I was told
walter@comcast
I am writing this not knowing when you will receive it. Sooooo…..
God Damn them all, I was told
We’d cruise the seas for American gold
We’d fire no guns
Shed no tears
Now I’m a broken man on a Halifax pier
The last of Barrett’s privateers
Instead the brave crew of the Halifax shop “Antelope” were treated to
6 years in prison for having tried to capture an American prize. If
you are interested in figuring out just what the hell I am talking
about, you should find the lyrics for Stan Rogers’ “Barretts
Privateers”. In fact, just try to find some Stan Rogers music to
appreciate some sea chanteys; and if our experience is any indication,
they should be enjoyed under an nearly full moon with rum punch
followed by smuggled beef and root vegetables with christophene, a
Caribbean vegetable delight.
That was our dinner song tonight, and quite a song it is. I think we
need to learn all of the words by the end of the cruise. Not everyone
agrees, but if I persist singing it all of the time, I think they will
learn through osmosis, unless they just toss me overboard.
Our cruise is going quite a lot better than the sailors of the
Antelope’s did. We headed off from St Vincent to Bequia in the company
of Unabated, Alan’s boat, and a sister ship to Madness in fact and in
spirit.
Bequia was very quiet and low key. We went ashore for provisions;
mainly beer. We did some lovely snorkelling that featured golden
spotted eels, which are really just snakes that live underwater,
according to Dana. We also spotted some Moray eels that elicited
pretty much the same response.
The next morning we headed over to Tobago Keys, the first kiting spot
on the itinerary.
There is a saying among sailors that whenever two boats ply the same
water there is a race. Our trip across from Bequia to the Tobago Keys
was no exception, except that there is a strange variation on the
usual theme. Each of the contestants is completely and utterly
convinced that the other won the contest. Alan has a pretty
convincing photo of the stern of Cat Tails, but we have not yet
resolved the dispute.
I was conflicted during the “not a race” not knowing whether to cheer
for the boat that I was the helming or the sister shop to my own boat.
I thought that we had a good view of the stern of “Unabated” the
entire trip, but while we will talk about it for years or even
generations, we don’t have the ambition to determine the real answer.
One thing we know for sure, that if we eventually stumble on some fact
that establishes “Unabated” as the winner, Cat Tails has the excuse
that we caught a perfectly delectable Bigeye Tuna’ and had to engage
in the ritual of thrashing about taking in sail, reeling in the fish,
landing and bleeding him. He made a fine dinner for all.
Also, Unabated suffered a mechanical failure that might in some
circles mean that she failed the contest, but as we are sailors, we do
not hold this against her. It did make for some excitement when her
auxiliary engine did not propel the boat forward as intended, and she
had to be short tacked up a relatively narrow passage to the Tobago
Keys. Alan sailed her to anchor with me running alongside in Cat
Tales’ dinghy in case she needed assistance. (She did NOT), We spent a
few hours sorting out the failure of a driveshaft coupling. I think
this may have been frustrating for Alan, but it was good fun for me
rigging a Spanish windlass to force the propeller shaft back into the
boat. It was a good swim and as good as any other way to pass the
time.
More about the Tobago Keys tomorrow.
ttyl