After exactly one year and three weeks the Buzzard finally left Ottley Hall, St. Vincent and Mike and our new crew, Ragga, chugged down to Grenada.  Arriving back in Clarke’s Court on Christmas Eve.

In the end Immigration wouldn’t extend his visa any more so he had no choice but to leave … although it definitely wasn’t before time.  I’d gone back to England for my first cold Christmas in ten years, and for my mum’s 80th birthday, so wasn’t there to witness what I’ve been told was a very emotional home-coming for Mike.

We’ve now been back over three months and the time in St. Vincent is at last becoming something of a blur, and even though it’s been a bit on the windy side and the rainy season seems to have come early, we’re still more than happy to be back.  Mike’s busy re-building the catamaran engines and sorting out the plumbing and electrics, so we finally have some much needed money coming in.  And after a bit of a lengthy block I’ve finally started to write again, and if I keep at it will have a first full draft ready by the middle of May.

I’ll try to get back into blog-mode and send a few more frequent updates.

Love to all …

My apologies to all those who have been wondering what’s been happening to the Buzzard for the last few months.  We have apparently been taking a blog break …

We’re still in Ottley Hall working hard.  We were back in the dry-dock for four weeks (came out last Thursday) and now have our shaft back in and rudder back on and have done some plating on the bottom.  Unfortunately though we’re not finished yet and will have to go back in one more time to sand-sweep and paint.

It’s been hard going but we’re hoping we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel … and it’s not another train coming!  Once we’re back up and mobile normal service, and blogging, will be resumed.

Love to all …

After my quick tour of the Caribbean, stopping in Trinidad, Grenada for a few days, then Barbados, before finally boarding the UK flight, I’m finally here.  It was really good to see friends in Grenada and made me realise just how much I’d been missing everyone.  Having been stuck in the dock for so long it was wonderful staying with D’Arcy on Grand Anse, walking the beach at 6 each morning and swimming late each afternoon.  And it was even better that he read what I’ve written so far for the book and thinks it’s terrific.

Now here I am in sunny England, and today it does just happen to be sunny, as it was the first few days that I arrived, in fact I landed at Gatwick to an amazing sun-rise and the hottest April day on record. And then a week later it was bitterly cold and snowing and I had the rare thing, for me, of being able to feel my nose and my toes.  Now we’re expecting another heatwave for this Bank Holiday.  The poor flowers don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing, although the cherry blossoms don’t seem to have been too badly affected and there are pink profusions everywhere.

It was great to see my family and be there to celebrate Al’s 30^th birthday.  And now I’m looking forward to a trip up to Runswick Bay next week for my sister’s 60^th.  The only not so good thing is that my mum’s had a really bad back, but we’re hoping she’ll be good enough to go with us.

As to what’s happening back in the Ottley Hall vortex … more of the same apparently.  Another boat has gone in the dry-dock to get new shafts put in but they’ve already been in longer than anticipated.  Then the Bequia Express needs a quick looking at, and then it’s definitely, absolutely the Buzzard’s turn … except they still haven’t finished our machining.

Mike is working away as usual, trying to hurrying the process along as well as get all the cap-rails and gunnels finished and keep the Buzzard clean.  He did think he might have to go back up to Nova Scotia, and there was talk of a two week visit to Vancouver to help re-power a boat, but things seem to have gone quiet on both those fronts.

Not quite sure how long I’ll be in the UK for as it’s not looking likely that the Buzzard will be up and running and back in Grenada by the time we’d hoped.  But hey, what on earth was I expecting??  Just have to keep on enjoying the beautiful spring weather and knowing that sooner or later it’ll all work out.

Love to all …

Mike got back from the frozen north ten days ago, beautifully bearded.  When he first got there he found that the boat he was going to help bring back, wasn’t quite ready to go even if the weather had been ok.  As it happened he spent three full weeks working on generators and engines and taking apart the clutch, and it still wasn’t ready.  So he ended up flying back to St. Vincent.

Part of the reason he couldn’t stay in Nova Scotia any longer, apart from the freezing temperatures, was that he had to be back to organise the machining on our stern-tube because we’d been told we would be back in the dry-dock at the end of March to put everything back together and finally get out of here.  Just before Easter we were told we wouldn’t be going in until the end of April.  It would appear the we’ve been sucked into the Ottley Hall vortex … (aka Caribbean elastic time).

