|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Diane's DiaryToday we went to Port-of-Spain, the capital, with Mima. They showed us the fabric stores & walked us around the city. We bought some fabric as we are going to get custom made shirts- they are really cheap around here. I paid about $4 USD & Larry about $8 for material. We were dying for good old American hamburgers so we went to TGIF here - the same chain as at home. We almost felt like we were back in the US again. We enjoyed the hamburgers but actually felt they were too big for our stomachs. Oh well, the bill was almost $30US too - that's very expensive for Trinidad standards considering you can get a roti lunch for 2 with two big sodas for around $5USD. I know we can't afford to continue to eat out there! 8/3 Friday I went with the Members Only free bus to the supermarket. After the expensive food prices we have encountered in most of the Caribbean, it's nice to have US prices again. In some cases, the products are even cheaper than the US. The supermarket pays the bus driver to bring the cruisers to go shopping & we all spend lots of money so it's a win- win situation for both parties. In the late afternoon, I went swimming in the pool. Larry went over to Mima & they went for beers & went to the wind generator store. The wind generator we have, KISS, was manufactured here in Trinidad. We bought ours in the US though. The US distributors have been terrific - they are former cruisers. We became friends with them as well as being customers. We highly recommend the KISS wind generator for anyone considering a wind generator. We have seen just about every one on the market & are convinced this is the best. We ate dinner tonight with Mima at Joe's pizza - a local cruisers hangout. While the pizza wasn't as good as NY pizza, it wasn't too bad. Ironically, it's cheaper to buy eggplant parm & spaghetti than pizza. We walked over since we still don't have the dinghy in the water yet. 8/4 Saturday I went with the Members Only van to the fruit, vegetable, meat & fish market. The bus left at 6:30am. Since our alarm clock is not working correctly, I almost missed the bus as I woke up at 6:20! Anyway, I bought 5 lbs of shrimp for us, Mima wanted 5 lbs & someone else 2 lbs -at a cost of $4USD per lb. The shrimp still had the heads on it so next time I will buy the bigger ones. The only problem with buying all the shrimp was that I had to lug it around the market & it was heavy. I bought a cooler bag & it's a good thing, as they didn't have any ice for the shrimp. I bought tons of vegetables & fruit really cheap. Pineapple for $1USD, 2 eggplant for around $1USD, 1 lb string beans for $.50USD. They had live chickens they would kill right for you, & whole cattle. Actually, it was hard to stomach. Also, I wonder about the sanitary conditions as none of the food was on ice. I'm sure if OSHA were here they would condemn the place! Oh, well, welcome to the islands. The sanitary conditions are definitely not up to US standards! I bought a beautiful bouquet of anthurium flowers for $1.50USD! Wish I could bring some of these back to the US but customs will not allow it. It was really hot by the time we left at 8am so it was good we left early. The bus cost $2.50USD roundtrip so you really have to buy a lot to make it worthwhile. We stopped for a half hour at another supermarket on the way home. 8/5 Sunday I made a good old American breakfast of bacon & eggs this morning. Then I cleaned the shrimp- it took 1.25 hrs to clean it all. Next time I'll buy the jumbo shrimp. I would have bought them this time except someone had told me the larger ones were very mealy. We didn't have any problem with these though. We finally launched the dinghy today. Steph from Mima took us to the dressmaker so we could get our shirts made custom. The girl is so good she doesn't even use a pattern. My shirt cost $6USD & Larry's was $9 for labor only. So, with the material & labor it cost $10 for my shirt & about $17USD for Larry. You definitely couldn't get a custom shirt in the US for that price! It started to pour & Larry wanted to stay & play chess. I wanted to get back to the boat to do some chores so I took the dinghy back. Just as I got back it really started to pour out. I did some boat chores & the laid down for around an hour. I went to the gym & walked on the treadmill for about 30 minutes, took a shower, & came back to the boat & made my feta cheese shrimp dinner. After dinner, we watched TV & worked on our logs. While we were watching the TV it suddenly went out. We thought something had happened to the TV but it turned out something was the matter with the outlet. Glad it wasn't the TV! 8/6 Monday We adjusted the trap around the AC to cover more of the boat. With the intense heat here it would be good to have an awning made. We are going to get some price estimates. We went around looking at other people's awnings this morning to get an idea of what style we wanted. Then we took the dinghy over to Powerboats to see about hauling the boat while we are away. We also walked to all the marine stores. We had a roti lunch- 2 roti's & 2-20 oz diet cokes (remember diet soda is always more expensive in the islands) for about $6USD- pretty cheap. Roti's are ok though I must admit I would rather have a good NY deli around here instead. 