November 23 Clarke's Court

On Thursday, November 19 we leave True Blue and head back over to Clarke’s Court Bay. We are pleased to find that there is only one other boat at the entrance to our little private bay where we like to anchor. We tuck in behind him and are able to position ourselves so that we are right in the middle of the bay.












I fished some in the afternoon and having only caught a few small jacks and a miniature yellowtail, started making alternative dinner arrangements. Craig then decided to take a turn. Whether it was luck, skill or the perfect moonlight beam on the water I cannot be certain. What I do know is that as soon as his hook hit the water, Craig was on the snappers. In very short order, we had a bucket of large fish from which to choose.












On Saturday November 21 I participated in a volunteer tutoring program for local school children. About 10 other cruisers went. It was a very pleasant bus ride to the top of a mountain on the other side of Grenada. There were 30 or so children, ranging in age from 6 to 13, who come to the Saturday program at their own will. The program is held in an emergency shelter, so we set up the tables and chairs with the older children while the younger ones ran around all hopped up whatever sugar-loaded breakfast they had ingested. Fortunately, there were a couple of real teachers there who had skill in classroom management. Order quickly ensued and we got down to business.













I worked with two 9yo girls in the fourth grade. Most people were doing reading but these girls really wanted to work on math, so we worked on the 9X multiplication table. I was really shocked at the different level of two girls in the same grade. Ruth could not make out 9 X___= 36 without looking at the cheater table, while Shanelle was working on 48 X 9 = ____ independently. In spending time with them, this was easily attributable to a complete lack of discipline in the one and pure ambition in the other. After our work, the girls inform me that I am to grade the work and bring me a pen. Ruth missed 2 problems even with the answers right on the page, while Shanelle gets all of hers correct. Both get a score and I throw in a smiley face on both for good measure. Ruth gets terribly upset when I don’t give her a 100 on her problems. I try to explain the concept of working hard and earning that score, in the most simple and kindest of terms so that I do not burn in hell for permanently scarring a child with a (much-needed) dose of Angela, but I am pretty sure that fell on deaf ears. After the exercise, I found myself with mixed feelings. Ruth could easily come around with proper discipline. Being unable to dispense that, though, I found myself wanting to concentrate on the kid who clearly wanted to learn. I do not know how real teachers deal with this day in and day out.













Saturday evening starts off all quiet in the anchorage. We have the generator running and are cooking dinner and watching a movie. We hear some chatter on the radio…not really attending to it (one can sense urgency in radio transmissions…none here) but we do hear the words “fire on Hog Island” which is the island whose point surrounds this little bay. Huh? Let’s go look. A dash up into the cockpit and here is what we see off our starboard beam. Fully relaxed to bar-tight wired in 0.2 seconds. The fire is out of control and moving across the island quickly with the 20 knot winds whipping it like a high dollar Kitchen-Aid. Seemingly very close (200 yards) we are not in imminent danger as the steady trades are blowing it in a direction away from us. We can hear it but more importantly, cannot smell it. No sparks come anywhere close. At this point, moving the boat in the dark with the shallow fiberglass-eating reefs is more dangerous. We sit in the cockpit, waiting, watching and considering action plans should the wind shift. It seems to take forever for the fire department to respond but their resources are limited so they call in the Coast Guard for assistance. It takes a few hours to contain the fire. We sleep.























Sunday November 22 is a pleasant day that starts off with a few chores. For the captain, it’s preventative maintenance and changing fuel filters on the generator and engine and for the admiral, a bit of laundry. Afternoon naps. In the afternoon, we dinghy over to Hog Island proper where Roger’s Bar is located. He is a squatter on the island and hosts a Sunday barbeque for both locals and cruisers. It is a well attended event.













After barbequed chicken, potato salad and rice/lentils, we get in a bit of cardiac rehab and hike to the other side of the island to view fire devastation that we cannot see from the boat. We also take in some spectacular views from high up on the ridge.













We return to the barbeque and listen to a reggae band and chat it up with some cruisers who were anchored in the Hog Island anchorage. Most of them had spent the day cleaning soot from their decks…..












On another note, let’s talk meteor showers. I forgot to check and missed the Leonids. However, there is a big one coming up. The Geminids, the “best, with 60 multicolor meteors/hour”. I can hardly wait. Visible December 6-19 but the peak is December 13 and 14, originating from the east after midnight. Mark your calendars. PS Skip: full moon upon your arrival. Could get crazy before we passage…..