Divine chuckles

5/9/2018: Chaguaramus, Trinidad 

“Man plans and God laughs”. Things change and plans seem especially prone to those Divine chuckles, but fortunately, to date, most minor modifications have been peripheral to the grand design.

 

This year I had planned to spend the northern hurricane season elsewhere, while Shanti remained safely parked on the hardstand in Trinidad.  It started out according to plan, with me toting 7 months’ worth of my personal belongings into the sky. The final destination was, as per usual, NZ, for my father’s 101^st birthday on January 31.

 

However, after giving it all much reflection, as well as checking bank balances, I realized that flying south this year was totally impractical.  There were several reasons:

 

Long haul flights are awful - and costly - but more importantly, returning to Shanti in February would push out the timing for my onward journey.

 

The Panama Canal transit is best done around March/April and costs around $2 -3,000 (depending on the wait time in a nearby marina). I would like to spend a bit of time in the Caribbean, the Dutch Antilles and San Blas islands beforehand, an area I rushed through in the past.

 

Returning to Shanti in February, would scarcely leave time to sail directly to Panama (still 2 – 3,000 nautical miles away), not to mention the work that still needs to be done, painting, testing the repaired wind vane, etc. before setting sail. 

 

I had been hoping to catch up with my father in Koh Samui where he was spending his annual holiday, but apparently he too was getting homesick and headed back to NZ early.  It will be the first birthday of his that I have missed for a long time and I feel pretty bad about that, but sometimes practicalities prevail.

 

The number one priority is to complete the circumnavigation and I must take the weather opportunities for that. Most other cruisers are returning to their boats around mid September to resume sailing next month.  They would all be gone had I returned in February next year. Reports of increased piracy off the coast of Venezuela make it much safer to sail in company with others if possible.

 

So, much as I would love to see you all again, you will just have to hold me in your hearts instead of your arms.

 

Meantime, I have had a fantastic land interlude, visiting Washington, Berlin, Hamburg, Amsterdam, St Malo in Brittany, Jersey (UK) and last but not least, attending 4 weeks of intensive French language studies in Montpellier. It was a challenging yet affirming experience, and good to know that a couple of my old brain cells can still connect.

 

Language is a fascinating device that evolved from ancient Egyptian times and I find it absolutely mind-boggling to think how so many thousands of words can be formed from so few letters. Twisting one’s brain through the mental gymnastics of translation also has the positive effect of putting thought before speech, avoiding my usual foible of “open mouth put foot in it”.

For those of you who haven't been following my Facebook posts, here's some info:

 

Montpellier is a beautiful city in the south of France, were I was fortunate enough to stay with my daughter’s mother-in-law, Rosy, whose hospitality was “Magnifique!”

Our stilted “Franglais” conversation was a terrific aid to my language learning as we explored the old and the new sectors of the city. The modern day architects seem intent on outdoing one another, with buildings that are more like works of art than the usual Lego blocks.

 

 

French classes were from 0900 to midday each day, plus a few afternoon excursions, my favourite being to the remarkable Hotel de Ville, which featured ceiling art on each level of the building.

 

 

Montpellier is part of the pilgrim’s 1000 mile walk of the famous “Chemin de St Jacques de Compostela” (the Camino pilgrimage) and I spotted this old gent and donkey just around the corner from my school. 

 

There were further signs of the trail in the medieval village of St Guilhem le Desert, where Pierre’s father, Paul and his wife Cecile, took me.

 

 

So now it’s back to life on the hard, most probably for another month while jobs such as fitting the masthead lights, painting, etc. get done with less time pressure.  Shanti is pretty much as I left her, despite there having been major flooding and a 7.3 earthquake in the interim. It’s nothing short of a miracle that all this reclaimed land held together and boats stayed standing on their flimsy metal props while the earth shook violently.

 

Labour is relatively inexpensive here so it’s a good opportunity to give Shanti a present of a new coat of paint. Today just happens to be my birthday, so it’s also a fantastic birthday present to me.

 

 

 Happy Birthday Shanti.

Love and thanks to all who sent me such wonderful Birthday greetings.