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Larry's LogWe were going to spend the night at a small hotel there and hopefully see some turtles early in the morning as well, with some daylight. The trip there was pretty long since we needed to go all te way to the East Coast before heading north, as the North Coast Road didn't extend all the way east. We actually went through the town where we saw the turtles last year, Matura. After driving for about 3 ½ hours, we arrived at the Grande Almondiere Hotel, a very small, "rustic" place right on the beach at Grande Riviere. We had reserved a large room, and luckily it had 3 double beds, each with its own mosquito netting. After checking in, we went for a walk on the beach and then Diane spoke to one of the hotel staff and he told her that they had collected some hatchlings for release later. We saw about 30 baby turtles in a large tub, squirming, try to get away. We took some pictures of them and then brought the tub back into the shelter, where they would stay until later that evening when the guide would release them safely. We could see why they collected them - there were Black Vultures all over the beach, waiting for hatchlings to make an appearance. Local dogs and some smaller birds could also make a dent in the population, so they were protected until they could be released under cover of darkness. Broken eggshells dotted the beach and we could see that the hatchlings had started to come out in earnest. These were among the first to hatch, since the nesting season started only about 2-3 months ago, but would run for another 2 months. We went back to the hotel, relaxed on the little porch outside the room, and had a bottle of wine in preparation for dinner. Dinner was very light, and since we were the only guests staying that night, we sat in quiet isolation. It was a pleasant place though, with the waves crashing on the beach only 40 yards away. After finishing, we went back to the room since the hotel staff would call us when the guide was ready to go out on the beach. Not long after dark, about 8pm, we got a knock on the door and so we went to meet our guide. This was a much smaller beach than Matura, only about a mile long and there were different rules. No flash pictures were allowed at all (so no pictures, period) and we were asked not to use our flashlights. The guide had a flashlight but since there was no moon that night, seeing was difficult, even to avoid the large pieces of driftwood scattered on the beach. Our first experience that night though was special. After getting the other group from the second hotel on the beach (there are only 2), we walked into a large group of hatchlings that had obviously just come out of the nest. They can hatch at any time and we just stumbled into them, almost stepping on them. We gathered them up and placed them in the tub where the other hatchlings were and brought them close to the surf. We then released them onto the sand so they could be "imprinted" with this beach. As they found the water, they would scramble in and we could just barely see them swim off. After seeing the hatchlings, we continued down the beach and started to see the adults as we got toward the end. We watched one as she was laying her eggs and covered them and then methodically camouflaged the nest. If we hadn't seen where she actually dug her nest, it would have been almost impossible to say where the eggs were. We saw this entire process only once since there were children in the group who were getting a bit tired and noisy. We slowly walked down the beach and did a count of the number of turtles we saw. We saw ones coming up from the water, already on the beach and ones heading back for a total of 27 during the 2 hours we were walking. An amazing thing to see. We got back to the hotel and after I took a shower, and figured out the mosquito netting, we went to sleep. We had left instructions for the staff to wake us early, before dawn, so we could see any remaining turtles with some daylight. At 5:30, we had a knock on the door and so we got up and walked down to the beach. There was one turtle left and she was just covering her eggs and starting the camouflage process. I tried taking some pictures but without the flash, it was still too dark. We could see her easily though and we watched as she finished covering the nest and made her way back into the ocean. When she got in, she took one last breath and that was the last we saw of her. Steph and I wandered down the beach to hopefully see some more while Diane went back to the room, but the beach was empty. All we found were the tracks, looking like very large individual truck tires, all over the sand. Back at the hotel, we had a nice breakfast and then started on our way back before 8am. We wanted to go to the lighthouse on the extreme northeast tip of the island on the way back so we left early. We got to Galera Point Lighthouse and the view was great but the structure itself was not very nice, just a cinder block building with a small light and a radio tower. The park around it also needed