Still, there’s not a great deal we can do about it, having no rudder or propeller at the moment.  We’re just carrying on working away.  The starboard side cap-rail has now been replaced, as has the parts of the gunnel that needed it, and we ended up with a nice pile of ex-Buzzard metal on the dock.

Ellen and Jim were also caught in the vortex for longer than they expected but finally managed to get away the day before Mike got back.  Only here three weeks instead of the predicted 24 hours.  It was sad to see them leave as they’d really helped to keep me sane.  Arvin was great company too and he also managed to get quite a lot of work done on his own boat while he was here; him and his lovely little black cat left to head back to Grenada a couple of days after Mike got back.  Fortunately the bilge alarm didn’t go off once whilst he was here, although as soon as Mike was back one of the button patches started to weep and he had to tighten up the bolts.

A couple of days before Mike’s return there was a massive hill fire at the north end of Ottley Hall.  We’d witnessed one before but this one was on a much bigger scale, coming over from the other side of the hill and sweeping down towards the boatyard.  At one point it was just across from the Buzzard and so close you could feel the heat and hear it crackling through the grass.  Luckily it eventually went out, then we just had days of cleaning up black ash and soot.  The whole hill-side was absolutely black, but since then we’ve had so much rain that you can’t tell it ever took place.  Nature sure comes back quick around here.

It’s the Bequia Easter Regatta this weekend and we had planned to go over on the ferry and catch up with some friends who are racing, but  there’s been hardly any wind and torrential rain so we decided against it.  Mike’s been busy helping Wolfgang on his boat Ocean Wolf instead, and fabricating stands for the propeller so that he can take the rest of the blades off, just the usual Easter activities.

I booked my ticket back to the UK yesterday, leaving from Grenada on the 18th April.  I’m going for a month as it’s my son’s 30th birthday and my sister’s 60th.  Plus, I have to say, I’m tired and ready for a break from the constant generator noise and mosquitoes, not to mention the general mess on the boat which can get a bit over-whelming at times; no matter how hard we work and how much clean-up we do, there still seems so much more to be done.  But enough of the moaning .. the plan is that by the time I get back the Buzzard will up and running and looking good, and back in Grenada to meet me … of course that’s if we’re not still stuck in the vortex!

Love to all …

A lot seems to be happening right now.  Mike has left for Nova Scotia to help bring a 250ft tug back to Martinique and should be gone about three weeks.  Nellie, the Buzzard’s wonderful rodent control officer, left the boat just over a week ago and we’re pretty sure won’t be coming back.  She had been getting thin for months, and acting strange but eating well and purring lots … and then she went ashore and was gone.  She would have been 17 this year so I guess she’s had a good innings but the Buzzard sure won’t be the same without her and it’s hard not knowing exactly what’s happened to her.

Mike left last Friday and arrived in Sydney on Sunday after being stuck in the airport in Barbodos overnight and then, having missed his connecting flight, had to spend another night in Toronto.  It’s the first time he’s been off the Buzzard and out of the Caribbean for six years and he’s struggling with the -15C temperatures and ice in the bay, even with his long-johns and cod-boy boats.  And there are big storms up the eastern seaboard also so they may not be able to leave after all.

Arvin, and his young cat, sailed down from Carriacou on his boat Sancho, and arrived here 5.30 am the day Mike flew out.  He’s tied up alongside the Buzzard and is here to make sure I’m ok and be on hand should anything go wrong.  And it’s just as well he is because two days after Mike left the swell started coming from the north and piling up in the harbour here.  There have been ropes snapping off boats, and these are big boats, and sterns hitting docks, and ramps knocking down power supplies.

The freighter we’re tied to was surging wildly and broke a stern line which made us swing out and broke the not small rope attaching us to them.  Arvin was magnificent in the pouring rain jumping from boats and docks and putting up more lines.  Capt. Burt was busy re-anchoring one of the big ferries that was hitting the dock, and then came and helped put more lines from the Buzzard to the shore.  The first two nights of that we didn’t get much sleep as we checked lines between Sancho and us and us and the freighter and the freighter and the dock, and listened to the sickening groan of ropes stretching and the squeal of ramps dragging back and forth.

