Month: October 2010

Pirate Attack!!!!

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The same morning we left Grenada we picked up the end of a report on the Safety and Security Net regarding a cruising couple who were attacked by Pirates off the coast of Venezuela.   I did not catch the name of the persons attacked and so when we arrived in Tyrell Bay and were able to access the internet I found what I was looking for on Noonsite and was devastated to hear that it was our friends Ellen and Jim from s/v Boldly Go who we had last seen right here in Tyrell Bay where they had hauled their boat out to paint the bottom and do some repairs.  We had just been talking about them and wondering where they were.  You may recall from my previous blog entry on Carriacou a couple of months ago, I spoke about Ellen and I both growing up in Orange County and our fathers both working for the same company.     The only information I have regarding the incident is what I have read on the Noonsite page as follows:

Cruising yacht “Boldly Go”, crewed by Ellen and Jim Birrell, were attacked by pirates on 16 October 2010 at approximately N011 05.000 / W063 23.000 (4 1/2 hr sail west of Los Testigos en route to Porlamor) at 10:00 a.m. Venezuela time.  The couple were assaulted and held at gunpoint while the pirates ransacked “Boldly Go” taking all valuable items they could carry back in their 16′ pinero (wooden boat). Both Ellen and Jim are physically fine after their ordeal and are currently in Porlamor, Isla Margarita, at anchor,refitting their yacht and working with the GuardaCosta and Policia located in Pampatar, Isla Margarita (15 mins away).

I have emailed Ellen to see how they are holding up.   They are currently in Margarita, Venezuela.   They just replaced their notebook computer but will not be posting any information about their plans until they are well out of Venezuelan Waters.   They are having to replace all of their communication and navigation equipment before Boldly Go can safely leave.     Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Good Fishing around Carriacou

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10/20/2010

As hurricane season comes to an end, it is the time of year when people who have kept their boats below 12 degrees Lat make ready to continue their travels throughout the Caribbean and points beyond.    In Trinidad, I had met Marie at a women’s group meeting, yes we do have support groups for us crazy female sailors.     She and her husband JP have spent the last 4 years building their dream Motor Catamaran, DOMINO in Paraguay and are now traveling North.     We began referring to ourselves as Big D and Double D on the radio and our friendship blossomed from there.   They traveled from Trini and anchored near us in Hog Island where we got to know them a little better.   We have enjoyed hearing the story of how DOMINO came to be and all the adventures and misadventures of building her.    I have also been privileged to gain some valuable recommendations on getting my shoulder back into shape from Dr. JP,   Thank You.   With a functional Auto Helm and the prospect of good weather for a few days we opted to continue our journey North and head back up to Carriacou for a few days.    Domino also left the same day and we had a bit of a fishing competition going on.    We kept in contact via the Radio and they told us they had spotted some tuna.     As we were leaving Grenada, we caught a 2 ½ ft Barracuda that we through back.    Then nothing.    Domino who was ahead of us announced they had caught a large 52” Wahoo off of Isle Ronde between Grenada and Carriacou.   JP said it took a while to bring it in and he had to walk it around the boat before landing it.   We altered course to take us closer to the Island in hopes of matching their luck.   Still Nothing.    As we were arrived at the mouth of Tyrell Bay,  we began making preparations to anchor.   Just as we were thinking about bringing in the fishing lines we heard a loud zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and Mike yelled, “Fish On!”   I slowed the boat and Mike brought in a nice Blackfin Tuna.   We couldn’t match Domino on the size of the fish but we were happy we did not get skunked!  We got an e-mail from our friends on Campechano back in Grenada, they had no luck that same day and so we felt pretty good about our little Blackfin tuna.    We joined Marie and JP aboard DOMINO that evening for a celebratory dinner.    We have fish in the freezer and all is well!

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Passing Time with good friends!

