Coda on the Hard
12.01049° N, 61.74044° W
A local captain named Andre and I left the dock at Port Louis at 6 a.m. this morning. We chatted as we crossed the flat water of St. George Harbor, but it got considerably less comfortable when we rounded Point Salines and motored into the chop caused by wind and current coming in from the Atlantic.
We made our way past several snug little harbors, then turned left between some reefs into Woburn Bay. The water smoothed as we made our way to Clarke’s Court Boatyard, but the wind was still blowing pretty good. Captain Andre nudged Coda toward the dock with the boat lift and when we were close, I threw docklines from the bow and stern to workers on the dock. With the wind on her port beam, it took two burly men a few minutes to get Coda centered enough where the straps of the boat lift could get under the hulls evenly. It seemed she was resisting coming out of the water, like convincing a cat to go to the vet.
A diver guided the straps to the appropriate spots on the hulls, they lifted her clear of the water and then brought her over dry ground so someone could pressure wash her bottom.
When that was complete, they moved her to a spot in the yard, put blocks underneath her, then rolled the giant boat lift back to the dock.
Now when I go up the steps from my cabin, I see gravel through a porthole through which I’ve only ever seen amazing shades of blue and green.
During hurricane season, many boats come to Grenada for repairs and/or to be put in storage, so this is a quiet time of year for the yard. Sadly, it’s more subdued than usual, as there was a devastating fire about a month ago that wiped out the buildings of three major vendors in the yard. The suspected cause is arson by a disgruntled employee, and it has meant loss of work for dozens of people. They’re making a go of setting up temporary structures in the yard to continue their work, but the loss of tools and supplies was a huge blow.
