GRENADA!

rainbow! 

snorkellin in grenada!

nutmeg

Carib's Leap

On top of a Russian jet! with my little Russian!

We arrived in Grenada three days early so for that period we anchored just outside of Port George in St George. We continued on with normal classes and stuff.  But then the day before we were supposed to go alongside. We got a deck day instead of school! WE had a swim call in the Caribbean where the water is so warm all the time, and we got to swim for like half an our rather than just ten minutes. It was awesome. Followed by that was a wedding! Yes, a wedding. Two students on board got a sea marriage. It is fully legal and it was a real marriage, but you’re only married when you’re underway at sea, not on land. So they get some leeway!

After the wedding we got some cake and then we had a movie on deck! Someone on the ship, I am not sure who, made this square canvas sheet thingy that you dies up on deck and you can project movies onto it! It was quite awesome, we watches Casino Royale as a crew.

            We finally arrived in Saint Georges; we got let off the ship around 5pm after classes ended. The first day all I did was do a mass organization of my stuff, I mean massive! I tore everything out of my sea chest and locker and just organized it. Then I went out to the grocery store and it was like North American exploded. There are so many American food products there like barely any local things except for what is sold on the street. But I got a good fix of Froot Loops and Peanut Butter, so that was good J then we went and got internet for an hour, and then by the time that was done we headed back to the ship for the night.

            The next day was our full day of shore leave. It was my friend Morgan’s 18^th birthday so for that we went on a tour around the whole island /country, all six parishes! We started with finding a deal with a taxicab and it cost 20 buck each for four of us. We started with heading out to the far side of the island to this remote little spice place where we could buy spices. I bought so many spices for my mother. Lots of nutmeg because Grenada used to be the worlds number 1 producer of nutmeg before the hurricane hit. It is also in the Spice Islands so why wouldn’t you buy spices, duh!

            Then we moved on to see a nutmeg factory. It is quite simple actually the nutmeg is brought to these ladies who sort the good from the bad and then they are dried out and then ready to get shipped somewhere, simple as that! And Nutmeg ice cream is delicious! Then we moved on to Caribs’s Leap, which is a big tourist attraction and a big part of Grenada’s history, when Grenada was being invaded and under the control of France, the Caribs drove themselves off a cliff because they basically thought that there was no hope for them. I stood on the edge of that cliff and it is high and rocky, the water is a far ways away down there. Our second last stop was at this crashed Russian jet from a long time ago. We got to play around and climb on this old jet, which was so cool. I don’t think I have ever walked on top of a jet before, or been in the cockpit of the ruin of a Russian jet. There was also a cow beside it! Our last stop was Annandale falls; it is part of a national rainforest reserve. There was this huge cliff there it was higher than 15 feet and I got to jump off of it! Some other groups went there and their tour guides wouldn’t let them jump, but our did so I got to jump 50 feet into a river, it was so cool!, we also got to hold a monkey! Our driver then dropped us off near a beach where there was this one lone little bar there. WE stopped there and ordered some coke and chips, and we were the only people around at that time. We started walking along the road and then we hitched a ride with some local to take us back to St. Georges, it was like a 5-minute drive. We stopped and had a really nice birthday dinner at this seaside restaurant and then we continued to walk around St George and head back to the ship, Morgan decided to be crazy and jump into the harbor fully clothed at night and we had to pull her out because she couldn’t get up. While she as getting pulled out her legs got scraped really badly from the barnacles, luckily no eels got her! Silly girl. But it was pretty funny! We went back to the ship and fell right asleep, such a fun and tiring day J

            The following day we had a port program! This was one of the best programs by far, we went snorkeling out on a catamaran and saw underwater sculptures some guy made, there were awesome. It must have taken forever too. They look really creepy too! It was also a day sail so we got to do some tanning and sailing in the Caribbean. There was music blasting and drinks being passed around. It was so chill and so relaxing. When weren’t snorkeling we were jumping and diving off the catamaran. I wish I could do that again so badly, it was amazing! On the ride back there was a few waves. You know how catamarans have the trampoline net in the middle? Well me and my friends Allison and Theresa were laying on there and whenever the ship would pitch down waves would splash over top of us from the trampoline and we got soaked, it was so fun though!

After our port program I stayed at the ship to help do ship work. Sune, the chief Mate needed two helpers to help him scrub crude oil and rubber form Dakar off the side of the ship. A while ago we made this raft out of a few planks of wood and some fenders. IT works but it’s a pain to move around, two students tested it out on arrival day, and no one fell in! Our dilemma was this. We were on the key side, which is a few meters from the water line, and the raft was in the water, so how do we get on the raft. I asked Sune and he just jumped in the water. Normally we are never allowed to swim in the harbor because its dangerous, but I guess not! Kacey, my best friend was with us too. We started with the raft and tried to scrub, it was difficult. So we were innovative and put flotation devices on our legs and just floated in the water with scrapers and scrub brushes as we scrubbed away the rubber and crude oil. George, our First mate cam out onto the aft deck to see how we were doing. She then dropped three sprites in the water. Kacey and I were just floating there drinking sprites in the Caribbean. Sune left to go do Mate stuff so it was me and Kacey in there. There was a cruise ship next to us and they were looking at us like we were crazy, they were just jealous! I ended up staying the water for three hours; lets just say I got a killer tan! It was one of the best jobs on the ship!

The next day we were supposed to leave at around 12, but our MOB (man overboard) boat was still gone for repairs. We ordered it to be back for 10 am, but it came at 10 pm. We left at around 11:30 and I got to helm out of port. Aka steer the ship away from the dock. It was quite nerve wracking but it was awesome!

Let’s set sail to Dominica! J I would have to say that Grenada was one of my favorite ports yet!