On the Move Again

Finally we are on the move again. Yesterday morning we left Prickly Bay for St. George's Harbour on the west coast of Grenada. It was a great motor sail. Not enough wind to put up the mainsail, but we were able to use the foresail. The trip was relatively uneventful. Relatively because about 1 hour into the trip we heard a loud noise that sounded like a motorboat or a plane overhead. We couldn't see anything and the noise stopped. A little bit later it started again while I was downstairs and it was obvious the noise was coming from the engine area. Griff quickly took the engine out of gear and reduced the revs. The noise sounded like a grinding sound. He thought maybe it was coming from the stuffing box. That's the area on the prop shaft where it goes through the hull. We had it repacked when we were on the hard because it had been leaking. After about half an hour we tried the engine again. No more noises and we were able to finish the sail. Fortunately we had the engine for anchoring because we had to turn into the wind to anchor, therefore, we had to pull in the foresail.

The anchoring went very smoothly. One try and the hook was set in sand. We both went in to swim the anchor. That is we put on our snorkel gear and swam along the length of the chain to the anchor and then Griff dove down to see how well the anchor was dug into the sand. As it turned out the anchor was so well dug in we really couldn't see it. In fact some of the chain was buried as well. This is the best we have anchored for a long time. Usually some part of the anchor is visible and the anchor is lying on its side.

This morning Griff went ashore to go to Spice Island Marine to talk with the fellow that repacked the stuffing box. He couldn't really remember the job, but he did say he just repacked the box, he didn't move the prop shaft. Now we have to decide whether to head back to Prickly Bay and have it checked out or head north to Carriacou.

That's right, we have decided to head north and then west rather than west and then north. Heading west first would add about 180nm to the trip. As of now we plan on going as far north as Portsmouth, Dominica and then head west to St. Croix or Culebra (Spanish Virgin Islands). We still plan on being in the British Virgin Islands for Christmas and Antigua the end of January when my son Scott and his girlfriend are coming for a week.

For my part there have been a lot of mixed emotions this time around. I really enjoyed the time spent at home with family and friends especially Eva, our new granddaughter. Even working in the garden pulling weeds at the acreage made me realize how much I enjoy the life we have there. Right now being on the boat does not really seem like home, but it also doesn't feel like a vacation either. Somewhere in between. I think these feelings have played a large part in the indecision about where we want to head.

Fortunately we haven't had to worry about weather so far. There have been very few named storms this hurricane season, in fact, there has been very little 'weather' at all. We will stick around in the Grenadines and Bequia until November 1. That is when our insurance says it is okay to be north of 13 degrees N. That it is the latitude of Bequia.

So, Griff is going to re-check the prop and prop shaft this afternoon and tighten down the bolts for the stuffing box and then we will decide whether to go to Prickly Bay and see if we can hear the noise again or whether to "decide" that the noise came from something getting caught on the prop or prop shaft and head north. I think (Griff) based on what we know and hopefully what we find that north it will be. The winds and seas favour us for the next few days so we want to take advantage of it.

See you in Carriacou (or not - keep your fingers crossed!!)