The Best of Grenada Sailing Week ~ The Workboat Regatta

February 26, 2016 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

A “picture perfect”, beautiful day for sailing – glorious sun, good wind and definitely a party atmosphere on the beach as visitors and locals root for their favorite boats.

Crystal clear, turquoise blue water lapping onto 2+ miles of white sand beach, makeshift food stalls with mouth watering smells, vendors selling luscious local food and drinks, other stalls selling souvenirs and local crafts, music blaring from a large sound stage, lots of locals and tourists mingling and laughing while about 40 workboats rest on the sand and get prepped for the intense competition to determine which sailing village will hold the honor of winning the 2016 Sailing Festival ~ known locally as the Workboat Regatta.

The work boats are rigged and line the beach, waiting to be called for their village race. There is tremendous competition between the fishing villages for the distinction of 2016 Champion of Champions.

The Grenada Sailing Week is bigger than this and is actually a week-long event that attracts sailors from all over the world to race against each other in a variety of races and boat classes, each day ending with a party. There are 5 classes of yachts that race and each yacht races multiple times. Results of each race are tallied up to determine the overall winners. Of course, there is plenty of fun, food and partying going on during the races and at the evening parties. It’s thrilling to see these sleek, expensive yachts slicing through the waves but, I have to admit, my heart is with the workboats.

These work boats are owned by the local fishermen and they go out daily to catch "the fish of the day" for the stores, restaurants, lucky residents and savvy visitors.

These work boats are owned by the local fishermen and they go out daily to catch “the fish of the day”. Quite different than the huge commercial ships that ply the oceans. I love the creative names lovingly painted on each boat. (The other side says No Retreat”)

Workboats are the traditional 16 to 17 foot wooden boats that the local fishermen use on a daily basis to bring in the “catch of the day” to restaurants, stores, lucky residents and savvy visitors. They are powered by motors and do not have sails. Certain seaside villages in Grenada – Gouyave, Woburn, Grand Mal and Sauteurs are well known for their fishing culture and there is a friendly, but rigorous, rivalry between them each year to claim the prize of fastest boat and best sailors. The races also attract fishermen from Carriacou and Petit Martinique, Grenada’s sister islands, and sailors from the Grenadine Islands like Bequia and Mayreau. For the day of the races, bamboo masts are cut and rigged onto the boats in a wide variety of ways ~ almost always including a least some duct tape!

This is a great shot showing the condition of the average work boat and their makeshift masts. This is a very typical set up with bamboo booms.

This is a great shot showing the condition of the average work boat and their makeshift masts jury rigged for sailing in this annual race. This is a very typical set up with bamboo booms.

We’ve been coming to the Workboat races for many years and the boats and rigging have gotten much more professional and now specialty boats are being built specifically for the final race of the regatta with traditional masts and bigger, better sails. In the early days, more than half the fun was watching the sailors collaborate (argue) and try to figure out how to jury rig their boats with the bamboo masts and sails and get them to stay upright. Now, it’s more organized and some of the charm and the adventure of rigging the boats from scratch is gone. But the rivalry, excitement, laughing and fun is still there in full measure. It is a great 2 day event. Plus, now we know local fishermen and root for specific boats, as they race each other for the final trophies.

Here, sailors are prepping to sail against each other in acommunity (or village) competition. Thye have pulled and pushed their boats into the surf and are trying to hold them in place until the horn blares, starting the race. Once they hear it, they run pushing their boats into the waves, jumping in at the lasdt minute. The last guy will be almost neck deep in the water when he needs to pull himself up and in.

Here, sailors all from the same village are prepping to sail against each other in a community competition to determine the team that will represent the village in the cross community competition. They have pulled and pushed their boats into the surf and are trying to hold them in place until the horn blares, starting the race. Once they hear it, they push their boats into the waves and jump in at the last minute. The last guy will be almost neck deep in the water when he needs to pull himself up, over and in. Often there are legs flailing!

Our local fisherman, Captain Ray, had one of the boats racing for Woburn. We get the bulk of our fish and Lobster from Captain Ray. He doesn’t carry a phone so Michael or I need to head over to the Woburn dock around 3 o’clock to see what he has caught that day. My favorite is Lobster which is $12XCD or $4US per pound. He has also turned us on to wonderful crab and, on any day, may have 2-3 types of regular fish to sell, as well as lambi (or conch).

Captain Ray, leaning against his workboat, waiting for the village of Woburn to be called. Unfortunately, the Tigre will not place in the finals this year.

Captain Ray, leaning against his workboat and enjoying a rum, waiting for the village of Woburn to be called. Unfortunately, E L Tigre did not place in the finals this year.

Look at the size of this starfish!

We stayed for most of the day on Saturday to watch the races, eat the great Grenadian food and soak up some sun. The food booths all looked great but one booth stood out. Everything there looked fantastic and we got grilled fish, jerk chicken and oil down, Grenada’s national dish. The food was so good, I went back to meet and compliment the chef, Rain. I found out that she serves food at a Vendor night on Wednesdays at True Blue Bay Resort and now we are regulars to her booth each week. YUM! A bonus was seeing a number of HUGE starfish when we were swimming, between races.

On Sunday, the winning workboat and village is announced. Then there is an additional race where the specialty boats race. Each boat is the same and each town nominates a composite, “winning” crew from all their sailors to battle it out for the best sailing team of the weekend. We didn’t attend on Sunday this year and it’s been a trial trying to figure out who won the final trophy, Champion of Champions. There was a lot of local press coverage leading up to the race but NOTHING after to say who won. I checked the Sailing Festival website which again was updated almost daily until the start of the races and then …. nothing! I checked with Captain Ray but he wasn’t sure either. Three WEEKS later, feeling frustrated, I started scouring the internet and, way down in the search results, I found a FaceBook page for the Sailing Festival with all the results ~ Success! Facebook, the great equalizer and disrupter of the tried and true news sources. (I am now following this page).

Last man jumping and diving into the boat as it takes off from shore.

Last man jumping into the boat as it takes off from shore.

Here are the final results. (The list is long but I included the entire list because the names of the boats are as colorful as the paint jobs and I thought you would enjoy them):

Community Class Races – These are the top 3 winners from each village (or island).

Carriacou

Ark Royal — Skipper Vernell Phillips (Boat from Bequia)
Lightning — Skipper Adolphus Forde (Boat from Mayreau)
Wet — Skipper Carl Edoe
“Wet” off to a good start.

Gouyave Canoe

Sonic — Skipper Israel Darangit
Etieron – Skipper Carlyle Joseph
Sky Red — Skipper John George
“Sonic” leading the pack.

Gouyave Sloop

Reborn – Skipper Kwesi Paul
Endeavour — Skipper Javid George
Classic — Skipper Ted Richards
“Endeavor” rushing off the start line.

Sauteurs

Swift — Skipper Christopher Jaheir (Boat from Grand Mal)
No Retreat No Surrender – Skipper Bertrand Noel
Cool Runnings — Skipper Ryan Olive
“Cool Running” getting rigged for its first race with “No Retreat, No Surrender” in the background.

Woburn

Trouble Again — Skipper Allan Noel
LOCAL – Skipper Clinton Brathwaite
Press Play — Skipper Shakeil Gibbs
“Trouble Again” won the Woburn race. I love the graphic on the bow – no messing with these guys!

Just starting to heel and “looking fine”. If you think this is an overloaded boat, I assure you it is not. One holiday, we were invited to a barbeque on a popular island off shore and this size boat was so full it was only floating about 1 inch out of the water ~ and people were still kept getting on! I figured, worst case we’d sink and it was a short swim in warm water to get to the island. We arrived safe and sound, just like the locals said we would ~ AMAZING!

Match Race Finals – This is where each village picked their best sailors from all their boats and raced all using the same type of boat to showcase the best team of sailors. There are 2 classes Junior and Senior:

National Team Sailing – Junior – Sponsored by Budget Marine
1. Team Woburn – sailing in Gybe Talk
2. Team Gouyave – sailing Mr.X

National Team Sailing – Senior – Sponsored by Carib
1. Team Sauteurs –- sailing in Tomorrow’s Worry
2. Team Gouyave –- sailing in Mr.X
3. Team Woburn – sailing in Gybe Talk

A fast start to one of the Village races. It's a miracle they don't all collide as they fight for position.

