Checking out the 'hood - Power Boats

When we were here last December, we had only two days to haul Nine of Cups and decommission her for her stay … no time to explore the boatyard or our immediate neighborhood. Chaguaramas is on the extreme northwestern tip of Trinidad, a peninsula jutting out into the Caribbean.

Chaguaramas is more an area than a town and it isn't much. There is one main road, Western Main Road, and that's pretty much it. Other than marinas, boatyards and the services/shops related to the boating industry, there's nothing here. There are several marina/boatyards around, but we chose Power Boats because 1) we were familiar with it from our last stay and 2) it was the most price competitive for hauling the boat and keeping her on the hard. We've not been here at Power Boats since 2002 and lots has changed … but lots has remained the same.

As boatyards go, Power Boats is just fine. Security is good. The entire land-side perimeter is fenced with 10' chain link with razor wire running along the top. There's a gate guard and security folks roam constantly.

There are enough amenities to make life on the hard at least tolerable. We've rented an A/C unit, so at least we're cool inside the boat and for sleeping. There are several shower/toilet blocks throughout the boatyard (although you have to insert a token for a hot water shower). They're nothing special, but they're usually clean and the cold water isn't all that cold.

There's a small grocery, the Dockside FoodMart, which is open 7 days a week and sells all the basics. It's situated right at the wharf (hence the name Dockside) and boats tie up alongside to get their day provisions and picnic supplies. Since our fridge is on the blink, they've graciously allowed us to store perishables in their fridge when we need to.

Sails is the marina restaurant. It's a pleasant enough place with a nice ambiance right on the water. Tourists enjoys it, but we find that it tends to have mediocre food and is too expensive for us to frequent.

There's also the Roti Hut which serves the Trini speciality, roti … think Caribbean curry burrito... most days at lunch. This is more in keeping with our taste and budget. There are also numerous roti stands and vendors outside the Power Boats gates that offer lunches and cold drinks, catering more to the marina workers as well as budget-minded cruisers. The Roti Hut area also provides a meeting place/picnic area for cruisers for Friday night potlucks and BBQs.

The on-site chandlery is small and convenient, but gets lots of competition from Budget Marine which is right next door. David makes at least one trip to each place each day. It's part of his daily ritual, I think. A yachtsmen's workshop next to the chandlery and out of the sun is a nice touch with workbenches and vises available for projects difficult to do on the boat … and lots of electrical outlets.

We have unreliable wifi on the boat … it comes and goes. It's free and we get what we pay for. There's also a small internet building which houses toilets on the first floor and a second-floor air-conditioned room with a more reliable, though less convenient, internet signal. I've been trotting down there with my laptop at least once a day to send Gentry my blog posts.

The laundromat room is hot and dusty. The washers and dryers work on tokens TT$15/each … about $5.00/load for wash & dry. It's not that expensive and relatively convenient other than climbing up and down the ladder and walking back and forth from the boat to get the laundry done. It certainly beats doing it by hand and hanging it out on the lines to dry in a dusty, dirty boatyard.

In general, the boatyard is a mini-community unto itself, pretty much self-contained and offering most any tradesman, service or supply we need. We wander outside the gates on occasion, but there's little need to unless we want a change in scenery.

There you have it … a mini-tour of Power Boats. But … enough touring for now. I'll talk more about living on the hard in the next few days … gotta go get some work done before the Captain complains.

Too much to do? Prioritize!

It happens every time we leave Nine of Cups for a few months and then return. We are overwhelmed with projects, repairs and maintenance. “Just put it on the list” is the Captain's usual response to any problem we discover that requires attention. It's just that the list grows and grows until we feel it is untenable … then what? Well, then we revert to our standing philosophy of life aboard … just a little further. Don't worry about the whole list; just worry about getting one thing checked off and moving on to the next. When you look at the whole picture, it's overwhelming, but looking at parts of the whole is much easier to handle. It's really about dividing big plans, projects or tasks into smaller tasks that are doable and that you can check off after reasonable effort. It's about lists and prioritizing what we really need (or want) before we're ready to head back to sea. Engine, sails, safety equipment all in good order? All those are necessary for prudent sailing. Varnish, microwave kaput, stainless polishing, even refrigeration are not reasons to delay a departure, unless we choose to.

So, as the list has grown, we've started our A, B and C task lists. Some items are receiving priority attention. We had contracted with a local fellow to repaint the topsides. He did as instructed and completed all but the navy shear stripe. Much to our pleasant surprise, he did a terrific job, and I might add, on time. “On time” is not usually part of the West Indies vocabulary. David has work to do on the cap rails and as soon as he completes his part, Rawle can finish painting the shear stripe.