During the day wasn’t much better either as you could see the other boats swinging around.  For most of the day I couldn’t even get off the Buzzard as the movement was so extreme, and the plank from the freighter to the shore was completely mashed up.  Luckily it has started to ease somewhat and last night I actually got some sleep.  The northerly swell is still with us until Friday but either we’re getting used to it or it’s definitely not as bad as it was.

On the up side, because apparently every cloud has a silver-lining, we’ve been spending some time with Ellen and Jim who are on their yacht, Boldly Go.  They were anchored in the bay just up from Ottley and damaged their shaft so came in last Thursday to haul out for the day and fix it.  Only it took a little longer so they stayed the weekend and since then the surge has been too big for them to be put back in the water so they’re still here.  It has been so good to find a kindred spirit in Ellen, in fact it’s so good just to be able to talk to another woman, there not being any in the yard since we arrived; I’ll definitely miss them when they leave.
Before Mike left, and the swell started, him and Spence were busy cutting and grinding and welding the new cap-rail and patching the gunwales on the starboard side.  And, despite the swell Spence, with Arvin’s help, has been continuing on, and although as usual it has to look worse before it can look better, it’s really starting to look good.

Also before Mike left we had a surprise visit from Wesley, who came with us from Grenada to Antiqua a couple of years ago.  He turned up unexpectedly one afternoon before the yacht he’s working on went to Tobago Cays, and then again when they came back.  Only the second time we weren’t on board but out with Capt Burt to visit with friends on the windward side of the island.  Burt, being Burt, organised for him to come up and meet us and we had all had a wonderful day out, enjoying the spectacular views and wonderful hospitality of Patricia and her family.

Needless to say that with everything that’s been going on I haven’t been able to think about continuing with my writing … in fact it’s quite something that I can concentrate enough to write a blog!  But hopefully once the swell goes completely I’ll be able to get back to it.

Love to all …

Hard to believe but we’re now into our third month of Ottley Hall inhabitancy, and we have good news and bad.  The good news is that once the stern-tube was out and Mike could clean it up and have a good look at it, we found that with a bit of machining we can actually fix what we have rather than having to change the whole system.  And it’s also looking like we can fix the slight ding we have in one of our propeller blades rather having to get it sent away.  The not so good news is that we don’t have enough money to do even that at the moment.

But we’re working on it and doing what we can in the meantime.  The Sunday we were back out of the dry-dock we even did a bit of salvage work when a catamaran came in under Coastguard escort.  They’d hit some rocks just up the coast and were taking in water through a hole in the bow of the port pontoon.  First they tied up at the other side of the dock and came to see if they could borrow a pump, and when Mike went over it was pretty obvious that the damage needed fixing if the pump was going to keep up with the water coming in.

They came alongside us so that we could run our 2” pump off the 240v as there’s no power where they tied up, and Mike got in touch with Jack the diver and he came.  And, after pumping out the water and putting a temporary outside patch on, they went inside and mixed cement and sugar (which makes it set quick) to go in the hole, and managed to stop the water coming in, by which time it was dark.  We turned off the pump but they stayed alongside over night and the pump was at the ready just in case.

The family on board were from Martinique, a couple, two daughters (one who was celebrating her 20^th birthday), a boyfriend, and the wife’s parents who were in their 70s and had come over from France for a holiday.  This was not only the first time they’d ever been on a catamaran, it was the first time they’d been outside of France.  And their plan had been to take them to Bequia and the Tobago Cays before returning to Martinique the following weekend.  Hitting a rock had obviously not been part of their plan.

Although the boatyard has a travel lift it’s not wide enough to lift catamarans so the next morning Mike organised for the big crane to come to the side of the dock and they lifted up the port side so Jack could do more repairs to the outside.  And it was pouring with rain and blowing a hooley, but they managed it, and late in the afternoon they set off for Bequia.  Not a great start to their holiday but at least they could get to Tobago Cays and back to Martinique.

Later that week Angie, who’d come up to Bequia with Jay, came to visit for a couple of days which was really good.  And Gabi, Jurgen and Jay came over for the day.  Earlier this week we took the ferry over to Bequia to see Robin (Fix Man) who’s not doing so good and will be heading back to the UK for further treatment soon.  We haven’t seen him for a couple of years so that was really good too.

The weather hasn’t been so good with high winds and lots of rain.  So much wind that part of the siding on the dry-dock blew down, and the Buzzard is constantly blown off from the freighter we’re tied to that it’s sometimes difficult to get on or off the boat.

