March to April 2008

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The Crews Inn Marina has a potluck every Thursday and on our first one we met Wendy and Lee on Word Wide Traveler a 47 foot Catana, we hit it off and the next day when they came to inspect our canvas work they invited us for a sail to the leper island Chacachacare. They had a rendezvous with a local charter boat and we rafted with them. We had fun for a couple of hours and when we were snorkeling we realized that the boats were dragging as they followed us into shore. We got out of the water just in time before WWTraveler hit on the underwater structure. We pulled anchor and headed to the next cove, set the hook, relaxed and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with a setting sun while the full moon came up over the tropical hill and many hours later we sailed back to Chaguaramas. What a beautiful way to spend a sail ending with a romantic dinner.

Earlier that day someone announced a Hash House Harrier on VHF and since Lee and Wendy are hooked on it as much as Sid was we met the next morning to join the Hash. It was actually funny out of four, Lee, Wendy, Sid and I, only Lee heard the time right, we all said the Hash started at 8.30, while it started 15:30 so we headed to the Saturday open market instead. The market was huge but I must say I was pretty disappointed in the fruit selection as the only tropical fruits they sell here are pineapple, banana and papaya. Venezuela spoiled us that’s for sure. I’m also disappointed in the grocery stores; the veggies and meat selection are also just limited again Venezuela spoiled us. But they do have coconut water and is sold in a two liter bottle. This stuff is so yummy plus very healthy and I got hooked and drank a bottle a day.

Boat work was frustrating but the Hashes were the perfect time out for us and we attended every single one while we where in Trinidad. Hash House Harrier is an international group of social, non-competitive running, social and drinking clubs or as they say “a drinking club with a running problem”. The template for a hash run is loosely based on hare hunting. One or more hasher (the “hares”) lay out a running trail, that the rest of the club (pack or “hounds”, club is also called ”Kennel”) follows. The trail may include false trails, or short cuts, dead ends, but everybody knows at the end there is ice cold beer waiting for them. I was amazed over 100 people attended from young to old, kids and dogs. It was really fun and we are signed up for the next run already. What a better way to meet locals and get to see the island as the next one is going to be on the south end of the island.

Each of the Hashes we attended we were able to see a different part of Trinidad. The first one was close to the marina, we ran up and down steep hills and most memorable along a rive bed that was covered like a tunnel with bamboo. For Sid it was like a dejavu to Vietnam when he ran through there hearing the gunshots from the nearby shooting alley.

The second Hash we met at “Squeeze” a bar and hash headquarter. It was actually funny we didn’t know where it really was just new the Maxi Taxi (small van used as local bus) was going that direction. The driver let us off and said follow the road up to the next main street. We arrived and knew that Squeeze was a yellow painted building and right next to Dominos’ Pizza. At the first main road we tried to find a street sign, but none was there, so I asked the person that was sweeping the sidewalk, she laughed and pointed behind me and said “right here”, and sure enough there it was. No wonder we didn’t see it they painted the house orange. One hasher after another arrived and all squeezed into an old very beat up bus and started the 2 hours drive to the hash site. For a regular bus it would have been 2 hours, with this bus it took 3 ½, as the max speed was 45 km/h, but we had a good time as ice cold beer was passed around. Yep I think these are runners with a drinking problem and we had a blast. The owner of Fortress, the carpenter shop we’re using, was on the hash, he had many phone calls and was obviously frustrated and told me that he hates the “Just now” thing, his mechanic has been telling him for two weeks he would show up and that I will get to experience the “just now” too to which I replied “I did already with your employees!”

