December
Things
we forgot in November:-
Termites;
At
the ASA Wright nature reserve we ate termites. They taste like
carrots! And the taste lasts a long time. You dig them out of the
tree and eat them live. You need to bite into them for the pop of
flavour.
More
termites;
When
Brian made our new engine bays he used pitch pine. Victor the local
carpenter tells us that pitch pine is termites favourite food and we
are parked 20 metres from a termite nest! We need to buy “Termite
Fuel” to treat the wood.
Sat
1st
Trini
64th day of Christmas. Still on the hard in Chaguaramas.
However we could not have picked a better spot. Under a mango tree
that is sheltering us from the morning sun and wind. It houses weaver
birds and iguanas and is a delightful view when we are not “working”.
Also houses termite nest.
Sun
2nd
Boat
jobs.
Mon
3rd
Trudy
stays on board to entertain electricians and carpenters, whilst I go
on the “Taste of Trinidad” tour. It is her choice as this
(gourmet?) event has in the past featured tastes of over 70 items of
food and drink grown in Trinidad. 9:00 start and a 7pm finish and we
also managed over 70 items and were completely stuffed. Not for the
faint hearted or flakey. Please email for details. They may even get
to facebook.
Tue
4th
Work
on Taste of Trini photos and babysit electricians. Barry sends list
of food and I try to match up with photos. I have forgotten to
mention that with all the workers on the boat I have been kept busy
showing where things are, deciding where new kit should be fixed and
switching stuff on and off. I have been dashing around the boat and
as a result have split my head in several places and split my nose on
some marine ply. Some blood and bruising so I cannot wait to get
everyone off the boat and slow down the pace.
Wed
5th
Trudy
picks up 3 bikinis a swimsuit and a sun dress from Debby the Lycra
lady who tailors swimwear from your own material with excellent
results.
Thur
6th
Yeehah
we're in the water! Yes but starboard engine won't start and port
won't prime with sea water. A search round finds a wire hanging
loose, reconnect and starboard starts but won't prime with seawater
either. After much head scratching the sea water filter is opened and
a running hose pushed in, engine started and about two minutes later
water trap has filled and water is exiting via the exhaust. Quickly
replace the seawater filter cap and she eventually self primes.
Repeat with Port engine. Phew, its scorching hot in an engine room
with the sun beating down on your head.
Fri
7th
Sammy
from Echotec arrives at 8:45 to commission the watermaker. All goes
well and we are making 15 gallons of water per hour, spec. says we
will make 13 gph so I am well chuffed. Trudy set off to get vitals
for the next three months! Electricians arrive to put aerial block in
the mast again, first one was too low! 11:00 Dennis from electricians
arrives to fit pactor modem. Wrong connectors and coaxial cable for
aerial is too short.
Sat
8th
Dennis
arrives with all remaining SSB stuff and we get the pactor modem
working. I should be able to receive email at sea and get grib (.grb)
files and fax for weather.
Mon
10th
Final
final stuff completed by electricians. Including fitting the
counterpoise (earth). This just needs to be laid down in the bilge.
Tue
11th
Pick
up final food, try to check out at customs open 24 hours....i.e. From
9 to 4 with an hour for lunch...so we arrive at at 11:55 and are sent
away until after 1pm..We had planned to travel with Barry and Gail
from Gaiamar. But they say weather is going to be too bad. 16:30 set
off for Granada. A great sail for 4 hours until past the gas rigs
between islands. We put an extra reef in and the wind dies
completely... For an hour, then we get 30 knot gusts under clouds and
we are racing along.
Wed
12th
12
miles south of Grenada we hove to, we have made good time and
otherwise we will be crossing reefs in darkness. We enter Prickley
Bay at 07:30 just as the cruisers net is operating so we announce our
arrival over the VHF.
Thur
13th
After
a sleep Trudy hears some sloshing in the bilge. We assume that I have
not tightened the speed impeller enough and so set the bilge pumps
off to pump us dry.
Fri
14th
More
water in the bilge, so it is time to investigate further. We dry all
bilges and start tracking down and dampness. A couple of hours later
we find a 3mm drill hole in the keel! When installing our
counterpoise an electrician has drilled a hole in the bottom of the
boat! The worst thing is that he did not tell us. A call to the
surveyor Bob Goodchild and I get good advice on how serious the
problem is. This is cured temporarily by screwing in a bolt. It
cannot be fixed properly until we next haul out – we had hoped that
this would not be for another two years.
