Trip Report #1:  Leaving Trinidad

Filed from Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela

10  13.0 N      64  40.0 W

January 5, 2006

Photo:  Taken from Starboard Home, at anchor in Scotland Bay, Trinidad

    Chagauramas is the place to go in Trinidad.  It is where all the cruisers gather, where all the great yacht services are headquartered and where the full service marinas cater to the needs of cruisers.  It is where we spent all of our time in Trinidad.  We did no sightseeing, as we were intent on getting the boat ready for a season of some heavy sailing over long miles, as we begin to take Starboard Home back to her home port in Oriental, N.C.  We did get to see Port of Spain, as we needed to have additional pages put into our passports.  Port of Spain was only a one hour bus ride away, which cost us about $1.00 US, and it is a bustling port city with some wonderful, colorful, and some elegant buildings.

Photo:  Central shopping area in Port of Spain

    Trinidad is not, however, without fascinating sites to tour.  We missed the Nariva Swamp and the opportunity to see Capuchin monkeys, anacondas, parrots and other exotic wildlife in their natural environment.  We missed the Maracas Waterfall and Fort George, with its' spectacular views and gardens.  We missed seeing the scarlet ibis, national bird of Trinidad, at the Caroni Swamp. We missed the turtle watch tour and of course we will miss Carnival in February - but we were anxious to get started.

    Starboard Home was on the hard in Coral Cove Marina at a basic cost of $390 US per month, including air conditioning (a very necessary utility in Trinidad's summer), electricity and water.  During the summer on the hard, we contracted with Lennox Stewart, a master marine carpenter, to enclose the shelves in our salon with louvered cabinet doors.  He also replaced a wooden bulkhead in the head with a fiberglass bulkhead and constructed a Star board splashguard in a small space beneath the traveler and in front of the companionway.  All of the work was done beautifully and finished on time and at a cost $2200.

Photo:  A new look in Starboard Home's salon

    After 6 years of getting bumped and scraped in the Mediterranean, the boat's topsides really needed new paint.  Nigel Barker, of Barker Gelcoat & Awlgrip Restoration Co. in Chagauramas, did a beautiful job for $2500, including materials.  He also scraped, sanded and removed all the old antifouling from the bottom and applied 2 coats of barrier coat primer and 2 coats of antifouling at a cost of $1000, including materials.

Photo:  Starboard Home's new paint job

Photo:  Tom, happy with all the work done on the boat

    Another major project was the replacement of 3 feet of lifelines on each side of the boat, from the stern pulpit to the beginning of the coach roof, with stainless steel tubing, to surround the entire cockpit.  It looks better, is easier to lean against while sitting on the combing and is a more stable support.  This was done by Chaguaramas Metal Works at a cost of 2950 TT (Trinidad-Tobago currency) or about $500 US.

Photo:  Peg with new stainless steel lifelines behind her

    While all the work was being done on the boat, Peg & Tom were back home in Albuquerque and in Oriental.  Peg was taking care of her grand daughter, Anastasia, while her mom and dad worked - a labor of love if ever there was one.  And Tom was in Oriental, supervising the replacement of the roof on our home there, damaged by Hurricane Ophelia, a storm that did not get very much publicity, but which packed a wallop at home.

Photo:  Grand daughter, Anastasia

    Before leaving the U.S. to return to Trinidad and Starboard Home, we had a wonderful weekend skiing in Upstate N.Y. to celebrate Tom's 70th birthday.  It was a great family time, with all the kids outdoing us on the slopes.  

Photo:  Tom with grandchildren, Anna, Lia, Avery, Ali and Nathan at his 70th birthday dinner

    We left 2 days after the skiing weekend, giving our sore muscles some time to recover (not nearly enough!), and arrived in Trinidad, with all of our bags.  Jesse James, who runs a tour, travel and taxi service and who has received this year's SSCA's (Seven Seas Cruising Association) award for extraordinary service to cruisers, had a driver waiting to pick us up and take us to the boat.  Everything worked like clockwork. 

    We were in the water within the week and then spent another week doing all the last minute "stuff" one needs to do to get sailing.  For 60 TT, about $10 US, Jesse's driver picked me and my truckload of groceries up at the Hi-Lo Supermarket at the West Mall.  A trip to the Fresh Market with other cruisers rounded out the needed provisions.

    The Fresh Market takes place once a week and Jesse James arranges a bus to take cruisers there and back for a fee of $25 TT ($4). The market itself is a crush of people. It is packed with farmers' stalls heaped with fresh vegetables and fishermen's stalls heaped with all kinds of fresh fish and shrimp.  Shark is a popular fish here, although we prefer salmon and tuna.  One can also get fresh beef, pork, lamb and chicken.  Chickens are live and the shopper gets to choose his chicken and the vendor slaughters it and removes feathers and anything else one wants removed.  We were warned that there may be pickpockets, usually youths, in the area and so were careful with our wallets, but had no problems.  The farmers and vendors, however, were very honest and helpful, even explaining how to cook certain of the exotic vegetables we found there.  

    On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we celebrated at potluck dinners with other cruisers, in the warmth of a Trinidad December as palm trees swayed in the breeze - like no other Christmas we've ever experienced. 

    Although we did not spend much time in Trinidad, we did spend enough time to know how wonderful the people here are.  They all seem to have a great sense of humor.  They "get" Tom's wry sense of humor.  They're helpful and honest and hardworking and on top of all that, they are very attractive people - their good looks a beautiful blend of the faces of the people of diverse cultures that have settled here.

    We are now on our way to Venezuela and will stop for a night of rest in Scotland Bay, just around the corner from Chagauramas, before setting off to Isla Los Testigos.

              A very happy and prosperous New Year to all of you-

              Peg & Tom Maynard

              s/v Starboard Home

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Grand Daughters' web pages: Anna's Home Page,  Anastasia's Home Page  Isabelle's Home Page