Three Perspectives on a months Sail, Marnix et Al
There are a variety of reasons some blogs don’t get done. In this most recent tardy case there are millions of them. All of them are Bruce Kerry’s fault. His enormous height meant that his brain is bathed in air so pure that his intentions are for the world around him are equally as pure. Cleanliness and Fishing.
This translated into firstly a week of emptying Ino of everything, throwing half of it away, cleaning and polishing the rest and returning it in an ordered fashion. Marnix sat watching and just stuck labels on everything….. This box contains “abrasives” this box contains “small labels for bigger boxes” etc.
Once the cleaning process was finished it became time to sort out the dinghy situation. We needed more size and speed. SCUBA and fishing are top priorities and they are not possible unless ones tender is enormous and sea worthy. By a celestial leap of logic it came to us that the best way to ensure this was to spend £100 on a 10 year old dinghy that was falling to bits. Cue four days of work and solutions that match the finest examples of Airdification. End result? It floats but is every bit the dog is was on the day we bought it. Luckily we found a sign that says ‘Beware of the Dog’. We stuck it on the back of dinghy as a sort of covert warning to which ever fool might consider buying it off us third hand and “restored”. We serviced the engine, cleaned all the bilges, made a new dinghy engine carrier, added fishing outrigger and down rigger, de-rusted and repainted the hull, deck and fittings, fixed the kitchen tap firmly to the kitchen table. Water sealed the kitchen table, bla bla bla bla. 10 days of Trinidad swallowed by the sweaty throat of labour.
A trip was made to Tobago to try out the new improved Ino. 60 miles of sailing (motoring) straight against wind and current. A sudden stop in the middle of the night was eventually diagnosed as an unmarked drift net wrapped firmly around the keel. The treatment was a wet and terrified Dr Buonajuti with his mask, knife and life ring light., slashing violently in the water wondering kinds of sharks might spend their time eating fish out of nets. Tobago was the most beautiful island in the east Caribbean chain.
At two in the morning Bruce and Marnix were standing in just a pair of skimpy shorts with big grins on their faces. The two girls were rubbing liquid chocolate all over their bodies, covering every inch of exposed skin. They then danced, “bumpin and grindin” their way down the streets of port of Spain with a thousand other people who’s modesty was not preserved by bikinis, devil horns and chocolate. The sun rose on the best party in the world.
The pivotal event in Trinidad was meeting Candice Chan, the 27 year old Chinese Trini woman who is the proprioter of the Cajobe restaurant. She made it her mission to ensure that we were shown the best of Trinidad and the carnival. Many lovely evening spent sitting with her talking and planning and meeting her friends. Then a lift with Brian into the centre of all this maddness.
Maisie arrived to stay for a month before starting her new life in Africa. A crazy visit that was perhaps the only way for things to be all right….. A gift for both her and Marnix’s peace of mind. She was not spared by pity for her 15 hour journey and she was immediately dragged out to see all the carnival procession.
The weeks since have been passed wondering from one Venezuelan island to the next. One more hypnotizing and stupidly idyllic than the next. So many fish and lobster barbeques that these normally skinny people are starting to fill out a little.
marnix
It all started at the immigration desk in the airport when I arrived, I had not been informed by my captain that I needed a letter from him to join the boat. My adventures started by trying to convince a large stern matriarchal Caribbean lady that I didn’t want to be sent home! Luckily for me her shift was about to end, so with a stern telling of and a promise from me that I would get into no trouble whilst in Trinidad my passport was stamped……
Now I waited
And Waited
And Waited…
Eventually Ino arrived.
The first two weeks aboard Ino were spent cleaning, tidying and Labelling…. I have been given the blame for the tardy blog but in fact the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of Marnix as he became so engrossed in his obsession for labelling that he fail to notice that his crew member had fallen ill with a similar affliction… a horrible obsession for tea towels!! Hence both of us being tied up with these illnesses we omitted to update this blog.
Trinidad was a great mix of hard work and parties, one of the best of these was called jouvert and was the opening of the carnival. We joined a group for this event and had to meet the at a secret location at wo in the morning to prepare. Full of excited expectation we made our way to the secret location where we were met by the Cocoa Devils. The rest of the night till dawn seem like a bit of a dream…… covering people in chocolate and being covered in chocolate whilst dancing through the streets following lorries with sound systems pilled on them. One of the most memorable and friendly parties!
From Tinidad our journey has some repetition…
Catch fish……Eat fish
Catch fish….Eat Fish
Baracuda, snapper, grouper, box fish, squid, tuna, crevalle, lobster and more.
We continue westward through a line of Venezualan islands some deserted some with small populations all with beautifully blue seas and skies and endless fish!
Bruce
The start of my experience on Ino was also not smooth running. I was stranded at the airport in Trinidad for 2 and a half hours when the taxi Marnix and Bruce had booked me failed to arrive. I had no idea where the boat was moored or anyway of contacting them. I finally arrived at the anchorage, but after Marnix had gone in search of me!! Eventually we all made it back to Ino at the same time.
My first sailing trip had been a pretty impressive one, Trinidad to Los Testigos, Margarita, La Blanquilla and now Los Roques. Not to mention Bonaire and possibly Curacao in my remaining week. Almost every island we have visited has been quite incredible, like a postcard, deserted with the white sand beaches, palm trees and turquoise waters. Sailing is certainly the way to explore such places of beauty. I said ‘almost every island’ as Margarita was not the most delightful place to spend a week, as the others will agree, but none the less better than most other places I could have spent time.
A month on Ino has been a pleasure, and even being stuck in a boat with Marnix and Bruce (who already are acting as an old quite crazy married couple with their tea towels and labelling, one can only imagine what they’ll be like after the Pacific crossing!) has been enjoyable. I have eaten more fish than I could have imagined, swum with even more, got a tan and seen endless beautiful sights. 4 weeks spent very well indeed!
Maisie
Im too busy sleeping all the time. I’ll write something next week.
Stef
More fishing now. Nother blog in a month????