My last post for the season!

It’s been six months since we left Hampton, Va. for our second season in the Eastern Caribbean. We enjoyed revisiting many of the islands we went to in 2019-2020, with the goal of getting further south than St. Lucia (where we were ‘stuck’ for 9 months during COVID). By March 2023, we were on our way to St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Grenada and finally in May, our current destination, Trinidad. 

My last post provided an overview of our first week in Trinidad and this one will continue with my last few weeks. Andrew will be staying on to sort out some contracted jobs and get projects going but I’ll be headed home for the summer into fall. 

Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy the sailing community that converges on Trinidad and the Powerboats Marina, in particular. The picture below provides an overview of the marina with an arrow approximating where we spent a week in a slip.

On Thursday, May 25th, we attended our second Powerboats BBQ in as many weeks, but this time we knew to bring our own food and make something to share. I made sweet potato casserole that was consumed pretty fast and Andrew cooked these giant steaks that were shipped from the U.S. and purchased in Grenada. 

The next day, I walked to Budget Marine and Peake’s Marina in search of a winch to replace the one on the mast that broke while Andrew and Rawle toiled on all kinds of projects on the boat, preparing for haul out. We shared a “bussed up” from the roti hut for lunch, which is essentially a chicken roti that is chopped (or busted up) and served with bones and all! Interesting!! The street food around here is excellent and most of the vendors are friendly.

We spend our evenings sitting on our apartment porch watching the birds fly over, the sun set and the moon come up. One of those evenings, Andrew got a great picture of two boats parked next to each other with phenomenal results! See below.

On Saturday, May 27th, we organized enough folks from the marinas to have a Shark & Bake at Wheel House. It was a huge sandwich with a tasty salad and a fun crowd!

Sunday was laundry day and Mexican train dominoes in the hut. It’s also the day that locals show up in their big trucks, load their boats with coolers of beer and scantily clad women, turn up the music and head out for the day. The dress code appears to be ‘early AC/DC’.

By Monday, we were 3 days into the officially declared rainy season and it was pouring at least once a day for one half hour or more… sometimes deluges, sometimes sprinkles, but always rain. Guess we should have known better when we decided to take the public “Massey Taxi” to Massey’s grocery store and attempt the same back. We ended up standing in the rain for 30 minutes with bags full of groceries and cars spraying us with each passing. I think next time we’ll use Jesse James’ taxi service!

On June 1st, Billy Ruff’n was hauled. All went well in the end, even though we came out in Caribbean time (a few hours after originally scheduled) and our propellor wasn’t working properly when we tried to back into the slip. We also didn’t get into the spot we wanted because some guy parked in it and went fishing but she’s out of the water and we are able to take a good look at her bottom. She needs work!

The evening of the next Thursday night BBQ, our painter Rawle was visiting with us in the apartment while I was making a potato salad to share. Apparently, I was doing it all wrong so he showed me the Trinidadian way. Fortunately, I had canned peas and carrots and the other ingredients he required and together we made some of the best potato salad I’ve ever had! Doug & Marjorie, from s/v Frolic, made it to Trinidad and the BBQ this week, so it was fun to catch up with them. Jesse James made his popular pineapple chow (a very spicy pineapple salsa) for the occasion.

On Saturday, Andrew joined me at the Fresh Market where we bought fish and some veges for the next few weeks. That evening, we packed up some beers and went with a van load of sailors to the Fish Fry in Carenage. There, we found a collection of vendor stalls with everything from baked stuffed fish w/ mashed potatoes & veges to shark bites and fritters. We tried it all and thoroughly enjoyed the outing.

The next morning, I was up at 4:30am to go on a 3 hour bike ride with Mark (s/v Roxy) through the bamboo cathedral to the beach and the golf course. We rode passed lots of gorgeous trees along the way, heard many different types of birds, picked mangos and saw one monkey. 

Today, June 5th, Andrew and Rawle are back at work on the boat. I’m hunting down boats parts again and preparing for my flight tomorrow. It’s been a great season but I’m looking forward to some time at home in the U.S. Andrew will return in a couple weeks and we will continue this story in the fall. Happy summer everyone!!