Archiv
CW 10 2002
03.03.2002 - 09.03.2002
Today is Sunday, March 3, and Thomas and I still like it in Charlotteville,
Tobago, so we're going to stay a little longer. Sometime this week we do want
to go on again, but we'll see!
Today is a beautiful day again! Right after getting up, jump, and off into
the water. That's so nice, even if there sometimes are unpleasant encounters
in the water, e.g. jellyfish. They sting and it burns and itches as if you'd
been sitting in stinging nettles. That's what happened to me when I swam over
to Alexandra and Karl for some coffee. What do we learn from that? We take
the dinghy when we go for coffee. This afternoon we're going to meet on the
Gryllos again, for coffee and chatting.
Alexandra made cookies and we're bringing a cake. And here we are, once again,
sitting together, chatting. But today Thomas and I aren't going to stay late
again. We're going ashore because there's a buffet at Sharon & Phebe's
again and our kitchen "is staying cold". Alexandra, Ute and Karl
join us for a drink later. As every Sunday there are plenty of yachties here,
and it's really worth coming.
It's not too late when we all take the dinghy back to our ships.
Unfortunately Monday starts quiet rough. An unpleasant swell has developed
in the bay and we're getting rolled around quite badly. According to the weather
forecast something was to be expected, but that it would rock us this hard
… oh well!
Thomas goes ashore in the afternoon and I make sure the logbook gets ready
and on its way on time. After all, our log gets around quite a bit. Before
it appears on our homepage it has to go to South Africa. Ute lives there and
Ute always puts our log online for us and she does all the changes as well
as the English translation. Late afternoon and I'm done, the logbook is on
its way to Ute and Thomas picks me up. Although it's incredibly hot we go
for a walk through Charlotteville. But not for long since there's hardly even
the slightest stir of air in the streets; it seems to be solid.
Ok, back to the landing, then turn right and get something cold to drink at
the bar. The whole "neighbourhood" is already sitting together there.
But none of us can sit her totally relaxed today, because, due to the strong
swell, we all have to keep an eye on our dinghies in case the anchor doesn't
hold and the engine might get smashed under the landing.
So we go back aboard and get rocked around there and later get rocked to sleep.
Tuesday morning, 7am, we're on day-watch and for the time being only get a
cup of coffee and a cookie and off we go. Well equipped with party-tooters
we pick Alexandra and Karl up and, together with "Bananas", a sailor
from Woodstock/USA, we make our way to the SY Julia. First we give some loud
toots and then we serenade her, because she's celebrating her 40th birthday
today. Congratulations and good luck to you!
But before the birthday party starts in the afternoon, we've got a few more
things to do. Back aboard we have breakfast first. Now, we have been here
for quite a while and therefore didn't have the possibility to get fresh water.
Not a problem actually since we have a desalting machine and Thomas regularly
"boils" water with that.
But, that great machine is on strike today and therefore the time until the
birthday party is already assigned. Two people don't feel like partying though:
Erich, because he's been sick for a few days, and Thomas, because he couldn't
get the 'desalter' to work.
Maybe a sip of rum punsch (also called smiling-water) could help. Or a Caipi
(Caipirinia).
But that's not all there is about machines on strike: when Ute puts dinner
into the oven and therefore starts the generator, it quickly overheats and
sounds an alarm.
Fine, so the potatoes are cooked on another ship and the meat was already
hot and ready anyway.
We sit together, in our special group, until midnight, and have plenty of
fun.
Since there's leftover birthday cake we decide to meet for coffee at 'our
place' tomorrow and now we know what our plans for tomorrow are. Nice and
easy!
Wednesday starts slowly and carefully for me; somehow I'm not feeling well.
And no, I wasn't drunk, although I'd almost prefer that, then at least I'd
know why I'm feeling this way. Never mind, it'll be ok again until we have
coffee. Around 4pm people start coming round and we sit together and once
again agree on how lucky we are. Time flies and it starts getting dark in
no time, and the birds chirping sounds from the beach. Very idyllic!
Since we're still sitting together nice and comfortably we might as well have
dinner together. We still have the fish Thomas caught in the freezer so we'll
simply cook a few potatoes and make a salad and we all get a nice dinner and
spent a great evening.
This is how we spend our days right now. You drive ashore quickly, meet someone
there and stay. Or there's an afternoon coffee-meeting somewhere and again,
you stay.
In-between those happenings we also spend many hours with the laptop since
the navigation program still isn't working properly. Another sailor, John,
who knows a lot about computers, helps us a little and time just flies.
