Photos by Pauline R.

"Soca in meh vain Soca in meh blood"

Gosh, drama before heading to boat ride. It's torture catching a taxi on a Sunday. I thought for sure I was going to miss the boat. Already 2:40pm and I'm still in Brooklyn waiting for ah damn taxi. Getting nervous because the boat departs at 3pm. Finally, I got a taxi and off to the pier I go. I arrived at the Circle Line and was relieved to see people still liming in front of the pier. Swoosh... I love my Trini people... I can always count on them to be a few minutes late.

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As I approached the boat, I saw some familiar faces of people I have seen at Rango's events and my peeps from Callaloo magazine... the other paparazzi covering the boat ride. Since this was my first time covering a 2B Promotions event, I tried to get the 411 on the dem. Rumor has it; they are a cool bunch of guys with excellent planning skills. Talk bout organized, 2B Promotions thought about everything. They had about 4 chartered buses to bring partygoers to de pier. Most impressive..... shuttles departed from Queens, so people could park their cars and just jump on the bus. You know what that meant, you could drink non-stop if you want! While I was chatting, I saw this man swaggering from one side to another bumping into his friends. I could only imagine that the bus ride was stocked with plenty of booze for him to be so tight.

My attention drifted from de drunk man to the well dresses ladies carrying silver foil pans. Hooray.... the food is here!!! That was my cue to start heading to the boat. I'm so hungry, I could eat ah cow. Grub is the first thing on my agenda before I do anything else. But wait, I ent link up the promoters yet for access. A quick call and Calvin was there in no time. Braps, I on board. Still following the food, I scoped out the scene and listened to the music as I waited patiently for my new friends to organize the food. Your girl got her plate of paleau, stew chicken and potato salad. Yummy... my new found friends could rel throw down!! Not long after I finished my plate, I noticed another group of people pulling out macaroni pie, coleslaw, fried chicken and peas and rice..... laaaaawd. I had not made friends with this group yet, but they soon offered me some of their food... ent I the lucky one? Belly full, ah ready to work now. ;-)

This boat was so ram it took them an extra 30 minutes to get everyone on board. I was feeling it for the ones waiting to board because it started to rain. Funny though, it did not seem to bother them much. Music jammin' and so were they. Not even the rain could take away from their Johnnie Walker shine!! I, on the other hand, was feeling cold and still ah bit uptight from earlier. I had to get something to warm me up fast fast.... and my liquor of choice was vodka. One big shot and I was good to go!

Cassanovas started us off with some great tunes and gradually picked up the pace once we pulled off. He read the people well giving them just the right mix of tunes and tempo. Smooth transitions from song to song, so it was non stop rhythmic moves. I smiled as I saw the people start to wine because this makes my job so much easier. It was time to get the people in action. I went to de front of the boat where I caught a few people jammin' in de rain. The look on their faces were not of disappointment, but of pure bliss.

Funky Fat Boy must have had the spirit of a Carnival in his vain because his mixes evoked something in me that I could not take any longer. I put my camera down and took a wine or two or three... shuuuuu, don't tell on meh. Ah couldn't help mehself.... Soca in meh vain Soca in meh blood!! We jumpin', jumpin' up whole day.... whole night.... pang pagan pi bang. Oh yeah, ah lost it.... well, wouldn't you?

De rhythm section took the boat ride to another level, they were amazing. They had everyone jumping and carrying on like it was Carnival in T&T all over again. Cuteness went out d door... it was pure hair swinging, arms wailing, bareback men with nipple rings, head bopping and plenty of sweat.... and with all these elements, we saw another classic.... ah man wining and grinding on ah blow-up doll yes (photo)!!! Apparently that was his date for the evening (photo). Hehe. Did I mention that I was cold at one point? Well, the heat generated from the feters on the boat was keeping me nice and toasty! Thank goodness for great DJ's and de rhythm section, ah was cold no more!!

We finally made it back safe and sound around 7:20pm. Rain was poring at this time, but again, no one seemed to mind because the music and Johnnie still in their veins singing as they boarded their buses for Queens. I met some great people and had an awesome time. This was a fantastic boat ride and I can't wait for 2B Promotions next big event.

Thanks TJJ for letting me represent. You guys were surely missed, but I definitely had ah time for one and all.

-- Pauline for the TJJ fam