We awoke once during the night and had to close all of the hatches due to rain but otherwise we slept right through until 6AM.
Rick started first thing in the morning checking the level of water in the batteries. We hadn’t plugged into shore power yet and everything including the fridge was running well. He found the water level was down quite a bit and one bank looked like it was dead but still it charged up again after being topped up. Rick doubts it would hold the charge long but at least we can survive on the other banks until we get some new batteries.
We are located on the central wall of the marina rather than on a finger dock so we are very visible and everyone walks by this location. We stopped many times during the day to talk to old friends who are here and came by to say hello. I was just about to rinse our inflatable life jackets when I heard Rick getting extremely excited outside. I popped my head out to see who it was that was causing so much excitement and found our friend Gary from Elusive. We hadn’t seen him since Grenada, well over 2 years ago. We had heard that he almost lost his boat during hurricane Ivan. Sharon was on the boat and they were anchored over in Scotland Bay where we intend to anchor in a few weeks. When Gary left I continued working on small jobs down below until I heard another familiar voice. It was Jack from Mystic Adventure who arrived here yesterday about the same time as us but from Blanquilla, Venezuela. They had been able to maintain a southeast course that we hadn’t due to their 80 horse power engine. Later, Barrett from Serendipity stopped by. As Barrett and Rick were talking I heard an unfamiliar alarm go off down below so went to check it out. There were quite a few things happening on the inverter panel, the bilge alarm, the carbon monoxide alarm, the water pressure system and even the radio was making funny noises. I couldn’t figure it out immediately but when I turned the water pressure system off it seemed to help. Eventually I had to call Rick below to help me. We were both the culprit. He had left a strap from the negative side of the battery to a shunt which was temporary but got forgotten while he was socializing with our friends. This strap along with the charger feeding directly to the ships main electrical panel rather than through the batteries (Rick forgot to hook up the house batteries before turning it on). I on the other hand, had forgotten that I had left the water running in the bathtub (to rinse the life jackets) and not only emptied the water tank but overflowed the bathtub. So the water pressure system was trying to run without any water and the bilge pump and alarm were going off because of my mistake. All of the other alarms etc. were a by product of working directly from the charger.
When things calmed down, we closed up and went shopping. We started at the marine stores located in Crews Inn but worked our way around the whole bay checking prices at all locations.
We had agreed to meet with Jack and Joanne (Mystic Adventure) for dinner at Joes Pizza. It was a wonderful evening and while we were there Paul from Kiana who we haven’t seen for about 2 ½ years showed up. It was a wonderful day seeing so many friends from the Eastern Caribbean.
During our walk from Coral Cove Marina back to Crews Inn, we passed by a field. The sounds coming from many different types of frogs (we think) in that field were deafening. Some were very low croaks and others sounded much like the Puerto Rican coqui frogs. We were sure that one of the types of frogs was calling “Rick”. The sound was a continual Rick, Rick, Rick.
Since it was high pitched Rick was looking in every direction to make sure there weren’t women calling for him (dream on).
We made it through the night without a rain drill. It was wonderful to slowly wake up with all of the ports and hatches open as there was an amazing symphony of song birds all around us. Mixed in amongst the song birds were probably a few thousand noisy parrots but it was sure a lot nicer than awakening to the crow of a rooster.
We went in the morning to order our new batteries and isolators. The batteries would be put on a slow charge and delivered to our boat on Tuesday. The control unit for the autopilot was dropped off at the Ray Marine dealer and should be either repaired or replaced within a week or two.
Rick returned to the boat while I went to the internet and checked our email and the status of a low that is developing to the East of us around 9 degrees north. When I returned to the boat there was a cruiser talking to Rick that I didn’t recognise. She introduced herself as Mary. She and her husband Ralph are on a boat named Merlin. This is their first year down here and they have been following our travels through the web site. When she heard us on the radio she new exactly where we had come from so came over to say hello. It’s fun to meet web site fans.
After lunch it was time for the big test… The engine started immediately on the first try. It appears as though our new starter battery was not destroyed and the alternator was working properly so it was just the regulator that went defective.
We had another visitor. This time it was a Canadian who saw the boat and flag so came over to say hello. His name was Phil and I’m not sure how to spell his boat name yet but it sounds like Byothic. Initially he said he was from Oakville but as the conversation continued, we learned that he was really from Newfoundland. Not only that, he was a friend of Peter and Carolyn Watkins who used to own Wind-Borne III.
We spent a couple of hours at the pool which is almost right beside our boat. Feeling nice and refreshed, Rick returned to the boat and installed the new battery isolator while I took a few loads of laundry into the small Laundromat a few steps from the boat.
We were both finished in time to have a late sundowner before dinner on board.
Jack and Joanne (Mystic Adventure) had to move their boat to a different slip this morning and we had offered to help. So first thing before breakfast Rick put the dinghy in the water and we were ready to go as soon as the net was over. The manoeuvring room was tight and we were there to nudge the boat over a little just in case but Jack did a fine job on his own. When we returned to our boat we secured the dinghy and went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The hotel offers a special cruisers breakfast for about $5 U.S. We certainly couldn’t pass on a deal like that.
