1 August 1994 Hog Island, Grenada
Glenys nursing her hangover. We have been living on the boat for two years today. We’ve done 10,897 miles. I went into Secret Harbour to try to ring my dad who retired yesterday. I didn’t have any luck. I did however talk to Chris and Sue from “Samarcanda” (Swiss). Chris said he had seen my sign and wants to do an OW Course. I did Margaret’s first theory and confined water.
Glenys bought some t-shirts from Marilyn on “Temptress” (USA). The outboard stopped working on the way to get some tanks filled. I managed to get my 12V soldering iron working and got my printer PSU working.
2 August 1994 Hog Island
I stripped the outboard carburettor and got it working again. Then I went and did Module 1 theory with Chris. When we went to start the dinghy it wouldn’t start! I got it over to “Mama Bear” (USA) and Dave stripped the carb and checked it for me for $20. He said that there’s nothing wrong with it apart from bits in the fuel system. I went to start it about half an hour later and it wouldn’t start! I stripped the carb and it’s OK now (touch wood!)
I did Chris’ first Confined Water exercise on the reef which is nicer than Calvigny Island. Gerry from “Rajah Laut” came over and asked if I could take his nephew and niece on a Discover Scuba. I went over to Secret Harbour to fill 4 tanks in the evening.
3 August 1994 Hog Island
I did confined water 2 with Chris and Margaret in the morning. In the afternoon, I did two Discover Scuba with Bill and Wendy from “Rajah Laut”. Both they and I enjoyed it. Bill wants to do an OW Course now, so I spent an hour in the evening trying to reschedule diving over the next 7 days! Margaret is a bit of a problem because I can’t tie her down to a fixed timetable.
I went to get 3 tanks filled. I reckon I’ll have to get over 40 tank fills over the next 7 days! Gerry on “Rajah Laut” has a Bauer compressor for sale and I’m seriously considering it. To cap it all Bob from Scuba World actually asked me if I wanted to dive the Bianco C on Friday – I had to say no!
4 August 1994 Hog Island
I managed to get my 3 students to agree to a timetable for the next 7 days. I did CW3 with Chris in the morning and then did OW1 and OW2 with him in the afternoon. He had a problem with clearing his ears on the second dive because I tried to get him to do two descents and a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent (CESA). I’ll have to do his CESA on OW Dive 5.
Glenys has had a slight problem with cystitis over the past couple of days and took a Septrin tablet which Terri from “Manx Cat” gave her to try. Unfortunately Septrin contains Trimethoprim which is an antibiotic to which Glenys has an allergic reaction. She threw up at bedtime and got the shakes. I gave her an antihistamine tablet. Filled 2 tanks.
5 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys was feeling rough this morning, so she took another antihistamine and stayed in bed all day. John (11) came from “Rajah Laut” and played with the boys in the morning, while I did CW1 and CW2 with Bill from “Rajah Laut”.
In the afternoon, the boys went to the beach and I did CW3 with Bill and Margaret. I started at half past seven and finished at six o’clock and then went to get 2 tanks filled. It was Bill’s birthday party on the beach in the evening. We managed to persuade Craig into bed at about nine o’clock, but Brett and I stayed out until eleven o’clock.
6 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys feels better this morning. She still feels a bit weak but managed to zip across to Secret Harbour while I did some theory. I did CW4 with Chris and Bill and OW1 with Margaret and Bill. I went to get 6 tanks filled – Gary’s starting to complain about me arriving after six o’clock with loads of tanks!
7 August 1994 Hog Island
Barbeque Day. Glenys feeling good today – she actually lit the barbeque fire. I did CW5 with Chris and Bill and CW4 with Margaret. I took 2 tanks to get filled and still made it back to the barbeque for a beer. I talked to André and Jasint on “Petty Bonhaur” (CAN) about André starting an OW Course next Friday.
