Status: ANCHORED
Conditions: HOT & SUNNY
AirTemp: 32 DEG C
Wind: 15 KNTS EASTLY
SeaState: CALM
Visibility: CLEAR
Barometer: 1014MB
Latitude: 11DEG.59MIN N
Longitude: 61DEG.45MIN N
Friday March 29th, 2002
From the Spice Islands. Seamaster is back at anchor in Prickly Bay, Grenada, after an easy-going 5-day passage north from Belem. Arriving here puts the Amazon firmly behind us, for now at least.
Revisiting the river left all of us with the feeling that business there for blakexpeditions is unfinished. The issues there are ‘live’. They are ongoing. Some are being addressed, others aren’t. They need talking about and we realise we’ll be back.
All of us onboard Seamaster look forward to Donal MacIntyre’s BBC documentary on Peter’s accomplishments and the threats the Amazon is facing. As we write this, the film team is back in the United Kingdom in post-production and are aiming for a late April release. Watch the log and we’ll let you know where and when you can see it.
But now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of the Caribbean, explore Grenada and prepare to journey north through the island chain to the US where Seamaster will undergo a refit before her next expedition.
Grenada is an amazingly lush island, picture-postcard perfect. Returning here is nearly like coming home for the crew of Seamaster, as we spent two months here between Amazon missions. Rob, Ollie & Janot have been pouring over charts, selecting dive sites for the trip north, and Ollie has his underwater cameras rigged.
Getting to grips with the language here presents its own problems though. The official language is English (British forces captured the island in 1762 and - except for a brief French occupation from 1779-1783 - Grenada remained a British colony until it gained independence in 1974) but it has a local colour that presents it’s own ‘challenges’.
For instance, here Now for now means “urgent,” and One time means “at the same time. A car accident is called a “bounce.” Get used to W’happen dey? ("What’s happening") or How’s tings? ("How’re things?") - to which you’d reply Ah day ("I’m alright…” - or - “Just cool"). To get through your day just walk with a lope, say “How’z tings?” to everyone you encounter and when you drive, it’s one hand on the horn at all times - if you don’t, you’re the odd one out!
The team took the chance to explore the island by jeep and scooters for a few days. You can drive around the island in a day, but round every corner is ‘another’ picture-postcard white & sandy beach dripping with coconut-palms, so the journey usually takes longer.
We spent a night on the northern-tip, staring out to sea at an island perfect in setting, under a full & yellow moon. We slept in hammocks under coconut palms, wondering if things could get much better. They couldn’t. The pleasures were simple. Nature at it’s best!
Best regards from the crew of Seamaster.
Sir Peter Blake
"Having vision is not enough. Change comes through realising the vision and turning it into a reality. It is easy to espouse worthy goals, values and policies; the hard part is implementation."
Learn about Sir Peter Blake and his journeys around the globe