Farewell Tobago and hello UK
26 July 2016
Despite the gloom from Brexit and the political and economic turmoil that has engulfed the UK since the referendum (a friend likened the post-referendum feeling to a bereavement and we do have a sense of mourning), we really enjoyed Charlotteville/Man O'War Bay, Tobago and it does rate very highly.
The local fishing festival took place the weekend of 24th-26th June but seemed to comprise mostly of loud music being played until the early hours - that's early hours island time which means until 0600 ... and the enormous speaker stacks were pointing directly at the anchorage so you could actually feel the music when laying in bed. Quite amazingly lots of people had come over from Trinidad for the event. Glastonbury it was not. Still despite the lack of sleep all had a good time.
We spent our time doing various boat jobs in anticipation of our haul out in Chaguaramas, Trinidad and snorkelling around the bay which is OK but not brilliant.
We decided (quite unnecessarily, but you are never sure about the rules) that a weekday arrival in Chaguaramas would definitely avoid Immigration and Customs overtime payments and departed on Thursday 30th June. T&T have very odd clearance arrangements and essentially you have to clear in and out of different Immigration and Customs jurisdictions of which there are two on Tobago. As it was 80nm from Man O'War Bay to Chaguaramas and we did not want to do an overnight, a stop at Store Bay on the western end of Tobago was required but we could only do this if we promised not to go ashore because if we did, then we would have been required to go to Scarborough (capital of Tobago) to clear in and out again. Doh.
So we motor-sailed the 23nm to Store Bay and our arrival was welcomed by the people on jet skis as we provided yet another object to buzz around. Alex and Carla on ARI B and Chris and Sharon on QUICKSILVER were in company with us too.
We all left next morning between 0300 and 0430, and we arrived in Chaguaramas at 1345 having again motor-sailed the 60nm.
We took a berth at Crews Inn marina and started into putting MINNIE B to bed. However, Norma's mum's 91 years-old husband had been hospitalised and following various family consultations we decided she should return as soon as possible, with Phil staying on to complete the boat prep and line up various contractors for the inevitable maintenance.
We have a few big jobs which will be reported in detail when they are completed but an important one was dropping the keel to examine the bushing and this was done very carefully and professionally but putting it back will not be quite so easy!
Phil flew back to the UK on 24th/25th July to see family in England for a few days and to rejoin Norma in Northern Ireland for a couple of months. Incidentally, neither of us enjoyed the Trinidad-London Gatwick flights: Norma went British Airways from Trinidad with a stop in St Lucia and Phil went Caribbean Airlines to Tobago and then Virgin Atlantic, also stopping at St Lucia. The latter stop means that you are at least five hours into the flight before the cabin crew have finished serving dinner leaving only six hours in which to get some sleep, have breakfast and do the arrival. Other options will be reviewed.
So with MINNIE B bedded down, the blog will also go into hibernation until our return to Trinidad in late October.
Our plans for next season are very simple - explore the Lesser Antilles that we missed/rushed the first time here and really try to become more expert at relaxing.
We wish everyone still cruising fair winds and following seas and for those who are doing other things, we hope all is good and that you have every happiness.