27-01-2000
Our time at Tobago and Trinidad In the period of time
when Senne, Flemming and Dennis were “home alone” because René and
Michal’s girls came to see them and they all stayed at a hotel, we
sailed to Bucco Reef, a coral reef at the southern point of Tobago, and we
did not go ashore one single time during the three days, we only dived…that
is life. It is impressing how beautiful it is under water. You see all
kinds of coral formations, big as well as small, in all kind of colours.
And all around you, the sea is filled with all kind of brilliantly
coloured fish; some of then were rather big. We saw some turtles, rays and
cuttlefish. It is extremely fascinating to hang weightless down there and
be part of their environment.
We anchored so close to the reef we dared and took the
dinghy to the reef itself every day and dived from there. One day on our
way back from the reef a rather big wave rose just behind of us, and the
dinghy was thrown right into the wave. We surfed 10-15 meters at full
speed. The motor was not able to follow up, and when the wave finally
broke just above us, we were engulfed by the water.
When the motor was totally under water it stopped and
we could forget all about navigating, all we could do was to hang on.
Fortunately we did not turn over and all our diving gear stayed in the
boat. But the dinghy was all filled with water and had trouble floating.
Our very reliable 2 HK Honda outboard motor started first time after this
episode, amazing!! We have to get used to these coral reefs, which cause a
lot of troubles for our small rubber boats. Another Danish boat we met at
Tobago had had a similar experience- they were 3 men dressed in full dress
(and you only have one of these out here) and suddenly while they were on
their way to the beach (crossing a small coral reef) all 3 were thrown out
of the dinghy, when a wave broke- and so ended their party.
After our diving missions at Bucco reef the 3 of us
went for a trip to the jungle. We had made a hammock for every one out of
some cheap material. Together with our rucksack we went into the jungle-
we wanted to experience some unspoilt nature and meant that it would be
very interesting to spend a night in the jungle among bamboo and liana. We
had a very good stay in the rain forest. We found everything that could be
expected to be in real rain forest- lianas, snakes, spiders, enormously
high bamboo canes, carnivorous plants, hummingbirds and all kinds of other
mysterious birds and plants.
At night after a day's march we found a couple of
suitable trees and hung up our hammocks. It was difficult to fall asleep
because there were 1000 of new sounds that we had to get used to. At times
it was not just a background noise but outright row- an orgy of screeching
of birds and big bamboos knocking together. In the middle of a night a
spider fell into Dennis’ hammock, he felt it when it was climbing up his
leg. Desperately he tried to get it out of his hammock, but it was very
difficult because our hammocks are almost closed, and every time he had it
kicked to the small opening, it just fell back. He had to get out of the
hammock and turn inside out.
We are more than happy that there are no killing
animals at Tobago (anyway not that we know of !!) Apart from this it was a
wonderful night. In the morning we were wakened at the sound of a
hummingbird hanging right above us as if checking who we were.
We also wished each other a merry Christmas because it
was now the 24th of December. It was a bit odd to be laying
there whishing merry Christmases since we were by no means experiencing
the Christmas spirit. We walked the last distance towards the boat to
celebrate Christmas with Rene, Michal and the girls.
Christmas Eve was pleasant, but very different. Most of
us had never been outside Denmark on this day, and now we were here in 27
degrees trying to evoke the right atmosphere. The menu was:
Starter:
newly caught lobster, which Rene and Michal had bought
alive at a local fisherman in the morning. The cooking of it is a history
on its own, but in short terms it implied a huge pot, a line, a diagonal
cutting nipper and a great deal of patience. It was not very co-operative,
but that is quite understandable. It was very delicious – a delicacy.
Main course:
Fresh beef sliced with an old axe while supervised by
hundreds of flies. Along with it we had rice, salad and a good béarnaise
sauce (the best of Knorr).
Dessert:
Danish rice porridge with no less than four almonds
(red: a danish tradition. The one who finds the. Almond receives a
gift). We had porridge enough for a whole army, so only two almonds were
found (both by Rene) and the last two were drawn lots for.After a really
good Christmas dinner we relaxed and bawled out a lot of the Danish hymns
before giving into the presents.
There were lots of them and they brought about great
joy and eyes of hopeful expressions. The trip to Trinidad was only 60
nautical miles and it rained from the moment we left Tobago till we ran
the moorings ashore on Trinidad.
We got a nice place in the marina of “Power Boat”
with both electricity and running water. We arrived on the 28th
of December because we had an appointment with a mechanic who was supposed
to check our engine. We were planning on having it fixed by the 4th
of January when our new guy, Heine, would join us.
But when we arrived at “Power Boat” we realized
that the mechanics would not be back from their Christmas holydays before
the 3rd of January. Instead of just waiting we went into town
in order to find another mechanic, but it was not that easy… We did find
a mechanic, but he acted as if he had never seen an engine before so we
did not want him to mess up too much. He thought the problem might be the
fuel pump and had lots of technical, but rather questionable explanations.