Bill and Carol (Hope) who are in the slip directly behind Wind-Borne III, joined us for breakfast. It was a very enjoyable morning.
When we had finished breakfast we got in the dinghy again and went to the other side of the bay. Rick dropped me off and I walked to Budget Marine for a few things while he had the jerry cans filled at the fuel dock.
Back at the boat, Rick topped up the fuel tank so that he could make another run while I tidied down below. We were going to go to the pool again in the afternoon but our timing was bad. A large black cloud full of rain arrived just as we were getting ready to go. Instead, Rick had a siesta while I went to the check the weather on the internet. Our low pressure that was a potential problem has moved up to 12 degrees and appears that it will probably just remain a tropical wave. When I returned to the boat I made an appetizer to take to Mary and Ralph’s (Merlin) who had invited us to their boat for happy hour this evening. They have a beautiful boat (an Island Packet 38) with air conditioning. The air conditioning was so nice that I think if we had it I would never come out of the cabin. We had a great time visiting with them and learned a little about their adventures coming south. Before buying the Island Packet they sailed a 17 foot Siren which was also our first boat for many years. We hated to leave but if we had stayed much longer they would have thought we were moving aboard. Eventually we returned to our own non air conditioned boat.
Although it was Sunday it was not a day of rest. We both worked our buns off most of the day. Rick worked on boat projects and I cleaned. He even removed 2 of the batteries in preparation for the new ones that should arrive on Tuesday. We were trying to get most of the boat work completed so that we can spend the next couple of weeks touring the island while we are still at dock.
In the afternoon we tried to go to the restaurant to pick up a quick hamburger for lunch but they were only offering their Sunday buffet. We instead went to the small grocery store down below and picked up some hot dogs and buns.
At the end of the day we were both too tired to even go to the pool.
As soon as the net was over this morning, the work began. We first just walked to the refrigerator place (Nau-T-Kol) to retrieve a control unit we had left with them to be tested. It tested fine so we still have a spare on board and saved our selves a few hundred dollars. Next stop was the Ray Marine dealer. The technician had tested the control head for our autopilot and found it worked fine. He said he would come to the boat tomorrow morning if we still had a problem with it. We returned to the boat and Rick checked everything out a second time. Of course it's always easier to do a more thorough job when sitting calmly tied to dock rather than bouncing around underway. Sure enough, he found that the connection at the fuse panel was loose. There was a tiny nick in the screw threads that had prevented it from being tightened down on the wire. We were lucky that the control head hadn't gone blank on us much sooner.
Next he removed the remaining batteries and we waited for the new ones to arrive. I was at least able to help lift the batteries from the cockpit to the dock as we lifted each one using the outboard motor derrick. We had good service from the Surrette Batteries during the last 6 years but Surrettes (Rolls) are just not in the budget this year so we decided to try U.S. Battery. They are not quite as heavy and have 225 AMPs each rather than 262 AMPs that we had with the Surrettes but they should be fine. The new batteries arrived before any ice cubes in the freezer had a chance to melt and Rick had them and an isolator installed before dinner.
Dinner was on board and although it should have been a celebration since all work was complete, everyone was too tired.
It was time to do some serious shopping. We took the dinghy across the bay and stopped in to see Jessie James of Members Only. We booked a two day trip with him for this Friday as I prefer to travel when we are at dock rather than at anchor. Hopefully we will only be at dock for another couple of weeks.
Next we walked out to the road and waved down a maxi taxi (large van) to take us into town. I had to get a new card for our camera before going on the trip as the little one I had would only hold a dozen pictures. We bought the card at Radio Shack then had lunch at Burger King, then picked up a day pass and roamed a large PriceSmart store. It certainly seems very North Americanized here.
We took another maxi taxi back to Chaguaramas and got off at Budget Marine where Rick was able to buy almost everything he had on his list.
We walked from Budget Marine to Coral Cove Marina where we found a small Shop Vac that Rick has been wanting.
When we returned to the boat the sun was setting and it was getting a little cooler so I washed a few more loads of laundry while we still had access to the nice Crews Inn laundry room.
We had breakfast then listened to the net before checking out of Crews Inn and preparing to move the boat from Crews Inn Marina to Coral Cove Marina which is just on the other side of the harbour. I started the engine to let it warm up a little before leaving and just as the lines were let go the thing stalled. Rick has changed the fuel filter the other day and hadn't bled all of the air. It was a quick fix and we were on our way. Jack (Mystic Adventure) our neighbour at Coral Cove saw us pull away from dock so he was ready and waiting when we arrived 2 minutes later, to catch our lines at Coral Cove.
Once we were secure Rick put up the sun awning which immediately cooled the boat a little. I washed quite a bit of grime and bird do-do off of the bimini and dodger. We hooked up the power and then for lunch we went to Joe's Pizza which is the restaurant at this marina.
We were both in need of a short siesta which was shortened a little more due to an afternoon rainstorm that woke us in time to close the hatches and ports before the main downpour. When the rain stopped we went back over to Crews Inn (by dinghy) for a book swap in the afternoon that was followed by free wine tasting at the duty free wine shop located at Crews Inn.
