06/22/2009 Trinidad to Home

06/09/2009 I decided to spend an extra day at Union Island. Jamie and Margot sailed in and I have had a good time hanging out with them. I had them over for dinner last evening. I didn’t think I would see them again as I was heading to Trinidad to haul out.
This morning I took off with for the southern coast of Grenada. I decided instead of making one long trip to Trinidad I would sail to Grenada, anchor in a quiet cove for the night and then make a day sail over to Trinidad. I sailed 41 miles today into St David’s Harbour. The wind was so good today that I made the trip in five and a half hours. If I knew it was going to be this good, I might have started earlier in the morning and made a straight shot for Trinidad.
I anchored in the quiet cove. There is a nice marina there and they provided free wi-fi into the harbor. I have not seen that in quite some time. I did not go ashore as I was not planning on checking into Customs here. It was a real quiet day sitting around the boat and preparing for the next day.
06/10/2009 I made for an early start today. I wanted to leave around 4:00AM, but slept in and left at 5:10AM. I did leave with a good sunrise and the weather was perfect. This would be my longest passage since crossing from Virgin Gorda to St Martin.
As I was putting down the miles I noticed that I could not see any land around. This is a first since crossing from Bahamas to Puerto Rico. There was the haze caused by the Sahara dust that blocked out Grenada when I was about 20 miles out and I was too far out to see Trinidad. When I crossed form the BVIs to St Martin, I was able to see Virgin Gorda until the sunset and then I was able to pick up the lights of St Martin.
The first sight I had was the gas wells that are located about 25 miles off the Trinidad coast. The platforms are an impressive sight. At night time I understand you can see them from many more miles away due to how much they are light up.
I was making real good time until I hit the Caribbean Current. As with the Gulf Stream, there is a strong current that runs along the north coast of South America coming from the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike the Gulf Stream, it is very unpredictable and they isn’t much written about it. I had about 3 knots of current against me as the wind dropped. I had a boat speed over the ground (SOG) of only 1.5 knots. I decided to run the motors and motor-sail for awhile until I could make it through the stream. That took about two hours.
Finally the winds picked up again and I made it through the current stream and making good time again. I was able to sight Trinidad and the coast of Venezuela. I ended sailing within 13 miles of Venezuela. Trinidad sits off the northeast coast of Venezuela.
As I was coming into Trinidad, it was getting late in the day and close to sunset. Wouldn’t you know it, but I had two cargo ships crossing my path. Are we on a collision path or not? That is the big question when coming close with other boats. I do have right of way since I am under sail, but I live by the tonnage rule. That is the bigger boat has rights and I will do everything I can to avoid those ships. They did clear ahead easily and no mishaps so close to the end of this part of the journey.
The next issue I had to deal with was coming ashore at night time. I really don’t like to do this. This is usually when most boats have problems and run aground, hit a rock or another boat. I pushed hard, but I was not going to make it before the sun set. I found a cove on my chart plotter and decided I would head for that for the rest of the night instead of pushing all the way into Chaguramas. I think the reason for this orange sunset, like the ornage sunrise, is the dust from the Sahara desert that is being blown across the acean from Africa.
I needed to go into a channel between a small island and the coast of Trinidad. As it turns out tonight, the moon is a late riser and it is pitch black. There a very few small lights along the coast and there are no channel markers. I am flying on instruments. It was so dark that I could not even see the cove. I had to totally trust the instruments to find the cove and it is a large cove. It is called Scotland Bay. There were a few boats in the cove with lights on and I found a good anchorage point and dropped the anchor for the night. I am now in Trinidad.
06/11/2009 I awoke this morning to a surprise. Scotland Bay is a beautiful anchorage. It reminds me of camping on Lake Grandby in the Rocky Mountain National Park or up on the Allegheny River in western Pennsylvania. It was nice and calm and steeps hills with trees right down to the water line. I was also surprised by how many boats were anchored in there with me.
I motored around the point into the bay at Chaguramas. This is the end of this part of the journey. I am now as far as south as I will be unless I decide to head into the Pacific. I am located at 10 degrees 40 minutes latitude. This puts me just a little over 600 miles north of the equator.
06/12/2009 Today No Rush was lifted out of the water and put on her racks for a rest period while I travel home. Over the next five days it is pretty much cleaning, repairing and making preparations for work on her while I travel back to Colorado for at least a portion of hurricane season. I hired Sam to clean the hulls and I had to run the sails and sail cover over to the canvas shop for repairs. There was maintenance and taking all of the canvas off for the summer and emptying water tanks and such things. There never seems to be enough time. I do want to thank Jamie and Margot. They allowed me to spend my last two nights on their boat. The heat and mosquitoes just would not allow me to sleep at all. We had great evenings together hanging out. I will miss them.
06/16/2009 My last little adventure. I had decided since I had an early morning flight that I would stay at a hotel near the airport. I found a low cost place and made a reservation. I would also use the bus services instead of renting a taxi.
After a shower at the marina, I grabbed my bags and walked out to the main road to catch a bus or what they call a maxi-taxi. Most buses in the Caribbean are mini-vans. I got on the bus and started heading into Port of Spain. This is the capital and main city of Trinidad. I was told that I would need to catch three buses to get to the airport. I started talking with the bus driver about how to make these connections. He told me all what I had to do. This is going to be a real adventure. When we made it to the main terminal in Port of Spain he made me an offer. He offered to take me all the way to the airport for half the normal cost. It would cost TT$120. That is about US$22. I would have had to walk two blocks to catch the next bus. Then I would have had to find a taxi for the last portion. He said that since I was a foreigner that it would be difficult. I took him up on the deal and we had a great time talking about the country and cricket.
We finally found the hotel. We had to drive through an old village that was pretty run down. The hotel has a block wall fence the whole way around with barb-wire across the top. Not your usual Holiday Inn. We had to call on the intercom for them to open the gate to allow us in. I checked in and there wasn’t another soul in sight. I had dinner at the restaurant there and was the only person. I think I may have been the only person staying at the hotel that night. I felt like I was in a movie staying at the Bate’s Motel. Don’t get me wrong, it was clean and the air condition felt great, but not what I am use to.
06/17/2009 Today I fly home. I caught a five hour Delta flight from Trinidad to JFK Airport in New York, a five hour lay over and then another five hour flight from JFK to Denver. All went well and I am home again for period of time.
There won’t be much new going on the blog unless I find some adventure while I am home. Keep an eye out for changes. Thank you for all of your support through this last year.