Cassava, where have you been all my life?
Zack got a haircut. Out of all the other things that happened, including a stolen yacht, that was the most shocking.
Three travelers, Heather, Zack, and I, arrived at the gate at 1:30pm well ahead of time for our 2:30 flight to JFK from the Portland (Maine) Jetport. We even had enough time to eat some sandwiches that some players from the Hearts of Pine Soccer Club had given us, apparently extras. I doubt a football team would have done this. As we took our first bite, the announcement came: flight delayed until 6:30. We checked the weather: not good, a massive storm was sitting over New York and heading our way slowly. We felt the likelihood of our flight getting to New York that evening was slim.
Our original plan was to fly from Portland to JFK, spend the night in the trendy TWA hotel, then fly nonstop to Grenada the following day. We got out the laptops and got to work, scanning other airports for possibilities - nothing. We looked at trains, buses, private cars - nothing. So we rented a car and drove (after waiting 2 hours to retrieve our bags) through the storm (a harrowing experience) to JFK, arriving about 11pm. The flight we decided not to take actually took off at 10pm, and arrived 10 minutes after we checked into the TWA hotel.
Grenada is a lush, deep green island all the way at the end of the Caribbean, only 100 miles or so from South America. There are waterfalls and white sand beaches, farms that grow all the yummy things like chocolate and bananas and nutmeg, all of which we purchased at the open air farmers market yesterday. This place is alive with colors, sounds, and smells. There are 2 men wielding machetes, one expertly chopping coconuts open just enough to insert a straw, the other stripping sugarcane and handing slivers to young children occasionally. There are stacks of fruits and vegetables, tables with toiletries and diapers, a television blaring a cricket match. Music is playing everywhere, and beers are sipped by old men talking on benches. There were probably 1000 people in and around the market. The other 116,000 of the island’s warm, welcoming inhabitants were all at the grocery store, where we found ourselves provisioning 2 boats for 2 weeks of sailing and swimming, a task that required all 5 of us and no fewer than 7 full shopping carts.
Why do we have 2 boats this week? The 6-cabin boat that we normally charter here was stolen last month. Someone used a fake ID, changed the name of the boat, and never returned it. The authorities have located the boat, but it will be some time before it returns home to Grenada. That leaves us with 2 slightly smaller boats to run our trips this year, a 5-cabin and a 4-cabin catamaran. Our crew this week is our Skipper Jason, Chef Jemima, deckhand/stew Zack, guides Heather, John, and myself, and a local guy we hired to skipper the second boat, Touché.
Provisioning day is the most physically and mentally demanding day of our trip, so by the time all the stuff is put away on the boats, we are drained. We hit a local place for dinner, where a rum punch paired nicely with lots of different local proteins including stewed opossum.
Sunday brings a last round of provisioning, including a meet-up with a local fishmonger. Adrian is a sweetheart of a guy, and had some very kind world and advice for a sick friend of ours. Next up, guests! Taylor, Miriam, Jill, Brad, and Robert, plus another 2 people that followed us to our boats that I was really hoping didn't register without me knowing. Turns out they were with a different group. Whew.
Jason weighed anchor and we sailed upwind for about 4 hours, bumpy and windy but quite wonderful. Touché waited for John at the marina, as he was flying in late. I held down some mats that threatened to blow overboard, and fell asleep during this difficult task. Jemima put out a west Indian feast for lunch, roti and fresh salads. I slept through it, still doing my job.
We made it to Isle de Ronde in about 4 hours, battling strong currents right at the end, but tucked into the calm waters of Corn Store Bay. We jumped in for a quick getting-to-know-you swim to a black sand beach. Back at the yacht, grilled red snapper over cassava and kale, topped with a salsa verde. This was my first taste of Jemima’s cooking, and it did not disappoint. I was especially impressed with the cassava, which looked like mashed potatoes but had a much richer flavor.
Heather, John, Touché and I hopped back onto our yacht, the Flamboyant, leaving the rest of the crew and guests on Elvira for a breezy rest.
Hopper
