Tag Archives: Crews Inn

Labor & Leisure — Trinidad, June 19 – July 14, 2014

Trinidad has always been for us a mixture of hard work and good fun, and that has been especially so this year.  We have undertaken a number of projects, and of course there is the usual list of things that must always be done to prepare the boat for sitting on the hard while we travel .

Barb spent a lot of time washing down walls and cleaning out drawers and cupboards, and making covers for the boat’s nameplates.  She made herself a dress.  She made reflective/insulative covers for the inside of many of the boat’s windows.  She cleaned and waterproofed the canvasses for the dinghy and the bimini.

I dismantled the seacock for the John Deere and cleaned it up so that it closes properly again. I changed lubricating oils for the dinghy outdrive, the genset, the John Deere and the transmission. I flushed the dinghy outdrive cooling passages with fresh water. I replaced the diesel fuel filters.  I did a bunch of varnishing, both inside and out.  I cleaned and lubricated the dinghy winch and the anchor windlass.   We replaced 330 feet of ⅜ inch BBB anchor chain, and placed distinctive marks every 25 feet so as to be able to tell how much chain we have out when we anchor.  I conducted a “self-survey” of TT2 to support our shift of boat insurers.

On the fun side, we socialized with many cruising friends in a variety of settings, including pot lucks at Crews Inn, swordfish nights and bake-and-shark nights at the Wheelhouse Pub, roti and buss-ups at Grace’s, and a gourmet dinner at the Hilltop Restaurant. The latter is an adjunct to the Trinidad & Tobago Hospitality & Tourism Institute.  The restaurant is staffed and run entirely by its students as part of their education. The menu for the five-course meal on the day of our visit:

1. Herb Chicken Canelloni, Tomato Fondue, Basil Puree, Parmesan, Garlic Crumbs
2. Vehyssoise, Cream Potato and Leek Puree, Scallion Froth
3. Tuna Nicoisse, Sieved Eggs, Green Beans, Peppers, Tomato Confit, Tapenade, Pomme Gaufrettes
4. Roasted Chicken Ballontine, Dried Cranberry Jus, Sauteed New Potato & Onion Fricassee, Vegetable Etuve
OR
4. Grilled Mahi Mahi, Salsa Verde, Eddoes Risotto, Yellow Pepper Veloute, Glazed Vegetables
5. Tonka Bean Panna Cotta, Wild Berry Compote, Creme Chantilly, Rum Caramel

And if you have seen the post previous to this one, you know that we had a memorable experience watching Leatherback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs.

And I had a great time photographing some of the birds that frequent the immediate area around the marinas and boatyards of Chaguaramas.

We got hooked on watching the World Cup while having cable TV at Crews Inn and had to finish watching it at the Zanzibar pub in the Peake boatyard.

I wrote this blog entry while we were on the hard.  On July 15 the boat went into secure storage and the day after we flew back to the States. We are now in Bismarck, North Dakota.  This blog will continue, but as you can imagine, the subject matter will shift considerably for the next few months. Stay tuned for more of “Chuck & Barb go cruising traveling the world.”

Crews Inn, Trinidad — Oct. 17 – Nov. 11, 2013

We splashed on Oct. 17,  checked to see that neither the new drive leg nor the new depth sounder were leaking, and proceeded directly to Crews Inn, where we discovered that the slip that had been reserved for us was occupied.   The squatter had limped in and requested a single night with which to sort out their problems.   They had already been there more than a week when we arrived, and they just finally left a few days ago, some three weeks after their arrival.

Meanwhile, we were placed in the slip owned by a local who temporarily had his boat on the hard.   Our thanks to him and to Crews Inn for accommodating us — we stayed much much longer in that spot than what was originally discussed.

When we arrived at Crews Inn, there were two other Krogens there:  Richard and Lavinia on Partners, and Bill and Ann on Ann Louise.  Great fun to spend some time with them — as you can imagine we had much in common to discuss.  My only regret is that I didn’t take any pictures.

