WE BLOW A GASKET

My pressure cooker gets a fair bit of use and has been with me for 10 years now.

I was surprised to see the gasket blow but was not too worried as I had a spare. But on close examination I decided to retire the pot and buy another.

Back from shopping Dizzy greets me

and as I open the hatch by removing the washboards he heads down below to carry on playing with the paper and poly bags he rescues from the trash.

After rearranging it to his satisfaction he does his ' Mr Elegance ' impression and has a cat nap.

Some cruisers march to the beat of a different drum. No average white plastic boat with it's easily handled cutter rig and roller furlers. No a traditional gaffer with a wooden hull and tanbark sails. Even his tender is wood and powered by sail.

Still we share the same sunset at sundowner time.

BACK TO DEFCON 1

My bottom is clean and the prop well scraped but scare 1 has fizzled out in the middle of the Atlantic.

Scare two is keeping it's powder dry while wetting the Northern islands and may be a threat to the Bahamas.

Scare three is frightening fish in the mid Atlantic.

AUGUST 20TH First credible scare of the hurricane season.

The Cape Verde hurricane factory has finally woken up and we have three systems in the Atlantic. One just might brush by.

I have had to switch the VHF off as I am fed up with the Chicken Little disaster mongers. Instead I will clean the bottom tomorrow and if it does look like being a serious threat will leave for Trini on Monday.

CARNIVAL IN GRENADA

Well another year of carnival is over.

The light sticks have been discarded.

The motor oil [ used ] has been scrubbed off

The sore heads have gone home and in 9 months Grenada will have a mini baby boom as usual.

I liked the kids carnival best and as there is a big contingent of boat kids around this year they had a ball.