Diary 18th November - 11th January 2011

Peake’s Boatyard, Chaguaramas, Trinidad

Posn: 11deg14’.0’N 61deg47’.2W

18 November 2010

We arrived back in Trinidad two weeks ago, and are working away with Minnie B on the hard in the boatyard, to prepare for our re-launch next week.

We spent a wonderful four months in the United Kingdom, visiting family and friends in England and Ireland, and would like to say a big “thank you” to everyone who let us stay with them, loaned us their house, and took us sailing. We really enjoyed our time with you all.

We had e-mailed the amazing Jesse James, from Members’ Only Maxi-Taxis, to ask him to pick us up at the airport in Port of Spain, Sure enough, there he was waiting, with several other returning sailors all heading for Chaguaramas, and he talked the whole way back, filling us in on the news from Trinidad and the cruising community. The main news seemed to be that theft of outboards has got worse. As Jesse said, “lift it and lock it, or you’ll lose it”. We arrived at Minnie B with some trepidation – would we find an insect infested boat covered with mildew??? Thankfully not. The air-conditioning was working and the interior pristine, just as we’d left it.

It took us a few days to get used to life in the yard, in the heat. We find that it’s best to get up early (certainly by seven o’clock) and to get outside jobs done in the morning, before the mid-day heat and the possibility of rain in the afternoon. We still have air-conditioning, so we can lunch below in a nice cool saloon, before resuming work, weather permitting. It’s dark before six o’clock now, so that’s time for a beer.

We made a very long list of tasks to undertake and work to commission and are making good progress. The bottom of the boat is anti-fouled – we have switched to International Trilux, as the soft Jotun Sea-Alu we had used previously did not perform well in the tropical seas. The teething problems seem to be solved on the new fridge/freezer we’ve had installed (this involved three different thermostats and a lot of monitoring but all seems well now). The AIS is fitted and we are looking forward to playing with this once we are sailing again – we have used a splitter so that the VHF radio antenna also transmits and receives for the AIS. Two additional fans have been installed in the saloon to help us keep cool when we say “goodbye” to the aircon. We have commenced painting on the exterior, to get rid of the paint bubbles – one of the few downsides to an aluminium boat. We have a feeling this may be an ongoing job...

The boatyard is of course fairly sociable. Two friends from the Rallye Iles de Soleil are already here (Alain from Ti’ouane and Remy from Xtrem) and we’ve also got to know Cheryl and Robin from Just Imagine who have been teaching us “Mexican train dominoes” which seems to be a popular pastime with cruisers here. If you don’t know it (and we didn’t) it’s played with 91 dominoes going up to double twelve, and you each make a “train”! Oh, and you need beer and wine to make it work.

Our plans are to re-launch on Monday, and to the stay in Crews Inn marina for a few days, where we will get the sails back on. We hope to go to Tobago at the end of next week, and to stay there until after Christmas. We very much enjoyed our time there in May and look forward to chillin’ and limin’ in the beautiful bays.

2nd December 2010

Posn:  11deg59’.89N  61deg45’.63W

Prickly Bay, Grenada

It’s great to be back in Grenada ... er ... we were meant to be in Tobago.  We will be so not to worry.
We eventually launched on Monday 22nd November and moved across to Crews Inn Marina to finish preparations of Minnie B.  Now there’s an oxymoron for you – when have preparations for any boat been finished?  Well we got enough running rigging back together and the sails on so we could actually take advantage of the wind.  We delayed for a day – yes, after all this time, things do take longer than you think.  And, it rained a lot.

