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Bequia
I had heard so much about Bequia being the ultimate Caribbean island. Pete loved the island so much that he planned to spend the millennium there. At 4 p.m. on May 29 we had arrived at Bequia. We dropped our anchor next to Stardust II off a shoreline of palm trees and white sand in the huge Admiralty Bay. The bay may be huge but the island itself was small. It was about six miles long and a mile wide.
On June 1 Pete, Julius (from Argonauta), and John (from Stardust II) rode a ferryboat to Kingstown, St. Vincent. A crowd of men waited at the ferry dock. As the ferry neared the dock three or four from the crowd jumped onto the ferry. The ferryboat crew tried to stop the crowd from boarding but was unsuccessful. There was much confusion and yelling. Pete could not figure out what the crowd was up to. He soon found out since he was their target. He looked like a tourist to the crowd of desperate taxi drivers boarding the ferryboat. The unwanted taxis drivers grabbed luggage right out of people's hands. Two drivers were nearly playing tug of war between themselves and the luggage. Few tourists visit this island because it is known for its poverty and high crime rate.
Once Pete, John, and Julius ran the gauntlet of taxi drivers, the street vendors and the panhandlers accosted them. The three of them finally found their destination, Napa Auto Parts.
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Trinidad
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On July 15 at 5:30 a.m. we motored from Store Bay, Tobago toward Trinidad. We looked forward to what should have been a great sail. After all, prevailing winds would be at our back. There was no wind as we left the anchorage, but at dawn the wind is normally calm. The horizon behind us was filled with storm clouds. As we motored on in the calm wind a squall paralleled our course for hours. Later squalls were all around us but we stayed under a ray of sunshine. Ribbons of rain came and then disappeared close to us. A few of the squalls brought wind that we could see racing over the water. But the wind, like the squalls, missed us. Pete spotted a huge sperm whale that looked as if it had swum under La Boatique. The color of the ocean changed from the bright blue of the Caribbean to the dark greenish brown color of the mighty Orinoco River from Venezuela. One short downpour finally drenched us as we approached our anchorage at La Vache Bay, Trinidad.
At 1 p.m. after 45 miles at sea the anchor was down. But La Boatique did not behave as expected. She tended to creep toward the steep jungle hills instead of the ocean. Pete used the stern anchor to try to keep us away from the shore. The three-foot tide controlled how we swung at anchor.
Only one other cruiser was anchored in the large bay and they were nearly a half-mile away. Our neighbor cruiser, a French family, had just finished spear fishing their dinner. Pete quickly prepared his spear gun. We wore wet suits because the water was only 67 degrees. Here we were nearly 10 degrees from the equator and the water was colder then Lake Erie's water. Not only that, while the Caribbean water was salty, this water seemed fresh in comparison.
Pete speared what looked like a large red snapper. But when he got it to the surface, we found it was not large, but small. We let it go hoping that it would either recover from its wound or provide a good meal for some other fish. Later in the day as we watched green parrots and brown pelicans parade overhead, Pete saw a large bird of prey swoop nearby. The bird was a corbeaus (vulture). We both watched the large black bird with broad wings swoop down and grab the bright red snapper with its talons. The bird carried the fish to the beach and set it on a log. The vulture held the fish with its talons and tore the fish into bite size pieces with its beak.
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We flew home to Ohio on August 3. August and September were spent in Ohio away from La Boatique.
We had a pleasant visit in Ohio. But after eight weeks of being away from La Boatique, we were ready to return to the cruising lifestyle. Pete was filled with excited anticipation as we flew from Cleveland to Miami and then Miami to Trinidad on September 28.
We were concerned about getting our luggage through customs. While in Ohio we had made many purchases. Most items we had shipped to Trinidad through Marine Warehouse in Miami. But we still had plenty of band new stuff to carry on the airplane. We had prepared type written lists of boat parts and other items we were bringing back with us. But the customs officer in Chaugaramas sent us on our way without us even showing him a single list or any of the items in our luggage. Getting through customs and immigration was much easier then we had anticipated.
