Home Thoughts From Abroad

Sal Darago was lifted out on Monday 20 April and was moved to her new home by a very smart travel lift.

Kathy and Jeremy went to live in a basic, but spotless apartment on the marina site. Fortunately it was a short walk from the apartment to SD and work could go on apace. The link for the computer was weak at the flat, but Kathy had some success.

All the fenders were washed, the keels ground and repainted three times with Primocon. Almost all of the jobs were completed, Custom and Immigration visited, bills paid and now we wait for the booked taxi which will take us to Port of Spain airport on Wednesday morning at 0330. We hope to be home on Thursday afternoon at about 1500.

Thank you all for your support.

“O, to be in England now that April 's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!”

Home Thoughts from Abroad by Robert Browning, 1845 Northern Italy.

Photos from Trinidad and Tobago

Blue Water Inn, Anse Bateau, Tobago


Approaching Trinidad



Chaguaramus, Trinidad. Power Boats in background

Supper at sunset. Chaguaramus Bay.

Our Final Port

We left Buccoo bay on Saturday and met a floating pirogue and an upside down one. We offered assistance, but they declined our help except that they wanted a bucket. We gave them our red one. Later we anchored in Great Cortland Bay near the town of Plymouth. We walked ashore, encountered beggars, a British school boy cricket team from Northampton and we strolled around yet another fort – this time Fort James.

The following day we anchored a short way further NE in Englishman’s Bay. This was a delightful, big bay with a large beach and little in the way of development. There was a discrete café in one corner. We dinghied ashore and managed to land through the surf without incident. We met Eileen and Phil from Rotherham and had a stroll along the beach and chatted. Launching the dinghy to return to the boat was an altogether different affair. Kathy had barely sat on the dinghy seat when a huge roller displaced her and threw her into the boiling, pebble-filled briny. Fortunately, she was only bruised and dazed. Later we watched the local fishermen using a huge seine net to trap a very large number of fish at almost the exact place of the accident. It was a wonderful anchorage and Jeremy spent much time in the water dislodging animal, vegetable and minerals from the hull.

On Monday, a few more miles and we were in Parlatuvier Bay with 16 pirogues and a trawler. Both the trawler and SD dragged anchors and had to reset them. This village had a couple of good shops, a veg stall and a waterfall. In the afternoon we always try to snorkel to cool off and wash. The reef here was great and just as we were returning to SD Jeremy saw a large sting ray. Kathy did not see it, but eventually Jeremy brought her in its direction. It saw us as we saw it. It was six feet across and brilliant and a little scary. Happily it accelerated out to sea leaving us awestruck.

On Tuesday we arrived at Charlotteville (second town of the island). This was most pleasant, a comfortable anchorage. We had to go to Customs and Immigration again, which was not too painful. Across the road was an up-to-date library; however, the restrictions on the use of the computers were draconian. While snorkelling we met a French couple on holiday; he was a lifeguard in Guyana. We then bumped into Glen canoeing. He came to the boat later with two boys. He was chuffed to be invited on board as he is hoping to buy a yacht and cruise the Caribbean. The next day rained pretty well all day. We collected 20 gallons, most of it drinking water and Jeremy washed clothes. Both of us used the fishing rods and within twenty minutes we had four beauties. These were consumed at supper. Jeremy had a go at mending a dripping window which had developed a leak during the day.

On Maundy Thursday we were to leave Charlotteville. We arrived at customs at 0810 and left Immigration at 1020. We left to sail around the North of Tobago. As we cleared the headland, the full force of the Atlantic hit us (on the nose) with 30 knots of wind and some big waves. Sal Darago dashed them aside with little consideration for her human cargo. The anchor dropped in a bay called Anse Bateau at 1415. Glen and his boys turned up again having been on an excursion. This exclusive private resort is protected by many reefs and Little Tobago island, but they were not doing the job fully and SD rolled all night and snatched at her anchor. In the morning we walked along a wide, grassy road for about two miles to a more northerly bay. We heard and saw raucous parrots calling “pieces of eight” (Kathy disagrees with this interpretation). On arrival at the head of the large bay we saw an elderly man chopping coconuts for his hens. He was Arthur Sandy, caretaker of the Cocoa Plantation (now defunct). We had quite a chat with him, including his experiences of the 1963 hurricane which hit Tobago, before returning in the heat of the day to SD. On Holy Saturday, we walked to Speyside and managed to buy some lamb for the first time for ages. Later we went ashore to the bar for two beers paying 34 $TT for the privilege (cost 12$TT in the shops) – still there was a good view of SD, the only yacht in the bay.

