Of lubbers and lobsters

A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Fri 7 Jan 2011 16:24
12:35.83N
61:24.85W
 
Our new crew has arrived and been chained up below decks, where they can just reach an oar, but not much else. Celia and Andy arrived as night fell over St George's in Grenada, and had a lightning tour of the city as we hunted for a place for supper. Big, silly cocktails kept them awake until almost midnight - a near record for us as well.
 
The crew was briefed for an early start and by 7.30am we were setting sail from St George's. During the night, four huge cruise liners had appeared in the lagoon, and our route out was literally under the overhang of a huge steel bow belonging to an Aida ship, which sported a huge pair of garish lips painted just above the waterline and eyes with big lashes peering out from under the bridge.
 
It turned out to be a good windy day, so we made good time to the north east, close hauled into mild chop. It was something of a batism of fire for Celia and Andy and fairly soon, Colvin was hunkered down in the cockpit staring fixedly at the horizon with a greenish tinge to his face. Celia meanwhile was periodically crying 'Weeeeeeeeiiiiiiihhhhhhhh!' with her hair flying in the wind. We reefed down in about 20 knots and tacked up towards Carriacou.
 
With promises of fish, I put the line out with our top lure - Carla the pink cuttlefish. Sure enough, just as Celia murmured the words 'come on fish', there was a terrific shriek from the fishing reel as line was dragged off it by an unseen beast of the sea. We sheeted out a sail to spill wind and i started reeling in against stiff resistance. After a minute or two, a large looking fish surfaced briefly about 20 yards astern. That's when the wheels fell off. With a titanic thrash of its head, the fish disappeared. There was a ping from Carla, who like a spring, flew through the air as the fish shook itself lose and eased the tension on the line. Despite numerous fish songs from Andy and the rest of the crew throughout the day, we arrived in wide Tyrell Bay empty handed.
 
Happily a local called Simon quickly filled the void when he buzzed out in a dinghy to offer us live lobster. We agreed on a four pound specimen, but he came back with an absolutely monstrous spiny lobster that weighed in at considerably more. The leviathan was struggling with its many sharp legs and waving its antennae with agitation. Seeing the daunted expressions on our faces, Simon merrily chopped off both antennae, then drove a knife into the carapace between the creature's eight legs, which sent the fight out of him. He curled up shortly afterwards. The skipper spent about 20 minutes with a large knife and a hammer carving the beast in two to fit him on the barbecue. An hour later, as the rain drummed down on the deck, a contented silence filled the boat. This was broken only by the occasional snore from Andy, who is still struggling with jetlag.
 
Tyrell Bay
 
 
 
Carriacou from on high