The run was really kewl it was in the Palo Seco area on the southern shore of Trinidad. First on arrival many indigenous looking people all covered in mud came towards us, almost cannibalistic looking with their afro hairstyle, not much later we arrived at the mud pools. It is actually a mud volcano and you can see the mud bubble out of the ground. The run through the woods was really awesome and it started to rain. We went up and down heavily wooded hills over roots, vines and dangerous trees with thorns all over them and finally heard waves crashing ashore in the distance. I think I deserve the name TP (toilette paper) for wiping up the rear as I’m always the last one in the bunch. I don’t run so I stuck with the native with the machete who was making sure nobody got lost and got back safe to the finish line. Well at one point it was just him and I, he said “stay hea, no need to go fuhdah”. I have such a hard time understanding the Trini accent so I kept going. He said again “stay hea, no need to go fuhdah, they ahll com back” and sure enough 5 minutes later all 80 or so came back as they had taken the wrong way. I think Sid was surprised to see me in front of him as he is always in the pack of the leaders. It paid to be TP, besides there is short cuts for the last runners or walkers like me and I take full advantage of it. Then the trail brought us to the beach, oh wow, was that beautiful and since it was high tide we had to walk through the surf. The surf was with high rollers crashing onto the pristine shore splashing us with refreshing foamy water. Then we climbed a steep mud volcano that drains all the way to the water. On top I was amazed to find just a little cone were only a little mud trickled out. I took the short cut back and found a wild orange tree, picked a couple and also a banana tree and took the purple flour that hangs below the bananas, what a treat, well the oranges turned out to be very, very sour so I renamed them lemons. Then of course at the finish line ice cold beer was waiting for us and we partied a couple of hours under the canopy of the jungle with a clear starry sky above and lightning bugs flying around us. They even thought of food as a local sold Pillow a traditional Trini rice dish, yummy. On the drive back we stopped at a bar and had more fun oh yes drinks too, yep definitely runners with a drinking problem. We didn’t get home until 1am.

The next hash, two week later was to Las Cuevas, probably my favorite one. Las Cuevas is a pristine beach on the northern shore of Trinidad. It was a very scenic drive to get there as it wound along curvy roads through mountainous lush overgrown terrain. We arrived just on time for the hash to start. The trail took us along the several mile long tropical white sandy beach and then headed into the dense jungle. From what I had observed on the walk along the beach, there was nothing but steep hills along side the beach and after following the trail into the jungle I thought why go punish yourself running through the jungle while there is the a beautiful beach to explore and I returned, leaving the suffering to the hashers. Good thing when Sid arrived at the beer line he told me it was a very tough run and that I did the right thing, it would have been too tough for my ankle. He was exhausted and sore for days to come. I enjoyed walking along the beach and found numerous turtle tracks and where they lay the eggs and even found some empty egg shells that had been washed back ashore. I tell you these are some big turtles as they leave a trail the width of about 4 truck tires. Unfortunately I was told that the locals dig the eggs out and also kill the turtles on this beach, it is not protected as the other beaches are. A few days later we heard that the day we were there they had the biggest drug bust on that beach, didn’t even notice.

Renting the van to go to a Hash was rather expensive so we realized that it was cheaper to rent a car and from then on we did just that. It was quite exciting to drive on the wrong side of the street, at least here the steering wheel is on the right side too so it’s easier to remember to say in the left lane. Naturally every time Sid tried to turn the blinker on the windshield wiper came on in stead, we had many good laughs. Traffic was horrible to get out of town and jammed up pretty much all the way to the turn off for Mundo Nuevo, the next Hash. From there on traffic was almost non existent but the roads were oh soooooo narrow, narrow enough that the mirrors almost touched with on-coming cars. It was at times rather stressful especially rounding sharp turns with no shoulder along side the road. Sid hasn’t lost his driving skills yet and got us there in one piece. Mundo Nuevo is in the central part of Trinidad a very remote area with just few homes with lush rolling hills. The run again was through a dense jungle up steep hills and of course down again, very exciting. At one point something grabbed my hair and pulled me back, it was a very thorny plant that entangled my hair. The thorns were not longer than a millimeter but so close together that it looked like a fury branch, which wasn’t thicker than 3 mm in diameter but it entangled my hair big time. Even the big leaves had one thorn each sticking out about one inch. One of the Hashers had to help me get off it by pulling strand by strand from the plant as it was impossible to touch it without getting stabbed. Another branch that was lower tore at my leg. Later on when I met Sid again, he was pretty scratched up as well, guess we should put long pants on. There are some very hostile plants here, but just so beautiful and peaceful at the same time. Along the path there were uncountable beautiful tropical flowers accompanied by unusual bird and bugs sounds in the tree tops. Again it was an exhausting run, for Sid more so as he runs, I do a slower pace for sightseeing. As on every run we find some kind of hidden treasures. This time wild mandarin trees and pineapples growing in the middle of the jungle and on the home stretch to the beer barrel I found cocoa trees with fruits ripe enough to pick. One of the hasher ladies showed us how to open it and inside we found pieces of white sweet flesh that surrounded the cocoa bean which has a similar flavor like a leechy, yummy. The seeds are dried for either tea and of course for making chocolate. I found another use for it: beer cozy!

