The Marine Society & Sea Cadets

October has been a rather quiet month onboard, as we have spent all our time here in Trinidad waiting for a cargo.

Not that this means nothing is done; we continue to work on the fabric and mechanical maintenance of the ship that never stops. With regard to our cargo work, we wait, ready to spring into action should we receive any loading orders.

After all three 'trader' class ships being here in Trinidad at the start of the month, we have spent much of the remainder on our own in the anchorage as the other two ships loaded cargoes for the US and UK.

However, having delivered their cargoes, they are returning and soon we will have more company in the anchorage.

Now that the hurricane season is finally over, the weather has become a little more settled with warm, even hot sunny days with the occasional shower.

One phenomenon we did not expect to encounter was earthquakes. Apparently it has been over ten years since the last earthquake in Trinidad, but the occasional tremor is not uncommon as one of the main fault lines runs through the Caribbean region.

The tremor we felt was centred about 60 miles to the north east of Trinidad and measured approximately 6.5 on the Richter scale.

Some damage was caused on land. Mainly buildings shook, phone lines were cut, but little real damage was caused, although the local mobile phone network did shut down momentarily (much to our concern!).

Onboard we did feel some effects from the quake, which amounted to a slight vibration, felt throughout the ship, but this had had no affect on the ship’s machinery and systems.

With this time spent at anchor, minds have turned to thinking up various means of entertainment. So far we have enjoyed a treasure hunt, table tennis competition and a mini Olympics competition.

The treasure hunt involved three teams looking for a number of clues dotted about the ship, which ultimately led to the treasure (bags of chocolate). This certainly provided a few hours of entertainment and exercise for everyone as the clues were literally dotted all over the ship.

The table tennis competition is currently in progress but has generated much interest and endeavour in the table tennis room, which until now had remained rather vacant.

The mini Olympics are still in development, but with some fertile and resourceful minds on the task, it will certainly provide a few interesting and entertaining hours.

That’s about all for now and my last report this trip. Captain Dave Pegg will be returning on the 1st Nov after his leave to take over for the next three months or so.

With some luck he may even get to take the ship somewhere other than Trinidad.

Captain Dave Edgeworth


Read about a crew run ashore in Trinidad.