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Over the course of this last 10 days we have enjoyed reuniting with many of our Grenada and Trinidad friends.   There have been a number of dinners and cocktail hours aboard each of our boats.  I have enjoyed being able to jump off the boat into clean water again.   Mike’s foot is healing well.    I hiked out to the Seven Sisters Falls again with Carl and Carrie of s/v Sanctuary to celebrate Carrie’s Birthday.  I had brought a few bananas with me and we stopped again at Monkey Point where we had a couple of greenback monkey come right up to us for their treats.  One even grabbed at Carries dress looking for more.     We were joined by John and Patty from s/v Anhinga who I had not seen since Boqueron, Puerto Rico.   We had a nice walk but only the girls braved the cool mountain water at the falls.   When we returned  I baked Carrie some of my famous BBQ Brownies for her special day!    Mike, who was still not up to hiking, spent the day with  Dave from s/v DaniellStorey and our newest friends Ronnie and Babbie on s/v Campechano.    Ronnie, an avid fisherman, loves to take people out fishing on their beautiful 47 ft Catana Catamaran.     He has a vast wealth of knowledge and can read the sea and the birds to know where to fish.   They came home with some tuna and rainbow runner.    Ronnie’s love is fishing and Babbie’s is her horses back in Puerto Rico where they live.   We have enjoyed a number of wonderful meals together and look forward to meeting up with them as we travel north.  They have also invited us to visit them in PR where I will have the opportunity to go horseback riding.     We are not the only ones moving north.  Ken and Katy of s/v Diana who we had met briefly in Grenada and got to know better in Trinidad also returned from there and anchored next to us in Hog Island.  We have spent a number of fun evenings with them and they introduced us to some other St. Johnians,  Josh and Lou on s/v Survivan.   Josh and Lou operate a great day charter out of St. John and we were treated to a wonderful evening of laughter, singing and impromptu songwriting.    I’m not sure the songs we came up with will hit the top 40 anytime soon though with titles such as “Falling Off my Nachos” and of course, that all time favorite “Giardia, the Beaver Disease”.   OK, so there was a little rum involved that night!   I know from the highlights I have shared that you might think our lives are just one big party but in reality there is always chores to do, laundry, grocery shopping, repairs, and etc. that make up the bulk of our days.    We took the bus into St. George and finally met with Herve, our RayMarine Representative, to pick up the new motor for our Auto Helm.    Michael has it installed and it appears to working well but on the same note we noticed that our back up compass needs to be repaired……It’s always something!

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Heading North Again

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We met up for a goodbye pizza dinner with Carmen and Tom of s/v Ellida who have been on the hard here in Trini since June.   They plan on heading north by Mid November.    We met them through our friends Carl and Carrie, DD’s rescuers, from s/v Sanctuary.    Carmen is a chiropractor and has been helping Mike and I with our various aches and pains.    She also is an amazing photographer and has been giving Michael pointers on using his new Camera.     You can check out some of her work at www.meanderingmoments.com.   She has a zeal for Travel and Photography that is matched only by Tom’s enthusiasm for sailing and of course their passion for each other.     We will miss them and look forward to meeting up again later this season.  We have also enjoyed the company of our new friends Ken and Katy aboard s/v Diana.  They are from St. John USVI and Ken and Mike know many of the same people.    We have been busy trading books and movies with them.   I can’t really say we will miss the Island of Trinidad all that much.   It has given us the opportunity to upgrade, make repairs and reprovision but we will not miss the stifling windless heat(that is except when squalls would hit the anchorage), the filthy water, or the sleepless nights waking up to every small sound to check and make sure Mighty Mouse is still locked to the Davits.  Due to the theft and security issues Trinidad Yachting Business are down by 50%.    We hope that they will be able to do something about it but we will probably not be returning anytime soon.    We had a smooth experience checking out with customs and immigration and purchased some Duty Free Wine and Spirits prior to leaving.     We fortunately had an uneventful overnight passage back to Grenada.  We traveled alone, always a little stressful as we are close to Venezuela a know piracy zone.   It was the night of a new moon and so very dark.   Hand steering for the first part of the evening wasn’t bad as we had the brightly lit Oil Dereks for reference but once we were beyond them it became more difficult as there were no reference points on the horizon.  You can steer by instruments but staring at a lighted screen quickly tires the eyes.      We steered a course by the stars and kept a sharp eye out for other vessels and pirates.    We took 2 hour watches to keep alert as we still do not have a functioning auto helm.    We compared notes the next morning and agreed that we both felt such a sense of relief to see a light turn on below during the last ½ hour of our watch and knowing that we could soon have a break.      We arrived in Grenada at about 8:00am and were greeted by our friends Dave and Michelle aboard s/v DaniellStorey.    We anchored DD in our same spot off the beach on the west side of Hog Island.  Mike got to take one dip off the boat before he slipped while tying up the sun shade and cut his foot on the ladder.   We were able to stop the bleeding fairly quickly and so we cleaned it well and I used butterfly bandages to close it up.  No swimming for Mike again for a few days.    How convenient for this to happen just when we needed to clean the bottom of the boat.    I think he did it on purpose, the lengths some people will go to avoid scraping barnacles.    We enjoyed a great reunion of sorts when we took advantage of 2 for 1 pizza night at La Phar Bleu Marina and had a great evening with Dave & Michelle from s/v Daniellstorey,  Carl & Carrie from s/v Sanctuary,   David and Trudie from s/v Persephone and met some new friends Ronnie and Babbie from s/v Campechano.

