24/08/2010, Cambridge, UK
Just a quick update on the whereabouts of the Buzzard and her missing crew.
I'm in England and had totally forgotten what a beautiful country it is. I arrived at Gatwick early in the morning and my sister picked me up and drove across to Birmingham. The sun was shining (but not too hot), the birds were singing, the traffic wasn't too bad (like everyone stayed at the right side of the road) and it was wonderful.
Since then I've been up to Maryport, just in time for the annual Trawler Race, back across the Penines to Hull and then down to Cambridge. Later today it's Oxford, and then London tomorrow. At the end of the week it's Birmingham, Hull, Maryport ... although I do keep losing track of where I'm supposed to be, and when!
It was a bit strange when I first picked up the car from Twent's mum and dad's and couldn't remember how to drive, but I seem to have got the hang of it again now. In fact having the freedom to get in and go is great after being boat bound for so long.
It's been so good to see friends and family, and especially Al after all this time, and my little nephew Robin. All quite emotional; just wish Mike was here to share it.
Talking of which ... the Buzzard, apparently, went up to the BVIs the Saturday after I left. A slightly different direction to the intended Suriname, but hey, needs must I guess.
They had a good trip up but unfortunately had intermediate shaft problems on the way back down and ended up having to pull into Dominica. As far as I know (and unfortunately contact has been somewhat sporadic) everything is now fixed and they're heading back down to St. Vincent.
Will update again when I know more.
Love to all ....
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09/08/2010, Chaguaramas
We actually managed a quietish, none drinking week. Well, apart from a few on Wednesday night when Pedro came over to touch up our tattoos and did an amazing snowflake on Julian's back. And, of course, the Friday Tropical lime, and having a couple of beers watching Chelsea v. Man. U at 10 a.m. yesterday morning, oh and then going to Kefing and Lisa's for supper.
We have, though, got quite a lot of work done. The tanks are clean and the new plumbing is almost complete. We also moved the generator on the side of the main engine so that we could put on a slightly larger pulley to allow the engine to run a bit faster. It only had to be moved an inch but took two full working days to do. So much for a 'little' job.
Today the boys have the heat exchanger apart, checking the anodes, changing them where necessary and cleaning the sea-strainer. A bit disconcerting to have an out of operation engine when you're at anchor in the 'washing machine'. Not helped by the fact that the Atlantic Surveyor is still tied alongside with no-one on board. Their bow-line broke during the night on Saturday and we woke up to find it hanging out at some strange angle. Luckily Mike and Johan managed to pull it back in but we'll all be happier once she moves off, hopefully later today.
A few decisions have also been reached about what we're doing for the next few months and I booked a flight back to the UK. I leave tomorrow and am starting to get excited ... it will be so good to catch up with family and friends, and especially to see Al for the first time in almost three years. The only downside is that Mike won't be with me but unfortunately that's the nature of the boating business: it's not easy to just walk away.
Toby's had the worst tick infestation so far. We've tried just about everything and are at the point of poisoning him again if we can't get rid of them any other way. The mossies have been bad too, especially for Twent and Karin; apparently they go for the fresh meat out here.
We've had more rain (the worst for 40 years so they say), and several more local landslides; there are quite a few houses perching precariously on the edge. It's a real pain when you need to go into Port of Spain as there's only one road in and out from Chaguaramas. But given what's happening in other parts of the world ...
While I'm back in the UK Mike's hoping to take the Buzzard down to Suriname to see about picking up some wood. It's supposed to be good there and we've made a few contacts which will help. If it all works out the way we'd like it could turn into a more regular trip and something we can do while the hurricane season is going.
I guess that's about all the news for now. Can't wait to get back to the cool of an English summer ...
See some of you soon ... love to everyone ...
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02/08/2010, Chaguaramas Bay
The boys arrived back safe from Bequia the Friday before last, just in time for the evening lime. And the rest of the week was spent trying to plumb in new fuel lines so that we can transfer more easily between tanks and stop the list that we have at the moment.
We also seem to have had quite a social week ... just for a change. It all started on the Sunday when Mike helped a fellow yachty in distress, i.e. it was late afternoon, all the shops were closed and he'd run out of beer. Turned out he was an Italian named Patrizio who was over from Venezuela on his 65' Bertram. He insisted that we go to eat fresh spaghetti on his boat and by the time the wining and dining, singing and boy band auditioning had finally got to us it was 2.30 a.m.
