Tag Archives: Kick ’em Jenny

Course track

SUMMER IN GRENADA, SEASON 2 – by Theresa

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Leaving the Tobago Cays astern, cruising just outside of the exclusionary zone for the underwater volcano, Kick ’em Jenny, we spotted Grenada, our summer home port for our second hurricane season, immediately on the horizon.  We cruised down the leeward side of the island, past the small fishing village of Gouyave, and into our summer home port in St. Georges harbor.

 

Cruising by Kick-Em-Jenny submerged volcano exclusion zone
Approaching Grenada
Storm passing over Gouyave, St. John, Grenada
Pilots' Discretion cruising in to St. Georges, Grenada

Pilots’ Discretion cruising into St. Georges harbor, Grenada

After clearing immigration and customs, we hoisted  the courtesy flag of our host nation.

Ryan taking down the quarantine flag and hoisting the courtesy flag, Grenada
Ryan hoisting the courtesy flag, Grenada

While we endured typical Grenada passing showers on the day we arrived, we had many sunny days ahead of us. With school out for the summer, the boys immediately set out looking for some summer fun and adventures. Since this is our second summer in Grenada (see A Day in the Life of Grenada, 2015/08/02), we were already familiar with the lay of the land. We did not miss a beat getting back into the swing of the weekly, often wet and muddy, but always scenic and fun hikes (a.k.a. “hashes”).

Ronan rope action, hiking in Grenada

Ronan rope action, hiking in Grenada

Ryan crossing the stream hiking in Grenada (no use even trying to keep those shoes dry!)

Ryan crossing the stream hiking in Grenada (no use even trying to keep those shoes dry!)

Ronan and Ryan hiking in Grenada ... just a little muddy

Ronan and Ryan hiking in Grenada … just a little muddy. The shredded paper marks the trail.

The beginning of the hash
Hashing in Grenada
Always scenic, hashing in Grenada
This guy hikes with his monkey
Ronan taking in the view on the hash in Grenada

Ronan taking in the view on the hash in Grenada

Ryan and Ronan leading Marilyn, Paulette and Theresa in to the finish, 1st hash of the season, Grenada
Ronan, Sam, Ryan, Aaron, Josh and Eli finish the hike in Grenada (yep, more mud!)

There are a lot of other ‘kid boats’ riding out the hurricane season in Grenada, so much so, the boat kids have their own morning net on the VHF radio to communicate and organize events. The ‘Kids Organized Society’ (KOS, pronounced K-os, or chaos) meets weekly at Secret Harbor for a variety of fun activities.

Kids Organized Society (“KOS”), Secret Harbor, Grenada
KOS volleyball, Secret Harbor, Grenada

In the spirit of the 2016 Olympic games, the kids came together on Calabash Beach, Prickly Bay, for a mini-Olympics. There were relay races, three-legged races, swimming competitions and the ever popular tug-of war!

Calabash Beach Mini-Olympics

Ready, set, go!

Mini-Olympics, three legged race in Grenada
Mini-Olympics, three legged race in Grenada
Mini-Olympics, tug-of-war in Grenada
Mini-Olympics, tug-of-war in Grenada
Mini-Olympics, tug-of-war in Grenada
Mini-Olympics, tug-of-war in Grenada
Ronan and Ryan on the GYC dock

Ronan and Ryan on the GYC dock

The boys spent most of the summer at the Grenada Yacht Club sailing camp. Since this was their second summer attending the camp, they were afforded greater responsibility for rigging and de-rigging the boats. They also helped teach the new, younger sailors the points of sail and how to read the wind and water. (See last years’ post on Camp Grenada, 2015/08/07)

Grenada Yacht Club, St. Georges, Grenada

Grenada Yacht Club, St. Georges, Grenada

Sailing in St. Georges, Grenada

Sailing in St. Georges, Grenada

Ronan sailing

Ronan sailing

Ryan derigging the mosquito

Ryan derigging the mosquito

Working together to put the sails away

Working together to put the sails away

Another fun adventure we enjoyed this summer was a river tubing birthday party!

Tubes, Grenada
Ronan and Ryan getting ready to go tubing, Grenada
Ronan getting on the water
And they’re off
Rapid fun
Ronan on the river
Ronan
Gently down the stream
Fun on the rope swing after tubing down the river
Tubing

The summer has not been all fun and games. We have accomplished a great many ‘boat projects’ this summer, with more on the horizon. Next week we are having the boat hauled out of the water so that we can have her bottom painted along with some additional projects that are best achieved with the boat on the hard. We will ride out the boat haul at one of our favorite places in Grenada, Mount Cinnamon Resort. More to follow on that in our next post …

Kick 'Em Jenny

Eastern Caribbean on Heightened Alert as Underwater Volcano Activity off Grenada Increases – by Randy

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Kick 'em Jenny Alert

Kick ’em Jenny Alert

Thursday, July 23, 2015, the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center (UWI-SRC) raised the alert level to “Orange” (the second highest) due to increased seismic activity of “Kick ’em Jenny”. As described in our previous post, Kick ’em Jenny is an active underwater volcano, located 8 km north of Grenada. Since tsunamis triggered by underwater eruptions are a potential hazard for neighbouring islands if Kick ’em Jenny erupts, we monitor and receive Eastern Caribbean volcanic activity updates at: http://www.uwiseismic.com/.