A fast start to the village of Gouyave race. It’s a miracle they don’t all collide as they fight for the lead position.

‘Champion of Champions’ Match Race Final – The Skipper & crew from the winning boat in each of the Community Class races, using the same type of boat to determine the ‘Champion of Champions’

Grand Winner for the 2016 Champion of Champions:

“Swift” the winning community boat AND the sailing team that won the 2016 Champions of Champions racing all the other winning villages in competition boats.

First Place: Grand Mal — with a crew from the winning boat Swift — Skipper Christopher Jaheir. Imagine his pride being named the best of the best and winning US$1,000 and a Yamaha outboard motor from McIntyre Brothers This is quite the prize ~ You’ve seen these boats. The cost of a brand new motor is way out of most Captain’s means and $3000XCD is over a month’s wages for a well paid earner. (Compare it to a person in the US making $48K a year and winning $5K and getting a new car – a literal windfall.)

Second Place: Gouyave — winning US$500.00

Feet flailing and the last sailor "dives" into the boat.

Notice the guy hanging off the left side of the left boat – trying to keep it from capsizing as, feet flailing, the last sailor “dives” into the boat.

Third Place: Woburn — winning US$250.00

And there is always bailing …..

All in all, another wonderful Sailing Festival. I can’t wait until next year. And hopefully, we will have some friends visiting – Save the date – January 28th and 29th, 2017

BONUS: Here is a great video of the Sailing Festival that gives a good feel for the event. Posted on Facebook on the Sailing Festival page, created by True Blue Resort, one of the Festival sponsors …. Grenada Sailing Festival video

Two Steps Forward, No Steps Back ~ Making Progress

February 23, 2016 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

This has been a great week to see some parts of our construction project coming together. First, the mold that was poured on the front of the house was uncovered and finished. Second, the back wall of the house got blocked up and readied for the finish work. The cistern was completely cleaned out, power washed and the wooden flooring was built. On top of that, rebar was wired together and the floor has been poured. I love when we are in a part of the process where changes are readily visible.

As with any construction, there are weeks that feel fast – meaning you can see lots of changes – and weeks that feel slow – meaning lots of infrastructure work is completed but nothing looks different. This last week was a fast week and was very encouraging.

The workers had constructed a mold to finish off the top of the peaked walls. They were trying to match a design that was part of the original house and they were very ingenious in getting the curves the same by using long pieces of PVC pipe attached to the wooden frame.

This is the wooden mold that was built to create the finished molding. I liked how they used PVC pipe to create the curves.

This is the wooden mold that was built to create the finished molding. I liked how they used PVC pipe to create the convex and concave curves.

The mold came off and the basic structure of curves and lines was there, but it was pretty rough. They then mixed a cement with very fine beach sand and when they finished “plastering”, the mold it looked lovely. What a difference finish work makes.

The finished molding looked great after they added a layer of fine sand cement to smooth out the rough spots.

The almost finished molding “looking great” after a layer of fine sand cement was added to smooth out the rough spots. They just need to finish the top right side which is still rough from the mold.

The back wall of the house has been blocked up – not too big a job since we still have a 16 by 10 foot opening that will end up having an iron grate. By completing that step, they are getting ready to put on the wooden ceiling layer of the roof. (We’re still waiting for the aluminum roof covering to arrive and get processed through customs.)

The new back wall is blocked up. Next the will make the mold to finish the top. You can also see the start of the wooden frame in on top of the cistern that they will use as a base to pour the floor.

The new back wall is blocked up to the new peaked roof line. You can also see the start of the wooden frame in on top of the cistern that they will use as a base to pour the floor.

We’ve had no appreciable rain since the beginning of January. Just like gardeners or farmers have a whole different relationship with rain, right now we do too – watching the sky, checking the clouds, counting the minutes when it does rain, judging the intensity of the downpour or listening at night for how hard the rain is hitting the roof and for how long. We haven’t had more than 20 minutes of rain at any one time, usually much less, and little ferocity, thank goodness. This is good also because it means that during the day, the work is moving forward pretty much unabated. Grenadians do not like rain and they stop work to seek shelter as soon as it begins to sprinkle. Lucky for us these have been infrequent, very short breaks.

Clearing the rubble out of the cistern was a 4 man job. 2 men shoveling and lifting rubble …

The cistern, which was full of rubble, has been completely emptied and cleaned (Walking the Plank ~ to Dinner) . This job took two full days of hauling up buckets of rubble and wheel barrowing everything out to the driveway so it can be trucked away. These guys definitely do not need to exercise when they get home!

… and two men emptying buckets and hauling rubble away in wheel barrows.

After the cistern was emptied, they power washed the interior until it was sparkling clean and then began to build the wooden structure that would hold up the cistern roof and would become the new patio floor. After the frame was completed, they created an intricate mesh of rebar which got wired together and then they poured the new floor.

The rest of the wooden frame has been completed and the rebar has been laid down and wired together to form a strong frame for the concrete.

The rest of the wooden frame has been completed and the rebar is being laid down and wired together to form a strong frame for the concrete.

This is the first time a cement mixer was used. Usually they mix all the concrete by hand, using shovels. The only problem was that the cement mixer could not get up the driveway which means the workers had to wheelbarrow each load up our steep driveway. Granted, it’s not as steep as some roads on the island but it’s a fairly step climb that you notice as you walk up empty handed, never mind pushing a heavy wheelbarrow filled with concrete. UGH! I’m sure I wouldn’t make it more than a few feet even with a “running” start on flat land. But these great guys did it time and time again until the floor was completed.

The "finished" floor. I don't want ot thin about the number of trips these guys made all the way up the driveway to complete this. Now we are on the hunt to match the existing stone on the patio to cover the concrete.

The “finished” floor. I don’t want to think about the number of trips these guys made all the way up and down the driveway to complete this. Tomorrow, the planks will be removed and it will be an easy step down and back up to get to the patio. Now we are on the hunt to match the existing stone on the patio to cover the concrete.

Tomorrow the plank bridge will be removed and we no longer need to “walk the plank” to get out to the patio where we spend the bulk of our time when the workers are not jack hammering, pounding or pouring.

Next week, the first layer of roofing goes up.

Walking the Plank ~ to Dinner

February 4, 2016 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

Saturday, January 30^th at exactly 8:43 AM the jackhammering began. We had already planned to be at the beach most of the day to watch the Sailing Festival but the noise and activity was a great impetus to get up and out early.

The start of the jack hammering. Check out the jackahmmer. Can you believe they are walking on top of the rebar? YIKES!

The jack hammering begins bright and early, dropping the rubble into the cistern below. Check out the jack hammer. Can you believe they are walking on top of the rebar? YIKES!

The living room floor is about 8 inches higher than the patio floor so as we move the wall to shorten the living room space, we need to lower the remaining floor to match the patio floor. The living room floor is tiled and underneath the tile is a water cistern that captures rain off the roof and stores it. Therefore, we need to jackhammer the tiles free, remove and then replace the “ceiling” of the cistern in order to lay down a new floor.

By removing the floor, we have effectively temporarily cut off access to the second master bedroom, as well as the patio.

As expected, the jack hammering ends up being an all-day process. There’s thick tile to cut through, heavy cement holding the tile in place, plus a cement floor underneath (or ceiling above, depending on your perspective) and lots of rebar. When I left a short while into the demolition, a medium sized hole had been created. This cut off the access to the second master bedroom and started to cut off access to the patio from the house.

All this rubble which is filling up the cistern needs to be lifted out, wheel barrowed away and then trucked away.

All the floor rubble completely filled up the cistern. It needs to be manually lifted out and then wheel barrowed away.

Since we spend most of our time on the patio, having no access would seriously cramp our lifestyle. The workers promised to build us a bridge to provide access to the patio while they work on recreating a new floor.