The last Hash to Flanagan Town was again a hit, although the scenery wasn’t as spectacular as all the other hashes but it was a tough one. It was around the same area as the last Hash was and was our last Hash, we sure are going to miss them. We got to know pretty much everybody at the Hash and everybody has always been so warm and friendly to us. At the end of every Hash they have some kind of ceremony where all the new hashers called Virgins are called up first, then they bring up the bloopers (poofter) of the Hash, meaning anything any Hasher sees that is funny or wrong, they report to the Hash master and are called in front of everybody introduce themselves and let everybody know who got them to the Hash then all Virgins have to drink a beer “down-downs” while the rest sing a chant to “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”.

Chant:

Here’s to ________, he’s true blue.

He’s a hasher through and through,

He’s a pisspot so they say.

Tried to get to heaven,

But he went the other way.

Drinking down, down, down……

(here comes the Oh Come All Ye Faithful):

“Why are we waiting”……

This time they called up our names, oh we were in trouble we though. Justine announced that we had joined them for 5 fun hashes and that this was our last one, that was really nice and of course we had to drink a beer in front of everybody and out of habit we kissed before drinking the beer “why are we waiting”. If somebody gets caught with new running shoes, they make them take them off and filter beer through the dirty sock into the new shoes and make them drink the beer “Why are we waiting”........ The biggest blooper has to drink beer out of a huge mug looking like a toilette bowl and for this our name came up again. For what?!! Justine announced: “for sweetly kissing each other on the lips and interlocking their arms to take their going away down-downs!” We got off that one and didn’t have to drink out of the toilette bowl someone else beat us to it. The worst blooper has to put on a stinky, sweaty shirt which everybody stomped on and drink a beer before being able to take off the shirt again “Why are we.....” When we were cleared Sid stomped on the shirt, now the whole gang shouted for Sid’s name for the sweaty shirt and was called up front again. Now the crowed had to cheer for the looser, all I can say if it wasn’t for me being able to whistle loud he would have had to wear the filthy, sweaty shirt, you welcome Sid! We had such a great time though and we sure will miss our Hasher friends.

While in Costa Rica visiting Bill and Jeanette, Shelly a born Trinidadian was visiting them as well. She sent us contact info for her girlfriend and brother. Since we can’t get local calls out from here we sent emails and Marilyn answered telling us that some Friday’s her and her friends go to Sails Bar which is right across from our marina. So we had a date and that she could recognize us I sent the caricature photo of Sid I used for his 60^th birthday, she printed it out and showed it to all her friends in the bar. As we entered the bar everybody turned heads and started pointing at Sid and laughing, that was really funny, but we didn’t know who Marilyn was. A little trial and error we found her, lots of fun. She introduced us to so many of her friends it turned into a very busy, fun night with lots of talking, dancing and yes learning the Trini language. One guy started to talk to me and no matter how much I tried to listen to his accent I could not understand him not even one word until I realized he was speaking Spanish so my ear tuned right into that and no further problems thank goodness as it started to get really frustrating for both of us, you have to know that it was very loud in there. You can tell Trinidad is a small country as three of Marilyn’s friends desperately shared their problems and love life with me one even asking for advice, Sid was laughing as they talked my ears off. We both had a blast and were looking forward to more Friday’s liming. The last week in Trinidad we had them over on Paradise for a lime. There was definitely no water line on Paradise as we had 12 people on board. We had a great time and the funny thing was the last hour they were visiting a pungent dead fish odor was lingering in the cockpit and wouldn’t go away. After everybody had left I went looking for it, I though maybe it was caught under the dinghy, wrong it was dangly out of the water on one of the dock lines right next to the cockpit, yuck.

