Soca, emanating from several parties around Woburn Bay, is echoing across the anchorage this evening but you can catch Calypso and something called Groovy in the mix as well. It must be Carnival. Soca is a kind of Caribbean trance music that is played frenetically all night long at incredible volumes and while constantly speeding up the recordings. It features car horns honking out the soca rhythm along with a collection of catchy but strange sounds with a DJ yelling at the revelers to Partay Better…or with more enthusiasm…or something, I don’t know. I wish I could give you a sample of the lyrics but I cant understand them. I think one popular ditty says over and over that you know I got de big balls… well you get the picture. Its beyond me why it has to go on until 4:30am. Sometimes they just don’t stop at all. They use trucks whose flatbeds are piled up with the latest incredible sound equipment and plug it all into some seriously rickety electrical grids. it seems to work for them and I can personally vouch for the volume.
Emancipation day falls within carnival time but I can’t imagine what else they can do to celebrate. Our waitress at Whisper Cove happy hour was walking around in a trance last night and said she hadn’t been to bed in days. it occurred to me that the number two minibus drivers, not normally known for their sobriety, are probably in similar shape. Should I be concerned? I don’t know.
What is it with the French? They seem to embrace this bohemian life style whole heartedly and end up more native than the natives but why do they persist in anchoring in our cockpit? I mean why, with all of Woburn Bay to choose from, would you sidle up to another boat at anchor and drop the hook dangerously close, creating stress for everyone. Although I confess they don’t seem to feel the need for a little breathing room as much as we do.
After anchoring in our cockpit they immediately hopped into their dinghy and disappeared, leaving us to watch their boat sail back and forth at anchor. Escape Velocity would never sail around like that, unless there was a contrary current, then all bets are off.
After finding our number two batten trying to jump ship we scheduled a spot of sail gear maintenance only to find our boom universal in pieces. Another close call! We decided we needed help in getting a new one to Grenada in a hurry. We’d heard about a young woman who consolidates freight shipments in Miami and does all the leg work for you then quotes a single price for the part delivered in your hand. As you know this is a big improvement over what we’ve been through recently with customs and shipping agents, so with fingers crossed Sherri has the job. We found her office in a building on the cliff face opposite EV right next to the Hang Over Bar which, oddly enough, is cantilevered out over the cliff face and is definitely homemade, but even Frank Loyd Wright got it wrong using poured concrete at Falling Water. In a few weeks we’ll let you know how Sherri did.
