Jules
04/06/2009, Trinidad

Tuesday saw us six months from Maryport. And we spent the day in a place that couldn't have been more different. A guy we've met called Michael has a 68 acre property in the middle of Trinidad, at Talparo, where he's planted teak and mahogany and various fruits, and he invited us out for a visit.

We were up at 4.30 a.m. to meet him as it gets very hot and humid in the interior and you don't want to be hanging around at midday up there, apparently. Not quite sure what I was expecting but it was absolutely wonderful. A real tropical forest with bright, vibrant trees and plants and vines and so many things that I'd only ever seen in books or on tv. We saw caimans (small fresh-water alligators), picked oranges, mandarins, grapefruit, coconut, bananas, cocoa, breadfruit, chandon beni (similar to coriander and used in lots of Trini cooking) and breadnuts.

The breadnuts grow in large green spikey round pods about as big as your head. You can pick and eat them as immature fruit or wait for them to mature when they then fall off the trees and split open. At this stage it looks like a pile of mushy sick with large lumps in it which you have to scoop up off the ground; the lumps are the nuts which you then have to pick out and cook. When cooked they are very similar to our chestnuts in appearance, texture and taste. Instead of roasting them you boil them in salted-water, shell them and use them in curries, or sauted with garlic, hot peppers and chandon beni .. delicious!

The trip up to the property was also quite an eye-opener. We passed the usual shanty towns on the outskirts of Port of Spain and the 'no-go' areas for whites. Most of the roads, as elsewhere in Trinidad, were badly maintained and pot-holded. We passed a dual-carriageway project that was almost finished, the pedestrian overpass ramps were there but not the connecting walking, making it look like some futuristic sculpture. It has been in this state for over five years because the company building it had run out of money. This is the company that was owned by a relative of the Minister for Roads and that had started up just for this project, taken all the money and then closed.

It's an example of the almost endemic corruption which appears to blight the Trinidad political system (and you think we have it bad at home!). The papers here are full of government ministers who award contracts to family members. The latest was a minister who awarded a $tt 360 million construction contract to a company that had only been founded three weeks previously ... and is claiming that he had no idea the company was owned by his brother-in-law!

Labour shortages are also a major problem for Trinidad. Michael struggles to get any kind of reliable workers on his property to the extent that he has to do most of it himself. When he does have workers things go missing and he'd rather get them to mix cement by hand then bring in a mixer as he knows that unless he oversees it himself it would go missing ... and apparently shovels don't cost as much as cement mixers.

There had been quite a lot of rain up in the interior already, and we both had to borrow some of the workers' wellies; Mike's were white, he looked so cute! All in all we had quite an amazing day, and even got to stop for a beer and doubles on the way back (looking at the pictures they really don't look too appetising but I can assure you they most definitely are).

The rainy season officially started here on 1st June - and it wasn't late. All day Monday black ominous looking clouds circled around us, although we only had a few spits of rain. Still, we can definitely sense a change. At 8 a.m. this morning it was 28C and 94 percent humidity. Not quite sure how we're going to deal with the rain when it comes, but hey, at least it's not cold.

On a not so good note - Mike went fishing on Sunday for 12 hours (that isn't the bad part although even he said that if he knew he was only going to catch one fish he wouldn't have bothered), and while he was away my eyes started to do strange things. I saw floating spots close up and halos around the hills if I looked to the distance. Luckily the next day I was back to normal but I think I'm going to have to start wearing sunglasses on a more regular basis as apparently the intensity of the glare here can affect your eyes quite badly.

I also twisted my knee getting into the dinghy and have been hobbling for the last few days. Knees are not me at the moment.

On the work front we've been constantly pumping the dirty fuel into containers which are being picked up in the morning. It'll be good to finally get rid of it all and be able to clean the tank out.

... and Toby and Nellie are well and enjoying the Caribbean lifestyle, as far as I can tell anyway.

Love to all ....

Comments [6]

Jules
30/05/2009, 11 19'N:56 56'W, Trinidad

Well, we had a good party for my birthday. And I got the most amazing, and much appreciated, present . 40 tonnes of water! Mike had been trying to organise it most of the day and, after a few delays a boat, the Kathryn M, came alongside - just as the party guests were arriving. It took about an hour to fill up all the tanks and we ended up having to pay for just the water and not the boat, which was a real result and was definitely better than having to go into the dock.

I managed to get a little drunk but didn't fall down or disgrace myself. It doesn't do to have too much of a hangover anyway, not in this heat. Needless to say we had a very quiet day after.

Since then we don't seem to have done a great deal, although I'm sure we have. I know we had two really disturbed nights thanks to the mozzies. We haven't had too much of a problem with them since we've been here, just the odd few bites, but for some reason they seem to be attacking with a vengeance. We had to resort to using our WMD (weapon of mozzie destruction), that we were given by Ken and Gail in Las Palmas. It's an electrified swatter that looks a bit like a small tennis racket. It doesn't always get them but when it does there's a more than satisfying crackle, hiss and white flash as they are instantly destroyed. The problem comes though when you're half asleep and waving these things around, and then the excitement of actually getting a mozzie wakes you up completely.