8 August 1994 Hog Island
I did OW2 with Margaret and OW4 with Chris. Then in the afternoon I did OW2 with Bill and OW5 with Chris. My first certification! I talked to “Rajah Laut” about a compressor (Bauer) but it has a 220V electric motor, so I would have to buy a petrol engine in addition to the $1800 he wants. What a shame. 4 tanks filled.
9 August 1994 Hog Island
I declared today a holiday because of carnival. Glenys ran around in the morning doing shopping, getting some water and generally enjoying the freedom of having the dinghy again. We all then went to St Georges to watch the carnival parade. Most of the other boats went as well so it was very pleasant. The parade was quaintly disorganised but good fun. It was very hot so the boys and I went for a swim when we got back. I must have been drunk because I ended up diving off the mizzen spreaders – what a long way down!
10 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys went into town with Gerry from “Rajah Laut”. I did OW4 and OW5 with Bill and OW3 with Margaret. The dives with Bill were nice but the OW with Margaret was a bit rough even in the lee of the reef. 4 tanks filled.
11 August 1994 Hog Island
Margaret’s final exam. She was panicking and stayed up late last night revising. It’s very hard to learn something technical in a foreign language and she struggled with interpreting the exam questions, which I must admit are very verbose and designed to catch you out. It took her 2½ hours, but she scored 98%! I did OW4 with Margaret and we saw lobsters again. There is one nice large lobster that I’ve got my eye on – the hunting season starts in 20 days!
I did OW5 with Glenys and Margaret. Margaret took her mask off and inhaled some water. She started to panic and I had to take her to the surface. She then came back down and removed the mask and replaced it perfectly. Glenys did all her stuff with no problems. Filled 3 tanks. We went for a drink on “Filia” to celebrate and drank too much red wine.
12 August 1994 Hog Island to Mount Harman Bay
Bit of a hangover this morning. I did CW1 and CW2 with André Bluteau from “Petit Bonheur”. As soon as I had finished we motored around to Secret Harbour and filled the water and fuel tanks. I got 2 tanks filled. We then anchored in Mount Hartman Bay.
Gary came for dinner and we stayed up until midnight, getting drunk and putting the world to rights. Gary is still only earning £500/month and works 7 days per week, 12 hours/day. Bob is taking over the dive operation at the Ramada Hotel in 18 days and still hasn’t employed any staff! It will be interesting to see what happens.
I managed to get a rough estimate of the cost of a new petrol engine for Gerry’s Bauer compressor. It’s about $700 by the time I get it delivered which would put the total cost too high. Glenys has agreed that it would be a good idea for us to have one, so I’m going to look into buying a new one which will cost $2500 to $3000.
13 August 1994 Mount Harman to Hog Island
A bit dull this morning. We upped anchor and went around to Hog Island. I did CW3 in the morning with André and then OW dives 1 and 2 with him. Bill from “Rajah Laut” had his windsurfer assembled and I went straight from diving to windsurfing.
What a mistake! I had a great reach out of the anchorage, but when I gybed, about ½ mile out, I stalled the board and went in. I then spent 20 minutes trying to water start (not enough wind) and to haul up (waves too big)! Eventually I made it back after hitting the fin on the reef several times. I was in bed, exhausted, by eight o’clock! I filled 5 tanks. I told Gerry that I didn’t want his compressor.
14 August 1994 Hog Island
I did Modules 4 and 5 theory with André. The weather was so awful that we decided not to do CW4 and CW5. I went over to “Rajah Laut” to swap some games with John. Gerry had tried to fill some tanks with his compressor, but couldn’t get it to pressure up. He said that he was sick of it and did I want it for $200! Is the Pope a Catholic! I’m now the proud owner of a Bauer Varius with a 220V motor which I can’t run, I don’t know if it works and God knows where we are going to store it!
The boys went playing, so Glenys and I had a nice quiet Sunday lunch with a bottle of wine. We went to the barbeque late afternoon.
