Time flies when you are having Rum............random stories from Pirate Land

January has passed with no updates on my blog. In my last update I was in Union Island, from there we went to Canouan, Mayreau, St. Vincent, Bequia, back to Canouan, Mayreau before returning to Bequia to celebrate Christmas and New Year, which we then left again, first going to Canouan and secondly Mayreau,thirdly Carriacou and now finally Grenada. Even life on sea can move in circles.

Much has happened since last, too much to go into detail with it all. So let me just list some of the main events up:

• A 5 day mission to salvage a stranded boat in Mayreau. This included a nerve wrecking performance from Julian, in which he was attached to the hook of the crane and placed in the top of the mast of the stranded boat, from where he had to unhook himself, balance on the mast unaided for a couple of minutes before re-attaching/securing himself to the hook again.........

• Aid-relief in Bequia, Mayreau and Canouan ( toys, clothes, chairs, tables, pencil, paper, etc.). My favourite story is from Canouan, where we gave out a lot of stuff just before Christmas, or should I rather say left a stack of box filled with goddies outside a closed office. Needless to say we were worried whether the stuff would reach the children.
  When we returned about a month later, we found out that the relief we had left there had been very well received.
  The local "Save the Children" organization in Canouan had been waiting for a delivery from Miami, which had not turned up and had had to postpone the children's Christmas Party once already. We were told our donations saved their Christmas............. 
  
• Christmas x 2.  First in Argentinian/Danish manner and the day after in English style
  
• New-Year in Bequia, which included a spectacular front-row seat to a ramming of a big fancy mega-yacht from Luxembourg by a 180ft converted tug at 7 a.m. (Not us by the way...........don't drink and sail........!)
  
• Visit to the Grand Etang Submarine Volcano and climbing Mount Qua Qua in Grenada.

• Goodbye to another crew-member (Indonesian Johan), who came back and then left again. First time he only got as far as Barbados. Just after lunch our Captain received a phone call from Barbados immigration saying that Air Canada was refusing to take him on the plane because he didn't have the appropriate visa to transit in Canada.He was only going to be in Toronto for THREE hours before flying out.
  After a number of heated phone calls to various authorities, we were told that apparently there are no in-transit facilities and you must apply for a Temporary Resident Visa to be allowed in even when in transit.
  I thought Canadians were suppose to be nice and less paranoid than US-adian.....politics! One week lter we gave it another try, and as we haven't heard anything from him yet I guess we can assume he is back home with his family.
  
• Pulling out a number of masts on other boats ( 3 so far and still counting)
  
•  Loads of baking and teaching Julian how to bake
  
• Hitch-hiking across the Atlantic ...........more to come on that one, but not just yet