 |
| Photo from Unsplash. |
I have earlier talked about sailor community spirit. Here in Grenada, I enjoyed a lovely example of it. Everyone helps everyone, altruistically. I was tinkering around with the outboard after arriving to Prickly Bay - and it did not take too long before people started coming with their dinghies, with advice or help or just motivation and a couple of kind words. A German guy, Axel, came along, giving great help, even fetching his tools to help out. It has been too long since I have interfered with long-distance sailors, absolutely far too long, so I was puzzled at first! He was motivating and helpful, recommended a mechanic, and later disappeared to his wooden traditional ketch that he charters. We gave the engine to the recommended mechanic, and he fixed the engine so it did not just start and run, it even started to go smoother and faster!
The boat anchored beside us carried a Swedish flag, and we waved to each other. I looked at the name... Osophine! That's the boat my colleague, Jonas, talked about! They seemed to be such nice people. Quite soon we did get to meet each other - and as they were taking the boat on land in a few days, they had some stuff they wanted to get rid off! They gave me some wonderful Swedish bake-it-yourself bread, pasta and sauces, cookies, and a lot of more things - even some diesel jerrycans, something I really needed! Such a lucky coincidence, and just another illustration of the wonderful sailing community, people just helping each other out of kindness. My motto is always to pass that forward.
Many Swedish boats were anchored here in Prickly Bay, and I got to know several of them. I spent a lot of time with Ursa Minor, a very nice couple! There is also an active morning cruisers' radio net, just like on Sint Maarten, and I got a good use of that – somebody was selling a sprayhood frame, which I bought, set up, and fixed protection with some transparent vinyl until a better canvas cover could be made on ABC-islands or in Panama. It felt great to have done that, after the beating I received by the rain and the wind on the way from Mustique. I also bought a small sewing machine from the cruisers' net, for about 10 euro, happy to be able to sew courtesy flags and clothes and make reparations by machine - up until now, I was sewing all of that by hand.
I serviced the inboard (oil/filter change), and tightened up a cooler belt which was losing tension. Got some water and food, and got myself ready for the passage to ABC (Aruba – Bonair – Curacao), where friends would meet up to cruise along with me for a bit!