Well there is a smile on my face because with the last lick of paint in the tin I covered the last bit of the centerboard and unpainted bottom. The lift driver Edwyn is very accomodating leaving me high in the slings so I can drop the board scrape it and get a coat of anti fouling on it.
The smile is also there because I am escaping from boatyard hell for another year. Dust, mosquitos, ladders, goats and the blind rooster all make it a place to avoid.
Anchored out again I noticed this.
Now while it says TRADITION Anguilla I was sure that was a Carriacou built sloop wit that traditional curve to the transom. So it proved to be, built in 1978 and not long out of a major refit which involved a desperation call for some Carriacou boat builders to help out their Northern friends when their woodworking skills failed them.
BACK IN GRENADA
They say trouble comes in threes. Well it started when I picked up a large sail which must have been lying on the bottom. A few strokes with a saw got me clear but it was one of the times I wished I had someone on the throttle and helm because I had raised the mainsail before raising anchor and we were sailing around other boats trailing this sail from the anchor.
Clear of the bay I unrolled the genoa and a fishing line. Within seconds I had a fish, a large barracuda so roll up the genoa and reel in the cuda with a pair of pliers to hand to unhook the toothy fellow. Just as I got him to the boat he broke the line and made off with my last pink squid.
Ah well I turned back on course hit the autopilot button and felt the clutch bite but after a few seconds it became clear that there was on autopilot steering happening then I got the error message “DRIVE STOPPED”
Ho hum so it was hand steering down to Grenada, which was quite fun as we were doing 8 to 9 knots with a big following swell which made us a bit squirrely running down the face of the waves.
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