Windward, Carriacou

Windward, Carriacou – where music meets shipbuilding

Once upon a time, there was a guy from Poland, who had a dream to visit Windward in Carriacou, and to learn there how to build wooden boats traditional way. We took him with us from Martinique down south. We never made it together there, but he totally sold us the vision. Most importantly, he gave us firsthand information about that place. Back then, instead of learning, he went racing those wooden beauties in Antigua and Grenada 🙂 Good for him!
So … a year later, tempted by the information about the launch ceremony, we finally made it to Windward. It was a big, big event. Honestly, the rest of the island was more deserted than now, during quarantine! Everyone was on that party!

The ship

The ship, 18m wooden cargo, built out of local hardwood, directly on the beach with the horizon as a reference. Every piece was handmade with impressive, given the circumstances, accuracy. I mean, as a professional, I looked everywhere I could, and stuck a finger wherever I could (when Marcin was not looking 🙂 ) Even if I didn’t know that Carriacou ships and yachts are pretty famous, sailing regattas and delivering cargo all over the Caribbean, I could tell that that ship was a piece of good craftsmanship. It took 2 years to build it, so the celebration had to be adequate. The tradition of shipbuilding came to Carriacou with Scottish settlers in the 19th century and was passed down from generation to generation.

The party

It started in the morning with a naming ceremony. The ship was given the name Reality 2. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get there that early, but maybe good that we didn’t as I heard that some goats and sheep were losing heads for the occasion. Luckily for us, putting this baby to water took way longer than the naming. The launching ceremony party was on the beach, right next to the boat, between palm trees. Tons of people were walking and dancing to the music performed by a local string band. For me, it sounded like some sort of calypso folk, African vibes with a light note of Celtic nostalgia. Beautiful. Women cooked food in huge pots, straight on fire, and everybody was invited. Launching itself was quite difficult as they had to maneuver between palm trees and fences (one had to be even disassembled), not to mention, the tractor broke down, so people were pushing her with bare hands! It took a few hours, and finally, she slid to the water to the sound of music and the loud cheering of the crowd. Sail well in Reality too!