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?