There is a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done to accommodate this “small change” of moving the living room wall. We expect it will take 2 to 3 days to remove all the rebar and cement rubble that now resides at the bottom of the cistern. Then they need to put in new rebar that will reinforce the new floor, build a temporary wooden cistern “ceiling” under the rebar so they have a foundation on which to pour a new floor. The new cement floor will take 21 days to cure.

In the meantime, we have a “bridge” to the patio that is made out of the large rafters that were saved when the living room ceiling was removed. And if this doesn’t feel like I am walking the plank to get to the patio, I don’t know what would. The rafters are pretty solid, but it is a fairly long opening and remember the two floors are at different heights so there is a fair amount of flexing as I walk the plank. Doable, but you definitely want to be paying attention because each plank flexes independently!

Our “bridge” from the living room to the patio ~ hence the “walk the plank” feeling.

The wooden frame hasd been designed to made a molding at the top of the roof line to nicely finish off the new wall.

The block wall has been completed to the peak. The cut out is for the louver which will be installed later. A wooden frame has been designed to made a molding at the top of the roof line to nicely finish off the new wall. I can’t wait to see it unveiled.

We’ve made a lot of progress this last week. Demolition is great because it’s so fast. Construction on the other hand can look almost the same, day to day, as internal infrastructure is created or shored up before new work is visible. The front wall has been completed – the ring beam has been poured, with lots of buckets of cement hoisted up to the peak filling in the concrete block, plus a mold has been poured to make the roofline look nicely finished. The back wall ring beam has also been poured and is curing.

This is the ring beam which will make the house more hurricane proof. It will be completely filled with cement and tied into the other wall’s ring beams.

Here they are starting to build a wooden box around the ring beam that will be the form for the concrete.

Here they are building a wooden box around the ring beam that will be the form to hold the concrete.

Now most of the focus is on building the infrastructure to pour the floor. This is the critical path since there is a long curing period. While the floor cures, work will resume on the roof. And I’m hopeful that we will at least have the wooden ceiling in place by next week.

~ So long to the moonlit living room, hello to shelter.

Taking the Inside-Out Concept to the Extreme – No Roof ( … for now ….)

February 1, 2016 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

(Inside-out is a design concept where your living space feels like you are outdoors)

Believe it or not, this is the view standing in the living room and looking up, between the rafters, at night. At the full moon, the moonlight was so bright, we didn’t need any additional light to see.

It’s all in the perspective, isn’t it? Dancing in the moonlight that filters through the rafters, feeling everything from sultry breezes to howling wind rushing through the living room space, loving the open space concept so much we shrink the living room length by a third and significantly expand the outdoor patio area OR complain that there’s too much dust, rain, disruption in our house and in our lives right now. What would you choose? I choose to dance.

After making the decision in October to raise the living room roof to facilitate more airflow, we hoped to complete the project before we arrived in early December. However, coordinating all the moving parts – design, engineering, figuring out demolition and actual construction times took longer than we anticipated. Therefore, we chose to wait until after the Christmas holiday to start the demolition and construction. I’m really glad we did.

Once the rafters were put into place, the side walls were built taller, the front wall was built up to meet the new peak and the old roof was removed. The team then demolished the complete back wall of the house so it could be rebuilt to accommodate a large opening (16 ft. by 10 ft.) as well as support a huge hurricane shutter. This now opened up the living room space from the front door all the way to the back patio railing – about 65 feet long. Dangerous activity – now we had a huge open space and I was loath to close it off again and wondering if was heading to divorce if I suggested we change our design plans.

This is a view of the front wall, all blocked up. The big opening at the top will have stationary louvers to let air flow through the room. The prevailing wind comes from the sea so no concern about rain.

Fortunately, Michael was thinking the same thing and when I merely mentioned that I hated the thought of closing up the space again, he suggested we rethink the design. Brilliant! One of the very best things I love about our relationship is how aligned we are in our thinking. Again and again, we navigate this fun and crazy life easily as we dip and turn through challenges and changes.

The original back wall of the house, shown here, had an 8 foot sliding glass door and two windows. The new wall will have a 16 foot opening plus two 3 foot doors allowing for a lot more air flow.

We had until early the next morning to make the decision because, in theory, the new wall construction would start the next day. Changing the design to make the outdoor space even larger is more challenging than you might think. Placing the back wall in a new spot was not a big deal but we would also need to lower the existing floor to match the patio floor height, try to find new stone to match the existing patio floor (the quarry is no longer in operation), work around an underfloor cistern and rethink electric sockets and lighting. And, of course, these changes would add more cost and construction time to the overall project. We bounced around a bunch of ideas, decided to sleep on it and decide in the morning.

Michael woke me up around 6 AM and we walked the space one more time, decided to bite the bullet, authorize the change and then figure out the final details later. Michael placed an urgent message into our Contractor, Antonio Fields, asked him to call us ASAP — “no problem, but a major change” – and to be sure to be in contact with us before his team arrived and started working. Antonio looked at his phone shortly after, saw Michael’s phone number pop up and wondered what Michael could possibly want that he was calling so early in the AM.

Here is a shot of the new wall going up. Everything on the other side will be added to the patio space.

Here is a shot of the new wall going up. The floor on the far side of the wall will be lowered to match the patio floor height. This will create a much larger outdoor living area.

Antonio arrived shortly after, Michael outlined our thoughts and they started to discuss options. The team arrived and his key workers added their thoughts to the discussion. Soon they had the cover off the cistern and were peering into its depths trying to figure out the underground configuration and its impact on our desires. At the end of the conversation, we had a new plan to shorten the living room by about 8 feet.

Most of the work here is done manually. All the cement is hand mixed, poured into buckets and moved by hand. By a smiling worker! To the left, painted ceiling panels covered by plastic and on the right construction rubble which is swept up and removed every day.

Since they had already built roofing rafters all the way to the “original” end of the room, we looked at keeping the original roof line intact which would now provide shade to the “new” part of the patio. Caribbean house roofs generally don’t overhang too much beyond the walls because it provides too easy a way for really heavy wind to tear off the roof. Generally, they rely on a secondary roof to extend out, under the original roof, which can be broken off under high winds without damaging the full structure. Once the wall is built and the hurricane shutter is installed, we’ll determine the best way to add the secondary roof to cover the rest of the patio and tie it into the house.

ANOTHER load of construction debris. Even with the workers saving a lot of wood, there is a huge amount of rubble that is getting trucked out on a regular basis.

ANOTHER load of construction debris. Even with the workers saving a lot of wood, there is a huge amount of wood and concrete rubble that is getting trucked out on a regular basis.

Now the “fun” begins as we blast out the living room floor tiles to see what is underneath, figure out how to reconstruct the cistern and decide how to pull together this new, larger outdoor space.

Confession: I’ve sort of been at loss about how to use the huge living room space since we first purchased the house. A 30 by 30 foot space is big and would be delightful in a traditional home, but we spend all our time outdoors, if possible. Even when it is raining, we generally are out on the patio that is covered. The only time I expect we would use the living room is if it is raining so hard (plus strong winds) that you’d get wet being outside, even if undercover.

The questions that had been running through my mind were – Do we basically leave the living room empty? Do we fully furnish it – (time, money and energy) when we expect to barely use it? Would we really ever use it as a dining space (probably only if a large dinner party had been scheduled and it rained hard) and, if so, wouldn’t we just carry the large dining table inside? Now it will be a much more manageable space, with just the essentials necessary for horrific, rainy day living. I’m going to keep count of the number of days between when we arrived in December and mid June, when we leave, that we need to stay inside due to overwhelming rain (zero so far).

Now the rainy season, July through December, might be another story but we plan to be traveling during that time.

And So It Begins ~ Raising the Roof, Literally!

