We anchored right off the mouth of the Suriname River last night, then celebrated the 4th of July with Steve and Marianne enjoying rum and cokes, and I had Baileys in my coffee. We all had a good, long night’s rest at anchor.
This morning about 7am we started up the river going about 10 miles to the Shell station. It was a fascinating ride, as we passed an old Dutch fort, some more modern homes and buildings, dikes with below-river-level homes behind them, and lots of jungle. The main city of Paramaribo seems to be a decent city, and even has one 10-story high-rise- a bank. We had hoped the Shell station would be near town, and maybe we could sneak around a little (we weren’t doing customs or immigration, just buying fuel and not getting off the boat), but it was a backwater place with nothing near it but the tank farm.
They delivered as promised, giving us three pretty red drums with yellow lids (courtesy of Royal Dutch Shell), and filled everything with a ton of diesel. Literally, we now have a ton of diesel aboard.
I didn’t have time to explore the jungle, nor see any toucans, macaws, jaguars, tapirs or anteaters which the area is famous for, but I was able to grab an armload of mangoes from a nearby tree. All too soon we had to leave to allow another ship to dock, so it was back down the river and out to sea.
We decided to name our 3 new crew members Larry, Mo and Curly, so as to avoid any confusion, and duly labeled them with a Sharpie. In the process I made a wonderful discovery- these fuel drums play like timpani drums, and each with a different pitch! It wasn’t long before I was singing the dramatic theme from 2001- A Space Odyssey, with me covering all the parts except the key timpani drum solos, which I played to perfection. The performance was very well received, albeit by a limited audience.
We are back at sea now, finally on our way again, and expect to cross into French Guiana around midnight tonight.
06.06N 54.57W 1172nm gone, 3754nm to go. 3pm 7/5