Boat work was slowly progressing and we went over to the shop at Fortress daily to see the process, first the gluing the teak and cedar together and watched them make the cockpit table, which came out just beautiful. We splurged on that piece as we had a compass rose added made out of purple heart and cedar, just beautiful. Three weeks later they finally started installing the floor and after being all epoxied in it was weighted down with batteries. Sid was told that he could varnish it as soon as the following day. The galley counter top still hadn’t come in, neither did the freezer and Sid had taken the cockpit box apart already preventing us from moving the boat if we had to as the transmission and throttle levers were built into the box. The boat was a disaster in and out. We couldn’t live inside because there was nowhere to sit down

When it rains it pours, the hotel closed and drained the pool for retiling for an entire 7 weeks and that happened the day before they started putting the floor in. That was very upsetting since we were in this expensive marina for the pool so we had a place to go while they worked on the boat. As it was there was no room for me anywhere on the boat during the day.

A saving grace to keep sanity was the weekly movie nights that Jessie James organized. A bus picked us up every Tuesday and dropped us at Movie Town with plenty of time to watch a movie and have a relaxed dinner. Jessie is a great guy and organized all kind of trips for cruisers and in case of emergencies he’s right there to help.

Every Thursday night we had a BBQ potluck at Crews Inn, which always was a lot of fun, after dinner we played trivia, who ever guessed a question right has to drink a shot of whatever the quiz guy prepared or could designate a person to drink it. Poor Loral had to drink 4 shots as her husband knew all the answers.

Thelma and Gordon on Lady Alice finally arrived from Puerto La Cruz, just on time to bring us some decaf coffee and we just finished our last this morning. Yes there is no decaf coffee here other than instant, yuck.

Before we left for Trinidad everybody told us I will have a blast shopping here, especially the fabric stores. I realized that the fabric store in Puerto La Cruz was better and more reasonable. As I mentioned earlier I was very disappointed in the veggie and fruit selection and even the grocery stores were a huge disappointment; the veggies and meat selection were very limited. But I did get hooked on coconut water which is sold in either a litter or two liter bottle. This stuff is so yummy, I drank a two litter bottle a day. It is very healthy too.

Trinidad of course is known for its Carnival so we had to get a taste of it if just going to a steel band competition; now that was just amazing. There were two competitions, the first groups were max 30 people in the band and mostly kids from as little as 6 years old. The rhythm was catching and the tunes just wonderful. The second group was more of professional groups with no less than 40 players. Now these bands rocked, especially the last one we were able to see before Jessie James drove us all back. This group had a little squirt of a kid dressed up like Michael Jackson and he didn’t just look like him but he danced like him even groping his crotch, he was awesome.

The promised day of varnish dwindled away as the floor work kept going and Sid was told again he could start varnish, which was 12 days prior. The promised three week period had gone by and two weeks before my Birthday they promised it would be done in one week. Excited about it I organized car rental and hotel reservation for the week of my Birthday to explore Trinidad. Friday came and still not finished, then another promise that it was going to be finished the end of week for sure. Friday came and I had to cancel our week car rental to just three days and managed to change the date on our reservation for the turtle watch, the rest we had to cancel. The galley counter was supposed to be done in three weeks time too, they finally finished the mold but had nobody to pick it up from the factory or deliver it. So the owner from Fortess (carpenter shop) went to pick it up himself on Friday didn’t like what they did and so they had to redo the whole mold. Which again we were told it would be done by following Thursday which came and went and the excuse of a national holiday was used to cover it up. It turned more and more into a huge frustrating experience. We definitely learned that being nice and patient does not pay off, you need to be an asshole in order to get work done, which we promised to do when we returned from our turtle trip.

This trip definitely was the highlight of our Trinidad stay, an unforgettable and incredible adventure. We drove to Grand Riviere which is on the north eastern side of the island. The road took us by the eastern shore which is a beautiful area with long white sandy beaches as far as your eye can reach and rolling waves crashing onto the shore, a very rough area. The scenery changed as we headed more towards Toco and rolling hills started to get steeper and the coast line rockier. In Toco we drove out to the lighthouse and enjoyed a spectacular view. From there is was a windy road to get to Grand Riviere, I don’t know for whom it was more stressful Sid who was driving or me sitting in the passenger seat, the roads were even narrower and full of potholes and blind corners. It was a very beautiful scenic road and we pulled over here and there. Also had a scare as we drove along the coast and Sid tried to brake for a turn, the brake pedal went to the floor and no brakes. Sid pumped the brakes up, we stopped at a beach for a short time to check for the problem.The hand brake was pulled up about half way, we waited for a while and luckily we didn’t have anymore problems.