Mike and I, for all the mayhem and madness and adjusting to boatyard life, and despite he tried to cook me rotten prawns for Valentine’s day supper, are getting on really well, possibly because it’s the first time we’ve been on our own for so long.  He’s now started on the cap-rail and picking away at other projects we can do without having to spend the money we don’t have.  I’m still working on my book which is actually going well and keeping me sane (four chapters and 25,000 words in six weeks).  I can’t quite believe we’ve been here so long already, but even though this was obviously never in our plans, it’s turning out ok.  As Capt Burt said, our enforced stay might just be a blessing in disguise, for many different reasons.

I forgot to mention Nellie in the last blog.  She handled the whole dry-dock experience with her usual aplomb and slept through most of the excitement.  The black cat followed us around and boarded us in the dock so we still had cat fights over there, but since we’ve been back she’s been seen on the dock and I think they may have reached a truce as we haven’t heard any late-night fights lately.  After her going really thin she seems to be putting weight back on again, she certainly eats enough. The only down side is that she’s taken to sleeping in odd places, like in the middle of the rubble that’s our bedsit at the moment, and under the kayak on the side-deck, and she’s getting steadily dirtier and dirtier, her white bits almost back to her rusty brown Maryport colour.

Love to all …

A sort of, but not quite, ‘as it happened’ account of our time in the dry-dock:

Friday 19th January – As if going into the dry-dock wasn’t enough for one day, some guys came first thing to look at the Yanmar generator we’ve had in the engine room for years that we don’t use any more.  They want it, which is great news because we really need the money, but they want it today (they don’t work Saturdays as they’re SDAs).  So it has to be chain-blocked across the engine room, then up through the hatch in the bedsit.  (And then they didn’t come for it until Sunday in the end.)

Trying to work on my book (which I finally started, after months/years of prevarication, at New Year).  Stomach churning when I saw the tug moving out, then even more so when Capt Bim (Capt Burt’s tug) started up at the other side of the dock.

On the dock taking photos, but really hiding away and not wanting to be on board.  Nipping out between boats, peeping around the corner and clicking the camera from a distance – quite amazing any of the photos have the Buzzard in them.

Capt Burt doing some brilliant manoeuvers, getting us right to the entrance of the dock, one line on and then they didn’t keep tension on and we swung across the gates and he had to go around to the other side and push us back the other way.

Finally in the dock at around 3.30 pm … started pumping, including our 3” as one of their pumps is broken.  Five o’clock and everything stopped because they finished work.  We put a gangplank across, level with the gunnel.  First thing in the morning and the water’s come back in and we’re almost at the level we were the day before.

Saturday: start pumping again at 8.30 in the morning.  Two men working at any one time while six sit/stand around watching.  Big chain blocks have to be attached to stop it falling one way or another, which they put on then take off then adjust and move and re-adjust. Then the diver (Jack … one of the most normal/good workers we’ve met so far) has to place the supports in the right place.  And then more pumping and more pumping.

Slowly, slowly going down but as the water goes down there’s a rising stench of sea-bottom that I hadn’t been anticipating, and which got way worse when we started scraping the hull.

Having to use the wash rooms – only one communal one obviously made for men as you have to walk through the urinal part first, so I try to avoid it during the day when there’s always lots of guys around.  At least they’re not as disgusting as some I’ve seen, or at least they weren’t the first day I went in but perhaps they only get cleaned once a week because they’re getting skankier by the day.

Trying to work on my book again today but the generator’s been going to run our pump and I can’t concentrate … so I’m writing this instead.
3 pm .. dock almost dry and they stop pumping because it’s going home time (they leave early on a Saturday.)

Had a few well deserved beers and went out on Capt Bim to help a tanker leave Lowmans Bay.  Had to pull it away from the dock so we were out for a few hours.  Like I hadn’t had enough of tugs for one day?  Then we went to Gemma’s as we had no beers on the boat, and for bbq chicken, which they didn’t have so it was chewy local pork instead.

Early rise on Sunday.  Helping Spense cannibalise the AC unit we finally lifted off our top deck, and get some galvanized strips.  The yard doesn’t work but we had Jack, Boysey (or Bushy or Bugsy), and some other young lad to scrape.  They did about two and half hours work, got a good third of the whole boat done, and then the foreman shut them down because they shouldn’t be working for us.  They helped clean the sea-cock instead.  And the ice-cream man came and I got everyone choc-ices (the coconut ones are my favourite).

