Pelican ahoy...
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Wed 4 May 2011 23:19
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With the sound of a Christmas tree sprawling across
the sitting room floor, baubles and all, a large brown pelican hit the deck of
Summer Song a moment ago. On reflection, it may have sounded more like a sack of
watery sardines. Or a bowl of catfood. In fact, it was pretty hard to categorise
at first. Assuming the worst, I thought something had gone
catastrophically wrong with an important bit of rigging.
We're used to all manner of wildlife arriving
unannounced onboard, chiefly flying fish, barracuda and mosquitoes. But this was
the first big fish-eating bird to make our acquaintance. The pelicans here roost
on a neighbouring pontoon, with stern expressions on their faces, and fish among
the shoals of tiny sardines that throng the marina. We've seen them pulling off
all manner of stunts, including bill-first dives for fish that induce them to
graze the hulls of boats as they plummet. On the whole, they seem pretty used to
rigging.
But this fellow, whether temporarily distracted by
a fishy gleam in the water, or just lost in his thoughts, managed to glide
directly into our main halyard - a hefty wire that pulls up the mainsail. With
the wire stuck between two large feathers, he spiralled gracelessly down the
line into the deck, leaving a trail of fine down enmeshed in the cable. After a
few seconds, he managed to limp over the side into the water, where he first
checked for spectators, then tested his wings, before ponderously taking to the
air. All we have to remember him by is the down in the rigging and a slightly
fishy air to the deck where he landed.
We're still in Varadero, with the hope of leaving
tomorrow, bound for the Bahamas. We've slightly prolonged our stay to avoid what
could be horrid conditions in the notorious Gulf Stream that runs north between
Florida and the Bahamas. With a current of up to 4 knots, it is vital to avoid a
contrary wind, otherwise steep standing waves can develop and the journey turn
into a 24-hour bumper car session. The slow departure suits us, as there's
plenty to do onboard. As well as the usual tidying after dom and the boys, there
are also a couple of long term jobs to make life onboard more pleasant. These
include fixing the VHF aerial, which has reduced us to radio silence, cleaning
the spare water tank and checking the new shrouds for tension. Summer Song seems
not to have missed us at all, and was in very good nick when we returned after
our week of travelling. Our friends in the marina, meanwhile, were on the verge
of calling out the troops to search for us, having expected us back last
Friday. Apparently the marina manager here consoled people with the words: "If
there was any problem, the authorities would be calling us, not the other way
around."
In the meantime, we got a taxi into town to visit
one of the state-run internet access points for a weather update. Internet
is very strictly controlled here, and an hour costs the equivalent of a week's
wages for a doctor. The system works by selling you a scratch card with a code
and password on it which you then plug into the computer. It's slow, but one
does seem able to get BBC and most other news, so not too much censorship.
However, the entire city had run out of scratchcards, so there was not
internetting to be done. Never has the information age seemed so mail-order. We
consoled ourselves with a last pina colada from the excellent beach bar we
frequented with Dom. They were still belting out the same Spanish crooners from
a huge pair of speakers, and we felt most at home for a moment or two.
Staring down the barrel of a three-mile walk home,
Alex got chatting with one of the many horse-and-carriage merchants in the city.
He was on his way home, and willing to take any fare, so we found ourselves
being driven back in some style for $3. There's palpable excitement running
through the boat at the prospect of a home-cooked supper. It offers the chance
to hop off the pizza-burger-fried chicken conveyor belt and eat something with
herbs in it. Can't wait...
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