Slippery dealings
by Lucy
We have traded across the pond!
Three cheers! Hip hip hooray!
Yesterday we completed our olive oil deal here in Trinidad. Delivering our olive oil transported by sail to our slow food customers!
It took 6 days negotiating with customs we finally got the paperwork complete to deliver our olive to our Trini customers.
The tax rates for Trinidad are prohibitively expensive. At first we were told we were not welcome and that we must pay for what damage has been done in the past.
At one point we thought we were not going to be able to fulfil our orders for the slow food community.
We explained that we were trading olive oil by sail because we care about our environment and that we are exchanging goods fairly with local Trini’s.
Oh, and we’re making a film about it…
Would you, by any chance, mind being featured in the film?
Sandra, the formidable lady in charge of customs, was delighted to receive a bottle of fine spanish oil and feature in our documentary.
Suddenly the atmosphere changed. Martina set about filming the unloading and the transactions with the customs officials.
All is well that ends well. We got there in the end.
Hopefully next time round it won’t be quite so tricky!
Now to get our homeward bound rum, chocolate and spice cargo….
Congrats! Keep a rum bottle for me!
Very entertaining ! I am encouraging our SW Maritime History members and schools to follow the blog, those that do are enjoying greatly. I’d like to reprint parts if that is OK, perhaps talk on your return.
I’m also by chance reading “Captain’s Wife” by Abby Morrell, just reissued by Seaforth, a rare account of a woman on a tropical trader in the Pacific in 1832, Compare and contrast…
Best wishes for the return trip.
Jonathan Seagrave
Hi Jonathan, I’m thrilled that you are all enjoying our adventures. I’d love to come and talk about the voyage upon our return. Feel free to reprint parts and share with people, especially schools. I’ll look up Captain’s wife now. Sounds the perfect read aboard Irene. The sun is blazing and we are off to visit angostura to source some bitters before setting sail for Grenada. Best wishes from the deck of Irene in Trinidad. Lucy.