15 August 1994 Hog Island
I did CW4 and CW5 with André and then we all went into town. I trudged around trying to find a 5hp petrol engine. I eventually found a Briggs and Stratton in a hardware store but they want £625 for it! Hopefully I can get one via Outfitters or in Trinidad.
We had lunch in the Nutmeg and met Dee and Marina from “Marina Em”, who we first met in January at Hog Island. We went to the beach for a few beers with “Rajah Laut”.
16 August 1994 Hog Island
I did OW4 and OW5 with André and certified him. That’s 5 certifications in 16 days which isn’t a bad start to Dive Glencora! I took John from “Quest” and Annie from “Saga Boy” on an escorted dive. Annie hasn’t done much diving and wanted me to refresh her memory. I made her do partial mask clear, reg recovery and hovering. We went for a nice swim. She was good and we had a nice dive. I got paid $35 for just going diving which is amazing! John is an old school, he-man type diver and took off his BCD at 12 metres (without telling anyone beforehand) to adjust his tank position.
Filled 5 tanks. My diving order book is now empty, so I asked Bob if he needs any help and he said probably in a couple of days. There is a tropical storm (Chris) at 40°W, 11°N which is moving this way. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.
17 August 1994 Hog Island
At 0500, tropical storm Chris was at 12.1N 42.9W moving 285° at 10 kts. It is 115 miles radius with winds 40+ knots. We are at 12°N 61°W so it should pass well to the north of us.
I switched on the computer to plot the hurricane’s path and to my horror I found that the bottom half of the display is faulty again. This is a new computer so I am either blowing up something because of my power supply arrangement or there is a design fault with the display. I spent the morning writing a snotty fax to Watford Electronics demanding my money back.
In the afternoon Glenys, Tony from “Marina Em” and I went for a dive. The visibility was awful and we didn’t see much. To my horror, my tank floated loose as I was navigating us back to the dinghy.
18 August 1994 Hog Island
I went for a day’s diving with Scuba World. I persuaded Peter from “Tekaroa” and John from “Naia” to go on the Bianca C with us. We had a strenuous dive on the Bianca C – the anchor wasn’t on the wreck and there was a stiff current. Pete and John were allocated to me but during the dive John latched himself onto Bob when he got low on air. The dive was a bit chaotic!
I did a really nice Discover Scuba dive on the quarter wreck in the afternoon. There was a guy called John on the dive. He’s an instructor who has run various dive operations in Grenada, Canouan and St Vincent. At the moment he’s running a yacht called “Jenny P” for someone. I asked him about a 5hp engine and he said that he’d got a spare one – you could have knocked me down with a feather! Glenys came over to pick me up and we had a few beers at happy hour.
19 August 1994 Hog Island
I spent the day trying to see if I could get the 5hp engine going and looking for somewhere to stow the compressor. I had a bad day and achieved nothing. The engine is in poor shape so I won’t buy it and I’m going to have to make a new watertight coffin to store the compressor on deck. I’ve got no information back from Outfitters or Airtech in St Thomas about prices for new engines.
Glenys and the boys went into town to look at the “The Simon Bolivar” which is a 250ft, 3-masted tall ship from Venezuela.
20 August 1994 Hog Island
I took the compressor over to “Marina Em” because Tony has got a 240V generator which can run the electric motor. The compressor didn’t pressure up but after 4 hours of dismantling, cleaning and putting back together we got it working. A couple of reed valves had stuck. I messed about in the afternoon and we then went to the beach for a barbeque to celebrate “Tekaroa’s” first anniversary cruising.
21 August 1994 Hog Island
I took the starter motor off and discovered that there is 800ohms between the negative post and the case. It should be open circuit. Glenys and I went snorkelling and found a load of lobsters. I didn’t bother to go to the Sunday barbeque and I’ve stopped drinking. We have decided to go to Trinidad in a week’s time.