When we left Trinidad in July, we had intended on embarking on two additional major projects upon our return:  1) installation of solar panels on the roof of the pilot house and on a reconstructed bimini and 2) reworking of all of the wiring associated with our house battery bank and the starter battery for the John Deere.  While we were away we decided against the former and engaged Dockside Electric to do the latter.  So since arriving at Crews Inn we have often had a worker crawling about in the engine room.  And then most recently after listening to Richard (Partners) enthuse about his solar panels, we decided to install three panels on the pilot house roof after all.  The problem was that it didn’t appear that we could get them ordered and delivered to Trinidad in time to have them installed before we wanted to begin our annual trek northward.  And then Lee (Allegro) told us about a note he saw on the Power Boat’s bulletin board, Barb followed up, and we bought three 145-watt panels from a local.  Richard had his installed by an electrician cruiser while they were both in Carriacou and was very pleased with the work and the price.  So we have ordered a controller (which can be gotten here easier than panels) and will take the materials to Grenada to be installed.  Stay tuned for further developments.

With Lee and Sharon (Allegro) we rented a car and drove up to Maracas Bay one day to see the famous beach and sample the best-on-the-island bake-n-shark sandwiches.  Impressive overlooks on the way to the beach, and the sandwiches were indeed yummy.  The beach was almost deserted; not surprising since it was a weekday morning and threatening rain.  Indeed, I had time to only take a few pictures on the beach before the skies opened.  When we returned to town the boys dropped the girls off to do some shopping, and the boys ventured off to find the NP facility for filling propane tanks.  We were looking for an “NP” sign on the right, and got all the way down to the airport before realizing that we had missed the entrance.  After coming all the way back to town we thought we had found it, but alas, we had just gone past and so had to go west, do a U-turn, head east, miss a chance to do a U-turn that would take us past the entrance, drive many miles to find the next opportunity, and then finally come back west to turn into an unmarked dirt road that soon was festooned with “NO ADMITTANCE” signs that bore a water treatment plant logo.  Signs or no — by the process of lengthy elimination we just had to be in the right entrance.   And we were: our little dirt road opened up onto a little-used paved road, and there was the propane facility.  Getting the tank filled was by that time somewhat anti-climatic.

Back at the boat, in the process of cleaning the teak cap rails we realized how worn and rutted they had become in the three years since we had stripped them and let them “go natural”.  Reluctantly we decided to sand them down and return to periodic varnishing.  Soon after I had begun using a power sander on the rails, an employee of Crews Inn appeared and said that a neighbor was trying to take a nap, and that the sander was too noisy.   Diplomatic Barb spoke with the neighbor, and managed to negotiate a “compromise” in which I could sand when the neighbor and her husband were off the boat.  After I had sanded for days on only a small portion of the rails, Barb insisted that we enlist some help, and so Raoul joined the work crew.  Fortunately, the disabled vessel that was occupying “our” spot finally was able to depart, and so we moved there, and although we were still fairly close to the sensitive neighbor, we judged that we were far enough away to sand with impunity.  Raoul of course wanted to do the varnishing too, but I have my pride.   As this is written we have applied three coats of sealer and four coats of varnish, and there are still ruts showing, even in that portion in which I aggressively sanded the varnish in the hope that I could remove the ruts.   Many more coats will be required to restore the smooth surface we had before the stripping three years ago.

While all of the sanding was going on, we also had a worker down in the engine room rewiring the house battery bank and starter battery.   Basically, off-bank bus bars were used for both negative and positive cables, a project that rendered some organization to what was formerly a tangled mess that had some battery terminals so full that the nuts could barely grab the threads.  In addition, careful consideration of cable lengths and placement should result in much more even charging of all cells.  The project was expensive, but I am happy with the result.

We have been working hard, but also relaxing in the late afternoons and evenings.  We have been to the Wheelhouse Pub several times for Sword Fish, and visited the new restaurant (“Old Navy”) at the military museum.  While Lee and Sharon (Allegro) and John and Amy (Wind Horse) were still here, we often joined them for late afternoon cocktails at the Crews Inn pool.

