We are still in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou. It is great to be with such good and
like-minded friends, but the wind and rain are starting to take its toll on
us. We know, complaining about Caribbean
weather in a weblog intended primarily for New Brunswickers is, well, stupid
and insensitive; but this much rain could be depressing just about anywhere.
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| 7 am, uninhabited walkabout boat blowing through the stormy anchorage being guided by intrepid rescuers |
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| Peace and Plenty at anchor among the many curious and unique boats of Tyrell Bay |
We have had a boat break its mooring and many dragging
anchor. The good news from my point of
view is that many draggers have had the Rocna style anchor, allowing a demonstration
to the admiral that it may not be a "must have" addition to our gear,
and maybe the Brittany style we have are not so bad. We also all mustered our dinghies to try to
get some guy in a metal boat off the Tyrell Bay Reef (known as "Bareboat
Reef"). He actually floated off by
himself at midnight, since it was a full moon high tide.
We got another two hikes in, showing the crews of Moody
Blues and Peace & Plenty some parts of the island, and managed to stay
reasonably dry each time. One included
beaches and a ruin, while the other explored a high mountain trail - but
without climbing or scrabbling. The
second was marred by dog activity. Dogs fought with each other, and one dog badly
wounded a sick sheep out of sheer instinct.
The dogs are terribly numerous in Carriacou; poorly looked after and
poorly trained. If you do not like dogs,
stay off this island, and if you love them, this place might just cure that.
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| Another set of ruins in Carriacou |
Christmas Eve was spent on Moody Blues, with Susea providing
a fantastic chili complemented with fresh boat-made breads. We actually stayed up until midnight, the fun
was so addictive. Christmas Day was a
pot luck on Cat Tales; and the food was just amazing again, with turkey and carrot
cake from Susea, pork tenderloin from Dawn, mashed potatoes and mixed veggies
from Lorna, and a hot plantain salad from Laurie (with coaching from
Dawn). We started at 4 pm, but we were
alone by 8. Sadly, we are all too old
and decrepit to party hard two nights in a row, although most blame it on the
turkey.
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| Jeff from s/v Beach House and Steve and Maria onboard Moody Blues, Christmas Eve. |
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| Lorna and Brian and Laurie on Christmas Eve |
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| Gene and Susea aboard their boat Moody Blues |
We're watching for a hole in the weather today so I can help
Brian with a faulty wind generator, and again at supper when Lorna hopes to
serve us all at P&P some soup made from the turkey bones, veggies, and some
other left-overs.
Cat Tales and P&P are also hoping for a lull in the wind
and squalls to make a run between here and Grenada. It is only 3 hours in open sea, then 3 more
down the side of the island. It means a
temporary goodbye to Aspen and Moody Blues, but we'll be united again at some
point.
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| Something for the boys to look at while sipping cold beers at Paradise Beach! An extremely friendly and attractive gal from New York enjoying a solo vacation. |
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| An attractive young couple investigating shells in an isolated ravine, west shore Carriacou. As they still were looking at shells with their suits on, we all agreed they were wasting their youth! |
Technical
We have little to report here this week, although there is a
nagging leak under our bunk from the primary bulkhead that travels under the
mast and through each hull. It happens
if we have a significant rain or series of rain or have a major hell-time of a
sail. The water is insignificant, but the
smell it brings with it reminds one of a dump fire or the burning of the
coating off wire. We continue to monitor
and scratch our heads. It would be
wonderful to have a plan of the boat that shows where there is sandwich
construction or solid glass, and exactly how the bulkhead joins the various
surfaces. One would assume that the
hulls and deck were complete with outer and inner skins before the honeycombed
bulkhead was installed, but obviously not.
The answer is to re install every fitting on the boat, we guess - not
something we wish to do over open water.