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A visit to Asa Wright

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Just one more week here in Trini.   We rented a car one day and Mike took me up to Asa Wright Nature Reserve.   We had rented the Car from Economy Rental Car.   The prices are very reasonable but you take your chances on comfort.   All the cars have dings and dents and none of the cars have shocks.  You learn quickly to dodge potholes.  Most have some little quirk or another that you learn to take in stride.    To have the freedom of wheels after being on the boat for so long and at the mercy of public transportation is a real luxury.    After a couple of wrong turns we managed to make our way through Port of Spain and onto the main hwy that lead toward the Islands Interior.     We noticed on this day we were attracting quite a lot of attention as we drove along.    People were honking and pointing at us.    Now even though we are a rather unique couple we began to suspect that we might not be the focus of all this attention.    Mike rolled down the window and a kind local informed us that our right front turn signal light was dangling from its connections and “de police will give you a ticket, Mon”.     Mike was able to snap it back into place where it remained for a few miles before we had to repeat the procedure.    He finally got it to quit falling out by wedging it into place.  As we turned onto the narrow shaded single lane road that led deeper into the forest we felt the air cooling somewhat.  This was a welcome reprieve as our air conditioner had quit after the first hour on the road.    We wound our way through mountain villages and neighborhoods where small colorful shacks and bungalows were tucked into the sides of steep hills with no apparent entry other than narrow stairways made from stones or cement or occasionally just cut into the hillside from the main road.   We saw signs indicating the property lines of the Reserve long before we came to the entrance to the Nature Center.   It is huge.    We parked the car and took our binoculars and cameras and headed to the Main House which is now a B&B.   It is known for its wonderful veranda and marvelous birdlife that frequents it feeders.     The reserve itself has over 10 miles of trails however only overnight guests have access to them.   Day visitors are only allowed on one short trail and must go with a guide.  Our guide JoAnn was very helpful and educated us on some of the more interesting aspects of the bird and wildlife of the area.   We enjoyed relaxing on the veranda where most of the best photo and bird watching possibilities are anyway.   The feeders afforded us a wonderful view of abundant birdlife as well as Agouti and a Large Tiger Lizard and numerous butterflies .      We brought our lunch with us and were entertained by a group of ants that appeared  from a crack in a nearby cement pillar.   They proceeded to carry off any crumbs from our lunch.   Some of the pieces  of cracker we had dropped were as large as a quarter but hundreds of  the industrious little ants lifted and carried them at quite a rapid pace across the floor and up the side of the pillar and into their nest.      After lunch we hiked down to a cool pool that has been created by damming the small creek below a waterfall above the Nature Center.    It has cement benches around the pool for sitting and soaking and a place to change clothes.     After a wonderful afternoon at the Center we climbed back into our car and decided we would take the even more rural road that continued north through the forest and came out on the north coast of the island.    This road was partially paved for a while but then became a dirt track.  It was not unusual to have to creep around a fallen tree or small landslide with little room to spare as the road clung perilously to the side of the steep hillsides.   Around every turn the forest seemed to be trying to reclaim the track from the few cars we met during the next couple of hours it took us to negotiate this stretch of road.   We knew we were getting close to civilization again when we met one of the Maxi Taxi buses coming the opposite direction.    We made it to north coast and then turned west and headed to Maracas Beach where enjoyed some Bake n’ Shark, a tasty local meal of deep fried shark placed into a bit of fry bread and served with a variety of condiments.   We got there just as Richards, the most famous of many colorful little Bake n’ shark shacks, was getting ready to close for the day.   We walked out to Maracas Beach as the sun was setting.   We climbed back into the car and watched as a dark cloud crept over the Island from the direction of our anchorage.    As darkness descended, the deluge began and we were thankful that our wipers and headlights at least were in working order.    We joined a long slow train of cars snaking their way along the narrow roads back toward the northwest side of Trini.   We breathed a heavy sigh when we finally pulled into the parking lot at TTSA.   It is always a relief to return to the anchorage when we know a squall has come through to find DD sitting where we left her.    It was a day filled with many new sights and touch of adventure and will be fondly remembered as one of the highlights of our time here in Trinidad.