January 26, 2016 by Candi Licence 5 Comments

We are going to salvage the heavy rafters to make a outdoor trellis. The new ceiling will be white (and peaked)

A “before” picture – Dark ceiling, slanting from 10 feet to about 8 feet over 30 foot span. We are going to salvage the heavy rafters to make an outdoor trellis. The new ceiling will be white (and peaked)

The New Year is here and so the workers are returning from a long holiday break to take off our roof. Our house is essentially three pavilions with separate but connected roofs. The living room is in the middle. Currently the living room walls are about 10 feet tall and there is a low, slanted roof that traps a lot of heat. The walls are going to be extended to 12 feet high, including a ring beam, which will make the whole structure much more hurricane proof. And then on top of the ring beam we will have a new, peaked ceiling with louvers on each end. This will make the house much cooler and allow many more breezes to flow through this large, 30 by 30 foot space.

Grenada is located 12 degrees north of the Equator and hurricanes typically form at 15 degrees and higher so we have a much lower chance of hurricanes occurring here than most Caribbean islands. In fact, Grenada is the first island where boaters can get insurance for their vessels. Every island north of Grenada is 15 degrees latitude or higher and no hurricane insurance is available for boaters. This is one reason Grenada has such an active marina business. Many boats dock here during hurricane season either for protection or to get repaired during this turbulent time.

As you may know, Grenada got hit by a fierce hurricane in 2004 – Ivan. The worst part was that the storm was tracking quite a bit north of Grenada, as would be expected, and turned suddenly – right as it aligned with Grenada and came south. People had less than 2 hours to prepare and it devastated much of the island with 98% of the buildings being damaged. Miraculously, only 2 people perished. The only buildings to pull through relatively unscathed were all newly constructed and had been built to hurricane standards – with ring beams, for example. Prior to Ivan, the last hurricane was Janet, in 1955.

Here we are trying out different colors so we can decide what to paint the ceiling and the rafters.

We debated a lot of options before deciding to raise the roof because of the cost and disruption to the house. Every other alternative that we explored would only partially address the heat issue – maybe – and we thought ultimately we would not be happy with the result so we just gulped and went for the “right” solution. Originally, we hoped to have the new roof completed before December but by the time we got a solid design, coordinated it with some patio work we wanted done and had an Engineer check everything out, we ran out of time to have it completed before we arrived.

The tricky part was connecting the three roofs so there would be no leaking in the future. The roof on the two side wings will be at a different height than the new ceiling roof. The timing concern was that the break for Christmas holiday would interfere and we’d be stopped mid project (with no roof) for a couple of additional weeks. Plus, the rainy season has been going later and later into December in recent years. I think it ended up being a good decision because it rained – a lot (multiple times, every day almost) in December.

Now it is January and the work has begun. The first couple of days were slow as everyone figured out how to do this major construction without completely removing the roof since we are living here during construction. Fortunately the walls are cement and the floor has heavy tiles so we should not have any floor damage from water. We were wondering how level the floor really is and how much water would stay in the room after each rain. The courtyard, kitchen and bedroom entrances to the living room are all 2 steps up so we knew the rest of the house would be protected and there is a straight out exit to the pool and patio and we were hoping, fingers crossed, that the water would run right out the big sliding glass doorway to the patio.

Another "before" picture - you can see the tiled floor, concrete walls and the step up to a bedroom - all good things for a room that will not have a roof for a couple of weeks..

Another “before” picture – you can see the tiled floor, concrete walls and the steps up to a bedroom – all good things for a room that will not have a roof for a couple of weeks.

Here you can see the roof cut away so they can extend the walls to 12 feet, capped with a ring beam to make the structure more hurricane proof.

The first major piece of work was removing the asphalt tiles from the roof and removing about 4 feet of roof off either side so the side walls could be made taller. If it rained, we’d get minimal leakage over the bulk of the roof and the room was only totally exposed the length of the room on the 2 sides. Piece of cake, right? We had a small rainstorm on Friday afternoon and there was only a little standing water after it was over – no problem.

Saturday evening was a different story. We were out on the covered patio having dinner with Nadica and Mikiah, my best Grenadian friend and her daughter (my Goddaughter), when a big storm blew in. I jumped up to close our bedroom windows and started laughing as I approached the living room. As predicted, there was only dripping throughout most of the living room as rain came in between the cracks in the planks but the 2 sides where there was no roof, the rain was pouring in. Plus, because the 2 roofs for the other pavilions are already peaked, all the rain was running down those slopes into the living room on either side. This meant that to get into the bedroom wing I had to walk through the waterfall that was so beautifully cascading into the living room. I was soaked and laughing. Caribbean rain is warm so it is an entirely different feeling to get wet here – no problem.

Most of the water did run out the doorway as we had hoped, but there were a few low spots that collected a good bit of water. Of course one low spot was right in front of the bedroom wing doorway so we had to slog through about 3 inches of water before we reached the steps up. This gave plenty of time for Mick’s webbed feet to soak up a ton of water that could then be dripped everywhere – first order of business for week two was making a platform that would cover any water. This worked perfectly for us but Mick just walked around the platform and through the water to approach from the side. HMMMM. Ultimately, we were worried about having the standing water sit for any length of time because of potential damage to the floor, so we ended up just sweeping out the low spots. Problem solved. Fortunately the rainy season has ended and we have and very little rain since then.

Lots to see in this picture - temporary door so we can lock it at night (since living room is no longer secure), the platform that was built to cover the low spot in the floor (that collects water), clean up every day (so the house is livable during construction).

Lots to see in this picture – temporary door to the bedroom wing (on the left) so we can lock it at night (since living room is temporarily not secure), the platform that was built to cover the low spot in the floor by bedroom wing door (that collects water), and daily clean up so the house is livable during construction.

Construction is such messy work. Lots of breaking up of concrete which means lots of little pieces of rock lying all over and dust everywhere. I hadn’t processed that in order to make the walls higher, they would have to pull off a little of the roofs on either side pavilion so we have had openings into the kitchen and both master bedrooms that lets in rocks, dust and mosquitos. Delightful! The mosquitos this year have been the fiercest I’ve ever seen and I’m hoping as the area dries out, they will die or head elsewhere. In the meantime, we’ve been camping out in our air conditioned office during the day that does not abut the living room so all 4 walls and roof are intact.

The workers have been really diligent in cleaning up the site every day. Everything is carted off, stacked up and swept before they leave each day. I was thanking one man about the clean up one day and he said something interesting … He said of course they were cleaning up so it would be as nice as possible for us but, even if we weren’t on island, they would do it anyway because it was much more motivating to arrive at a clean job site each morning. Makes sense to me AND I really appreciate it.

The workers also worked Saturday to keep the project moving. All the rafters went up in one day. YEAH!

The workers also worked last Saturday to keep the project moving. At 9 AM the first rafter was lifted into place. By 4 PM, all the rafters were completed. (Note the “staircase” erected so workers could get to the top of the peak). YIKES!

Work has steadily progressed and after a few days of lots of activity, but not much visible change, we are now seeing the skeleton of the new roof going up through the peak holes of the roof. YEAH! It’s really exciting to see the progress.

The Calm Before the Storm ~ Christmas Season in Grenada

January 15, 2016 by Candi Licence 1 Comment

Late December is a quiet time in Grenada. Many people start their holiday the Friday before Christmas (this year on December 18^th) and don’t return to work until the Monday after New Year’s (January 4^th). Businesses, banks, etc. stay open but often with limited hours approaching both holidays. Interestingly though, the shops in town stay open Christmas Eve until midnight and there is a real party atmosphere with people doing their last minute Christmas shopping and generally having a night on the town.

And don’t forget Boxing Day, the holiday that happens the day after Christmas. The name Boxing Day came from the UK tradition of servants or tradesmen (who worked on Christmas to support their employers on the holiday) getting the following day off as a holiday. In addition to their day off, they received gifts that they called their Christmas “box” and this day became known as Boxing Day. It is still celebrated throughout England and her former colonies, Grenada included.