Monday we were invited to a BBQ over at Crews Inn. Tuesday I met a South African on the Long Circular Mall shopping trip who really wanted to come over to see the boat with her husband. Ralph and Jenny turned up at 5.30 and left about six hours later. They're a great couple who we got on really well with and they invited us out for supper with them on the Thursday night (which turned into another long one). They've now gone back to SA which is a shame, but hopefully we'll see them when they come back in October.
Wednesday Mike offered our services to a guy we sort of know who was having a pirouge mould towed to Venezuela by Patrizio. Dennis, who we met on Paul's boat last year, was concerned that it wouldn't tow properly due to the supporting framework that the manufacturer had fitted. We ended up with it on our top deck, together with 64 lengths of 1" x 4" which the boys then proceeded to nail onto the frame. The resulting 'ark' was really something to behold, but it took quite a while to do, and by the time pizzas and few beers had gone down I think we got to bed around 2 a.m.
It went back in the water the next day and they took off for Margarita. We've since heard that, although they lost the rope twice during the trip, the wood stayed on ok and made a big difference to the tow.
Friday saw us back at the Wheelhouse lime where pot-stickers were the cutters of choice. However, the late nights were beginning to tell and we bailed out at 11.30 when the youngsters headed for Sails.
Saturday we got Atlantic Surveyor back alongside us so they could charge their batteries and use our welder. And the boys were busy down in our engine room plumbing and cleaning tanks.
Yesterday (Sunday) was Emancipation Day. At 7 a.m. Mike, Twent and I went out fishing with Rex, about six miles off the Bocas. Wasn't the best five hours I'd ever spent as for some reason I felt really seasick which is not a good sign. We did, however, catch quite a few red fish, some salmon, and Mike got a 3 foot shark.
We came back and ate fresh fish and roast breadfruit; not your typical Sunday lunch but really good.
In the evening we'd been invited by Roy, a local Trini welder who's been putting in some of our new pipes, to a holiday lime at his bar. We weren't sure what to expect but definitely not what we got.
His bar, in Diego Martin, backs on to a sports stadium and when we got there at 9 p.m. (he was running on Trini time) we were just in time to see the end of the first half of a local football derby (the last cricket match had been played the day before). It was actually a good game and the standard was high, even the few stray dogs on the pitch didn't detract from the overall professionalism of the players.
We were the only white faces in the place but everyone was friendly ... passing round the weed to anyone who cared to partake which, I hasten to add, we definitely didn't. The ganja smog was thick enough as it was.
Anyway we couldn't quite work out why, after the game, everyone disappeared. We thought, oh well, good, we'll get an early night. Only it doesn't work like that apparently; they go home, get changed, and the real partying starts around midnight. By this time, though, we were more than ready to leave, guess we must be getting old!
The slight problem with this was that Roy, who'd picked us up in Chaguaramas, was in no fit state to drive, not even sure he would have been able to find his car if he fell over it. We called several taxi companies all to no avail and panic was starting to set in a little. In the end we called our friend Kefing who lives about half a mile away. Luckily for us (although I guess he probably didn't see it like that) he was in bed asleep. He got the directions and came straight over; couldn't believe the neighbourhood we were in and even had an axe with him because he thought we had got ourselves into trouble ... as if.
Driving back we could understand what he meant though. The streets were heaving with revellers and party-goers just coming out to start the night (it was 1 a.m. by this time). The main road into Chaguaramas was lined with food-stalls and cars, and lots and lots of scantily dressed women in precariously high heels ... it looked like a cross between a county fair and an outdoors hookers convention.
We've had rain just about every day for the last ten, which isn't unusual for this time of year but there's been flooding and several local landslides. A couple of times the thunder and lightning has been quite spectacular. In fact, as I'm writing this, we have torrential rain, you can hardly see the boats next to us and the thunder is booming overhead.
On the crew front: unfortunately Julian has decided that he wants to look for a sailboat to work on, although he'll stay with us for next few weeks at least. We sort of knew it might happen as it's sailing that he really enjoys ... and he also wants to be able stay close to Karin, who is extending her time here. It's really nice to see them so in love and happy, and to know that they met through the Buzzard. We'll be sad to see them go though, they've helped out enormously during their time on board and are great to be with. On a positive note; Twent's settled in well and seems to like being back in the tropics, enjoying the weather (ha!) and the socialising ... although this week we've decided to slow up on the socialising and get the rest of the minor running repairs taken care of so we're ready - honest!
Love to everyone ...
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