When we returned to the boat we were both more tired than hungry so after a quick snack we retired for the evening.
I made breakfast of arepas with crème de lechè for breakfast (memories of Venezuela) and we ate while listening to the local net.
The dressmaker, seamstress and swimsuit ladies visit Crews Inn on Thursday mornings after the net. Rick and I went to see them and get information on prices and amounts of fabric they require. Rick needs new swim trunks, shorts and shirts. I need new everything. I have been waiting until Trinidad to replenish my wardrobe.
It was still early when we returned to the boat but I had left the breakfast dishes. After cleaning up I washed all of the curtains, hatches, ports and screens. Rick dug out and connected the cable TV cord. All of the things we buried deep in the cockpit lockers because we weren't going to need them for a long time have all been brought out and are in use again. We watched CNN and National Geographic while eating lunch.
In the afternoon I prepared a marinade for chicken and cooked some broccoli with a cheese sauce for a potluck dinner at Crews Inn. We joined Mary and Ralph (Merlin) and the whole gang that they have been travelling with as well as a few others.
When we returned to the boat Rick raised the dinghy into the davits and washed the potluck dishes while I packed for a 2 day trip that we are leaving on in the morning.
We were ready to leave long before necessary. Jessie James our tour guide and
driver picked us up at the marina at 10AM. There were 10 cruisers in total going
on this trip. When he asked if there was anything about Trinidad that we wanted
to know about, I asked about "doubles". Everyone who had been to Trinidad talks
about doubles and how great they are. The others in the bus all agreed that we
should stop for doubles at lunch time along the way. Well, I learned that you
don't necessarily find good doubles in restaurants; the good ones are made at
little roadside stands. You find a stand with a long line up of people and
you'll find the best doubles. The one we stopped at had more than doubles and
although Jessie told me what each was called I'll have to have him write the
names down for me another time. Rick and I
each had a double which was made with
very light puffy fried dough. It was fresh and warm when the server put some
filling on one piece and then put a second piece of the dough on top. I have no
idea yet what was in the filling but it was very good and messy to eat. We also
shared one of everything else they were making. The first was callaloo battered
and fried. We have tried callaloo (which is normally like a tough spinach leaf)
a few different ways. We both agreed that this was the best so far. Then there
were heavier battered long things that looked like long doughnuts. One was
filled with egg plant and another was filled with mashed potatoes. Finally we
had a small round ball that was either meant to be eaten as a bread or cake.
We continued on our way and just after I mentioned to Jessie that
there
seemed to be pretty good roads in Trinidad, we turned and started our climb up
the mountain into the rainforest. The road gradually changed to a single lane
that was narrow enough that I had to hold my breath when we passed a vehicle
coming in the opposite direction. The cars would all honk loudly when
approaching the hairpin turns or tight turns around the edge the mountain where
oncoming traffic could be concealed. We made it to the Asa Wright Nature Centre
just after 1PM. We checked in at the main lodge and were each assigned a
bungalow.
Once our luggage was put in our bungalow, Rick and I went for a short walk
along a trail called the Mot Mot
trail. We didn't see any Motmots which is a
type of bird but on our own we wouldn't have known where or what to look for. We
did see some beautiful tropical plants and trees in bloom. We were enjoying the
flowers and colours so much that we almost forgot that it was the birds that we
came to see.
At 4PM we returned to the lodge for tea time. While we sat on the large open
veranda high above the ground we watched many different types of birds come to
the feeders that were placed all around the ground as well as the hummingbird
feeders hanging next to us on the veranda. There are 17 different species of
hummingbirds in Trinidad, 13 of them are in the Asa Wright area and we were able
to see 8 different species while just sitting on the veranda sipping tea and
eating cake. Makesh, our guide while we were at the centre pointed out and
identified different birds for us. The bird
feeders were tables made of metal
tubing that held bread, bananas and melon between wire screens. Many different
types of birds could be seen on the feeders at the same time and the scraps that
the birds dropped were quickly picked up by an agouti or an iguana. Some times
there were 5 or more birds at a time on each of the humming bird feeders around
us. At first it was hard to tell the difference between the honeycreepers and
the hummingbirds because they we just about the same size and both used the
hummingbird feeders. The colours on the various birds ranged from florescent
green, deep green, iridescent blue, light blue, turquoise, light purple, deep
purple, yellow, red and every other shade imaginable. We all sat in awe and
watch the birds until it was 6PM when the hostess came around and served us a
happy hour rum punch. The punch was made from fresh fruits grown at Asa Wright.
The Asa Wright lodge is an old plantation house and magnificently restored. We moved from the large veranda into the dining room for dinner where a large buffet had been prepared for the 12 guests staying overnight and of course our guide Makesh who joined us and continued to answer our never ending questions.
After dinner, Rick and I returned to our bungalow for wonderful nights sleep. Each bungalow has its own screened veranda. We were at 1200 feet above sea level which makes it a little cooler for sleeping. We left the curtains between our bedroom and the veranda open so we could have the fresh breeze and sound of the crickets.