Christmas is huge in Grenada. I think in any country that is essentially poor and where there is not a lot of activities beyond the everyday life of work, providing for your family and Church that any cause for celebration is eagerly looked forward to and relished. Plus, Grenada is a very religious country (primarily Christian) so Christmas is a big celebration of Christ’s birth. And because there is not a lot of disposable cash, Christmas has not been commercialized anywhere close to what we experience in the US. It is a time for families and friends to gather together, enjoy each other’s company, eat good food and exchange token presents. Independence Day, Easter, Carnival, Thanksgiving (Grenada’s celebration of the US intervention which stopped Cuba’s takeover of Grenada) are other examples of big celebrations in Grenada, some that last multiple days, and break up the normal work routine.

It is not unusual for people to wish you a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year, starting in early December all the way through the first couple of weeks in January. There is genuine enthusiasm and it is a very intentional wish rather than a fleeting greeting that is mentioned kind of as an afterthought – even if you don’t know the person that is wishing you well. I like it. It gives me the opportunity to stop for a moment, be thankful for my full life and sincerely wish the other person, and their family, health and happiness.

This was the tree that was displayed in our local grocery, pretty cool!

This is the tree that was displayed in our local grocery, pretty cool!

Christmas decorations are also really big here. It’s very different from the US in that the displays are not excessive. Again I think cost is a large factor, but everyone who can, has a little something sparkling in their window. Even the grocery store has a tree beautifully decorated. I’m starting to get used to all the artificial trees that are lovingly trimmed and stand proud into January. I’m always loath to put away holiday decorations and I think they are too!

I didn’t do any decorating this year because we knew the roof was coming off shortly and we were still unboxing, unboxing, unboxing into the New Year, but I have 4 box boxes of my favorite decorations that I stored when we left Jacksonville. It’s going to be great next year when I open them up and rediscover these treasures. Right now, I’m resisting the thought of getting an artificial tree but haven’t come up with a good alternative yet. Stay tuned for the unveiling of … something … next December.

We had a quiet Christmas morning. The house is our present to each other. We went to a delightful party in the afternoon and early evening. Our Attorney, and friend, had a dinner for about 40 (!) friends. She invited us because she didn’t want us to be alone on Christmas when it is such a family holiday. So sweet and typical Grenadian hospitality. We had a great time seeing friends and met many new people, some I’m sure will become good friends. The food was great and everyone had a fun time dancing. I think this is the first time Michael has danced since his knee surgery. We left around 8:30, there were still people arriving and the next wave of food was just being set out. I’m sure if we drove by again at midnight the party would have still been going strong.

Right after we had accepted the party invitation, I saw our neighbor from across the street in his yard. I waved and walked over to introduce myself and laughed when we got close because his name is Spencer and we met him years ago when we were trying to build the resort. The next day, he called and invited us over for Christmas dinner with his family. I love Grenadian hospitality and can’t wait to begin reciprocating.

For New Year’s, we went to the NNP celebration. NNP (New National Party) is the controlling political power in Grenada right now and would be comparable to the Republican or Democratic Party in the US. The celebration was held at the former Governor General’s house (Sir Danny Williams) which is situated high up on a hill and has a commanding view of the sea. It’s a house made for entertaining with a large covered pavilion that can (and did) hold hundreds of people dancing and eating. It was kind of fascinating seeing the Prime Minister and his cabinet of Ministers being an integral part of the event and dancing the night away. The only downside, if you could call it that, was that the music was so loud you couldn’t really have a conversation so we spent a lot of time smiling, waving at people and politely yelling that we’d chat with them another time. Keith Mitchell, the current Prime Minister, came over and introduced himself and we talked for a short bit but unfortunately we couldn’t have a long discussion.

We stood right under some great fireworks at midnight ~ a little intimidating from a safety point of view but spectacular and in the end totally safe because the explosions were so high up in air. Fireworks are another big Grenadian New Year’s tradition with most of the hotels shooting off big displays. There are a lot of places in Grenada that you can go and see series of fireworks from multiple locations lighting up the sky across the island. The old forts are ideal – they are high up above the shoreline and have expansive views. I’ve heard the Rex Grenadian Hotel has the best fireworks and we may try going to the party there next year.

When we were leaving the NNP party, a gentleman flagged us down in the driveway and asked if he could have a ride to Calivigny where he had parked his car. Since it was right on our way, we said “No problem” and had a nice conversation with him during the ride. Turns out he is one of the Ministers of Finance. You never know who you will meet!

All in all a very nice, if quiet, holiday for us. I’m looking forward to next year when we can open up our house for a big party and thank everyone who has made us feel so welcome over the years. This holiday, once again, showcased the Grenadian’s hospitality and generosity. It makes me so happy that we are calling this lovely island our home.

Free at Last ~ Clearing our Container through Customs

December 26, 2015 by Candi Licence 6 Comments

Our container was supposed to arrive last Wednesday, but didn’t. This is not unusual. Freighters have a loose schedule. Ports or times may change as freighters make their way through their planned itinerary and possibly pick up a new load or get a stop added. We called around noon on Thursday and the ship still hadn’t docked. Later, we found out it docked late in the afternoon but our Customs Agent hadn’t been able to make contact with the port. YEAH! Our stuff is in Grenada.

I think this is our freighter, being loaded to go back to Jacksonville

The port is a ‘sea’ of brown containers and I wonder how long it will take us to find ours.

We called our Customs Agent contact bright and early on Friday and they still hadn’t made contact. This is a crazy time of year at the port. Businesses are getting extra materials and ‘stuff’, lots of people are sending down barrels of food and presents for family and more food is coming in for the holiday buying spree. We hung around on Friday, watched the rain, and wished for a phone call to tell us to come to the port to claim our goods, but it never came.

A portion of the line of people waiting to get into the port to retrieve barrels or containers.

The port is closed on Saturdays and Sundays so our next possible date was Monday. Now I’m getting anxious because Christmas is a BIG holiday in Grenada and many people take off at least the whole week before Christmas and often the week after as well. Our construction crew left on Friday (Dec. 18^th) and wished us both a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We won’t see them again until January 4^th!

We got the call around 9:30 Monday morning to come to the port. We are working with a Customs Agent whose job is to work with the port to get the container placed on the ground and in an area where it can be unpacked, provide a port contact to walk us through every part of the process, provide man power to unpack the container and load everything onto trucks, then deliver everything to our house and unload it a second time, into our house. We met the owner and he reviewed all our paperwork before we went into the port to be sure we had everything in order and told us we’d be working with his onsite contact, Kurt.

Standing in line while Kurt arranged for expedited access.

Kurt got us expedited access into the port which was great because there was a huge line waiting to get pedestrian access passes. This is similar to paying airline porters to smooth the way through check in. Once we got cleared, we met with the Customs Officer. He reviewed our paperwork and assigned a Customs Inspector to supervise the opening and unloading of the container. Meanwhile, Kurt has gone to find our container and he met us as we were coming out of the customs office.

The port is huge and BUSY. There are trucks coming into the port to drop off goods to be shipped, lots of trucks leaving the port with goods being delivered all over the island, there are huge cranes moving containers around and lots of people walking everywhere – Freight Handlers, Customs Agents, Inspectors, people receiving their goods, truckers, loaders, etc. As an outsider, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason but everything made perfect sense to Kurt who was able to locate our container quickly in a huge mass of containers that mostly looked exactly alike and confirmed that it was ‘on the ground’. This means it was the bottom container and didn’t need to be moved before we could begin unloading.

Kurt cutting the port lock. Even with the huge bolt cutters it took a few tries to cut through the lock.

The container was secured with our personal lock, a special numbered seal and a port lock which needed to be removed, in our presence. Kurt came back with a huge pair of bolt cutters and after a few tries, got the port lock removed. Michael cut the seal and opened our lock. Michael and Kurt unlatched both doors and swung them open wide. I was holding my breath, and yipped with joy as the interior of the container filled with light.

Michael cutting the seal and unlocking our personal lock.

Everything was exactly as we had packed it. This is amazing to me – the container had been craned onto a ship, traveled over a rolling sea for 8 days, then craned off and moved, probably multiple times, within the yard. Michael’s braces held perfectly, it didn’t look like ANYTHING shifted and there was no visible damage to any of the boxes. YAHOO!

