Trinidad

Well, we made it! Our goal to reach Trinidad before June 1^st was attained. The last leg of the journey, from Grenada to Chaguaramas, Trinidad was 80 miles, which required another over-night passage. What should have taken us no more than 20 hours turned into 34.5 hours. Between the current and the wind, there were times we were going backwards. This was very disappointing on so many levels.

Being the worrier that I am, during the passage I was continually on the lookout for boat raiders from Venesuela (pirates) who have made newspaper headlines in the past few months. One boat was robbed of everything that could have been removed from their boat. Yikes! Luckily, we didn’t see much more than cargo ships.

The weather wasn’t so kind to us either. Had we made our destination in the twenty hour window, we would have missed the forecasted rain. But we didn’t, and the weather was spot on. About five miles from port, the rain came down, and as we made our approach the fog dropped from the sky like a brick, which made for a tricky entry. Allan and I stayed out and circled Ryen’s Quest a few times until we were sure we had a good visual. Entering the port was like nothing I had ever experienced. It was lit up like a huge fantasy city. It was quite spectacular. Morning light would show us a much different perspective.

In keeping with the immigration laws, at 0030 hours, we made our way to the immigration office before doing anything else. Although the office is supposed to be a 24 hour operation, Allan knocked on the door and was surprised to have the door opened by an immigration official, half dressed and half asleep or half awake. Allan was told to return in the morning. This was fine with us, as we weren’t sure where our permanent berth was anyway. The immigration jetty was home for our first night in Trinidad.

Chaguaramas is a marine mecca. There are about a dozen marinas offering every kind of marine service and repair that you might imagine. There are literally hundreds of sail and power boats being stored, repaired, or merely sitting out the hurricane season, like us. There are fast food joints, expensive dining experiences, hotels to house the folks waiting for repairs to finish, grocery stores, post offices, travel agencies, and water taxi’s (if they answer their vhf call). It all sounds rather grand, but with this, is the fact that it is an industrial port which takes any glamour away from everything else. Bags of garbage are randomly and regularly dumped into the water. Not just a bottle or two, but bags and bags! It’s sinful. Further inside the port you will find a small area which Allan and I lovingly refer to as a “Shanty Town”. This is an area of little shacks built entirely with pieces of plywood nailed onto other pieces of plywood. It is officially called the “Fishing Co-op” but in my mind I confused it with a “Fish Hatchery”. (Two very completely different defined and visual interpretations). These shacks are somehow sitting on a dock of some kind. One or two of them have electricity, but surely not many. Most of them have a small little fishing boat tied to them. I often wonder if the locals resent the visiting tourists flaunting their big yachts and eating in restaurants where a breakfast costs more than a local makes in a day. If they do, they certainly don’t show it. Everyone we have met has been friendly with big “hello’s” and ready to go out of their way to help in any way they can.

Coral Cove Marina, where we are, is probably middle of the road, in terms of facility. They promote themselves as having a pool, which, if judging by it’s size, might better be referred to as a hot tub. And it doesn’t look like it gets much maintenance, if you know what I mean. There is a newer updated marina next to us, called Crews Inn, which is by all accounts bigger, better, and way more expensive. We are able to stay here with water and electricity and cable included, internet available, for about $750 a month. June is paid for, but we may look at other options in July and onward. I do gotta say that I love having the air-conditioning on, and being able to cook my own meals and live like normal people. If not normal, then like I used to live on land. As we get to see more of the city, Port of Spain, I will add to the blog.

For those who have been looking for updates to this blog, I apologize. Cruisers seem to get crazy busy doing a lot of nothing, and they tend to keep doing it. Mack and Al have it down to a science, but I am a very quick learner.

Kisses and hugs before you go to bed Angel....Nana loves you always and forever.