We brought back a new cutlass bearing and shaft seal … priority items. They've currently taken up residence on the nav station midst a jungle of other parts, patiently waiting for David's attention. He figures when the pile disappears, he's finished up using all the parts and it'll be time to go, although he hasn't purchased the engine room through hull valve yet and that's an A-list item. We also need to anti-foul the bottom … currently an issue since bottom paint at the chandlery is back-ordered four weeks. Really? We've got it on order … any color will do ... as long as it's black.

The fridge is another issue. We haven't figured out what to do about it yet. Currently, there are three options available to us, including living without refrigeration which many cruisers do. We'll figure out our best solution soon. Evenings are spent discussing and figuring out options while drinking slightly warm wine or tepid beer. We always seem to come up with better solutions when a little alcohol is involved.

Midst the prioritizing and actual work, Marcie's sister, Lin, is coming for a visit. She doesn't care for boats much … the seasick thing. Being on the hard will alleviate the seasickness issue, but living on the hard will not be all that pleasant for her. That said, we plan to spend some time touring the island providing time off the boat, some good sister-on-vacation time, and good blog material. The last two times we visited Trinidad, we did mostly boat work and not much land touring.

So we've set a goal. We'd like to have all of our boat work done and splash by the third week in April. With that schedule, we should have enough time to get to the Chesapeake before hurricane season begins, ~2,000nm away. It will not be a leisurely up-island cruise as we originally planned. Instead, a rather direct trip is more likely in the cards, with a few planned ports of call along the way . But you know what? If it doesn't work out, there's always Plan B. We're working on that, too.

Easter in Trinidad

It's Easter Sunday in Trinidad. The Trinidadians take their holidays seriously. Banks, shops, the boatyard, etc. were closed on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, plus today, Easter Sunday, and they'll be closed again tomorrow, Easter Monday. The other day, I asked a young woman in the boatyard office, a native Trinidadian and a woman of color, if the Easter Bunny comes to Trinidad and how she planned to celebrate. She said “No bunnies here. I'm going to sleep for four days. That's what you do on holiday.”

I later spoke with Tammy, owner of the B&B we'd stayed at. She's a Syrian who has lived in Trinidad for 50 years. She's a devout Catholic and planned to spend the holiday with her son and his family. She participates in all the Easter and pre-Easter religious and secular celebrations. She got her palms on Palm Sunday and bought Cadbury chocolate bunnies for her grandkids. She'd baked hot cross buns in anticipation of a big, traditional Easter Sunday ham dinner. She'd celebrate Good Friday in church and attend Easter Mass on Sunday with her family. The local mall, she informed me, had an Easter fashion show and local children would participate in an Easter parade, sporting their newly created Easter hats.

We listened to the Chaguaramas cruiser's net and other than announcing the weekly Sunday dominos game, there was not much going on to celebrate Easter. Winter and spring are dry here. April showers do not bring May flowers. We're told there's really not much noticeable change in this hot, humid weather until the end of May when the rains come … then it's hot and rainy.

I remember other Easters aboard. One time we were in Ecuador on the hard. I colored and decorated eggs with my Swedish friend, Ulla aboard Lovina. We gathered all the cruisers together on Easter Sunday for a huge potluck dinner and the marina accommodated us by setting up tables and chairs in the parking lot. Another Easter, we were sailing to the Galapagos and I cooked a canned ham en route. Yet another year, we were in a secluded anchorage in New Zealand's South Island by ourselves and ate mussels and fish. In Australia, there were chocolate bilbies, not bunnies. Down under, Easter represents the beginning of the austral autumn/winter season … not as joyous as the advent of spring.

We have always found a way to celebrate Easter. Though we're not religious folks, we do acknowledge the change of seasons and the coming of Spring, even if the change is negligible where we are. We remember the long, cold, hard winters growing up in Massachusetts and Colorado and the absolute joy (and relief) that Spring had finally arrived … even though there was still two feet of snow on the ground. We remember the thrill of waking to find Easter baskets on the kitchen table and later, the fun we had with our kids on Easter morning with scavenger hunts for eggs and treats.

So what's on our agenda for the day? We've only been back a few days and we're still learning our way around. Our fridge is not working (GRRRR!), so no shopping in advance for Easter dinner fixin's. But we've seen lots of old friends here and perhaps it'll be a good day for a cruiser get-together … a day for sharing adventures and tall tales and cold beer and just maybe … chocolate bunnies.