Sat
15th
We
see Doc Adams at De Big Fish. He is the reason we have stopped in
Prickley bay as we have heard good reports. A bit of Blues and Rock
and Roll. Went down well.
Sun
16th
We
invite Tuatora, Umido and Lateral thinking over for a sundowner and
discuss how to fix holes in boats. Tuatora bring corn fritters, a new
thing for us but simple to make and delicious. Check google for
recipe.
Mon
17th
Preparations
for heading off to Bequia. Including syringing some epoxy into the
hole in the hull. This is topped off with a self tapping screw that
we can remove next time we haul out.
Tue
18th
Set
off early about 9:00...The first hour is a quick sail around the
point and then we get the wind on the nose for the next 8 hours.
Progress is slow and because we are hard on the wind we get bashed
about and are surprised the boat holds together. We anchor in
Hillsborough and await the morning to get an early check out.
Wed
19th
I
go to fill petrol cans and Trudy heads for the police station to see
the immigration officer. It is 7:50 and a red sign on the door says
open 8:00 till 16:00. When asked if we can check in early he is rude
off hand and says he is not available until 9:00 as there is a cruise
ship coming in. I ask if he can check us out now on the overtime rate
and he says he is not affected by my money. We have never seen cruise
ships in Carriacou. We have breakfast in a local café then return.
The cruise ship did not turn up! And we finally get away by 8:50. A
good sail past Union Island then we are back to banging and slamming
with the wind on the nose again. Arrive in Bequia in time to meet
immigration and customs all be it with an overtime payment. A search
round and we meet old friends and end up on Tjeldøy late.
Thur
20th
We
have anchored close to Africa's mooring buoys and he is not happy.
And asks us to move. “It is his livelihood” There are about 40
empty mooring buoys and we are close to two. They are all too close
together and there is nowhere in the bay that does not have them. A
sign in customs says all moorings are unofficial not maintained and
not insured. If you are hassled let the customs know. We send him on
his way. And later have second thoughts. We meet with Phil and Monica
at the art exhibition. They have free rum punch so it is a forgone
conclusion. We later head to “Maria's”, a French restaurant where
we have a first class meal including steak tartare. On the way we
pass “The Almond Tree”. Every year under (near) an old almond
tree a stage is built and a fantastic display of Christmas lights
appears. There are no Santas or reindeer or sleighs, bells etc. no
colour theme, just a tasteful arrangement of string lights under the
trees on the beach and around shrubs and flower beds. Each night from
7pm (local i.e. sometime before 9pm) local groups get on stage, play
music and sing. Crowds gather and beers are consumed. We hear some
fantastic voices, presumably only normally heard in church, and also
some pretty ropey stuff to keep the balance and an inclusive feeling.
Fri
21st
End
of the world is due so make the most of it.
We
get up early and decide to track down somewhere else to moor. Robin
has given us his mooring but “Flawless D” are parked near it and
they won't move. African is really helpful when we tell him we are
moving and takes us to a spot which in the end is too deep. We end up
close to shore with 1 metre below the keel sand and weed underneath
so hope we are OK when the 2m swell arrives in two days. My credit
card is due for renewal so we need to get an address to send it. A
local chandler Juergan is helpful and will get customs clearance for
this and another parcel. Gavin needs “technical advice”. He
boards the boat with soprano sax and we discus chords for some
Christmas songs. We bump into Africa who is now very friendly and
have a long chat, he is resting but will get busy later in the day
when the Sunsail fleet arrive and he has to moor them all up.
We
meet up with a load of cruisers to plan what to do Xmas day. Cheryl
the owner of the Fig tree restaurant has lent us her barbecue and
restaurant for the day. Later some of us meet for chicken in silver
foil a local take away speciality. The normal thing is to take it to
the New York Bar next door who welcome the practice. Then off to see
Ruffanuff, Stan and Cora's band who have recruited Dave and Scott on
guitar and drums. Afterwards Stan says this was their best set yet
(in 27 years!). We all agree, truly a good night.
Sat
22nd
Surprise!
Its not the end of the world. A day of rest catching up with sleep
and guitar practice. There is a musicians gathering on Sunday and I
need to prepare something new. Trudy finds jobs for me and settles
into a book. (The Wilding Maria McCann). Engine checks, stick rubber
on door frame where I always bang my head, put up water catcher, find
a cookie recipe?!! then back to the drudgery of guitar practice. Damn
wish there were more jobs to do. Winds have got up and I find the
wind generator is keeping up with the night time use of fridge,
freezer, and computer. This is very pleasing as it will save on
diesel.
