BOATYARD BLUES

WE GOT THE

NO LOCK ON THE SHOWER

UNBELIEVABLY DIRTY TOILETS

BLIND ROOSTERS CROW AT 3 am

GOAT POO EVERYWHERE

NO POWER TO THE BOAT

NO WATER IN THE CISTERN

WE GOT NO SEE UMS EVERYDAY

WE GOT MOSQUITOS EVERY NIGHT

WE GOT ANTS IN THE PANTS AND EVERYWHERE ELSE

THE COOK IS ON HOLIDAY AND THE REPLACEMENT COOK CAN'T

WE GOT THE DUSTY DIRTY HUNGRY BOATYARD BLUES

The pilot guide written by Chris Doyle describes Tyrrel Bay Boatyard as an “Excellent small boatyard”.

Well they got us hauled out and splashed back in safely and the yard workers were very helpful and we did get everything done but the toilets were unuseable, there was only one shower to serve the yard and it did not have either a light or a lock. Neither of us even went into the loos they were so disgusting.





Where they parked our boat for us to work on had been used as midden by the local goat population so the ant population was mega. When we arrived the ants who had been eating goat poo for months suddenly got a taste for seafood and all the other food goodies we had onboard. On the second morning we got up to find a crazy ants everywhere on the boat. They were using the tube from the centreboard trunk to get up on deck, their own version of a stairway to heaven, then had found their way to the companionway and down below.

The tanker driver who makes the water deliveries was refusing to go near the water tanks due to their dangerous state so water was rationed until danger money was negotiated.

We had thought that we would eat in the yacht club next door but the cook was on holiday and the replacement cook couldn't cook.




However the view was still pretty good as was the ice cream !








The crazy French single hander parked behind us started dry sanding his [poisonous] antifouling and we got covered in his dust.

Gisela and I got close to having official sense of humour failures at this point.
But conditions were so awful and as maintenance was strictly CATASTROPHE ONLY that every one who worked there was used to helping people out.

One night we finished late and Gisela had had her shower while I guarded the door then as she went to walk back in the dark only to find an anonymous torch bearer lighting her way back to Elephants Child and the ladder which was our own stairway to heaven – well mosquito netting covered hatches and good fans made it heaven compared to the alternative.

However we enjoyed our mad Frenchman singing songs to his boat as he worked.



We enjoyed watching the local boat, an island trader built on the beach in Petit St Vincent 14 years ago, having some rot dealt with and when they found it to be worse than they thought they just dug it out and ordered some more planks. They just got on with it.


We enjoyed watching Alwyn Enoe and his sons working on Genesis the Carriacou Sloop which has lead the revival in building and racing these decked sailing boats. They lengthened the stern and repaired the rudder. Watching Alwyn use an axe to shape a plank to fit the damaged rudder was an education.




We enjoyed watching the roosters squabbling away and chasing their hens, one of whom a sprightly white young lady had made her escape under something painted a vivid blue as the tips of her tail feathers were a vivid blue

But we really enjoyed watching our hard work slip back into the water, filling our water tanks and being able to get back out to anchor in the bay with a sight of the sunset.

We still have ants to deal with but compared to the rest “pah and double pah!”





OH YES About that rooster?

Anyone seen a rooster??



Chicken soup or Coq au Vin Hmmm both should taste good.