Here we are, back in the Tropics and Pat has found it very very HOT and is having to reacclimatise again!. Mike is quite happy with the temperatures here but it was heaven for Pat to be back home in a typical English late summer - plenty of warm sunny days interspersed with many not so warm rainy days – she didn’t mind the coolness at all!

Well, Mike has been working hard on building new water tanks and re-insulating the freezer while Pat has been home, but has also been able to have every Saturday afternoon off as he has found an archery club just up the road. Mind, he is the only one using a traditional longbow. The rest of the members have either re-curve or compound bows (the ones with all the gadgets and sights and gears and carbon fibre arrows). The rest of the members seem very interested in his flat bow and home made wooden arrows so there may be a new trend in Trinidad soon.

Pat visited many friends while at home and enjoyed a couple of days out with Margaret. They visited Cragside House near Rothbury in Northumberland. This is a National Trust property and was built in 1863, the revolutionary home of Lord Armstrong, Victorian inventor and industrialist. Built on a rocky crag, it was a wonder of its age. Cragside is crammed with ingenious gadgets and was the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. Surrounding the house on all sides is one of the largest rock gardens in Europe.

When visited in the 1880’s by the Prince and Princess of Wales, their suite of rooms included central heating, an en-suite of bath and flushing toilet - better facilities than in Windsor castle! There was even a hydraulic lift (elevator), a rotisserie and laundry equipment in the building - amazing.

We spent a lot of time with Neil (Sheila’s son) and his two children, Ella, 3½ and Joseph, 9 months. We all enjoyed the day at Wolsingham’s annual agricultural show where we saw all kinds of animals, a funfair, sheepdog trials, dog show classes, agility classes, special exhibitions of wood carving, falconry, even a New Zealander with a special show of sheep shearing and a flock of ‘dancing sheep’. A typically old fashioned English day out. The massive crowd were loving it. Long may the country shows survive!

Mike met a wonderful lady while Pat was away. It’s not what you think! Charmin is a young woman, the mother of two fine boys, who is suffering from the genetic disease neurofibromatosis. (Warning. There are some disturbing photos on this site. We are so lucky to be healthy!) This is an incurable genetic disease which causes non cancerous tumours to grow on nerve endings all over the body. These can be inside or outside the skin. Charmin is absolutely covered in these nodules but somehow retains a happy disposition. To make matters worse, her house in Diego Martin was completely washed away in flooding in August and she is now homeless. She is living underneath her mother’s house and the boys are with relatives. Cruisers have had a couple of collections for her. When you are destitute amongst poverty you get little help locally. There are no Social Services here! Let’s hope things improve for her in the future.

To cheer us up there is one funny story to relate. On the way home, Pat had a few Trini dollars left so decided to buy a bottle of rum in the airport. She also spotted a 6 pack of Carib beer - that would be nice to take back home! The rum and beers cost about £11 and they were duly placed in a duty free carrier bag which she collected at the gate before her flight to Houston, Texas (yes, it seems a long way west to then fly east but it was a cheap flight). On changing planes in Houston for London Heathrow, she was informed that she couldn’t carry this bag onto the plane. As she didn’t have access to her suitcase, she had to have the liquors placed in a box to be put in the hold, but it was OK, the box was free. She was then shown the cardboard box which was only large enough for two bottles - the 6 cans wouldn’t fit. That’s OK - you can buy a larger box - only $US 30 (£20). This beer was getting dearer by the minute. OK - the bottle and 6 cans were duly placed in a gigantic box which would have held twice as much and had to be padded out - there was no in-between size!

Arriving at Heathrow, she didn’t collect any bags as all luggage was going direct to Newcastle, so straight on the shuttle bus to Terminal 5 from Terminal 4, taking about half an hour. There she stood in a long queue for a boarding card for the British Airways flight to Newcastle. While standing in the queue she idly looked at the luggage receipt from Houston - destination - London Heathrow! Damn! She asked the girl on the desk if this meant her precious box was gaily going round and round on a carousel back in Terminal 4. ‘Sorry, yes, but you should have plenty of time to go back and collect it, your flight’s not for another two hours’.

So, Pat had to go back to Terminal 5 - she caught the same shuttle bus back, another half an hour journey, then tried to get to where the luggage collection area was - no luck - she had gone through the ‘in transit’ route on the way to Terminal 4 and missed all that area out so she had to go a long way round to find the right area. She eventually found herself in a large hall full of carousels but nearly 2 hours had passed by this time so she went in search of ‘lost luggage’. Again she stood in a queue then showed the receipt to a beleaguered looking man. He said it would have been on Carousel number something and he would go look for it himself for her. Ten minutes later he came back. ‘No, sorry, it’s not there. We have definitely had it but it’s disappeared. You will have to fill this claim form in. Here’s your reference number’. Pat must say this man was very patient, as the crowds of people milling around the desk seemed to get bigger by the minute!

So, she had to get back to Terminal 4 again - sounds easy - but this time she was leaving from a different exit. She duly followed the signs and eventually got onto a swish train which took her to a central station where she had to get off and wait for another swish train which eventually arrived and took her back to Terminal 4. The time had really flown by and by this time she was literally running through the terminal looking for her gate as it was announced it was about to close. She eventually got there with 2 minutes to spare! As the attendant examined her boarding pass she said, ‘Hold on a minute. There is a message’. Oh no! What now? ‘I see there are two items of luggage on board for Newcastle’. Hallelujah, the kind man back in Terminal 5 must have found the box and rushed it post haste to the plane. Thank you mate!

When Pat finally met Sheila at Newcastle airport she gave her the box to carry and told her she was very privileged indeed to receive such a gift!! She was absolutely shattered running around Heathrow airport. If only she’d thought to buy the beers in the supermarket back in Trini she could have put them in her case at the very beginning and saved all the hassle. Never mind - the Carib was good when we eventually drank it, also the rum. Cheers!

Anyway, Pat is back in the Caribbean now and we are out of the water again in Powerboats yard. We should, hopefully be only out for a month or two this year - not so much to do to the outside, but still plenty to keep us going.

Pat attended the celebrations for Chinese Arrival Day which was held in the next bay on the 17th October, which featured dragon dancing, dragon boat racing and many stalls selling Chinese snacks and delicacies. That’s one of the great things about Trinidad. There is such an ethnic mix and every group has it’s own special day. All the other people join in as well. There are many public holidays here celebrating African, Indian, Chinese and Muslim festivities.

Well, we hope to be back in the water by next month’s update. You’ve heard that one before, haven’t you? Ha ha.

We have included a few photos and movies from back in England as well as Mike’s handiwork on the boat. We have also re-posted the photos of the baby turtles at the beginning of the album. They would have otherwise disappeared into the ether as there wasn’t a log page for July. Remember, we told you that we managed to revisit Matura beach and were lucky enough to see some of the baby turtles this time as they began their perilous journey away from their birthplace. They live, alone, in the ocean and the females only return to lay eggs when they reach 30 years of age. The males never return to land. Only 1 in 800 survive to reach maturity. Let’s hope that one of ours is the lucky one!

By the way, many thanks to Sheila and Jim for putting Pat up (should that be putting up with her?) for the time she was at home. Much appreciated.