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!!

Our first week in Trinidad

On May 17th we arrived in Chaguaramas, Trinidad, informed Powerboats marina of our arrival and dropped anchor while they worked on securing our Health Clearance. After an hour or so, we were able to move to our slip on C dock. Andrew expertly backed into a relatively narrow cement med moor dock without panicking me or the boat owners on either side. We met Rawle Walker, infamous for taking care of Billy Ruff’n for the prior owner. We were told to look for the skinny guy in a red jumpsuit and sure enough he was the first fellow we shook hands with on land.

We borrowed the marina dinghy to go across the inlet to Customs & Immigration. That was a bit of an onerous process: sitting in drab rooms, completing multiple forms with the same information on them, in carbon copy triplicate and getting questions answered reluctantly by the bored, but generally pleasant employees hired to facilitate. After another hour, we handed the papers over and with barely a glance at us or the papers; stamp, stamp. “You may go” they said. Welcome to Trinidad!

That evening we met a lot of Trinidad cruising regulars (including the Chris Doyle team of cruising guide authors) at the bring-your-own barbecue under the Powerboats roti hut.

The next morning, we treated ourselves to our first doubles breakfast. This is a hard to described but fabulously delicious Trinidadian specialty made on flat fried dough with curried chick peas and various chutneys. The mother-son team that serve them outside of Powerboats marina make the best I’ve had yet!

That day, we started to make appointments to meet with vendors and service providers to discuss various jobs that we want to get done while we are here. On Saturday, I went to the fresh market in Port of Spain in a yachtie organized taxi with new friends Josie, Shannon and others from the BBQ. There were fish, meats, fruits & veges covering a city block with a few unusual and oversized items I couldn’t identify.

That evening, we walked out of the marina compound gates to enjoy the excellent ribs at WheelHouse Restaurant with friends on Roxy, Solmate and more Powerboat regulars that were saying goodbye for the season to one of their own.

On Sunday, I participated in the regular game of Mexican Train dominos and met some more Powerboats regulars as well as newbies. By Monday, it was time to get down to work. Andrew and Rawle were side by side with their heads in the bilge most of the day and we met with Rico, one of the yard managers to discuss our plans. Over the next few days, he helped us accomplished the following:

1) installed a loaner A/C over the forward hatch on the boat

2) had an initial meeting w/ Hilton, the plumber, and determined that we need to get a contract for new vents for our water system and replacement hoses for (or removal of) the Electroscan sanitation system.

3) met with Keith, the refrigerator guy, and determined that we need to order and install new gauges & sensors

4) loaded & delivered a truck full of lines, canisters, ditch bags, etc. to our storage unit.

5) set up the mechanics to prep the dinghy motor for storage.

6) got the beautiful Moroccan mirror that hung in our head, repaired from the body slam Andrew delivered on our way south in November. 

7) had a new T-clamp made to replace the broken one that supports the glass hatch above the companionway.

8) loaded the floorboards & delivered a second truck full to the storage unit.

On Tuesday, we moved into our neat, little apartment which is convenient to the boat, the roti hut, the doubles stand and the marina services & office. All in all, it’s already been a productive week and it’s only Wednesday!

Living like a Grenadian

On April 30th we left Carriacou for St. George’s, Grenada. It was a fantastic 5 hour sail with consistent 15-20 knots winds on the port beam. Upon arrival, we picked up a mooring outside of the harbor since our slip at Port Louis Marina wasn’t available until the next day. Andrew cooked up some fish in sauce from our leftover lobster and we enjoyed a fabulous sunset.

The next day, we motored into the marina and checked in to a skinny slip inside the main dock. Good location, tight turn for the Billy! After tying up, I made my way to the swimming pool with a fancy drink while Andrew says he cleaned up the boat (but probably napped a bit too)! Our location is right by the main road to town so we hear horns all day & night (which I think they use to say hello to each and every passing car). Otherwise, we are down below and insulated from the noise but more subject to the heat!! That evening was pretty calm though and I got a cool picture of the boats reflecting in the still water of the marina.

The next day, Andrew and I walked to Island Water World for various supplies. On the way back, we bought mangos from Mango Man, whose stand is across from the entrance to the marina. Later that day, I got 5 bags of leftover provisions from a group that I had met at the pool and were cleaning out their charter boat. I went to share some of the extra pasta, meats & frozen items with Mango Man, but he wasn’t at his stand when I went to deliver so I got to know some of the neighbors looking for him.