Grand Riviere is incredibly picturesque and the only sandy beach we found on the north coast. This is where the Leatherback Turtles nest.

The Grand Almandier Guest House we stayed that lies next the beach where forested headlands border the seas to the north and to the wide flowing Grand Riviere River from which the village got its name. To the north east the river originates deep in the northern Range and flows down into the seas where strong waves give the leatherback turtles, the extra push they need to haul themselves unto the sand at the nesting time – March to August.

Many species of birds are viewed right from the veranda of the guest house or the from the balconies of each room which have an old-fashioned and modern décor and the restaurant serves wonderful local dishes like the famous Callaloo Soup and the lamb chops came with a wonderful tamarind sauce. We had a wonderful dinner and when we returned to our room we couldn’t open the door, no matter what we tried we could not open it. The lock was broken and after two employees tried to open the door unsuccessfully one had to climb up a ladder onto the balcony and open the door from the inside. Just good we had the balcony door unlocked. But that’s not all the excitement.

At 9 PM a ranger came to get us to the beach where Leatherback turtles come yearly ashore to nest. The beach is closed from dusk to dawn. The full moon was shining over the beach and we saw dark humps scattered all over the beach. We must have seen 100 turtles either on the beach or crawling out of the water like giant bugs. We had no idea how big the leatherbacks turtles really were until we saw them and were just amazed. A mature male and female can reach 4 to 8 feet (1.20 m to 2.50m) and way 500 to 2000 lbs. ( 230 to 900 kg). The ranger said that she even could carry 3 adults back into the water. The ranger explained all about these beautiful creatures and overloaded us with information. The first turtle we approached at the right time, she was just about done digging a hole, which is amazing to watch. She uses her hind flippers and digs about 2 feet and even digs a curve inside the hole to shelter the eggs better. Then when she lays the eggs she is in a total trance and most vulnerable and so she covers eggs with her hind flippers so that no predator can take them. The ranger lifted the female’s hind flipper so that we could observe her lay the eggs. I was lucky enough to have the prime spot to watch as he gave me the flash light. It was just amazing to watch her lay eggs, when she was done she covered them again with sand, pressed the sand down, more sand, pressing and repeating; then she started moving forward and around in circles. They do that up to three or more times to disguise the nest. The whole ordeal is very strenuous and she takes breaks about every 10 seconds. When she is done you cannot even tell anymore where she started. I’m sure you’ve heard the tales that turtles cry during nesting. Indeed, a slime like discharge is rolling from her eyes, which makes it look like she is crying. What happens is, by her living in salt water she has to filter out the excess salt because they have no pores in their skin to sweat and the eyes are the pores, which she does in or out of the water.

Did you know that she lays unfertilized eggs? She lays first about 30 unfertilized eggs which cushion the about 100 fertilized eggs (about 2 inches in diameter), then lays a few more unfertilized eggs on top to protect them from predators, pretty smart if you ask me. She nests 8 to 10 times during a nesting season, and this every two to three years, but are also known to nest every year. Females start nesting when they are 15 years old and keep going for about 30 years. Unlike other species of sea turtles, leatherback females may change nesting beaches, though they tend to stay in the same region. Since so many turtles come to the same beach they accidentally dig up each others nests.

Leatherbacks have delicate, scissor-like jaws and therefore eat only soft-bodied animals, so they feed almost exclusively on jellyfish. Unfortunately leatherbacks have mistaken plastic bags, raw plastic pellets, plastic and styrofoam, tar balls and balloons for their natural food. Ingesting this debris can obstruct the gut, lead to absorption of toxins and reduce the absorption of nutrients from their real food.

Like all sea turtles, leatherback turtles start their lives after about a 60 day incubation period bursting out from the sands of their nesting beaches. Right after they hatch, the baby turtles are already in danger of predators. Many are eaten by birds, crustaceans or other reptiles before they reach the water. Once they reach the ocean they are generally not seen again until maturity. Very few turtles survive this mysterious period to become adults. It is known that juveniles spend a majority of their particular life stage in more tropical waters than the adults. Adult leatherbacks have few natural predators. The biggest predator is the human as untold numbers of adult leatherbacks die each year from drowning in fishing nets or on fishing lines. More acres of nesting beaches are lost every year to development for the tourist industry or for private residences. Eggs are stolen from nests to be sold on the black market as aphrodisiacs. Pollution can affect both adults and turtles in the egg. Scientists estimate that only 1 in 1000 leatherback hatchlings survive to adulthood.

