Part Three:

Skaunchir

Many hands are needed to push 20 tons of boat over rollers into the water’

by Frank Pearce

During a visit to Carriacou in April 2008 I saw, hauled.
onto the land, a large red Carriacou sloop hull. I was
struck by her beautiful lines, and after a few weeks’
dithering I agreed to buy her. She was named Tradition.
Thad a vision of her, rigged. as she had been when built
some 30 years before. Thus began a restoration project
with the shipwrights of Windward, Carriacou.

In the past two issues of Compass I described replac-
ing the coachroof, fitting new aft deck beams, making a
telephone pole into a mast, organizing the rigging anda
boom, making a new rudder, and much more. The end
of the project was in sight!

It was now October. While I was in the UK, searching
for an engine, someone suggested I look on eBay. To
my surprise, one advertiser had a completely rebuilt
115BHP 6-cylinder Ford engine and gearbox, with all
new marinizing parts from Lancing Marine in Sussex,
who were then really helpful in supplying control
panel, loom, alternator and ongoing good service. This
engine would fit perfectly on the existing engine beds,
and with 2-to-1 reduction and running at 2000rpm
max, it promised a low-down torque — just what

Tradition needed. The seller put it on a pallet, shrink-
wrapped it and delivered it to Geest Shipping who
shipped it to St. Vincent for £250. What a deal!

Arriving back in Grenada, I found that the mainsail
made by Turbulence Sails was completed, but it took
two people to lift it! 1 did a mega-shop in Island Water
World and Budget Marine, hoping to get all the final
bits and pieces Tradition would need.

Upon arrival in Carriacou I assembled the team
again: Gordon Patrice and Fitzroy “Nero” McLaren to do
the rigging with Leonard McLaren to assist them; Verrol
Compton fitting the new fuel tanks; Bernard Compton
finishing the cabin, fitting sampson posts and bowsprit,
making the deadeyes and bulls’ eyes; Bernard’s son
Eddie to cut a suitably grained tree and make the tiller;
Benny as painter and assistant shipwright, and a few
others who came to help from time to time.

The rigging team set up under the palm trees and
proceeded to splice the soft eyes to go around the mast
hounds, and parcel and serve the lower eight feet of
the standing rigging wire where it would pass over the
deadeyes and be seized in place. The soft eye and
deadeye length would be served with tarred marlin,
using a proper serving mallet, then wrapped in

 

   

Eddie fashioning Tradition’s tiller

Hessian heavily greased, then served with tarred mar-
lin again, and lastly covered in a tight tube of canvas
intricately hand stitched, ultimately to be painted
white. A work of art to my eyes.

By the end of October, we were ready to launch. There
is no question of paying for the task of launching itself,
but many hands are needed to push 20 tons of boat
over rollers into the water and everyone gets a good
meal and a fill of beverage. I asked Norman Roberts, the
previous owner of Tradition, what cost would be
involved. His response was, “Well, Frank, do you want
a Big Launching or a Likkle Launching?” I am not sure
what we had, but think it was a pretty Big Launching.
Tradition was ashore in Norman’s compound, and here
he set up huge cast iron pots of bubbling stewed goat,
chicken and “oildown” over wood fires. There were cool-
ers of beer, and cases of jack iron rum and the much-
favoured Johnny Walker Red Label.

Tradition, not being a new boat, had been hauled up
the beach bow first, whereas a new boat is built facing
the sea. This meant that launching the 50-foot boat
would be more difficult, especially as she had been fit-
ted with a skeg. The process started early in the day,
with large rollers being dug in under the keel and
arranged down the beach. Shortage of rollers at the
last minute resulted in the demise of a couple of old
palm trees. Two 20-foot, six-inch by two-inch planks
were then nailed under the bilge on the turn of the
bilge — into my new planking!

—Continued on next page

 

    

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