We had taken a day off on the Saturday and borrowed Remy’s car (“X-Trem”) to go to the Asa Wright Nature centre, high in the mountains of northern Trinidad.  This is a lovely place with dense rainforest and birds galore.  We had taken the scenic route out of Port of Spain i.e. through all the towns and villages and the traffic was dense, until we discovered some roads that only had taxis and buses on them ... eventually we noticed the sign saying “Authorised Users Only”.  We weren’t sure if we were authorised – probably not, but we certainly covered some miles quickly.  Then we chickened out and got of just before the town of Arima where the road to Asa Wright and Blanchisseuse started.  Now Trinidad is not that tourist friendly – all the road signs (what few there are) tell you the name of the road but not where it goes.  After asking a number of people for directions – strangely they didn’t know what we were talking about – we came across the fire station and sure enough a friendly firefighter gave us directions.  Well, Norma had gone in to ask but he couldn’t possibly tell a woman so he came out to the car and told Phil.  Just for context, this is a country where Stag beer is advertised as “A Man’s Beer”.  After avoiding innumerable potholes, remnants of mud-slides and endless hairpin bends we arrived at Asa Wright – just in time to miss the 1030 guided walk.  The next one was at 1330 and we knew it would rain in the afternoon, so we passed.  However we did go out to the balcony of the main house where there were humming birds, macaws and a whole range of ornithologists.  This is a serious place.

So, we headed for Blanchisseuse and the bays of the north coast, including the famous Maracas (now infamous as a drugs and guns landing site  ... er not during daylight).  Remy had hired a car from Econo-car, known locally as Rent-a-Wreck.  Well, if this car wasn’t a wreck before we set off, it was by the time we returned – actually the suspension was gone but we just confirmed it as we drove along a road that hadn’t been repaired in decades – it took us two hours to cover 20km.

The rain clouds came in and we stopped at Las Cuevas Bay for a fish and chips and a chicken and rice lunch, washed down with Carib (the lighter beer).  We dawdled along the coast but there was little point in stopping as it poured with rain.  We returned to Port of Spain and did the tourist sites – Charlotte Street market (in the car) Independence Square where we thought about parking as there were lots of free spaces.  Then we understood why, as we noticed the many vagrants ready to pounce.  So we drove past the Red House (Parliament) which is being refurbished, Woodford Square which was the scene of many an independence movement rally, and on to the “Magnificent Seven” by Queens Park Savannah – this is a row of seven ornate and architecturally splendid buildings, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Archbishop’s Residence.  Except that four of them are almost completely dilapidated – it’s very sad as they date from late 19th and early 20th centuries.  After that it was back to Chaguaramas.  Remy changed the car the next day.

It was actually quite nice being on the hard at Peakes as Alain from “Ti’Ouane” was nearby and we helped each other quite a bit, then Remy arrived and Josette, Claude and Nanou from”Cigale” and finally Jean-Michel and Annette from “Dame Oui” came in.  There were lots of aperos and splendid evenings.  We also met again Anthony Swanston from Northern Ireland who is single-handing on “Wild Fox” – last seen in Madeira over a year ago – and had dinner together.

So, we decided to head to Grenada instead of Tobago as we would have had wind and current on the nose as the forecast was for 20-25kts ENE for Friday night (26th November).  We left at 1700 in company with ‘Just Imagine’ and arrived off Prickly Bay by 0515 where we hove to until daylight.  We had the anchor down by 0630, an anchor nip and into bed.  Our crossing had mostly been under sail, but there was one two hour period and another 30 minutes when we had a bit of engine when the wind died away.  We tried out our new AIS (Automatic Identification System) which told us the names, MMSI numbers, course and speed of many of the tankers and support vessels around the oil filed which is about 28nm north of Trinidad.  We are converts.  So, at around 2200 we have the vessel “Albacore” with a closest point of approach of 0.0nm, doing 12kts and 4.6 minutes of time to closest point of approach.  Hm, better call ‘em up on VHF to confirm they had us on radar and AIS too.  The answer was affirmative and they slowed to pass astern as we were stand-on vessel.  But ... they were close astern and cut in front of “Just Imagine”.  Well, the AIS worked.

