We decided that it probably wasn’t too safe to stay in Granada since they had two hurricanes two years in a row, Ivan 2004 and Emily 2005. They hadn’t had one before Ivan for 50 years. Since we had decided not to go to Venezuela we decided to go to Trinidad instead. We got the boat ready with the 18 dinghy engine up on the deck, left at 1300 on Thursday 7/30/09 with two other sailboats. The trip started out with seas 4’-5’ with the jib and mainsail up doing 4-5 knots, sometimes doing 6+ knots. When it got dark we never turned on our navigation lights and also didn’t’ speak on the VHF radio and beforehand had picked channel 19 to use to talk between the two other boats if necessary. We were told to do this because when we came by the gas rigs there could be pirates hanging around. When we got 2/3 of the way to Trinidad we saw the gas rig Hibiscus. It was huge and awesome to view it from about 2 miles east of it. Around 0100 it started to blow and rain and that continued most of the night. It was a horrible crossing with water coming over both sides again. It sure wasn’t what the forecast had predicted. At daybreak we were about 10 miles out and had to slow down so we didn’t get in the Boca de Monos channel until after 0800, otherwise we would have to pay overtime charges. We had lost our traveling companions during the night but we saw one already there when we got to the customs dock. The other sailboat had gone way west and arrived later that morning.
Trinidad is 7 miles NE of the coast of Venezuela. Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Great Britain 8/31/1962. It became a republic on 8/1/1976. Head of State is the President and Executive power is vested in the Prime Minister and Government following democratic elections every 5 years. Currency is Trinidad & Tobago (TT) dollars and 6TT = $1 US dollar. The language here is English. Trinidad is in the outer edge of the path of the hurricanes and tropical storms. It has 1,864 sq miles in area, 50 miles by 45 miles and approximately the same as Rhode Island in the US. Trinidad as recently as 18,000 years ago used to be linked to Venezuela and part of South America. Trinidad’s first inhabitants – the Caribs named the island “Lere” (pronounced “ayirie”) meaning land of the hummingbird. Today 16 different species of the brilliantly hued creatures inhabit the island. It is also an island which includes rain forests and swamps with monkeys, parrots, macaws, manatees and giant leatherback turtles. Wildlife also includes poisonous snakes such as the fer-de-lance, bushmaster & coral. Its people invented steel pan (a byproduct of the oil industries discarded oil drums), calypso and whose Carnival is considered the best in the world.
During World War II the US established major naval & air bases in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. 30,000 Americans used to live here. Chaguaramas is now part of a national park which includes tropical rainforest, lush valleys and is home to monkeys & parrots. Chaguaramus Bay is in hilly country and supports large numbers of pelicans, corbeaus (vultures) & frigate birds, which ride the thermals like dark kites.
A few years ago yachts rarely visited Trinidad and felt Tobago was to far east to visit. About 12 years ago Don Stollmeyer the manager of a boat yard called Power Boats invested in a used 50 ton travel boat lift and now the industry of yacht services has grown to a thriving industry with over a hundred businesses and thousands of people. A handful of boat yards formed YSAT in 1994 and is a nonprofit organization, is the watchdog, the helping hand and voice of the industry. It wears many hats including contractor referrals, problem resolutions, custom & immigration, tourism information and marketing, government liaison, events, compliments & complaints, environment, moorings in Chaguaramas Bay, water taxi & Caribbean Marine Assistance.
When we finally got to the customs dock in Chaguaramas it was around 0830. Custom & Immigration was pretty straightforward and the cost was $9 US. It was really weird when we got our money changed we were walking around with $100 bills. We thought we were rich for once. When we left the customs dock one of our fenders got caught on the pilling and the attachment line broke. As we were getting it in we noticed that one of the chain plates came out and looked like it was rusted through. I guess the stress of the fender pulling on the opposite shroud made it come loose. One thing good about it happening the way it did at the dock and not while we had the sails up during the horrendous night last night. It could have been a disaster with maybe the mast coming down. We continued on our way around the hill to the other side to a place called TTSA (Trinidad, Tobago Sailing Association) which is considered in Harts Cut. TTSA is the home of yacht racing December through May and has races on a regular basis. When we got anchored we both crashed till the next morning. We sent out e-mails to everyone that we were here and got one back from our son Steve that he was coming for a visit on Monday. It was a mad dash to get the boat in shape for our first guest since we left the states. We had no idea where to go or what to see while he was here. On Monday we checked with the marina to see where we picked up a bus (called maxi taxies here) to take us to the airport. We found out the maxi taxies (yellow & white stripped) stopped right out front. We rode the bus to the end of the line where we walked one block to another terminal which had red & white stripped maxi taxies going south. We were dropped off about a mile from the airport and were told to hail a taxi because they didn’t go into the airport. I guess the information we had received was all wrong which isn’t unusual as we have found out. Our son arrived 30 minutes ahead of time and we were glad to see him. He rented a car and we were off doing a little sightseeing through Port of Spain the capital. John got to drive and being British they drive on the left side of the road so it took some getting used to. Also John wasn’t familiar with the roads yet and it was a good thing we had a map of the area. Steve was intrigued with all the Rastafarian’s around and took pictures like crazy. The next day we loaded up the gas and diesel cans and went and got fuel. Diesel was $1.11 US and Gas $1.75 at the gas station which if we had gone to the marina it would have been triple that amount. Wednesday 8/5/09 we got up and took off for the Chaguaramas Golf Course where we found a path which was to take us to Edith Falls. It was a beautiful walk through all the swaying bamboo and lots of heliconias (flowers). Some places it was thick overhead cool & dark underneath. We never saw any animal life whatsoever except for a few birds and a snake. We were looking for parrots and monkeys. Edith Falls only exist at the height of the wet season. The falls when running, are suppose to be an impressive 600 feet in height with a pool to swim in, but this is only during the rainy season. When we saw them, we called them the “trickle down falls” because only a little stream of water was coming down. The next day we took a winding drive through the Northern Range’s rainforest with beautiful views of Cyril’s, Balata and Maracas Bays. We stopped at Maracas Bay which is a wide, white-sand beach, thick with palm trees contrasting against the backdrop of verdant mountains. They have lifeguards, changing rooms, showers, picnic shelters and food huts selling cold Carib beer and the infamous food delight “Shark & Bake”. We had never tried this before and it was very tasty. The one end of the beach was covered with Bumboat’s (local fishing boats). The next day we took the dinghy and went around to Carrera Prison Island and took a lot of pictures. This island is used as a rehabilitation place for prisoners, not your hard core type. The next night we were sitting in the cockpit talking and around 2350 the band over at the Tsunami Bar/Restaurant (off our stern) started playing extremely loud and you couldn’t hear yourself think. We endured it until around 0200 and finally crashed. When we awoke the next morning they were still going strong and they finally quit at 1000. John said if they were going to blast away next week he was going to break down and turn the A/C on. Steve left after a six day visit and hope he enjoyed his visit here in Trinidad.
Stay tuned for more adventures from John & Carol aboard the S/V Sweet Caroline.