6-04-02 Still in Man of War Bay, Tobago - for two weeks now. Haven't moved from our anchorage near Charlotteville. What a delightful little fishing village. Sleepy, secluded and simple. We've bought fresh tuna from the local fishermen and have joined the Charlotteville library. They have a good selection of books and magazines, internet access and best of all .... air-conditioning. Another good reason for staying here is easy access to water. A mountain stream runs down to the beach where we are anchored, so we get plenty of fresh water for showering and laundry. That way we don't have to use our water in the tanks, save it for drinking and cooking. We can also get drinking water from one of the many taps in town along the road. June is the start of rainy season here and we've had a rain shower or two everyday. We'll stay here another 2-3 weeks, since we are waiting for our mail to arrive from the States. Then we'll sail further south down the leeward side of the island (west coast), stopping in several inviting bays. The island is only about 20 nm long, so easy short hops all the way to the southern tip.
6-13-02 We've been experiencing turmoil aboard SIMMER. We've seriously thought about returning to the States now, instead of next year. Since we're so close (only 10 -14 day passage) we feel a strong pull toward home, and we could arrive before the Hurricane season fully develops. But we also want to stay and see the Caribbean, enjoying this last phase of our journey. We're beginning to think about jobs, cars, money, cell phones, places to live, transition to working life in general .... and becoming anxious. A couple days ago, we made the decision to stay. We know everyone is saying, "Yeah, yeah, those poor DeGroodt's, having to sail for another year!" It was a difficult decision to make, arguing (did we say "arguing"? We meant "discussing") the advantages and disadvantages. Along with the decision to stay, we agreed to we should start researching jobs now. So we've been on the Internet checking out the latest sites for job searches and career builders. There are quite a few slick sites out there. We're both engineers, but flexible as far as career changes. Look at our areas of expertise for the last 4 years (sailor, fisherman, navigator, cook, traveler, diesel mechanic, sail repairer, logistician, brew master, etc.....) Anyway, we feel comfortable with the decision and now that we put aside some time to organize our thoughts about our transition into the working world, we can enjoy the Caribbean.
6-21-02 Happy Summer in the northern hemisphere. Not much of a change in temperature here in Tobago and the children are still in school, but alot more rain the last couple weeks. Rainy season is well underway and the tropical waves coming across the Atlantic from Africa bring considerable convection with them. Our water tanks are consistently topped-up. Our mail did arrive safely (2 1/2 weeks from the States), so now we have no excuse to stay any longer, except that we really like it here. The anchorage is comfortable and uncrowded, and the village is great. A few small cafes, markets, internet and the library are so convenient and friendly - we're starting to feel like locals. Also Tobago celebrates St. Peter's Day - June 29th - next weekend, and Charlotteville is having a big celebration in honor of the fisherman. St. Peter is the patron saint of fishermen. The fishing fleet will be blessed, and then it's food, music and parties. So we may just stay for that festival and then head south to Mt. Irvine Bay about 15 nm away. Or we may leave Monday, June 24th, as there is a nice break in the weather, with no tropical waves coming our way. We'll probably just keep coming up with excuses to stay, if we don't hoist our anchor shortly!
P.S. Just received the new version of Visual Passage Planner (Version 2) software in the mail from our friend Rob Gehrsitz. It's a great improvement from Version 1 , which is 7 years old. Check out some of our new map pages to see a glimpse of the improvements. Congratulations, Rob! Well done!
6-30-02 Guess what? We are still in Man of War Bay, maybe we'll leave in a day or two. Decided to stay for the fisherman's festival. Lots of loud music, drinking, "limin' " (hanging out with friends) and traditional food. For the last 2 days it's been live DJ with an immense block of speakers - blasting "rapso" - a mix of calypso and rap music. We've had fun people-watching. A very mellow crowd in general - could be the ubiquitous cannabis fumes. Many more yachts moved into the anchorage for the festival, we were only 4 boats for a long time, now there are 16. Getting a little crowded.
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