Sun
23rd
Research
cookie recipe; Americans decided that along with the music gathering
it was appropriate to have a cookie bake off. So we now need to find
ingredients for something we have never cooked before. As cookies are
just undercooked biscuits (twice cooked) we decide to under cook some
biscuits (uncuits?) anyway it saves on one of our scarce resources
...gas. We are expecting a large swell from the north that will make
some anchorages unpleasant and wind get up further. We swing around
on the chain and the bridle creaks away. Last year at this time we
were on the other side of the bay and were stuck on the boat for two
days. Hope not this year as we would miss the festivities!
Mon
24th
Christmas
eve so we set off to do usual last minute shop, first beer of the day
and back to the boat. Just before the storm. Bad karma, we never
expected southerlies; we swing north and depth gauge reads 1.2m we
draw 1.4. oops, got to move. We get the anchor up and try to dig in
where we were but wind and current are in the wrong direction so we
have to try somewhere else. The bay is now full so we end up in 14m
and as we only have 60m of chain this is a bit deep. We try twice and
end up with a good hold. A bit alarmed I spot a large buoy too close
with a seagull sitting on the top close but can't remember it being
there when we anchored. Eventually it sails through the bay and is
lost to sight. Then it is off to the Fig Tree restaurant...again.
Tue
25th
Drama
first thing as a large cat tries to moor near us and four other
boats. The bay is full and there is just no room. Steve from
“Christina Pearl” dinghys (verb?) over to tell them it is not
safe and has the usual barny with the boat boys; they will sell any
buoy at Christmas, even if it is not attached to the bottom! They
have not tied on properly and by accidental fortune slip away and try
at the other side of the bay. We are “late” for the barbecue cos
the sausage rolls won't cook in our super cool oven. They take the
best part of two hours. We end up with the crowd and have a great
time. Unfortunately the boat did not fare so well, we have variable
winds and when we get back on board there are boat boys milling
around and we are about a metre away from a Norwegian vessel. We have
“bumped 7 times”. No harm done as they were on board and were
able to fend us off. Unfortunately this means that we are going to
have to do an anchor watch all night as we are not in the best of
form to re-anchor at night!
Wed
26th
Moved
the boat...again...Gavin comes over for coffee and jam. We go
through all the stuff we know but I am knackered after staying up
half the night. Back to sleep for half the day then off to Miss Molly
for a sundowner. This includes some Dutch spirit made by widow
jarlsbourg
or something like that.
Thur
27th
We
are invited to a local party ashore at Dee's place it goes on until
1am, 4 hours after cruiser's midnight. Bring a bottle of rum...The
best thing is the food which is excellent and included roast ham, the
like of which we have not seen since leaving England.
Fri
28th
We
are tracked down by two people who have just completed the 'ARC',
friends in England suggested we may be in Bequia and they asked
around at customs and someone pointed us out. We will meet tomorrow
for cocktails at Frangipani.
Sat
29th
We
move for the 5th time, due to weather conditions and boat
boys selling moorings. We have parked in front of Navé
and visit to see when they are leaving as we may be on their anchor.
Its Peter and Edith. French Canadians that we met in Trinidad. They
have already checked their anchor and we are not too close, they ask
what we are doing for “Old Years Night” we don't know yet but
will keep in touch. Whilst in town we bump into Jay, the girl who had
her boat stolen; and recovered by Robin, Angie and Bob. Locals are
trying to press her into paying the coastguard to give evidence. She
is already out of pocket $4000 and does not want to further anger
friends of the guy who stole it. Its a different world out here.
Sun
30th
Cooked
a chilli and Phil and Monica came over for a bite and a jam. Brought
limoncello very nice.
Mon
31st
Late
start then off to Maria's for happy hour cocktails, no mint so no
mohito, but Pastis, rum punch, margaritas, bloody mary, a bit of a
mix to start the evening. Then off to Hibiscus aka Baj's for more
rum, lobster, chicken and beer, the bar is filled with smoke from the
barbecue, we buy a lobster to share for £10 and get a free chicken!
This has been voted the best bar in the Caribbean. Then on to the New
York bar; the oldest bar in the Caribbean. Then back to the boat to
watch Bequia's famous fireworks, very nearly as good as London!
Happy
New Year
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