Its common in life for things not to go to plan…..the first 3 and half weeks of my Caribbean adventure consisted in preparing a boat to get into the sea, one sail, then awaiting a boat part and staying anchored off one place. This wouldn’t be so bad, but I only have 5 and a half weeks, and felt a little captive on a 36ft boat with a guy you have to tread egg shells around who clearly missed the social skills module when he went to school and no outboard motor to easily get to the shore. I found my fins, mask and snorkel came in rather useful as I would hop off the boat and go for a swim for a couple of hours. This is an unusual method of networking, swimming from boat to boat and going for a little chat, but it was a method which worked rather well I found!
So it is that I find myself on another boat! I met a lady called Susie whose boat is aptly called “Spirited Lady”.
Lovely making new friends!
She is a kindred soul with the same energy and enthusiasm as I for a party, so she invited me aboard her absolutely gorgeous boat to head to another part of the island for a beach party, and needing no persuasion whatsoever, two newly networked friends of mine – Bob and Neil collected me from my prison and took me over to Susies boat.
It had been suggested that I might be a bit of a jinx on a boat (the outboard motor was working perfectly well before I got onto the previous boat!!), this is a claim I totally refute. So it was that Susie, her rock star lookalikey Swedish boyfriend Roger and I prepared the boat to set sail to our party.
We prepared the boat beautifully, even placing the life jackets on both her dogs then attempted to raise the anchor……..oops, the windlass wasnt playing ball.
A windlass is a winch which raises the anchor, and the posh boats have a motor with a little up and down switch. Of course Susies boat is a very posh one, and my suggestion of raising the anchor manually fell on deaf ears (I have no idea how heavy her anchor actually is of course!). As I have already mentioned, Susie has a zest for life, and this new jinx didnt deter her in the least. We packed a bag and headed to the shore in her tender, walked across a part of the island, hailed another boat on the VHF, I got a ride in my own tender with a rather attractive German, and we landed on a little island ready to party! Phew!
Party on a beach, Caribbean style!
Yachaties arrived from everywhere, many with dishes of very tasty salads, curries, chicken and other delectable goodies, and I had a bottle of gin……Roger thankfully helped me with this which saved a little on the hangover the next day. So, a party on the beach it was, followed by spending the night on the boat of someone I never met before, a walk back the next morning and ready to prepare for jumping ship.
A joy of traveling, as I have mentioned before, is the fact you can meet such lovely people. So it was that Roderick and John came into my lives, and the next part of my adventure is taken with them. They offered to take me North with them, suggesting I come and visit their boat first as it “is very basic”. Both gentlemen have been sailing most of the 70+ years of their lives so I knew the boat would be seaworthy, any more than that, I didnt really care as they were offering me a chance to move on – and, by the twinkle in their eyes (I think they both still have their own!) I knew we would all have fun together.
Yes, the boat is basic, but she is seaworthy and we had a beautiful sail up to Carriacou and she slipped into a perfect groove on the water. Frederick has moved out of the fore cabin as a true gent and he and John sleep in the saloon. I told them I wasnt a princess and was very happy with basic accommodation, but I’m still looking for the jacuzzi – perhaps it is with the microwave and dishwasher?
This is just what I needed, two easy going gentlemen, (they clearly had the social skills module in schools in the 1940’s!) I did suggest they only let me on their boat because I am qualified in CPR, but of course it’s really because they are salt of the earth characters!
Roderick is a potato farmer in East Anglia, he has a ready smile and a sense of fun and loves tinkering around on his boat. John is a harbour master in the same area, and, if have been a follower of my blog as I sailed around Britain, you will know how impressed I was by harbour masters around our beautiful country. They treat me with the utmost respect, appreciative of my cooking, let me take the helm at times and laugh at my jokes. My adventure is back on track!
Salty Sea Dog
Its a beautiful morning here in Carriacou and I’m planning two dives today in what Ive been told is the best divie site in the Caribbean – watch this space