We slept so soundly that we didn't even hear the rain during the night.
In fact I commented on what a heavy dew there was in the morning. I set the
alarm for 5:30AM so that we had time to shower and be at the main lodge before
the birds got too active in the morning. We were well rewarded for this. Not
only did I see all of the Honeycreepers and Hummingbirds. I saw and got a
picture of a beautiful blue with a yellow breast Trogon, a blue crowned Motmot,
a woodpecker and a Crested Orophendola (the bird that makes the nests that
fascinate us). I also was able to see a couple of Toucans (using a telescope) on
the top of a tree in the distance. In a bush right beside the veranda I saw a
female tufted coquette which is the smallest humming bird in Trinidad.
After a large breakfast Makesh took us for a walk along one of the trails and pointed out things that had we been on our own, we would have totally missed. We came to a White-bearded Manakin lek. A lek is a display ground for courting rituals. This lek contained about 20 courts where the male Manakin performs a special mating dance to attract female Manakins. We saw a couple of male White-bearded Manakins but they weren't very active. Makesh said that that was because they have been moulting.
One of the things we found very interesting was an extremely large
leaf-cutter ant colony. This colony was 3 to 4 metres deep and over 50 years
old. We could see the little worker ants (females) carrying little pieces of
leaves along their well groomed trail toward the hill. Many of the leaves had a
second or third ant (minums) riding shotgun on the leaf watching for predators
(parasitic flies and wasps). Makesh used my walking stick and pounded a log that
was partially buried on top of the hill. We waited a while and watched the many
exit holes. In a while many huge soldier ants came charging out to protect the
nest. I had never seen a soldier ant before and the size and appearance was
amazing.
There were metal pipes placed in some areas along the trail that could be used as a hand hold. If you shone a flash light down the pipe you could find tarantulas sleeping during the day. None of us brought a flash light but a few that had gone for a walk along the road last night in the dark saw a large tarantula there. The only dangerous thing that Rick and I saw was a large boa constrictor that Makesh pointed out yesterday. It was sleeping high on a branch in a tree near the main lodge but when we looked today, it was gone.
We had been walking slowly looking at things on our way from the lodge down towards the valley for almost a couple of hours. Now it was time to pay the price and head back up. We were all huffing and puffing when we reached the main lodge but it had been worth while.
Rick and I went to our bungalow and changed for a swim. We walked quite a
ways looking for the clearwater pool and waterfall. We had turned off the main
road too soon following the sound of the rushing water.
Eventually we found it and again had to walk way down a hill to get where we could finally go for a swim. Rick wimped out as it was not the bath water temperature of the ocean to which he has become accustomed. I ducked down into the water and although it was cold, after the hike it was extremely refreshing. I loved it. The walk back up the hill seemed like nothing after the nice swim. We made our way back to our bungalow where we changed for lunch and packed to leave.
At the main lodge we found the others sitting on the veranda relaxing and watching the birds again. We did the same until the bell sounded for lunch. Lunch was another huge meal which meant we would probably all fall asleep in the bus on our return trip to the marina. Some did but it was someone other than Jessie that picked us up and he drove a little faster. I was too busy to sleep, holding on for dear life as we whizzed down the mountain side.
It was just before 3PM when we arrived back at the boat. Now I was ready for a siesta. Jack (Mystic Adventure) asked Rick if he would tail the halyard for Joanne while he went up the mast to replace their antenna. I tried to sleep while Rick did that but in the end I just rested.
Today I had planned to clean the boat but found that I have a nasty cold or allergies. As I moped around most of the day, Rick covered for me by vacuuming and cleaning. By evening, I was feeling better and he was not feeling well.
Everyone was feeling much better today. Although Rick had a good breakfast at 7:30, by 10:30AM he was ready for lunch.
In the afternoon, I cleaned and tidied the boat a little more while Rick walked over to the woodworkers to get some small pieces of wood to make spacers for the interior of the battery boxes.
We had dinner at Joe's Restaurant with Phil, Brenda (Beothuck), Jo and Jack (Mystic Adventure).
September 13, 2005, TrinidadWe were up and ready to leave on a tour right after breakfast. Jessie picked
us up at 9AM along with five other cruisers and we headed towards the south end
of the island to see Pitch Lake. Along the way, he stopped at a little roadside
stand and picked up some doubles for us to eat as a morning snack. It was late
morning when we arrived at a small town named La Brea. Jessie drove through the
town slowly so we could see the houses. La Brea is the town closest to Pitch
Lake and as the pitch is mined from the lake, the pressure changes in veins of
pitch that are deep underground throughout the town. The pitch pushes up and
erupts under houses tilting them every which way. We saw
many houses sitting
askew on large mounds of pitch.
The lake, although not very scenic was very interesting. This is the only pitch lake in the world that supplies asphalt for roads etc. Two other pitch lakes exist; one in Maracaibo Venezuela that is in a liquid form so can't be mined and small one in California where many fossils have been found so it also is not mined. Trinidad is the only country that mines and exports pitch worldwide.
