In the meantime we have become members of the Suriname Yachtclub: three little boats on a flimsy self-made pontoon by the Suriname river, close to our home. The flagship is a Beneteau First 30; there is also a Victoire 22 and an old-fashioned little boat of <6 meter. And soon perhaps our Sabaku again.

She made lots of miles with the yacht club, and rounded a couple of times the light ship, located 10 nm out (and in the meantime on the hard). Together with a 420 and a 470, turning around early because they didn't have a compass and there was no land in sight.
Sabaku will be happy to be our ”old lady”, not having to behave this reckless anymore.

So Surinamese have a different view on sailing. Also because of lack of materials, as the yachts date from the ’70s, when the Dutch reigned and they brought their stuff and boats as expats. The yachts are shabby, they leek and the yachties do their utmost to keep them afloat on a tight budget. But they have fun and they help each other whenever they can. They already wondered where Sabaku had gone, not only from curiosity but mainly because they needed the trailer, as it is the only trailer in the club. So fortunately Sabaku returned in the club.

JW is now busy renovating her. During the last months, the hull was completely covered with glass/epoxy and now he is constructing a new deck.

P also has a job: in Viviane's company. Zander and Ira (her son and daughter in law) booked a flight to Holland on an impulse – and they took Rita along as coincidentally they flew exactly on the date that Rita is officially allowed into Holland, three months after the serological test. So now P has a holiday's job and took over part of Ira’s work, driving around in a pick-up for Tropical Landscaping. Bring plants to and fro to the shop in Paramaribo, distribution of gardening tools as Viviane has many projects where her gardeners work, delivering plants in gardens, etc... Sounds easy but in Suriname they normally do not use an address. Many streets don't carry name signs and less than 10% of the homes carries a number. So over the bridge by the third Japanese grass hump to the right, first snowball shrub left and then it is over there by those palm trees. ????? All those rich neighbourhoods where Viviane sells her business, are covered with Japanese grass; snowball shrubs are common and palm trees are all around.

And all this while Rita experiences snow in Holland! It was good that we trained her quite intense in the fridge, so acclimatizing won't be too hard for her.

 

And suddenly the end of the year had come. A big party in Paramaribo, where a total length of 1.7 km “pagara” was shot. The party starts at midday as they celebrate the end of the last working day of the year. Every company and every shop shoots it's own pagara. One by one, so you can enjoy this for hours. Earplugs are necessary and smoke and ash are evrywhere.
For the in-crowd a huge dance party was organised by Galaxy (fashion) and Ninon (optician), who offered us a preview on 2011. In Suriname no party goes without food so there was enough for everyone and lots of rumpunch.

Join the party and see the film! (11.63 Mb)

The actual new year's celebration was with Viviane's parents, completely in style with true champagne and crème brulée, a treat in Suriname. Finally we ended up in the arms of all our neighbours who organised a little party on the street, and so we came home at 5 in the morning. A great start of 2011!

You must be wondering when we will be sailing again.
Soon! Now that Rita is in Holland and when Ira and Zander have returned buy the end of January, nothings can stop us anymore.
By the way, this might me one of our last sailing seasons with Witte Raaf, as we have decided to put her on the market. The reason: a growing number of activities and not enough time for the boat. But she is still with us and you can expect the next update as usual from the Caribbean.