So, as I told ya’ll last week, I have been incredibly lucky and landed in a pretty great spot here in Grenada for a few weeks, on account of my travel buddy, Wiley. Thought a little update, with some photos might be in order.
I have been on Grenada for over a week now. The Caribbean islands are definitely more expensive than Central or South America. The currency in most of the Windward Islands of the West Indies is the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, which is pegged at about 2.6 per U.S. Dollar. Beers run between $3.5 EC in stores to $5-7 EC in bars. A dinner will cost you $30-50 EC.
Luckily, there is a good grocery store around the corner from the marina. I went a few days ago and stocked up on some basics, so I could stop eating out and just eat most meals on the boat. And thanks to Wiley, I am not paying for a hotel room, so it manages to balance out.
So here is our hopeful plan for the next couple weeks, before I head back down to Trinidad and Tobago to explore around for a short while, then head back to Colombia for the rest of the year.
map of where I am and where we are sailing
Wiley and his girlfriend need to move out of the apartment they had on the island he was previously posted to, which is one of the smaller islands north of us in the Grenadines. We are going to sail up there Saturday, pack up his stuff and put it on the catamaran and then spend a couple days sailing around and diving in those islands. He just got certified this year and is as addicted as I am.
Then we’ll head back and the possible fun bonus that we are working on is taking a long day trip, or possible overnight trip, up to the set of small islands immediately north of Grenada. Supposedly the diving is fabulous there. It is too far from any dive shop to get any real traffic, so we’d have the diving grounds entirely to ourselves and because they don’t get much traffic, they should be in excellent condition.
Wiley has made friends with the owner of the dive shop here in town and offered one of his boats to take us all up there, if they provide the gear. Since the shop owner wants their dive instructors to dive the area (and the manager of the marina here, who is a big wig in his own right is a 300+ dive diver that wants to do it), we are crossing our fingers that it manages to come off. On the other side of the ledger is that high season in the area is about to start and the shop just lost one of its dive instructors, so they’d be shorthanded for a day or two.
my bedroom
So here is the catamaran that I have been lucky enough to score from Wiley for a few weeks. The interior quarters, as on all non-massive boats, is limited, but this is a really nicely sized catamaran, so there is a heck of a lot of space, especially considering it is just me.
There are four cabins on board. The kitchen has everything you need to cook the basics. The living area is comfortable. There are fans everywhere to circulate air and assuming it isn’t raining (end of rainy season here), you get a pretty good breeze through the many windows you can open up.
my 43 foot catamaran home
my living room and kitchen
Pretty sweet! Post some pics of Grenada too! Can’t wait to read about the dives also. Good luck!
So jealous, I need friends like that!
Well, I’m a little speechless at the thought of NOT being there. Have fun and leave SOME rum behind when you depart.
Living on a boat, huh? That sounds kind of… FAMILIAR. Are you copying me?
this was just like the boat you were on, wasn’t it?
wow! I am speechless. I lived on a boat last year and let me tell you it was NOTHING like this one. This is beautiful! I was on a 27′ catalina. I would’ve died to be on this one. holy crap, i keep looking at the photos and this is so amazing. You are so lucky! yah!
27 footer??!! I am no boat veteran, but I think I am more of a boat snob already than that. Lordie, that is a small boat to live on for a good while. Color me lucky. Again. š
Nice setup you’ve got here. Enjoy the hell out of it! š
Ha ha we’ve been crossing paths but not in the same time period! We started our adventure on a boat in Grenada last year and ended up in Colombia š Have a blast the Grenadines are supposed to be amazing. When you get back to Grenada try to go visit Hog Island and hang out on a little deserted island with sailors and locals for a great time!! Here’s the link with some photos : http://www.hopandjaunt.com/blog/travel/people/cruising-people/
ahhhh, very nice!
Not bad digs for the next few weeks. I think I need to score some friends like yours to help me out along the way. Best wishes!
mmmmm…… Can I join? This is way too cool!
Do you have another room? hahah I like the feel and setup nice!
How do you cook??! š
cook?
Hod – that does not suck. Enjoy!
Ha i could really get used to that. Can you take the boat out to sea if you wanted too???
Looks like a great setup and it will be a nice change from your typical day in these last few months. I’ve travelled through the area and it’s just beautiful – looking forward to the pictures!
Ugh. Now I want to be on a boat!! š
I say that on plenty of days, especially right now, in the winter.