TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

THE END OF THE ROAD IN TRINI

Our dock at Coral Cove

We were reluctant to leave Grenada to come to Trinidad. We came to Trini only to get out of the hurricane zone and to have our upholstery covered and had no great expectations. I'm glad to say we have been pleasantly surprised. We've realised that every place we have visited in the Caribbean has something unique to offer and is special in it's own way.

Beautiful Trini sunsets

It's far from ideal spending time on a dock in a marina where the water is dirty and it's incredibly hot with no breeze. It's very frustrating that we can't jump into the water and swim off the boat, especially in the heat. We've hired an aircon, spend a lot of time indoors and have done a lot of work on the boat.

Filipino spotlights replace the usual sunset on the horizon

Living on the dock

Walking to Power Boats Marina

We're definitely never going to become 'dock rats' but if there is a good dock to be on, this is it. We're at Coral Cove Marina, in the centre of all the activities in Chaguaramas. Getting work done on the boat is easy, everything is within walking distance and the yacht chandleries are close by. Stephen cycles everywhere, our bicycles have been so well used. We have free water and electricity, hot clean showers, a laundry, great Internet, good cafés and coffee shops, a nice swimming pool and even a newspaper delivery every morning. Small luxuries but when you've battled without these amenities for so long, you really appreciate it.

There is a great modern shopping mall a short taxi ride away and a movie complex called Movie Towne in Port 'o Spain that rivals any in America. We catch local 'Maxi Taxi's' wherever we go. These are like our minibus taxi's back home. We stand under a tree opposite the marina and wave one down as they come along. The taxis have different colour stripes along the side, indicating what route they take. They are clean, the people are friendly, greet everyone when they get in and the reggae music blares from the speakers. It costs us 5tt (about R8) per person for us to get anywhere. There are different hand signals that indicate where you want to go, we've even learned these, so we're becoming very local!

Movie Towne for Tayne's birthday

So who's who in the zoo....??

West Mall

Waiting for the bus in Port o' Spain

Taxi times

Power Boats Marina

We've had our 3 Leo birthdays in Trinidad. We went out for meals and went to movies but we spent them quietly compared to our usual celebrations.

Stephen turns 53.....

....Tayne turns 15

.....and Michaela turns 23

We've found the local people with their beautiful Trini accents to be the nicest we've met along the way. Everything is done with a smile, nothing is too much trouble and they're friendly and gentle. There is no racial animosity, this is an ideal example of how diverse cultures can live happily together. There is Caribbean time and then there is Trini time.....so nothing happens in a hurry and everyone accepts that. It's relaxed and laid back. They have their own slang that's sometimes difficult to understand. I had to laugh the other day when someone said they're going 'DDI'. When I asked them what they meant they were going 'Down da Island' :)
For once there have been a lot of children around the anchorages. It was great coming back to boat one night to find a bunch of teenagers sitting around listening to music. The kids reckon some of them are real wierdo's but it is company for them, non the less. Shaun has been staying on our boat and he has been helping out where he can. He has found a good job in construction so is heading back to Grenada to fetch his boat then sailing back to Trinidad to carry on working.

Good times at Sails

The best cocktails in the Caribbean

For once we can afford to eat out and do grocery shopping without watching every cent. The currency is the TT which is 1.7 to our Rand. It's great to be able to have a few cocktails at a restuarant and have a good meal for the equivilent of what it would cost back home. We had some great 'real SA boerewors' at Sails, a restuarant owned by Didier who originally owned Papino's in Hout Bay. We've got to know him and his lovely Trini wife Danille and have spent good times with them on the water and at the restaurant.

With Didier and Danielle watching the Great Race

Half of Trinidad was on the water watching the race

Petrol costs only R2.50 a litre!

Power Boats Marina where we hauled out

Crews Inn Marina

Because of the amount of cruisers sitting out the hurricane season here, there is a lot of activity. There is a BBQ at Coral Cove on a Thursday, a Pot Luck at Power boats on a Friday and hikes and activities planned over the weekends. It's as sociable as you want it to be. There is a local guy, Jesse James who arranges tours to the market and to the shopping mall. A cruisers net is broadcast every morning at 8am where the weather is given and everyone has a chance to communicate with the other cruisers. There are so many South Africans around and it's always good to hear a familiar accent on the net.
On sadder note, this is the place where we sell our Katz and leave the Caribbean. We received an offer from a Belgian, Laurent Claes, who flew here from Belgium last week to view the boat. We did a good clean up before he arrived, the whole family pulled together worked so hard. We scrubbed the decks, detailed the interior thoroughly, to the point of using toothpicks, and she was looking absolutely beautiful when he stepped on board for the first time.

