Hurricane Season in Grenada: A Week in the Life

A Week Aboard S/V Sabado: 10/15/2023 – 10/22/2023

Hi! Last Sunday, we found ourselves in possession of an obscene amount of fruit! The night before, one of our favorite taxi drivers had arranged for some fresh fruit from a local farmer to be dropped off for us at the marina. We picked it up, not realizing just how much it would be! We came home with a giant box of star fruit, a sack of passion fruit, and a hefty bag of limes.

So, we portioned some out to give to fellow cruisers and found a place on Sabado to store the rest. Later that afternoon, we bought some fresh coconuts from the boat boys, juiced a bunch of our limes, and made a couple of delicious cocktails using our favorite local rum: old grog!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. I made some homemade vanilla ice cream, so we had a bowl with passion fruit on top to beat the afternoon heat!

I’ve started experimenting with no-churn ice cream recipes thanks to my friend Elizabeth, who gifted me two reusable quart-sized containers and a scoop! For this batch, I whipped two cups of heavy cream, then folded in one can of sweetened condensed milk and a splash of vanilla. Freeze for at least 24 hours before serving. It was delicious! I think next time, I’ll use the same base recipe but add some caramel or peanut butter…😍  

Monday was more productive. We stopped by the US Embassy to pick up my new passport, went to Island Water World and Budget Marine to get supplies for this week’s boat projects, did our laundry, and put a sticker on our new outboard engine. We named our dinghy “Tinky Winky,” after the purple Teletubby, back in 2020. Our old outboard had a sticker, so we figured it was only fair to get something for the new one! What do you think?

We spent the rest of the week on our computers. Our most recent YouTube video drummed up lots of questions, so we spent some time commenting, messaging, and emailing everyone back. It’s been fun having people show an interest in our navigation and monitoring system, but it took us nearly two years to figure out how to set it up this way, and we quickly realized how much time and effort it was going to take to explain it thoroughly! So, we decided to set up a Patreon page where we could put everything in one place. We combed through past requests and are creating checklists, wiring diagrams, and expense reports that answer the questions we most commonly receive about our life on the water. We’re also making some fun, casual content exclusively for Patrons! If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you can join here– your support would mean the world to us! ❤️

We had hoped to begin sailing North this week, but Invest 94L strengthened into a Tropical Storm Wednesday evening. So, we decided we were safest staying in Grenada a while longer. 

Thursday was a public holiday commemorating the 1983 killings of former prime minister Maurice Bishop and several cabinet members. These deaths led to the collapse of the left-wing People’s Revolutionary Government and the resulting invasion by the United States. The cultural administrator unveiled a monument that incorporates the names of all Grenadians who lost their life on the 19th. He hopes this monument will “…become a symbol of peace and healing”. This is the first year the 19th was recognized as a public holiday ahead of the 25th, Thanksgiving Day. We heard some drumming from shore but couldn’t find any information about holiday activities… so we stayed home and ate our fruit. 😂 

The following day, we began feeling the impacts of Tropical Storm Tammy. We spun 180° around our mooring ball, and the swell picked up.

It’s difficult to capture in a photo but trust me, masts were movin’! We bounced around all day, feeling grateful for the extra stability our catamaran provides compared to the monohulls in front of us. We got off the boat that afternoon in search of stability. We had lunch and a rum punch at a nearby restaurant and dropped our trash off at the marina. Yesterday was just as bouncy but pleasantly cool. It was the least sweaty I’ve been since we arrived in Grenada four months ago!🥵 I took advantage of the temperature change and did an extra long workout and some chores I’d been procrastinating while Ray worked out the logistics of making a new anchor bridle out of the remaining usable portions of the mooring lines we chafed through last month… but that’ll be a project for next week! 

Unfortunately, thunder and lightning kept us up all night last night. One of the most anxiety-inducing things about living on a boat is the possibility of a lightning strike. Lightning strikes can be catastrophic, especially if they cause a fire or loss of electronics. So, we got out of bed, opened up all the curtains in our saloon, and kept watch until the storm passed around 4am. I’ll be having an extra cup of coffee today, for sure! Right now, the water is calm, and the sky is clear. Let’s hope that’s the last we see of Tammy!

I hope you had a great week. ❤️