Mike played bridge again on Thursday, another five hour marathon. I'm almost at the point of joining in but the rules are somewhat complicated and some of the players are mighty serious. Several couples we've met are adamant that they'll never play with their wives/husbands as partners as it would almost certainly lead to divorce.

We haven't had rain now for several weeks but apparently the rainy season is due to start, you can feel more humidity in the air and there's definitely a change coming. Sometimes it's so still you can't see the horizon and the boats just seem to float in the air.

There's been a really big drilling platform anchored about half a mile off us. It's on its way from the builders in Singapore to the Gulf of Mexico. The number of lights on board is quite something and at night it looked like a giant Christmas tree. There's also another rig that's just come in, in fact there's always new boats coming and going and things to see. A 115ft two-masted, South African, yacht moored by us the other day and last night we went aboard to meet them. It's quite a boat, with wonderful teak-work throughout. They're on their way to Portugal to sell her as a charter boat.

It was really good to talk to the owner's wife, Liz, who also came over to visit the Buzzard. They've got all sorts of crew problems, and mechanical problems, and electronic problems, and problems getting fuel and weren't even supposed to be in Trinidad but ran low on water and had to make a detour . it's nice to know we're not the only ones for whom things don't always go as planned.

Talking of which . we contacted the Canadian registry only to find out that they were still waiting for the original tonnage measurement to be sent. We spoke to Bastien and, guess what, he hasn't even sent it yet. Given that we can't leave until we have the new registration documents we're back to 'hurrying up and waiting'.

The two Indonesian guys who were supposed to be coming to work for us for a few days didn't turn up but Mike's keeping busy doing some wheeler-dealing and ratching for treasurers on the sunken boats. He spotted a wooden mast which apparently is ideal and needed by the South African boat so no doubt is now planning to go into the mid-night salvage business!

Love to all .

PS Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes.

Comments [5]

Jules
25/05/2009, Trinidad

Not a great deal to report over the last week. I guess we're just getting used to being on our own on the boat again; the first time in ... I can't remember! (Have to make the most of it too as on Thursday we're getting a couple of Indonesian workers for a week who will be staying on board and, hopefully, finishing off all the chipping and banging.)

We had a few days without doing much at all. On Thursday Mike played bridge with the 'oldies', he was the youngest of them by quite a few years. While he was playing (for four and a half hours!) I sat and watched the wildlife: the pelicans dive-bombing the fish in the dock and two iguanas climbing a coconut tree and taking birds' eggs. I was also shown this local bug (body about three to four inches long) which our tonnage measurer had found on a boat he was working on. It has with the most amazing patterned and coloured body which is smooth and feels just like velvet. Luckily it was dead but completely intact, luckily it wasn't alive and on our boat.

One of the couples Mike played with, Dick and Jane, came out to see the Buzzard. They're both in their 80s, have been married for 62 years, took up sailing 20 years ago and have been all round the world. Unfortunately, although they're both relatively fit and definitely feisty, they're getting to the point where it's becoming increasingly difficult for them to sail on their own (although Jane's more than up for it) and they've made the decision to sell their boat.

They had a slight problem getting on and off the Buzzard, especially as Jane has a false hip and heart trouble, but they made it without having to use Mike's proffered fireman's lift. They were really pleased they'd made the effort and very impressed with all we've done ... and they're coming back tomorrow night as we're having a party on board. (It'll be my 49th birthday and Mike's organising a grand start to my 50th year ... a year of peace, contentment, adventure, fun - and a wedding!)

We've taken Toby swimming quite a bit, a couple of times to a cove just across from where we're anchored. It seems to be the repository for boats in various stages of wreckage, amongst which is an old fishing boat from Hull (Stordoy). Nellie is doing well, eating plenty of fish and seeking out the coolest spots on the boat, namely the shower and toilet (not really photo material I'm afraid).

Over the weekend we managed to finish prepping and the painting the last of the decks, which are all looking really good now. And we've had quite a few early nights, like lights out at 8.30 p.m. - Maybe we're getting old ...or maybe just saving our energy for tomorrow night!

Hopefully by tomorrow we'll also have more water. Mike's negotiating (i.e. liming with the bros. and drinking beer) with various of the water carrying boats, Thistle, Pickle and Tweed. It's worked out well as I was slightly concerned about having to go to dock to get water, two people and lots of yachts in way ... not an ideal situation.

Lots of love for now ....

PS Many thanks to all those (few) who send comments ... to everyone else, it would be great to hear from you!

PPS Sorry ... apparently the photos have't uploaded, I'll try and do it next time.

Comments [9]