On Easter Sunday we left Anse Bateau (far from impressed) and went SW to King’s Bay. We anchored in a wooded corner quite a way from the head of the bay, alone. We had to put out an anchor at the stern to stop rolling, but it was effective. We tried fishing twice and on the second occasion Jeremy caught something but it took the hook, snapping the line. We had bacon for supper. On Easter Monday we walked ashore meeting a minister from Trinidad, who was on holiday, and saw a beautiful waterfall.

On Tuesday we returned to Scarborough and had to go to Customs and Immigration. Fortunately this only took just over an hour and we were able to do some shopping. The yacht Cariad was still in Scarborough with Wattie (not Waddie as previously thought) waiting for our return so he could buddy boat us to Trinidad. He was less than enthusiastic to hear that we intended to leave on Wednesday at 2000hrs. He is on his own and has not singlehanded so far.

At 1000 on Wednesday, as agreed the previous afternoon, we turned up at Immigration. We left for Customs at 1155; Wattie had not been seen by Immigration. By 1400 Wattie came to SD and said he was not coming. His fisherman friend, Terry, had said it was very rough out. Kathy and Jeremy had a pleasant mince supper with Wattie on SD. Earlier Jeremy and Wattie had moved Cariad closer in, out of the swell. At 2000 Sal Darago cleared Scarborough harbour and it was rough for about four hours. After that the wind died down and the engine had to be turned on (no laughing, Ben). We passed through a most beautiful channel called Bocas del Draco and arrived in Chaguaramus, our final destination from Hesketh Bank.

We went for a little motor to Scotland Bay yesterday, but most of our time here has been spent in offices and touring the boatyards and businesses trying to get the lie of the land. It is a big operation, situated in a heavily wooded bay with islands just off. Most picturesque, but a port and very brightly lit at night.

Tomorrow Sal Darago will be lifted out of the water and the mammoth task of preparing her to be left for six months begins. We also have one or two repairs to be done – some osmosis in the rudder, a new hot water tank and a new spinnaker pole come most readily to mind and, of course, the journey home. We left Hesketh Bank on 23/07/08. The log reading was 5112. Today it reads 11122, so that’s just 6010 miles under her twin keels. Apart from the above repairs, she has not given us any trouble, which isn’t bad for a thirty four year old yacht.

Photos

Hurricane Hole, Grenada

Waterpump seal(bust) bad design which could cost a new engine!

St David's, Grenada

A palm telecommunications tree

Fort King George, Tobago... mind it's a bigun.

Tobago at last!

One hour later, the original water pump, which we had repaired, was back in place and working well. We weighed anchor about 3.30pm and headed out to sea against the wind and the current as Tobago lies 87 miles to windward.

We went due west for 10 miles and thanks to a NE wind we could fly our mainsail and a tiny bit of genoa, but we kept the engine going as well. We were then in a good position for a beam reach, under reefed genoa and mainsail, all the way to the SE end of Tobago. Sal Darago bowled along at 6.5 knots. We had to slow down as we needed to approach the shoal patch off Tobago in daylight, so Jeremy hove to and I went below for a sleep. When I heard the mainsail gybe hard and the contents of the fridge empty out on to the floor, I knew something was wrong. Jeremy had just turned 180 degrees to avoid a collision with a ship.