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Island Time Trini Style

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We have spent the last couple of weeks enjoying the company of many friends new and old.  We spent one day out on foray find a new galley faucet as ours was leaking.  It took us most of the day and a couple of bus transfers but we were finally able to locate one that would work.   Many of our days are spent doing minor maintenance or cleaning on the boat before the heat of the day becomes unbearable.   We then pack up our computers and escape to the TTSA gazebo to check our e-mail and take a dip in the pool as the heat of the afternoon climbs.  We do not swim off of the boat here, as the anchorage is teeming with garbage and pollution being so close to the industrial port.   This does not seem to deter the locals as families are out in force every weekend fishing and swimming and picnicking along the shore of the anchorage.   One day as we were walking by we were invited to stop for a drink and some wonderful Indian Curried Duck by a local family celebrating a birthday.   Most local people we have met have been wonderful however their does exist a criminal element and we are forced to haul Mighty Mouse high up on the davits and lock it to the boat as thefts of dingies and motors, even locked,  is prolific and the criminals seem to operate with impunity even though we are within a stones throw from the Coast Guard Base.   Hauling Mighty Mouse  is not always an easy task as we have both been battling with a couple of minor muscle aches and pains, but by sharing the lifting and moving and with the help and advice from our friends we are on the mend.      We visited the dentist so our teeth are now clean and our smiles bright, no new dental surprises which was good to hear.    We have taken a couple of beautiful local walks and saw some amazing creatures.  We spotted Capuchin Monkeys leaping between the uppermost branches of the trees, dozens of different kinds of butterflies including the large Blue Morphos(which always remind me of the movie Pappion) ,   bats large and small, some hanging in abandoned Quonset huts and some who appeared to be hunting during the middle of the day under the shade of the canopy.    We also found a huge centipede, It was at least 12 inches long and brightly colored, the picture does not do it justice.   During the day we are serenaded by the sounds of birds, cicadas, and frogs and in the evenings by the sounds of the water and occasionally music from one of the local yacht clubs.   On weekends the musical competition really gets cranked up.  The cacophony of competing stereos on shore playing a mix of everything from, Indian Pop music, to Reggae, to Hip Hop, to Rap, all competing for the loudest music award.   Winner determined by who’s got the biggest sound system and where they have their car parked.   We have picked up a few new DVD’s to add to our collection of tradable Movies.  We have attended a number of potlucks and domino games, there are some really hard core domino players here.    Crystal’s Mom would find some serious competition in this group.   We had wrapped up most of what we wanted to do for the boat here in Trinidad and were thinking about heading back up to Grenada along with s/v Sanctuary.     I really wanted to see the Asa Wright Nature Center which is listed in the book “1000 places to see before you die”.    It is known for its array of brightly colored birds and photo ops but unfortunately it had been closed for the entire month of September for renovations.   Everyone we spoke with who had visited it said it was not to be missed.     I had brought up my desire to visit this place on numerous occasions but with our eminent departure scheduled and only 4 days before Asa Wright was due to reopen,  I finally put my flip flop down and asked one last time if we could possibly stay a few more days and visit the Centre.   Michael was very understanding and even though it is a bit of an undertaking to rent a car and find the place he told me that this was my trip too and we could delay our departure for a few more days so we could go.    DD’s rescuers, Carl and Carrie were very understanding as well and told us how much they enjoyed it.   They made their departure over to Grenada safely without us and we look forward to seeing them again in a week or so.

