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Published: August 26th 2011
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Hatchling Going to Sea
The red light on this hatchling was used so we didn’t disturb its rush to the sea after getting out of the nest. They are only about 3-4 inches long. They must to the sea on their own without any help.
Sorry it has been such a long time since our last entry, but we are currently in the US. Time is flying by trying to fit in as much as we can in the two months we have. Just realized that we have been here a month and only have one month left before flying back to Trinidad. As a result we want to update you on some of the things we did in Trinidad before flying to the US.
One of the highlights of our visit to Trinidad was our trip to see the leatherback turtles nesting. The island of Trinidad supports more than 80% of all leatherback sea turtle nesting in the Caribbean Sea and is the 2nd largest nesting colony in the world with an estimated 6,000 leatherbacks nesting annually. They are on the endangered species list, and Trinidad is doing its part to help increase the population.
The outing involved a 2 hour drive to the town of Matura on the east side of the island. The local community near this beach has done a great job educating the people of Trinidad and tourists about these magnificent animals. Leatherbacks can weigh up 1,000 pounds and they
Laying Her Eggs
After digging the nest about 120 eggs are laid and then carefully buried by the mother before she returns to the sea. return to the same beach they hatched on to nest. The process is quite complex because the turtle must come to shore, find a location to dig a nest, lay her eggs, bury the nest to protect the eggs from predators, find another location to make a decoy to confuse predators, and then return to the sea. Each female turtle will visit the beach about five times in a season to lay eggs with approximately 5 to 10 days between each visit. They lay approximately 120 eggs each time with about 85% successfully hatching. However once the turtle hatches better than 90% will not survive to adulthood. Jellyfish are a major food source for these turtles. Unfortunately plastic bags look very similar to jellyfish and have been identified as one of the major causes for the population decline of the species. This is just one more reason to reduce our use of plastic as much of it ends in the sea.
The non-profit community-based organization, Nature Seekers, implants microchips to track the turtles as well as take detailed notes about the specific turtles that come to nest on their shore. The turtle that came to shore to nest
In a Trance
Nature Seekers assured us that when laying the eggs the turtle goes into a type of trance and it would be safe for people to touch the turtle. This shows the size that these turtles can get to. They do not have a hard shell like other types of turtles have. while we were there was last there in 1995. We were surprised to learn that these turtles migrate from as far away as northern Canada. Nature Seekers has done a great deal to help in the recovery of the leatherback turtle population and would welcome any support you could provide. They have even found a way to turn discarded glass on the beach into jewelry as a fund raiser for their efforts. We think this is a great grassroots effort to help the leatherbacks and develop ecotourism. If you want more details on this project please check out Nature Seekers at www.natureseekers.org
After having fun going to the market, watching the turtles and exploring the shops in Port of Spain, we had to get down to the job of getting the boat ready to haul and leave it on the hard for 2 months. We are used to winterizing in the north, getting the boat ready for storage in hot and humid weather was new to us. We asked lots of people for their advice and as always got a variety of answers. One that was consistent was the fact that we should rent either a dehumidifier or air
Lighten Up
Bob thought you might enjoy this sign we saw in Trinidad. conditioner to reduce humidify on the boat which would also reduce the chance for mildew to grow. We also were told to put a heavy coating of grease or Vaseline on the jack stands to keep the insects out of the boat. Needless to say we took their advice on both of these suggestions. We will find out how well these worked when we get back.
We hauled the boat out of the water at Power Boats, one of many very competent boat yards in the area. It is obvious that they have done this many times and have it down to a science. We were impressed with the work of the crew pulling the boat and getting Tsamaya placed on jack stands. We spent the next few days contacting local contractors to get some work done that we had on our wish list. The largest job that we are having done is changing our hull color from navy blue to off white. We definitely hate to see the navy color go, but everyone that has done this has told us that it is worth it. The major benefit is supposed to be that of keeping the inside of
A different type of lily
These candelabra lilies being sold on the street in Trinidad were quite unusual. the boat cooler and to cut down on how much the refrigeration system has to work to keep cool. Currently if you put your hand inside any of the lockers it is very hot and the refrigerator runs quite often which eats up our precious energy. It will be hard to recognize our boat when we return to Trinidad without its beautiful navy blue hull, but we hopefully will be pleased with the results. The person doing the work has come highly recommended and Bob did have a chance to talk to someone who had the same work done to their boat by the same contractor two years ago.
We are trying to work it out to have some canvas work done as well, but that has been more difficult as we need to finalize on it from a distance. Time will tell if this one happens while in Trinidad.
Now to the saga of Sailor the cat, as mentioned before we have been working on making arrangements to get her out of Trinidad and back to the US with us. All of our efforts failed; therefore she is currently on the boat happily staying on Tsamaya with
Radio Shack
The shopping malls we visited in Trinidad were quite modern – many of the same stores as back home – here there is a Radio Shack. an air conditioner. The biggest obstacle was that the regulations had changed and we had to get her taken directly from the boat on to the airplane before 4PM and our flight was suppose to leave at midnight. We weren’t able to change flights and we couldn’t get them to take us to the airport early as Sailor was to be put on the plane directly by the quarantine officers. In the long run this probably was the least traumatic option for Sailor as she is in a familiar setting and we have a fellow cruiser taking care of her. We have definitely missed her and will be anxious to see her again the end of September when we return. Thanks Katie for taking care of her and keeping her company (and keeping an eye on the boat)!
The rainy season had started in Trinidad before we left which was obvious by the downpours in the afternoon. Luckily the mornings were the driest and we were able to get the boat covered and ready to leave for 2 months. We rented an apartment from Powerboats which meant we were able to work on the boat without having to live
A modern shopping center
The shopping malls are quite impressive with all of the trappings of those in the US. on it at the same time. Our flight took off from Port of Spain 1 ½ hours after the scheduled time (midnight) and arrived safely in Newark NJ.
It's kind of weird being back in the United States but will talk about that the next blog.
Hope you're all doing well. Will try to get the next blog entry up before we return to Trinidad so the news is more timely. Time will tell if we succeed on this one!
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