Water Pearl Launched

After three long years the Island schooner Chris and Nolly had been building for Bob Dylan was ready to be launched.  The boat was to be named Water Pearl, and she was a beautiful vessel.  The shipwrights had done an amazing job, and I considered myself privileged to have watched the schooner take shape from a skeleton within scaffolding to the magnificent creation soon to be afloat.

The gaff-rigged schooner had been started in 1977, and all of Bequia had watched its progress.  Mac’s father Bluesy had made the sails, which were so big he had to cut them on a tennis court!  The floor of his sail loft was not big enough to spread so much canvas. I had watched Bluesy as he measured, re-measured, and then measured again to make sure the sails were perfect. He was a fine sail-maker and Water Pearl would soon bear testament to his skill.

In preparation for the launch the schooner’s hatches had to be set in the deck, which I believe was planked with silver bali wood.  The bowsprit was added, then the hull painted a pale grey.  Logs and flour bags filled with sand were placed in readiness beside the vessel, they would be needed to ease the boat into the water.

On the day of the launching, which took place at the coconut wharf along the waterfront, colorful flags and pennants were flying from the Water Pearl as well as from yachts anchored in Admiralty Bay.  It was December 9^th, 1980 and a carnival feeling was in the air.  This was a much-anticipated event, and a huge crowd had gathered to witness it.

I wanted to watch the launching from start to finish, and luckily the coconut wharf was close enough to the Pizzeria that I could run back and forth between the two.  I was there when Patty Perkins broke a champagne bottle over the bow of Water Pearl, which produced a celebratory howl from the assembled crowd.  Patty was the girlfriend of Mark Padbury, a master cabinet-maker from California who had been instrumental in the schooner’s construction.

With many eager hands pulling on ropes, the schooner was eased over the logs and into the sea.  This makes it sound far easier than it was, it took a lot of effort and a lot of time to make this important transition from land to water!  The crowd shouted encouragement until they were hoarse, and I was one of them.

Finally the Water Pearl slid gracefully into the clear waters of Admiralty Bay.  She looked SO pretty, proudly flying her flags and pennants as she floated on the sparkling sea. She was towed to her anchorage, where Mark Padbury and Lauren Dewar (“Mr. Joe”) would together finish the interior, fitting bulkheads and shutters with expertise and attention to detail.

The party started in earnest, the schooner had been successfully launched and the crowd was ready to celebrate. The party was an all-afternoon fete at the coconut wharf, where the bare spot left by Water Pearl’s introduction to the sea provided more space for the crowd assembled in the boat yard.

The launching of Water Pearl was a magical event on Bequia, one that I will never forget.