Travaux forces

Greg a passe la journee a poncer Merlin et toutes ses belles formes. Nous avons decide de surelever sa ligne d'eau pour que les petites vagues du mouillage arretent de lui salir sa jolie jupe. Du coup, il faut preparer comme il se doit la coque: poncer, appliquer 4 couches d'une peinture speciale puis enfin les 2 couches d'antifoulling. J'ai nettoye les coques ce matin en insistant sur certaines taches et marques avec de l'acide (pas sympa lorsque des gouttes nous tombent dessus), puis poncer, puis pris mon velo pour faire quelques courses, puis ... Les parents sont fourbus et la chaleur n'arrange rien. Les enfants sont plein d'energie et semblent apprecier la vie a sec. Ils jouent avec leur ordinateur ou aux Legos. Les garcons ont fait une heure de velo a travers tous les bateaux entreposes du chantier avec un enorme sourire aux levres. Bref, c'est les vacances pour eux!

Time to clean Merlin's bottom!

We took Merlin out of the water this morning to repair the damage we had from the boat which crashed into us. We are taking the opportinity to do the antifoulling again. So, we'll be able to go fast again!

Here is the photo before. Bye bye crabs and portable aquarium.

Our task is to try to do a good job to have an amazing photo for the after. However, don't forget that we need to sand, paint and work under the Caribbean sun. We'll keep you posted.

The connection is pretty good at the yard and the kids spent the afternoon surfing the net.

A great land expedition

It was time to move our legs and discover new wonders of Grenada.

So we went with few friends (from J Le Goeland and Zigliara) for a day in the tropical rain forest.

First we went to St Margaret’s Falls. The hike down the falls was quite easy and enjoyable. The path is maintained and some steps are made with huge bamboo branches to prevent from sliding down when it is muddy (like today). The luxurious forest is impressive and so green. There were two falls waiting for us, so we all went for a refreshing dip. We enjoyed the strong fresh water jet/shower!

This first walk opened our appetite so we all had lunch at 11am!

It was 12, the sun was high in the sky and there was no shade along the road, we decided to go to Grand Etang with a bus (the walk would have taken us 40 min). However, no empty bus was arriving so we decided to hitch a lift with a truck …and a very happy driver took us. What an experience to be in the back of the open truck when the road takes hairpin bends. We must confess that we did not have car seat for the kids, safety belt and air bags! Just fresh air and lots of laughters. 

The Grand Etang is a crater lake. It is located at 530m above sea level (so quite high for boat people!!) and represents the heart of Grenada. There is a walk around the lake in the forest where we can find great trees (gommier, mahogany trees, big ferns, beautiful heliconia, strange mushrooms, …). We discovered what rain season is in a rain forest. Our boots were stuck in mud, our legs became browner and browner (apparently mud is good for our skin) and the mosquitoes were enjoying ourselves. Felix did ¾ of the walk bare feet as his Crocs were getting stuck too deep in the mud and he nearly lost them. We walked for about 2 hours around the lake, laughing and joking. When we arrived at the finish we enjoyed the fresh water from the lake and were proud of ourselves at it was quite a walk. Greg and the kids went for another dip to clean themselves while I was cleaning the shoes.

What a great day we had! Grenada’s interior is really spectacular and we all enjoyed being away from our boat for a day.

(more photos in the photo gallery under Caribbean)

Degustation

Greg goute a son premier oursin. Pas convaincu....

Felix toujours plus haut

Je suis alle rechercher une drisse que Clea avait envoye au haut du mat. Je me suis bien amuse la haut. Avec ma loupe j'ai aussi vu des marques blanches et noires sur le mat.