Ruddered again!
Irie
Thu 5 Mar 2009 02:02
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Position 12 27.38N 61 29.33W Tyrell Bay
Cariacou
Wednesday 4th March
Well, here we are safe and sound up in Tyrell, the
rudder's fixed, the cutlass bearing's silent and so far, nothing's seemed to
leak.
The last week or so has actually vanished very
quickly. Hiring a car proved a good move, and last Sunday week, the pair of us
had a great day out, circumnavigating the coast by road. Although the
island is only 20 miles long by 9 wide, the round trip totals 105 miles.
The east coast is especially twisty, the road winding in and out of little bays
and red roofed villages. Right up in the north-east corner is Bathway
beach, and on our visit it's a roaring line of surf crashing up onto a shining
crescent of sand. The wind's been blowing 30 knots or so for several days,
and the waves are driving in hard all along this side of the island. It's
spectacular, and almost deserted, just a couple of tourists sunbathing, and some
locals dividing their time between roadside cricket, necking
Caribs and splashing in the foam that occasionally breasts the
top of the sand. One group of magnificently proportioned ladies spends the
whole time we're there rolling in the pools and screaming wildly. The scenery
all through the island is quite spectacular, and travelling north, the moisture
from the mountain rain creates layers of tropical greenery soaring up to the
peaks and clothing the precipitous valleys. The wind is keeping the clouds quite
broken and the humidity low, so that the clarity of the views and the intensity
and contrast of the colours in the reds, blues and greens, are
quite startling. This is a very lovely island.
On Tuesday the Keerys arrive, delivered spot on
time at 12.15 by LIAT, having spent a few days in Barbados. Coincidently,
the Gillibrands are in transit, on their way back home after a week in Tobago,
so another small Somerset reunion takes place at the Aquarium, a rather nice
restaurant perched on a beach at the far South West of Grande Anse. Despite the
lack of boat, the Keerys are very stoical, and on Wednesday we again make the
most of the car, retracing our steps round the island. John's a bit of an
aircraft buff, and back at Pearls airport from some considerable distance he
correctly identifies the old wrecks of planes as an Antonov AN2 and the
other as an Antanov AN 24 - what did he spend the last 42 years doing? The
chocolate factory and the rum factory are just as good second time round. At
both places we say that we've been before and enjoyed it so much that we've
brought friends and they insist on charging only for one couple - what lovely
people. Thursday sees us in St Georges, touring the museum and the fort. There's
a treat in the latter, as high on the battlements, peering through a door I find
rows of boots lined up and some scattered shoemaking equipment. It turns out to
be the workshop of the guy who looks after the boots and shoes for the two
thousand police and military on the island. He's actually handsewing a new
sole onto a pair of Trek, and once the shoe connection is established, he's
ecstatically voluable as he shows us the ancient machinery and the shocking
quality he has to sort out. Eventually we break free and head down to BB's for
an excellent (other than some rather tough lambi) light lunch. Friday has the
promise of launching, but time drifts by, and a couple of problems
defer the 'splash' (technical term - Ed) till Monday. We console ourselves with
happy hour at the Prickly Marina Bar, that leads on to a steel band and then
later gyrations driven by a combo who play through to midnight -
heady stuff. Saturday passes pleasantly chez Lance Aux Epines, and Sunday we
mount an assault on Grande Anse. It is a spectacular beach and yet again,
totally empty.
Monday really does look like splash day, so the
cottages are emptied and the bags and accumulated stuff ferried round in the
dinghy and repacked onto Irie.
Although last week was bit tortuous week boat
wise, we will be back in the water exactly three weeks after hauling. We might
have hoped and pushed to do the jobs in two weeks, and last Friday would have
helped, but three weeks was our private guestimate. There was more retro fitting
of the new shaft into the old casing that had been planned for; the weather
played a part, belting down when some outside work needed doing, and the rudder
proved to be a few degrees off true when finally aligned in the boat. Still, the
yard have been very good, it's all been sorted and adjusted, and the guys who
worked directly on the boat, universally cheerful and commited. Frankie was on
hand to make sure we didn't bubble our way to the bottom as we settled into the
dock just before 4pm, and within half an hour we were safely on the anchor, back
just under the reef and alongside BelleLurette who had just arrived. They're to
leaving the boat for the season on Thursday - what a great excuse for them
to join us for a couple of small somethings to celebrate the relaunch. Tuesday
at 7 am, the seals are checked once more and we set off north.
A pod of females 'beached' at Bathway
 JSK (retired) looking to pick up a little
consulting
 Now that's a rudder
 The splash - motley crew on hand
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