Within 3 minutes, three trucks arrived with about 6 guys and they began unpacking the container and loading their trucks. Michael guided them, pointing out things that were really heavy or fragile etc.

Checking off the inventory as it is being unloaded.

First truck is loaded and ready to go! Tarps being pulled over the load to protect it from rain.

I worked with the Customs Inspector checking off each box against my master list. It was invaluable having a really organized inventory – it made everyone think we knew what we were doing and added a lot of credibility. I had everything organized in a formal notebook with tabs for the detailed inventory, the appraisal for our owned goods and Michael’s photography equipment, plus all the invoices for all the new goods. These invoices and the appraisal were cross referenced to the master inventory. In addition to numbering the boxes, I had written the main items in each box which, of course, matched the detailed inventory. After really inspecting the first few boxes as they came off the container, reading the contents listed on the box and then marking the box on the master inventory, the Customs Inspector relaxed and actually let me do the checking off box by box and just helped by calling out numbers. After a while, he even left to oversee the unpacking of another container that was nearby.

Rain break!

At one point, it began raining. Tarps were quickly produced and our belongings were covered while we all took a rain break in the container. We are at the very end of the rainy season and it is still raining on and off every day. Showers are fairly short 10-20 minutes but they are fierce. This was our biggest concern – particularly for the art. We had packed most of the art at the front of the container and planned to transfer it last so it would have the shortest amount of time to be exposed to the fickle weather. By noon, all three trucks were loaded and Kurt escorted us back to the Customs Officer.

The Customs Officer relooked at all our paperwork, conferred with the Inspector who oversaw the unloading of our container, made some calculations and completed some official looking paperwork. Duty is comprised of 4 parts, the duty assigned to each new item, the weight of the shipment, the amount of insurance paid and 15% VAT. He said our detailed paperwork made his job easy and dismissed us.

Mr. George, patiently calculating all the duty, while helping other customers on the phone. He never slowed down and rarely looked at the customs book for prices. Amazing!

Kurt now took us back to his office and his boss, Mr. George, grumbled that the Customs Officer hadn’t calced any of the duty on the individual items in our 106 boxes of new items. It took him probably another hour to calc all the duty. He has a book 3 inches thick that details each item. He rarely looked at it but when he did, he opened the book to within 2-3 pages of what he needed and quickly found the information he was looking for. It was very impressive watching him work, but it was tedious. After he was done, he had 45 categories of items that are all taxed differently. IE – candlesticks that are metal are taxed differently than if they were glass. Black tea is taxed differently than green tea. The amount of detail was dizzying. Finally, all the calculations were done and we knew our number and could head back to the port to pay the duty and get our trucks released.

It’s now 2:30 and we get a look at the line to pay duty. It’s really long so Kurt tries to see if he can work some back room magic but there are no duty cashiers on break that could help us. Kurt then takes me to another office about a block away and there is only one person at the window. Success !?! Or not …. I get to the window and this agent doesn’t have a credit card machine. We really want to pay via credit card because we get 2% cash back and this is a large charge (although much less than we feared). Since we never carry a balance, this is a no brainer discount each time we use our card. We now go to another office around the corner and get on the line there – only 5 people in front of me. The sky is darkening and I’m hoping the tarps will keep things dry if it starts raining again. Once again, Kurt is sweet talking the agents, trying to get us through, but every system is in use and the network speed is really slow with the heavy load.

Michael had called our credit card company to let them know the charge was coming through so they wouldn’t decline it because it was a large, overseas charge. (They know we are in Grenada but the system has arbitrary blocks that trigger from time to time). So when I finally get to the window at about 3:15, I confidently hand over my card. Declined. UGH! Try again, please? Declined. I ask if I can just step aside while this gets straightened out so I don’t have to go the end of the line (about 12 people deep). They agree. I call Michael who is still inside the port and ask him to call Capital One again. He does and finds out they approved his card, but mine has a different number and that is why it was declined. They do some magic and say try again. This time everything goes as planned and I get a magic piece of paper that will allow is to release the trucks …. after one more hurdle.

The trucks, all lined up to pass through the final check point before we can leave the port, FINALLY!

We go back to the main port just as it starts to pour rain and head to the Yard Office. This is where they match the duty paperwork up with the trucks and provide THE piece of paper that will allow the trucks to pass through the gate. It is 4:30. We headed out before we ate breakfast and haven’t had time for lunch. I’m starving and worried about our belongings getting drenched. Fortunately, the truck workers have placed two more layers of tarps over our goods.

The Blue Monster truck I rode in to get to our house. Check out the door!

I get into one of the trucks to guide them to our house. Michael heads out in advance to open the gates, unlock the house and secure Mick. I’m in a large workingman’s flatbed truck – nothing pretty about it – it’s huge, no upholstery, hole in the floor, dented up, shifts horribly, rumbles down the road and I realize I’m on the “other side” of traffic. What I mean by this is – I’m the big, rumbling truck that is hogging more than half the road, with a blaring horn, running yellow lights and making everyone else scatter. Amazing. Between honking for friends, pretty women and other cars, plus grinding gears every several hundred feet we make quite the racket as we lumber down the road.

All three trucks, in the driveway, getting ready to unload. Not much clearance for the red truck and it is the smallest of the three.

I’m trying to figure out how we are going to get these big trucks up our skinny, winding driveway that I cautiously navigate each day and the driver just tears up the driveway – no problem. He knows the dimensions of the truck, exactly, and the only potential casualty is a branch of Frangipani that is hanging too far into the driveway and gets brushed aside by the huge mirrors. Now the unloading can begin.

This is the garage when it was abut half full, more unloading to follow.

It’s getting really dark again and we know the rain will be coming, fast and furious, shortly. We unload the Art and furniture truck first. All this will be stored in the garage until the living room is complete and it’s unloaded fast. The workers are efficient and moving quickly but are also really careful with anything that is remotely fragile. I’m impressed and pleased. They have been a complete joy to work with.

One view of our Office. The other view is piled just as high. Computers, electronics and photography equipment is being stored here.

One view of our Office. The other view is piled just as high. Photography equipment, computers and electronics are being stored here.

Our spacious kitchen, (thank goodness!)

The second truck pulls into position and again unloading begins. I’m at the truck directing where boxes are to go – garage, kitchen, bedroom or office and Michael is everywhere else making sure things are ending up in the right place and are stacked well.

As the third truck pulls into place and we begin to unload, the rain starts. Serious rain is pouring down and the wind is howling. Luckily for us, the wind is whipping from the water and the house is protecting the garage opening from getting wet and we’ve got the truck as close to the door as possible. We are now moving everything into the garage as fast as we can and then organizing the boxes in groups to be moved to the right location. Soon everything is sorted out, moved to the correct location and the workers leave with money in their hands and smiles on their faces. A job very well done.

Michael and I collapse on the patio with sandwiches that Nadica has made for us and big glasses of water. We relax, review the day and start thinking about the huge job of unboxing everything that lies ahead. We are so thankful everything appears to have made the trip brilliantly and they are in our possession once again. Next, unpacking, unpacking, unpacking.

Best Laid Plans ~ and Murphy’s Law

December 16, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

So, in the last post (A Moving Adventure ~ “Bon Voyage”, Container) I told you how easy it has been working with Sea Freight to get all our belongings to Grenada. Well, there’s a post script to the story.

The cargo ship was scheduled to leave on Tuesday, and the Friday before – at about 4:45 – PM Michael was copied on a cryptic note that our container would not be allowed on the ship unless some missing paperwork was filed. Of course, there is no answer at either Sea Freight or Sea Pac (a related company that gets the handoff of the container before it is loaded) so now Michael has the whole weekend to worry. At that point, I was remaining optimistic because everything had gone so smoothly so far, we had Monday to sort things out and Michael is known for getting things done, that this was just a blip that would be resolved shortly.

Bright and early on Monday morning, Michael was at his computer, with phone in hand, trying to understand the issue so it could be resolved and our container could be released and then loaded on the cargo ship in time to sail on Tuesday. We didn’t really know how much time we had before the actual loading cut-off before the container would be delayed for another week so Michael was all over it (and them).