Once the ship was safely past us it was my turn on the helm for 3 hours and we still needed to go slowly. I chose to furl the genoa and go at 4 knots under mainsail. I took a Stugeron as I was feeling a bit queasy and an hour later I was wretching in the sink. I felt much better afterwards. The sky began to lighten; my watch came to an end and I was glad to lie down for a while. As it turned out, there was a wide channel between Tobago and the unlit shoal patch which we could have safely negotiated in the dark, but we were following the advice given in the cruising guide.

The next 3 hours were directly into the wind and against the current, so we were relieved when Scarborough, the main town of Tobago, came into view. Our troubles were not over yet. When we anchored we were too close to another yacht and when Jeremy tried to lift the anchor it was fouled round some rusty, heavy chain. After much struggling with lines and boathook, he managed to release our anchor and we found another spot and dropped it without incident.

We had a late breakfast, collected our papers and passports and took the dinghy ashore to Immigration. A surly receptionist gave Jeremy the forms that needed to be filled in and we were told to take a seat in the crowded waiting room. At least it was air conditioned! Jeremy went to ask the receptionist if 4 copies of the forms needed to be filled in and she said, “Yes”. She didn’t mention the carbon paper that was on the desk, which we saw after we’d written the same information 4 times on 2 sets of forms! After an hour, we were called to see the Immigration Officer, who filled in another form and scanned our passports on his computer. He was very pleasant and gave us the form we needed in order to go to Charlottesville, which is in the north of Tobago. Normally, you have to go back to Scarborough Immigration and to Customs on the day of departure. Customs is a short walk away and we were admitted to the office by a man with his feet up on the desk watching television! He looked at our papers from Immigration, stamped them and wrote something, but he refused to amend the form so we could leave for Charlottesville without return to his office. He really couldn’t get rid of us fast enough.

We went to the bank, well 3 banks actually, and all of them refused my debit card transaction. Thank goodness we had the money from “Isle Escape” or we would not have been able to pay the navigation fees (50TT$) at Customs or buy groceries from the supermarket.

We stayed in Scarborough for 4 nights. One yacht had been there for a month after crossing the Atlantic from the Canaries and two more came in, having done likewise. “Carriad” from New Zealand had taken on two crew in Las Palmas and the skipper and one of the crew had argued all the way across. Consequently, both crew left the boat as soon as they had cleared Immigration and Customs. The skipper, Waddy, who is 73, became friendly with us and we might be “buddy boating” to Trinidad together.

Whilst in Scarborough, we climbed up to Fort King George, where there were 16 British cannons and took photographs of the spectacular views. On another day, we went to the Botanical Gardens, which were well kept, but most of the signs giving information were blank. We met a local woman, Leandre, and chatted for ages. She gave us her business card and offered to take us turtle watching in Trinidad. The gardens began to fill with cruise ship tourists and we made our way to the supermarket, which was closed, because it was Spiritual Baptists’ Liberation Day, a public holiday.

After clearing Customs on Tuesday morning and buying some supplies, our next port of call was Store Bay. We spent two nights there; had our laundry done in the world’s first Internet café laundry and filled our tanks with water. The laundry was good value at 49.95TT$ but the water was the most expensive so far at 100TT$ for 20 gallons (50p a gallon for tap water). We had to take the dinghy through reefs to a dive centre, land on the beach, walk up to the tap and fill our containers. Today, we motored round the edge of Buccoo Reef and anchored in Buccoo Bay. We’ve been on a marathon dinghy trip across the reef to a lagoon and walked on another palm fringed, white sand beach. We now have a stern anchor out to keep us into the swell and we’re watching the pelicans and black headed gulls diving for fish.

