Daily life at Camp Grenada -or- Rescue at sea!

Book club kids "begging" for the leftover cookies that were the
educational Bingo prizes. What a bunch of hams.

Our friend Steph from Endless Pleasure calls this "Camp Grenada" because of all the activities available for cruisers. Many energetic cruisers and businesses have put time and effort into creating a true sense of community among the boaters and the local people.

Photo by Natalia Alvarez Garcia on Te Natura.

Of course, in addition to the yoga, volleyball, dominoes, Spanish lessons, and Happy Hour, among many other activities, we still have our day-to-day boat work and household chores, like laundry. Which leads us to our next story that highlights some of the perils of living on a boat...

Usually we do laundry in a bucket. But sheets are just too big, so we wash them in a washing machine and then hang them on the boat to dry. Today, we hauled a couple loads of dirty laundry into the dinghy and washed the clothes at a local marina. The water pressure was low because of usage at a nearby construction site, so it took awhile for the remaining trickle to fill the washing machine. After hauling the clean wet sheets back to the boat, I carefully hung them around the boat. They were drying quickly in the wind so I would pop outside to check them every now and then. On one of these rounds, I noticed that there was a blank space on the life lines where one of the sheets was hanging just moments before. I ran to the back of the boat and saw the sheet mostly submerged, with a corner of it still floating in the water but slowly moving away from the boat. Matt had taken the dinghy in to buy some produce so I couldn't just go pick up the sheet. I tried calling a neighbor on the VHF but she didn't respond. Just as I was trying to figure out whether I could get the paddleboard or kayak down fast enough to rescue the sheet, a dinghy went by and I was able to flag it down for assistance. Tony, from a neighboring boat, was able to retrieve the sheet for me. So after rinsing the sheet a few times, it was a happy ending. Needless to say, I did not again hang the sheet in the front of the boat, where the wind is strongest.

This particular incident is unlikely to happen on land but the helpfulness of the friendly neighbor is similar to what you would find in any community.



The boys enjoying a performance of "Frozen" put on by the girls.
Photo by Natalia Alvarez Garcia.

Belmont Chocolate Plantation. Photo
by Natalia Alvarez Garcia.

Chocolate tea. Photo by Natalia Alvarez Garcia.

International Flip-a-Rock Day. Photo by Natalia Alvarez Garcia.