Later that day, we cleaned the dinghy bottom, which meant hoisting about 400 lbs onto the dock and flipping it over to scrub the green stuff growing on the bottom with paint scrappers. After that, two young men came to test our refrigerator, since it seemed to be running perpetually and draining the battery. They were good natured young fellas that had just finished refrigeration school and were anxious to learn and get experience. They also had no idea what they were doing and were kinda amusing to watch as they discussed how to go about things.

That evening, Edwin & Karen (on s/v Frog’s Leap) visited us on the boat for sundowners and we went out to dinner afterward at Umbrella’s. The ride over on the public bus was entertaining as the driver bumped and swerved along the windy roads at what seemed like 80 miles an hour, while blaring Caribbean music so you couldn’t hear the person next to you talk, even though we were nearly sitting on top of one another. Anytime someone in the back needed to get out, half the bus had to unload to let them out and file back in again. We had no idea where we were going or where to get out but fortunately, the kindly Grenadians let us know what to do and we arrived safely at the festive and friendly beach bar & restaurant and ordered some very tasty burgers and fish tacos. We split a taxi back!!

The next day was topside dinghy cleaning, some okay chicken roti from the local bakery and otherwise preparing for me to fly to Boston to visit the kids and grandkids. After all, it was our third granddaughter 1st birthday and I wanted to be there!

I returned on May 8th and got right back into being Grenadian. I walked to St. George’s to get a Grenada Yacht Club burgee for the CYC collection and then to town to buy Andrew a new pillow. It was quite a walk, so halfway there, I hopped on the bus. I asked the driver if he knew a store in town where I could buy a pillow and a few of the ladies on board said “all of them”! Sure enough, almost every store had the same collection of cheaply made knick knacks and paraphernalia, except for plain white pillows. I had to stop in a few of them before I found what I wanted. 

The next day, we met Eric & Arliss, on s/v Corroboree, who had just completed a six year circumnavigation! I was fun to chat with them and hear about what they had done on a 35 foot boat with a free standing mast!!

On May 11th, we motor-sailed around the south end of Grenada to Prickly Bay. We picked up a mooring off of the marina and started preparations for our upcoming sail to Trinidad. That Friday, we had dinner at the marina restaurant where the evenings entertainment was a young boy playing guitar and singing with his mothers band. I couldn’t really tell if he was any good (because I think his microphone may have been off) but he was very expressive and totally enjoying himself!

That Saturday, Andrew’s phone crashed during an upgrade and we had to find a tech store. We took the dinghy to Budget Marine, where the cabbies hangout, and met Alfred. Alfred took us to the place we had found online called Global Tech. It was difficult to find because it’s located in a container in the parking lot of a strip mall. Unfortunately, the guy who worked on Apple phones wasn’t on island but would return the following Wednesday. They offered to take Andrew’s phone and have the guy look at it (for $180 EC) when he returned. No thanks! Alfred said he ‘had a guy’ so we called and determined that he could see us on Monday, so we made a date with Alfred on Monday.

Sunday was Mother’s Day! I made breakfast (banana/ mango pancakes & bacon), scrubbed the bottom of the big boat, and lubricated the zippers and snaps all around. For my reward, I got to talk to my kids and grandkids and went out to dinner at Spice Affair, a good (but expensive) Indian place within walking distance of the marina.

On Monday, Alfred took us to Mobile Tech, his friend’s place and after about an hour or so, the proprietor was able to download the appropriate firmware and we paid him $120 EC for the fix. We asked Alfred to take us to a good local lunch spot for takeout so he turned up this pitted dirt road passed a dilapidated sign that read “Dexter’s Restaurant”. Didn’t look like it would amount to much but we arrived  at a tidy white house behind the blue porched restaurant with a view. Inside were these two wonderful ladies working away at preparing our lunch. Andrew and I shared the pork ribs with the sides of the day (potato salad, green salad, plantains & rice). It was very flavorful and a great deal for $20 EC (about $7 US dollars). 

Tuesday we met up with Alfred again (well actually his brother at first)! Andrew’s apps hadn’t downloaded so we had to go back to Mobile Tech but while we were waiting we met Amy from Heritage Farms. She was selling really nice looking frozen meats & fish including New York strip, sock eye salmon and more.  Amy told us the story of how she and her husband (a Grenadian) wanted to raise cattle on the island but when the land deal didn’t go through, they started importing meats from the U.S. I’m hoping to pick up an order from her tomorrow as we continue to prep for our overnight sail to Trinidad. We’ll let you know when we get there!!