We had to follow our guide carefully to avoid stepping in areas of liquid
pitch. We saw small bubbles of methane gas escaping from the lake as well as
some toxic liquid that works its way up in some spots. There had been a heavy
rainfall just before we got to the lake. In fact, we
stood in a pump house
waiting for the rain to stop. I think if it had not rained, we would have found
it extremely hot walking on the dark black pitch in the hot mid-day sun.
There was a large pond of lily pads near the Pitch Lake and one of the workers picked and gave me one of the beautiful large flowers. We saw our first Black-bellied Whistling-Duck sitting on one of the lily pads.
We left the town of La Brea and then stopped at a restaurant where we all had
huge Rotis for lunch. After lunch, we drove to a large nature reserve called the
Wildfowl Trust. It is located on property own by the Petrotrin Company. We drove
by the beautiful company provided executive housing just prior to
reaching the
reserve. The reserve was wonderful. There were half a dozen peacocks roaming
around and tame enough to great us when we arrived. On the next hill we saw many
of the same Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks that I had seen earlier in the day. A
guide took us for a walk around the duck pond where we saw some purple
Gallinules that looked like they were walking on water but really, they were
walking on the lily pads. The chicks were able to walk on small marsh plants
between the lily pads. I saw many Wattled Jacanas that looked a little ugly to
me until I saw their beautiful wings when they were flying. A beautiful
Yellow-hooded Blackbird perched nearby us just as we were approaching the cages
of Scarlet Ibis. We learned that we were in the
breeding area. The birds are
bred and then released but many choose to remain on the reserve.
It was almost 5:30PM when we returned to the marina. We were invited to play cards and eat with Jo and Jack on board Mystic Adventure at 6PM. We had just enough time to freshen up before going next door. It was a fun evening and Jo had arranged for the marina restaurant to deliver pizza to the boat.
As I sat and was writing my daily journal the computer froze. There was no way I could revive it. We went over to Tropical Marina next door and dropped off our laundry then went to Jessie's office. We hired one of his drivers to take us down town where we were able to pick up a new quartz for our ships clock. It will need a little modification but it looks like it might fit. We also were able to have Rick's hearing aid repaired while we waited. Jessie said he would take us to Laptop City Friday morning to have our computer repaired. Meanwhile we pulled out our backup laptop.
In the afternoon, we went to the Hi-Lo Grocery store and picked up a few items. It was a quick dinghy ride from there to the laundry but we had misjudged and found that the laundry had already closed for the day. We returned to the boat for happy hour and dinner onboard.
Today was the anniversary of our departure 4 years ago. In some ways, it seems like we've been here forever as the Caribbean feels like home now but still at times it feels like it was just yesterday when we untied the lines in Toronto.
In Trinidad, cruisers say that you go broke saving money. That is exactly what we did today. Sharon and Gary (Elusive) who are anchored in Scotland Bay arrived at our boat by dinghy at 8:30AM. They offered to show us around Port of Spain. We took a Maxi Taxi downtown and went to a few of the many fabric stores. I bought enough fabric to make 3 bathing suits with matching wraps, a dress, 2 pair of shorts, 1 capri pants, 2 blouses and 2 tank tops for me, and 3 bathing suits, 2 shorts and 2 shirts for Rick. Next Thursday we will give it all to the two seamstresses.
When our shopping spree was finished, we all stopped for lunch at a large food court for lunch before returning to the marina by Maxi Taxi.
I was ready for a siesta but Rick was still raring to go. While I rested, he built the spacers in the second battery box. Later, we had our Happy Hour in the cockpit before going to Joe's Restaurant for dinner.
Yesterday, Gary and Sharon said that their computer died the same way ours did and on the very same day so we invited them to come along with us to have it repaired. Jessie sent a car to pick us up at 9AM. When we arrived at Laptop City we found it was next door to a beautiful large building which is where the Canadian High Commission is located.
We entered the store/repair centre and were immediately greeted by a lady who appeared to be a receptionist but was really a computer analyst. She had us try to boot up our laptops and as soon as she saw it was a little more than inexperience on our part she called upstairs for a technician. A technician rushed down, ran some diagnostics on my laptop, and said that although it first appeared to be just a software problem there was definitely a physical problem with the hard drive. He sold and installed a new hard drive for me at a price less than what it would cost me to ship the laptop home to have it repaired under warranty. The only problem was that I lost everything that was on the hard drive and not backed up like all of our pictures from the Asa Wright Nature Centre. Larry the owner of Laptop City who we learned was really a Canadian that had been living in Trinidad for 23 years, introduced himself. We told him how impressed we were with the same day service that he provided. Gary had brought his recovery discs with him so after installing his new hard drive they were loading the software for him (no charge). Larry suggested that we go have a coffee at a place called "Rituals" a few doors away so we spoke to our driver and thanked him but said that since we were going to be awhile he could leave and we would find our way back to the marina. I think that Rituals is an offspring of Tim Horton's donut shop and Starbucks. Rick and I had a wonderful Mocha Frappachino with fresh mouth-watering chocolate donuts. When we returned to Laptop City, Gary's computer was just about ready but we had a little time to look around. I noticed that there was a used printer sitting on a shelf with exactly the type of print head I needed. I asked Larry if he sold the ink cartridges or print heads. He didn't but told me I could take any parts I needed (no charge) as the printer was obsolete.
