. It took them less than two days to do all the work, including two coats of bottom paint. If we had done the work it would have taken us much longer. And it is hard to pass up cheap labor.

We did keep ourselves busy with a long list of other projects, including; sanding and painting the blue stripe on our haul and stern, buffing and waxing the haul, fixing a sea-caulk in the head, replacing zincs, cleaning the propeller and wind vane, scrubbing the dingy and fenders, washing the inside and outside of the boat, and endless amounts of laundry.

 
Our overall experience here at Spice Island Marine has been terrific. The crew was fast and friendly. And the yard has been clean and convent. The folks at Budget Marine, a chandlery located just outside the gates, have been very helpful as well. It is also convent having ‘De Big Fish’ restaurant just outside the gates for the end of the day cold beer.

We plan to splash her back in the water tomorrow afternoon and then hang in Prickly Bay at least through the weekend. We signed up for internet for the week so if you see us online give us a shout.

Have a Bless Day!

Amy and Tom