From the Adventure Antigua Sailing Part 3:“Ocean Nomad” would be brought back to life in the morning when work resumed after far too long. Sure enough at 9am once they had collected some lumber from town, work started up on Ocean Nomad and after sitting there for over a year she was back in business on her way to being the latest boat launched from Windward, Carriacou.”
Work started with a determination that was fueled by both excitement and relief.
This boat had been a chain around the families neck for some time. A yacht which usually took 8 months to finish was sitting there as a tourist attraction well over two years after they had started. 
In fact, while I sat there and watched them work several taxi buses filled with tourists stopped to take photos and inspect the boat. The taxi drivers were most interested and jokingly asked Alwyn if he was finally going to get this thing finished. Alwyn replied positively introducing me as the new owner. The owner of the little house next door came home for lunch and said that she was just about to turn it into a sandwich shop and was upset to see that it might finally be moving. She was joking of course, but I think there were very few people who had ever past this section of Windward’s main road who didn’t know a version of this boat’s story. Poor Alwyn and his family had shamefully sat back waiting for something to happen and were delighted to be showing themselves working on the boat. And worked they did! 
As I sat there snapping photos I could see change happening port and starboard. 
The cap rail was being finished and the cabin roof was being prepared. 
I wanted this boat finished within five weeks in time for the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta held in the middle of April, and although Alwyn said it would be no problem when I told him the day before, I wasn’t so sure. 
This feeling of doubt gradually was replaced with optimism as I watched the team of three family members work carefully and methodically around the hull.
They probably had imagined the steps they would need to take in order to finish her several times and she sat there in her undignified and unfinished state. By early afternoon it was time to head back to town in order to catch the ferry. I told Alwyn, that he would need to hire extra hands in order to get it done in time and he said it would be no problem. 
I think he wanted it out of there sooner than anyone, so that he could focus on my other boat which I think will be one of the most beautiful yachts he has built yet. 
Sitting on the ferry going downwind back to Grenada I felt happy to have seen some of the process as well as to have helped Alwyn get Ocean Nomad back on track. That was February 20th and they have been working almost every day since then trying to get the boat done. The cabin is finished, the corking is done on one side of the hull, the cap rails are done. We are still shooting to have the boat here in time for classics. Sails have been ordered from North Sails and we are looking good to be ready for charter by the end of April.
The lovely Rax seen with her Dad above 
First we had to stop at Stingray City park to visit the rays as well as Greedy Bob the hawksbill turtle who hangs out nearby. 
Some of us were lucky enough to see him on this day too. The rays were swimming by and Justin seen in the pic above and below was the first to say hi.
After everyone had drinks and had seen the rays we were off to Green Island. Tony, JD, Ross and Olly took the Arawak Odyssey up past Devils Bridge and into Green Island's Non Such Sound while i followed in the boston whaler. We had JD's whaler so that we could pull the Jumbo Dog once again which was a favorite in the last party. The kids then felt that they didn't get enough and if you remember i took some heat from one of the young ladies who thought i was a bit "evil". hehehe
My crew decided that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hot dogs, tuna, patties and cheese sandwiches were better than the adult food. 
I guess this happens when you eat the same thing every day. That being said the adults loved our regular buffet. 
We could hear the screams for the whole ride even though JD kept the speed limit to a very low pace the thrill was still big enough. 
Each child had several turns and then all of a sudden i heard screams from all directions. It was Justin's last ride with his friends and they managed to flip the dog over. 
I counted 5 little heads swimming quickly towards JD and Tony who were already back alongside them. When they got back to the boat they were talking all at once recounting the adventure from all different angles of bravery. 
In fact we had to let the little fire cool down a bit before the kids were allowed to get close enough, but they were amazingly patient. One and a half bags of sticky gooey marshmallows later and we had some hyper kids on our hands. 
They also had marshmallows on their hands and on their faces. Cameron Hadeed was covered in the stuff, but i think that's because this tiny skinny little kid had managed to consume about 10 marshmallows. He's too cute! I think he would have kept on going too but we told him we had to out the fire. Olly took careful care of that before coming back to the boat just in time for the cake. ....and what a cake it was! 
With all the sugar in the systems of those kids it was time for me and JD to abandon ship with the Boston Whaler. Tony, Olly and Ross managed to take Justin, his family and friends all the way back to Jolly Harbour. The day had been a 50 mile round trip of fun in the sun, and i hope enjoys many more such birthdays to come. The crew and i enjoyed the day out too. 