It was almost noon when we left Laptop City as very happy customers. Gary, who is as bad as Rick when it comes to Chinese food was hungry and there just happened to be a very nice looking Chinese Restaurant right across the street from us. After lunch we made our way to where we thought we could get a Maxi Taxi but since none came by we took a regular taxi to the West Mall where not only was there a Maxi Taxi stand but there was also a TCBY ice cream, yogurt place in the mall. The vote to stop for ice cream was unanimous. Finally, we made our way back to the marina. Sharon and Gary came onboard Wind-Borne to update some of their software. I had downloaded Service Pack 2 and the updates to Winlink when we had WIFI access and he needed both.
When they left, Rick and I both had a short nap and then changed and went to the pool. We took our happy hour drinks with us and we were eventually joined by some others for the same purpose.
We had dinner onboard.
September 17, 2005, TrinidadSaturday morning Jessie does a run to the big public market. It was 6:30AM
when he picked us up and almost 7AM when we arrived at the market. The beef,
pork and chicken looked similar to other open un-refrigerated markets but very
clean. I just haven't been able to get my head around buying meat this way. We
did buy some nice large deep water shrimps after checking out all of the fruits
and vegetable stands. The only other thing we bought was a fruit. It looked like
a small round red flower with soft red spiny things all around it. When peeled
it was very similar to a litchi fruit. On the way back to the marina we stopped
at a large Hi-Lo grocery store in the West
Mall. Hi-Lo is really IGA so many of
the products are Presidents Choice or other familiar brands. This was the first
full size grocery we had been in since arriving and it was as exciting as
Christmas morning. We found green relish, bagels, cheddar cheese and many other
items that have been impossible or difficult to find for a couple of years.
We were back at the boat and had the refrigerated items put away in time to hop into the dinghy and make it to the Crews Inn restaurant in time for the special marina breakfast. After breakfast, we had a little siesta and then started into getting a few things done. I started loading software, which went very smoothly but I had to leave it unfinished at 4PM when we changed and went to the pool for today's sundowners.
We had the nice fresh shrimp for dinner cooked with onions, green pepper,
garlic and ginger served with steamed jasmine rice. Rick has decided this is one
of his favourite meals. I think he says these things just so I'll cook onboard
more often.
Breakfast was toasted cinnamon and raisin bagels with cream cheese. We have missed this treat for the last couple of years.
Rick spent the morning washing the cockpit while I started loading the computer with all of our backup files and drivers.
Jack and Jo (Mystic Adventure) called us at 1PM they had just returned from town so we got ready and joined them at the Bite Restaurant at Peake Marina for a hamburger. While we were sitting overlooking the anchorage, we learned that Lynn and Mike (Wombat of Sydney) had just arrived and were coming to the Bite for dinner. It was after 3PM when we left the restaurant and stopped by their boat. We agreed to join them and Mystic Adventure again at 6PM. There was no way that Rick and I were hungry by 6PM so we shared a small salad.
After Dinner, the six of us climbed the ladder to Mystic Adventure that is on the hard at Peake Marina this week. Their boat is a "Liberty" 52. I'm sure that we climbed at least two stories on a flexing ladder to get into the cockpit. Although on the hard, they still had air conditioning so the six of us went below and played "Oh Hell" the fun card game we had played with Jack and Jo last week.
When we dinghied back to our own marina we found didn't need our flashlight as the moon was so full and bright.
We started the day by dropping off our laundry and all of the new fabric I had purchased at the laundry. We stopped at the internet café for a while and then returned to the boat where we tidied and cleaned until lunchtime.
After lunch, we had a siesta and then spent happy hour in the pool.
As soon as our morning chores were complete, we headed out for the morning.
It was perfect timing that our propane tank ran out of propane while cooking dinner last night. The marina takes and fills propane tanks on Tuesdays. Rick dropped our tank off with the security guard who said they would return it later this afternoon. We went by dinghy to the Hi Lo grocery store at Crews Inn and picked up a few items. Then we walked over to Tropical Marina and picked up our laundry.
On our way back to the boat we stopped at a small restaurant, Richard's, in Coral Cove (our marina) and had "Shark and Bake" for lunch. I had heard about Shark and Bake but had thought that we could only get it at the north end of the island. It was great!
It was extremely hot and calm today so after a great lunch we returned to the boat for an afternoon siesta.
Mary and Ralph (Merlin) came over for sundowners. It was a fun evening that flew by very quickly. We tried to talk them into joining us in Tobago, but we'll have to wait and see as they are anxious to head west and see the Venezuelan out islands.
The day started out as very overcast.
Rather than be closed in the cabin for what looked like might be an all day rain, we got ready and left the marina under our umbrellas. A maxi taxi saw us about to cross the street and waited for us. The rain was very heavy as we headed toward town but within 15 minutes, we had driven out of the rain into sunshine (and us with no sun glasses).
