Caribbean Compass Sailing Magazine - March 2018

A SPECIAL PLACE
We sail in every year
To the bay we’ve grown to love
Ambassadors in colorful wooden boats
Motor or row out to greet us
Amazing white smiles, arms outstretched
We are welcomed
To their country
“Happy to see you, my friend!”
“Welcome back”
These ambassadors are full of knowledge
Their hearts filled with respect
For land, sea, and bush
They are strong and physical
Ready to guide and show good will
Only here, in Dominica
Do we see the soul of the people
Through PAYS of Portsmouth
God bless their island and their people!
Island
Poets
— Jo Reed
Winds Light
To Moderate…
A breaker sneaks around behind, it hits the stern!
The bow slews round and faces east — we never learn,
We pull the wheel with all our might, she turns at last
And for a fleeting moment, we go forward fast,
Let out the jib, man! Hold her steady! Ease the main!
A monster hits. Hold tight! Hold tight! She rings again.
(Winds light to moderate,
Waves three to five feet in open water…)
I see a pretty girl, the one who reads the weather,
(I’m wet, I’m cold, the wind and sea slam me together.)
That girl who told us that the winds are mild and light,
I want to beat her! Shake her! Cuff with all my might!
For her the seas it are never more than five feet tall,
(That 15 feet of water there is like a bloody wall!)
But she knows nothing of that. How can she suspect
The wild seas we are facing? What can we expect?
She does not see the ocean when it’s wild and crazy.
She passed the big exams; no one could call her lazy.
One trip on a sailboat, she will change her attitude,
And stop her nightly spouting of some weather platitude.
No more “light to moderate wind and three-foot seas”,
Tell it like it is, girl, accurately please!
Airplane pilots cross the sea while on their way
Ask them if it’s kicking, then we’ll sail another day….
(Winds light to moderate,
Waves three to five feet in open water…)
Look, man! There’s the Boca! We are almost there,
And suddenly the sea is calm, the weather fair!
Roll up the jib and drop the main, the sunset glows,
Hot food, a drink, a shower, a rest and so it goes,
Thanks be to God that we survived the seas we fought,
And God, make weather prophets sail just once upon a yacht!
— Nan Hatch
MARCH 2018 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 33
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Marine
Insurance
The insurance business has changed.
No longer can brokers talk of low rates.
Rather, the honest broker can only say,
“I’ll do my best to minimize your increase!”
There is good insurance, there is cheap
insurance, but there is no good cheap
insurance. You never know how good
your insurance is until you have a claim.
My claims settlement record
cannot be matched.
I have been connected with the marine insurance
business for 47 years. I have developed a rapport
with brokers and underwriters at Lloyds and am
able to introduce boat owners to specialist brokers
in the Lloyds market.
e-mail: streetiolaire@hotmail.com
www.street-iolaire.com
MCINTYRE BROS. LTD.
True Blue, St George’s Grenada
Call 1 (473) 444 3944 macford@spiceisle.com
We service what we sell!
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Duty free deliveries & reliable service for Yachts
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