June 15, 2017

As we wandered down to Grenada, Dan and I relished sailing again. We anchored at some of our favorite islands. We collected some “newbies.” We became tour organizers, produce gurus, and chandlery guides.

Each island still has a few wooden vessels—work boats, fishing boats, and racing sloops. Friendship Rose lies in Bequia. Zemi, hailing from Monserrat, is at Port Louis. The Carriacou sloop Genesis, chronicled in the documentary film Vanishing Sail, raced during Antigua Classic Week. I always enjoy looking at these boats and am amazed at skill of the shipwrights.

Cariaccou has a long history of boat building by the residents. The island has built and launched hundreds of wooden boats. One article reported Carriacou built more wooden boats than any other island in the Lesser Antilles. Alwyn Enoe, I believe now retired, began to build wooden boats again in 2003 to preserve the heritage and traditional techniques. Glenn on Foot Loose, Ken and Corrine on In Dreams and Mitch and Ruth on BreeZen traveled with us to the community of Windward. The community lies on the wind swept eastern shore of Carriacou behind a reef. Entry is though twists and turns around coral and shallow water—with buoys and poles to mark the channel or not.

We walked along the shady shoreline past small houses to see a 65 foot cargo boat being constructed using traditional techniques and a few modern tricks and tools. We learned that this is a replica of the first boat that Carl crewed and traveled on more than 40 years ago. I can’t imagine sourcing all the wood being used—white cedar from Grenada, greenheart from Guayana, and some from other islands. We were amazed that oakum would serve as the caulk. It seems that the shipbuilding traditions of Carriacou have new life.