We have come to the end of our stay in Grenada and looking back over the past five months or so, we have been awestruck by how much we have achieved and the wonderful people that we have met.

We came to Grenada to avoid Hurricanes for the 1 June to 30 November season, each day Stephen checked the US Hurricane watch to make sure that Tropical Storms were not headed in our direction. Our strategy was to avoid any storms headed for Grenada by sailing South.

Following Jackie and Mike's stay on Amelie, Stephen and Debbie paid separate visits to family and friends in the UK. For Debbie, catching up with everyone after nearly two years was as if she had never left. A whistle stop 13 days was action packed and so much fun. Stephen spent his time with his children and catching up with some friends. A month apart was not the plan but compromises were made and actually worked out well.

We were fortunate enough to be in the right place for Grenada's carnival which starts building up several weeks before five days of partying. The climax of the festivities occurs over the last two days. Starting with J'ouvert morning where thousands of people covered in paint, oil, mud and chocolate take to the streets, gyrating and jumping to music of Soca and Steel pans. This starts at 4am and when the sun comes up, the revellers make way for the traditional Mas bands. The day ends with a night Mas, where revellers dress in fluorescent clothes and dance throughout the night.  The following afternoon celebrates the end of the carnival with a full parade of music and dancing with participants in Mardi Gras like costumes. Grenada took a while to get going again after this huge event.

Once Amelie had her full compliment of crew on board, we embarked on the annual haul out process, which was painful and frustrating in Mackay, Australia the previous year. Grenada Marine boatyard with their professional teams made the experience enjoyable and we completed another fix for “Wally”, replaced our cap shrouds and took the hull back to the gelcoat with new epoxy and a fancy, medium-hard anti-foul. Our contribution included servicing all the winches, engine and generator service, stainless steel polishing and  replacing two stanchions which we had bent when crash gybing when sailing into Salvador. It helped enormously that at the end of the day we stayed at La Sagesse, a secluded family run hotel on a private beach. We never looked at a menu, everything was cooked fresh and the rum punches appeared to go down well with Stephen. 

Amelie was moored on H pontoon (affectionally known as H block) surrounded by boats and people from all over the world. We had a blast, never a dull moment and the camaraderie was mind blowing. Amelie kept up with tradition as being the party boat and the atmosphere was always lively.

Our first few weeks we met Ju & Clive, Karen & Neil, Dorothy & Bert, Karen & Phill but as people came and went, we were joined by Miles, Kiwi, Ian, Wendy, Eva, Florian, Wendy and Peter. Visiting friends returned.....David, Bob, Heather, Ed and Danni who added to the fun.

Thursday afternoons saw us travelling by Reggae bus to another marina for the 'Omega and Esther' cookery class. These afternoons were a riot with the chefs bantering whilst teaching us how to cook Grenadian food and then sampling afterwards. Rum punches were involved for Stephen and Clive with many jolly journeys back to our homes, only to continue the party.

Games night was introduced on a Friday night, with Sephina and Amelie taking turns to host. Hysterical times and after a few drinks, we became more competitive and ruthless. Yahtzee has become a bit off an addiction!

Traditionally on a Sunday we would dinghy around to Grand Anse beach for lunch and live music at the Coconut Beach Restaurant owned by Scratch and Pat. The Grenadian musicians who played there were so talented, thanks to Jeverson and Andre. They treated us so well, reserving our special table, knowing our tipples, serving fantastic French/Creole food and Wendy and her friends teaching us how to really dance! Emotional goodbyes on our final Sunday but we will return.

We celebrated twelve years of marriage with a wonderful sail  on Mile's classic boat Lone Star, a magnum of South African fizz with our true buddies, Ju and Clive and then the old romantic, Stephen, secretly organised a wonderful evening at a romantic beach restaurant with Jeverson singing and Andre playing the steel pans. For once Debbie was speechless.

We were honoured to be invited to Nic and Sam's wedding during our stay. The service was held at the Annandale Falls, beautiful, tropical gardens with the backdrop of the falls followed by a celebration meal at a beach fronted restaurant. Great fun meeting up with the Morgan family again.

Towards the end of our stay, we were invited by Wendy and Peter to explore the northern shore of Grenada.....Levera Beach. The views were magnificent looking out towards Carriacou, rugged scenery and very few tourists. This area is a haven for the local families and it is majestic. This day was finished off with a wonderful supper in their stunning house.

Clive and Ju have returned to the UK for their daughter’s wedding and Debbie has been making regular calls to Andrea in order to keep Ju updated on how Peri and Thornton (their Siamese cats) are getting on in their Pet Hotel.

It wasn’t all play and we did complete a number of projects on Amelie. Steffen and his staff did some great wood working, including fixing a full length mirror, additional bookshelves, converting a cupboard into a spice rack and lightly sanding our teak decks - which now look like new again. Clive and Stephen spent a day stripping down and servicing our Yamaha 20hp outboard motor. Stuart from Palm Tree Marine, solved our freezer problem that had been an issue since Cape Town, we now have a freezer full of food at a temperature of -21°C.

The months have whizzed by and for us, Grenada is by far the most friendly and beautiful of the Caribbean islands we’ve been to so far. Amelie is looking amazing, all systems are serviced and working. The RIB is having an overhaul and at present we are in Le Phare Bleu to finish off this work. Le Phare Bleu is beautiful but remote and we made the right decision to stay in Port Louis for the hurricane season.

A new chapter begins within the next week with many more exciting sails, adventures and lots to look forward to. We have changed our plans (the beauty of our lifestyle, is that we can move our home whenever we wish) and will now have one more season in the Caribbean and then in June, travel south to the ABCs for a few months before going through the Panama Canal into the Pacific again.