We spent the morning roaming fabric stores and souvenir shops. My favourite purchase was a large local cookbook. We now have the recipes for doubles, Shark and Bake, Rotis as well as many other local dishes.
We returned to the marina and had a siesta in the afternoon. I was able to use the cookbook when preparing roasted chicken with orange sauce for dinner that according to Rick was delicious.
We went to Crews Inn by dinghy as soon as the cruiser's net finished in the morning. I gave the sewing ladies (Debby and Bernice) all of the fabric we purchased last week. They said that everything should be ready for us by next Thursday. We picked up a few groceries and then stopped to say hello to Lynn and Paul on Kiana. Lynn had just returned from a visit to the States.
After lunch and a siesta, we picked up Phil (Beothuck) and he led us to the place in the bay where the small fishing boats bring their catch. We purchased a couple of red snapper for dinner and had the fisherman scale and clean them for us. When we returned to the boat we quickly changed and went to the pool with Phil and Brenda for happy hour.
We went to the internet café first thing in the morning and since we didn't have much planned for the rest of the day we decided to go to the West Mall where we had heard that there was a good shoe repair. We roamed through many of the gift and craft shops in the mall but never accomplished our main goal, which was to have some new Velcro sewn onto Rick's sandals. We found the shoe repair but it was in the process of moving from the second floor to the first floor of the mall and would not reopen until Monday. We picked up some Pyrex bowls and things for the galley in a nearby kitchen store.
When we returned to the marina we found Jack and Jo (Mystic Adventure) who had been on the hard for the last week were back in their slip. As a little celebration, we went to Joes Pizza for dinner with them and Lynn and Mike (Wombat of Sydney).
We had been telling Lynn and Mike about the great special breakfast on Saturday mornings at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Crews Inn Marina, so of course we had to join them there. We spent most of the morning at the restaurant. When leaving, we stopped by to see Carol and Bill (Hope) who had gone to Asa Wright with us. They very generously agreed to share their Asa Wright pictures with us after learning that we had lost ours when our hard drive crashed.
Gregory has not been seen onboard for quite awhile now and Rick believes he may have jumped ship. Sure enough, while visiting Carol and Bill on Hope over at Crews Inn, which is also parked along the wall where we were, we could see some large geckos roaming around in the shrubbery while we were sitting in their cockpit. When leaving Rick, noticed a small gecko on the garden light. He bent close to it and said 'Hola Amigo'! He swore that the gecko smiled before running off. Gregory jumped ship in paradise!!
It was afternoon when we returned to the boat. I opted for a siesta while Rick started stripping the cockpit teak. He's gradually refinishing all of the exterior wood without the gloss coat of the Cetol.
When he finally decided to stop, we spent the rest of the afternoon "just limin". We sat in the cockpit with our rum punch and watched the fishing boats come and go.
The weather forecast for today was for a lot of rain, which was delivered compliments of a tropical wave that took all day to pass over us. While it was reasonably dry in the morning, Rick worked on stripping more of the cockpit wood. I worked on creating a poem for Wombats memory book.
In the afternoon, I actually pulled out the iron and pressed some long pants and a shirt for Rick. We both had a little siesta to prepare for a big evening out.
We were picked up at 5:30PM by Jessie who took us and many other cruisers to
the Silver Stars Pan Yard in Port of Spain. It was still raining when we left
Chaguaramas and we couldn't see any clearing on the horizon. When we arrived at
the Pan Yard Rick and I found an empty table under one of the tents and we sat
there to get out of the rain. Later a couple of local women joined us. The
volume of sound from the band made it difficult to have many conversations with
them but we still had an enjoyable evening together.
The band displayed the costumes that they would be using for carnival this year and played many of the tunes including a brand new one that was composed especially for them and the upcoming carnival (February 2006).
It was 10:30PM when we arrived back at the boat, the latest we have been out since arriving in Trinidad
We awoke to a cool morning with very little humidity (74%). Rick took advantage of this and started working on his wood before I had even prepared breakfast. He did stop to eat but when he was finished stripping the last piece he intended to work on and I had finished with all of the galley slave chores, it was after 11AM. We took the laundry in to be washed and stopped at a travel agent for a friend of ours then went for lunch.
The only thing we had not done was to stop at the internet café. We had both forgot our reading glasses so it was necessary to return to the boat. Rick wanted to go to see a couple of riggers and stop by some chandleries on the way back. I suggested that he go without me and I would stay at the boat. He read my mind and said that a walk would be much better for me than a siesta. Knowing he was right I set out with him in the heat of the afternoon sun. The humidity had returned but it was a good walk.
We returned to the boat by 4PM so quickly changed, took our drinks to the pool, and joined the other cruisers who were doing the same.
We had dinner on board but it was all we could both do to keep our eyes open until the meal was finished. We are obviously not used to staying out late and then replacing our siesta with afternoon exercise.
