Panama and the Caribbean

The well worn faded covers of the seats of the old Fokker 50 needed a good clean. Many sweaty heads had rested on them whilst flying high above the Caribbean Sea on the various inter island flights, the vinyl covered armrests were ripped and tatty. The plane had had a long working life. It still had plenty of life in it though, although the die had obviously been cast and it was unlikely it would have the money spent on it in the future to smarten up the interior, more likely it would be sold on when it was finally too rough for the Caribbean clientele it was now servicing, possibly to Venezuela or some other South American country, where the state of the interior was still acceptable. After that the scrapyard would loom.... Out of the window, it was possible to distinguish the swells of the Caribbean Sea, all marching inexorably westward, driven by the powerful trade winds. The very trade winds which would try and prevent us from reaching Antigua in time for the Classics regatta, now the focal point of our whole trip right now. There the great and the beautiful of the whole classic boat scene will be present to strut their stuff, admire each other's immaculate varnish work, teak decks, and gleaming spars. They will be sailed by some of the best sailors around, the boats having been finely tuned to maximise their sailing potential with no thought given to cost, and no stone left unturned in search of sailing performance. And into this fleet will appear the Anne Marie, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful boats attending, but looking sadly down at heel, the result of years of neglect and misfortune in the cold and grey environs of British Colombia. But look again and you will see that despite her peeling varnishwork, rotten toenail, tatty spars and canvassed deck, this is no old Fokker 50 destined for some South American scrap heap, but a boat with some purpose and drive. The halyards are all in place and set up to work efficiently, coiled neatly at the mast. The runner blocks sport new(albeit budget Mexican) rope, neatly and recently spliced. The shackles and metalwork are all greased up, in service, and moused.there is no untidy clutter on deck, everything is in place with a purpose.the spinnaker pole fittings may be basic, but are functional and simple. The 40 year old mainsail and staysail, although old, uv damaged and stretched, have Ben recently restricted and repaired, ongoing maintenance necessary to keep such old sails going.in fact, look past the poor paint and vanish work, and that odd 1980s American toerail, which a previous owner had ill advisedly installed in pursuit of a more 'modern' look, and you can tell that something is actually happening with this boat. A lot of hard work and love have gone into the boat over the last year, and she has successfully sailed over 4,000 miles so far in her eventful homecoming. The Classics will be a lovely opportunity for Anne Marie to once again race against yachts she last raced over half a century ago, and to gain motivation and strength for the upcoming years of restoration which lie ahead. For sure it will inspire everyone involved in the project to push on and endeavour to restore Anne Marie not only to be able to compete in her current, run down state, but hopefully also to compete for the concourse d'elegance, and retake her place amongst the other beauties with her own immaculate varnish and gleaming spars. But for now our position will likely be that of a more piratical nature. We are unable to compete with the quality of the yachts we will encounter in Antigua, but will take our satisfaction in being part of a fantastic event, and enjoy the company of likeminded sailors. Indeed, it is quite comforting to think about the event, daysailing close inshore, with plenty of boats around and plenty of crew. Looming just the other side of the regatta is the long Atlantic passage home, back to the uneasy quest of easing an old leaky antique across the pitiless and remorseless ocean. The constant flow of work involved in making her passage at sea, whether it be maintaining the rigging, hauling sails around, helming in big seas for hours on end, or struggling to make some electrical fault work, battling with 80 year old cables and a crazy old system, in a rapidly deteriorating interior, with doors falling off their hinges, sole boards cracking under foot, solebearers needing shoring up, tanks leaking their contents into the bilge, the twin rivers of the bow and the stern leak, flowing into the central sump lake, from where the flow is pumped back into the ocean from whence it came. It will be somewhat of a relief to finally see the Bishop Rock come over the horizon, followed by the Wolf, the Lizard, and then St Anthony's. But there is a lot of cold gray Atlantic first! We shall enjoy the Caribbean whilst we can!