The booze cruise so far.

Zepher
Chris & Lyn Darch
Sat 29 Mar 2008 13:15
Hi Folks.
It was wet and windy a couple of days back.  You know the sort of thing, heavy over cast skies,  blustery showers and the temperature barely hitting 30c.  It was too wet for heading inshore, we sailors don't really like getting wet especially the divers among us!  So it was decided to have a film matinee, with our fellow travellers, the guys on Rhythm (let them get wet).  One day in Barbados I was complaining to an old guy on the beach about getting wet whilst coming ashore and he just said to me "you cant go to sea and not get wet" a simple truth I have yet to accept.  Anyway in preparation for our film I went to stock up our refrigerator with some beer.  Chris keeps it guarded/stored in a locker next to his bunk for some reason.  When rummaging through the locker for a few cans I found that we still had Dorado a brew which has come all the way from Lanzarote.  There was also some Biere Lorainne from Martinique.  It got me thinking about some of the other potions I have imbibed along this journey.  There was the ubiquitous and aptly named Carib which popped up every where in the Caribbean.  However in Barbados our beer of choice was Banks, a most refreshing drink.  Of course Barbados is also home to Mount Gay rum.  We visited the distillery whilst there and learned all about the making of rum.  It was actually only a batching and bottling plant that was saw around, which dated back over two hundred years.  The rum is produced in differing stages over three locations.  We also learned that 15% of the rum is consumed by Barbadans which is probably why they were such a happy lot.  Next we were at Tobago where our preferred tipple was Stag.  Tasted better than it sounds.  On joining Zephyranthes in Martinique we met up with the aforementioned Biere Lorainne.  The San Blas folks make some sort of brew from their palm trees.  We didn't get the chance to try this one out, but if it's anything like palm wine which I met on previous travels, we haven't missed out on much.  Now we are in Cristobal harbour Colon (two weeks down three to go) we have had ample opportunity to try out Panamanian brews at the Panama Yacht club.  Least favourite is Atlas, followed by Balboa.  Named after the conquistador who first crossed the Panama peninsula.  Anyway our favourite is simply called Panama, and it's the cheapest, which is nice.  See pic. of me looking happy having just spent $3.50 on 1.5 litres of the stuff.
  I'm actually a real ale man and all that I have discussed so far is lager not really beer at all.  Oh for a pint of Green King IPA.  Things have looked up a little though.  Whilst in the supermarket, our highlight of the day.  Now I know why one sees so many OAP's there.  I found some genuine Carlsberg Elephant beer.  A brilliant brew all the way from Copenhagen.  It's an acceptable lager.  I got six little bottles of the stuff, and am keeping it for a rainy day.  That reminds me.  It was a rainy day which set me off on this sojourn through beers of our voyage.  Perhaps I could write a "Goodbeer" guide for sailors.  Anyway,  if there was still cans of Dorado left from Lanzarote, which is over four months ago and we have had Christmas and New Year since then, (admittedly Chris has on ocasion made the occasional glass or two of rum punch!) it would appear that we are not consuming as much booze as some might think.  In fact it is probably been due to our own poetic licence that the impression was given that we are on a booze cruise at all.  The real booze cruise has just hauled into porto Cristobal, it's the Queen Mary 2.  I bet they don't sit here for five weeks waiting on a transit of the canal.  Speaking of Cristobal, the area is named after Christopher Columbus who was here in 1492.  Cristobal Colon being the correct why of saying his name.  From what I can gather the Spanish spoken here is old Spanish, as opposed to modern Spain Spanish.  I guess it's a bit like old Shakespearean English as opposed to our modern day English.  If Chris was 600 years old he might be called Cristobal, I wonder if he would like that?  By the way, I thrashed him at his game last night, even after he made me sit in the so called "unlucky" seat, and they were all ganging up against me.  Which just goes to prove what I have been telling him, Uno really is a game of skill.
At this typing has made me thirsty. I,m off for a cup of tea now.
 
May your glass always be half full.
Rob.