Who drinks this stuff?
We have now been in Grenada for over a month. Our initial plan called for this to be a mere pitstop; a time to pull the boat out and do some maintenance work before proceeding to Bonaire. We do most of our boat work ourselves but there are certain hazardous chemicals found in boat paint that kill barnacles (the toughest, most resilient little guys on the planet).........and yet are OK for us to be around? So we worked hard for six hard days on other projects while the local pros painted the bottom.
Boat looks good.......ready to sail into the sunset and......then the funniest thing happened - Tom and I both fell in love with Grenada. Initially it was the anchorages and the local people that captivated us. Then it was the other cruisers with which we became close friends. Last week we got to know the countryside a bit better and it is fascinating.
Occasionally I am able to talk Tom into playing tourist for a day. I find that the promise of food, a "short" hike and a reserved taxi is a good recipe to get him to agree on a day trip. Last week we went to a rum factory that operates exactly as it did in 1780 when it opened.
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| The original sugarcane grinder - made and imported from the UK in 1780 by Willy Wonka & Co. |
This is not because it is a historic site or filled with "rum re-enactors" - it simply is because they make strong, cheap rum that is only sold in Grenada. And strong means strong - two varieties: one 150 proof, the other 140 proof. How strong is that? The 150 isn't allowed on airplanes..........it's explosive. Like put a match in it and boom.
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| OSHA Disneyland - open vats that bring in the sugar cane mixture. Yesterday's worker headcount was two short. |
In walking through the plant it seemed that drinking this rum could only lead to blindness. The rum distillery guide's admission that she doesn't drink this stuff was probably a bad sign. Tom and I had a thimble full - not our normal quantity at any alcohol tasting - and frankly it was awful (perhaps better if masked by tropical punch). The favorite local drink is this stuff on ice.... And yet - we bought a bottle of the 150 proof stuff - maybe it will be good for killing barnacles.
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| The rum mixture fermenting - reminds Tom of changing diapers after baby's first buffalo wing |
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| Rust just improves the product |
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| Just holding this makes me sweat |