Manic Monday morning.  Guys everywhere: scrapers all under the boat scraping, the Venezuelan engineering guys working out the best way to get the rudder off – probably cutting it.  The crane hovering and lifting the scaffolding down, the welders ready to weld tabs … and lots of guys watching, again; from what I’ve seen so far I’m sure the average ‘work to watch’ ratio is normally somewhere in the region of 1:3, and quite often up to 1:6 or more.

Mike, Kem and Ghost(!) are working on getting the back deck cleared so we can put the rudder there, and finishing off the sea-cock.

The REALLY GOOD NEWS is that the bottom isn’t anywhere near as bad as we’d thought it might be and, apart from the button patches and places we knew there was a problem, the rest looks ok, and on a fair bit you can still see the two-part epoxy we put on in Maryport.  Of course it’s ok being good on the whole, but then it only needs one hole …

The rudder took longer to get off than anticipated. First they settled on cutting it at the top before the flange, and the bottom skeg, which they did.  But they couldn’t get the bolts out at the top, so eventually they ended up having to cut the nuts, I think, there were definitely lots of sparks flying at one point.  This was after 4 pm so most of the workers had already gone home.  Then the rudder was lifted off and away by their big 35 tonne crane, which makes ours look a bit on the puny side, and they started on the prop and shaft.  Luckily this went well and within an hour it was on our back deck.

Edwin and Michael came to visit/help.  Probably could have done without it, but hey, what can you do?  Edwin cooked whole roast chicken on the Buzzard (can’t remember the last time we had that on board), following his grandmother’s Romanian recipe.  The only downside was that it wasn’t ready until about 11 pm and we didn’t get to bed until midnight which was not so good with another busy day ahead.

Tuesday.  Spense on board at 6.30 delivering more galvanised strips.  Then Mike down the engine room by 7.30 working on the intermediate shaft, which is finally out.  Now they’re working on getting the stern-tube out, the 5200 is hanging on in there and causing a few problems.
Unfortunately they’ve found a few more holes and thin bits that need patching.  The biggest being under the engine-room floor which they’re having to cut and weld right now.  The rest Mike reckons can be Navicoted and/or button-patched until we come back in next time.

Mike’s been running around for the last five days now, at the moment looking blacker than a black man, although some of them are pretty black right now too.  Guess you can’t take out greasy shafts and clean bilges without getting some of the black stuff on you (and the carpets and walls and handrails …and me).  Although I know it’s hard work and there’s a fair amount of stress involved I think he’s actually quite enjoying it, getting to be project manager/boss of more than me and any motley crew we happen to have.  Wish I felt the same.

All being well we’ll be done and floating again by the end of the day … although it’s 1.30 already and he hasn’t started on the button-patch/Navicoteing, and they haven’t welded in the patch yet either.

Wednesday.  Still in the dry-dock.  They got the stern-tube out and the patch cut in the engine-room, then all went home because it was 4 o’clock. It gave Mike a bit more time to tighten the button-patches and slap on the Navicote, but it means paying for another day which is something we sure could do without.  We got Capt Burt to bring yet another case of beer, supposedly for celebrating being out of the dock, so instead we had a couple with the guys helping us and then called it done.  Then went and sat under a boat in the yard, in the rain, to get the internet …

Roderick came by to bring us a roast breadfruit but we were too tired to cook, I couldn’t even eat.  Up at six this morning, Mike to go sit under the boat in the rain again to check what amazing things have changed on the internet since last night. Spense here at 6.30, so I was up too.  Not feeling my best, guess the whole thing is getting to me, the dirt and stress and people everywhere, oh and the cost and the money we need for the next phase … trying to be positive but it’s hard sometimes.

In hindsight, I don’t think they had any intention of getting us out of the dock yesterday.  They hadn’t taken down the chainblocks from our counter-stern or moved the skip with all the scrapings in.  It would seem they want us to pay for another day, even though there’s a boat waiting to come in as soon as we leave. But they do seem to be getting on with it all today so I guess it will happen this afternoon.  Only Capt Burt has just brought OceanWolf in next to Alliance and I can’t see how there’s going to be enough room … but I know they know what they’re doing and I won’t be on board, or watching, and all will be fine.