The next day he brought his “friend” along. He
claimed that the engine needed an extensive refitment including new
pistons etc. We all agreed not to let King (the first mechanic) carry out
this repair since he simply did not know enough about it. Richard (the
second mechanic) was anxious about stealing a customer from his friend so
Dennis proposed that they co-operated. This appeared to be a good
solution, but the next day Richard refused to work with King.
Since Dennis thought that Richard was by far the best
mechanic we hired him and told King we did not need his assistance. This
brought about a quarrel between King, Dennis and Senne and the result was
that King took of 100 Danish crowns richer. Richard promised to return the
next day with a calculation of the price of his work, but two days later
there still was not any sign of him. By accident Dennis ran into Richard,
who promised to have a price ready the following day, but once again he
did not turn up. As we were becoming more and more perplexed the mechanic,
who we originally had an agreement with, suddenly turned up apologising
that he was late. He seemed competent and soon reached the conclusion that
a complete reconditioning was necessary. Before the end of the day we got
the engine out and the mechanic got to work.
Finally we felt like something was happening. At times
like these we really miss the orderly conditions of Denmark and we also
imagined how easy everything would have been if the father-in-law of
Dennis, Niels Underberg, had been here (he has been a great help so far).
In the marina we are situated next to a Norwegian – a
giant boat of about 72 feet. The owners are Ulf and Susan, an older
married couple. They are very nice and we have spent several cheerful
hours together. They are a couple of real old shellbacks: The man has
rounded Cape Horn three times and knows the oceans like the palm of his
hand. They are great entertainment with all their stories and Dennis’
jubilee snaps improved the atmosphere as well as the value of the stories.
They gave us a couple of hints about how to handle the ship in heavy sea (meaning
that the waves rises till about 30 metres before they break). The
technique is to reverse with the engine before the boat “tumble” over
the wave – we hope never to become in need of this piece of information!
All in all it was a great evening with the aquavit
increasingly carried us away. The guitar play got worse and worse, but to
make up for it we just sang louder while the sailor-stories got wilder and
wilder.
Finally Ulf (the Norwegian from the neighbour ship
“Pocahontas” had to go home, but in order to disembark he had to
balance on a wood plank. The challenge proved too difficult for him (and
the aquavit) and he fell directly into the ocean.
There is also another Danish sailor called “BALU”.
It is a boat with four guys and two girls all in the age between 25 and 33
years. By the way, they are the ones who overturned with the dinghy while
going to town. We have spent a lot of time together – it is always nice
to speak Danish and hear about their trip and further plans. They are just
as crazy about diving as we are, and we have had a couple of diving
safaris together. Their further trip is northwards across the Azores
towards Denmark. They are awaiting better wind conditions before sailing
to the islands of Grenada. It is a great delight that the crew of BALU
also enjoy the local Caribs and the rum – that has given us many great
hours together. Everyday here is a party!!!!!!!!! –
At least that is how we live it.On the 5th
of January Heine joined us and it is always a pleasure to have new people
aboard with new stories and ideas. Unfortunately we are a bit stuck here
in Trinidad because of the engine, so Heine’s intention of diving five
times a day will have to wait a while. As concerns new stories it must be
mentioned that Heine finds joy in lying only for the sake of the lie.
Lately we have been wandering around in our own naive world believing each
other, so it has become rather difficult for us to distinguish between
truths and lies. The neighbour boat is for instance still convinced that
Heine is full-time employed at the military barracks in Varde, and the
rest of us are also rather confused to say the least. Fortunately we have
now introduced the rule that every sentences beginning with “no shit, no
shit” can be believed to a certain extent. However, it must be noted
that other variants such as “shit, no shit” does not ensure the value
of truth.
Our two soldiers aboard have disappointed us a bit: One
of them cannot sleep on our good mattresses in the cockpit without staying
awake half the night because of the hard bed. The other one is actually
able of dislocating his shoulder by getting it caught between two foam
rubber mattresses!! – And they are supposed to protect us against the
Russians!!!
Hopefully the engine will be ready within about a week
(knock on wood) if the spare parts can be procured.
Dennis has decided to go on a winter holiday in Denmark
for about a month, so he will be holding hands while the rest of us
continue towards Venezuela, where we are planning on diving on every
single island.
Sport results:
Yatzy:
Senne has been called “short of one” since he once was absolutely sure
of winning and had already mocked the rest of us. However, when Rene added
up the points, Senne was one point away from defeating Heine. We all
succeeded in winning a game, but Senne has not yet acceded to the throne
– and who knows if he will not be short on one point the next time as
well!!
Dart:
(the kind with small balls – usually used by children below 10 years):
Dennis is still undefeated, but Rene is practicing secretly at the moment.
Trivial Pursuit:
Rene and Senne have been rather invincible, but when BALU visited
us Rikke and Dennis floored the two bragging competitors.
Sentence of the week:
“No shit, no shit” (see above)