After our 3 day delay in port Natal/Brazil due to the late arrival of security equipment and our new 1st mate, we only arrived in Trinidad today…
Therefore, we were able to spend only a few hours in port as we have to set sail again in the evening (well, that was the plan, we just got the news, that the 3rd mate, who was meant to come with our new Captain, missed his plane and will only arrive late in the night, so that we will actually leave only in the early morning hours – yeah, that’s ship life – you never know what to expect as plans hardly work out…).
After having crossed already the Atlantic Ocean on the way from Namibia to Brazil, we had another highlight as ‘wannabe’ sailors when crossing also the famous equator, where we had to go through some ordeal being ‘unworthy polywogs’ that needed to pass some tests to become accepted ‘shellbacks’ in Neptun’s world… this included waiting for hours in the bosun’s locker – really the last place on a ship you want to spent time in a rough sea as you quickly get seasick-, shaving of the guys’ hair, crawling through diverse cloth tunnels and fish nets, getting a nasty shower in an old rubber duck full of veggies, weird liquids and other leftovers of food from the last days, getting a strange cream massaged in your hair, searching a fish out of a bin full of intransparent liquid, eating awful tasting something and getting it down with pink seawater (which lot of us hoped would be nice juice) before finally facing Neptun to get your new fishname after kissing his feet… that all happened in rainy windy weather partly with thunder and flashes to make it more dramatic… it definitely was an interesting bonding experience 🙂
After mainly motoring the previous sail leg, fortunately, we had real good winds on this sail leg after some rain on the first days out on sea again, so surprisingly, we still could make it to Tobago yesterday. And what a beautiful island we would have missed! Very tropical with lots of luscious forests, unspoilt white beaches and all around the island amazing snorkelling and diving spots. But what grasped my attention when reaching land with our rubber ducks from our anchored tall ship, was the incredible Carribean vibe when seeing all the Rastafarians chilling on the beach, their fisher boats, along the streets, in the little cafes etc. – all over the little town you could here Reggae/Ska music coming from the picturesque colourful houses – it really seemed to be the island’s inherent life style, very chilled and relaxed – in short: very inviting just to stay :).
It was very enjoyable just to stroll along the beach with its fisher boats, palm trees and chilling locals playing with the kids in the turquoise water, and to discover the small town with its lovely little houses. However, after some hours we had to set sail again to reach Trinidad today (where we were planned to stay from the 1st to the 3rd), which in comparison to its sister island Tobago is much more industrialized and its capital Port of Spain where we are docked now is said to be not the safest as it is also known for its gangs… I will tell you more about it next time as I have to run back to the ship now…
But you also find more infos on our team blog: http://windjammers09.blogspot.com/
Dayana
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