As it turns out, we were on an island tour, enjoying lunch at Petit Anse Resort on the north shore of Grenada, looking north towards Kick ’em Jenny when the raised alert was first broadcast!

Petite Anse Resort Petite Anse Resort looking north towards Kick 'em Jenny

Petite Anse Resort looking north towards Kick ’em Jenny

Fortunately, UWI-SRC advises that at this time no tsunami warning has been issued for Grenada. However, the alert level at the Kick ‘em Jenny volcano, has been moved from yellow to orange which means that the exclusion zone around the submarine crater has been widened from 1.5 km to 5km. On the day we arrived in Grenada, our approach route brought us 1.5 km to the west of  Kick ’em Jenny, a route that if followed today would place us firmly in the exclusion zone. One of the hazards of particular concern for mariners when dealing with underwater volcanos is the reduced water density that results from the volcanos release of hot gasses into the surrounding waters. In some cases, this can result in a loss of buoyancy sufficient to sink  any vessel traversing the affected area.

CNN: Underwater volcano rumbles off Grenada

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/25/americas/kick-em-jenny-volcano-rumbling/index.html

Frequently Asked Questions About Kick ’em-Jenny:

Click to access KickemJenny_FAQ.pdf

Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/alert-level-raised-as-heightened-activity-recorded-at-underwater-volcano-off-grenada#ixzz3gvRuxPAi

Port Louis, St. Georges, Grenada

St. Vincent, The Grenadines & Grenada – by Randy

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For the past nine months, our family has been cruising south, through  the Caribbean including to and through the Bahamas, Turks & Caicos, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Spanish Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, St. Martin/St. Maarten, St. Bart, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts & Nevis, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Alas we have arrived in our summer home, Port Louis Marina, St. George’s Harbor in Grenada!

ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

Charleston Bay, Canouan, Grenadines

Charleston Bay, Canouan, Grenadines

After departing the serene Piton anchorage in St. Lucia we set a course towards St. Vincent & The Grenadines. Upon arrival, we opted to pick up a mooring ball in Charleston Bay in Canouan, the Grenadines. The bay, formerly home to a Moorings base that has apparently been closed down, was virtually empty the day we arrived. With only one other cruising boat in the harbor we moored within 30 yards of the beach  just off the Tamarind Resort Hotel and enjoyed a pleasant evening ashore. During our brief period ashore, we found the locals to all be pleasant and helpful. We discovered a charming beachfront restaurant with tables set in the sand from which we enjoyed our dinner while watching the sunset over Charleston Bay (the name of the restaurant was the Coconut Bar and Grill and the owner’s name was Ezera. Ezera and his beach dog “beachboy” made sure that everyone including our Cocker Spaniel, Patton were well taken care of).  From St. Vincent southward to Grenada there are literally dozens of small to medium sized islands, each with it’s own distinct personality and allure. Unfortunately, we have arrived too late in the season and must press on to Grenada but to be sure, we will be exploring as many of them as we can when we make our return trip northward.

GRENADA

Cruising into Grenada

Cruising into Grenada

With the “hurricane season” upon us, our boat insurance requires us to position the boat south of 12o30”   north of the equator. As such, we departed Canouan and continued our journey south towards our summer home marina in Grenada. Since our course took us in close proximity to “Kick ’em Jenny,” an active under water volcano, prior to departing Canouan we obtained an Eastern Caribbean volcanic activity update at: http://www.uwiseismic.com/.  Kick ’em Jenny has a reputation of kicking up nasty seas and she did not disappoint on the day we cruised  by. Despite staying well clear of the 1.5 km safety exclusion zone, there was a noticeable shift in seas, which continued until we got into the lee of Grenada. The island of  Grenada has all along been our end of the Caribbean chain destination and so we had yet another surreal moment as we cruised into the sheltered lagoon at Port Louis Marina, Grenada in our own boat.

Port Louis, St. Georges, Grenada

Port Louis, St. Georges, Grenada

Once settled into the marina, we set out to explore new our new summer home base. Since we will be here for several months, we will have ample time to explore Grenada at a leisurely pace.

Port Louis, St. Georges, Grenada
R&R hiking the mound, Port Louis, Grenada

Already we have discovered a local hiking/running club which organizes weekly hikes in different locations around the island.

Grenada hike trail marker
Grenada hike – crossing streams
Grenada hike – some people ran
Grenada hike – the rope obstacle
Grenada hike – the boys scaling the rope obstacle
Grenada hike – some people walked

The boys have completed their homeschooling for the year and we are looking forward to exploring all that Grenada and the surrounding islands have to offer this summer.

R,R, and Patton-Port Louis, Grenada
Henry’s Safari Tours, Grenada