MOVE FROM ANCHORAGE TO A SLIP

Moved to slip at Moorings

After a month or more living at anchor we had suffered too many interrupted nights. As the wind dropped in the summer months, boats did not lie so well at anchor. So frequently we had to jump up and start the engine to avoid collisions. This always happened in the middle of the night. The baby was sleeping soundly through the nights by now but Jon and myself were not.

Now Jon was earning, we could afford to pay a monthly rate for a slip in The Moorings Marina. That would also entitle us to use the laundry and shore shower facilities. It was also much simpler for me to take the children ashore. School had broken up until September. The only drawback was such close proximity to other boats and people walking past only feet away. That left me no choice but to go into the saloon when nursing Oliver for privacy instead of sitting comfortably in the centre cockpit.

When Jon went into Barclays Bank to deposit his first pay check and draw out some cash there was an awkward silence and the teller asked Jon to wait. He stepped aside whilst other people were served. Then Bill Bullimore came rushing into the air conditioned calmness and queued up to deposit cash from sail repairs and cheques from sails orders.

“Your cash should be okay now, “ he said with a wink at Jon.

The first week in August was Carnival Week in Tortola. A fun fair was erected on the recreation ground in the town centre. Needless to say Jethro loved this. I had to strictly limit him to two rides a day. There was a massive parade on the Saturday, not as long as St Thomas but just as much fun.

Jon had taken up racing Sunfish borrowed from the BVI yacht club. He won two races in the Tortathlon – a sort of Caribbean ‘It’s a Knockout.’ The BVI Sailfish champs were to be held over the weekend 15/16 August with six out of seven races to count.

Sunfish Racing

Jon’s main rival in the Sunfish racing was a young lad from St Croix in the USVI. He brought his sail into the Hood Loft to demand that Jon recut it for him to make it fuller. Jon said,

“Sorry, mate. If I do it well you’ll beat me and if I do it badly you’ll blame me,”.

So he got Manasseh to do it. This guy and Jon came 1st and 2nd in the championship weekend. They both qualified to sail in the Sunfish Worlds to be held in Caracas in December with sponsorship from the BVI yacht club.

Life for him at the Hood sail loft continued to be a dilemma. He was learning a lot about much bigger sails than he had ever handled before. He had the operation running smoothly so much so that Bill was free to go off and do his beloved hang gliding much more. The back log of repairs was all fixed. But Jon was used to being in sole charge of his own business and there were many things that were not to his satisfaction.

Problems at work

Whilst we were house sitting in the Blackwells luxurious home and enjoying the comfort of a huge double bed every night with the boys in a separate room, Bill gave Jon a lift home after work one day and stayed for a drink on the patio overlooking the Channel. That morning he had called Jon into his office and carefully closed all the doors. He then said,

“Jon you have to fire three of the lads. Now we’ve got the place running efficiently we are over-staffed. It’s going to be quiet between now and Christmas.”

Jon was very upset at this prospect. He told Bill, “Before I go and sack any of those lads, we need to talk about my own future.”

Consequently Bill was using this lift home to carry on that conversation. “I will level with you,” he began. I am in deep debt here. The expense of buying the Hood franchise and investing in the new loft and equipment leaves me with a massive bank loan. My overdraft limit is not enough and they want me to reduce it.”

Jon and I exchanged glances as we knew from the BBC World Service news on the radio that US Federal Funds interest rates had just gone up to 21%. Both the UK and the USA were suffering from runaway inflation. A lot businesses were struggling on both sides of the Atlantic. What a blessing we had sold up in Norfolk when we did.

Bill went on, “So I have three suggestions for you. You can buy me out and I’ll go back to the UK, or you can become an equal partner by investing ten thousand dollars, or you can buy a 10% share in the business.”

None of these options appealed to Jon. So he responded:

“Sorry Bill. I was thinking more along the lines of taking the next two months off with no pay. There is still work to do on Camelot before we can offer the boat for sale. Then I would come back to work with you at the beginning of December and through the high season winter months for a higher salary, a percentage of profits and a company pick up.”

Minding the comfortable house came with new creature comforts. One day I opened the back door to peg out laundry to be met by two nanny goats chewing hibiscus flowers. Ladybird the dog soon saw them off. One night lying in bed a huge spider dropped down from the rafters – not a tarantula but a near relation. There was also a named storm, Dennis, that threatened to become a hurricane. We had been given instructions to open the back door and the front doors if there was torrential rain to let it flow straight through the house. Fortunately Dennis passed without hurricane force in the BVI.