Trinidad

We liked Grenada but were still feeling the need to get out of the hurricane belt. We started to breathe a little easier when we arrived in Tobago, which is on the southern edge of storm danger. The passage from Grenada was not very far and the weather was beautiful, a night full of stars.

In case you're wondering why we start here with Tobago, it's because the Brits glued it to Trinidad politically & economically, i.e. it was not viable on its own. In many ways it's more of a Windward Island, even to the point of being on a different tectonic plate from Trinidad to the south.

Another day, another glorious sunset, this time in Man O' War Bay, Tobago.

The port of entry for us was at Charlotteville on the NE end of the island. Mon O' War Bay on the whole was pleasant, although the kids at the dock tended to regard our dinghy as their rubber ducky diving platform, something we were not too thrilled with. They were having fun so what the hell!

We had some classic island experiences in Charlotteville. For example, we decided to go diving over on the east side of the island. A dive operator there offered to provide transportation, which was necessary owing to the mountain one had to cross to get just a few miles over to the resort on the east side. We had a ton of equipment to carry.

We did some great dives there even though they wouldn't take us to the good places: they said they needed to "assess" us. We weren't sure if that meant our skills or if they meant it in a monetary sense, i.e. we had to spend many days (and dollars) before we could do the good stuff. This might have worked out but when we asked to be taken back to Charlotteville, the dive guy said, "Sorry friend, I have other things to do today", meaning the transportation he had offered was one-way only. Here's a tip: whenever a local calls you "friend", assume you are about to get screwed. We ended up hitching a ride in the back of a pickup during a tropical downpour. At least we were cool and the company was great! A few more memorable dives to add to our logbooks.

We heard a story there about some do-gooder NGO's attempt to help the local economy. They had discovered Tobago grew wonderful coffee. So, they decided to organize the locals into a co-op to grow and harvest coffee beans. They got the government to make land available for almost nothing. They lined up a gourmet coffee vendor to buy all their production at premium prices. Everything set, the NGO held a meeting to get all the locals excited about the new venture. Unfortunately, only one couple showed up to jump into this sure-fire business on an otherwise destitute island. They agreed to start working the land given them. But when harvest-time came and the NGO went to pick up the sacks of coffee beans, they discovered the couple had no interest in growing coffee, but had decided to use their free land to grow a much better crop: marijuana. It's de islands, mon.

A bit further west we see an attractive couple at Englishman's Bay. Must say that this is a favorite bay. Some say this fellow is Bob Weir, of the Grateful Dead, but she's no groupie.

We spent a week or so in Tobago, getting used to the heat of the S American coast. But the admiral ordered more storm avoidance so we departed for Trinidad, which is maybe 30 miles (? I forget) to the SW. Yes, another sunset but one that says we're in T'dad, mon.

After a few days working down the N coast we went through the Boca del Dragon (Mouth of the Dragon) and entered the Gulf of Paria. The entrance is very narrow and subject to extreme currents. We suspect Columbus found it a wild ride in a ship powered only by sails. You can get a short T'dad history here. Columbus arrived at the Trini south coast on his third voyage in 1498, passing through the Boca del Serpiente.

Yes, it's backlit, but we thought it an artsy glimpse of a bay on Monos Island. It still has ruins of when it was a GI rec center during WWII.

Nearby we visited the island of Chacachacare, which housed Trinidad's leper colony. Above is the old receiving station.

Some rooms in the old hospital still have furniture, though vandalism is taking its toll. This is what your basic budget or 'eco friendly' lodge looks like in Trinidad. Bring your own soap!

Here our lovely admiral inspects the yachtie nest called Power Boats. You can even see De Tub off her right shoulder. Most of the boats in the background are actually "on the hard", i.e. out of the water.

People come here to escape the hurricanes and do re-fit work. We certainly had our list of repairs and improvements after our maiden season. We really like "Chag".

Here's Amante on-the-hard at Power Boats in Chaguaramas. She sat there for about a year and a half. After many boat units, er thousands of dollars, she is finally about to splash in November, 2004.

Here are some shots from Scotland Bay, which is our favorite anchorage in Trinidad. It's partly our favorite because it's so close to Chaguaramas, so we could sort out some things before departing for Venezuela. Once we left Trinidad, we would not have any decent repair facilities until we reached New Zealand. Yes, we could have gone to Puerta La Cruz, maybe even Cartagena, but we were running late by January 2005 and needed to get to Panama by April. We thought we could get needed work done in Panama, but we were wrong.

Let's move on to Venezuela .

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