Trinidad — July 3-27, 2013

We had a bumpy and slow cruise down from Grenada to Trinidad.  Currents were against us, and our usual 13-hr trip took 15.  We had arrived in Grenada with only one stabilizer working, and were unable to effect repairs for the lack of parts.  On the way down to Trinidad the other stabilizer failed.  Wind and waves were pretty much directly on the beam, so yes, the ride was miserable.  Parts were waiting for us at the Trinidad customs, and the stabilizers have long since been repaired.  If you are wondering, yes, I still feel stabilizers are very good things, and that TRAC is a great company with great products.  We left Grenada at about 1 am on July 3.  Before departing, Barb had gone to bed early, and I hadn’t gone to bed at all.   I took the first watch, and then retired when Barb took over at about 4 am.  While I was still sleeping, and after the sun had come up, Barb crossed paths with a big tug followed by two huge “vessels” that at first she thought were stationary oil platforms. Fortunately, she chose to divert our path and avoid passing between the tug and the platforms, for it turned out that the tug was towing the platforms!

We spent about two weeks at a slip in Crews Inn, keeping busy with chores and socializing with all of our cruising friends who feel, as we do, that Trinidad is the best choice for waiting out a hurricane season.   We got some more swimming lessons from Hunter (Arctic Tern) in the Crews Inn pool.  There were potlucks at Crews Inn and Coral Cove, and bake ‘n’ shark and swordfish nights at the Wheelhouse Pub.  And later, after we were on the hard at Peake Yacht Services, more potlucks at marinas and nights at the Wheelhouse.  And a special noontime dinner at the Hilltop Restaurant, located in the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute, where students learn the elements of food preparation and presentation by doing.

Every late afternoon we were serenaded by Kiskadee, a common bird in Trinidad whose call is said to resemble its name, although to my warped ears it sounds more like “subterfuge”.   And passing high over the Chaguaramas marinas, flying from the high ridge on the north to the high ridge on the south, are noisy Orange-winged Parrots, sometimes in single pairs and sometimes in bunches of pairs.  There are many things in Trinidad that are special; Kiskadee and pairs of squawking parrots are among them.

We were scheduled to move from Crews Inn to Peake Yacht Services on July 15, where we would be hauled at 1 pm.   When we arrived at Peake’s dock, there was a large commercial boat in the spot, so we circled in the anchorage for nearly an hour while emergency repairs were completed on the obstacle, and while circling we snapped a few pictures of interesting vessels in the anchorage.

Our time on the hard was hectic, getting the boat ready to be tucked away into secure storage, and all the more hectic by having to take time out to visit an ophthalmologist.  While working on the outside of the boat one day, I kept noticing flashes of light.  I thought someone was welding somewhere.  Later, while watching TV, I realized the flashes where on the edge of the field of vision of my left eye.  Fearing that I was experiencing a retinal detachment, I called the office of my ophthalmologist in Savannah, and was advised to see someone soon.  Next morning Barb did a bang up job of calling around and finally finding a doctor who could see me.  His examination revealed that I am experiencing vitreous detachment, a condition not nearly so serious as retinal detachment, and a condition for which there is no treatment.  But since one of my arthritis medicines can affect vision, and must therefore be monitored with annual checkups, I returned the next day and had the appropriate monitoring tests done.  We were very impressed with the doctor and his instruments and his final report, which incidentally found no evidence of ill effects from the medicine.  The doctor: Dr. David Maharaj, located on the third floor of the Good Health Medical Centre on Fitz Blackman Road.

I write this in the Trinidad airport on July 27, awaiting a flight to London on our way to Norway.   For more on our plans, see our “Plans” page in this blog.

We will do a fair amount of driving while in Norway and Ireland and the States.  Last year, I took a fair amount of grief from my better half when I forgot my drivers license back at the boat.  Since we had lots of driving planned, we had to have someone get on the boat and send the license to the States so that I could help with the driving.  So this year, just as we were approaching the Trinidad airport after the long ride in one of Jesse Jackson’s maxi taxis, Barb belatedly thought to ask, with a certain amount of steel in her voice, whether or not I had my license.  Before I could answer (truthfully) in the affirmative, her face turned ashen.  Guess what?   She had forgotten HER license.  Another disaster, right?  Then why am I smiling?

Trinidad: Oct. 29 – Nov. 13, 2012

We are back in Trinidad, and back in the water, safely tied up at Crews Inn.  Today (November 13, 2012) is the first day of Divali and all of the stores and businesses are closed in Trinidad and Tobago.

Divali (also spelled Diwali), also popularly known as the Festival of Lights, is perhaps the most important 5-day festival in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism, occurring between mid-October and mid-November. Divali is an official holiday in India, Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Fiji.