We have continued to prepare Minnie B, taken a trip to the monthly book swap at Island Water World chandlery and replenished our library, got the watermaker underway, bought some internet time and swum around the boat.  There is breeze here and we are generally comfortable with the temperature (25-30 deg  C).  The holiday season has started and every morning at 0730 on the cruisers’ VHF Net we are told if there are big cruise ships in St Georges (Queen Mary 2 and Club Med 2 are in to-day – interesting contrast) and so avoid going in.  We will stay in Prickly Bay until Monday then move to a quieter bay (Clarke’s Court and Hog Island).  We aim to leave for Tobago on 14th December and will meet up with Remy and Josette on “X-Trem” and Jose and Maite on “Jomay” for Christmas ... and we hope that the snow stays off the airports so that Julia can fly out on 22nd.

It is quiet and calm here and there is good company with Robin and Cheryl on “Just Imagine” who may also come to Tobago.  

18th December 2010

Posn:  11deg09’.45N  60deg50’.46W

We had a very pleasant couple of weeks in Grenada and joined in many of the trips organised by some of the cruisers.  Lynn and Ken on “Silverheels 3” are quite energetic in getting trips organised and a couple of the taxi drivers do a great job too.  But more of that in a moment.
They say that cruising is simply fixing/repairing a boat in exotic locations and we have had a bit of this.  When we arrived in Grenada we were disappointed by the performance of the solar panels we had fitted in June and the new fridge/freezer was just running non-stop.  This was very bad news as power consumption was very high – over 5 amps an hour from the new fridge (plus the existing fridge and the rest of the equipment, lights etc) – and it was not being offset by the additional solar.  The problem with the latter was that the panels are sited too close to the radome and are in shade – that was solved one morning with the assistance of Robin by moving them 14inches away from the radome.
 
The fridge proved more elusive and after changing the thermostat (that would be the fourth) the problem remained, so we called in the expert, Basil St John – he worked as refrigeration engineer for Guinness at their Park Royal brewery in London until 1982 when he returned to his native Grenada just in time for the coup and US invasion ... er ... we mean rescue mission ... or ... “Intervention” – what it’s called depends on the nationality and point of view of the author.   Anyways, Basil quickly diagnosed a leak where the refrigerant gas pipe connects to the compressor, tightened it up and changed the refrigerant gas.  It seems good now and comes on 40-50% of the time.  Great.  We also installed a second fan that draws air from the bilge and blows it across the compressor to cool it even more – this is definitely working well and only draws 160 mili-amps.  We have sent a note to the guys who installed the fridge in Trinidad – you would expect them to be a bit more thorough, but still ...
We relocated from Prickly Bay to Mount Hartman Bay on 9th December for a bit of a change – it is much quieter with fewer boats, good shelter and a small marina with a very friendly bar.  This bay had been recommended for its tranquillity  ...and because there is a rum distillery that discharges effluent into neighbouring Clarke’s Court Bay ... and a pig farm that has a curious effect on the water when there is a big downpour.  We chose well.  Lynn on “Silverheels 3” is in Mount Hartman and she organises trips to the supermarket and what is called a “stopping trip” – people get in the bus (12 seater) and it goes where everyone wants and if it’s not you shop or venue, e.g. FedEx, then you just wait for the people whose stop it is.  Works well, and Patrick is the man.

Cheryl and Robin on “Just Imagine ...” also came round to Mount Hartman and were joined by their friends Carol and Phil from Canada, so there was plenty of socialising.  Prior to this, Frank and Marta on “African Seawing” arrived in Prickly Bay and it was lovely to see them too.

We went on a Lynn-organised trip to Concord Falls where Norma swam, along with others on the trip  and then we called at a rum shop for an oil-down.  No, nothing to do with getting well-oiled or skin-care – it’s basically a stew of chicken or fish or liver with breadfruit, plantain, sweet potato and you don’t need to eat for a month afterwards.  On the gourmet rating scale it came in above manioc ... just.  Mind you, with the amount of rum consumed the relationship to getting well-oiled was close enough.  Frank and Marta came on this trip, along with Robin and Cheryl – good craic.

