Trinidad, preparing to haul out

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

It rains hard several times a day in Trinidad. We ate lunch at the Lighthouse restaurant and then went to find the chandlery at CrewsInn. We had to buy a courtesy Trinidad flag for the boat. We tried to visit several other shops in the same area only to discover they were only open from 8-12. During one dry spell, we untied the dinghy and hung it off the side of the boat so we could try to get the sand from beneath the inflated floor. We deflated the floor and hand scrubbed beneath it. In the middle of doing this, it started to rain hard again. Once the sun was shining again, we lowered the dinghy into the water, inflated the floor, and put the engine on the dinghy. Now we could travel on the water.

We needed some Trinidad-Tobago money. We had been told that there was an ATM at the Coral Cove Marina. We went over there because we also needed to tell them that we would not be staying at their marina and to confirm our haul out date. It was good that we did this because they had no record of a reservation or a haul out. Since we had not been impressed either with their marina docks or the way they had the boats on the hard in their

boatyard, we were somewhat relieved. This left us free to explore using other yards. After obtaining money from the ATM, we returned to our boat at CrewsInn. We discovered that during one of the rains, the electricity had gone off. "Just Imagine" ( Cheryl and Robin Wilson) is now docked next to us on the outside dock so I invited them over for London Broil. Cheryl volunteered to bring a vegetable. Since it was still raining off and on we did not go up to the CrewsInn pool for cocktails. We joined the Wilsons on their catamaran deck until we convened on our boat to eat dinner. The electricity had come back on by then so we could use the AC to reduce the humidity. We had a lovely time visiting.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Evidently if it is cloudy and rainy early in the morning, you will have rain all day. This is what we are experiencing today. However we need to do some errands. The most important one is to visit YSATT which is an organization of local businesses and yacht service providers who have list of recommended craftsmen. They also recommended Power Boats Marina and Boatyard to us. I had called them on the VHF in the morning asking if they had room in their yard and found that they did and that June 29 and 30 were available for haul out. We dinghyed to the yard and asked many questions. We were impressed with their boatyard and the preparation of the boats. They also will cover the boats with plastic so work can be done beneath it and protect it from the rain. We signed up with them and made reservations for an apartment after we haul out. Many boaters stay on the boat on the hard, but Charlie did not want to do this. Neither do I in this heat and humidity! The office was very patient with us in answering all our questions. The maintenance manager and two painters, bottom painter and brightwork painters will come on Friday to see our boat and give us recommendations. We also visited their sail maker and our sails will be picked up next Tuesday for evaluation for repairs, etc. We accomplished a lot today.

I found the nearby grocery store and a bakery. I also discovered that there is a glass recycling container by the grocery store. The laundry rooms here at CrewsInn have token operated machines and the token costs 12 TT or $2.00. What a bargain! We ate on board. We ned to eat up all the food we have left or give it away or throw it away.

Thursday , June 23, 2011

It is a beautiful day. No rain. We helped "Just Imagine" take down their sails and fold them up.

I cleaned the wooden slatted inserts that for the floor of our cockpit. Then I began cleaning the floor under the inserts. All kinds of crumbs, dirt, hair, lint fall beneath them and collect. We

had a lazy day working on the computers,

staying in the AC. We did go up to the Crews Inn pool at cocktail time with the Wilsons on "Just Imagine". The water was cool and refreshing. We met some other cruisers up there. Cheryl invited us to have dinner with them. She is trying to eat up all they have, too. She made sausage, chicken, vegetable stew. I added some left over rice. It was delicious. The night was cool and we didn't need the AC.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Another beautiful day.

During the Cruiser's Net, held every morning at 8 a.m. on the VHF, channel 68, I was able to get the phone number of a place which might steam clean our interior cushions. Another person also wanted to have theirs done and she had a cellphone so she called and scheduled it for both of us. HOORAY!

We helped "Just Imagine" get their lines off to go get their boat hauled out. They will be staying on their boat while it is on the "hard" at Peake's boatyard.

The asst. manager from Power Boats came by with the brightwork painter to look at the boat and give us estimates. Charlie and he decided we could just leave the boat plugged in running the battery charger/monitor to keep the batteries charged up while we are gone. the painter gave me a reasonable estimate to do all the brightwork.. He will take to bare wood and put 5 coats of Cetol (my choice) on it. The bottom painter will be there at the haul out and advise us on that.

We began to take our sails down. We got the staysail down and took it in a cart to the grassy area near the CrewsInn Hotel pool to fold up. Then we tackled the main sail. Ours was easier to take down than "Just Imagine's". We again too the cart to the grass where it is much

easier to fold up and bag. After a shower we went to the Lighthouse for hearty salad lunches. I finished cleaning out the floor of the cockpit and waxed it. I also polished the compass binnacle stand and wheel removing any bits of rust. Now we began to untie the lazy jack lines from the main sail bag. I labeled the lines and we tied them together. We then pulled the sail bag off the boom. We only have the jib left to take down and it was a bit windy and late in the day to do it.

We celebrated our efforts by going for a dip in the pool. No other cruisers were there today. I had taken my left over chili con queso to share with others.

I made reservations in Port of Spain for the night before our flight home. we were worried about getting there from here in time for our 6:55 a.m. flight. It takes about an hour to get to the airport from here so we would have had to leave at 3:30-4 a.m. I'd rather be closer to the airport! We had another cool night on the boat.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

We are having another rainy day. It was raining by 6 a.m. It woke me up and I quickly closed all the cockpit surround and the hatches. Charlie helped with the hatches and then we both went back to bed.

I spent the entire day doing our financial update. I put all my receipts into the computer and then justified the Visa bill which I downloaded. All the charges have foreign transaction fees which we don't have records of except off the Visa bill. They are about like paying sales tax in the states. Here in Trinidad the VAT tax seems high to me, much more than our sales tax at home plus other taxes are added to it. I also balanced the checking account which I can download. This marina has very good wifi for which I am grateful!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

We were able to get the jib down and folded up ready for pickup. I scrubbed the cockpit cushions and set them out on the dock to dry. Before they were dry, it rained , of course. At least is not an all day rain today. One of the cushions has more stain from the teak than

the others so I decided to see if I could wash that area of teak. Once scrubbed with a scrub brush, the cloth used to wipe it was black and so was the water! No wonder the cushion is stained. I ended up doing the entire cockpit and the result was amazing. the teak had looked old and weathered and grey. Now it looks fresh and new and light brown! In the picture the cleaned is at the bottom and the not cleaned is at the top. It was well worth the effort. Maybe this is why young sailors of old had to "scrub the deck".

I spent the afternoon playing Mexican Train Dominos with other cruisers who meet at the Crews Inn breezeway near the pool. This area is protected even if it rains. Charlie spent the afternoon sleeping and reading and making lists of inventory to be left with the boatyard. We ate on board because we are trying to use up all our food.