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Trouble in Trini

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We have spent the last couple of weeks doing what come naturally to cruisers,  repairing our boat in exotic locations.    Michael Installed our new KISS Windgen.    He dove into the nasty water here in this anchorage and put a plug into one of our through hulls and replaced a faulty seacock that fed the water intake for our head as well as installing a new pump mechanism for it as well.   The simple pleasure of a fully functional head can only be described with a blissful sigh of relief.   It has not all been work though.   We were given the grand tour of the places to shop by Heather on s/v Asseance in addition to a stop for Doubles.    I took in a matinee of the movie Eat, Pray, Love at the very plush theater with a bunch of girlfriends.  I have finally seemed to come to an understanding with my old Pfaff sewing machine and have made new covers for our adjustable cockpit chairs.   We met up with Mark and Max of s/v Blue Beyond and joined them to watch a Rugby Match.  Mark is a true Rugby aficionado and was kind enough to explain the game to us.  He has even volunteered to help coach the local National team while he is here.    It really is a lot of fun to watch once you know the rules and nuances of the game.   A true Manly Man’s sport.   As evidenced by my photo of a hard core fan, out there, rooting for his team, along with his canary?!     We rented a car one day and headed out for Price Mart, which is similar to Sams Club, to do a major reprovision.    While we were shopping a low formed over the Island and a massive thunderstorm proceeded to dump a large amount of rain in our area accompanied by some strong wind gusts.   Mike braved the deluge and backed the car up the exit of Price Mart.  Loading groceries in ankle deep water while lightening is striking all around the building was probably not the smartest move but we were desperate to get back and check on DD.    We carefully drove back to the anchorage dodging minor mudslides and flash floods streaming across the road praying that our rental car did not stall out while fording some of these new rivers.   We pulled the car into the TTSA parking area and noticed a number of people gathered under the gazebo looking out into the anchorage…….not a good sign.   As we climbed out of the car, we asked, “Is everyone where they are supposed to be?”  To which they answered, “A Cat had drug across the anchorage.”    PANIC!!!!!!!    We locked the car, jumped into Mighty Mouse and zipped out to find our friends Carl and Carrie at the Helm of DD piloting her back to her place.   As we jumped aboard Carrie yelled, “Boy are we glad to see you!”    When the squall hit the anchorage DD had been spun and our Delta Anchor did not hold in the oily mud.    She drifted across the anchorage narrowly missing ½ dozen boats before her anchor reset stopping her inches from the dock of another of the local clubs.  Carl and Carrie came up after the blow to find that DD was not where we had left her.  They spotted her across the anchorage and jumped into their dink braving the continuing rain, raced across the bay and pushed her away from the dock with their dingy.   They got on board and on the radio requesting help.   After what seemed like a long while.  A number of other cruisers came to their assistance and they were able to figure out how to drop the drive leg to motor her back to her place.     We weren’t looking forward to offloading our groceries in the rain but that would have been much preferred over finding our panic stricken friends at the helm of our unfamiliar boat, faithfully piloting her back where she belonged.     I took the helm from Carrie and Mike and Carl reset the anchor.    After, I wiped the tears from my eyes and Carries knees stopped shaking, there were Bear Hugs all around and immense gratitude expressed to all who came to DD’s assistance.  We have since moved DD to a different part of the anchorage to allow for more scope and also put out our second Delta anchor to avoid any further unmanned excursions by DD.   Michael again braved the slimy water and dove on DD to make sure she had not hit anything during her wanderings.  He came to the surface and exclaimed “What a Bummer!”  My stomach sank.  “Oh God……how bad is it?” I asked.    He responded, “ It didn’t even knock off any of the barnacles”.   Mr. funny man, I could have shot him!