We also did the ‘Fish Friday’ trip to Gouyave – about 20 miles up the coast where every Friday evening a couple of streets are closed off and local people put up stalls, set out tables and chairs and cook fish in all its varieties and forms.  We made a close encounter with the deficiencies of the Grenadian education system:  “how much for the lobster, please?”, “EC$50”, “Hm, that’s a bit expensive”, “OK, EC$40”, “Well, how much for two then?” “EC$90”.  Er...?  Our taxi driver, Cutty, was interesting – he has a brother living and working in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire where Phil was born and brought up.  And another one in Huddersfield.  Small world.

We had an evening at the Tiki Bar (Prickly Bay Marina) with Frank and Marta, where there was a reasonable Pan band and a good blues/rock band.  We also had a great night at De Big Fish restaurant where a really good blues band played (Doc Adams) and even managed to get up and dance – it does seem weird to be dancing in shorts and sandals. Definitely not “Strictly ...”
So, eventually we headed for Tobago, leaving Mount Hartman Bay on 16th December at 0615 and sailing/motor-sailing the 74nm.  The wind was mostly 10-12kts and varied between NE and E so that with the west-going current we were pointing between shy of close-hauled and a fine reach.  Our course was 148deg M and we had the anchor down in Store Bay and engine off at 1705.  We decided to leave Immigration and Customs in Scarborough to the next day.  

There are just a dozen boats here and half seem to be local i.e. no-one onboard – there is no morning VHF net, there is no constant VHF chatter throughout the day.  Peaceful ... apart from the jet skis from the nearby hotel ... So yesterday we went into Scarborough (taxi is 50-60p per person per trip) and Phil decided on a haircut – Darren, our taxi driver recommended a barber shop where his cousin, Anthony, worked.  Well, he turned out to be the gofer/sweeper and the only haircutting tools were shavers ... and some blunt scissors.  OK, so it’s a cultural/fashion thing, but Phil now has the shortest hair since he was 12 years old – he passed on the hairline mark at the front.  The silver lining is that it cost £4 and will last several years.  Norma also passed on the fringe trim ... and mark.

Our only (major) concern at the moment is whether we will get a big swell in here from some northerly winds that are in the northern Caribbean – this can make landing the dinghy on the beach rather dramatic and very wet.  The www.windguru.cz  forecast for Pigeon Point (a couple of miles north of here) is for 1.8m waves dropping to 1.1/1.2 by Tuesday – apparently wave heights over 2m mean that the dinghy cannot land/relaunch from the beach.  If there is a problem we can go to Buccoo Bay – which we will probably do on Monday anyway, just for a look-see.  
In the meantime we have deployed our brand new, innovative-design Flopper Stopper.  The bay is a bit rolly and a guy in Trinidad suggested making one of these.  He had a 12mm marine ply triangle (60cm each side) with a weight of chain below, and deployed from the end of the spinnaker pole and in the water to slow down the roll.  So we up-sized to 90cm per side of the triangle as his was on a 36ft boat.  We do not have an inclinometer, but after several design developments it does seem to be working making a contribution ... a bit ... we think ... but we’re not sure ... although we slept better last night ... just ...
The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Tobago – lovely people here and lots of them wearing Santa hats – indeed lots of Santas and snowmen about too.  It’s the traditional look in a tropical setting – it’s still incongruous for us. Great though.

2nd January 2011

Posn:  11deg09’.45N  60deg50’.46W

Store Bay, Tobago

Happy New Year to everyone.
We have had a great couple of weeks here, with Julia arriving for Christmas OK and no snow delays.  Old friends also arrived on 22nd December: Remy and Josette, and Remy’s daughter Celine and boyfriend Yannik on ‘X-Trem’, along with Jose and Maite on ‘Jomay’ – we were to spend Christmas and New Year with them.