Time and time again, he thought the issue was resolved and some new “requirement” would pop up. First, it was the need for an invoice for every single thing in the shipment. Michael patiently explained that some items were years old and in some instances generations old and there was no way we could produce invoices, but everything we hadn’t purchased new for the trip had been appraised last year for insurance purposes and we could produce that paperwork. Then they wanted invoices for everything that was new. We could provide that but it would involve electronically sending over 100 invoices, some for items as low as $25. No, they didn’t want that – just invoices over $4,000. That was easy as there was only one item over $4K.

During these conversations, Michael was also trying to sort out insurance. We had been told that insurance would be a percentage of the total value and we had sent money to cover our goods but hadn’t received the final contract. As Michael got bounced from one person to another, and then to another, he was told we couldn’t insure the shipment because the freight company hadn’t packed the container – no one ever mentioned this requirement in any of the previous conversations (although they were happy to have taken our money) and now the point was mute because it was already packed, sealed and sitting at the port. Michael countered with us taking responsibility if something got broken during “normal” shipping but if they dropped the container, it flooded, fell off the cargo ship, etc. we would be covered. They finally agreed.

I was out doing last minute errands and came back home around 4:30 PM. Michael was still on the phone and we ended the day not knowing if our container was going to be loaded for the next day departure and wondering if it was already too late or if there was a sliver of possibility that it would still make the loading deadline. Needless to say, things were tense – especially because we couldn’t get a straight answer from anyone.

Tuesday came and went, Wednesday came and went and we still couldn’t find out if our container was sitting in the port or had sailed on the ship. CRAZY! Meanwhile, we’re driving to Miami to catch our Thursday flight. Finally, on Thursday afternoon just before our flight, Michael confirms that our container went – we have no final bill of lading, no insurance paperwork. Oh, and surprise, surprise – no more using Sea Freight for shipments for us!

Now we wait. … And hope that weather is good … And there are no issues … And our container arrives with everything intact.

Next week we are shipping a 10 foot by 16 foot hurricane shutter from Miami via Tropical (750 lbs!, one invoice). I wonder how that shipment will go?

A Moving Adventure ~ “Bon Voyage”, Container

December 14, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

The arrival of the container. Michael is guiding the driver into the parking spot.

Michael secured the seal and the loading was done. Now our container will wind its way through the streets of Jacksonville to the port, be loaded on a freighter and chug its way to Grenada. Bon Voyage, safe travels.

It’s a strange feeling knowing every ‘thing’ I cherish is in one huge box and will be traveling eight days over the ocean, destined for our new home in Grenada. The recent demise of the Jacksonville based cargo ship, El Faro, is on my mind. Such a tragic loss of life and a grim reminder that weather can wreak havoc on the best laid plans.

This is the money shot. The container is fully loaded and we’ve recorded the container number.

We were supposed to get a call from the driver before he drove the loaded container away so we’d be there to get the final Bill of Lading paperwork signed but it didn’t happen and the container was gone when we checked the lot where it had been parked. In one sense that may be a good thing. I was wondering how I’d feel watching it pull away with all our family heirlooms tucked inside.

When we first talked about sending a container down to Grenada, I thought it would be a big and complicated deal. We talked with our friends, Dan and Alison, who had shipped a container to Ireland and they were pretty nonchalant about the whole thing so I realized it would be much more doable than I had anticipated.

We started by meeting with a freight receiver when we were in Grenada in September and asked him how his operation worked – how to meet the container, work with customs and get our belongings to our house. He was very matter of fact – no problem, they do this every day, etc. and gave us pointers on how to ensure the transfer was smooth – excellent records of what is in each box and accurate receipts for all purchases. We also asked him which shipping companies he liked to work with best and chose one of those, Sea Freight, to handle our shipment. Michael then worked with Sea Freight in Jacksonville and all conversations seemed easy and straightforward.

All the way through the process, I was keeping an extensive spreadsheet of what we were bringing. I set aside 200 numbers for items we already owned. For these items I listed the box number, what was in the box and cross referenced it to an appraisal list we had generated for insurance purposes. Boxes 200 and up were reserved for new items we bought. I recorded the price we paid plus had both the original receipts and copies that I placed in a binder so it would be easy to answer any questions the customs officer may have. My understanding is the customs officer will arbitrarily pick a box, we will need to say what is in it (from my spreadsheet) and they may or may not open it to validate what we say. We can bring anything that is over 1 year old into the country without paying duty. Everything else will be charged duty. It is important to keep clear records to pay the correct duty and to be able to distinguish new verses older items. All in all, we have 306 boxes/items.

This is the first load from Middelburg with all our ‘precious’ items. This 10′ by 10′ load looks tiny in the big moving truck. The green bubble wrapped item is a gorgeous carved Buddha.

We started out reserving a 20 foot container but as the boxes built up, we changed to a 40 foot container. Michael had rented storage space from a nearby location that could accommodate a 20 foot container on site which would have made it easy for us to fill the container where we were storing a lot of our purchases. Unfortunately, they were unable to fit a 40 foot container on their property so Michael had to scramble for an alternative location. This was harder than it may sound. You can’t just drop this huge box on a street and many commercial parking lots either aren’t big enough or don’t allow trailers to be dropped on their sites. Michael tried working with the Atlantic Beach police department who were uncharacteristically unhelpful. I’m not sure if the officer was just having a bad day but after Michael explained what we were trying to do, stating he wasn’t planning to park on the street and did they have suggestions for us, he got a lecture that we couldn’t park on the street. DUH, that’s why he was there. They offered no alternatives. Oh, well.

The last load.

Anyway, after a couple of frustrating, nerve wracking days and lots of conversations with lot owners, the local Kmart graciously agreed to let us drop the trailer at their location and leave it for a couple of days so we could load it. Michael scheduled the main loading day for Monday, November 30^th with Tuesday being the day to complete any final packing, building braces for the back of the load so it wouldn’t shift and scheduling the pickup of the container from the lot. From there, it would be taken to the port and loaded on a cargo ship leaving for Grenada on December 8^th.

Our plan is to leave Jacksonville on December 9^th, rent a car and drive to Miami with Mick and then catch a direct flight to Grenada on December 10^th. The container is scheduled on arrive in Grenada on December 16^th and we need to be there to meet it with the freight receiver and get it cleared through customs. We are leaving our car in storage in Jacksonville. It will be filled with a few totes of winter clothes, kitchen essentials and our To Go box (the first day and travel essentials like wine glasses, dog bowls, silverware, etc.). This is the first time we won’t have a storage unit – almost everything will be in Grenada or in the car. I wonder how we will do without our hammocks. Right now that seems like the biggest thing I’ll miss traveling with while in the US – but with the stands, even broken down, they take up a lot of room.

Our extraordinary loading team. MaryBeth, Michael and Asher. I didn't get a photo of DWigth who helped with the first load from Middleburg.

Our extraordinary loading team. Marybeth, Michael and Asher. I didn’t get a photo of Dwight who helped with the first load from Middleburg.

Michael reengaged our crack loading team from when we left Jacksonville, Asher and Marybeth, to do the heavy lifting and one of his photography buddies, Dwight, also lent a hand for part of the day. They started out by emptying our long term storage unit in Middleburg. This is where we had all our art and keepsakes stored for the past year and a half. It’s a bit of a haul from Atlantic Beach but it is above the flood plain which is hard to do in this part of Florida. Usually, we rent U-Haul trucks because they have a low floor making it easier to load, but for this move we rented from Penske because their trucks have a lift gate and a high floor which would line up with the container floor. This way we could back the Penske truck up to the container and essentially walk flat across from the truck to the container. This worked beautifully.

Look at the height of the floor of the container. It's about 5 feet off the ground!

Look at the height of the floor of the container. It’s almost 5 feet off the ground!

The Penske truck with a lift was the same height as the container floor, allowing us to easily walk items from the truck to the container.