They finally finished welding in the patch in the engine-room, it’s now 1 o’clock and they’ve started filling the dock.  Weird.  Unlike coming down which was slow and quiet, now the water’s rushing in and it’s loud, louder than my heart which is beating faster than it should be.  Lets just hope all the welding, the blanking plate, the button-patches and Navicote hold.

1.38 and I think we’re beginning to float already, or at least I can feel the boat moving.  Except it wasn’t really,  just where the water was thundering into the hull, because the first half hour they were only rinsing out the crap in the bottom of the dock so the water’s clear for the next one and Jack can see to put the blocks under.

As the water finally starts to come up there’s a slight leak in the bilge, which may be where they’ve just welded, or it might be a new hole in the other side of the keel.  OK, the leak in the bilge is no big deal and Jack’s put some Navicote on.  Then there’s another hole underneath where the button-patches are, big enough to need another patch, which Jack went down and put on. But so far no more leaks.

I’m doing my breathing exercises.

And then I left the boat because my stomach was churning and I really did need the bathroom, and I didn’t come back until we were out and back in our original spot at the other side of the dock.  I went and sat under the verandah of the canteen just outside the gates and had a beer and tried not to think about what was happening on the Buzzard.

It wasn’t until an hour or so later that I saw Capt Bim start up and the process of getting us out the dry-dock begin.  Of course by this time it was just gone 4 o’clock so the workers had left and there was only Boysey and Jack to help move the ropes along.
But finally all was good, no obvious leaks.  Although it was a bit disconcerting standing on the dock and having all the looky-loo guys saying how much lower in the water we seemed to be, and were we sure there wasn’t water coming in.

Capt Bim left to go bring a freighter and tanker in and get us yet another case of beer, because apparently they don’t last long on here.  Mike had a shower and the back water tank ran out, and he couldn’t prime the front one because we’re now up at the stern so we don’t have water until he gets it sorted.

We made a quick visit to Wolfgang on OceanWolf as they fly to Canada first thing tomorrow and wanted to give us the meat in their freezer.  Capt Bim came back in with the beer but had another job so couldn’t come and help us drink them as planned, which was probably just as well because we were so tired that, after some smoked pork (from Wolfgang) and fried roast breadfruit (from Roderick), we were in our bunk by 9 pm.

The bilge alarm didn’t go off in the night, not even the often heard phantom one, so that’s really good news.  Although there is a small amount coming in through the button-patches, and Mike’s just found another small hole on the port side which will need a patch.  So now it’s time to get the water sorted, get the engine room cleaned, bring the stern-tube and intermediate shaft out on deck, and then move on to phase 2, whatever that may be.

It’s now midday and he hasn’t had time to fix the water yet.  Which means I can’t start on the much needed laundry and cleaning, which so desperately needs doing.  And I know he’s busy and has better, more important things to do right now, as he always does, but it’s hard when the whole boat is so dirty and I desperately need to get my hands in hot soapy water.

Finally we have water in the back tank, and after a fun-filled, action-packed week, normal(ish) service is resumed.

Love to all ….

Happy New Year … and the beginning of a wonderful 2018!

We had a quiet start to the year, probably the quietest we’ve had, ever.  Just the two of us on board, and Nellie of course, having a few beers and playing cards … who would ever have thought that would happen??  We did walk round to the end of the pier for mid-night and, in the absence of fire-works, let off a few out-of-date (1987 no less) flares.  Two of which fizzed and died, one hand-held which provided a spectacular display, and a parachute one that went in the opposite direction Mike pointed it and landed on the deck of one of the old steel freighters tied to the harbour wall.  Luckily there was a night watch-man on board and we went straight over to check and no damage was done, but it did sort of put a dampener on the whole pyrotechnics project.

Talking of dampeners, we’ve had so much rain over the last few weeks we’ve had to disconnect our water catching system as it can’t keep up with the flow, backs up to the weakest point and causes an indoor water-fall that cascades down the funnel, across the passage-way and through the hatch into the hold.  Such is life that while we’re stuck in the dock, with only the two of us on board, and with easy access to water, we’re catching more than we could possibly need, and a lot of which we may well end up pumping off when we finally go in the dry-dock.  Obviously the rain hasn’t done much to help the outside welding and deck work along either, but at least we’re not having the mud-slides that are devastating so much of southern California.  Mother Nature definitely has a mean-streak she’s not afraid to show.