I went to elementary and high school with some of the adults on the trip and it was good to hang with them again. Thanks to Laila for asking Adventure Antigua to be involved once again and thanks to her also for all of these great photos. Well done! OK now since i know there are some smart kids reading this. Please make notes and comment on all my spelling mistakes so that i can correct them. My spell checker doesn't work after 11pm. hehehehe
Outside was the beach and a huge ancient vessle lay beached as if washed up in a storm to die where it had come to life all those years before. This was the place my new boat was going to come to life. I could see some basic tools resting around which had been in use up until I walked into the “boat yard”. Scattered around were bits of cut wood and some lovely pieces of shaped wood I imagined were frames still to be assembled. While Alwyn ate his salt-fish and bake lunch he explained the process. They had taken the ferry over to Grenada where a local family was about to clear some land for development. The family allowed them to go into the forest and take the trees that they needed. He said it was very difficult as the terrain was steep. Getting the cut trees out was the most difficult part though, but the land owner had graciously helped them. Once a boat had finally dropped off the last trunks onto the beach on Windward, Carriacou, the men had to start picking the best ones for the construction of eight frames. 
He said that he had always assembled the frames onto the keel using only five frames, but that this time he wanted to do it with eight to speed up the process and make the whole process more accurate later down the line. He told me with shining eyes how these were the best trees for making frames that he ever got out of the “bush”. They were large and had the best shape for making the skeleton of the boat. You see, a simple keel is made in Grenada out of greenheart hard wood according to his design. While that is being made he and his sons make the ribs or “frames” as he calls them. When the greenheart keel arrives they then attach the frames so that they have a skeleton of the boat assembled. 
All of this is done with exact accuracy in accordance with the model which is kept in the boat yard as seen above. The assembled frames in the photo above are from another fishing boat being made, but the model is mine. 
IT is the model which he is most proud of. He boasts that most boat builders don’t use a model and just build a boat as they go. The model is a blueprint of the boat to be built and is done exactly to scale. 
On the model each three quarters of an inch represents a foot on the real boat. He explains over his salt-fish lunch that on a ruler, three quarters of an inch has twelve sixteenths. This means that for every 1/16th of an inch on the model the measurement on the life size boat will be an inch. ¾ of an inch on the model is a foot on the real boat. 
As you can see in this photo of the model there are careful measurements all over the thing which all are strictly transferred into inches and feet on the life size timbers they are working with. 
Although we sit in the one of the most primitive boat yards on the planet, the rules of boat building are the same as if we were in a naval boat yard in the USA or Great Britain. He gets very technical and most of it is way beyond me, but i trust him. During Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta I have seen his boats fly past classic shaped boats built recenlty using the most modern materials. 
I am impressed with Alwyn’s drive and determination to not let this tradition fade away. After lunch when we walk over to the other boat, he explains that his sons are only a few of the men their age that are working in this ancient craft. Many of the young men of Carriacou sit on the corner and do little of anything he says. Many have to leave the island to look for work in Grenada and further. The art and life that is boat building has been slowly fading away. 
He is proud of his sons and of the work that they do together. I am proud to be part of it. With the resurgence of Wooden boat racing in the Caribbean I think that many more people will come to Windward in search of a traditionally built boat. 
One would be for another beam and one would be for the stem. The stem is one of the most important pieces of wood on the boat. 
It is the forward most piece which the rig is attached to. It goes from the very front of the boat down below the waterline and attaches to the wooden keel. With no big wood working machinery on the island it was time for the most high tech and biggest tool they had. A chain saw. 
I am sure that most international boat builders would laugh at the thought of making the stem of a yacht using a chainsaw, and I must admit I wondered how well it would turn out. 
To my amazement the process was as done as smoothly and carefully as any of the alternatives. 
Of course it took longer and took more care, but Chris was a master at using the saw. Using a bit of chalk to give the rough outline they cut into the tree trunk to get the shape. 
Then using a chalk line they used the chain saw to get the shape much closer to the finished product.
Using a few more tools to mark the exact lines they used a electrical planer to get it perfect. 
The finished stem was so perfect that I was just totally blown away. 
It never appeared as though they were having a hard time and experience was what made it perfect. 
While Chris was making the stem, Alwyn and Terry worked at attaching port and starboard sides of the frames. 
Alwyn called me over at one point and said “you see beauty?” I smiled and said “yes”!
With no roof over their heads and without many tools they were creating a beautiful yacht. As the sun started to set it was time to clean up and make plans for the morning. Work would stop on my boat that afternoon, and with a shake of hands and the passing of some money another job would be re-started. “Ocean Nomad” would be brought back to life in the morning when work resumed after far too long. Sure enough at 9am once they had collected some lumber from town, work started up on Ocean Nomad and after sitting there for over a year she was back in business on her way to being the latest boat launched from Windward, Carriacou.