Log #41c Sunday School in Buccoo Bay

Written at Mount Irvine Bay, Tobago Sept. 13, 2006

We had an enjoyable day with a Frankie’s Tour up to Speyside on the east end of the island, and over to Little Tobago, a bit of snorkeling off Goat Island, a delicious meal at Jemma’s Treehouse, a drive over to the Caribbean side of the island past Charlotteville and down the mountainous coast road, and a two hour walk through the protected tropical rain forest. Little Tobago is an uninhabited mountainous island off the northwest coast of Tobago and is now a national park. It was a bit exhausting walking up the steep slopes, but we had a fantastic view over Goat Island and the main eastern part of Tobago. Goat Island was previously inhabited by Ian Fleming of 007 fame, and is perhaps the reason so many James Bond books are set in the Caribbean. The snorkeling was only OK, from a glass bottomed boat. However, I borrowed a mask for the swim to compare it to my mask which always leaks. Wow! I didn’t have to clear the mask once! I have since bought a new mask. Now for my fins which rub blisters onto my bare feet, as they are designed for wearing over wet suit booties. I may buy a set of more flexible fins for diving down here in warmer waters.

The meal at Jemma’s Treehouse was a delicate poached kingfish in a Creole sauce. The scalloped breadfruit with onions baked in a cheese sauce was delicious. Normally breadfruit is a starchy tasteless potato-textured vegetable (no wonder Captain Bligh’s crew mutinied and threw his breadfruit plants overboard) that we have had a difficult time to make palatable the few times we tried it. The drive over the other side past Charlotteville was greatly appreciated as it gave us an idea of the sheltered anchorages that side of the island. The walk through the tropical rainforest was not difficult, as we went down Gilpin Trail through a narrow gorge to a small waterfall. The vegetation was thick, with stands of bamboo, palm trees, elephant grass, dense brush, and many trees with what our guide called Tarzan vines, which are vines strong enough for a person (Tarzan) to swing (screaming) on through the forest trees. We pulled on the vines to ascertain their strength, but did not try swinging out over the gorge. We saw a few more birds such as Blue-crowned Motmots, Short Tailed Swifts, White Tipped Doves, Blue-gray Tanagers, Orange-winged Parrots, Rufous-breasted Hermits, Blue-backed Manakins, and Brown Noddies. By the time we returned to Wave Dancer, we had driven around most of the island and felt no need to further explore it later with a rental car. Our impression of Tobago is still very favourable; a reasonably prosperous island with little poverty, friendly people, well kept houses, and clean beaches with public facilities for changing, washrooms, and picnic shelters, as well as moorings, docks and facilities for local fishermen (at least at Buccoo Bay).

When we returned to Store Bay, we found Wave Dancer heaved up farther on the beach than when we left in that morning. We found out later that, as there was a very high tide that day, a local noticed it was awash and pulled it above the high tide line for us. This is one of the disadvantages of Store Bay, having to haul the heavy dinghy with a 10 horsepower outboard engine 15 feet or more up the sandy beach, as there are no docks of any kind available. The bay itself was a bit rolly, and we were looking forward to going up island to a few of the bays we saw on our tour.

We had exchanged with CLIFF’S NOTES, an American boat we met in Hog Island and now down here in Store Bay, a DVD, one of the few we own, "The Constant Gardener", for a Brit series called "As Time Goes By". We left next day for Buccoo Bay and expected CLIFF’S NOTES would be up next day or so. However, we have not seen them since, and wonder if we will get our DVD back?

Buccoo Bay is sheltered by Buccoo Reef a protected area because of the extensive shallow coral reefs. We had dinghied over the area a few days ago exploring Bon Accord Lagoon, the hurricane hole in the middle of the protected area, and admired the extensive sandy beaches there and right over to Buccoo Bay as mentioned in my last log. Fantastic isolated clean white sandy beaches!