The name Divali is itself a contraction of the word Dīpāvali, which translates into “row of lamps”. Divali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (divas) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil, lightness over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. During Divali celebrants clean their homes, wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with others. Some Indian business communities begin the financial year on the first day of Divali wishing for good luck the following year.

We have been to a celebration of the festival twice in past years.   Here is a link to our former coverage.

But I have gotten ahead of myself.

We returned to Trinidad on October 29, having taken a direct flight out of Miami, burdened with one more bag than when we left, having purchased a new portable drill, a new 12-volt battery charger, a bunch of zincs for the stabilizer hydraulic oil cooler, a thick book entitled “Wordpress for Dummies” (have you noticed our blog’s new look?), and lots of little things for the boat.  Yachties returning to their boat must go through customs and immigration twice:  once in the airport and once at the offices in Chaguarmas.  At the airport immigration we show the papers that were provided by the marina on our earlier departure from Trinidad; which papers document that we are returning to our vessel (and hence have no return ticket back out of Trinidad).  At the customs stands there are multiple booths such as are found in other countries:  some for locals and some for visitors; some labeled “nothing to declare” and some “something to declare”.  We knew from prior experience that as returning yachties we were to ignore all of those lines, and instead enter the office to the right of the “regular” customs stands.  As has always been the case, there is no sign indicating such; one just has to learn it the hard way.  Although Trinidad is a major destination for yachties wishing to leave their boat in a location sufficiently far south to be below the hurricane zone, we must constitute just a small fraction of the visitors arriving in Trinidad by air, since the official in the office always has trouble knowing how to complete the paperwork, as is made evident by his frequent peeks at the carbon copies of former entries.   Our delay was especially long this time, since the official could not find the appropriate book for making the entry and consequently had to step out of the office for several extended intervals.  When at last we had the appropriate copy of his entry, we could depart the airport and meet our driver from Jesse James’ “Members Only” taxi service.  When we reached Chaguaramas we then had to stop at port customs and show our airport customs paperwork and the items we were importing.  There was no charge for such an importation, since we were bringing in the goods as a “Vessel In Transit”.  Then, a quick visit to the Immigration office, where it was confirmed that our passports had been stamped at the airport, and we were free to return to our boat, which had earlier in the day been removed from Peake’s secure yard to the working yard.

When we entered our boat our first activity was to look at the check sheet we had left on a counter.   The person who was to enter the boat at least every one or two weeks was to have made entries with dates and items checked.  We were gone from September 11 until October 29, but there were only three entries, with a gap of 38 days between the last two entries!  In fact, the last entry was the day after we called to notify him that we were returning on the 29th.  We will not use that individual again.  Yachties might be interested to know that he is Anthony (Tony) Joseph, and his business is called “De Price is Right”.   He was not even apologetic about his failure to perform.  Very disappointing especially since he had been recommended to us.  The main reason we had him watching the boat was to insure that our watermaker did a fresh water flush every week.  It occasionally has to be reset.  If it failed to flush for a number of weeks, we would be faced with possibly replacing its expensive membrane.

There were a number of maintenance items to be completed before we could splash:  we had the boat compounded and then waxed, we had the bottom washed and sanded and then painted with SeaHawk 77, and we had the rudder, prop and skeg cleaned down to bare metal.  The skeg was then prepped with a special primer, followed by an epoxy primer, and then painted with the bottom paint.   On the rudder and prop Barb and I applied PropSpeed.   Also, before we left Trinidad to return to the States, we had the anchors hot galvanized and we reversed the anchor chain.

So our time on the hard was busy, but we also found time to get about a bit.   Barb went on several shopping expeditions, including a trip to the downtown market where she took some pictures.   We especially enjoyed being reunited with cruising friends Ann and Steve (Receta), Devi and Hunter (Arctic Tern) and Janie and Paul (Shian).   Once again we enjoyed eating rotis and bus-up-shuts at Grace’s at Power Boats and bake-n-shark at the Wheelhouse Pub.  We went to several movies, including an evening out at the new Imax theatre to see the latest James Bond movie “Skyfall”.   Regular screens are going to seem rather hum-drum after watching an Imax showing.