Rick got an early start on the cockpit wood before the heat of the sun became unbearable. As soon as he had applied a coat of Cetol, we took off for a dinghy tour. The weather forecast indicated that we might get some swells from the north later in the week so this seemed like the best day to dinghy around the islands.
We started by going over to Gaspar Grande Island. It was a little choppy as we went through the gap but not bad. As we dinghied around the lee side of the island we saw some lovely vacation homes along the waters edge. We left Gaspar and headed to Scotland Bay. It is Scotland Bay where we were anxious to anchor. We had hoped to leave dock last week and join our friends Gary and Sharon (Elusive) who are anchored there. When we arrived there was a rain cloud hanging over only Scotland Bay. The Bay is at the end of the mountain range and because of that it gets a little more rain than Chaguaramas. We visited with Gary and Sharon for a while and when we left the sun was shining and all clouds had disappeared. On our way out of the bay, the wind (which we hadn't seen for ages) had picked up. I think the tidal current must have been with us because we were flying (with our little 9.9 hp outboard) but the waves had picked up to quite a chop so we were getting soaked. When we got back to our boat, we looked at each other and said, "I don't think so". Our plans for anchoring in Scotland Bay had changed to be just a nice place to stop on our way out. I don't know how Gary and Sharon manage to come in by dinghy so regularly for grocery shopping etc.
Rick returned to his woodworking while I went to the marina office and extended our stay at the dock. I then walked over to Tropical Marine and picked up our laundry, stopped at the internet café and finally returned to the boat.
We had dinner at Joes Restaurant with Bonnie and Joe (AFLO). We had a lot of people, places and things to catch up and talk about.
Rick as usual was up first and ready to go by 7:45AM. He walked down to Peake Marina where he was to pick up an estimate (for next year) to have our standing rigging replaced. After waiting 3/4 of an hour for Jonas the rigger, he gave up and walked to Budget Marine for our second estimate. By the time he returned to the boat, I was ready to leave, so we both hopped on a maxi taxi and went to the west mall.
We dropped his shoes off at the repair shop and then he waited patiently while I did some more clothes shopping. I know it sounds like we're going crazy buying a lot of new clothes. We are but it has been a long time since we've bought clothing. In many cases we are still wearing the clothes we left home with 4 years ago. Once we leave Trinidad there won't be another place to purchase clothes for quite a while so we've been waiting and now we are both stocking up to last another few years.
When we returned to the boat after lunch, Rick sanded the wood and I prepared our page for Wombat's memory book. We joined Wombat at Joes Restaurant to return their book and thank them for sharing their Asa Wright pictures with us.
We had a light dinner and went to bed.
We were up during the night on boat watch. It was just before 1AM when a nasty storm came charging through. The winds were gusting about 30+ knots from the southwest. Even though we were at dock, the boat was rocking and rolling way too much for anyone to sleep. We were glad to be at dock on a med mooring because if we had a T-dock, I'm sure that either the boat or the dock would have been damaged. The bay was finally calm enough to go back to sleep by about 2:30AM.
Later in the morning, after Rick pumped 6 inches of rainwater out of the dinghy, we rushed over to Crews Inn to pick up our new custom made clothes. Rick's new shorts, shirts and bathing suits fit him perfectly. My blouses and bathing suit tops needed some minor alterations and will be fixed by next week.
We went by dinghy to Power Boats Marina where there is a popular roti shack. We were to meet Mike and Lynn (Wombat of Sidney) but we also met Gary (Elusive) so the five of us had lunch together.
After lunch, Rick and I walked to Budget Marine for a few items and then returned to the boat. He returned to his woodwork while I started refinishing the metal grills from all our fans that have become quite corroded. I also soaked and washed all of his tool bags so he could clean and reorganize his tool cupboard (someday).
In the evening, we went by dinghy to Sails Restaurant at Powerboats Marina for a karaoke night. It was great fun, Jo, Jack (Mystic Adventure), Phil, Brenda (Beothuck) and the whole family from Galadriel, Pam, Rich, Mattias and Jenna were there. Galadriel is from Oakville Canada. Little Jenna who is 5 or 6 years old was priceless. She was at first very hesitant to take the microphone and sing a song. Eventually she was the star of the evening, reading the words on the screen adding little body movements and singing (very well) at the top of her lungs. She may be another Canadian diva in the making.
It was time to clean out the clothes closets. I got rid of many of my old clothes but I was expecting a bit of resistance from Rick with regard to disposing of his. When he finished with his regular morning woodwork, I presented him with about 30 t-shirts of which I strongly suggested that he sort through and keep 4. Since he was in desperate need of rags, he accepted the idea a lot easier than I expected.
We watched a movie in the afternoon and rested for another evening on the town.
This time we went by taxi to the Kapok Hotel in downtown Port of Spain with Jo and Jack (Mystic Adventure) who had been there before. Rick wore one of his new shirts and long pants while I wore my new dress. We had dinner at the Tiki Village Restaurant in the hotel. The restaurant is on the eighth floor of the hotel and provides an almost magical view of the lights of the city and the surrounding hills.
We had a wonderful meal and returned to the marina about 10:30PM.
