French Box Milk – Tastes just like fresh milk!
We’ve Got Milk
One of the most exciting events of this week: We found boxed milk that doesn’t taste nasty. I’m leading with this because we are more impressed by this than being hit by a drone. We posted about milk and the horrid tasting tetra-packs and powdered milk in March. We made mention in that post about buying good tasting non-refrigerated boxed milk at Carrefour while touring Europe. Well, leave it to the French. We found great tasting boxed milk in Grenada, a product of France. Our regular grocery store was out of fresh milk after the hurricanes hit the northern Caribbean. Some supplies were slow to arrive here even though we had no direct effects or damage from the nasty weather. So, we hesitantly tried some boxed milk. We based our decision on which brand to buy by the simple fact it was French and because of our previous French milk experience. Wow! It tastes just like fresh milk. Yum! Needless to say, we plan to load up before we leave. Fortunately we will not need to buy too much as our travels this year will include the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. We can by more at Carrefour on these islands. Life is good.
Finding the milk is doubly exciting since we are getting ready to leave the marina. I am so happy we will be moving again. Cindy has been working on a provisioning list. It’ll be nice to have milk that tastes good while we are anchored in some remote areas before arriving in the French Caribbean islands.
We are hauling Cream Puff for her bi-annual maintenance this week and are having a boatyard paint the bottom with anti-fouling paint (this keeps barnacles from growing). While this work is taking place we have rented a house on Grenada. We are so excited to have a real kitchen and sleep in a big bed that doesn’t move. Once the work is completed, it should take about 10 days, we will start to sail northward up the Caribbean Islands, weather permitting, with lots of milk aboard.
Texas BBQ
The restaurant in the marina where we have stayed while in Grenada does a BBQ on Friday nights. We love BBQ. And, with Cindy being from Texas, she thinks of BBQ as a delicacy. When we first heard the marina did a Texas style BBQ, our expectations were mixed. We were both optimistically cautious. How many times have you been lured into a restaurant with the promise of Italian style Pizza or English Fish ‘n Chips to only be disappointed upon the food arriving thus making you wonder if the chef had ever visited the country of origin? I seriously had my doubts a little restaurant on the small island of Grenada could possibly replicate the art of a true Texas BBQ. I am please to say I was wrong to doubt them. The food is just simply awesome. Yes! Authentic Texas style BBQ in the tropics. How great is this? When we discovered the Friday night special, we were thrilled to see smoke coming from huge BBQ cookers off to one side of the restaurant beginning on Thursday night. BBQ aficionados know slow cooking over wood or charcoal is the only way to go. Our first meals were beef ribs and beef brisket. We traded some so we could sample both. The brisket melted in my mouths. No need for a knife here. The brisket can be cut with a fork. This past Friday was our last BBQ here on Grenada. We are going to miss Friday nights. Sigh!
Brisket, Garlic Bread, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw
Hit by a drone
Ka-booom! Was the sound we heard while minding our own business sitting inside Cream Puff enjoying air conditioning on a sweltering Grenada afternoon. Have I told you lately how hot it is here? “What the hell was that”, we both said. I popped my head up the companionway a looked about. I didn’t see anything. Then I saw Peter, and Australian we meet on the boat behind ours, “a drone just hit your boat”. I asked if he saw it happen and he said he watched it hit the forestay (the metal wire on the front of the boat that goes from the bow to the top of the mast). Peter said the drone went into the water just off the bow.
When you think about it, flying a drone in a marina is not very smart. In fact it is darn right stupidity. There are masts sticking up everywhere. The mast have expensive things bolted to them like antennas, navigation lights, and radar units. The marina has a pretty strict policy about drones and photographs. The policy is not because of the associated dangers. It is because some of the mega-yachts claim to have famous people charter them. People I’ve never heard of. But, then again, I never really pay much attention to People Magazine or sports. Not following celebs or athletes means I have no earthly idea who 99.9% of famous people are. While we are on the subject of famous people, Sir Richard Branson, yes, I know who Sir Richard is. Well, his yacht has been in and out of the marina quite a bit as his son is shuttling supplies up to the BVI islands ravaged by hurricane Irma. The Branson’s are in for a good bunch of karma coming their way.
Necker Belle – Sir Richard Branson’s Boat
Peter thought it would be a good idea to retrieve the drone. He fetched a mask and fins from his boat. It was about this time when a rather grumpy Canadian fellow showed up with a small entourage. He claimed the drone and said he was filming a commercial (unauthorized by the marina) for a charter boat company. “It hit our boat”, I told him. “I doubt if it damaged it” was the gruff reply. “That’s not the point”, I said thinking an apology would have been appropriately received but apparently wasn’t forthcoming. One of the members of the entourage thought he could dive in and retrieve the drone. He borrowed the mask and fins from Peter and on his second attempt surfaced with a mangled scrap of plastic somewhat resembling a done. I figured the drone was pretty much toast as mixing electronics with saltwater never proves favorable for the circuitry. I normally would have offered a bucket of fresh water to dunk the drone and rid it of the corrosive salt thus providing a slim chance of repair. The SD card if immediately washed and left to dry in rice could be salvaged. I could have offered a ziplock bag with rice. And, normally I would have offered a towel to the guy coming out of the water upon completing the salvage and an unplanned swim. But, because of the lousy attitude by the drone owner and entourage, I decided to stay quiet and just watch.
We obtained so very poor quality footage from the owner of the drone. We think the drone also hit the radar dome on the boat next to Cream Puff causing about $1800 in damage. If you do not see the video you can click here.
