Archiv
CW 16 2002
14.04.2002 - 20.04.2002
Today is Sunday, April 14, and we're all alone in Anse Bateau, close to Speyside
on Tobago.
A dive is planned for today and we're going to go on an organized dive. A
dive-basis, Aquamarine Dive, lies right next to the hotel Blur Waters Inn.
Since it's still cloudy this morning we sign onto a dive in the afternoon,
hoping the light conditions will improve.
At 1pm we're in the dinghy, with all our equipment, on our way to the dive
shop. Unfortunately, one there, we find out that our demand valves don't fit
onto their tanks, so Thomas goes back aboard to fetch our own tanks.
Half an hour later we're sitting in the dive boat, together with 4 other divers
and 2 of Aquamarine Dive's dive masters, racing to the dive spot called the
Inner Place.
After arriving there, me, being half seasick from the fast drive, we have
to hurry, since the swell and the current are rather strong.
Off we go, all into the water and under!
As soon as we're at the bottom we see a rather large, green murrain staring
at us.
Even though you can consider yourself lucky if you get to see one of those
creatures, but I personally feel slightly uncomfortable. In any case that's
quite a interesting beginning for our dive and expectations rise. Today, we're
doing something that's new to me: this is my first drift dive.
Well, then lets drift.
Ok, the Jaques Cousteau Park in Guadeloupe was unbelievably beautiful, and
this, here, is also unbelievably beautiful, just in a different way. So many
fish, corals, plants you don't know where to look first and it seems everything
is just drifting by. Well, not everything; the large sole we see, of course
stays lying motionless on the ground of the sea.
Unlike the stingray that got moving quickly and, after our appearance, wasn't
seen again. Impressive!
But, it gets better; we see a shark! What an experience!
If we weren't under water we'd probably drop our jaws, but here, that's not
really possible.
We drift on, a good 20m under the surface. And for the first time, we see
Tarpons, big silver fish, here. A whole school swims by.
Sometimes they eat them here, but this fish is supposed to have lots of bones.
Oh, I almost forgot: the cup sponges, in all sizes, colours and forms, they
make the slope look like a crater-landscape.
Unfortunately I still need lots of air under water and a glimpse at the fin
meter says that my dive, our dive, is going to end soon and so we all go back
up slowly. We were under water for 40 minutes; 40 minutes of wonder.
But what's going on on the surface also makes one wonder. What a swell, puh!
We signal the dive boat that comes to pick us up again and one by one the
other divers also surface. After a difficult climb into the boat we start
our bouncy drive back ashore.
Arriving back at the mooring we rinse our equipment and load everything, including
ourselves, into the dinghy and return to our ship.
Since, as everybody knows, diving makes you hungry, we get ready and go to
Speyside. We walk there again, today, which is, as you know, quite a walk.
The restaurant we visit there is a tourist attraction by now. The restaurants
name is Jemma's and actually it's a farmhouse built around a large, old almond
tree and entirely on stilts, that is, on poles. An additional bonus is the
great view of the two islands across, Little Tobago and Goat Island.
Even though the food was comparatively expensive, it wasn't bad and we make
our way back satisfied and full.
Since the path we have to take isn't lit very well we brought a torch with
us - just in case - and that was a good idea; at times it's really pitch dark.
Using our light we can see who else is around, besides us: fat frogs which
immediately remind us of "Mountain Chicken", a dish served in Dominica,
being nothing else but frogs. Juck!
One of those buddies on the road here got such a fright that it hopped away
and hit its head on the curb: outch! Nevertheless, we had to laugh since it
sounded so dark and hollow.
We've covered more than half of the way and from now on it's only downhill.
Before we go back aboard we take a small cocktail at the hotel bar, but only
one because they're so strong, a second one could show effects.
Today is Monday and actually we wanted to do a few more things here, like
going snorkelling for a day, going diving again, or visiting Little Tobago,
but unfortunately the weather is not permitting. We're already noticing the
eastern wind getting stronger, as forecasted, and that means we won't have
to wait long for the swell to get stronger, as we can already notice. In other
words: time to get out of here; today.
The anchor is weighed at a quarter past ten and we're on our way back to Charlotteville;
back to the west coast. We won't be travelling for long, after all it's only
10nm, but the first half is quite a challenge with strong currents, different
currents meeting at some places and, today, all that with an easterly swell.
In other words, we're feeling like someone in a washing machine that's spinning.
As soon as we surrounded the peninsula we toss out the fishing line, but we
don't catch anything. Oh well, then we won't have fish.
We dropped anchor in the Man o' War Bay by Charlotteville shortly after noon
and are now getting the dinghy ready.
This is just the time for a roti at Jane's, so we go ashore.
Since we're here we might as well go and look for the fisher who accidentally
cut of our bait last week. We find him immediately and, really, he has something
for us: the rolled up line. And where is our bait? Looks like that's lost.
We go to Jane's and stay there for quite a while because our friend Black
Mouth joins us and we're talking for a long time before we go back aboard.
Even though you get nice bread at Jane's, we're going to make ourselves a
nice loaf of full grain bread again. Thomas goes back ashore since soccer
is on again in Charlotteville. And that's it for today.
Tuesday is maintenance day - maintaining friendship and the boat.
Black Mouth comes to visit and spends the whole afternoon with us, helping
Thomas clean the winches, while I spend the day cleaning.
Finished with working, Thomas mixes smiley-water for us and together we each
have a glass, agree to meet tomorrow and then Winston leaves us again.