So, yes, surprise, surprise, we didn’t get to go in the dry-dock the first week of January.  Although today we have been informed that it will definitely be next Tuesday … only six weeks late and who knows how many dollars short.  Have to say that, having just got the word, the butterflies have taken up in my stomach.  We’ve been waiting for, and working towards, this for weeks now and it’s going to be great to get the Buzzard one step nearer to being fixed and on the move again, but whilst Mike is excited and ready to go, all I can think about is what might go wrong and what problems we might find when we do actually get in the dock.

Oh well, I’m sure all will be good … and all being well we’ll be over at the Bequia Music Festival next week-end, catching up with the friends we haven’t seen for so long, and celebrating the successful completion of phase one of the Buzzard over-haul.

As well as dealing with weather, and whether or when we’ll be going in the dock, we’ve also had stuff stolen from the boat.  The first time in all our travels and all the different countries we’ve visited, and it’s not a good feeling, especially as it turns out it was the guy on the boat next door who we’d tried to help.  The worse bit was that he’d not only taken tools, which he may well have found lying around, but also some things from the drawer under the bed in our cabin so he’d obviously been having a good search around.  Kemdal, the other guy who was arrested just before Christmas for stealing, spent two weeks in jail and then was released without charge, he’s been given the sack from the boat in the yard that he’d been working on for nine years, so now he’s sort of working for us as no-one else will give him job and he has no money.

On a more positive note, Capt Burt and crew are still taking us around and getting us out of the yard every now and again.  Nellie seems to be getting the better of her nocturnal visitor; rather than hiding away she’s patrolling her territory, and although there’s still been a few late night caterwaulings going on we haven’t actually seen the other one for a while, and she’s not limping quite so badly … there’s obviously life in the almost 17 year old/young girl yet.  And we had fresh brussel sprouts for supper last night, a couple of weeks late for Christmas, and a little bit expensive, but the first we’ve had for years, and they were fantastic and we savoured every single mouth-watering bite full … do we know how to treat ourselves or what??

Hopefully the next blog will be full of pictures of the mighty Buzzard in the dry-dock, showing off her flowery bottom to one and all.

Love to everyone …

Three days late but I guess better late than never!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and you’re now gearing up for an even better New Year.

We’re still in Ottley Hall, still waiting to go into the dry-dock, and although starting to get used to our new locale we’re still struggling with the heat and the noise and the mozzies.  The tug that’s in the dry-dock at the moment has decided it’s staying there until all the work is done, so now the earliest we could possibly go in is the first week in January.  And given that most of the workers left the Friday before Christmas and won’t be back until the middle of next week, even that’s looking somewhat doubtful.

It’s good that we have Capt Burt and his crew around, he gets us out of Ottley Hall every now and again, and the week before Christmas took us up the east side of the island checking out which was going to be his Christmas pig.  Andre has been over to help Mike with the shaft bolts which, after a lot of heat and hammering and hardwork, are finally out.  We also had Kemdal helping for a while, until he was jailed for stealing, and a young guy from the boat next door, until he was told he had to leave the yard after threatening one of the bosses with a machete …

We’ve also attracted a miscreant local cat that keeps coming on board and terrorising Nellie.  First there was the missing cat food and holes in the bread (which we originally thought might be rat related), then the midnight cat fights started.  Poor Nellie, at nearly 17, whose back legs are already wobbly and whose hearing is all but gone, doesn’t need the action, and is limping around to prove it.  She’s also taken to sleeping either with us, under the kitchen counter or down in the officers.  After the last cat fight a couple of days ago we managed to get the interloper cornered, with Mike on one deck and Nick on the other brandishing torches, wielding broom handles and generally making a racket.  We haven’t seen it since but Nellie is still skitty and anxious and sure it’s about to return.

Christmas Eve we went into Kingstown with Burt to do a little last minute supply shopping, and ended up getting stuck in the supermarket for an hour and a half when the power went out and all the cash-registers crashed.  Then back in the bay we had the spectacle of the 6,000 tonne barge being taken out of the harbour, with attendant tugs, shouting and near misses of the harbour entrance.

