We arrived back in Trinidad at the beginning of May and after a few days we were hauled out of the water. We're a cottage on stilts again and Powerboats have given us a staircase, which is great! Anne flew back to Scotland, leaving Alan on the boat as usual.
It's been mixed weather since Anne arrived in Scotland, with mostly rainy days, and the odd bit of sunshine. It's such a shame there aren't more dry days, as the scenery would be lovely if we could see it properly.
After five years of abstinence Alan finally bought a fishing rod for the boat. First attempt: three quarters of an hour - no bites, nothing, nada, zero! Second attempt: lure in water, Alan trying to set the sails and within five minutes we caught an eighteen inch yellow fin tuna. Panic! What happens now? Nothing was set up with landing or dealing with the fish. However, in spite of everything and the lumpy seas, we managed to land the beast and had him for dinner.
Yes, we're back in the Lagoon. We made it to St Maarten after a horrible, horrible sail. All steep waves - square with overhanging bits at the top - ick, but the wind was okay. We only managed about 4 knots the whole way - up and down, up and down!! We were both thoroughly p'd off by the time we got here. This used to be a great place to be, but they've put the prices up so it cost us $50 dollars to check in at Customs and Immigration - $30 for the bridge (whether or not you use it) and $20 a dollars a week just for the privilege of staying here!! So, by the time you've saved all that money in the chandlers, you've spent it all on Customs Duties! Apparently it's a lot cheaper on the French side, but it's a long way from the French side to the chandlers and all the other shops at this side and we've only got a wee outboard. Guess we'll stay on the French side next time, if there is a next time! So, we're off tomorrow for somewhere south.
A boat beside us caught fire this week and I'll try to put a photo of it on the blog soon. The "Boys in Black" (ie the Coastguard) noticed the fire and came screaming up to the boat with alarms screaming and lights flashing, causing great waves sloshing around the anchorage. However, they only had a tiny fire extinguisher on board their big black boat, which proved to be totally useless. So, off the Coastguard roared again - lights flashing, siren screaming to get more fire fighting equipment - they returned with another small fire extinguisher. The fire was finally put out by a small power boat with a portable water pump. Alan decided the Coastguard merited 100% for artistic impression and 0% for technical merit. It was only a diesel generator on the back of the boat that caught fire - more smoke and flames than damage.
We're in a beautiful anchorage in St John's at Round Bay, Coral Bay. A three foot Barracuda has taken up residence beneath the boat and a huge turtle sleeps on the seabed during the day just beside us. Absolutely fantastic!
I've finally managed to get a wi-fi signal, albeit a bit of a weak one. We spent about a week in Megan's Bay while the gales blew over us. We finally managed to get out of the Bay and tack, tack, tack all the way to Christmas Cove (about 17 miles including tacks)! We're now anchored in Redhook.
Not much time - am sitting in an internet cafe 'cos we can't get a signal in the anchorage. We're back in Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands. We arrived here last week after a 3 day sail from Grenada - 450 miles in a tad under 3 days - our fastest sail yet. We'll be in this area for about 2 months, so hopefully I'll be able to find an wi-fi connection from the boat so I can update this blog with more photographs
We're back in the Lagoon in Grenada after having spent several days in the anchorage at Hogg Island. We spent yesterday with "Sutton Hoo" (Geoff and Jo) trying to help them out with a wee computer problem, and hopefully they're really happy with their new software. Afterwards, we were up in the Yacht Club for a meal, supplied by Christine (the chef) - great night, superb food and excellent company. The photo is only showing some wildlife - not our friends!!
We spent today being entertained by the whole of Trinidad - well not quite, but it felt like it! Literallly thousands and thousands of boys, girls, men, women, grannies and grandpas took to the street and just enjoyed themselves. The costumes were absolutely fabulous and we had a great seat overlooking the festivities. If we weren't deaf before, we're definitely deaf now. It's just a pity our photographs don't show the full impact of the event. Click on the link on the right hand side of this page to see the photos.
