Saturday, November 19, 2011

Farewell to Greneda....

Mt. Hartman Bay at sunrise 
Well it's November 19,two full years on the water and we're safely ensconced in Marina Santa Marta, Colombia but we have some catching up to do on our blog yet, seems to always be the case. 

Carnival is four months behind us, although the food, music and people of Grenada continue to hop.  After taking a brief rest from anchoring at the Port Louis Marina so as to better position ourselves for enjoying carnival, we return to our Grenada home, Mt. Hartman Bay.


Prickly Bay
 
700th Hash participants
While people, food and music describe Grenada well, there is also the walking.  One can walk everywhere but first be certain to have good shoes, because it can be hilly, but the views are spectacular.  Of course what would walking be without runners?  For that matter what would running be without the Hash House Harriers?  So it goes that Grenada sports its own chapter of this illustrious group of drinkers with a running problem and we were on hand for the 700th hash.

just the beginning of the hash, Jungle Hash!





Suffice it to say that after such a heart pumping experience, being close to the cool waters of the caribbean is a plus.  However, let us not forget the food portion of this rant;

Boto Burgers on the grill

When making the "Boto" burger we borrowed something from Emeril, and then more or less made it ours. 
1 lb ground pork
1 lb chorizo
as much finally chopped garlic as you need (LOTS)
1 cup plain bread crumbs (our addition, helps keep the lean pork together)
1 large finally chopped onion
Worcestershire sauce (your call, but a little goes a long way)
Cayenne pepper (ditto, but then again you can't really go wrong here)

Emeril has a sauce to go with the burgers; Mayo, Chopped Pablano peppers, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper.  We've tried this and it is wonderful, it just isn't always feasible on the boat, so we go with cheese, preferably something spicey.  Anyway, give it a go if you like.

What goes better with good food than good music, of course we really enjoyed what the islands have to offer, but every now and then a good ole' fashion jam session is a lot of fun, bring what ya got.
Of course this will get your toes to tappin' .

Let us not forget Cricket, a staple anywhere in the world of sports.
Cricket?  I just want that ball....
Vicky will attest that the Aussie contingent of the monthly Cricket league was disappointed in Ed's departure from the island as I had a knack for bowling and managed to make 11 runs after realizing the Cricket Bat is nothing like the US Baseball Bat.  By the way our one appearance in competative Cricket had us going out winners as the Prickley Bay Pricks won 76-63.

As we ready ourselves for departure after three months we have many goodbyes to attend to, once again food and music and people are central here.  We had a great dinner with Peter and Martha of "Lightheart", we offered a Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad, they brought Lobster (what do you do with people like that?).  Drinks and snicky snacks with Maria and Cathy on the deck of "Joana", their 70' gaff rigged yawl (if you would like a taste of sailing the Carib, but have neither the time nor the boat, give the girls a ring they can hook you up, check out their web site; http://www.sailjoana.com/ ).  Of course Chula had to stop by "High Heeled" to say goodbye to Chris and Jackie and get their last two hotdogs, too.  A final beer with Elin and William of "Albacor Adelante" as well as a few of his rantings, not to mention a haircut for Ron of "Molly Bloom".  Then a birthday party for Joanne on Ultra.  Of course there was "Sabbaticus", "Ultra","Eclipse",  "Tranquila", "Happy Times", "SolMate", "Sycali",  "Kookaberra" and on and on ......  you get the point.

Of course we always learn things while out and about, something everyday it seems.  Some of the more poetic and profound have come courtesy of Ms. Kitty and her silky Texas twang, such as:
"The more you stir a cow patty, the more it stinks".  Of course there is a personal favorite as well; "Bikinis are like barbed wire, they protect the property, without spoiling the view".

Well, as the end of September approached we bid farewell to friends, some we will very likely see again soon, some only time will tell.  Amoung those friends is the island of Grenada and the people who call her home, we certainly enjoyed ourselves, but it is past due to be moving again, so we are off to Venezuela and the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao).  Stay tuned.