Ann's Blog
Toronto & Trinidad:
July 5, 2010
The case of the jealous wife
Okay, I know Steve has been working hard since I jumped ship in Grenada about two weeks ago. (I needed to fly north before him to do some Spice Necklace promotion in the U.S. and Canada.) For starters, he and our friend Harvey sailed Receta overnight to Trinidad a couple of days ago. I’m glad I missed the passage: The winds were light and, fighting an adverse current, they had to motorsail much of the trip – never my favorite way to travel. And they certainly didn’t set a Receta speed record for the passage: It took 15 hours, and the ship’s log shows we’ve done it in as little as 12. On the plus side, Steve reported that the seas were flat, the motion of the boat was easy, and they only encountered one brief and not terribly boisterous squall. So they enjoyed it.
Since then, they’ve been working in the steamy, rainy season heat of Chaguaramas, doing annual maintenance chores and readying Receta for her 3+ months on the hard. They disassembled and cleaned the two big genoa winches, removed and folded the headsail, scrubbed the deck and the cockpit cushions…and Harvey is on vacation? No question that they deserved time off to play.
Still. You could see a visible green cast to my skin as I read the following email from Steve the other morning. The italic parts are my comments.
“Last night was GREAT. Went to Veni Mangé for dinner (Harvey’s choice; you’ll recall I took him there a couple of years ago and he loved it). Roses and Allyson send their love and best wishes. Dinner was excellent: grilled pork for me, swordfish with chadon bene sauce for Harvey.” And I missed it??? Harrumph. I adore Veni Mangé. Located in a traditional wooden house with gingerbread trim and louvered windows in the Woodbrook section of Port of Spain, it has a fabulous vibe, low-key but stylish, and the West Indian classics on the menu have been kicked up a few delicious notches from their humble roots. Orchestrating the evening are sisters Rosemary Hezekiah and Allyson Hennessy (who’s been called “the Julia Child of Trinidad”). Note to self: As consolation for not being there, make a pot of Allyson’s “Tassa Chicken” (on p.316 of The Spice Necklace.)
“Afterwards, we walk down Ariapita Ave. towards the Mas Camp Pub, and at Sweet Lime [the adjoining restaurant/bar around the corner], I saw Ken ‘Professor’ Philmore unpacking his pan outside. Sure enough, we caught his entire performance, which Harvey loved.” Of course Harvey loved it. What’s not to love about the Professor playing steel pan? And I missed it??? Note to self: As consolation for not being there, dig out our DVD of Panorama 2008 and watch the Professor conduct the Laventille Sound Specialists to a first-place win in the medium-sized pan band category.)
“Then on to the Mas Camp Pub; found a table in the very crowded room…. The night’s last act was Denyse Plummer, who is up there like a fireball, dancing and wining. She started with “Woman Is Boss,” then “Nah Leaving,” which was great – I was singing along with the rest of the audience – and then a love song, which I didn’t know. She was singing it as a special request for someone, and it was fantastic. What a set of lungs she has. We left when everyone else did, and Stanley [one of our friend Jesse’s taxi drivers] had us back at the boat around 1:45 a.m.” And I missed it??? Even I would have stayed out until 1:45 to hear “Nah Leaving” live. It’s such a special song for me – its theme is that there are so many wonderful things about Trinidad, why would you leave? – that I used one of its verses as an epigraph in my book (p. 431). Steve says it brings tears to his eyes. Note to self: As a consolation, watch Denyse Plummer perform this song on YouTube.
On top of everything, Harvey won the evening’s door prize at the Mas Camp Pub: four bottles of rum, from the House of Angostura. No consolation necessary: He gifted them to Receta. I’ll raise a glass to that.
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