After 8 nights at Store Bay we left early afternoon on Sept. 9 for Buccoo Bay. However, even though the distance was only 1.5 miles straight line, having to go out and around the reefs, and through a reef strewn entrance, the distance was 5.3 miles, and not so simple. After we weighed anchor and headed out, not quite to the reefs, our engine stopped pumping water and we had to shut down. The winds and current were drifting us toward the outlying reefs. We dropped anchor in 70 feet of water while we worked on the water intake through-hull and the water strainer in the starboard cockpit locker. Poking a coat hanger from outboard into the through-hull opening did not dislodge whatever was blocking the intake. On board we opened the water strainer, and disconnected the intake hose from the through-hull fitting to blow through and ream it with the coat hanger. Finally we cleared the blockage, probably a piece of sea weed of the exact wrong size. This situation added a bit of anxiety to what should have been a simple one hour motor outside around the reefs and into Buccoo Bay. However when cruising, "Nothing is ever simple!"

Buccoo Bay was far quieter wave wise, but we had to use eyeball navigation to find a deep enough sandy spot to anchor. The first spot we anchored was shallow, and next morning we bumped bottom a couple of times before moving out into a wider sandy spot where we stayed for another three nights. I would recommend Buccoo Bay over Store Bay as a more secure anchorage. At the town docks we could bring the dinghy alongside without worrying about wave surges washing Wave Dancer against the rocks or out to sea. There is a town recreation centre on the beach with change rooms, washrooms, and picnic shelters. The fishermen were quite friendly and helpful. On one occasion we got a couple of conch from one and another day a barracuda from another. However, as pleasant as the town is and as beautiful are its clean beaches, Buccoo Bay’s claim to fame is its Sunday School!

Sunday School

Sunday night, this sleepy reef sheltered town of a few hundred people comes alive with its Sunday School, a weekly all night street party with hundreds of others, starting in the early evening with food stands and local craft kiosks, all the stores open and several bars with strobe lights and loud music getting the crowds that throng the community going. About 9.00 PM the excellent local steel drum band sets up and plays for a couple of hours in the beach-side community facility.

It was a great band, with ten musicians, each one playing from two to six steel drums. They played continuously for 90 minutes, a wide variety of rhythms and songs, classical, folk and popular. Their repertoire went from the traditional Caribbean favourites such as "Jamaican Farewell", and other Calypso pieces to Frank Sinatra’s "I Did It My Way", and even a very moving rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel’s "Messiah", - all with steel drums! Locals and tourists alike were dancing to the music.

It is especially pleasant to watch the local blacks dancing, gyrating, "wining" and grooving to the rhythms with uninhibited abandon and enjoyment. People wore a wide variety of dress. Some were in cut off shorts and T-shirts. Some women were dressed in fancy dresses, and others in skin tight sequined slacks and low-cut blouses. One black chap was dressed up like a New Orleans pimp, complete with three piece dark suit, fawn coloured scarf, gaudy tie, gold chains, frizzled bleached blonde hair, an ebony silver-tipped cane and a black fedora at a rakish angle. There were many hip hop baggy shorts (I always wonder how they manage to keep them up) hanging down to the crotch line and over sized T-shirts with a variety of logos and images, from "I am Black" to dramatic facial images of Che Guevara and Bob Marley.

After the steel band finished about 11:00 a group of four East Indians came into the centre, two with small high pitched waist drums, another with a large barrel drum, all suspended by red silk scarves from their necks, and a set of brass or silver cymbals wielded by the fourth. With great intensity, they set up a tremendous variety of beats and rhythms for a half hour. The drummers were stony faced, staring straight ahead, showing no expression, but beating out fantastic rhythms on their instruments. The one with the barrel drum was beating it with his hand on one end and a stick on the other. The finale was even more intense, ending with the barrel drummer on bent knees, cradling his drum on his thighs, and flaying it with rapid syncopations with both hands to a rising crescendo, and a final loud plaintive pounding, leaving him exhausted to the appreciative applause of the spellbound audience.

Then the party started!

Loud music pulsated from gigantic speakers in the community centre, and the crowds migrated around the centre, and up into the town streets and into the bars with equally loud music. It was past our bedtime, and so we went back to VELEDA in Wave Dancer, still to hear the loud music pulsating through the boat a half mile away until about 0400! That was the Sunday School in Buccoo Bay!

Next log