It's not over 'til the fat lady sings....well, she's not exactly fat, just well rounded (!)and she's not exactly well er at the moment and I'm not sure if she can actually sing (maybe people are just being polite!) but it will be over soon anyway......the Trinidad saga I mean. This is because the "final thing" is nearing completion and it should be back on the boat on Monday so we are now making preparations to go!!!
The generator is the final and the biggest thing and it has taken over three weeks to sort it out but, fingers crossed, it's sitting on a bench, no longer in half a million pieces...... and running. It just needs to be nestled back into place in the lazarette and connected up correctly to various bits. This will be no mean feat as we have to be alongside the dock rather than bows on as we are at the moment but it can be done!
We have to get fuel to fill the main and the reserve tanks as well as filling 14 x 20ltr containers because most of the fuel was removed when the tank was cleaned. This will be quite some task....the best and cheapest fuel dock is about a mile away by dinghy. This means at least seven trips there and back as we can only take four containers at a time in the dinghy. A possible alternative is to talk nicely to the tanker drivers just across the way who come down to refuel the fishing boats..... The yachties here are very good at finding the cheapest way of getting things done on their boats but this method of refuelling apparently hasn't been discovered yet. The little station previously mentioned sells diesel etc to the pirogues and at about a quarter of the price that one would pay in the marinas. So diesel and petrol cost about 16p per litre! Well worth the effort.
I went into Port of Spain yesterday with Pam (Delicado) and Chris (Canadian, Little Meg). We had a wonderful time doing "girlie" things which meant mostly looking in material shops. You would not believe just how many of these there are...a whole street of them and,inside,they are VAST....miles and miles of the most amazing fabrics. They were also incredibly busy: people here still make most of their own clothes, soft furnishings etc. We also spent some time in the shops dedicated to "carnival" which as you may know is huge, held annually in February and which seems to take a whole year to prepare for. These shops were a mecca for anyone who likes making things. I just wish I'd had my camera to show how colourful the place was.
I contented myself with buying some spandex (very cheap) to have a go at making bathers etc and to buying the most brightly coloured dress/skirt I could find (as shown above!). I love the amazing colours you see everywhere here. I shall miss that but we are more than overdue to move on. I shall miss the friends we have made here too although we hope to catch up with many of them further along the route. Some have left already. Pete (Troutbridge) left for Grenada nearly two weeks ago now but he is still there, waiting for us I believe!
So this may be my last blog for a while as the current plan is to head straight for the offshore Venezuelan islands having sailed north and west in a big arc to avoid "pirate territory". These islands (Blanquilla and Los Rocos) are virtually uninhabited but are far enough away from the Venezuelan pirates and make convenient overnight stops on the route to the ABC islands. First stop there is Bonaire. I have never been there but have visited the other two, Aruba and Curacao, in 1976 when I was a tanker cadet. It'll be very interesting to go back there!!
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