Dinghy Donut Disaster!

Big Bingo

There are several social events that we have enjoyed in Grenada... We have enjoyed the Trivia nights and had varying degrees of success. A couple of weeks back we won a ticket to Big Bingo and never having been but having heard a lot about it we decided to use the ticket and go with our friends Ian and Trish off of Sanctuary. We had a good time and Bingo at Prickly Bay is a little different to that back in the UK. The prizes can vary from a goat, a cow or a pig to a raffle prize where if you are really unlucky you can win a toilet seat, a pregnancy test and a pack of condoms!! The place is packed with a combination of locals, University students and yachties...They also have a dance off if two people should happen to call a line at the same time. This is good fun and it is suprising how even the most shy of characters will shake their booty when faced with the possibility of winning big money. When we went there were no livestock prizes but the jackpot was not to be sneezed at at...800ec and guess what ??.... Trish won!! Not only the jackpot but two diagonal lines ( a cross ) which was worth six beers and a pizza! Wouldn't like to do it every week but it was good fun. I should also add that should a yachtie win a cow or any other livestock on offer they have the option of trading it in for the commensurate amount of folding stuff, which many have in fact done in the past.

                             Grenada the Isle of Spice...how many can you name?

The Dinghy Donut Ride

It just so happens that this week we won the Trivia and our prize was a two hour ride on the dinghy donut ride with a case of beer and three pizzas. There were seven in our team and we met on the dock ready to throw the beer over the ice in the central bucket and cast of for a leisurely trip around the Bay. The outboard engine started and we set off cracking the beer open and sharing the Pizza out ...as we went chugging around the Bay. I have to say the engine sounded a little tired and there was quite a stiff breeze blowing us out the Bay but .. no problem everything was under control.we had been in the dinghy for around 30 minutes when the engine died and despite John and Terry's best efforts it became obvious that there was a problem. On further investigation we found the answer to the problem was simple....No fuel!! As we glided past Orion1 on our way to Colombia we shouted to our neighbours, a very pleasant French guy called Jacques with very little English,however, he understood that we needed a bit of help and with the assistance of another dinghy he managed to get us a line and attach us to his boat! He then gave John a lift to Orion to get the handheld (advice for anyone else winning this ride....along with a bottle opener for the beers take a handheld VHF... just as useful!!). We contacted the Marina who sent out a rib with more fuel and at one point whilst we filled the tank Jacques had two dinghies hanging off his stern. The Marina operative did tell us that he had forgotten to fill the the tank ....so further advice for future winners....check the fuel as well! Well we were beginning to lose our confidence in the Donuts ability to get us back to the dock so we asked the Marina dinghy to follow us which was fortunate as the engine, an Enduro outboard, had endured enough it seemed and would only run if under full throttle anything less it sputtered and died. Were we down hearted of course not we still had 10 beers and a Pizza to finish so we drove at full speed back to the dock and finished the rest off there tied to the Dock! 

Kieran the Marina Supervisor was very apologetic and relieved that we were all still smiling and laughing. I asked him if he was trying to turn the prize into some sort of extreme sport! We enjoyed ourselves though I think if we win the Trivia again I might donate the prize back

I should also mention Johns 'Delboy' moment trying to look cool sitting down on a seat that wasn't there and that was before any alcohol had been taken!! Laughs all around with that one!

Cruisers for Cancer

Hope on Starshine organised a fundraising dominoes session which was a big success raising over 2000ec that went directly towards Cancer Care on the Island. There was a raffle with great prizes....I won a haircut at a local hairdressers which is great because it's just what I need!