The Katz crew hard at work

Our new upholstery

Tony Brewer, our broker from St Maarten (ex Hout Bay) flew here to assist. They had a survey done, did sea trials and the boat was hauled out of the water to check the underside. Other than a few minor issues, she was declared fit and healthy to carry on sailing and after a family meeting, we accepted his offer.

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Just after the deal was signed - the broker, the new owner and the surveyor

Waking in the Trini forest

Because the boat was already out of the water the new owner wanted the antifouling to be redone. This meant living up in the air, hi and dry for 5 days at Power Boats Marina while the work was done. This was not the most pleasant experience as we couldn't use our toilet and showers, had use the ablutions and had to climb up and down a ladder to get on to the boat. I will always find a positive though........the Roti Shack was right next door serving the most delicious roti's in the Caribbean. I think my skin is turning yellow from all the curry already!!

Sitting Hi 'n Dry

We put Katz on the market, hoping to sell at the end of the year so the sale caught us a bit off guard. I was adamant that we should stay on because Damon was due to join us for the last few months and our plan was for the whole family to end our journey off together. But we weighed up the pro's and cons and there is always the possibility of not selling when we want to, so we decided to let her go now. This was done with a heavy heart and a few silent tears from my side when the deal was signed. To me it's the end of our dream that we've worked towards for such a long time and the end of a magic time in all of our lives.

Katz goes back on the water

A tight squeeze

Eeeekkkkkk.....

Back in the water at last

The captain takes the helm for the last time

Our last time on the water

The final bow for the fender girl

We couldn't wish to hand it over to nicer people who I'm sure will carry on having fun and enjoying Katz as much as we have. Laurent and his wife have 5 children between the ages of 8 and 14 so I'm sure the happy family vibes on Katz will continue.

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CARRIACOU AND GRENADA

Carriacou and Grenada

We had beautiful sailing conditions heading from St Vincent and the Grenadines to Carriacou. We arrived just before sunset and instead of anchoring as planned in Tyrrel Bay we dropped anchor off Sandy Island. It looked too pretty to pass by, so we stayed! Sandy Island is a strip of sand in the ocean with palm trees and a beach and is surrounded by magnificent reefs. Tayne caught a fish, we braaied and watched the sunset with a few glasses of wine in the most beautiful, tranquil surroundings.

The beautiful Sandy Island, Carriacou

Tayne with his homemade sailboard

The next morning we sailed to Tyrrel Bay and Michaela and Tayne took the paddle boards around. They paddled for about 2 hours and it was beautifully calm and clear and they snorkeled along the way. We spent a week in Tyrrel Bay with the threat of a hurricane looming across the Atlantic, heading exactly in our direction. It was pretty scary, watching it's movement as it got closer. Everyone in the anchorage was talking about it and discussing what to do if it did reach us. There are mangroves next to the anchorage and Stephen and I took a dinghy ride there to see where we could hide. It wasn't very encouraging to see a few wrecked boats between the mangroves that had been left to die from previous hurricanes! We were contemplating heading for Grenada when, at the the very last minute, the tropical depression took a turn to the North and headed up the island chain. We were so relieved and the only effect we felt was a storm and a few hard rain showers. The depression eventually did form into Hurricane Bertha and caused some damage along the way.

We were in the predicted path of Hurricane Bertha

We had a good time in Tyrrel Bay with Les, Ron, John Perry and a few other cruisers we met on our travels. Stephen and I took a taxi ride to the neighbouring Hillsborough, a cute village, to do some shopping, we went to a Cruisers Pot Luck and were part of the festivities for the Carriacou Regatta. It is a busy anchorage with loads of yachts sitting out the hurricane season and lots happening on shore. We went back to Sandy Island and caught (sneaked) some huge crayfish and had a lovely lunch with Steven and Janet from s/v Lunacy.

Magnificent underwater life, Sandy Island

Lobster for lunch!