22 August 1994 Hog Island
I went over to Secret Harbour in the morning and did some phoning around. Glenys and I went for a dive with Tony from “Marina Em”. We tried to go out to The Porpoises but it was rough and we nearly got turned over by a big breaking wave – we went somewhere else.
23 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys went into St Georges with Kirsty from “Tekaroa”. I fitted a sea water pump and tap in the galley. We are going to start to use sea water to wash up the dishes. This should help preserve our fresh water supplies. I spent an hour scrubbing the hull and got covered with hundreds of horrid tiny shrimp-things.
24 August 1994 Hog Island
I went up the mast and removed the wind indicator. The vane has corroded away, so I epoxied on a piece of Formica. I went over to “Marina Em” in the afternoon to help him with a minor computer problem. I was offered a gin and tonic with real ICE, so I broke my alcohol fast.
25 August 1994 Hog Island
I put the wind indicator back up the mast. We then spent the rest of the day tidying the boat because we decided to go around to Prickly Bay tomorrow to see the Steel Band. We had Tony, Dee and Marina from “Marina Em” round for dinner.
26 August 1994 Hog Island to Prickly Bay
Brett finished his last lesson of second grade – he’s now got a few weeks holiday. I made him a certificate and we had a little presentation ceremony. I scrubbed the propellor and the anchor chain and we motored around to Prickly Bay. We went to the Steel Band night which was very good. Gary met us there and brought a box of diving spares from Outfitters. I’m still missing a lift bag.
27 August 1994 Prickly Bay to Hog Island
I started to fit new bits onto my dive gear. Glenys took the boys to visit “Destiny”. We motored back to Hog Island. I went snorkelling with Tony and took my newly made lobster snare. I caught a 1¾lb lobster and had to smuggle it onto the boat wrapped in a towel – the season doesn’t start for a few days.
In the evening, Ian from “Manx Cat” had organised a soiree called the “Hog Island Culture Club”. Glenys took her clarinet, dressed in a black cocktail dress – she looked really good. Yachties are normally really scruffy!
28 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys, Tony and I went for a dive. We went with the deliberate intention of poaching and caught 4 lobsters. We went to the barbeque. I wrote some long letters on the computer. We went to “Marina Em” for a huge lobster dinner.
29 August 1994 Hog Island to Chaguaramus Bay, Trinidad (Day 1)
We motored around to Secret Harbour and filled up with water. We then motored around to Prickly Bay. I went to clear out at two o’clock. As I filled in the forms, the Customs guy asked me what time I was leaving. “Six o’clock”, I replied. “You’re clearing out a bit early, aren’t you?” I said I had to take my dinghy on deck, etc. He then demanded £5 for overtime because I was going to leave after normal working hours. I told him that if I was going to have to pay overtime, I would set sail at four o’clock. He begrudgingly let me off without overtime. We left at six o’clock anyway.
We had a nice sail about 60° on the wind. Very dark night. Craig has had prickly heat for the last couple of weeks. He has a lot of spots on his face which he has scratched – he looks a mess, poor soul!
30 August 1994 Hog Island to Chaguaramus Bay, Trinidad (Day 2)
We arrived a little bit too far upwind and had to slop downwind for the last hour. We motored around to Chaguaramus and anchored next to “Tekaroa”. “Ootek” are here, and “Rubiyat” is on the hard. I cleared customs and had to fill in 4 forms with a total of 14 copies! We wandered around the boatyards, had a few beers at lunchtime and arranged to be hauled out on 2nd September. We went to the bar in the evening with “Tekaroa” and Alison and kids from “Lily Maid”.
31 August 1994 Chaguaramus Bay
Trinidad’s Independence Day Holiday. The boys and I dinghied over to Gaspar Grande Island and went to Gasparee Caves. This is a limestone cave with 2 big holes in the roof, a small lake at the bottom and fruit bats living in there. They have a guide to take you down the 100 ft deep cave which is very nice.
We did a few jobs in the afternoon. I had to break part of a clamp for the roller reefing in order to slacken it enough to take it off.