04/23/2009, Chaugaramas Crew’s Inn Trinidad
April 23 - Check in was a breeze, a quick trip to Immigrations to fill in some paperwork across the street to Customs, one more form and a small fee and we were checked in to Trinidad! I walked next door to Crew's Inn and rented a berth for the weekend and we ended up with a great space at the end of the pier and were plugged in with power within an hour and the air conditioners were on and the beer was cold.
That evening we walked up to the Lighthouse restaurant for dinner, Richard had been talking about having ribs for the last 4 or 5 days and sure enough, ribs were on the menu, and they were awesome! But we had to start with some appetizers and ordered the sugar Thai shrimp and calamari for snacks to go with our cold Carib Lager's. The three of us ordered the ribs and they came out with the Fred Flintstone platters that we could barely finish, but we did. We were back at the boat and asleep by 9:00 PM for a full 8 hours sleep since leaving Brazil 9 days ago!
April 24 - After coffee it was time for laundry, especially since my bunk had taken a wave through the hatch on the third or fourth day out. So, I spent the morning doing laundry and chatting with some of the other yachties that were there. I met a great couple from Houston that were finishing a 9-year circumnavigation and getting ready to do their last crossing back to Texas. They had some great adventures that they shared.
Back to In The Wind and time to wash off the first layer of salt and give her a bath. Mission accomplished then off to the pool for an afternoon of R&R and cold Carib's, dinner at Sails and then another great night sleep!
April 25 - Another day of light boat chores, getting some of the rust off of the stainless and the dinghy davits, chillin by the pool with cold Carib's and dinner back at the Lighthouse!
April 26 - repeat of April 25 except we went to Sails again for the BBQ and had a pile of ribs! A great couple of days of R&R and getting caught up on cleaning chores. Oh, and the couple from Houston gave me a little black and white TV to use in New Zealand and Australia and battery charger when they were cleaning out their boat for the trip home, very cool and I will be sure to pass it forward. Got to love good karma!
When we originally planned to go to Chaugarams, several folks we talked to said it was very industrious and we expected something a lot les than what we experienced. Sure, you can't jump in the water off of the back of your boat, but the Crews Inn, Lighthouse, Sails and the boat shops were all first class and we thoroughly enjoyed our R&R for the weekend. A little spendy, but after the crossing it was well worth it to chill, great food, awesome pool, internet and electricity.
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Comments [5]
Are you going to take a detour to Cleveland in June for Jack's gettogether? Judy and I will be there and would love to see you. Harlan is organizing a dinner Friday night June 12. Take care.
Henry
Keep up the good work. Monica
Thanks for the beautiful photo published by Cruising Compass. Too cooooooooooool. Do you remember us? We ran into each other in Tobago, we own the 42 foot PDQ Antares cat.
Hopefully your girlfiend made it to Tobago and you had a great time together. Did you get you boat hauled out? Per our discussions the yards in Grenada were not taking any more cats. Our's is in Spice Island Marina.
04/23/2009
En route Day # 10
During my midnight watch I could start to see the lighthouse on the point indicating we were nearing Trinidad. The winds were shifting and it was close to making the turn at the next waypoint, so I dropped the main and started the starboard motor to motor-sail along the coast.
At sunrise, LAND HO! We put the spinnaker up with the wind at our back, but it only lasted about an hour before we had to take it down as the winds were shifting and dropping at the same time. So, we motor-sailed down the lush northern coast of Trinidad all morning on our way to Chaugaramas to check in. Our noon fix today was 186 NM with only another 30 NM to go, we should be at the customs dock at around 15:00.
Nine days, four hours (220 hours) to sail 1,668 nautical miles (1,910 status miles), an average of 7.5 knots! The only time we needed the engines was when we left Fortaleza on the14th to get us out of the harbor and on our arrival to Trinidad. A great and fast run and In The wind has logged over 5,300 NM since leaving Cape Town on February 20th!
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04/22/2009
En route Day # 9
My 3:00 AM watch was a rush, going 9 to 10 plus knots the whole three hours straight in pitch-black night and 18 to 22 knot winds, man that was a blast!
After a couple hour nap, I spent the morning cleaning up the galley and re-organizing everything. I must say it does look a lot better and easier to find everything again. There was a bottle of soy sauce that had spilled in the upper cupboard (yes I know, dry high, liquid low - but I swear I didn't put it there) and had ran down and made quit the mess. All is good now.
Yes, another distance and speed record, our noon fix today was 208 NM, In The Wind was running like the Leopard that is it's design name. We were cranking at either side of 9 knots for 24 hours, even during the night with two reefs in!
Tomorrow morning at sunrise we should see Trinidad and be docked in the early afternoon!
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04/21/2009
The winds remained constant at 19 to 22 knots, we sailed most the day with a reef in and a couple wraps on the gennoa. Our noon fix was 176 NM, second day in a row.
We had a tanker, the Taman coming right up behind us at so at 20 NM out I radioed and gave them our position, then later just before my watch ended I made contact again when they were 6 NM out and asked them for a 3 NM clearance as AIS said they would be within a mile of us. Last thing I want is a tanker, or any other ship, within a couple miles in the middle of the ocean and night, they did agree to a course change. Got to love AIS
Not too much else going on, reading up on Trinidad and Tobago and getting ready for land!
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04/20/2009, 07 27.00'N:52 37.00
En Route Day #7
During the midnight to 3 AM watch the winds continues to build with a small storm system around us, there were puffs up to 24 knots with the average around either side of 20 knots. We had reefed the main before dark and put several wraps on the Genoa, so we were pretty well set for the night.
This morning we needed to make a 15-degree course change as we hit our waypoint 600 NM from Trinidad, so we dropped the main and put the Genoa out to the side. There is still too much wind and rolling seas to put the spinnaker up at this time. But, we are still cruising at plus or minus 7 knots with just the Genoa on course to Trinidad with a predicted arrival early morning on the 24th and if the seas calm down we may be able to get the spinnaker up and make some better mileage.
Our noon fix was 176 NM, another good day of sailing!
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04/19/2009
En Route Day #6
Frans woke me up for my 3:00 AM watch and as I took over the helm I noticed that we had just crossed the half way point from Fortaleza Brazil to Chaguaramus Trinidad, 830 NM behind us and the same to go, YEAH.
So, I went to start the kettle for coffee and of course the propane tank decided it was empty, no problem, grab the tool bag and switch tanks and open the roof hatch to let the smell out, problem solved. While making coffee I decided to update my blog, sitting at the salon table typing away, and whoosh, Mother Nature hurled a wave over the bow and top of the boat, hatch open, Kyle and computer wet. OK, dry everything off, wipe up the water and yes close the roof hatch, drink coffee!
At the end of my watch at 6:00 Am we had 800 NM to go, consistent winds at 17 to 19 knots from the east and favorable seas moving us right along at 8 plus knots.
Our noon fix today was 202 NM, a new 24 hours distance record for In The Wind traveling at 8.4 knots per hour, awesome!
For dinner Richard cooked up the last of the lamb chops from Cape Town and a nice salad with rice. We celebrated our half waypoint and new distance record with two Antarctica beers for all. Overall, a great day of sailing on In The Wind.
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