Scotland Bay, Trinidad -- Friday, 20 October 2007

Last time I went to immigration here, the guy said:  "You have to leave the island!"  When I remonstrated with him that DHARMA BUM III was not ready and that this wasn't my own fault at all, he replied:  "Your boat has a problem.  You don't.  You have to leave the island!"

 

I could try again with a different officer, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.  So, I am planning to clear out on 10/25 and then go for a little sail to Bequia, the Tobago Cays, Carriacou, Greneda and then back here to Trinidad. 

 

These days I am spending the nights over in Scotland Bay in the company of a horde of howler-monkeys and my good friends Kar(e)l & Libu Hauschke, whom I met in French Guayana in 1989.  Karl is a famous mountain-climber from the Czech Republic.  ("New generation of climbers of the fifties and sixties together with a group of young local climbers threw themselves into climbing very demanding cracks and marking up new routes. One of them was Karel Hauschke (nicknamed "Koksa") who became famous by his original ascents at difficult never-climbed walls in Adrspach. The Valley Route at the Duke (marked out and climbed along with Jan Zalesky) crossed the huge Valley Wall and the Dwo-day Route was the first of many cracks leading to the top of Pegasus. A year later, Koksa made the famous Aerial Route on Mistress. Two weeks later, he and Vaclav Hornych climbed the Long Corner opposite the Lovers. In the following years, Karel Hauschke and Jaroslav Krecbach ranked about the best climbers. Routes such as Dechac on King, the Mushroomers' Route on Tooth and the Magic Route on the Koksa Spire rank among the most famous. The last one was climbed and marked out together with Vladimir Meier a co-author of the impressive Vault Route on Castle.")

 

He designed and built his boat ROSINANTE and Karl & Libu have lived on the boat since 1972, raised and home-schooled two children and sailed around the world.  They go spearfishing all the time and find lots of fruit and vegetables in the jungle.  And, of course, they are very fond of good food, good drink, and good parties.  :-)))

 

We should be back here pretty soon, as there is still a lot of work to be done on the boat.  I still plan to be in the Marquesas Islands by Valentines Day 2007 - so I'd better get going!