some "TLC" since there was garbage and run down benches all over. We started back and I drove most of the way again, but we did stop several times for pictures and to eat lunch. We also stopped at the Carenage Post Office again to check on our mail. Incredibly, our package was there! The clerk said it had just arrived yesterday; I believe that it had gotten to Trinidad 3-4 weeks previously but was just sitting someplace and it was only because the clerks in the local post office were nice enough to make some calls that it finally got delivered. Well, we had finally gotten it, about 3 months after being sent. We finally got back to Chaguaramas around 1pm and after Steph dropped us off so she could return the car, rented near her, Diane and I both just relaxed and took a short nap, something I almost never do. But between the exercise walking on the beach the night before, getting up early and driving back 4 hours, we were both very tired. The next day though, it was back to work, at least the kind of work we do here. I did the net again and Diane went shopping. While she was gone, I sanded some wood above the companionway that needed to be coated with Cetol. Diane would apply the coating but she couldn't sand very well and I had borrowed a palm sander from Tom to do it. I had also sanded the dinghy oars since the varnish that was on them when new had just about lost all its protective qualities and was flaking off. The UV from the sun can really kill unprotected material like wood, plastic or rubber. In the afternoon after Diane got back, I just updated my logs, went to the internet place near the boat and fixed a leak under the sink. Diane had discovered some water under the galley sink and when I looked, I saw the drain was leaking from the connection where the hose to the through hull went into the tee from the sink. The hose had pulled out a bit, probably when the hot water from cooking expanded the hose and allowed it to slip from the connector. To fix it, I closed the seacock and pulled the hose off the connector to check it first. The hose and connector were OK so I used my heat gun to soften the hose and allow me to get it further on the connector. I also replaced the slightly rusting hose clamps and it seemed OK. Thursday I went to get more supplies and such from the local chandleries. Trinidad is the best place to stock up on many things since they are available here (unlike most of the islands) and the prices are "reasonable" on most things and pretty good on others. Our friends Jim and Jacqui from Lady J came in during the afternoon, towing a boat that had lost their engine. Actually, it turns out their engine failed several weeks ago and Dresana was a "pure" sailboat for a while, but the wind died just as they were entering the Boca and Lady J gave them a tow. They towed them as far as they could and then several dinghies went out to push and prod Dresana into a slip at Coral Cove. One of the dinghies was mine, operated by Ralph from Black Cat since I was off shopping using a bicycle I borrowed from Mima. Diane had asked Ralph if he would mind helping since I wasn't there. Ralph's dinghy wasn't in the water or I'm sure he would have used his own. We helped Lady J come into the Customs dock and then move the boat to a slip at CrewsInn. They were both happy to be there but they had a reservation to haul the boat the next day since they were going home for several months. It was really nice to see Jim and Jacqui again as we hadn't seen them since leaving Ste. Anne, back in April. That night we went to the weekly potluck dinner at CrewsInn but this week was a bit special since it was in honor of "Sea Dads", Father's Day. I/we made marble brownies for the Best Father's Prepared Dish but didn't win. Perhaps they knew most of the entries were really made by the women. It was a very good event though, with a drum corps and dance troupe performing. Friday we helped bring Lady J to the Powerboats Yard for hauling, and naturally, it rained, but luckily only after we got to the haulout slip. We had some drinks after the event and then went back to Destiny and just relaxed. Later, we went to the Friday night swordfish grill - still excellent. The next morning, very, very early, I drove Steph to the airport since she was flying back to the States for a quick visit and to take her securities test. Tom came along of course but he couldn't drive since his driver's license had expired and his new one was on its way down with another boat. It was still too early for the restaurants to be open by the time we got back to Chaguaramas so Tom made some coffee on Mima, but around 7am we went over to CrewsInn Restaurant and had breakfast (I said it was early). Of course, before we could go to breakfast, we had to change the flat tire. We were just thankful it happened after we got back from the airport. After breakfast and dropping off Tom, Diane and I picked up Jim from Lady J and did some errands. After getting back, Diane put a second coat of Cetol on the companionway wood and oars. I worked on the braces for the new solar panel mounts. |