The Carriacou Regatta

We met up with Shaun from South Africa here on his yacht Kirha. He was also heading for Grenada on his little sailboat with no motor. When the weather cleared he left for Grenada with us so we could check on him along the way.

Shaun leaving Carriacou on Kirha

Kick 'em Jenny

There is an underwater volcano called Kick 'em Jenny between Carriacou and Grenada and there is a warning not to sail too close to it because dangerous gasses are released. Well, we should never have told Stephen that! There was lots of bird life around and the sea looked alive right at that spot......so we went right over it. Before we knew it we had something huge on the line and all hell broke loose.....a sailfish jumped into the air at the end of Tayne's line!! He fought it for about 20 minutes and eventually brought the 19kg sailfish on board with great excitement. It was huge and took up the entire length of the cockpit area. We took photos and celebrated and Stephen was so proud! Both the boys have now caught a Sailfish and Stephen has caught a Marlin. All good to catch this poor fish but the cleaning of the boat and the fish is another story altogether....

Tayne's Sailfish

It is 27 miles to Port Louis, Grenada and it took us 4 and a half hours and it took Shaun about 11 hours. He still hadn't arrived by sunset and we were getting worried and were so relieved when he called up on the radio. Stephen and Tayne went out on the dinghy to help him in as there was no wind and it's difficult to come into the anchorage with no motor.

We only spent 2 days in Grenada as we were in a hurry to get down to Trinidad to get our saloon cushions covered. There was a buyer interested in Katz and we needed to get the job done as soon as possible. The cost of covering the cushions was half the price in Trinidad and the material was available there.

Port Louis, Grenada

We met up with our SA friends Peter and Colleen Lubbe on s/v Madiba, got a few provisions and were on our way again. Shaun needed to collect his passport in Trinidad so he came along with us, leaving his boat in Grenada.

Raising the anchor in Port Lois and leaving for Trinidad

Before we left we were warned about pirating that has been taking place off the coast of Venezuela. Apparently armed locals in pirogues attack boats near the two oil platforms. We were very wary because we were traveling on our own so we had a plan in place! We made a fake gun with a broomstick and wood so that from far it would look like we were armed, we had our sjamboks from South Africa and we had our flare guns out, ready for action! We turned our AIS transmitting signal off so they couldn't pick us up, we took our sails down and took a wider route around the platforms. We were in stealth mode! It was really scary when we saw a pirogue coming from behind us out at sea. I was sleeping in the cabin and Stephen came to wake me up saying there is boat approaching and we need to be vigilant. Michaela scrambled to hide all our electronics and we all stood outside, showing our 'strength' and looking mean with our gun and binoculars. A pirogue with 5 guys came really close and had a good look at us and then went on their way. Just as we started breathing again about 20 minutes later, we looked on the AIS to see something in our path and another pirogue came towards us. Again Michaela hid everything and the boat just came past and waved. By the time a 3rd boat came towards us we realised these are probably only fishing boats just being inquisitive and coming close to us.....we hope!!!

The oil platforms off Venezuela

We were ready for the Pirates of the Caribbean!

A storm approaches

We were also heading into an almighty storm that turned black and purple in our path and we battoned down the hatches in preparation for it. But it seemed like King Neptune was on our side and we only got a few showers and saw the thunder and lightning in the distance. As land came into view we were welcomed by a huge pod of dolphins, it was as if they were saying, "It's all okay now!"

This is how close Trinidad (left) is to Venezuela (right)

Dolphins welcome us into Trini

We were very relieved when we finally got into Trinidad after 14 hours out at sea. We came into Chaguaramas as the sun was setting and battled to find a mooring buoy in the anchorage. We tried a few places and every time we tried to anchor someone would pop their heads out of their boats and have something to say. We were close to one boat and this skinny, grey, nude Frenchman started gesticulating and shouting.......who can take anyone seriously with their wobbly bits in your face??

Arriving in Chagaramas

Trying our best to anchor

After about an hour in the pitch dark a kind Trinidadian came over on his dinghy to say we should go on to an open dock at Coral Cove and sort it out in the morning. We were tired and hungry and just needed somewhere to put our boat for the night, so this was very welcome. We have found the Trini people to be the the kindest, friendliest and most helpful locals we have come across along the way.

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