DESTINATION AZORES

— See story on page 22 LINDA

Publisher..................................Dan Merton dan@caribbeancompass.com

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Dear Elaine,

I look forward to Compass every month.

I am the owner of two ketches chartering in the Grenadines. One of them, the 66-foot Mikado of Sark, and two guests, were sailing in Tobago Cays. We took a buoy as usual, close to Baradal Beach.

At 5 a.m. on Sunday March 19, we were awakened by voices and a shock: Our sailing boat was in the nose of a charter catamaran!

I started the engine and moved off the catamaran, and our keel was in the sand! (At least it was better than coral rocks.) After a few seconds we were able to move, and to use my anchor and 70 meters of chain.

Taking a torch, I saw how it happened. The rope of the buoy was broken. In the picture, you can see the very rusty thimble of this buoy, and where the rope is broken.

It would seem that this buoy has not been checked for many years. The fee for using the buoys has increased dramatically in 2023, but what about the quality?

Dominique Bouquet

S/V Mikado of Sark and Lady White

Dear Dominique,

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I have raised the matter with the ranger in charge of maintenance, he stated that the moorings in that particular area are checked monthly since it is a high usage area. However, these monthly checks are mainly to look at the lines below the surface of the water. According to the photo the mooring was broken from the line on the surface of the water. This is supposed to be checked routinely by rangers conducting daily patrols. As a result, the issue should have been spotted and reported to the head of maintenance. This wasn’t done and so we deeply regret the incident, which is avoidable.

Feel free to contact me if you need further information.

Regards

Lesroy Noel Operations Manager

Tobago Cays Marine Park www.tobagocays.org

Dear Elaine and Lesroy, Sorry to see that this happened.

One other factor that this case raises is that marine park moorings typically have a maximum yacht size limit—depending on the particular park’s mooring infrastructure, yachts over 60 feet are often required to anchor in an approved anchoring zone because they exceed the safe holding and stress capabilities of the moorings, especially in strong wind. I agree with Lesroy that this particular pick-up line looks like it could have been addressed in regular inspections. I don’t have the TCMP mooring size limits on hand, but it could be an opportunity to familiarize readers with those limits—but I suggest very diplomatically and without laying blame on this captain.

One tip: Something yachties can do is to use the pick-up line just to pick up the mooring, then attach their own lines through the metal thimble on the top of the mooring buoy which attaches to chain below the water, thus by-passing the rope that’s used on the surface.

Also bear in mind that quality and maintenance are fundamental to the success of the mooring program.

Hope this helps,

Emma Doyle MPA Connect Coordinator Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Gcfi.org

Dear Compass,

I agree thoroughly with Chris Doyle’s article in the March 2023 issue. Abandoned boats are a real blight on the islands and an embarrassment for the cruising community. Like everything else, it takes money to deal with the problem. Tracking down owners, or estates of dead owners, and doing all the legal things before even preparing the boats to be towed out to deep water and sunk is a big part of the job. I wonder if there is an NGO, or maybe a UN commission that a Caribbean country could get funding from? Should cruisers themselves set up some kind of a charity to raise money, and partner with the government? Just throwing the ideas out there.

Jock Tulloch, S/Y Unleaded skinnysailor659@gmail.com