Fuel at the Phare

It was a lovely day as we motored east. We both celebrated as we made it past the point where we’d overheated the day before.

Then WW remember Le Phare Bleu (French for blue lighthouse).

On the notice board in De Big Fish, he had read that Palm Tree Marine Services at Le Phare Bleu Marina would, among other things, polish fuel and clean fuel tanks. His cup ranneth over...until he could find no mention of it in any of our books, in the phone book, or on any map. We finally asked at Spice Island Marina and were told it is new, in a bay just past Calivigny Island to the east.

A small squall off the south coast of Grenada

As we motored along, WW radioed to them and learned they would be able to fit us in next week. Or today. Just then, the starboard engine started its telltale “I’m eating algae” stutter. WW cranked the wheel to port and we were soon cruising slowly up Egmont Bay. It wasn’t long before we spotted a blue lighthouse almost dead ahead.

We docked at a small attractive marina and a nice fellow (Mike) from Palm Tree examined our layout and muttered over the fuel tanks, saying they’d need to come out. This, rather alarmingly, meant cutting into Django’s woodwork to make space for removal. However, it had to be done. They simply could not be cleaned properly in situ.

To avoid watching Django mauled, we went for a long walk. Lennox (pronounced with the emphasis on the last syllable) is the local taxi guy. He offered to drive us when we said we were going to walk to Woburn, on the far side of the bay to the west. We explained we wanted the exercise.

Roads do not do straight lines in Grenada, and they constantly rise and fall with the steep hills and deep valleys. So we were grateful when Lennox passed by later, picked us up, and drove us to Top Woburn then Bottom Woburn, a couple of miles (and mountains) past where he’d found us. We wandered about briefly in Bottom Woburn, then headed for to the long and winding road back to the marina. Just then, we were found by a bus.

Buses are privately owned, but the government assigns routes and provides a terminal. The buses aggressively seek passengers. Having seen the distance we had come with Lennox, a bus seemed a good idea for the return run. We hopped aboard. There is a fare collector in the back with the passengers. He opens the sliding door and collects money as people emerge. We weren’t on for long. The fare was about $3 US for both of us. The remainder of the walk back was very pleasant as the sun was starting to sink and there was ample shade at the roadside.

When we got back, Mike and his strong right arm PJ were just removing the second fuel tank, to place it on the dock with its twin and the fuel, which had been filtered into a big drum. Mike said the fuel polishing had been a good idea...he’d removed a grapefruit-sized “jellyfish” of algae at one point. Ew.

PJ and Django's fuel tanks

On board, we were relieved to find the cutting had been done with surgical precision. A little sanding and a little varnish should have her looking like new. We were both very impressed by the quality of the work...and continued to be so throughout the job.

The remaining work was going to take a couple of days, partly because Mike and PJ had other jobs to do and partly because this was Friday.

Grenada is a tiny island and much of it can be seen from a car in a day. We decided to make the best of our forced downtime and booked Lennox for a tour. He would meet us at 10 a.m. the next day.