Toil and Trouble

We’re quickly forgetting how to sail and fast remembering how inept we are at fiberglass work. Still, we’ve managed to overcome our incompetence and are only a few nuts and bolts from completing the reinstallation of our deck hardware. This has involved plenty of drilling, prying, hacking, heavy-duty gluing, and liberal use of our hammer, but the result is a far more ergonomic deck layout. Our fingers are crossed that no winches will come flying out of place once they are put under load. Another success has been recorded in repainting our hull. You can see the before-and-after pictures in the photo gallery.

In addition to the work, we’ve ventured into Port-of-Spain, the capital of Trinidad, several times, especially to catch sporting events on the television. Besides the NFL playoffs, we had a chance to watch the Carling Cup clash between Chelsea and Manchester United, a game where the loyalties of this crew are sharply divided. It was a cracking match, with the evil but irresistable empire of Chelsea winning the day. Carnival is a little over a week away, and we’ve taken steps to get involved.

This afternoon we’re attending an event called “Viey La Cou”. Our booking agent gave us this description: “This is patois for ‘Old Yard’ and is pure street theater and a treat in terms of seeing true old-time Carnival arts. Viey La Cou was a folk fair that was started up by theater folk as a means of keeping alive some of Carnival’s finest theatrical practices. One can see various characters from folklore and even society portrayed. There are Midnight Robbers, devils, imps, roving minstrels, Pierrot Grenade, Dame Lorraines, Jammettes, etc.”

Aaron and I have also signed up for a “J’Ouvert” team. Kicking off Carnival at 4 a.m., this involves a lot of drinking, music, and roving around slinging mud, paint, and oil at everyone in sight. Our costume consists of a white T-shirt and black hula skirt(with pants encouraged underneath). Since the Super Bowl is the night before, it may prove to be a long, long night.

Leave a Reply