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May, 2008 - As we approach the third anniversary of shoving off from the dock at Anchor Marine in Grand Island three years ago, on May 22, 2005, we’ve had a few reflections on what we’ve learned.
Becoming Webmasters: What a learning process that has been. Kathleen went back over our beginnings and edited all the titles. This will make it easier to find our adventures chronologically. Funny how we have had better access to the Internet via wi-fi in the islands than we had coming down the east coast of the U.S. Back then we had to save our text and pictures on a disk, go ashore and find a library with computers we could use. That was usually a day long chore. We have become much more adept at finding free Internet access right here in our cockpit. The downside is that we sometimes spend more time surfing the web than we “should”. But, hey, what else is there to do? Work? By the time you read this we will have added some interior pictures at the top of the list near “Equipment”. There is also a new feature on “freewebs” where we maintain our site. We are now able to view a map that pinpoints the location of visitors to our site. There are many from the States and Canada, but also from Caribbean Islands, Europe (the UK, Holland and Germany), Iceland, Suriname and Brazil. Now, if only some of those pinpoints were from Golden, Colorado, and Schenectady, New York. Yeah, if you’re reading this, you know who you are.
Happy Mother’s Day: This year we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day. If you read the news, apparently the woman who started it would be extremely unhappy with the commercial “Hallmark Holiday” it is today. Oh, well, Kathleen is happy to get an email message, and this year she got two Roland took her out to a mid-day dinner at a Tyrrel Bay restaurant run by Tante Lizzie (Aunt Liz). That’s her island nickname, but we know her as Catherine. She prepared us a lovely meal of fish, rice and pigeon peas, vegetables, plantain and tomato and cucumber slices, even vanilla ice cream for dessert.
M’Lady Kathleen Immortalized on Canvas: Okay, quarter inch plywood, canvas for artists isn’t exactly readily available down island. A young man named Leslie, who lives in Hillsborough, painted a picture of the Tyrrel Bay anchorage for Troy at the Twilight Restaurant. Leslie’s vantage point was from the Arawak Divers building right in front of where we were anchored some weeks ago, and there was our boat front and center along with many local boats which are here almost permanently. We were delighted when Troy showed us the painting, and asked if Leslie could paint another for us. A couple of weeks later Troy let us know ours was ready. We negotiated a price that we could afford, and you can see the painting in this month’s pictures.
Temp Work: Our friend, Mike, on Loreley, has two dogs on board. Dinah is the rambunctious of the two, Bones is much more docile. Well, one Monday we helped Mike with getting his boat over to the haul-out dock to go on the hard for a couple of weeks. On Mother’s Day he radioed us to ask if we could help him out. He had bruised the arch of one foot stepping on some coral running after the dogs on the beach, (they like to chase goats) and was unable to put any weight on the foot, let alone take them for their afternoon “bathroom” stroll. So for three days we helped lower the two dogs in a dog carrier from the deck to the ground, walked them, and then did the reverse trip back up to the deck. It’s one thing for the dogs to jump in and out of the dinghy from the boat. The fourteen foot drop in the yard was a little too much. But Mike’s foot is better, he’s got the bottom of his boat painted, and it’s back in the water.
High on the Hill Lived the Lonely Goatherd: Remember yodeling along with Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music”? There are some goatherds here, but more goats running around loose. We’ll never forget our first experience with loose goats wandering the streets of Luperon in the Dominican Republic. The best part of walking the dogs for Mike was taking them up the hill and part way out on the south point. There are goat pastures up there that you would never know about otherwise. There were dozens of well-fed goats of all sizes grazing in the fenced in pastures. We still find delight in the little critters maaa-ing for their moms, but we’ve gotten used to sharing the roads with goats and cows, and the occasional pig that gets loose. Such is the life on a small island like Carriacou.
Radio Work: A large number of cruisers depend on the information provided by the Caribbean Safety & Security Net operated by Melodye Pompa on S/V Second Millenium. This is the same lady, who with her husband, John, organizes the annual Carriacou Children’s Education Fund activities which we helped with last August. The Pompas have gone to the States to visit their families, and rather than let the Net languish during their absence, Melody asked for volunteers to keep it going. Roland volunteered us for a week so we have alternated days for the first week. We have a script to follow so it’s not at all difficult. This net is broadcast on the single sideband radio, and reaches from Puerto Rico to Colombia, and occasionally, even Panama. Most days the propagation is good, but you never know who can hear you and how well they can hear you.
Come, Mister Tally Man, Tally Me Banana: Yup, up the wazoo It has been so warm for the last couple of weeks, 80 degrees at 6 a.m., that the local bananas have been ripening too fast to eat. John, the local guy who sells mangrove oysters, has been giving us bananas that he hates to throw out. So Kathleen has been making banana bread and muffins, and giving as many as she can to John, Lucky, and a couple of other young men. There are only two muffins left at this writing, but there may be more by the weekend It’s not any different than eating and preserving the local fresh produce up north when it is in season. You eat what is available when it is available. So for all you folks who wondered what we would eat while on our cruise, that’s the answer. Of course, Kathleen has had to replenish her supply of flour, sugar and eggs rather frequently, but we sure don’t starve. We also learned something about banana trees. They bare fruit only once, and it takes almost eleven months from start to finish.