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To Trini

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To Trini

We spent a few relaxed days hanging out in Bon Accord lagoon.  We walked into town for an occasional Doubles run making sure we had a ready supply for our crossing.   They are really good cold also.   We spent our evenings enjoying some dramatic sunsets and the competing sounds of the many birds that make their home here in these wetlands along with a local resident with an enormous sound system who played his tunes at maximum volume for the benefit of everyone within about ¼ mile radius of his home.  We rarely needed to turn on the stereo during the day and sometimes into the evening as well.   We found a water spigot where we were able to take on fresh water in preparation for our crossing.   We took Mighty Mouse over to Pigeon Point Beach and enjoyed a walk around the public beach there as well as a peek back into Store Bay to make sure all was well before venturing back over there.    We retraced our track on our GPS on a rising tide to maneuver back through the reef and rendezvous with our traveling companions.   We spent some time with our friends on Faith and traded some movies.     Our Flotilla of the 4 original Team Tobago boats left at Midnight and traveled together to Trinidad arriving at the customs dock around noon the next day.   The crossing itself was a motor the entire way as there was very little wind.    Our watches were uneventful other than have to alter course slightly to avoid an oncoming freighter.  It is a pleasure traveling along with someone who has a nice radar system as it allows us to identify possible trouble in plenty of time to make any course adjustments.   The seas were flat and although we are still hand steering until we get the new motor for the Auto Helm it was easy going.   Sailing up along the coast of Trinidad in the early morning light conjured images of days of old.   The jungle again tumbled down to the ocean and the cliffs along the coast were pocked with numerous caves from small to large where one could imagine pirates might stash treasure or lie in wait for unsuspecting merchants ships to ambush.      We motored into the main harbor where we left our traveling companions at Crew Inn.    Check in with customs and immigration was effortless thanks to the bay hopping permit we acquired upon our check out from Charlotteville.   We made plans to reconnect for future activities and then made our way around the point to TTSA where we welcomed by shouts from our friends Carl and Carrie on s/v Sanctuary.    It was great to see them after so long.  We had last seen each other at anchor in Isle de Saints back in Mid June.    It is really nice to pull into an anchorage we have never visited and find ourselves being welcomed by friends.    We also reconnected with John and Carol on s/v Sweet Caroline who are also staying here for hurricane season.  It had been more than a month since we had last seen them in Grenada.    TTSA is the Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association.   It is a yacht club that offers a more secure location for people who need to leave their boats on a mooring to travel to the states and offers guest members, like us, the use of their facilities for a nominal fee.   They have laundry facilities, showers, a bar and restaurant, an open air internet pavilion, and a watched dock to lock our dingy to should we need to go into town to shop etc.   There is an active cruisers net that meets on VHF 68 to announce activities and regularly scheduled chartered buses that travel to a variety of locations and sights around the Island.   We still raise and lock Mighty Mouse with her Engine up onto the Davits every night as dingy and engine theft is rampant here on Trinidad.  Engines have even been taken off of raised dingies.   Mike has just finished installing our new KISS Windgen and replaced a rusted shut seacock.   We still need to rebuild our leaky head but the parts are readily available.   We have scheduled to have our teeth cleaned with a local dentist recommended by our friends on Asseance.    So we continue to get ourselves as well as DD back in tip top shape.   We have spent the last week learning where stores and services are here in Trini and how to get around on the public transportation system.   We had a wonderful dinner with our Tobago traveling companions for the last time together as some will be traveling home for a few weeks.   Such is the friendship between cruisers but there are very few goodbyes.  We know that it is very likely we will meet up somewhere else in our travels.   It is a small world after all.

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