Last log until October
10-40.701N
061-38.118W
Docked, Coral Cove Marina
Chaguarmas, Trinidad
Friday, June 13
The guide said, "Quiet now, no flashlights."
From the moon-light-reflecting serf we saw two large dark spots, moving
slowly up the beach, one toward the middle, one toward the trees. The
female, 700 pound leatherback turtles were heading toward that special spot,
a self created maternity ward, to lay over 80 eggs, each slightly larger
than a ping pong ball, but with a consistency like clay, able to withstand
a vertical drop of two to four feet, landing undamaged on top of each other.
The turtles stopped on the sand, and began to work. First,
they used front flippers to build small mounds of sand on each side of themselves.
Then, the back flippers started to work like back hoes, first wiping
sand away as with a broom, in rapid motions that sent sand flying as much
as three feet from her body. As the depression began to increase,
she used one flipper at a time, like a shovel, or more like a human hand
carefully cupped to dig and throw. Over roughly 30 minutes, she dug
a hole about 4 feet deep, with a slightly larger diameter at the bottom
than the diameter of most of the shaft. Her next job was to lay the
eggs, another 30 minute task. While laying, she covered the hole with
the flippers, but our guides lifted one flipper so that we could see and
photograph this spectacular process. When done, she returned sand to
the hole, covering it carefully, patting down each new layer with her flippers,
then taking another 30 to 45 minutes to camouflage her work over an area
perhaps five times as large as the original hole. Then, back to the sea.
another miracle completed.
(Guides told us that a female returns six or seven times during a two month
season. Then, she probably will not produce eggs for another three
or four years.)
The turtle watch was our special event in Chaguaramas. We shared
it with Jochen and Anne Schweizer who left for their home in Koln, Germany,
the next morning. We said a sad good bye that morning, with hope and
confidence that we again will see these special friends, somewhere, along
the way. They plan to sail west from Trinidad in October.
Pachamama will rest "on the hard" in Trinidad. In preparation, here
are a few of the tasks we have accomplished since arriving June 2:
complete service of the diesel engine; polish and wax all the deck
stainless steel; clean entire inside; remove all water from the bilge; overhaul
the outboard and remove barnacles from the tender; remove the two large foresails;
arrange for storage on land at Southern Caribbean Yacht Works,, and for services
during storage, including bottom paint and varnish, plus service to the holding
tanks and checking shaft alignment, possibly polishing off rust on the hull;
many miscellaneous tasks such as redirecting email to home.
At Coral Cove, we have met new friends, and said good bye to old friends,
such as Alan and Katherine aboard The Good Neighbor. The social and
work life here in Trinidad is active and enjoyable. Each day, cruisers
"meet" on the VHF cruisers' net to hear announcements and to share needs
such as to trade or give away items or to locate items and to hear about
tours and other social activities. The Yachting service here is the
best we have encountered anywhere. Most services are concentrated in
Chaguarmas, and most operate within a trade association called YSATT, the
Yacht Service Association of Trinidad and Tobago. All services have
been presented fairly, in writing, and most prices involving labor are lower
than in the U.S. The people are among the most friendly we have met,
big smiles, and a true desire to help and to satisfy. Our biggest challenge
has been deciding with whom to do business, among so many outstanding providers.
The commercial life of Trinidad is similar to any big city in the U.S.,
with large malls, movie houses, and the usual array of McDonalds and KFCs.
Always, on the horizon, five or six tankers or other large ships are
anchored, probably waiting for space in Venezuela which is hardly seven miles
from here. We do not yet know about Trinidad as a tourist destination,
but we suspect it is wonderful. We immensely enjoyed the turtle watch,
and we understand that the island has several national parks with beautiful
birds and entertaining monkeys. Of course, it also has the world's
greatest Carnival, and the unique steel drum was invented here from oil drums.
We will report more on Trinidad in October