Tag Archives: Tyrrel Bay

Uprighting an upside-down barge — Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, May 14-June 2, 2014

This post will depart from our usual “travelogue” format and instead focus on an unusual event in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, Grenada, West Indies.

When we arrived at Tyrrel Bay on May 18, we found a large tug anchored in the entrance, tied to a strange-looking barge.  Bay gossip soon provided an explanation.  While in Barbados, the cargo on the barge had shifted – presumably because the workers had not attended to the notion of stability while unloading the cargo, and the barge had overturned.   Carriacou entrepreneur Jerry Stewart put in a successful bid for salvage rights and had it brought to Tyrrel Bay by two tandem tugs – laboriously pulling it upside down the whole way against an incredible amount of drag.  Now, the barge was sitting at the entrance to the Bay and workers were trying to get it turned upright.  The first attempts were not successful.   Several lines were attached to the west side of the barge and run east under the barge and somehow moored.  Then lines were attached to the east side of the barge and run west over the barge out to Troll, which was anchored.  The plan was to use the powerful winch on Troll to pull on the west-running lines and produce a rolling force.  But Troll could not get a secure grip on the bottom with her anchor and so she slipped back east when the winch was engaged.

A few days later a second tug appeared, and it seemed familiar.  Closer examination revealed why; it was “Flying Buzzard”, the tug that had improbably served as the committee boat at the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta in April, 2014.

On May 25 we watched as a small float hosting two men and some kind of motor hovered near the barge.  Gossip said that they were pumping water into the barge in an effort to lower the center of gravity in order to make it easier to flip upright, but it was not clear whether the engine on the float was a pump, a generator, or a welder, or some combination of two or more of the three.   We took a few pictures from our dinghy and then retired to TusenTakk II.  Later that day we noticed that the Flying Buzzard had hauled her anchor and was positioning out west beyond Troll, so we grabbed the camera and hurried back out to watch and document the flip.

Nope, not that day either.   A long cable was run from the rear of Flying Buzzard to the front of Troll.   Troll was again anchored, and Flying Buzzard was powering to the west, attempting to hold Troll in place.  We could see that the cable was taut, as was the cable that ran from Troll to the barge.   We could see that the barge rotated a bit, but not enough to flip the barge.  We saw Flying Buzzard pause and alter the angle of their pull, but to no avail.   We returned to our vessel.

And then Bay gossip said that another much larger ship had been contracted to stop by for 6 hours on their way past the island.   On May 30 the ship Sydney Marie appeared, and they replaced Flying Buzzard as the west-most vessel in the tug-of-war.  By the time we got out to the site in our dinghy, the barge had been partially flipped, but progress was stalled.  A taut cable ran east from the top of a pole on the (true) top of the barge and that was preventing the completion of the roll.  We waited and waited and waited, but it appeared that the various members of the crew were doing the same, including a man perched on the now west-leaning bottom.  Two men, who appeared to be retrieving large timbers from the sea floor, laboriously pulling them up and into their small boat, provided the only action.  We finally returned to Tusen Takk II, and only much later noticed that the flip had been completed.

On June 2 we returned to the site in order to document the upright barge.   Several pumps were busy sucking water out of the barge, and several workers were on the deck putting things aright.   Much of the sidewalls on the deck had been restored, and we could now see that the timbers we had seen earlier were the material used for the walls.

(On subsequent days I noticed a large pirogue transporting workers to and from the barge.  So the project has been good for the local economy.)

We love Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, and like spending time here even when nothing extraordinary is happening.  Watching the flip of a barge made our stay even more enjoyable.  For an account of our more conventional activities on the island, look for our other Carriacou posts.

 

Random thoughts… Dec. 3, 2013

Second post of the day!

Have you noticed that there are two different spellings of Tyrrel Bay in use?   Guide author Chris Doyle spells it as above.  Some of my navigation charts render it “Tyrell Bay”.   Sometimes I use one, and sometimes I use the other.  But as Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said,  “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…”

We arose at 5:30 am this morning, and left the anchorage in Bequia by 6:00 am.  At 8 am Barb brought up to the pilothouse a marvelous breakfast:  scrambled eggs studded with bits of parsley and doused with melted cheese.   Also on the plate:  a dollop of beans, British breakfast style.   To drink, a large smoothie:  a blend of pineapple, mango and banana chunks, yogurt, orange juice, powdered protein, and ground flax seed.  Isn’t life grand?

The seas were so gentle as we made our way to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, that we watched a movie on Barb’s computer while underway.   And I took just one picture: a view of the Soufriere volcano on the north end of St. Vincent.

Hope your day was as good as ours!

Soufriere Volcano

Carriacou — Nov. 24 – Dec. 2, 2013

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!)