Tobago

We stayed anchored off Whisper Cove Marina, Woburn, for a week. One day we caught the bus to St George’s bus terminal and then boarded another one for the 45 minute journey to Grenville on the windward side of Grenada. The road went right across the island, through the rain forest interior and over the mountains before descending to the non-tourist town of Grenville. It was good to see how the local people go about their everyday lives. Jeremy wanted to come here on the boat, but I was not keen as the harbour is surrounded by reefs, has many shallow patches and the wind and current would set us on to the reefs. I thought my doubts were justified when I saw the entrance to the harbour, but Jeremy maintained it was “a piece of cake”. We had lunch of local Creole food at a café called the Melting Pot. I was unsure what to choose, but the food turned out to be good and inexpensive. Many local people went there for lunch. Later, we shopped at the supermarket beneath the restaurant, bought fresh fruit and veg from vendors and caught the bus which went down the windward side of the island. The driver said he would drop us off at the cliffs, which sounded a bit ominous, but turned out to be a place where 5 roads met. We soon caught the bus to Woburn from the cliffs.

There had been an annoying whining noise over the bay for two days and, at last, we discovered its cause – a kite. We couldn’t see the string but we could see the kite. Apparently, it’s an Easter pastime in Grenada.

By now we were listening to the Grenada Cruisers’ Net everyday and we heard there was to be a boat jumble at Whisper Cove. We went along and Jeremy bought a catapult and some fish hooks. We stayed for the BBQ lunch and met one of the volunteer net controllers, Inga, a Danish couple, Nonne and Jogen, from “Luna” last seen at Bequia and a Canadian, Brian, from “Magique”. The next day, Mothering Sunday, we took the dinghy to Hog Island and joined in the Sunday afternoon BBQ held on the beach in the shade of the trees. We promised Inga we would introduce ourselves on the Net and Jeremy did this the next day. We heard that a yacht near us, “Isle Escape” had 600 Trinidad and Tobago dollars to exchange so we went over and gave the guy 100US$. He gave us a carrier bag of leaflets, maps, a cruising guide and a boaters’ directory all related to Trinidad and Tobago as well as the TT$. We were a little disturbed to learn he’s not going back to T&T because of the level of crime. We’re going there next!

We left Clarke’s Court Bay on 24th March and motored through the reefs to the next bay called La Phare Bleu, which has an upmarket marina where the office and facilities are in an old, refurbished, Swedish lightship. We bought a gallon of petrol for the outboard and a loaf of bread. Bread normally costs $4, but here they charged $7. The bilge alarm went off just before we went ashore. The water pump on the engine was leaking sea water and would have to be replaced. Jeremy pumped the bilges and we weighed anchor and steered out through the reefs, which were marked with buoys. We went to Egemont Bay, where there is a hurricane hole. It was almost unnerving to be perfectly still with no wind or swell and a good place for Jeremy to replace the water pump. The leak was caused by a rusty spring clip, which had broken. This is an infuriating design fault in a pump which costs £150+. Later, we enjoyed snorkelling near the mangroves and Jeremy scrubbed Sal Darago’s bottom while I made supper.

We thought we might try to find Fort Jeudy the next day, but I wasn’t feeling too good having been awake in the night with pains in my chest and stomach. The anchorage in the outer bay was very deep so we kept going to St David’s Bay, the last anchorage on the SE coast of Grenada. We had a look round ashore and later took the dinghy to a reef and snorkelled for a while. We both came out bleeding having cut ourselves on barnacles. The next morning we went ashore and bought the most expensive loaf of bread (10EC$) at a resort restaurant. Next stop was Customs and Immigration so that we could clear out of Grenada. They’re supposed to be there at 8.00am, but they weren’t. A man told us they might be there at 9.00 or 10.00. We went back at 10.30 and they still weren’t there. We asked at the boatyard office if Customs and Immigration were coming today and they kindly rang them. We were told they were coming after lunch, probably about 1.30pm. At 12 noon we went ashore for the third time to have lunch in the beach bar. The same man as before saw us and said, “They’re over there.” Sure enough, two officers were looking at a boat so we went over and, after a short wait, we were seen and Jeremy filled in the required paperwork for the Customs Officer. Unfortunately, the Immigration Officer had disappeared so we had to leave all our documents, go and have our lunch and return later. This we duly did and….finally…..we were cleared by Immigration and we could leave.

Sal Darago was not ready to leave. I started the engine as Jeremy started winching up the anchor. There was no water coming out of the exhaust pipe, which meant the water pump was not working.