On Thursday there's a lot of moving around going on in the bay. Due to the
strong swell a lot of people have to find a new place to anchor - and sometimes
more than once. Luckily our anchor holds and we can stay where we are. One
space will be "fully available" again tomorrow since Alexandra and
Karl are leaving and want to take off early in the morning. Which means that
we have to say good-bye and that'll take place on the SY Julia. Actually we'd
also planned to take off this week, but with the sea being as it is we have
no business whatsoever out there. We really have to wait until it calms down
a little, just to make sure nothing else brakes. Speaking of broken things,
Thomas managed to fix the desalting machine and therefore, luckily, we don't
have to fetch water in canisters from ashore.
Hell broke loose in Charlotteville today. A kind of angler competition is
taking place and will last for 4 days. The Tobago Fishing Tournament! Fishermen
are expected from Trinidad and on the market place the large sound system
speakers are already set up. Peace and quiet are over and done with. The music
starts at 12 o'clock noon and roars on until after midnight. And the way the
speakers are set up they roar straight into the bay. That'll be fun!
Heavy rain gets us out of our bunks at 7am on Friday. Hmm, actually we'd wanted
to wave the Gryllos III good-bye, but apparently those two have left really
early. Have a safe trip and maybe we'll meet again some time. The sea has
calmed down a bit and the swell has also gone down noticeably. So we can go
ashore again today, without fearing the dinghy might not survive. In the afternoon
we take off and go ashore, after all, the vegetable man and the butcher are
coming today. Due to the fishing tournament the cars stop at a different place
today though. It doesn't make a difference as far as the vegetable-man is
concerned, but it does as far as the butcher is concerned.
| Because, by the time we find out, where he is, 10-15 people are already
standing there. So we join them, and that for about an hour. And the consequences:
by the time it's my turn he only has a few pieces of pork left, or rather
a few bones from the sow with lots of fat and skin on them. Ta, now I
stand here till my feet are flat and I still don't get anything. Live
and learn! Well, then we wont have meat! And that's what I ended my nice conversation for - we met a friendly young woman today, Stefanie from Heidelberg. She's on holiday here in Charlotteville, for 2 weeks. Returning from the butcher we chat for a while and go for a drink. Now dusk is slowly approaching and it's time to make our way back home. |
 |
We'll still be able to hear the music from aboard - even more than we want.
So we agree to meet the next day and drive back.
Saturday, March 9, and the party ashore already starts at 10am. A total musical
overkill and actually, slowly but surely, it's quite enough. Nevertheless
we're also going to go and take a look at the tournament today. Around noon
all the fishers return and bring what they caught back ashore. The competition
for local fishermen was on today and we meet the winner. His "name"
is Black Mouth, or that's what he's called, because everybody in the village
has a nickname, hardly anyone is called by his real name, so he's Winston
alias Black Mouth!
Thomas and I go for a walk, take a few pictures and then go back aboard first,
before we join the party.
 |
There's a party going on everywhere in the streets and
bars today. As we get back ashore people are already dancing and singing
in the streets. And age doesn't make a difference here. The children,
probably hardly 3 years old, dance as well as the 70-year-olds. Nice to
see! Before we dare to dance we need to strengthen ourselves first and
we do that a few meters further down, since they're having a BBQ here
today. They also have music here, but homemade and live, not playback.
Original African rhythms tickle your ears here. The men hit the ground
with huge bamboo sticks and at the same time hit that bamboo with something
else. Bongos, rattles, a kind of tambourine, instruments that aren't really
ones, and now and again they also sing. If you'd close your eyes you could
think you're in the middle of the bush. In the meantime Stefanie, and a little later John, joined us. And here we are, sitting on a curbstone, listening. After a while this kind of music does get a little tiring and we decide to move to the next station. We go back to where the fishing tournaments party is, or rather was. There's nothing happening here any more. Everyone is only standing at the side of the street, looking. Supposedly more than 30 people were arrested because they'd smoked a little pipe and that's not legal in Tobago either. |
So we'll just go to the next stop, the Beach Bar. We can hear music from far and it is rather busy. That's where we want to be. We make it until midnight, partying with the locals but then it's enough and therefore that's the end for today and this week…
… what the next week brought us
… here, in one week (!):
same time, same place!
So long
Diana + Thomas
The culinary tip for today is a snack:
Mozarella in Carrozza (serves 4)
300g Mozarella
16 slices white bread
3 egg yolks
5 tablespoonfuls oil
if you want, wooden pecks
Cut the Mozzarella into thin slices and place each between two slices of
white bread. Maybe you should secure the bread with toothpicks so that the
cheese can't drip out later. Mix the egg yolks in a deep dish and dip the
bread into them until its thoroughly soaked. Heat the oil in a pan and fry
the bread until its golden brown.
They go well with a tomato salad.
Just a tip: If you need to, you can add milk to the egg yolk and if you don't
want to use tooth pecks you can drip some water onto the sides of the bread
and press them together.
For further variations you could add a slice of ham or salami to the Mozzarella
or simply spice the cheese with Italian herbs, or maybe just use Italian Gorgonzola
instead of Mozzarella, which is very tangy variation.
Enjoy!
