Chaguaramas, Trinidad & Tobago

November 21^th 2013

 Position 10° 40.737’ N
              61° 37.939’ W

 Chaguaramas, Trinidad


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Our good friends, John & Carol

Well, hello everyone, we are back...Our trip to Florida was terrific and enabled us to see so many people. John & Carol, thank you, your hospitality was so generous and without you opening up you home to us the trip would not have been as comfortable or affordable, we are in your debt. When we arrived in Miami we immediately drove to Georgina’s apartment in the heart of downtown Miami and a big hug ensued. As I have said before cruising is the best but I still miss being able to see my children. 

Georgina & David

We spent a couple of days in Miami and had a fun day visiting the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show on opening day; we spent all the time there with the Krogen brigade talking about our trip and plans for the future. We spoke too with a couple just about to close on a 39’; their enthusiasm to ‘get started’ reminded HT and me of when we began, they have no idea of the wonders they have in store! The feeling of getting ready to cruise is so exciting, they, like us when we bought ‘Partners’, are still working and will cruise locally getting some miles under their keel and getting their feet wet, not literally I hope! If you are a cruising boat owner candidate talk to Kadey Krogen you will find them understanding helpful people, the ones you will need as support when it is your time to venture out into the unknown. The boats too are the most seaworthy and liveable trawlers.



Sunset shortly after leaving Trini

This was a 'green flash'

Once in Sarasota and having settled in at Carol and FOJ’s we made several phone calls to arrange to see friends and family, so many people to see in such a short time. The main purpose of the visit was to attend to annual medical check-ups and obtain a clean bill of health for the coming year all of which we actually accomplished, yes! 

Our nomadic free lives as cruisers is just the best, having become used to all the rules and regulations which one is exposed to as a member of society on land it could be hard for some to adjust to having to run their own lives and make all their own decisions. This thought crossed my mind whilst visiting Florida. We have truly become our own ‘men’, we run our own lives, make all our own decisions and have minimal rules and regulations to abide by...could you handle that? Seriously though, it is a question which someone dreaming about adopting this lifestyle has to address. The thought even worried me as my thoughts turned to when our cruising days are over and I have to re-adjust to a ‘dirt’ based life I might actually find it difficult...I know I won’t like it! Just sitting in a marina here in Chaguaramas waiting out the hurricane season for a couple of months, with TV, air-conditioning and no worry of dragging the anchor, even a daily newspaper, is scary as it has reminded us of all the things a lifestyle on land can provide and force one to ‘drift’ into. Such a waste of time! Could you cope with freedom and self sufficiency? Oh! By the way you won’t miss a single one of those treasures you think is so hard to part with, and all that ‘stuff’ you accumulated over a lifetime won’t be missed either. We went nearly nine months without TV, can you imagine that? It was wonderful…we missed so much crappy, depressing useless ‘news’, thank goodness, which otherwise interferes with and messes up a perfectly good day! You will really feel free! Another tip to those seriously thinking of taking up the cruising lifestyle, get a decent camera and learn how to use it because the memories the pictures will provide are going to be your most treasured possessions!

We enjoyed seeing some of our friends, unfortunately we didn’t manage to see everyone we wanted to but enjoyed the time with the ones we did manage to see. We saw four of our children Jennifer, Lavinia III, Christopher and Georgina, Bryony in Norway we hope to see next year when she comes to Florida for a visit with our three grandchildren; we plan to celebrate the Easter Holiday together in Miami, we hope? We didn’t see Anthony, my eldest son but as you all know he has just returned from Trinidad to his home in Jacksonville after a vacation with us onboard ‘Partners’. 


Palm Trees at the base of the rain forest

Our new Splendide/Ariston
Washer and Dryer

Our new washing machine and dryer are now installed and fully operational, Lavinia seems very pleased with them and as you can see from the picture they look good too! A new heat exchanger, which we brought back with us from Florida, is fitted to ‘Stonewall Jackson’, so we are ready to cruise! All the jobs for this year are complete, the machinery is serviced and we have taken on fuel. The question now is where to go! We have discussed going to Tobago for many months now but there have been some developments: - a boat in Bloody Bay, a remote anchorage on the north coast of Tobago, was boarded and robbed; the incident involved shooting although no one was shot. These types of violent crime are, unfortunately, part of life anywhere and we as cruisers do see our share occasionally. The incident has made us rethink our desire to visit the island as, with the exception of Store Bay, most of the anchorages are remote which makes it easier for perpetrators’ to operate. Also the trade winds have returned and are building slowly towards their ‘Christmas Wind’ strength; most of the Tobago anchorages are known to be rolly and the later in the year one goes the more roll one has to endure. Sooo, all things considered and after hearing from our friends Bill and Ann on ‘Ann Louise’ we have decided to go! They are in Charlotteville and tell us how beautiful it is and have endorsed that it really is like the Caribbean was 20 years ago. Passing on a visit to Tobago while we are so close has turned out to be impossible. Jan and Steve on board Sealacious have sailed to Tobago just a few days ago. Judy from ‘Fairwinds’ also encouraged us to go, in fact she insisted on it! Thanksgiving, this year, will be spent in Tobago! Our friends Bill and Ann plan on being there until Dec 5^th when they are then returning to Trini to be hauled out while they return to the US for Christmas. Thanksgiving should be fun and with quite a crowd! We will then cruise to Grenada and begin to plan for a destination where we can spend Christmas with friends here in the islands, our first on ‘Partners’. 

Looking back at Chaguaramas

North Coast of Trini just before sunset

 

Nov. 21^st. We left Chaguaramas, Trinidad last Sunday afternoon and had a wonderful full moon overnight cruise in benign weather – directly to Charlotteville, Tobago. Upon arrival after ‘checking in’ with customs and immigration, we went for a short walk around the tiny town during the walk we met 'Squeezy', the local musician who also is a good salesman! He sold us far too many lemons and Grapefruits, we then went back to Partners for breakfast. Unfortunately we quickly discovered that our inverter/charger was not working, a repeat of a problem we had back in May in Culebra! For us to be at anchor we must have means to charge our ships batteries. Charlotteville is remote, with no yacht services, so quickly I decided we must return to Chaguaramas! So, back to Customs and Immigration to ‘check out’ then off we sailed at 4 pm. Again, fortunately, the passage was relatively calm…so, in total we traveled 160nm in 2 days with very little sleep and are stuck back where we started from, awaiting more repairs! We have talked with Dennis at Goodwood Marine and he is advising us of the options. I will report on the repairs later on. 


North Tobago

Charlotteville, Tobago



Arriving at Charlotteville, Tobago

The anchorage in Charlotteville

 Due to this turn of events we will spend Thanksgiving in Chaguaramas and hope to cruise north into the Grenadines for Christmas. We wish everyone ashore and afloat a wonderful and peaceful Thanksgiving.

A blow hole that facinated us - Tobago

The Sisters, Tobago - nothing east of these until Africa! 2,550 NM