8/7 Tuesday I helped Larry take down the wind generator pole this morning. The manufacturer of our KISS wind generator is located here in Trinidad & is making upgrades to our model for free. What a nice guy! Plus, we of course, tell everyone of our good experience with him so he gets great publicity from it. We were supposed to have a canvas contractor come over this afternoon to give us an estimate on an awning & to do some canvas work but he never showed. We ate an early dinner at 4pm because we are going to the turtle watch tonight. We left at 5pm with the Members Only Maxi bus to see the turtles. We got there around 8pm. I really didn't think we were going to see any turtles & at $30USD each it's pretty expensive. We walked on the beach around 30 minutes & then sat down in the sand awaiting the turtles. The moon started to rise so that really helped with visibility. Well, shortly after the moon rose, we saw our first turtle come to shore! These are giant leatherback turtles & we watched them slowly lumber their huge bodies onto the beach. Our guide told us where they lay the eggs on the beach determines the sex of the hatchlings. The higher on the beach they go means they will have female turtles. If someone shines a light on the turtles as they are coming on the beach, the turtles get confused & head back to the water. So, we were very careful not to shine lights until the turtle starts digging their holes. Once the eggs are being lain, the turtle goes into a trance & you can touch it & shine lights. The whole procedure was extremely fascinating. From the time the turtles come out of the water, come up the beach, lays its eggs, covers the eggs, & returns to the water, takes about 2.5 hours! But we all really enjoyed it & found it fascinating. We had all seen pictures on TV of this process but seeing it live was really something. We saw about 5 turtles during the course of the night & about 8 hatchlings. We got some great pictures with the digital camera & I took a bunch with the underwater camera I will get developed when we get home. The hatchlings have a very small survival rate as vultures & seagulls often eat them. Poaching used to be a big problem but now they have wardens patrolling the beaches & lots of tourists. The wardens are all paid so it has contributed to the local economy by providing jobs & the tourists come to see the turtles. A win-win situation all around. I was glad to pay the fee seeing the job they do. We really enjoyed the tour & found it well worth the money. We could have stayed there all night! Unfortunately, the bus got a flat on the way home so we didn't get back to the boat until almost 2am. It's been a long time since we were up that late! 8/8 Wednesday We were both tired from our late night outing but we still couldn't sleep past 8am & woke up for the daily radio net. Barrow Sails was supposed to come give us an estimate on an awning but they never showed. I cooked a whole bunch of eggplant up- the eggplant here is some of the best I have ever had. Autumn Wind invited us over for lunch so off we went. We stayed for a few hours looking at his pictures of Carnival. Looked really nice but it is in February so I don't know where we will be by then. It looks like a fantastic time. We got back to the boat around 3pm & I went through all the SSCA journals looking for stories on Trinidad or Venezuela to read. I updated by log for about 20 minutes while I was waiting for Larry to get out of the shower. Mima, Autumn Wind, & us drove to a Chinese restaurant that Paul had been too & liked. We paid about $10USD each for the meal but only had water to drink. The food was good - though not like the Chinese food we have at home. The atmosphere, in an old restored mansion, was beautiful. We left around 6pm & got back to the boat around 9:30pm. 8/9 Thursday Barrow Sails came this morning at 8:30am, they were supposed to come yesterday but never showed up. Not showing up for appointments seems to be a regular occurrence here in Trinidad. Many merchants don't seem to recognize, nor do they seem to care, if they arrive on time for appointments. They have so much work & customer service is not a priority at all. I went to the bank this morning- the exchange rate has decreased for the USD from a high of 6.3 to its current rate of 5.94- not good for we Americans. I saw Kajsa at the bank & spoke to them for a few minutes. We have hardly seen them at all here. Larry helped Mutual Fun with her digital camera copying pictures of the turtle watch last night. Mona got a great shot of Larry & I with the turtles - look for it in the picture section. We took the dinghy over to PowerBoats & made reservations to haul the boat on 9/5- the day before we leave for the US. We will not have the AC so it will be very hot in the boat. It doesn't pay to keep the AC for one night. Since we will only be staying on the boat for one night before we leave we may not even get the electric for one night. We're getting some teak pieces custom made for the boat- TV stand, magazine rack, shelves for the hanging lockers, spice racks,& binocular holder. Larry designed everything himself now let's see how much it costs! We went to Upholstery Sails store - they were the ones who didn't show up the other day. They said the "forgot" the appointment- makes me wonder if they'll " forget" to make our stuff also. I doubt we will use them if they can't even show up for an appointment. We had rotis for lunch- 2 boneless chicken roti's, 2 -20oz diet cokes for $6USD. Not bad. Good rotis too. We also went to Budget Marine & Peake's chandlery also. We got back to the boat around 2pm. The sun is really brutal during the daytime- it's actually a blessing when the sky clouds over. There is very little breeze here so we actually feel the heat a lot more than any of the previous islands. We are actually only around 600 miles from the equator here so that's one reason why it's hotter than the other islands. I try to swim or go in the gym around 4-5pm every day depending on the weather. |