We hired a car for a day so that Julia could see the interior of the island with its ravines, ridges and forests, and the views of the beautiful bays.  We stopped at Castara Bay and Englishman’s Bay – a refreshing LLB at the beach cafe.  This is Lemon, Lime and Angostura Bitters for some bite – superb.  Then on to Speyside and Charlotteville.  En route a local guy asked us for a lift – he was going home for Christmas – and he showed us where to buy an amazing roti (wrap with curried chicken, potato, onion and beans) for just £2 each.  With bottles of beer from a mini-market we picnicked on the beach surrounded by stray dogs and hens.

We attempted to take the car on the unmade track to Pirate’s Bay but had to turn back – well, actually reverse for quarter of a mile.  So, we walked and had a swim but the surf was too much for snorkelling on the reef.

We visited Argyle Falls and had a guide who pointed out various birds (how do they see them??) and told us about the local flora.  Julia swam in the pool but we did not have time to climb up to the higher falls.  We returned to Store Bay, having passed the Dwight Yorke stadium (a local lad) and skirted Scarborough on the fast Claude Noel Highway – it’s fast for Tobago with a maximum speed of 50kph.

Christmas Eve dinner is the big event for French and Swiss people, so we had this on ‘X-Trem’, with Remy and Josette roasting a turkey.  Le Pere Noel made an appearance and presents were exchanged – it was a shame that Josette was missing when Le Pere Noel turned up, but maybe she will see him next time.  

Christmas Day was quite quiet but we did the UK thing of exchanging presents with Julia in the morning – and she had brought out presents from family and friends.  We had a stroll along the beach to Pigeon Point and watched the pelicans diving for fish.

Then it was time for some sailing, so we headed for King’s Bay on the Atlantic side of the island in company with ‘X-Trem and ‘Jomay’ – it was a beat, so after a while we gave up and turned on the engine.  The bay is beautiful and quiet – we were the only boats, apart from a couple of fishing boats.  The next day we went on to Man O’ War Bay and Charlotteville, where we swam and just chilled – again the surf was too much for snorkelling on the reef.
We returned to Store Bay the following day, leaving ‘XTrem’ and ‘Jomay’ for another night.  

The cruising regulations for Trinidad and Tobago require that Immigration and Customs know where you are and when – in practice this meant clearing out of Store Bay (a taxi to Scarborough) with the necessary stamped forms, and clearing into and out of Charlotteville – more forms and stamps – then back into Store Bay (another taxi ride to Scarborough).  We are getting to know the Immigration and Customs people quite well.  This trip led us to have a walk up to Fort George – quite a climb, but the views are worth it and there is a small but quite good museum.  The Fort itself has had some restoration work and houses the main hospital on Tobago.  We had lunch back at Store Bay – crab back, prawn dim sum, flying fish, and goat and chicken rotis, washed down with Carib beer.  Excellent.

Julia’s time with us went by all too quickly and although we missed family and friends we had a good Christmas.

For New Year’s Eve we were back on ‘X-Trem’, although Celine and Yannik had also left, for yet another superb cheese fondue by Remy,  preceded by an excellent seafood soup by Maite, foie gras from Josette and followed by pineapple and mince pies by Norma.  Midnight came and there was a good fireworks display put on by the hotel overlooking the bay – we had grandstand seats.
Now we do a bit more boat maintenance – winches greased, toilet valves etc serviced (gotta be done) and preparation for our return to Grenada on 4th January.

Oh yes, and a bit of personal maintenance – that infamous haircut in Scarborough was a mess (maybe they were having a laugh) and although Julia made sterling efforts to improve matters, Maite came to the rescue as she is a coiffeuse and has all her kit with her.  Phil now looks like an Extra on “Prison Break” and will not be appearing in any more photos for at least a year.

Tobago is not visited by many boats, being put off by the west-going current and the wind direction, but it is not so difficult even coming directly from Trinidad where the secret is to hug the north coast right to Galera Point and then head for Store Bay and it is even easier from Grenada, albeit we were close-hauled for much of the way.  In consequence, it is quiet – only ten visiting boats in Store Bay and twenty in Man O’ War Bay. The island is delightful and in no way overdeveloped, and the people are very helpful and friendly – like the lady who got out of a taxi for us and would wait for another, so that Julia and the two of us could travel into Scarborough together.  Cruisers not visiting Tobago are missing out on a real treat.

