Life in Trinidad

Pictures are at:

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29703&l=5b36e&id=544472824

We have finally been able to see some of Trinidad, but work continues on maintenance on the boat – as ever! We went on a guided walk through the rainforest and saw so many tropical birds, plants and flowers we just couldn’t stop taking pictures.

A lovely lunch at the Asa Wright Nature Centre and some birdwatching. Our tour guides were testing us on our limited knowledge of wild plants, flowers and herbs. I did manage to recognise wild fresh cloves. What a smell! Nothing like the dry ones we are used to.

You can understand why Trinidad is famous for its birds, they are so beautiful. It turns out it is impossible to get pictures of hummingbirds, apart from being very small, they just move way too fast. We also went on a boat (again) through the mangrove swamps to see scarlet ibis coming in to roost. Our waterproofs are being well used as the rainy season is in full force here.

We travelled a long way one evening to a protected beach where giant leatherback turtles come to lay their eggs. They are the largest type of turtles and regularly grow to 1000lbs. That largest one ever recorded was 10 feet long, 5 feet wide and weighed 2000lbs! They don’t have a hard shell, its thick oily skin instead. They can dive deep, especially to escape predators, they have been recorded as deep as 1,200 metres before the GPS transmitter imploded from the pressure. We were very lucky as we saw one come in, excavate a hole and start laying. They are tagging all the ones they find so they can track them, as they are still endangered. Then they leave the eggs and head back up the American coast as far as the Arctic to feed in cold waters, mostly on jellyfish. One was tracked that travelled a staggering 13,000 miles in 647 days from Indonesia to the USA in search of food. It was amazing to watch her carefully and expertly dig a bulb shaped hole, lay they eggs and then carefully cover it over and head back to the sea. We also saw the baby hatchlings digging their way out of the sand and heading towards the sea for their first taste of the ocean. Clutches are as big as 120, but very few survive to be adults. We were allowed to pick them up, and then put them on a flat piece of sand near the sea and watch them make their way to the water. Very cute with incredibly strong flippers for something so tiny. On the walk back, we saw another turtle come in, looking for a suitable spot to start digging. What an experience!

On the way down to the beach to see the leatherback turtles, we were talking with our driver – the infamous Jesse James - about Trinidad food. It is a real mix of Caribbean, Indian and African. One really popular snack is chicken foot souse. I was asking about it and Jesse said would we like to try some, so we said yes. How bad could it be?? I imagined it being something like Oxtail soup, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. I have eaten a whole sheeps brain in Morocco so chicken feet should be no problem. When they were handed to us, I was truly shocked to see 10 wobbly, jelly like boiled chicken feet, toes and all staring at me. My first thought apart from shock was that at least the claws had been clipped off. This was going to be a challenge.

We did not want to be rude, so we started to nibble. ‘Eat’ would not begin to describe it as there is no meat on chicken feet, just the rubbery, scaly skin and some gristle and bones under that. The taste was ok – for the brief moment I was able to block out the visual of what I was putting in my mouth. Something akin to chicken stock or consommé with some chilli thrown in. But then I opened my eyes again, and the feet wobbling around in front of me, combined with the rubbery texture made my stomach turn. I could face no more. When we have worked up the courage, we MIGHT try the cow heel soup and gizzards that were next on the menu. But then again, maybe not.

We have also been to a couple of Texas holdem Poker nights. I ended up in a decent amount of credit at the end of the night. Very pleased as it was my first time playing and I was still struggling to remember whether a straight beats a flush. You THINK it’s lots of money, but $100 Trinidad dollars is less than £10 – but the big wad of notes just makes you think you have done really well. Next time out, Richard did well again – man he can bluff like a pro! My curiosity just kept getting the better of me and I was losing my large pot just paying to see if he really did have a hand or if it was another Neiland bluff!

We are planning to cruise round the Orinoco delta in a few weeks – our first big adventure, with no facilities, food or water. But we know the boat is set up well for being self sufficient and we are going in a support group with some other boats. So we are looking forward to some unspoilt wilderness. Just some Warao native Indians and lots of wildlife on the rivers.

I have just seen a turtle swim past Quintessence and also a ray jumped right out of the water. And now the tropical rain has just started.........

Our flowers, birds and turtles pictures are at:
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29703&l=5b36e&id=544472824

Lots of love
Sarah and Richard
xxx

Martinique to Grenada
To see the pictures, you can visit:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=27964&l=b5ef4&id=544472824

We anchored up at Martinique, right next to the main town Fort de France. Right under the Fort walls – where the Navy set a big bonfire and covered our boat in black ash! A nice spot considering it’s so close to town. We spent a couple of days shopping as the town had most things and we had a shopping list of stuff we needed for the boat. Richard finally got his hair cut too and we explored the town. Despite being a French island with nice food, the first place we ate at was McDonalds!! Although we have been enjoying the island food, it had been too long between big macs. We made up for it the next day by going to a great French restaurant and having some classic French food and wine. We explored the market, and bought fresh fruit and veg. At the fish market, Richard did a deal on about 30 small crabs. He managed to avoid being nipped and we cooked them up. They tasted delicious, but separating the (very sparse) meat from the inedible bits was just too much hard work and I gave up on my second crab. But Richard and Ryan plodded on for a good 45 mins before giving up too and ditching the rest over the side of the boat.

