We stayed at the Gem Holiday Beach Resort at Morne Rouge Bay. This is not a very fancy hotel but it is clean and inexpensive. For hams, this location ranks an absolute zero. You are on the side of a large mountain that blocks out Europe. Also, this hotel has a “make-shift” satellite cable system which is very TVI prone. My hours of operation were extremely limited due to this problem.
Each room had a phone but it was hooked to an outdated PBX system that wouldn’t allow me to connect my computer to E-mail. The hotel office had their “special fax line” which would have worked but they wouldn’t let me use it as they “wouldn’t know how to charge me.” The people were very friendly just as long as I only wanted to eat, sleep, drink and swim. They sure didn’t want me to do anything else.
The temperature was extremely hot every day (about 95 degrees Fahrenheit) with hardly any ocean breeze. I thought this was unusual for an island nation.
Most of the islanders seemed very ambitious. They practically all had jobs and worked hard to keep the island looking beautiful.
The hill where the contest station J39A operates.
Airport Terminal
Airport terminal. This is the “street side” of Grenada’s large and modern airport.
Hotel
Hotel
Bar and restaurant.
Across the small parking lot.
Bedroom
Kitchen
Island Tour
A nut factory. No, not an insane asylum.
First wash the nuts
Sort the nuts
Bag the nuts
Ready for shipment. Grenada is known as “The Spice Island”. Here are thousands of pounds of Nutmeg ready for export
Grenada beautiful beach
Look Over There
Our guide is trying to show Chris something.
Sulfur spring. Hot sulfur spring. Bath anyone?
Skinny cow. I wish this girl would eat more.
Time for lunch. This stone house was converted over to a restaurant that served us a wonderful lunch.
Chris and Dave
Party boat. Here is my wife Chris as we started a day on a rum boat. I love boats, I love rum, I highly recommend it.
The hill where the contest station J39A operates.
Dave, J3/WJ2O resting.
J3/WJ2O QSL Card
First, you have to go to one office and get the paperwork filled out. You have to catch the proper official in his office so there are only certain times of the day you can do this. Then you go to another location a few blocks away and pay the fee. This office was busy, and we had about a half hour wait in line. This office issues the actual license and stamps your application. Then you go back to the first office and return the original paperwork with the fee stamped on it.
This was the most complicated process of licensing I’ve ever encountered. I’m very thankful to Gill for escorting me around.
J3/WJ2O operating position in Grenada.
Equipment:
Kenwood TS-940 Transceiver
486-DX Laptop Computer
Ameritron AL80B Amplifier
Butternut HF6V Vertical Antenna
Heath Micromatic Keyer
Customs
Having my usual pile of luggage, I hired one of the local baggage handlers and he loaded up a cart for me. The customs official asked me about my equipment which I explained what it was. She went over to ask a question of another official, came back and said, “it’s OK.”
On my way out of the building a man with a clip board approached me and said they were taking a survey and would like to know if I was handled courteously by customs. I of course said yes, but wondered if things would have been different had it not been “survey day.”