Same Old, Same Old: Politicians are the same everywhere, even here. One Saturday morning Rufus was slightly vexed as he told us of his conversation with friends the previous evening. It seems that the elections are coming up, and now the government parties are coming around with baskets of food for families with children in hopes of getting their votes. We’ve told you how Rufus has worked so hard to buy his water tanks and has increased his planting area. He says now, after he has done all this work on his own, the government offers him some kind of assistance which he does not need or want. He has a strong work ethic which he has passed on to his children. His daughter, Amy, drives a local bus, and his son is a DJ among other things. One political party sponsored a Youth Day at the soccer field across from Lucky’s on a Saturday afternoon and evening, providing loads of entertainment and sporting events.
Newbies: Such “old hands” are we This is our third year in Tyrrel Bay just before the new hurricane season sends people hurrying south. We can always tell the first-timers who are joining that parade. They call each other on the radio, and don’t switch from a hailing channel to a working channel. We get to hear some interesting conversations. The “newbies” try to call the yacht club on the VHF radio because Doyle’s guide says to contact them that way. Sorry, no working radio at the CYC. Once in a while a boat coming past us to anchor will ask about the depth, a sure sign that it’s the first time. The whole anchorage is about 10-15 feet deep, just look for the sandy patches to drop the hook.
Busy Social Life: We did “sundowners” with Ann and Alan on SV/Freya of Clyde, Troon, Scotland, twice this week. They have left for Grenada and on to Trinidad for the summer. Harm and Lizzie on S/V Horta, Holland, both celebrated birthdays within a few days of each other so a birthday happy hour and dinner was enjoyed by several boats. George and Jeannie on S/V The Vagrant, celebrated their first wedding anniversary having been married here in Carriacou last year. All of that in one week.
We Finally Went to a Maroon: It has nothing to do with the color. The word “Maroon” dates as far back as two to three hundred years when slaves on the Caribbean Islands escaped, revolted, you name it. You can Google this is if you are interested in the history. Today, “Maroon” refers to an evening of food, drumming and dancing. Rick and Caroline on S/V Wind Borne III, Toronto, invited us to share a taxi with a group to go to Bogles, north of Hillsborough, for the Friday night event, May 23rd. . Nine of us climbed aboard “On De Move” driven by Jilma, one of the bus drivers we often ride with. We arrived about 4:30 to find the food tent set up and cooks ready to serve up the local meal of stewed chicken, mutton and pork, coo-coo (cornmeal balls), rice balls and pidgeon peas. Mmmmm, very tasty fare. The meat is cooked, all day long, in huge pots that look like giant woks set on stones with the fire in the center of the stones. Drinks are also provided, and all this is free, but we made a donation to the group anyway. The drumming and dancing didn’t start until almost nine o’clock so we all took short walks to work off dinner. FInally the fun began Several men in African finery arrived in the back of a pick-up truck with their drums and benches to sit on. A circle of spectators grew around the benches as several men and women danced into the center chanting and swaying to the drums as the men sprinkled rum and the women threw rice onto the pavement. Men and women both danced in the circle, taking turns, sometimes joined by another dancer. When they tired, they stopped the drum. Then another drummer would start with a new dancer. One young boy came into the circle and danced to the applause and hoots of the crowd. Last year we saw the young girls in costume at the Harvey Vale School perform these dances at the Independence Day Celebration. This activity could go on for hours, but by ten o’clock we were all ready to call Jilma for the return trip to Harvey Vale,
Gee, More Fun: The next night, May 24th, the ruling political party, NNP, held a huge rally at the playing field in Harvey Vale. Four boat loads of people arrived in the early afternoon in addition to the M/V Amelia which carried passengers as well as the usual Saturday freight. The streets were crowded with folks wearing green shirts that had been handed out. Well, there are only two streets here, but there were probably close to two thousand people. We weren’t sure what we would find when we went to Lucky’s for BBQ. Food tents had been set up on both sides of the road going up to Lucky’s. She had the usual fare and an extra tent up outside with drinks. There were bands playing on a stage set up in the field. The star attraction was to be “Mr. Vegas”, a Jamaican calypso artist. We hung out with friends until 8:30, and never did see him. The boats to Grenada left at midnight so at least we didn’t have to listen to loud music all night long. We heard the next day that Mr. Vegas had been brought in by power launch, quite late, probably ten o’clock. A Google search told us that he was to perform at UCLA on Memorial Day. Busy guy
Where does the time go?: Here it is the end of May already. We have seen probably forty boats come in for a night or two, only to quickly head south, just in the last week. Well, we will soon be joining the parade except that we will head for Venezuela from Grenada. Later
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