Christmas in Trinidad
Oriole
Sun 26 Dec 2004 12:53
After a week of very hard work by both us and
various electricians, GRP
and woodworkers we have completed the installation of our shiney new
electric sheet winches. The only problem is that one of them runs at half
speed and it would appear that Andersen in Denmark have sent us a 24 volt
motor heavily disguised as a 12 volt one!!
and woodworkers we have completed the installation of our shiney new
electric sheet winches. The only problem is that one of them runs at half
speed and it would appear that Andersen in Denmark have sent us a 24 volt
motor heavily disguised as a 12 volt one!!
This
is the one that works ok!
The Christmas holiday will no doubt
cause delays in sending a new one, but there are
worse places to be. To while
away the wait we have booked into a residential
wildlife centre so we can get to
grips with Trinidad's prolific birdlife. We
have been having a great Christmas and
have met up with two wonderful contacts. On
Christmas Eve we sat down for a
traditional Christmas dinner with 100 yachties from
all over the world but mainly
USA. We are invited today, (Boxing Day) to the
holiday home of an old friend of
the Royal Cruising Club on an island not far away
and yesterday we spent with
the large family of a surgeon John worked with
in Plymouth. Initially for breakfast
with some of their friends and later we sat
down for Christmas dinner at the family
farm with around 45 family
members of all ages. Afterwards each generation made
a short speach, including the Trinidadian
swimming bronze medal winner at the Athens
Olympics. We were made extremely welcome and
had a truely magical day.
Chagaramus, the yachting centre of Trinidad has a
series of marinas and yacht
yards and there is nothing that cannot be done to a
yacht here. The standard of
work available is of a very high standard. It is
also a commercial shipping base and
unfortunately oil spills are not unknown as we have
found. Our waterline is a black
fringe which needs urgent attention!
Best wishes to all for a very happy new
year.