Aisle Seats

I’ve been missing writing. It has been in the past a form of therapy for me. I think I might try it again

for a bit. Graham and I arrived back in Grenada on Thursday morning after a red eye flight from Toronto. It has been one hell of a summer, couch surfing with friends and family. Talk about a great form of therapy…so many deep talks and connections, so much laughter as well. I mused with my friend Amanda this summer about how to purposefully be more joyful and silly. I know it sounds too deliberate but man it feels good to laugh. I need more of it and somehow you become an adult and this silly part of you shrinks a bit. I’m gonna work this year on building it back up. All the laughter these past few months has really been the best form of therapy. Anyway it felt really good to be so loved and welcomed this summer. 

And now here we are back in Grenada and in typical “Perry Style” we arrived on the red eye cheap flight at 8am. For anyone who doesn’t know us really well “Perry Style” is basically “on the cheap”. Nothing makes Graham (and myself to some degree) happier than saving money and frugality. Graham also decided to surprise me by booking us seats not beside each other but rather across the aisle??? On a Red eye?? He kept saying, “we are next to each other…just across an aisle”. Needless to say his logic was lost on me and he will be asking me where I want to sit in the future ;-). 

During our last few days in Toronto we packed a Pallet full of groceries to ship down to Grenada. It is shocking how much groceries cost on the island. Most items are at a minimum double but it's normal to pay 3 to 6 times as much for items as well. When we were previously in quarantine in Grenada we bought our groceries online through the IGA website, so now in Canada as we shop we open the Grenada IGA store app and rationalize all our purchases by comparing the prices. The pallet pays for itself! It is also so nice to have some familiar items on board as we set off to cross oceans and we both love the process :-). Purchasing, inventorying, organizing, packing, arranging the boxes on the pallet like a game of tetris, labeling….love the labeling, wrapping the pallet in shrink wrap…so satisfying seeing it all packaged up as one whole, sooo good…..and then when it arrives…..well let me tell you ;-)! 

It’s interesting returning to Grenada as we have been here many times. The newness and wide eyed wonder is gone but it's replaced with a nostalgia and home-like feel. As our taxi (with the slowest oldest taxi driver known to Grenada) weaves through the streets I am smiling.  I have been missing this, missing my boat, my bed, my routine, my time….and mother ocean. Unfortunately, Salty Ginger is parked on land and dismantled for summer storage, so not yet an ideal place to lay our heads. Past Julie and Graham would have moved on board in the blazing heat after a night flight and probably begun work right away….but current us has learned a few things ;-). We rented a small apartment walking distance to the yard and had a couple hours sleep before heading to the boat for ½ a days work. 

Oh my god the HEAT…..I always try to mentally prepare myself but omg….I can literally feel my hair
instantly frizz….sweat seems to come from everywhere….my glasses keep sliding down my nose. I quickly remember how every job on a boat is a series of MANY jobs. First thing we need to do is locate a ladder to be able to climb on board. There never seems to be enough ladders. Once on board we get to work on hooking up electricity so we can turn on our stand up AC unit. Thank god for this small unit.  We need to find our extension cords….we need a few to connect the boat to the plug-in which is a
crazy long distance away. This involves climbing up and down the ladder.  Then we need to remember how to turn on the shore power on board….we should really write this stuff down ;-). This takes a bit of trial and error. Then we set up the AC with the hose out a window and the pillow stuffed in the window around it…then we press the power button and you can imagine we are now in a full blown sweat….I’m in my underwear with hair on head….and the AC doesn’t start. Hot, tired, frustrated….we pull out the filters to see if they need cleaning, we drag the AC over to the bilge to see if maybe it’s full of water….it isn’t. We figure what might be wrong and prior to pulling it all apart we try just one more time to plug in and……AIR beautiful AIR Conditioned AIR blows out…..sweet Jesus I love this machine. 

Now the fun begins. We have one week to do all the jobs that need to be done before we launch Salty Ginger on October 13th. In one afternoon we……ok Graham…checked a bunch off the list…I did a bunch as well but also had to have my first nap on board…glorious! Before we left for the apartment we put up our big sun shade and readied ourselves for a productive week. 

I’m so happy to be home. Even with the heat and the work and the frustrations….it feels so good. I am so excited about what's to come. I feel like our journey has just begun. We plan on beginning our circumnavigation in early November!! Pacific Ocean here we come….. YAHOOO

#pacificcrossing2023