Spicy kind of isle

Our arrival to Trinidad is marked by big flames shooting skyward like signal flares. It is the offshore oil platforms guiding us back 'home'.The flames reflects Trinidad........hot!

We arrive late Tuesday evening in Port of Spain with a plane. Below us the lights from the capital illuminate the night. The taxi that picks us up drives by the habour, which is decorated with cranes and docked container ships and takes us out to Movietown. Unlike many other Caribbean countries - who have based their main national income on tourism -Trinidad is a working country. Its oil and gas industry leaves tourism low down on the priority list, so don't expect special treatment. 

In Movietown we are collected by some friends, who manage to talk us into heading back to town for a couple of beers. On our way we drive through the colourful, roti-smelling hectic suburb James Town and ends up in the bustling Ariapita Avenue, the city never seems to rest, not even on a late Tuesday night.

The night ends safely in Chaguaramas, on a hauled out boat. This will be our new home for a couple of weeks.

Our first couple of days are spent with re-realising just how hot Trinidad is.
The weather or should I rather say the humidity is killing, just the mere thought about going for a walk make me sweat. The hotness is not limited to the weather, but it also includes the food. On our first day we head out for a roti. We buy a massive roti wrap, stuffed with curried chickpeas and potatoes, pumpkin, mango-chutney and spiced meat.  And if the spiciness of the mango chutney and meat isn't enough you can always have them dab on the local hot-sauce, just a few dabs will put your mouth on fire! I refrained from the hot-sauce this time.

Saturday our friend Ryan has invited us to join on of his' cruise down the isles on his boat Island 19 (http://www.facebook.com/#!/Island19). No less than amazing. For the occasion he has hired a couple of local musicians to entertain the guest on-board so to the sound of a Bob Marley song , we set out towards to the isle Chacachacare. On arrival we jump to the refreshing water, which is followed by a barbecue. 

The day ends many hotdogs, beers, coconuts and rum later in Ryan's parents house where the neighbourhood have got together for a post-Christmas party, which we end up crashing.

We have entered a new week, and this week Julian will participate in a STCW'95 Course (a safety course for sailors) and I...........I will enjoy the sun, and the island.
It is good to be back in Trinidad, on land, to wake up to the sounds of the birds and being on my own with Julian. 

 

The Island of Eden and an U.S invasion........the story about Grenada

Last week we attended the independence day of Grenada.....which was very colourful but also a bit dull. Quit a paradox to be honest, that an Eden like Grenada - where life moves slow and the day of independence is a rather boring affair - historically has been a constant scene of struggle and bloodshed.

The struggle did not end with the independence which was achieved on the 7th feb. 1974.
In March 1979 a staged revolution took place and deposed Eric Gairy, the then Prime Minister, who was out of the country addressing the United Nations at the time (apparently Gairy was there to raise attention about Aliens and UFO's....). With the revolution Maurice Bishop raised to power. Shortly after the Cubans arrived from Havana and began to construct a 9000 long runway on Grenada.

In 1983 disputes at the top level of the party leadership occurred.On October 19, 1983, Bernard Coard  (a hard-core communist), backed by the Grenadian Army, led a coup against the government of Maurice Bishop, who was placed under house arrest. These actions led to street demonstrations in various parts of the island, as Bishop had massive support among the population. He was eventually freed during a large demonstration in the capital. When Bishop attempted to resume power, he was captured and executed by soldiers along with seven others.

The overthrow of a moderate government by one which was strongly pro-communist and the construction of the above mentioned airstrip,  pissed off  the then U.S president Ronald Reagan, who assumed it was being built for Soviet military purposes.

