A Guyanese Initiation
By Sheila Quentrall-Thomas Published: 30/11/2009
At the crack of dawn on Saturday 31st October I left Trinidad for my first visit to Guyana.
The flight was momentous from the start - extreme turbulence which meant that no refreshments could be served followed by an announcement from the captain that he would be unable to land until the cloud cover cleared; a regular event apparently!
After circling for 40 minutes he finally saw the runway and scurried down before everything was obscured from sight again. I was met at arrivals by our perfect host, Angelique, who herself had been delayed by bad weather and traffic congestion.
The purpose of the Guyanese visit was to meet up with Peter and his “first mate”, Patrick de
Groot, who had left Trinidad on Tuesday 27th October aboard Passagemaker, to sail down to Georgetown, a trip expected to take a maximum of 4 days, giving an extra of Friday evening.
By Saturday 10am there had been no sighting of the boat but finally, at noon, we had a call from Peter to say that Patrick was seriously ill and was going to be taken off Passagemaker by a pilot boat as soon as possible. His consequent hospitalization and slow recovery from a diabetic complication is another story but suffice it to say that a much-recovered Patrick was allowed home on Tuesday 3rd November after numerous tests and scans.
Meanwhile, Peter had to dock Passagemaker at the John Fernandez wharf, a complex reserved for the loading and off-loading of huge ships and he found himself squeezed into a tiny slot between a giant container ship and a massive floating barge piled high with magnificent lumber. The mooring was challenging, to say the least, as the water level fluctuated by as much as 10 feet so Passagemaker would either be right up level with the dock and nearly spilling over the edge, or dropped way down so that only her mast was visible!
Unfortunately, during the rough crossing from Trinidad, the generator suffered some damage due to flooding of the engine compartment so it was necessary for Peter to go aboard to effect repairs. I elected to keep him company!! We had to board at low tide which meant “walking the plank”, a scrap piece of wood which sloped from the dock to the roof of the wheelhouse at a frightening 45 degrees angle!
After a stiff drink to steady the nerves, Peter worked on dismantling the damaged components whilst I, having cleaned up the consequences of Passagemaker‘s rough crossing, sat on deck watching the activities of the trucks off-loading their rice. Fascinating!!! Dozens of old, often badly battered, vehicles piled high with huge bags of rice, pulled up in front of the receiving depot, to be quickly off-loaded by a steady stream of forklifts, the bags then being skillfully stacked inside the cavernous warehouse. Many of the bags were damaged and leaked their contents but men were always at hand to stuff the holes with pieces of old sacking so that the off-loading sequence was hardly disrupted. During this frenetic but well organized operation a “checker” was randomly sticking a probe into the rice sacks and taking samples for examination. A simple but effective form of quality control! That evening we left a safely secured Passagemaker to enjoy a couple of days sight-seeing on land.
However, on Tuesday, driving home from a wonderful day exploring New Amsterdam, a beautiful old city about an hour’s drive from Georgetown, we received a call asking us to move Passagemaker as 2 giant ships were due to dock at 5.30, right in the space we were occupying. We reached the boat in good time so, whilst waiting for the arrival of the ships, Peter was able to complete his repairs. Just as the sun was setting, the first ship appeared and, at 6.30pm, she was piloted into her space at the rear of Passagemaker. It was totally awesome to look up from the boat and see this giant ship maneuvering into position just feet away from us.
Having recovered from that nerve wracking experience we then watched as the second ship eased her way through the water towards us. As she neared, Passagemaker was man-handled backwards to mover her even nearer to the ship at our rear, to allow the maximum space in front of us for the second ship to dock. There was a great deal of shouting, cursing and rope throwing until Passagemaker was tucked under the bows of the ship (by which time I was soaked from slimy, oily ropes that had been thrown to me to hold onto during the procedure!).
Thinking all was now well and Passagemaker was safely secured, we locked up and left the boat, again having to walk the perilous plank. We were too hasty, however, as, having just left the compound, we were asked to return to move Passagemaker out as there was insufficient room for the second ship to dock. So, aboard once more (by now we are fully adept at crossing over the horribly murky waters on a thin sliver of wood!!) we prepare to start the engines and take Passagemaker out into the open water. By this time the second ship, a giant vessel laden with containers, is just feet away from us and being “sidled” against the dock. As it turned out, there was sufficient space for her, so we did not need to move Passagemaker and, as I type this, she is hemmed in tightly between two huge ships and our delicate little mooring lines are swamped by massive ropes securing the goliaths behind and in front of us.
It has certainly been a memorable visit to Georgetown but both Peter and I are looking forward to sailing out into the calmer, and hopefully cleaner, waters of the Essequibo tomorrow, where, no doubt, another adventure awaits us!!
And it was a good one… when I took Sheila for a little cruise before her flight back and proceeded to get Passagemaker stuck on a mud bank!! Don’t worry she made her flight on time.
Sheila forgot to mention we also flew to the Kaieteur Falls in the interior. This is the longest single drop water fall in the world at 741 feet ( approx 150 meters)
The falls are stunning. This shot if from the plane which is the only way to reach the area.
This photo gives a sense of the scale because if you look closely at this shot you can see a tourist standing on a ledge just to the right of the top of the falls.
We also spent a day in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. It was originally built by the Dutch who reclaimed all the lands along the coast. All the older buildings are made of wood and we went into the tallest wooden building in the world which is their Anglican Cathedral. Outside it was impressive but inside it was spectacular.
And so the first part of the Guyana Invitation came to a close. A friend joined me and we went exploring the Essequibo River. What a fabulous place…. But that story has to wait until I get some more photos.
Hope you enjoyed reading this…Peter and Sheila
(PS: I’m finishing this somewhere in the Atlantic off the coast of Venezuela as I take Passagemaker home. I’m just out of the shower as the engine shut down due to dirty diesel fuel and in draining off the bad fuel I managed to get it all over me…. Great fun!!)
