At 5:30am Saturday morning, Nov. 5, 2011 I had an opportunity for an early AM boat trip ...Dave was taking Alexis Andrews, builder & captain of Genesis, a 40 foot Carriacou sloop hand built on the beaches of Windward, out to his vessel to depart for home in Antigua.

As the sun was rising with an incredible display of color in the sky and on the water Alexis, Elsbet, Yette & I, got in Dave's small boat and went out to Genesis. Dave then went back into Windward to pick up Hope McLawerence, a local seaman to help Alexis raise his sails & anchor and see him off.

During my first week on C'cou I had the very good fortune to meet Alexis, a professional photographer and one of Dave's longtime sailing buddies who had documented the construction of his vessel along with many of the local shipbuilding traditions in his 2-volume book, Vanishing Ways and Genesis. This is a wonderful book filled with many personal reminisces and some of the most amazing photographs of the sea, sailboats, Carriacou shipbuilders and the year & a half process of Genesis' construction.

Traditional shipbuilding on the beaches of Windward, Carriacou began in the early 1800s when Scottish fishermen and ship builders were brought to Carriacou by the British, whose colony Grenada was until their independence in 1974.

The melding of the Scots with the decedents of the African slaves and the fishing, sailing & shipbuilding traditions are brought to life in Vanishing Ways. Genesis follows the traditional construction of the vessel from harvesting the trees to the spilling of rum and blood on her at the launching. My copy of this amazing journey is a cherished possession to read and reread as I come to know this paradox of paradise, Carriacou.

As we headed back to Dave's watching Genesis navigate through the reefs that protect Watering Bay at Windward, I was struck by Alexis' intimate knowledge & easy confidence in his vessel and of sailing single handed the 350 miles to Antigua.

The day was still young and Dave had invited us out fishing later that morning. Elsbet and Yette were going, but I needed to go into town for a few more supplies and while the sea looked calm, I was concerned about getting sea sick ...so it was town for me and the sea for them.