Chaguaramas, Trinidad
10.40.822N
61.37.899W

Well, I guess it has been a long time, so let me see if I can bring everyone up to date.

For the most part, we’ve just been killing time. Every other Tuesday we go to the movies. Every other Friday we go to the ‘Shark and Bake’ (I’ve been eating fried shark sandwiches, Mom). Every other Sunday, we head across the channel for the Sunday brunch and of course, every other Wednesday, there’s laundry and occasionally, there’s rib night at the Wheel House.

I started swimming every day working up to 50 laps a day until the dock master at the marina where I was swimming said that it didn’t matter whether or not I was Carol’s (Take Time) guest, I couldn’t use the pool. So I signed up at a local gym and pedal my old decrepit bones up the hill a mile and a half away to go just about every day. Linda (Rainbow Rider) goes with me quite a bit. When she can’t, Dale forgoes his daily jog and rides the bicycle with me.

Otherwise, Dale's kept busy fixing things. He replaced the circuit board in the genset we ordered several months ago. Replaced the alternator on the engine (we had a spare). Replaced the shower sump pump. Added a new solar panel regulator. Cleaned the dinghy engine. Replaced circuit board in the air conditioner. Cleaned all the through hulls. Pulled plastic bags from our water intakes on a fairly regular basis (I have to disinfect him when he comes out of the water-no pump out stations around here). Washed the boat a few times. Ordered a new WiFi antenna - hopefully soon to arrive so that I can find better internet connections along the way. And we bought a new dinghy. The old one just wouldn‘t hold air for any length of time.

I’ve been sewing and giving sewing advice. I made a couple of kayak sacks for Linda’s kayaks, replaced our back awning, and made a cover for our life raft, as well as showing our neighbor how to make jerry can covers. Word has gotten out, so Linda and Dale are trying to protect me from the onslaught of those wanting to put me to work, which is strictly forbidden without the proper visa.

One exciting thing, a week or so ago, we did have a couple of earthquakes. Both were in the 5 point range (5.6 and 5.4). Dale was riding with me to the gym during the first one, which neither of us felt, bumpy roads and all. The second one came when we were getting some papers off DocNoMore; shades of California. I guess the people here aren’t used to them, which was surprising to us considering the volcanic activity along the island chain.

What truly shook us to the core was the news that Roger on DocNoMore has pancreatic cancer and would not be returning to finish cruising with us. If you’ve followed this blog for any time, you know that we’ve been sailing with them since November of 2005 and have become quite close to both Roger and Elaine. We were looking forward to them returning and comparing Dale’s ponytail with Roger’s and continuing our adventures with them. Now, we say our prayers for them and do what we can in making their transition back to shore life as easy as possible.

When last I wrote, we were in the mist of a crime epidemic. I’m happy to report that our neighborhood watch has paid off and only 2 dinghies have been stolen since its inception; the second just today. I suspect that with time, complacency is starting to set in or newcomers aren't locking their dinghies religiously. Dale and I keep ours locked at all times and hoisted and locked if we don’t anticipate using it. I haven’t heard of any more muggings/robberies targeting cruisers but then, people are encouraged to travel in groups.

Last week, Dale & I, together with 4 other couples, signed up for a hike in the mountains up to the Rincon Waterfall. I’m glad I’d been working out in the gym because I don’t think I would have made it any other way. It was advertised as being a moderately difficult hike. This was very true; it was not easy but it wasn’t extremely difficult either. Roger and Elaine would have been in their element. At the highest point, it did require ropes to descend into the pool at the bottom of the falls and then to pull ourselves back out again. I managed to slip and rip a few layers of skin off my hand catching myself on the rope; should have worn gloves, I guess.

Our guide, "Snake" pictured with his pet boa.

Along the trail, a fleur de lance snake was seen, caught and milked for its venom. The venom was then licked off the knife to demonstrate that it was only poisonous if injected into the bloodstream. I sincerely hoped that our guide did not stumble and accidentally bite his tongue. We also saw various spiders and poisonous fruit that I would have sworn were as edible as the real thing. Other vines, berries and fruits were pointed out to be excellent sources of food, tea or spice. I told Dale that I hoped we never got deserted on an island where we had to fend for ourselves because I’d be hard pressed to figure out what was edible and what wasn’t.

The large, neon blue Empress Butterflies were a delight to see in their natural habitat along the hillsides of the rainforest by the waterfalls. It added a bit of enchantment to an otherwise challenging experience.

We’ve noticed that cruisers who went home for hurricane season are starting to return and splash their boats back into the water after being stored “on the hard“ all of this time. We too are in the process of getting ready to head back north to meet Jerry & Nicki, our very dear friends from home who on their way back to their original home in Australia. We’re stocking up on food and toilet paper again as well as making sure that all of the systems are up to snuff. We anticipate unplugging from the marina the first of November and stopping at some of the anchorages nearby before making our cross over to Grenada. We’ll go north until we meet them or as far as Puerto Rico, and then sail south again possibly accompanying them all the way to Panama and returning via the western route to south Florida, eventually returning to Jacksonville by July. The route will depend upon what our insurance company will allow. Our plans are firmly written in warm jello, so we’ll let you know what we do, when we do it.

Until that time, next week, we’re joining a few other couples for an over night trip to the Asa Wright park. It’s supposed to be a botanical garden/bird sanctuary type of park. Pictures will follow when we return.

So dear readers, we have not fallen off the face of the earth as many have suspected but are sitting around catching up on our favorite TV shows, movies and thoroughly enjoying the air conditioning, cable TV and laundromats while we have them.