When we arrived in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, on Nov. 24, after a passage of 39 nm, the anchorage seemed fairly crowded, so we anchored near the rear, where we rolled for a number of days.   When the rolling got to be just too much – I was having trouble keeping my balance while varnishing — we moved up to anchor just behind the large faded-red moored passenger ferry that has been a fixture in the bay for as long as we can remember.   Our new location was considerably more comfortable.   As it happened, we were right in front of Bob and Debby (Chimayo), who we had met in St. John.  And soon Mike and Roberta (Celilo) were on our starboard – we had last seen them in Trinidad earlier this year.

On the morning of the second rolly day, we awoke to see a vessel we recognized to the extreme rear of the anchorage:  a big blue trawler called Jo Na Lisa.  We had met the previous owner (Art, and his lovely wife) in Hog Island two years ago.   But what was that peculiar thing tied to the rear of Jo Na Lisa?  Binoculars revealed the front of three pontoons jutting out from the surface of the water – the rest of the vessel was submerged.   We took our dinghy over to see if we could help, and found the new owner in the water struggling to refloat the vessel.  We took him in to the floating workshop, where Dominique provided a large barrel for additional lift.  It was not clear to us how the barrel could be used.  In any case, we soon saw Dominique towing the still-partially-submerged vessel in to Carriacou Marina, where it was eventually lifted out of the water by a crane and the pontoons were repaired.   Interesting vessel:  the bimini roof was actually several solar panels; the dinghy was powered by an electric motor!

The owner related his tale of woe:  a tow rope had severed near “Kick-em-Jenny” on a very rough trip up from Grenada.  While they were wallowing around in the rough seas, attempting to re-secure a line to the dinghy, a guest on board fell and badly dislocated his shoulder.   When they arrived in Tyrrel Bay, the dinghy promptly sank, leaving only tips of the pontoons above water.   After getting the dinghy to the Marina, they moved the mother vessel over against the wall of the new marina under construction in the NE corner of the bay.  From there they caught a taxi into a doctor in Hillsborough, where the shoulder was x-rayed and efforts were made to put the shoulder back into position.  But to no avail.   Despite both the doctor and the owner pulling on the arm at the same time, the shoulder would not go back into position.   The doctor said that after 84 hours the arm would be locked into its incorrect position, so the guest was put onto the ferry to Grenada, and the next day, Jo Na Lisa departed with the dinghy in tow – its pontoons repaired but the rest of the damage said to amount to $6000 . (We know not if that was in US or EC dollars).

Speaking of the “new” marina in the NE corner, which has been under construction ever since we arrived in the Caribbean in 2007, there is indeed earth-moving activity again.   Maybe in another 6 years a building will actually appear!

Lots of other changes in the bay.   The Lazy Turtle has new owners since Nov. 1, and their pizzas are better than ever.   Lately they have had a band playing jazz/blues on Sunday nights, and they are really good.   Apparently the band consists of cruisers that have appeared in various venues from Grenada to Bequia, including, believe it or not, at Roger’s Beach Bar in Hog Island, in what has to have been the best performance ever to appear in that location.

The marina is under relatively new management, and seems busy and productive, with a steady stream of sailboats being launched on their travel lift and with a gaggle of DIY-ers painting bottoms and hulls.  When we had a snap hook break on the line supporting our dinghy at half-mast early one morning at dawn – scary “plunk” that made when the dinghy fell – the marina had a new one in our hands by five o’clock the next day:  sent by ferry from Grenada’s Island Water World.

About that “plunk”.  Five AM, I am awakened by a loud noise.   I ask Barb what it was, and she thinks it was just the anchor chain making noise, but she gets up and checks anyway.  “Oh my Lord”, she says from the cockpit.   “The snap hook broke, and the dinghy fell.”   She busies herself with finding another hook so we can secure the line hanging from the boom on which we had suspended the dinghy against the rub rail, several feet out of the water, the better to discourage would-be dinghy thieves, forgetting that when we suspend the dinghy, we remove the plug so that the dinghy doesn’t fill with water should it rain.   When I come stumbling out, I notice that the dinghy is filling up with water, but (of course) not because of rain.  So while Barb is bustling about in her altogether finding and attaching a new hook to the line, I am sitting in the dinghy in my altogether pumping out the water.  Cruising together is so romantic!  

An additional word or two about the hook.   We had noticed that it was slightly distorted, so that the locking arm no longer fit into its secure position, but assumed that all would be well until we could purchase another one.   After all, why would it need to be locked?   The dinghy wasn’t going to try to escape.   Now we realize the limitations of our analysis.   Yes, the dinghy would not bounce enough to escape an unlocked hook.   But, and this is important, the distortion was an indication that the hook was failing.   Indeed, on a particularly rolly night, the stress on the hook caused it to fail and break.  (See the pictures of hooks, below.  From left to right:  a “good” one, a hook that is slightly distorted so that the lock no longer fits, and finally, the remains of our “plunk”.)

The Slipway Restaurant has been alive for a couple of years now, and is still turning out delicious meals to an appreciative clientele.  (We ate there a number of times, including the night of Barb’s birthday, when she splurged on a lobster dinner.)  And we heard that there is another new restaurant on the beach:  The Gallery.   We didn’t make it there, but heard good things about it.

Barb and I went on a nice long walk to the SW corner of the island, and on another day Barb walked down to Paradise Beach, where she purchased for herself some earrings and a bracelet for her birthday.  (My effort for her birthday was to speak to the chef at Slipway and make sure that there would be a dessert suitable for implanting a birthday candle.   When we arrived that night I slipped the waitress the candle, and expected that at the end of the meal the dessert – a chocolate tart – would appear with the lit candle.  Perhaps “Happy Birthday” would even be sung by the staff.   Instead, the tart arrived with the candle implanted but not lit!  And no song, and me without a match.  So Barb opted to eat the crepe caramel and I ate the tart.   We left the candle on the table as we departed.)

Yes, I know.   We always bake a German Chocolate Cake for each other’s birthday.  But with no friends in the anchorage to help us consume all those calories, it just didn’t seem wise this year.

In other news, one of Barb’s iPods had been acting up.   Or more accurately, refusing to act up.  As in “dying”.  She got on the web and found a whole list of things to try in ranked order.   None of the software remedies worked.   The list went on to speak of “minor” surgery, in which the cover is pried off and a spacer is inserted above the disk, whose top can become distorted by heat and thereby inoperative.   When the cover is re-attached, the spacer pushes down on the disk and returns it to its original (and functioning) shape.   We found several articles describing how to pry off the cover.   I think we should have paid more attention to the exact model of iPod the articles were about, because the cover didn’t come off (or look) like the ones in the pictures.  Indeed, prying the cover off totally destroyed the iPod.   Kids, don’t try this at home!

On one of our excursions to the Slipway for lunch, we encountered a fellow on shore flying a helicopter drone that sported a high-resolution camera in its belly.   The drone sent back realtime images that were displayed on an iPad.  When the “copilot” liked the view, he informed the “pilot”, who asked the drone to record and save the image.   I asked the owner if he intended on using the drone commercially, and he responded in the affirmative, saying that the drone had cost several thousand dollars.   Barb later asked him if we could buy one of the images of the anchorage and he said “of course, for $100”.   She counter-offered with $10, and despite her best smile and batting of eye lashes, was turned down.   Damn!   (It always works on me!)