We then headed off for Rodney Bay, St Lucia. We anchored outside for one night. We took the dinghy ashore and relaxed with some Pina Colada’s in the breeze overlooking the bay. We had a very rolly sleepless night at anchor. Then we were off to Les Pitons, still in St Lucia. Very stunning location, they are twin volcanic peaks that rise like teeth vertically out of the sea. We picked up a mooring bouy about 30’ from the vertical cliff, which ensured I kept my concentration up so we did not hit any coral or rocks! The snorkelling on the reef right under our boat was amazing. So many colourful fish, including shoals of Sergeant Majors, Hogfish, Parrot fish and Stoplight fish. We also saw a big moray eel and a sea snake which we instinctively knew to keep a safe distance from.

The fishing over the next few days got very exciting. We hooked our first big swordfish (big for us that is, not the species). After fighting the sod for about 45 minutes, we got him very close to the boat and were ready with the gaff hook. Everybody was anticipating swordfish steaks for dinner and plenty for the freezer. But alas, it was not to be. Just as we were getting him alongside, the line snapped and he was gone. Undaunted, we put the lines out the following day and this time, we hooked a real monster. We put the clutch on the reel up to the maximum and he was still screaming off with the line. He jumped a couple of times and we saw just how big he was (somewhere in the league of that famous quote from JAWS where Roy Scheider gets a look at the shark for the first time and says “.......we’re gonna need a bigger boat.....”). He was taking the line off so quickly that the reel actually started to smoke. I kid you not! People talk about this happening but I always assumed it was just a euphemism. Apparently not. Anyway, after running out nearly all the line, it eventually stopped and thinking we still had him on, we started to retrieve the line, only to find that he had spat the lure out.

SWORDFISH 2, QUINTESSENCE 0

Not long after leaving the Pitons towards Wallilabou Bay in St Vincent, Richard and Ryan saw a Pilot whale broaching near the boat. We were also joined by some dolphins playing on our bow wave as they love to do. They turn on their sides while getting a free tow to look up at you and check you out. Wallilabou Bay is the famous location where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. Much of the set is still there - here is Quintessence tied up to the end of it.

More great snorkelling despite Richard and Ryan getting stung by little purple jellyfish – not dangerous ones, but they looked like they had brushed against some stinging nettles when they got out. I managed to avoid them but got tiny stings from what we found out later are called sea ants. Not painful, but very annoying under water!

After a couple of days we were off to Bequia (pron. Beck-wee) A nice town, with a fruit and veg market. Unfortunately I let Richard go on his own, and he bought enough fruit to last a lifetime (he claims he was forced into it), we would never eat it all! Also, they ripped him off and he probably paid at least double what it was worth. He also excelled himself in the variety of what he bought. Fruit I have never heard of before, so it was fun to try them out. Some were delicious, but some – like the giant green knobbly ‘soursop’ never ripened and ended up in the bin. We found inventive ways to put some of the lime mountain to use in cocktails and the like. The rest is still festering in various cabins round the boat..... About this time, we started to see little black bugs on the boat in the area of the galley. We didn’t know where they were coming from, and as there were not too many of them, we didn’t worry too much.

Then we were off to the Tobago Cays, but we HAD to stop in at Mustique at the famous Basil’s Bar for lunch. Mick Jagger owns it, but sadly he was not there. I think we would have recognised his ugly mug if he was in attendance. The island is privately owned and those with very deep pockets holiday here. We didn’t have to pay a penny – except for the extortionate burger of course. After the fantastic burger and some photos we weighed anchor for the quintessential small sandy islands and coral lagoons of the Tobago Cays. Wow. Such a stunning place. Not a bad view from the boat?

When Ryan headed up the mast, he took some pictures of the lagoon as well as us looking like ants on the deck below him....

Next stop, Clifton in Union Island, just to clear customs. Then off to Hillsborough in Carriacou for the night. A nice non touristy town.
The Caribbean fruit mountain was by now down to about half its original size and the odd little black bug was still appearing in the galley... We caught a small tuna during the day – but more than enough for a lovely fresh dinner for the three of us. Unfortunately we also caught a bird – a booby! It dived on our fishing lure and got hooked. I was very worried about the poor thing, but the guys managed to reel it in and unhook it and let it go with just a small wound on its neck. They were sure it was going to be OK. The ships log has a note saying “caught a booby but forgot the endangered species cook book”. Hmmm. We put the fishing rods away after that.

Next stop St Georges in Grenada. On the way along the Grenada coast, a squall from the island went over us and our already damaged genoa got ripped even more as we had to let it flog (fly free) as the strong wind passed us. Another job for the long list of repairs. No rest for the wicked!
To read about our previous passages since Florida, just click the archive on the right...

Love from Richard and Sarah

xxx