Peake Yacht Services
We found La Boatique resting on sinking jack stands in a field of mud. Soon the rain started and standing water covered the mud. As we contemplated how to get to La Boatique's ladder without sinking up to our knees in muck, ants covered our shoes and socks. We were standing on the only high spot around, an anthill.
The high humidity made the heat hard to take. But the common downpours of rain broke the heat temporarily. We were thankful to have the rented air conditioner. Otherwise, La Boatique's cabin would have been very hot and damp. Even with the boat all closed up when night came we were fighting off mosquitoes in the cabin.
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At 6:30 a.m. on October 16 Jessie James and his tour van arrived to take us along with eight other cruisers on an adventure. For two hours Jesse drove us from the west side of Trinidad to the east side of the island. We drove from divided highway to two-lane road, then over one-lane bridges to a rugged rutted path. When the van could go no further, we got out and walked. We had two guides, Alexander and Christopher. We had barely begun our hike when a fellow hiker sank knee deep in quicksand. The clicking buzz sounds of locusts mixed with various tropical birdcalls. One of our guides killed a poisonous snake only after it had slithered across the path between two of the hikers. Soon we were hiking deep in the rain forest. A channel-billed toucan yelped from the treetops but we could not see it. With snakes, quick sand, rocks and slippery tree roots under foot we rarely felt comfortable looking up into the thick canopy of foliage for monkeys and birds.
While Pete was fording a stream he injured his shin on a sharp rock. I saw him wince in pain. Then I saw the bloody bruise and his leg already starting to swell. When he described his injury to the other hikers, that was all I needed to make me feel faint. The others wondered what was wrong with me. Pete said that he gets the injury and I get the pain. I splashed water from the stream on my face as I sat on a rock with my head down between my knees. I wished I had some smelling salts. One of the guides gave me a lime peel to smell. The smell revived me enough so that I could continue hiking.
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LASIK Eye Surgery in Caracas
On November 8 we flew from Trinidad to Caracas, Venezuela, so that Pete could have LASIK eye surgery. If the procedure was successful Pete would no longer need glasses except maybe for reading.
We hired Aleksandar Uldfrian to drive us around when needed and be our interpreter since neither of us spoke Spanish. We believed that Aleksandar´s services were well worth his fee. He stayed with us all the time we were at the clinic and made sure we felt comfortable.
We stayed at the Royal Hotel in the Sabana Grande district of Caracas. Caracas is a huge city with a population of 5 million. It is nestled in a long narrow valley at an elevation of three thousand four hundred feet. The mountains to the north are impressively steep. The Savana Grande district is packed with hotels, restaurants and shops. It is an outdoor mall. Sabana Grande is only safe during daylight hours. At night we stayed off the streets and in the hotel.
The hotel food was inexpensive and good. However, since we did not speak Spanish, our meals were always somewhat of a surprise. On November 9, our first day at the clinic, Pete had his eyes checked and measured. The machine took a picture of his eyes in three dimensions. Five different machines were used the first day. Pete looked at pictures, lights and parallel lines while the machines gathered statistics about his eyes. He had no pain at all. The procedure took half an hour at most. Dr. Rodregues then explained that Pete was a good candidate for LASIK.
The second day Pete took pills all day to keep him sedated. At the clinic early in the morning he put on a hospital gown, cap and blue slippers. He sat in a comfortable recliner. Eye drops were added to his eyes. An overhead TV showed the procedure live of a preceding patient. Then it was Pete's turn. A clamp held Pete's eye open. A thin layer of the cornea was lifted up as an instrument called a microkeratome glided across the cornea. Then in less than 60 seconds, ultraviolet light and high energy pulses from the eximer laser reshaped the internal cornea. The cornea was then closed without the need for stitches. Next the other eye was done. After the surgery plastic shields were taped to his eyes. I called Pete "fly man" because of his bug-like eyes.
Pete's vision was clear sometimes and blurry at other times. That was to be expected during recovery. He could read without glasses. His distance vision came and went. He would need about a month or so for recovery. Pete said that it was nice getting up in the morning and not having to grab glasses. The cost for the surgery including the examination, doctor and clinic fees was $974 for both eyes.
For the rest of the story, order The Sailing Adventures of La Boatique.