Tobago Cays, Grenadines
12.37.791N
61.21.393W

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We awoke to a beautiful clear blue morning and a radio call from Rainbowrider that they had lost one of their two props sometime between yesterday and today. Today was the first that he confirmed the fact but upon recollection, he said that he had signs of it as they were anchoring yesterday over on Union Island; he just hadn’t associated the problems with keeping his boat into the wind with the lost prop. Since Rainbowrider is a catamaran, they still had their second engine and those big, white floppy things, so they continued on their way but were concerned with the threatening skies to the east of us. We assured them that the black clouds were still a long way off and it was too soon to tell if they would skirt to the south of us as nearly everything else had. Rainbowrider continued on in and eventually anchored in front of us.

They were well settled when it became obvious that the rain would not keep tracking south as we had hoped but instead, drifted right over us. I suppose I should have known that today, of all days, it would dawn beautifully but end up blustery all day. No matter, Jill, Linda and I had baking to do. We immediately changed the plans of commandeering the picnic table on the beach and voted Linda’s boat as being the sight of our Thanksgiving dinner. It didn’t have to go anywhere, just float, with the least amount of rocking.

Linda had the turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans. Jill had the rice pilaf, squash and gingerbread cake and I had the candied yams, yeast rolls, deviled eggs, dressing, gravy and pumpkin pie. (You’ll be happy to know, Mom, that even though there is no Cool Whip to be found down island, I whipped up heavy cream without making butter.) We decided that 1 pm was our target and away we went. Believe it or not, we made it; sort of.

Dale & I had packed up our dishes and were in the process of transferring everything to the dinghy when the first big drops of rain started. Jill & Dean (Delilah) were doing the same. Both dinghies were heading for Rainbowrider at the same time but ours suddenly started to race and Dale yelled that he couldn’t get the engine out of gear. We tried circling to the right to avoid hitting Rainbowrider and approached the stern again. Still Dale couldn’t get it out of gear. It was either full throttle forward or full throttle backward; there was no neutral. We were heading for the area between the two hulls where Dale tried to control our speed by throwing it into reverse, this didn’t work and we almost knocked Dean out of his dinghy as he was stepping onto the transom of Rainbowrider. In the meantime, the skies have let loose; it’s pouring rain, the wind is howling and the waves are picking up in the anchorage. After another attempt at scooting up the side of Rainbowrider to catch the side and cut the engine, we eventually threw our dinghy painter (the long line we use to tie it up) to Gary and then cut the engine. Gary hauled us in and helped us out. Boy am I glad I put Saran Wrap on the gravy! Gary just said “you should have seen your face”.

By this time, 5 of the 6 of us were soaked to the bone. Two of us were wishing we had kept our bathing suits on. Jill was glad that she had changed her mind about wearing a skirt opting for shorts instead. Dale figured that the accelerator cable came off and that he can repair it.

In spite of our rather inauspicious beginning, we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Linda sang Happy Birthday to me and gave me a gift that she and Gary made from a seashell, a tiny sand dollar, a sea bean and a tiny piece of coral, it will make a wonderful keepsake ornament for Christmas. Dale told everyone that he’s taking me back to Liberty Jewelers soon. After a delightful afternoon of food, fun, friends, and a promise of shiny things in my future, we rowed back to the Palace.

Tomorrow, we head for Bequia, unless the weather doesn’t clear up tonight. Rainbowrider will wait for a couple of hours to see if a friend of theirs comes through with a spare prop. Gary says its not just the prop that they need. They need the prop, the shaft and the nut that holds it all on. Remember: Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places.

Note to Self: Cruising is fixing your boat AND your dinghy in exotic places.