On October 25 1983, Grenada was invaded by combined forces from the United States, the Regional Security System (RSS) and Jamaica, in an operation codenamed Operation Urgent Fury.
Order was restored, hotels re-opened, the sun re-appeared and the tourists came back and life since then has for the most been tranquil.
And coming to Grenada today the only sign you will find of the revolution is an old poster of Bishop and Castro shaking hands hanging lonely on a wall in the capital St. George. And the only damage you may spot on some of the building were caused by hurricane Ivan some years ago, and despite this St. George still has one of the most picturesque waterfronts in all of the Southern Caribbean.

My stay here in Grenada is soon coming to an end as we (Julian and I) will head back to Trinidad tomorrow for a couple of weeks.
Grenada has been great and sadly I haven't had enough time to see as much of it as I would have liked. 

Are you a LandLubber and tips to do-it-yourself: Redecoration of your boat in JUST ONE hour

 

How to test if you belong on sea ......

Step 1: Eat a large English Breakfast!

 Step 2: Head into some massive waves, that throws the boat violent from side to side. Best if several of the waves actually send cups, plates, spices, coffee pots, chairs, CD-covers, drawers, dogs and cats flying around ..........if you after 30 minutes of flying and falling around on the boat starts to beg for mercy and pray for land ....well sorry to say it, there is no chance of you ever becoming a Pirate !

How to redecorate your boat in less than an hour

Step 1: See step 2 above

 Result..........a complete redecoration of your interior

 

Don't even think about it!!!

Gone FiShiNG

Time flies when you are having Rum............random stories from Pirate Land

January has passed with no updates on my blog. In my last update I was in Union Island, from there we went to Canouan, Mayreau, St. Vincent, Bequia, back to Canouan, Mayreau before returning to Bequia to celebrate Christmas and New Year, which we then left again, first going to Canouan and secondly Mayreau,thirdly Carriacou and now finally Grenada. Even life on sea can move in circles.

Much has happened since last, too much to go into detail with it all. So let me just list some of the main events up:

• A 5 day mission to salvage a stranded boat in Mayreau. This included a nerve wrecking performance from Julian, in which he was attached to the hook of the crane and placed in the top of the mast of the stranded boat, from where he had to unhook himself, balance on the mast unaided for a couple of minutes before re-attaching/securing himself to the hook again.........

• Aid-relief in Bequia, Mayreau and Canouan ( toys, clothes, chairs, tables, pencil, paper, etc.). My favourite story is from Canouan, where we gave out a lot of stuff just before Christmas, or should I rather say left a stack of box filled with goddies outside a closed office. Needless to say we were worried whether the stuff would reach the children.
  When we returned about a month later, we found out that the relief we had left there had been very well received.
  The local "Save the Children" organization in Canouan had been waiting for a delivery from Miami, which had not turned up and had had to postpone the children's Christmas Party once already. We were told our donations saved their Christmas............. 
  
• Christmas x 2.  First in Argentinian/Danish manner and the day after in English style
  
• New-Year in Bequia, which included a spectacular front-row seat to a ramming of a big fancy mega-yacht from Luxembourg by a 180ft converted tug at 7 a.m. (Not us by the way...........don't drink and sail........!)
  
• Visit to the Grand Etang Submarine Volcano and climbing Mount Qua Qua in Grenada.

• Goodbye to another crew-member (Indonesian Johan), who came back and then left again. First time he only got as far as Barbados. Just after lunch our Captain received a phone call from Barbados immigration saying that Air Canada was refusing to take him on the plane because he didn't have the appropriate visa to transit in Canada.He was only going to be in Toronto for THREE hours before flying out.
  After a number of heated phone calls to various authorities, we were told that apparently there are no in-transit facilities and you must apply for a Temporary Resident Visa to be allowed in even when in transit.
  I thought Canadians were suppose to be nice and less paranoid than US-adian.....politics! One week lter we gave it another try, and as we haven't heard anything from him yet I guess we can assume he is back home with his family.
  
• Pulling out a number of masts on other boats ( 3 so far and still counting)
  
•  Loads of baking and teaching Julian how to bake
  
• Hitch-hiking across the Atlantic ...........more to come on that one, but not just yet