 

Trinidad to St. Lucia: Nov 17-Dec 3, 2012

Life at Crews Inn, Chaguaramas, Trinidad can be pleasant. Nearby chandleries, nearby roti shacks, nearby grocery store (and nearby transportation to larger grocery stores), and nearby swimming pool. Interesting restaurants, both in the immediate area, and toward Port of Spain. By the time America’s Thanksgiving arrived, we had much to be thankful for. While back in Savannah, Barb had had her cholesterol tested. She was shocked to learn that her cholesterol was 287! The doctor advised that she immediately go on statins, but she had heard about so many negatives associated with the drugs that she decided to try diet and exercise first. So for over a month she stuck to an almost-total vegan diet, and exercised every day by doing yoga, walking or biking, and totally eschewed alcohol. Then we both caught a maxi-taxi to the West Shore Clinic, where we had our cholesterol checked and I had tests done to see if the high-risk drugs for my arthritis were causing any problems. Two days later we got the results: Barb’s cholesterol was down to 185, mine was about the same as last time at 177, and my liver and blood counts continue to be normal. Yes!

Thanksgiving fell on the normal Crews Inn potluck day. Barb decided to celebrate by roasting an 11-lb. turkey for the event. (The standard protocol is for each couple/person to bring a covered dish to be shared, and to bring their/his own meat to be cooked on the grill.) Other couples learned of her intention, and brought mashed potatoes and dressing and cranberries and vegetables. Not everyone was in on the plan, so many had their own meats, but everyone got at least a taste of the traditional American thanksgiving menu.

On Nov. 28 the Wheelhouse Pub enhanced their normal “swordfish or ribs” night with seasonal entertainment: the parang band called “Los Hombres Sexuales”, whose motto is “the more you drink the better we sound”. Parang is a type of music imported from Venezuela. The songs are sung in Spanish, and often have a Christmas theme, but also sometimes include social commentary and in no way sound like North American Christmas carols.

On Nov. 29 it was time for another Crews Inn potluck. It was also Barb’s birthday and she decided to save her restaurant birthday dinner for St. Lucia, so our shared contribution was a German chocolate cake that I made. Alas, the cake was such a hit that there was none left over to take back to the boat at the end of the evening.

Early the next morning, we arose at about 4:15 and prepared the boat for departure. We had decided several days in advance to leave for Grenada on that day, and stuck with the plan even though the sea conditions had not moderated nearly as much as had been originally forecast. It took us 13 ½ hours to cover the lumpy 84 nautical miles from Chaguaramas to Prickly Bay, Grenada, a trip made all the more lumpy by the fact that the port stabilizer failed almost immediately, and had to be disabled. That night in Grenada I stayed up late and replaced the knuckle that joins the hydraulic ram arm to the yoke that swings the stabilizing fin.

Next day we motored the 37 nm from Prickly to Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, where we anchored well in front of a sailboat that immediately began to suggest we were too close. His wife was nervous he said, because they had recently been rammed by a boat dragging on its anchor. How much chain did we have out, he wanted to know, and he expected that we would soon be starting a loud and stinky generator.

We were in no way too close. Fortunately, good-natured Barb did the talking. She pleasantly explained that we had backed off on the anchor to check its holding, and that we were secure. That our generator was neither stinky nor loud, and that in any case we had no intention of using it that evening, since our stateroom was well-ventilated and our batteries were fully charged. That we had never drug in five years of cruising the Caribbean, but that she would snorkel out and check that the anchor was firmly set in the sand. (It was.)

The irony was that the boat flew a French flag. Fellow cruisers will understand that sentence.

Next day (Dec. 2) we travelled another 39 nm in another 6-hr. passage; from Tyrrel Bay to Bequia. We always have trouble getting the anchor to set in Bequia, and this time was no exception. The sand layer is too thin, and the substrate too hard, apparently. Finally, on our fourth attempt in a variety of locations, we were secure. There were no nervous French cruisers behind us, and in fact no boats of any description to our rear, which would make it easy to depart at o-dark-thirty the next morning. After supper and after letting the engine room cool a bit, I tackled another project: I had noticed during the engine-room checks during the day that the raw water pump on the John Deere was leaking a little. So down into the warm and sweaty holy place I went, in order to change out the pump. While I was at it, I trimmed off about 2” of the feeder hose; its attachment point to the pump had gotten soft.

As this is being written, it is Dec. 3, and we are on our 69 nm trip from Bequia to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia. The seas are extremely calm and the winds are slight; this is a lovely day for a trawler. Shortly after landing a small mahi-mahi, some of which we will have for a very fresh lunch, we passed right by a sperm whale that revealed its presence with periodic blows. Life is good!

Later:

When we arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, Barb bought some fruit from the “flag boat”, and also impulsively decided to try once again to raise her own herbs.

Later, we had Cathie and John (Oceana) over for sundowners. Good to see them again and trade news and rumors.