OK, this is it. We’re finally leaving our safe and sound mooring in Woburn Bay and sailing to Tyrell Bay on Carriacou.

Do we feel ready? Not hardly.

Are we worried about anything? Not really. We’re comfortable we can make it.

Perhaps the night before should have been a harbinger. I’m awakened three times. Once by a battery alarm. I get up and turn the generator on for 45 minutes just to get the batteries over the top and keep the fridge cold. Second time is for the stay sail line which I have tried 4 times to silence but hasn’t worked and it eventually makes a ton of noise, not to mention it is chaffing on something so I finally reconnect it where it’s supposed to go and live in peace. Thirdly something is banging on the hull. I figure it is the mooring ball and surely it will stop when the never-ending wind blows us a bit but it doesn’t. I get up and go outside. There is not a breath of wind. Nothing. Never seen that here before. We’re banging a bit against the mooring ball but it stops soon enough.

Luckily I went to bed early.

I’m up shortly after 6 am and starting to get things ready, make sure nothing is loose, double-checking the dinghy, checking the engine oil, etc. Making coffee. Chris is up quite early as we are hoping to depart around 8 am, not sure how long the trip is but it’s at least 6 hours and we have to get gas at Mt. Hartman Bay which is one bay over but you gotta go out to the ocean, around the reefs and back in.

We pull up to the gas dock, a local sailor says “that’s not the gas dock, the gas dock is over there”. We move thru the maze to a tiny dock where the gas jockey says “why did you come here, I have diesel where you were?” Grrr.

Lesson learned about Secret Bay Marina. That’s our first lesson, sit down cuz here are the rest of the lessons and mistakes for the rest of the day.

• As we’re leaving Woburn Bay Christy notices black smoke coming from the engine. It’s supposed to be white smoke, black is not good. Slow down a bit, it goes away.
• After paying >C$300 for a fill up Christy says “We totally screwed up! We were supposed to buy gas in Carriacou AFTER checking out of the country so we don’t pay tax!”. Ouch. 15% mistake.
• But we learned how to dock the boat with two practices.
• We sail downwind to the south end of Grenada as we will sail up the leeward side rather than beat ourselves to death on the windward side. To make the turn from directly downwind to a slight turn around the bottom, I pull in the main with the (oh-thank-god-for-the) electric winch but don’t notice that the boom is not coming IN (L-to-R), it is coming DOWN. It bends the bimini frame, rips the bimini and the dodger.
• We had a really hard time rolling out the main sheet because it was all bunched up inside the furling mast. Christy notices how the main looks wrinkled and we finally realize one of the lines I wasn’t able to identify is the main halyard and the clutch block that holds it slips madly. So we tighten it up and the main looks good. Gotta fix that clutch tho, along with the one for the topping lift. And more importantly, the one for the out-haul which I somehow break when we bring in the main in a couple hours from now.
• As we head back up Grenada, we’re making decent speed with motor sailing but my safety lines for the dinghy were not done quite properly and I hang off the arch to risk my life and retie. Looks good now.
• The next two hours up the lee coast of Grenada are pretty pleasant and uneventful, but we hit the open water between Grenada and Carriacou things get rougher.
• The dinghy is still bouncing a bit and before you know it, one of the towing handles I used to harness it up breaks off and now the dinghy is really bouncing. I do the best I can and just hope it can hang on for another 90 minutes, that’s all we need.
• Nope. With a half hour to go, KA-POW goes one of the interior harness lines and the dinghy slumps down. No damage tho as the harness line I hooked up holds, the motor doesn’t hit anything and in fact, the dinghy is not swinging at all now. Gotta replace those two harnesses tho.
• OK, we’re still making 7+ kts under wind and motor but we’re off line a bit now, time to bring in the sails and just motor on in to Tyrell Bay. We’ll be heading straight into the waves but it won’t be from the side so perhaps a little smoother.
• As I mentioned, something happens to the outhaul line clutch when we bring in the main, it’s not broken I think but gotta fix it.
• The afternoon has been punctuated by quite a few alarms, most of them from the nav system telling us we’re off course (which is ok) but it is always disconcerting when an alarm goes off.
• We’re almost there when an engine alarm goes off. This is NOT ok. I see the red light on the dashboard but I don’t know which alarm that is, for sure it is something overheating – either oil or water. Turn the engine off, we’re drifting. Wait a few minutes, try again, warning light again. Luckily, I had pulled the engine manual out a couple days earlier cuz that’s one manual I want to know about. Luckily, the manual is in English, NOT Italian, NOT French and NOT Spanish (most are in one of those languages). Luckily, earlier in the day I took the time to figure out which model engine we have – the book covers four different models. Luckily, the incident happened in relatively calm waters and no where that drifting for 15 minutes is a problem. The manual says the light I saw is overhot water coolant and to top up the radiator. It’s just like a car and I know what releasing the pressure cap on a car that’s overheating is like – boiling hot water gushing out. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I manage it without burning myself or doing any other damage. (Man it’s warm down here.) Luckily a few days earlier I discovered a utility water hose in the head right near the engine and tested it – it works. Takes just a few minutes to maneuver the hose to the rad – it reaches, turn on the tap and fill up the rad with fresh water. Start the engine, no more heat warnings.
• We cruise on in. We’re intent on a mooring ball tonight and spy a marina-owned one in a convenient spot. The Brit couple behind us aren’t too happy about that as they anchored too close to it. It’s fine but if the wind changed their anchor rode could move them in a wide circle. They grumble something about the moorings not being safe and shuffle off. We test the mooring and bid them good riddance.

We’re hot, salty, sweaty, tired and I’m a bit mentally tired too. Christy takes a shower while I take apart the dinghy manglings and secure it. We were going to go to shore for a pizza but it starts raining so I have a shower too and Christy makes simple pasta.

Mmmm good.