Christmas Day was definitely different too.  First thing Christmas morning we moved Tjeldoy, which had been tied up alongside us for a couple of days, then we went on Captain Burt’s working tug to help a tanker off one bunker pipe-line in Lowman’s Bay and then move to the pipe-line on the south side of Kingstown, where the old airport used to be.  We didn’t actually have to do much other than be on stand-by but we were out for a couple of hours.  Then it was back to the dock for copious quantities of pork and beer and visits from other tug and freighter dwellers stuck in the yard for the festive season.  There was not a brussel sprout, Christmas cracker or roast potato in sight, although we did have some Caribbean Christmas cake and a Christmas pudding that my daughter Jess had brought out two years ago.

Not sure what we’ll be doing for the Old Year’s End .. will let you know.

Love to all ….

What a difference two weeks makes.  The day after I posted the last blog Mike called the Captain of our soon to be saviour, Nurse Jean.  This was another PSV that had been into Portsmouth a few weeks previously and said that though they were then going north they would be back at the end of the month to make a trip to St. Vincent.  And indeed they were, and a few days later, bright and early in the morning, they rounded the head-land heading for the dock in Portsmouth.

This was definitely a sight for sore eyes, especially as we’d just about given up on the Trini boat ever being ready to leave or if it did, being capable of actually towing us.

The timing also took our mind from the loss of Seb as part of the crew.  He left the same morning to catch the ferry to Martinique and fly back to the UK.  His original two week stay had extended to almost four months and unfortunately, as much he wanted to, he had to make plans and head home.  He’s been a wonderful asset to the Buzzard and become a great friend whose hard work, engineering skills, and positive disposition will be very much missed.

At 2.30 the same afternoon Nurse Jean came alongside us, moved us forward to pick up the anchor, took up the tow rope, and headed out of the bay.  Twenty hours later we arrived in St. Vincent and, after a slight issue with setting us free, our friend Captain Burt, on his tug Captain Bim, took us alongside the dock in Kingstown.  After checking in and going to a supermarket that actually had food (and beer), he brought us around to Ottley Hall just before dark and we tied up alongside a freighter.

So here we are, ten days later, waiting to go into the dry-dock to pull the rudder and the shaft and fix the sterntube.  Unfortunately there’s a tug already in the dry-dock that is taking longer to fix that they’d thought, and then there’s another boat waiting to go in before it’s our turn. But we’re here, and safe, and hurrying up and waiting.

The first few days took some adjusting to.  The small Ottley Hall harbour is full of freighters and ferries and barges and tugs, and there’s banging and ramps clanging and generators going most of the time.  Oh and it’s hot and there are lots of mozzies.

Chris and Tom flew back to Grenada after the first three days.  Chris had more than done his time with us after being on board since our first run to Dominica, and Tom’s few weeks helping had turned into a five week odyssey that hadn’t been expected, plus there’s not a lot they can do here to help right now.  Like all our crew they’ve been wonderful and it’s been great having them on board to help and support us, and it’s more than strange to be on our own once again.

Since they left Mike’s been busy trying to source a cutlass bearing and take apart the intermediate shaft so that once we go into the dry-dock everything will be ready, but unfortunately things haven’t been going quite according to plan.  After a week of emails and Skype conversations the company he was dealing with in the States have said they can’t come up with what we want, and even with the much appreciated help of Captain Burt and his crew, some of the bolts on the shaft are proving obstinate. Still, it’s looking like we’ll have longer than we wanted/anticipated before we go in the dry-dock so I’m sure all will be done before then.

Boatyard life, not something we’re used to, is proving difficult but we’re getting there.  For the most part the people in the yard have been friendly and helpful, and of course we’ve had the added bonus of Captain Burt.  We see him most days and he’s been a real godsend, showing us around and making sure we’re welcomed in all the local bars …

We also met up with Dr. James who came with us to Dominica with medical supplies on our last trip from here.  He took Mike in for a check-up and blood tests and prescribed more of the thyroid tablets that we ran out of whilst in Portsmouth.  He also introduced us to friends who I’m sure we’ll see again whilst were here.

We had really hoped that we’d be in and out in a few weeks and able to do a Christmas run to Dominica but unfortunately, the way things are going, I can’t see that happening.  Then again, although this is not where we want to be, and the thought of how much this is all going to cost is a constant worry, we’re here and safe … and there are definitely worse places to be.  Thanks to everyone who helped us get here!

Love to all …