Clarke’s opens at 7:30 am but we’d like to be there just after 8:00 am. We talked to Jose the other day who said to call him on the radio as we get close.

We tow the dinghy behind us and try out the channel that runs beside Hog Island instead of going directly out to sea in the main channel. It saves probably a half mile or so and although definitely trickier is no problem with the nav system.

Call Jose on channel 11 as we pass Calvigny, he says he’ll be waiting for us. He’s on the dock as we approach but has us slotted on the wrong pier. When we remind him we need to be stern-to he remembers and within a few minutes has us tied up in the right place. We moved the dinghy to the side of the boat as we got close, then we tied it off on the pier.

Fabien shows up around 10 am, the welders are already starting so all is well. The welders work most of the day and get everything done except a little polishing. They not only fixed the broken pieces but also reinforced the structure by connecting it to the pushpit railings. All is very strong now. They just have to polish up in the morning.

I also walk up to Turbulence and find Damian, one of the riggers and ask about getting our rig looked at. He says he will do it on the side for EC$300 so I agree. He and a helper come over on their lunch hour and he zips up our mast in no time. He says we’ll need to replace a few stays and should adjust the tension on a few others. All can wait until next fall, however he also finds that the foresail halyard is coming out of the wrong sheave.

This is the sheave that broke last fall and I climbed the mast to replace in November. I never noticed there was actually a sheave higher up because the halyard was coming out of the one that was broken. When feeding the halyard through and down to the sail, you can’t tell that the sheave is too low for the furler. This only becomes apparent when the sail is hoisted and he shows me a picture of the problem.

This too can wait until next fall, we hope.

Sadly Clarke’s Court restaurant is closed so no refreshments there. They do however, have showers and Christy and I revel in the hot water and full flow. The other showers we’ve had at marinas are the kind where you press a button, the water comes on for 10 seconds, then shuts off. The water never gets warm. These are long and hot and it feels good to be clean. I even shave.