Wednesday, and we're going into the forest with Winston.
We meet at noon and it's almost too hot to do nothing, so we want to march
through the forest?!
At 2.30pm we take of. First Winston, then Thomas with me following.
At first the path is pretty ok, but the deeper we walk into the rainforest
the denser the undergrowth becomes. But that's not a problem since both men
have bush knives with them and cut a path for us.
The air, here in the forest, is oppressive. We're practically being cooked
in our own juices and then we even have to wear long trousers, which is still
better than being eaten by mosquitoes.
Winston explains a lot to us, tells us, how they sometimes go hunting in the
forest, which plants are dangerous and we also see a few birds and he tells
us their names. Some of those birds have funny names, e.g. Wootootoo. At least
that's what the name sounds like; it's probably spelt differently, but who
cares?
| A certain flower, and unfortunately I don't know its name, grows here
in massive amounts. Thomas and I are sure that seeing these impressive
flowers and their abundance would drive tears to a florists eyes. These flowers grow as high as, and even higher, than a man. Incredible! Now and again we have water and grapefruit as refreshments. Black Mouth peels the grapefruit with his bush knife as though it were a kitchen knife. No idea how far we went, but by now it should be time to go back. Being in this forest in the dark is something I don't want to experience. Here, from all places, at the furthest point, we find a beautiful bamboo bush and I really want to have one of those poles. I get one, but it needs to be carried! So the way back is twice as strenuous and no less sweat producing. Now we don't have anything to drink any more … hm! But, there is something else to quench our thirst: sugar cane. Winston brings it and shows us how to eat, or rather chew and suck it. |
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And really, it quenches the thirst. How amazing!
Nevertheless, after walking for more than 3 hours, we're extremely thirsty
as we arrive at the mooring - and that needs to be quenched right at the bar.
That's where we meet Gerda and Franc, travelling with their catamaran Silver,
and John is also there. Later, a customs official joins us and we such a good
time together that we hardly notice time going by - and it being time to return
to our ship.
On Thursday Black Mouth visits us again, since he has to show us what he caught:
a fairly large kingfish (Wahoo), a smaller kingfish, but apparently a rare
kind and a few tuna fish. Quite presentable, isn't it?
Now we've told you so much and talked so much about Winston, or as everybody
here in Charlotteville calls him, Black Mouth, that it's about time we introduced
him properly.
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By the way, Winston also has an email address now: WinstonAyres@hotmail.com. On Friday another fisherman visits us and asks us to move since they want to bring out their large nets. Even though it's hardly worth it since we're leaving tomorrow, we do it, of course. So we weigh anchor, drive forward a little and drop anchor again. Since we're leaving tomorrow, there's some paperwork that needs to be taken care of. Thomas does that and I go to an Internet Café with Winston to practise a little - after all, all those emails want to be answered. We part at about 4pm, but not for long. Around 8pm we meet again since there's a party at the Banana Boat Bar tonight. So we each go home or back aboard to get a few more things done, have dinner, and we set out again. Thomas and I pick Gerda and Franc up, because their dinghy is out of order right now, and together we go ashore. The parties here usually also only start a little later, so we sit together in our bar at the pier, in other words we lime a little, before we go to the Banana Boat Bar around 10pm. There, besides a few, by now well known locals, we meet Lisa and Gerry who are also travelling by boat. Together we have plenty of fun and it's well past midnight as we make our way back home. |
It's Saturday, April 20 and today we're finally leaving Charlotteville for
good. Since it was a little late yesterday, we're not up too early and that's
why we're only having breakfast at around 9am. Our friend Black Mouth is visiting
for the last time, but then it's time to say farewell, since we have to get
going, we've got a few miles ahead of us.
We put the dinghy away, finish everything off and at 10.30am we're on our
way, leaving the Man o' War Bay where we've now been so often and for so long.
We're driving towards Trinidad again, but not in one leg, we'll at Store Bay
to spend the night.
And we sail until Store Bay. We've got a nice, steady, almost astern wind.
Therefore the 23nm are covered comfortably and we arrive at today's destination
before 4pm. Unfortunately we had another loss: not only did the fish get off
the hook, no, we also lost the bait again. But we won't give up fishing because
of that, why should we. Tomorrow we'll try again, as soon as we left Tobago
behind and sat course to Trinidad.
If we caught something …
… what the next week brought us
… here, in one week:
same time, same place!
so long
Diana + Thomas
Before we get to the culinary tip, an important notice:
From May 1 until the end of June we won't be aboard, but will have
flown home for a few weeks.
During this time you can only reach us under the following email address:
katsilverblue@aol.com
On the culinary side we're having beef filet with an herbal crust today
Sprinkle pepper on beef filet (amount according to need) and quickly and
shortly fry it in very hot oil from all sides.
For the herbal crust mix approx. 8 tablespoonfuls bread crumbs, 2-3 tablespoonfuls
medium hot mustard, 1 egg, and a little cream or condensed milk until smooth.
Add 3 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley, if you like a little dill, and salt,
pepper, nutmeg to taste.
The amounts given depend on the size of the filet, but should be enough to
cover the meat about 0.5 cm thick, so add more if you need to.
Set the filet into a ovenproof pan, cover with the herbal mixture and bake
in the oven for approx 20-30 minutes, at 200°C. If you can turn on the
grill at times or only use heat from above at the end, so the crust gets crunchy
and the filet can absorb the herbs, staying nice and pink and juicy in the
middle.
Serve with hash potatoes and vegetables. That's it!
Enjoy!
