Sitting In The Cockpit - Watching Time Go By

Carriacou – This song is about the little village in Tyrell Bay, Carriacou, a favorite place among the cruisers to anchor and spend time exploring the island and enjoying the culture. The people there are very friendly and welcome the cruisers. I had a great time while anchored there during the summer of 2008. I wrote this song while anchored in the bay.

Grenada – The island of Grenada was fascinating to us. We had a wonderful time there anchored off of Hogs Island, Clark’s Court Bay and the Lagoon. Grenada is known for it’s spices but we were especially impressed with the friendliness of the people.

Listen To The Children - While visiting some friends in Trinidad I happened to pick up a newspaper and there was an article on children in a village in central Trinidad that had done a march to protest the crime that was happening in their village and all over the island. The article inspired me to write this song.

Parking Fee – This is a true incident that occurred at Power Boats Marina in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. The management of the marina was trying to get the manager of the Sails Restaurant, a restaurant on the water at the marina, to pay for security at the docks in front of the restaurant. The manager of the restaurant did feel that that was part of his responsibility and refused. The manager of the marina then raised the parking fee from $10. to $40. to put the squeeze on the manager of the restaurant. A week later the manager of the restaurant agreed to provide funds for the security of the docks. The raise in the parking fee was the major topic of the patrons at the bar for many nights.

Scotland Bay – This is one of our favorite spots to anchor on the island of Trinidad. Scotland Bay is located on the North West corner of the island and is inaccessible by car. The howler monkeys live in the hills surrounding the bay and we spent many hours with our binoculars trying to locate them in the hills. You can hear them but they are hard to spot. It is also a favorite of the local Trinidadians and can get crowded on the weekends.

Sexy Susie – While attending a party in Trinidad one night as the guest of a friend, as I was being introduced to the host and some of the guest, I made the comment that I was terrible with names and would probably be asking them for their names again before the night was over. The host of the party then replied that it should be easy to remember her because she was Sexy Susie. I thought to myself that it would be easy to remember that as I have my own Sexy Susie, my wife Susanne. A couple months later while sitting in the cockpit strumming the cuatro, the idea for the song came to me and the rest is history.

Show A Light – This is a true story about an accident one night in front of Power Boats Marina in Chaguaramas, Trinidad, between a pirogue (a local fishing vessel) and a dinghy. It is not uncommon to see pirogues and dinghies traveling at high speeds throughout the anchorage at night with no lights. This family was very lucky. There was a little boy and girl on board along with their parents and the only injury was a broken arm of the little boy. There were many witnesses to this accident and despite the fact that everyone was aghast, it did not slow down the boats or improve the situation of no lights on pirogues or dinghies.

TTSA Pot Luck BBQ – The Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association (TTSA) held a Pot Luck BBQ every Monday Night during the first half of the year in 2008. The song tells the story of how it got started. Each week something new would happen and the size of it grew to such an extent that before we left there was not enough room for everyone to sit under the gazebo and some people had to eat at the bar. Each week I would add a new verse to the song and everyone looked forward to what I had to say. The reference to the assisted living community in the last verse relates to the cruisers who were staying at the Crews Inn Marina. They had a BBQ once a week but only guest staying at Crews Inn Marina were welcome.

Watching Time Go By – We had many days during the early part of 2008 when the wind was strong and whipped up a nasty chop in Chaguaramas Bay, Trinidad. It was during one of these days while I sat in the cockpit strumming the cuatro that this song was written.

Whisper Cove Marina – This song tells the story of a lovely little French Restaurant at Whisper Cover Marina, in Clark’s Court Bay, Grenada. We spent many days there using their free wifi to communicate with our friends and family back in the USA. The first day we went there Luke and Marie, the managers who are also cruisers, told us the story of the place and it inspired me to write the song.