The Penske truck floor was the same height as the container floor, allowing us to easily walk items from the truck to the container.

After off-loading the Middleburg items and stopping for a quick lunch, we started loading items from one of our local 10 by 10 foot units. We got most items packed and transferred in one load and then went back to finish that storage unit and emptied the second unit at the same time. When we were done, the container was filled about ½ way to the roof and 95% to the back door. All in all, it took 9 hours including driving between locations and lunch. A good day’s work.

That evening, we went through our house and added any last minute items to our final boxes. Our goal was to ship everything possible via the container so our suitcases would be able to accommodate any last minute items and Michael’s essential photography equipment. On Tuesday, we loaded the last couple of boxes, Michael’s tool chest and Michael constructed a braced barrier so items wouldn’t shift during the voyage. The container was locked and sealed with a special, numbered zip tie and off it went.

We have a few days to finalize everything in Jacksonville – final doctor’s appointments, a short meeting at the bank, the Beaches Photography club’s holiday party, one last shoot for Michael, one more haircut, facial and mani/pedi for me and then we are off to our new home and to collect our belongings.

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Research, Procure, Pack, Repeat ~ Buying (everything) for our Grenada home

December 5, 2015 by Candi Licence 2 Comments

I am a researching, packing machine. Every day, I spend several hours researching “the best” of something, then we go out and purchase it, come home, pack it well and drop it off at the storage unit – rinse, repeat. Either that, or we buy items online making us either best friends (or worst enemies depending on the day) with our UPS and FedEx delivery men.

These are the packages that greeted us today

If it’s a nice day and nothing too heavy is delivered, I’m sure we’re friends. If it is raining, the cartons are heavy or bulky (or both) OR we are receiving 5 or more boxes necessitating multiple trips from the van, I’m guessing we’re not their favorite customers. Every day we come home from shopping to a new pile of boxes on our doorstep. We often get two deliveries a day, mid day and then again in the evening. Sometimes, we can see our front door – sometimes, not! I’m pretty confident we are adding a significant uplift to their route. We only have 4 weeks to get everything we need before we fill our container and send it off with a kiss and high hopes that it arrives safely, with everything intact.

We arrived in JAX on October 31^st and moved into a new house the next day. We were fortunate to be able to get a short-term house rental in Atlantic Beach, the town we formerly lived in for 6 years. I had fantasies of seeing all our old friends, hanging out on the beach a bit and doing whatever we missed before we left on our grand adventure. The reality has been a bit different. We’ve been very focused and very busy getting everything ready for shipment.

First, we concentrated on furniture. The former owners left a skeletal amount of furniture – couple of bedroom sets, a comfortable (but ugly) sea-foam green colored couch, plus a kitchen and patio table with chairs. These were perfect for our 2 week stay at the house – just enough to get comfortably by – I called it ‘upscale camping’. These were all things the owner either didn’t take back to the UK with her or couldn’t sell locally. We know this because as people asked us which house we bought, they’d say oh yes, I bought her __XXX__. (Fill in the blank … table, couch, chair, lamp, car!, etc.)

Furniture stores in Grenada leave a lot to be desired. Furniture, although “new”, tends to be rejects from other parts of the world that never sold – meaning they are usually of inferior quality and generally scream the 80’s in both styling and colors. Plus, furniture is really expensive due to the high duty placed on each piece as it is imported. Because Grenada is a poor country, the primary way the government gets money to provide services is through VAT and customs duty – and some items have a 100% uplift. (This means if you import a $40,000 dollar car and it costs $4,000 to ship into Grenada, it will cost an additional $44,000 in duty or $88,000 total) OUCH! We did try to buy the owner’s car, but it was already sold when we saw the house. DARN!

This is the living room furniture we were able to buy in Grenada

Our good friend, Marion Pierre, hooked us up with the owners of a villa that had recently been purchased and who were planning to remodel and buy new furniture. They were selling off the contents by room. We wanted the living room couches so we also got some tables and lamps as part of the deal. We bought a new kitchen set that was lovely, plus another patio table and chairs and some miscellaneous side tables. Even if we don’t use everything, this was a deal for us because it took off some of the pressure to purchase and transport everything from the US and we didn’t need to pay duty on those items.

The first couple of days, we scoped out the used furniture stores in JAX for good deals. There are some really great stores with lovely items, all at unbeatable prices. My biggest issue is that we hadn’t really figured out how we were going to configure the huge living area (30 feet by 30 feet) so it was hard to visualize what to purchase. We did buy a gorgeous Asian room divider screen, a recliner and a rug. After procuring the couches and other miscellaneous furniture in Grenada, we knew we’d have enough to be comfortable enough for our first year. I also think we will have some furniture locally built. There are some great craftsmen in Grenada. We’ll just need to be really clear about exactly what we want as they tend to build traditional, formal English furniture that is beautiful, but not our style.

Our Middleburg long-term storage unit. We’re hallway through repacking – the good news is Michael is still smiling!

Next, we started sorting through our storage unit in Middleburg. This is where we kept all our precious things when we began traveling. If you’ve read from the beginning of our adventure, you’ll know we sold most of our things, just keeping Art and family keepsakes like crystal and silver. Everything I had read about traveling said “sell everything else”, otherwise you’ll open your unit sometime in the future and wonder, “Why did I keep THAT – And pay to have it insured – And pay storage fees?”

Mick, our ‘attack’ dog, guarding the storage unit while we packed. Note the computer on the gas grill that holds our master inventory list by box number and describes what is inside each box.

Since we were planning on traveling exclusively for 10 years, we were pretty brutal in deciding what we stored. The great news is almost everything in the unit will be going to Grenada with us. The bad news is that if we had known how quickly we would succumb to Grenada’s allure (we thought we’d rent for the next few years until we s old our big property) we would have kept a lot of the practical things like blenders, pots and pans, etc. and wouldn’t have had to rebuy all those day-to-day items. Everything was fairly well packed already so it only took us 2 days to go through everything and add additional cushioning in the boxes and super pack things like the crystal. The contents are now ready and just waiting to be loaded into the container.

Our repacking table and command center. The tall box in the middle is the packing table.

Now we started focusing on “the list” – everything we thought we would need in our new home that we didn’t already own. This was our one time opportunity to bulk ship everything into Grenada via container – keeping in mind this was probably the only time we might get a break on duty as first time home owners and knowing that whatever we didn’t buy we might need to do without – because it either isn’t available on island, would be ridiculously expensive and possibly of inferior quality or we’d have to ship the item individually with high shipping costs on top of any duty.

Michael, bless his heart, focused primarily on all the infrastructure items and I focused primarily on beauty and fun. (The best part is that I think we each thought we got the good end of the deal). Michael’s list had things like – fans, pressure washers, tools, wheel barrow, gas grill, stereo speakers, photography stuff, TV’s, ice maker, wine cooler, etc. My list had thing like – dishes, glasses, bedding, towels, kitchen stuff, drawer handles, curtains, candles, pool floats, etc. The weirdest thing I had to buy was plastic ware. Plastic items are outrageously expensive in Grenada for some reason. IE – a Brita pitcher is about $28 here and $100 there, regular plastic storage bowls are also 4 to 6 times as expensive. It’s crazy, so I purchased every possible plastic thing we’d need from here. Even with duty it will be much less expensive.

My mind just about blew up with all the decisions we had to make and the speed that money fled our bank account. Twice I had to pay off our credit card early so we’d have enough head room to purchase more. With no additional career income coming in, this was pretty sobering. It’s very much like thinking about everything you’ve bought over the past 30 years for your house and rebuying it in a month.

We had rented an additional 10’ by 10’ storage unit for all the new items we purchased and soon after, we rented another one (not that we had a lot of stuff or anything …..) With everything having to be packed well enough for shipping, the space filled up quickly. We also some purchased items for friends like a TV and a table saw so they could piggy back on our shipment. This way, they will pay US prices and will not need to pay separate shipping, just duty. I’m blaming the need for the third storage unit on them.

We also swapped out the 20 foot container we reserved for a 40 foot container – but that is another story. Stay tuned.