So, now for episode ... er, lost count.

11th January 2011

Posn:  11deg59’.79N  61deg45’.80W

Prickly Bay, Grenada

So, we left Store Bay, Tobago at 0555 on Tuesday 4th January, and motor-sailed for a while and then sailed and then motor-sailed and then sailed and then ...  It was one of those days, with the wind varying between 6 and 13kts mostly Easterly but occasionally SE and arrived at 1640 – 73nm.
We had clear weather all the way and caught our dinner – a ferocious looking fish of indeterminate species.  Well it was silvery with no special markings – we think we were in too deep water for it to have been a barracuda but our pictures of fish told us what it wasn’t rather than what it was.  Anyways it was very nice cooked with a marinade of soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, ginger and lime juice.
 
We have had an interesting time with Minnie B – when we arrived the rudder would not lift.  Locked solid and we were a bit concerned about the battery voltage.  So on Wednesday morning we were up at 0630 disconnecting the multiple battery leads and testing the voltages – all OK.  Good, then out with the diving gear and take a look at the rudder.  Nothing visible so it was the bearing plates that were overtightened and jamming the rudder, but they hadn’t been adjusted since we left NI and the rudder had been up and down innumerable times.  So we would have to haul out.  

Anyways we listened to the 0730 Grenada Cruisers’ Net on VHF 68 and then went ashore to clear in with Immigration and Customs, only the Immigration Officer wasn’t there so we had to go back later,  then the 5hp outboard decided not to co-operate and we had to change it to the 2.5hp Suzuki.  By this time it was 1130 and we had no chance of making the book swap at Island Water World chandlery in St Georges, and we had missed a rendezvous with John and Liz on ‘Jalan Jalan’, who must think we are seriously unreliable (no, it’s the outboard).  However, we headed for St Georges as we needed a big hammer and we were meeting up with David and Suzanne on their new Beneteau 57 ... sorry, Farr 57 ...  It was great to see them again and their beautiful big boat. Very big boat!!

We met up with Robin and Cheryl from ‘Just Imagine ...’ and Anthony Swanston (from NI) on ‘Wild Fox’ for Happy Hour at the Tiki Bar in Prickly Bay – it was good to see them all again.

Thursday we provisioned and Phil tried to find the power problem with the SSB, but after two and a half hours sticking a multi-meter into anything that could possibly be involved, changing fuses and a relay there was to be no luck.  We will wait until we get to St Lucia where there is an ICOM agent.
We had a great evening with Robin and Cheryl who were heading North on Friday – we will see them early February we hope.

On Friday we got a surprise when Graham and Joanie Todd on ‘Karma’ rowed over – they are anchored next to us.  We last saw them about three years ago in Ringhaddy just before they set off.  What a co-incidence – there were three NI boats in Prickly Bay at the same time and curiously we had all been in Brazil, with ‘Karma’ having been further south to Uruguay and Argentina.  We had a couple of evenings with Graham and Joanie, and the craic was good.
Our haul-out at Spice Island Marine at the north end of Prickly Bay went well and we had the rudder freed in a matter of minutes, then it was a very careful retightening and sealing the bearing plates, ensuring that the rudder moved freely but was not loose.

The other brilliant news was England’s success in the Ashes series – oh don’t you just love England beating Australia at ... well, anything.
We have the boat tidied and cleaned ready for the arrival of Des and Alma.  Our plan is to do an island tour on Wednesday with our friend Cutty (his brother lives in Dewsbury), and David and Suzanne are coming along too.  Thursday will be St Georges and provisioning and then probably head for Carriacou on Friday.

It will be nice to have visitors and to visit new places too – not that we are unhappy on our own or don’t like it here ... you know what we mean.