Leatherbacks are also the reptile world's deepest-divers. Individuals have been discovered to be capable of descending to depths deeper than 1,200 meters and are also among the fastest reptiles in existence. The 1992 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records has a leatherback turtle listed as having achieved the fastest speed of any reptile at a speed of 9.8 meters per second (35.28 km per hour).

It was truly an incredible experience to watch this play of nature. Exhausted from all the excitement we went to bed. Sid turned the light off we said our goodnight and had our eyes closed for about two minutes when plop something fell between us on top of the blanket. Scorpion and gecko went through my mind, not sure what Sid thought but he turned the light on and me ready to jump out of bed with a scream, we saw an inch long ice cube lying between us, which the air-conditioner had spit out. The AC was right above me along side the bed. Sid figured it was turned too low and brought the temperature a bit up and turned the light off again. A few minutes later I felt a prickling sensation on by bare back and legs, then realized it was ice cold water, now the AC was spewing drizzle over the bed. It didn’t feel bad so we didn’t do anything about it. Then the AC turned off and on all night long which every time it turned on it would rain cold water onto my side of the bed, by morning my side was soaked in cold water, needless to say I didn’t sleep very well. The alarm went off at 5.15 and we raced back down to the beach as there were the last turtles for the night. Since daylight has started we could take photos and films of them. It was just amazing. The beach also was full of craters all dug out by all the turtles and broken turtles eggs everywhere with vultures and dogs feasting on them.

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast overlooking the beach we headed back towards Port of Spain and in Arima took yet another very narrow road up the Arima Valley towards Asa Wright Nature Center which was established in 1967 to promote the conservation of the native ecosystems and wildlife of this Valley. The hotel is built on a steep hill totally hidden in the dense jungle. We were in ahws and oohs as we stood on the balcony overlooking the view down the valley. Below the balcony were birdfeeders full with the most colorful birds. We saw one Crested Oropendola all black with a fairly big beak and yellow tail, green honeycreepers, yellow Orioles, white necked Jacobine which is a hummingbird and red legged honeycreepers which are the color of a blue sapphire. We could have spent hours there, but we had a long ways to go. From there the road wound around and up the steep mountain. We came by an area what looked like overgrown with vines, but a closer look revealed that it was manmade. As we got closer, it looked like grapes and upon further inspection we noticed that the grapes hanging of these vines were Chayotes or also called Christophines a wonderful vegetable. Not just that, we saw the fullest mango trees some with purple mangoes, cashew trees, cocoa and of course lots and lots of banana plantations. At one point a silver snake slithered across the street. The drive was long and the narrow road and blind corners needed a lot of attention and it was just so beautiful. It was a steep desent until we reached the first beach in Blanchiseusse. The next beach was Las Cuevas then Maracas Bay where we enjoyed the worlds famous Shark and Bake at Richard’s. (Fried bread, with fried shark and a bar full with lots of different toppings and sauces, not the healthiest by far but soooo yummy). I forgot to mention the road maps they use here in Tinidad it’s the kind for tourists with advertisement on them, so you have to guess which road might be the one to take you to ….. as most roads are not in on the map. So we took a wrong road and it went up and up the hill, the hill got so steep the car couldn’t make it. So we pulled over at a convenient store to ask for directions and pfffffffffffffffff within 5 seconds we had a flat tire. I tell you how friendly the people are here, as soon as Sid started to change the tire a Trini came and took over and changed the tire for us while a friend of his came over to watch and talk to us. Just a short distance away was a tire place and within 5 minutes the tire was fixed and on the car again for 15 TT about $2.50 and two beers for the helpers, then we were on our way home.

Chaguaramas is a National Park and offers lots of hiking trails. Phil took us to one at the Golf Course which lead to Macqueripe Bay, which is my favorite bay for swimming. Although only during week, on weekends it’s packed with families and kids and a purple haze lingers over the whole bay, in no time you could get a contact high on ganjha. From there we hiked back to the Golf Course which took us to the Bamboo Cathedral a path that is overgrown with tall Bamboo folding over the path like a cathedral roof, quite amazing. The sound is even more amazing when the wind shakes their top making them sound like wind chimes.

