Grenada - Tobago
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I have to prepare a few things on board of Blue Bie before she is ready to launch. Nothing major, but everything takes more time than planned, as always. I am working mostly early mornings and late afternoons, since it is just too hot to work during the day. This leaves me time to swim, relax, play the alphorn, socialise and supervise the work of the yard people. A deadline helps both me and the yard to get Blue Bie ready. I arbitrarily select Thursday and indeed we just make it. Had I selected the following Tuesday, we would have made it by that date! An hour before launch the yard started repairing the steering and doing the propeller maintenance. But they are getting everything done in time. The launch brings a little surprise: Blue Bie’s port stern swims very low. After some worrying minutes I find out that the stern locker filled with rain due to a blocked drainage over summer. The good news is that is indeed watertight - otherwise the engine would have been under water!
The next few days I am enjoying cruising and socialising in Grenada. It feels great to be back on board of Blue Bie and to feel how she enjoys being back in the water, too. The southern Caribbean is where all cruisers meet after the hurricane season and I meet Werner, Ute and Hajot with who I have been in e-mail contact throughout hurricane season. One Wednesday Katja, a good friend who I met kitesurfing in Brazil two years ago, mails that she would like to come kitesurfing with me for two weeks the following Sunday! Since I wanted to sail towards Tobago anyway, we agreed to meet there. I am sailing to Tobago overnight, having a beautiful sail with clouds and waves passing like a film. While I am making good progress towards Tobago, the wind dies before I got there and I have to motor the last few hours.
Katja and I are spending the next two weeks kitesurfing in Tobago. The wind is good in the first week and I enjoy being back on the water kitesurfing. It is a picture perfect kite spot: The north-easterly wind comes along the coast and the waves are breaking perfectly over the reef. There’s just nothing better than playing with the breaking waves. After a good week the wind gets too light for kitesurfing and we are liming on the beach, go sailing and explore the island with a rental car. Liming is what prevails on the island: Chilling with good friends listening to music. The people are very relaxed, friendly and open to foreigners, so that I feel very much at home. I could stay here for quite a while!