Trinidad

Hi from Clare,                                       Friday 3^rd February 2012

Once again to complete the 105 mile trip to Trinidad we had to sail the Atlantic Ocean. It was a wet and uncomfortable night with a 2-3M swell on our beam and wind 20-33K.  It started to rain so I passed the wet weather jackets up but before Bronwyn got hers zipped up she coped a wave leaving her dripping wet and looking like a drowned rat; remarkably she was still laughing and commented “At least the water’s warm”.  

About the only good thing to say about the trip was that earlier in the day Andrew caught a Wahoo.  Delicious eating but a nasty looking fish with long sharp teeth in a big jaw. It was quite a wrestle just to retrieve the hook. We enjoyed it for dinner the following night in calm waters.

WAHOO!

So we are now in Trinidad and Bronwyn left us on Wednesday.  We have lifted the boat out of the water for its annual antifouling, polishing and maintenance. One real bonanza is that the laundry costs $2.50 per load and is open 24 hours a day. At that price I will be washing everything on the boat – at least once!

We will be flying out tomorrow morning to Sydney for two weeks. Andrew’s son Matthew and his fiancée Mim are getting married on 11^th February. So it looks like proper clothes and shoes for us.  One of our long time cruising friends told us of a wedding they attended. They thought they scrubbed up well until they saw the photos. They said they looked like a couple of old hippies; let’s hope we do better!

We haven’t seen anything of Trindad yet but we will be back in time for Trinidad’s Carnival; the Caribbean’s biggest and best party; should be fun.

Love Team Atlantic

A,B,C

  

Making our way to Trinidad

Hi from Clare,                             Saturday 28^th January 2012

When I last wrote we had left Barbados on a slow travel down to Trinidad. We arrived last Saturday at Port Elizabeth in Bequia and stayed for three nights. Bequia had everything we needed, a protected anchorage, lots of cruising friends, wifi, fresh food, and a few restaurants along the foreshore for evening gatherings and rum punches.

 

 

 

Views of Bequia

Nine cruising buddies hired a taxi (truck with bench seats in the back) and traveled around the small island for a few hours; a very pretty and peaceful spot; a good place to visit. 

We left Tuesday stopping off at Saltwhistle Bay on the island of Mayreau.

Saltwhistle Bay

This little bay was Caribbean picture post card perfect but apart from a few islanders selling T-shirts and sarongs there wasn’t anything to keep us longer than one rolly night.

The next morning we sailed 1.5 miles across to Tobago Cays. This is reputably the best reef in the area with turtles, tropical fish and soft corals.  We stayed for two days along with Tony on ‘Tactical Directions’ and enjoyed good company, beautiful beaches and snorkeling in a 28 degree aqua sea, as Tony said “Not a patch on the Barrier Reef” but then we are probably biased.

 

Tobago Cays

GO ANDREW!

Yesterday we sailed 6 miles to Union Island for supplies and to check out of St Vincent and Grenadines. When we checked in at Bequia, Andrew had a heated discussion with the Customs and Immigration people as they charge a hefty overtime fee between the hour 3-6pm on Saturday and Sunday. The problem is, the times are not published and the overtime rates are not mentioned until after the paperwork is done. So when we came to check out yesterday on a different island they tried to charge an overtime rate between 12-1pm on a weekday because of lunchtime. Once again the overtime hours are not published or written on the door.  Andrew stood his ground saying he wasn’t prepared to pay an overtime fee because this is a government office and the overtime hours are public information. In the end the overtime fee was waved base on our “lack of knowledge”.

GRENADAN GRENADINES

So we are now at Carriacou Island in the Grenadan Grenadines. We are in the lovely calm anchorage of Tyrell Bay. Since leaving Bequia last Tuesday we have experienced very windy conditions.  It is lovely now to be in calm waters; people are driving their dinghies around without getting drenched. We have come here to meet Pete and Courtney on ‘Norna’ who we feel we know after speaking with them for many months on the radio Net. It will be a quick hello as we arrived late yesterday and intend leaving tonight to sail 105 miles to Trinidad.

Love Team Atlantic

A, B & C xx