We went to the Red Cross Kiddies Carnival on Saturday - it was absolutely fantastic. The photographs speak for themselves. See the Gallery = click on the link on the right hand side of this page! Click on the individual photographs for a bigger picture!
There are people out there in the Big Wide World (this does not apply to sailors who understand where we're coming from), who think our lifestyle is one of continuing fun, "swanning around", no problems and no hassle. Below are some examples of some of the problems we have to contend with.
The stretch of sea between Trinidad and Grenada is notorious for its uncertain currents, poor weather and horrible sea conditions. We left Trinidad for Grenada on the 23rd of December setting off in daylight for a change, only to be met, in spite of the good forecast, by pyramid shaped seas, almost continuous rain and strong winds. It's the first time in five years we've had to wear waterproofs for the whole of our sail. However, the boat sailed well and fast and we covered the 95 miles in 13 hours, only to find on arrival in Grenada that the boom had broken away from the mast. It's difficult seeing things in the dark. Luckily, our boom vang supported the boom and sail and no other damage was done. A few day's work and we fixed the boom. After that, we went on to have three weeks of relaxation and sailing around Grenada and Carriacou!
It was now time to return to Trinidad for Carnival, so back over the pyramid shaped seas, the strong winds and the crappy forecast. We sailed fast, averaging 7 knots, hand steering most of the way (because we wanted to!) and because we were enjoying the thrill of powering through the water. However, doom catches up with us again. Anne had gone to bed just after midnight. Alan hand-steered for another hour, and decided to hook up our wind-vane steering system, only to find it was not working the way it should! So, it was hand-steering all the way to Trinidad. It was a long, tiring night for both of us. Daylight revealed the paddle from the self-steering system (see the photographs) had broken free and was being pulled behind the boat on its support rope. To compliment our problems, while flushing out the bilges in Trinidad our bilge pump stopped working. Thank G.. in didn't happen at sea when we might have needed it! However, after a couple of hours work Alan repaired it.
So, to all you doubters out there, our life does have the occasional problem which in the wrong circumstances could be catastrophic. Yes, we do this from choice, but we don't want to enter the geriatric lifestyle too soon!!
To all you sailors out there, you know what it's all about!!
Sailblogs is having problems with their photograph gallery, so the gallery is looking a bit odd.
However, on a brighter note, we're back in Trinidad after four weeks in Grenada. More to follow later!
When you least expect them, amazing things happen.... We were very busy antifouling the propellor when a taxi drew up just beside the boat. Out jumps a man and a woman. Both Alan and I had to look twice before we started shouting at the top of our voices. It was Jack and Agnes Gairns from Troon Cruising Club. We haven't seen either of them in nearly six years. They were on the cruise ship "Braemar" and the ship had decided to make an unplanned call to Trinidad. They knew we were in Trinidad, but they didn't know where. A friendly taxi driver at the cruise ship dock brought them to Chaguaramas. They thought they were looking for a needle in a haystack, but they found us after a bit of a hunt through some of the other marinas and boatyards. It was so good to see them and we all jumped up and down like mad things in the boatyard, much to the amazement of their taxi driver. We just wish that they had managed to get "extended shore-leave" so that they could have seen some of this beautiful island but they had to return to their cruise ship and left us late in the afternoon after a leisurely lunch in "Sails" the restaurant in Powerboats.
Great to see you guys, come again soon!! Have a safe trip back to Scotland.
We've had a couple of day's touring around. One trip we made took us to the Military Museum in Chaguaramas, which was quite incredible, and then we took one of "Member's Only" trips to the Pitch Lake down at the south end of Trinidad. On the way back we stopped off at a couple of Hindu temples.
Four of the photos and some explanations are below. The remainder of the photographs you can see by clicking on the link "Trinidad 2007" on the right-hand side of this page.
