Tyrrel Bay Travelift
Tyrrel Bay Travelift
Picture of Arnd

Arnd

2023-07-21 The journey begins

Chartplotter tracks and the journey begins
Chartplotter tracks

And so the journey back to Europe from Grenada begins. I left the anchorage at Anse la Roche after a bit of work and my first coffee and motored downwind and around the corner to Tyrrel Bay.

Mabouya Island and the journey begins
Mabouya Island

This time I went outside Jack-Dan island and Sandy Island and around Mabouya island. The distance wasn’t appreciably shorter, but it made for a different view.

Rusty Tug (no AIS) and the journey begins
Rusty Tug (no AIS)

My first anchoring attempt close to a decrepit old offshore tug wasn’t very successful, I could feel the crunch of the anchor bouncing across rock or coral; I’d found a light spot and assumed it was sand. But my second try was better and the anchor held.  I collected all of my paperwork and passport and departed Zanshin for the distant marina. At least I got into the dinghy and started it.

Diamant sailing
Diamant sailing

The engine fired up and then died, so I squeezed the rubber priming bulb and saw gasoline spurt out of the hose at the juncture to the engine. The barely 2 month old fuel supply line had cracked!  I got my knife and pliers from the boat and cut out the section, loosened the clamp on the plug and replaced the new hose section on the barb. All this in less than 10 minutes and I was off again.  

Morning
Dock sentinel
Dock sentinel

I took care of the paperwork at the dockyard office and then dinghied to a rickety dock which I thought was the one close to the laundry.

Tyrrel Bay Beach
Tyrrel Bay Beach

My laundry was heavy, I needed to hands to carry it; it will hopefully be lighter when I get it back without all the dirt. Of course I’d chosen the wrong dock, but the walk did me good. I was told to come by at 15:30 to pick it up. 

Noon
Distant boatyard
Distant boatyard
Bar and Laundry dock
Bar and Laundry dock

I’d returned to Zanshin and worked online until 15:30 came around, and picked up my laundry. It wasn’t any lighter in weight, but it smelled much better.

The journey begins, but isn’t going too smoothly so far. I should have checked the other end of the fuel line for damage earlier. This time I had travelled some distance before the engine quit on me. I had to row back to Zanshin to get the tools to effect this repair, but it was a good workout in the light wind. And this fix-it went even faster than the previous one.

The anchorage is of little interest to me, so I got going again and returned to Sandy Island for the rest of the day and night.