Carriacou
Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Wed 1 May 2013 21:26
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12:28.96N 61:27.69W
Tuesday 30 April and Wednesday 1
May 2013
Distance Run 8nm
We started to raise the anchor soon after 10 am on
Tuesday and the electric windlass stopped working part way through. This
was not funny as the 10mm anchor chain and 30kg anchor then has to be
lifted manually from the seabed. The windlass last failed in Greece about
5 years ago and fortunately we were now in much shallower water than we
were then. Nevertheless it is difficult to get all the tackle back on
board and Lin, on the helm, did a great job of carefully threading the boat
between other nearby boats and the shallow reefs once we were free from the
bottom.
After a short sail we anchored off the town of
Hilsborough on Carriacou. Unfortunately our normally reliable anchoring
didn't result in the usual first-time hold and it had to be lifted and lowered
manually a second time before we were secure.
We had lunch and I went ashore afterwards in the
dinghy to clear in to Customs and Immigration. Again Immigration were
charming and efficient. The same could not be said for the Customs
lady. For the first time since we arrived in the Caribbean I
had encountered a rude official. The young lady did not detach
her mobile phone from her ear throughout the whole process which was punctuated
by various bad tempered commands and
impatient gesticulations. It was clear that her job was getting in
the way of her telephone conversation. Dave on Nutmeg had had a similar
experience. Once completed we were cleared into the three island state of
Grenada - Grenada itself, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
Anchored off Hillsborough:-
 I had a go at tracing the fault on the windlass
during the afternoon to no avail.
The following day I took the windlass apart and
removed a 'combination gear' which I remembered during the night can seize and
stop the windlass. It was indeed seized and I freed it but there was
also an electrical fault. After a long time poking about with a muti-meter
trying to find the point at which there was no voltage in the circuit I
discovered a pair of connections I didn't know existed in the rope/sail
locker! One of these was burnt to a crisp and looked as though it had
recently been wet. I think the combination gear had seized putting a lot
of strain on the circuit and the high current blew the dodgy
connection. I remade the connection and all was well again.
Unfortunately the burnt connection had melted a hole in the cruising
chute (a sail made of lightweight purple and pink (!) spinnaker cloth) so
we need to get a sailmaker on to that. We were lucky it hadn't set
fire.
Relieved we don't yet have to get a new windlass we
had lunch and then motored a mile or so to 'Sandy Island' and picked up a
mooring. We went ashore in the dinghy and walked up and down this small
island in about 10 minutes and swam off the beautiful beach.
We had a peaceful evening and a lovely dinner
on board.
Sunset over Sandy Island:-
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