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Larry's LogI thought about using silicone but wasn't sure if it was sufficiently resistant to propane so I mixed up some regular epoxy and tried that. Unfortunately, the epoxy didn't help; there were still some leaks. I then thought about trying an epoxy stick. I had never used this before so I looked at the directions and it said it was made for metal bonding so I cut off a piece and kneaded it in my hand to see if it was still any good - it was over a year old. It only took 10 minutes and I had a small artificial rock, so I knew it worked. I cut off another small piece and tried it on the connection from the regulator to the gauge. It was ready to test quickly and it worked perfectly. OK, we would have a home-cooked meal that night and I could finally get my morning coffee. The next day I started to clean up the boat from all the projects. This meant emptying the cockpit lockers, cleaning them, making sure the wiring and plumbing connections were good and then restowing all the lines, sails and miscellaneous "stuff" that we kept in there. It took 7 hours to finish what seemed to be a simple job! It seemed a very long process but the major part of our Trinidad projects were done. There were some left, such as moving the watermaker to the bulkhead in the forward head, installing the 3 fans we had brought back from the States, sanding and sealing the teak on the outside of the companionway and several others. But for now, we could relax a bit. Over the next few days I played some chess and with Wally and Paul. Diane and I talked about when we would leave Trinidad and what our plans were. We came to nothing definite but knew we wanted to go to Isla Margarita and Puerto La Cruz in Venezuela for at least a little while. Diane still wanted to go inland and see some of Venezuela. I started doing some of the projects we had left and started to take the outboard apart (again) to see why it wouldn't start. As soon as I got the carburetor apart, it was quite obvious. There was water, gunk and what looked like sand blocking the intake. One of the membranes was ruined but fortunately the Mercury-Mariner dealer locally had one in stock (at almost $12!). It seemed impossible that a little piece of rubber, barely 2 inches square and about as thick as a piece of paper could cost so much. I would install it after our excursion. We had made plans to go to the Asa Wright Nature Center, which is a world famous birding and nature destination. Diane and I both love nature and I am a birder from way back, so we had to see this place. There is a lodge to stay in and although people do go up for just a day, we decided to stay over night and see as much as we could. The other reason to go up overnight is that they don't allow day guests to wander the trails without a guide; a tour is required. Lodge guests can wander the trails anytime or take a tour. We rented a car, did some small errands in the morning (what a pleasure to have a car), and left for the Center around 10am. The drive there was an experience in itself. I've driven on the left before, but the Trinis drive like maniacs and pass and cut you off if you're not driving in a similar manner. We got through Port-of-Spain and found the turn to go into the mountains where the Asa Wright Center is located. The road quickly became narrow and twisty as it hugged the mountains and went up. We didn't encounter too many cars, but did have some "fun" meetings with trucks! The drive took about 90 minutes and we got there a little before lunch. We got our room (the Cocoa Suite which wasn't a suite at all but was perfectly fine but with no air conditioning) and went out on to the veranda of the main house to see the view and watch the birds before lunch. The veranda is the main gathering place and "The" place to see the widest variety of birds with the least effort since they set up feeders for hummingbirds and other nectar feeders as well as the "normal" fruit and bread for the larger birds. When we got there, there must have been at least 100 individuals feeding, of many, many species. Within 10 minutes, we saw at least a dozen species that were new to us, even though we've been in the Caribbean for a year. Trinidad's birdlife is more similar to Venezuela though, so this wasn't very surprising. I could tell, though, that this was going to be a wonderful place. We watched for a while and then heard the lunch bell. Lunch was pretty good as were all the meals, except breakfast the next morning (the eggs seemed powdered but everything else was fine). After lunch we went on one of the guided walks down a relatively easy trail. The guide was excellent and he knew and appreciated the birds and other wildlife. We saw several species like the White Bearded Manakin and the Bellbird. The Bellbird is quite exceptional since its only about the size of an American Robin but has a call that can be heard for 3 to 4 miles. After the group reached the end of the tour, we continued on our own and on the way back saw a Violaceous Trogon. For the non-birder, this is probably boring but these are really exciting finds. The species are quite beautiful or have very interesting behavior. Back at the veranda, we watched the feeders some more and then had tea, served by the staff. The little donuts and croissants were home baked and were really good, particularly with the wonderful mint tea. It was all "terribly British" to sit with some tea and cakes while watching tropical birds - absolutely wonderful. We watched until sunset when we went back to the room, took showers and later went to dinner. A very satisfying day! The next morning we got up very early to watch as they refilled the feeders and kept an eye out for the toucans we were told would fly in during the early morning hours. Sure enough, we saw Black Channeled Toucans land on a tree in the distance and after they flew off, some Orange-Winged Parrots landed on the same tree. In the meantime, the feeders were full of birds. Some of the more colorful ones were the Purple Honeycreeper, the Green Honeycreeper, the Yellow Oriole and the Silver-Lined Tanager. I only wish my digital camera has a longer telephoto lens to capture them better. As it was, I got some fair shots but to really see them we had to use the binoculars we brought from the boat. After breakfast, we took some of the trails on our own. The guide had told me where we might see an Ornate Hawk-Eagle, but I couldn't find the spot from which to see the nest he said was there. It was getting very hot but we took a trail through the forest and enjoyed the incredible greenery and the other sights, like Leaf Cutter Ants, and sounds of the rainforest. We went back to our room, took showers and then had lunch, but not until watching again from the veranda for a bit. We left after lunch and took a different road back, since we wanted to see the northern coast. The road out of the mountains was pretty bad in terms of twists, turns and narrowness but the surface was OK. It took almost 2 hours to reach a "main" road, during which we encountered 3 cars going in the other direction. |