Trinidad

Wayne and Tracy

As much as we wanted to be on the water already before carnival, we were still on the hard when carnival came rolling around. We went into town one day to see all the floats with a South African couple we met, Wayne and Tracy. It was quite a fun filled day, full of feathers and sequins. Float after float came, with people walking with each float dressed in themed costumes similar to the floats. They were following a free bar for everyone who dresses up for that particular float. Loud music blasts as they all dance by.  Most of the trucks were taken up with speakers and giant generators to power all the speakers. Our bodies were vibrating in time to all the carnival beats. The sun was so hot we lasted two hours in the streets before heading home.

Chief 

Installing winch

Even though all we want to do is put Jangles in the water. . . there is still so much work to do. So far we have mounted new winches, installed an ice maker (about time!), fixed the de-lamination of the deck, sorted out our sail drives and have begun laying our new cork deck. Our hold up unfortunately is that we ran out of glue ¾ of the way through laying it! So needless to say we sit and wait till more gets sent from South Africa. Only once the deck is done can we finish other jobs. We need to refit stainless steel, put the sails up, the halyard, paint the cockpit roof, re-attach the engine hatches and anti-foul the boat. Luckily we have an extra pair of hands! My boyfriend, Travis, arrived from America on Thursday (expecting a 3 week sailing holiday. . .)  He unfortunately is land bound for the first week. So the next week is a busy one!

Installing winch

Hakka

It was my mothers birthday on Saturday, so we went to a great restaurant on Friday night called Hakka to celebrate. We had a great evening, with great food and great company. Once we got back to the boat yard we had to make excuses for my mom to go to her hotel room, so I could bake her a cake. The cake was eventually finished at 2:30 am! Travis stayed with me for moral support; which included him sleeping on the couch haha. The next morning, my mother’s birthday, she walked on the boat to cake, champagne, flowers and presents. We were all so tired we decided to skip the champagne but all had cake for breakfast. After a lazy day we went to the wheelhouse for dinner to have shark n’ bake (crumbed shark burger). We played pool in teams, needless to say Travis and I were the pool sharks that night.

Shark n' bake

Sunday evening we went to a braai with a lovely South African couple we met in Trinidad, Zack and Magda. They are on a Maverick catamaran called “Vagabund”. We took some meat and side dishes and sat at Power Boats braai area.  It was a pleasant evening with good company.

Edith Falls

Doubles

Monday morning I had Travis up at 6am and we were off to do a hike to Edith Falls. On the way we stopped to get some local doubles for breakfast (flat fried bread filled with curried chick peas).It was a short 3 km hike with lots of ups and downs and climbing over rocks. Once we got to the little waterfall we stood under the water to cool down a bit. We heard a sound that sounded like a wild pig so we got a little spooked and fast-tracked back while holding sticks and rocks. After the hike we took a little drive to Macqueripe beach and went for a dip in the ocean. We headed back to the boat to get started on the days work. In the afternoon we got a phone call saying our glue had arrived at customs! We drove to Crews Inn to get it. Travis and I had met at Crews Inn 3 years ago so we took a walk down memory lane.

Macqueripe Beach

Now that we have the deck glue, all the work begins. We are set to splash on Friday so here’s hoping.