TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
We arrived back on the island October 22, 2008 at 1:40 pm. Jessie James was at the airport waiting our arrival with a vet, a quarantine officer and the proper paperwork to let Sailor back into the country. At the runway they stopped us right as we passed through the planes door. We couldn’t walk through the tunnel to the gate with Sailor until the quarantine officer arrived at the plane. This took about 45 minutes. At immigrations the vet checked out Sailors past and present health records, then filled out a page long report. Customs then took us two hours, poor Sailor sitting in his little carrier. Jessie and the quarantine officer walked us to Jessie’s taxi for the one hour drive from Port Of Spain to Chaguaramas Bay in rush-hour traffic. All the politics reminded us that we were truly back for our second part of our adventure. (Thank you so much Alex & Karie for taking care of Terra for us!)
As we entered the shipyard’s compound we saw rows after rows of boats standing up-right with jack stands holding them firm on the concrete slab. AS our eyes met Mystique, our minds flooded with good and bad thoughts. As inexperienced cruisers we weren’t so sure what to expect as we opened the companion way door. It’s all in the way you prepare the boat for storage! With all the rain here the boat could be full of mildew, it could smell like a sewer and even someone could have broke into her and robbed us. I became very anxious and had a hard time breathing. Carl let out a big shy of relief as he poked his head inside. Mystique was untouched, very little mildew no sewer smell, just a stuffy closed up smell was present. Our hard work paid off, all our cloths, books and electronics are neatly packed away in space bags waiting to be opened and used. Now it’s time again for spring cleaning and all the preparations we need to do to make Mystique seaworthy again. We settled in and spent our first night aboard.
Our friends Offline, Bleu Marie and Teva are here we met up for a reunion the next day (big hugs were in order.) They all arrived a few weeks earlier then us and have done most of their spring cleaning and preparations and now are back in the water.
Our preparations consists of sanding and bottom paint, new wax job top and side. Inspection of the mast and rigging, dinghy repair, inside cleaning and teak polishing forward to aft a little touch-up stain here and there, new Zink, porthole check, then in the water again. Who knows then a new can of worms can open. B O A T = bring out another thousand!
It’s hot and humid on the hard, but cools off at night. The rain has slowed down, maybe every other day or so. We are working our butts off. I guess it’s worth it because our boat will be safe and look like new when we are done. We have electric but not a potty or refrigerator, they both work with the sea water. Not even internet anywhere close by. The only touch we have to the outside is the morning cruisers net. It’s on the VHF radio at 8:00 am cruisers exchange information and weather conditions. All around us are people doing work to their boats and also living aboard. All we have here on this compound is a laundry room, bathroom with a shower. We have to walk really far to get food and ice. I call it roughing it, Carl thinks it‘s fun. Carl has met a few nice local guys and hired one to sand and paint the bottom of the boat.
When the boat is back in the water, Offline and us are going to rent a car to tour the island and provision our boats with food and other necessary items, cant wait.
Here’s a little info about Trinidad and Tobago:
The time zone is (AST) Atlantic Standard time. (No daylight savings time.) the population is about 1.3 million. Primary language is English. Trinidad covers about 1,864 square miles with the rugged Northern mountain range of 3,085 feet. There is a flat central plain where the bulk of the sugar cane is grown, rolling hills to the South where the main industry is oil and natural gas. The Capital city is Port Of Spain. Tobago is the typical tranquil Caribbean island, with white sandy beaches. The reefs are located in the blue turquoise, indigo green colored parts of the sea, creating diving and snorkeling reefs totally increasable. Sponges and magnificent reefscapes not found anywhere else.
Carnival is the most exciting part of the year on both islands just right after Christmas. Today’s celebration is the most widely imitated festival art form in the world. One of the oldest steal bands in the world came from here. Neal & Massy Trinidad all-stars just celebrated its 72nd anniversary in 2007.
