Tropical Complications Upon his return to Grenada, Barry started right in on the repairs Sea Star requires before we set sail. He took our Genoa (sail) in to have the torn section repaired and contacted Palm Tree Marine regarding yet another (this is our 3rd) warranty claim on our Lewmar (don't buy one) windlass. As well, he mounted and braced our new 130 watt solar panel atop the bimini and climbed the mast to inspect and repair all running lights and rigging. As a matter of general maintenance the bilge was cleaned as well as the deck which was pink from baked in dust from 10 months sitting in a boat yard that's gravelled with red volcanic stone. The stuffing box was packed, fuel filters changed, dinghy inflated, fresh water and fuel tanks filled and sails attached. Our on-going attempt to get the refrigerator running will need to wait until we launch. One of the complications of a hot, moist tropical environment is excessive corrosion. Upon our return the taps in the head required replacing plus our cooking pots as their copper bottoms had corroded off. Rust is an on-going problem; regretfully it didn't take a hiatus as we had. As well, a veritable garden of mildew has grown happily in our lines. We found ourselves wondering how long the fans ran, before the batteries ran out of water, as the mould situation in the cabin was not terribly bad. We did, however, have a problem with tiny ants but luckily that's the only crawling insect we've encountered. (knock on wood) Mysteriously, for no obvious reason our vhf radio quit. A replacement will need to be purchased before we set sail. While we undertake our cleaning and repairs we are constantly entertained by the dozen or so goats that seem to call the boatyard home.

Here we go again - Changing Worlds Our return to Grenada It's hard to imagine that 10 months have passed since we left Sea Star "on the hard" in St. David's Harbour, Grenada, to return home to Canada. However, if one has to take a hiatus from sailing and the cruising life, surely there could be no better way to spend it than by welcoming our first grandchild - Ryan Mathew Wieckowski - born May 29, 2009 to our daughter Robin and her husband Mathew. Not surprisingly, Ryan immediately enamored us and we were extremely grateful to have the opportunity to share in his first 7 months. While home we also had the good fortune to have our daughter Susan visit on 2 occasions from her home in British Columbia. She arrived in June to meet her nephew Ryan and returned again at Christmas with her partner Chris. We delighted in hearing news of the home they recently purchased in Victoria and look forward to visiting them there in May. Barry returned to Sea Star in Grenada on January 5th, 2010 with the hopes of starting in on a multitude of jobs we need to complete before we set sail. I followed a week later on January 12th, leaving my nephew Ernie Taylor and his son Samuel in charge of our home. Barry found 2 surprises upon his return. One was that a different lock was on the boat as it had been broken into. The boat yard staff advised us there had been several boats broken into; they suspected local youths. We'd have to agree with them as only our radio/cd player was stolen. The second surprise Barry found was that the fans we left running on board had stopped (see the previous blog segment "Grow Op? Sea Star is going green). Our plans were foiled as the batteries ran out of water. Irreparable damage was luckily not done to the batteries and they are, thankfully, charging well again.