We are now back in boat fix it mode for awhile. Our wind generator quit putting out amps so it was time to purchase a new one. What is the saying “A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into”. John, “Brain Surgeon” tried everything imaginable to try and get it to work but no luck. John & I took off walking to where they manufacture the Kiss Generator here in Trinidad which was about a mile away. We talked to the owner and negotiated a good price we thought, but it was still expensive. John was going to have to rebuild the pole to accommodate the new generator for the poles were different sizes. Of course nothing is easy. John also was off to see about the new stainless for our chain plates which I’m sure wasn’t going to be cheap either.
After a few days in the work mode, John reminded me that one of our friends from the United States Power & Sail Squadron, Gervase Bushe, was born and raised here in Trinidad and to send him an e-mail that we were here. While we were awaiting a reply we got a message on our web page that Catherine Tardieu, a Trinidadian lived here in Trinidad and wanted us to get in contact with her. Her friend lives across the street in Palm Bay, Florida, from EZ Way Storage where John used to work part time. I sent her an e-mail and got a call the next day that she would be stopping by to get acquainted. While she was here we set up a date for next week to do some touring around. In the meantime we also received a reply from our friend Gervase with a list of cousins and friends with their phone numbers to call. We finally got through to his best friend’s wife, Joy Knaggs and she called back later they would be picking us up next week also for some touring around Trinidad.
Wednesday of the next week David & Joy Knaggs picked us up and took us on a tour around the Savannahs area in Port of Spain. We stopped for lunch at the Apsara-Indian Restaurant and had a combination of chicken, shrimp, lamb, vegetables and bread they call “Naan Bread”. Apsara is the only authentic Indian Restaurant in Trinidad & Tobago specializing in mainly northern Indian cuisine. After lunch we went up Lady Chancellor Road which is a very winding road up a mountain and when we got to the top we got a great view of Port of Spain and the surrounding area down below. We also saw the Hilton Trinidad and this is a unique architecturally designs called the “upside down hotel”, (sometimes a Jeopardy question on TV). During the day they invited us to their home on Tobago so we stopped at a travel agency to see if we could get some tickets on the fast ferry that goes there. We were in luck and got some for the coming Sunday at a cost of $33.34 US for both of us round trip. We didn’t expect them to be so inexpensive and are really looking forward to our trip there.
The next day Catherine Tardieu picked us up and first she took us to the Chaguaramas Military History & Aviation Museum which is 12,000 sq. ft. and covers over 500 years of history – along with military vehicles, vessels, artillery and aircraft. We were surprised at the size of this museum because it didn’t look that big from the road. We were then off to lunch which was on a street they call the avenue where we saw beautiful murals painted on the walls along the street. Immediately to the west of Queen’s Park in the Savannahs we saw the Magnificent Seven which between the years 1903-1909, which were truly great years for Trinidad and their magnificent expression, seven beautiful buildings situated on land of the former St. Clair sugar estate. They were truly outstanding mansions of a type never seen before in Trinidad. They are known today as “The Magnificent Seven”. 1) 1904 Queens Royal College – Boys High School – built in an Italianate style and features a grand clock tower; 2) Hayes Court (Anglican Bishops Residence – named after Bishop J. Thomas Hayes; 3) Mille Fleurs – was once a private mansion with impressive iron fretwork and also known as Prada’s House, is now owned by the state; 4) Roomer - a private residence – built in the French Baroque style, was once known as the Ambard Building; 5) Roman Catholic Archbishop’s residence; 6) Whitehall – The Prime Minister government office - opulent Moorish-style mansion; 7) Stollmeyer Castle – built to resemble a Scottish Castle with turrets, and named after the family who built this miniature Rhine castle and now is owned by the government. We then went over to the Botanical Gardens which was on the northern end of the Savannah and saw both the Presidents house and the Prime Minister’s.
The rest of the week went by fast with John doing some boat work and Carol catching up on laundry, work on articles and pictures.
Sunday 8/23/09 loomed rainy and dreary. We took a Maxi Taxi (cheap bus) to the end of the bus line where the ferry dock was located right across the street. For whatever reason, we had to be there two hours before departure. Our ferry was a sleek looking ship that traveled at 50mph and had four engines for a total of 40,000 hp. Even with this speed it took us 2 ½ hours to get to Tobago.
Tobago lies just 20 miles off the northeast coast of Trinidad and has an area of 116 sq. miles and is a typical tranquil Caribbean island with white sandy beaches and clear, turquoise water. When Columbus sighted the island it was occupied by Caribs and he named the island Bella Forma. Today its present name is a corruption of tobacco, a crop which the native Caribs grew. Initially the island was isolated from and unknown to Europeans for many decades until 1632 when Dutch merchants established a colony there. In 1791, over 90 percent of Tobago’s 15,000 residents were African slaves, most of who worked on the many sugar plantations island wide. For the next 200 years, Tobago changed hands 33 times among the Spanish, Dutch, English and French, all of them rival colonists. The island was finally ceded to Britain in 1814 by the Treaty of Paris. On April 6, 1889, Tobago was annexed administratively to Trinidad - on the insistence of the British Government and in an effort to secure more financial stability for Tobago, the island became a ward of the colony of Trinidad. Primarily due to the decline of sugar production in Tobago, the finances of the two islands were then merged and managed under an all-white legislative council of members sent from Britain. Today with a population of 46,000 nestled in 15 valleys around the coastline, this island is the perfect demonstration of how man can live in harmony with nature. Tobago’s central hilly range, the main highland ridge, forms much of the island’s topography and is the home of the magnificent rain forest – the oldest protected nature reserve in the Western Hemisphere. Although Tobago lies to the south of the hurricane belt, it was nevertheless struck by Hurricane Flora on 9/30/1963 and severely changed the face of Tobago’s economy. The hurricane laid waste to the plantations of banana, coconut and cacao, which largely sustained the economy. It wreaked considerable damage to the largely pristine tropical rainforest that makes up a large proportion of the interior of the northern half of the island. Subsequently, many of the plantations were abandoned, and the economy changed direction away from cash crop agriculture toward tourism. In 2004 Hurricane Ivan, although less severe than Flora, also caused significant damage. I was also told this island was the place for the filming location of the Walt Disney movie The Swiss Family Robinson.
When we arrived in Scarborough, the capital of Tobago, David Knaggs and his daughter Lorraine picked us up. They have a lovely 3 bedroom pool home in Bucoo, Tobago with a lovely 180˚ view of the ocean. The next day we went out for lunch at a little restaurant called “Shore Things Café & Crafts”, which had very good food. After lunch it was back to their house for a nice swim and limin’ (hanging out, or the art of doing nothing) for the rest of the day. The following day we drove up to Fort King George overlooking Scarborough Harbor. David then took us on a little island tour around part of the island. After our tour we went down to the ocean and did some snorkeling and swimming off a small reef. The days flew by in a flurry and it was time again to head back to Trinidad on the ferry. What a great island to visit if you get a chance.
Stay tuned for more adventures from John & Carol aboard the S/V Sweet Caroline.