THE MILITARY MUSEUM
On a former U.S. military base, the military museum is a must-see for history buffs. Although the exhibits are in a large shed without air-conditioning, the accompanying mosquitoes and humidity are well worth putting up with. Exhibits cover everything from Amerindian history to the Cold War, but the emphasis is on the two World Wars. It must be one of the most unusual and interesting museums we've visited in a long time. Outside is an old BWIA plane (with only one wing), some trucks, a helicopter and other bits and pieces of engines lying around in varying degrees of delapidation.
THE PITCH LAKE
Trinidad Pitch Lake is the largest, commercial deposit of natural asphalt in the world. It is used in many ways, from building heavy-duty traffic roads to insulating compounds for the cable and electrical industries. The lake measures approximately 100 acres and is estimated to be 250 feet deep in the center. At the current rate of extraction, the lake is estimated to have renewable reserves of pitch for the next 400 years. As if to give the lake life, many Amerindian artifacts and other fossils have been unearthed from the lake. We were shown over the lake by a guide who pointed out all the places where we shouldn't stand - just in case we sank, got burned and disappeared for centuries. Half way round the tour, the weather decided it was time for us to get wet. It didn't just rain, it absolutely poured down and got us all soaked to the skin. Of course because there's nowhere for the rain to go (the pitch lake is below sea level) we had to wade and jump and navigate our way back to the maxi-taxi through the rainwater which had gathered in huge pools on the pitch. Great fun, but it took several hours for our clothes to dry out.
THE TEMPLE ON THE SEA
This temple was built by a guy called Sewdass Sadhu who was born in India, but brought to Trinidad and Tobago under the Indentureship scheme. He lived in a small village on the south west of Trinidad. Whilst visiting India, Sewdass pledged to construct a temple in Trinidad. On his return to Trinidad, he began the Herculean task of clearing some land, constructing the temple and installing the murtis (icons) for worship. Then in 1952, he was ordered to demolish the temple. His refusal to comply landed him in jail for 14 days with a fine of $400. While held captive in jail, the temple was pulled down and the land cleared of all evidence of its existence. Immediately on his release, Sewdass declared, "You broke the mandir on the land. Then I will build my mandir on nobody's land. I will build a mandir in the sea." For the next 17 years, he continued the construction of his "Temple in the Sea". His tools were simple - two buckets and a bicycle with a carrier at the back. In the buckets, he placed rocks, sand and cement. Balancing the buckets on the two handles of the bicycle, he would push the bicycle out to the temple site located some 500 feet off the shore into the sea. He more or less built the temple himself. The "Temple in the Sea" today stands out as a lasting legacy of Dharmaveer Sewdass Sadhu who died in 1971.
SGI HANUMAN MURTI
This gentleman is 85 feet high and represents the Hindu deity Hanuman. This statue is reputed to be the largest of its kind outside of India. The murti stands on the grounds of the Dattatreya Yoga Centre and Mandir and attracts thousands of worshippers offering gifts and performing rituals. The murti took two years to construct and was consecrated in 2003.
Just to make sure you're all still keeping up with our progress. The boat is still on the "hard", we're up to our ears in black goo (for the windows) and epoxy filler (for the deck) and of course it keeps raining. Apart from that, South Africa won the Rugby World Cup yesterday and we were in "Sails Restaurant" cheering on South Africa!! We've had the other odd event in "Sails" as well, and the other photo is of Chaguaramas Bay from Crews Inn.
While back in Scotland, Anne and her friend Marilyn went on a wee trip to Inverary. It was a lovely day, but absolutely freezing. We had lunch in Cairndow, then on to Inverary and wandered around the main street, climbed the clock tower and had afternoon tea in a neat wee cafe.
One wonders sometimes if the Scots like to be cold however. We were walking down the main street and kept passing people eating ice cream. I would have thought hot soup would have been better. There was one wee wifey who had ice cream all round her lips and a dod hanging from the end of her nose - she was of course completely unaware of it and would probably have been horrified if she'd known. But it was too cold to feel the ice cream just "hingin' there!! I guess I'm just too used to living in the heat!