The Saga of boat work continues, the floor was finally done on May 27^th 4 ½ weeks after it should have been done. Then of course just as Sid wanted to varnish the power went off for two days. He put on three coats of bottom coat and the third one wouldn’t dry and left us sleeping outside in the cockpit for one night. The galley counter top still needed to be done and we started to run out of time.
We pushed them every day then 8 days before our visa ran out Sabrina, the secretary of Fortress that the galley counter company wanted to see us, because they had a major problem. The problem was the color we chose they had no glue to match it and you could see where they glued it together and we were asked to choose another color. So a lot of frustration later we finally got the counter top finished, after almost 9 weeks and just one day before we were leaving. The counter looks great but we found some problems with it which they promised us to fix when we return in.

Our Trinidad visa was expiring on Thursday and a strong tropical wave was predicted for that day so we had little time to get ready to leave on Tuesday to miss the wave.

We had a lot of frustrating moments here but also met lots of wonderful people and had a great time and got to see some of the most beautiful places of this island. We will be back next year to find out what the carnival is all about.

Talking about the weather we still listen to Chris Parker and now also to Eric a Tini who is the local TV meteorologist. Via ham radio he is delivering weather daily to us cruisers for no charge, he just loves to do it. He is so dedicated that even when he goes camping he schleps his radio with him. He was camping at a remote island a turtle came and nested in front of his tent and as she headed back to the safe water she accidentally hooked up on the cable and pulled the ham radio into the sand and into the water. The radio was done, beyond repair preventing Eric from giveing his daily prognoses. We still had our old radio and had been trying to sell it for a while now, so Sid donated our radio to Eric. He’s back on air and all the cruisers are happy.

Here some funny stories:

We had to send an important paper to a court in North Carolina. FedEx and DHL wouldn’t take it as they don’t send mail to P.O.Boxes and there is no physical address for it. So where did I go, to the local post office of course and wanted to mail it off with a tracking number. I couldn’t believe my ears when the postman told me that they can’t do that but that I had to go to the Tackle shop! Tackle shop?, I don’t want to go fishing I want to send an important letter off!

Then my Swiss Passport has been expired for quite some time and since all my paperwork was in Atlanta. I could never renew it in Switzerland. Kind of weird that one cannot renew a passport in his or her own country. Since there is a Swiss Consulate here I had all my paperwork sent to Trinidad. One week later I received an email letting me know that my paperwork had arrived……… in Caracas Venezuela???!!! I guess they are representing the whole Caribbean.

So in order to get a passport I have to fill out forms submit them here, they send it to Venezuela and 4 weeks later I will receive my passport, I don’t think so not with the postal system both countries have. The new passport is now out too. The one with a special strip for national security, costs only $250, NOT, you have to go to a special office after applying; not before 5 days and no later than 30 days. The special offices are in Hong Kong, Mexico, Sao Paulo, London, Sydney, Toronto, Paris and a few in Switzerland, I don’t think so.

You have no idea what a relief it was to have all the boat work done and being able to live a normal life again. Although I don’t think we were quite ready to leave Trinidad yet after all we haven’t had a chance to slow down and relax after all the frustrating boat work was finally done. But instead relaxing we did some last minute things including provisioning and cleared with customs and immigration. We tried to be out of the slip by 13.30 but that never happened, sometimes I think time speeds up and you slow down just so you don’t make the time limit. By the way the authorities here are real sticklers, when you check out you have exactly 2 hours to leave and you HAVE to leave. You also are NOT allowed to anchor on one of the islands first and wait up for weather or relax, you MUST leave. Of course just about 20 minutes before we headed out of the slip the wind started to blow with strong gusts and knowing Paradise does not back up well, especially not out of a slip we were a bit worried, rightfully so. The channel between the opposite slips is very narrow and we watched numerous boats get in trouble trying to get out of the slips even hitting other boats because of cross winds. As soon as the lines were off the cleats the wind pinning us against the dock and of course as soon as we were out of the slip the strong gusts didn’t allow Sid to spin the boat slowly around instead it pushed us on the beam towards the shallow water at the end of the docks. No matter what Sid did the boat would not turn around and you can’t goose the throttle otherwise you’ll end up hitting boats. To be continued……...

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