First Days of Trinidad

As promised - I'm back. It feels like the old serial radio broadcasts (before my time - honest) "when we last met, Griff and Cheryl were........."

Anyway, Wednesday night we went to bed early and set the alarm for 2:30. We had prepared the boat for passage i.e. unzipped the sail cover, put the dinghy up on the davits and the outboard on the mounts, checked the engine - all the good stuff. As it turned out the alarm didn't go off but neither of us were sleeping deeply and Cheryl noticed at 2:45 that the alarm hadn't rang so up we got. It still took us about 1/2 hour to gather ourselves, I had some tea, we raised the anchor and away we went. It was a beautiful night, the moon about 1/2 to 2/3 full and the seas were calm. the only problem we had was wind, or lack thereof. The passage from Tobago to Trinidad is to the southwest and the wind was from east/northeast so it was practically dead behind us BUT it was very, very light. We put the mainsail directly out to the side with a preventer attached. The preventer is a sheet (rope) that is tied to the end of the boom, led forward to a pulley and then brought back to the cockpit. The purpose is to keep the boom and therefore the mainsail out to the side. That way if the wind shifts, the boom won't swing all the way around to the other side, possibly breaking the boom off, or snapping the mast at the boom/mast join and perhaps most importantly not taking someone's head off as it swings around from one side to the other over the cockpit.

We tried running the foresail out the other side but we didn't have the whiskerpole rigged and there was not enough wind to hold the sail so we kept it furled.

True Wind vs Apparent Wind. Before I tell you about the wind conditions, I will explain the difference between true wind and apparent wind. True wind is the speed of the wind that actually exists. It would be what you would measure for wind if you were standing/floating in one spot. Apparent wind is the wind the sail actually feels. For example, in our case we were (luckily) in a current of about 3 knots that was favouring us - going in the same direction. If true wind was 10 knots, that would mean that the sails would feel 7 knots (apparent wind). Add in to that some motor speed - say 2 knots - and the sails would actually feel 5 knots. This can be figured out from whatever direction the wind is coming from but the only time there would be a noticeable difference between true and apparent wind is when it is either coming from pretty well the front or pretty well the back.

How does all of this probably unwanted knowledge relate you ask?? Well, because of the very low winds but the very strong helping current, for a good part of the night we were sailing in only about 3-5 knots of apparent wind or 8 to 10 knots true wind so we chose to motor sail part of the time. We were also able to sail a good deal too (usually when we encountered squall winds!!). So, in the final reckoning we averaged about 6 to 6 1/2 knots. Although we would have preferred more wind, we were certainly not going to complain about fairly smooth seas and 6 knots of speed.

Sunrise at Sea

When we arrived at Trinidad we had to sail a bit along the coast before making a turn to get around the end of the island and into Chaguaramas. The turn was into a strait between the mainland and Monos Island and in that passage the current all of a sudden was running 3 knots against us. The tide was also changing and as a result the water was bubbling and wave-making and actually looked kind of scary. You could see the results over time of the conditions on the coast because there were a series of caves into the hillsides caused by the way the water turned and changed with the tides and current.

On the way to our destination we took a quick detour to look at Scotland Bay, an anchorage we will likely stay at for a few days while we are here. Apparently at night the howler monkeys let loose and even though they are not large primates, they make an astounding amount of noise that our friend Tom said sounds a lot like lions roaring. Looking forward to that.

We got into the bay about 3:00 and picked up a mooring ball. Tom came over in his dinghy to help us pick up the ball and of course God picked that time to open the heavens, as again happened when we went to clear into customs. Of course that time there just happened to be a pastry shop close by so we were FORCED to buy some goodies until the rain stopped.

Chaguaramas Bay is not really a great place to stay. While there are lots of marinas and haulouts and yacht facilities, there is also a lot of commercial marine traffic and consequently the water is kind of dirty. The Orinoco River also runs off close to here so the water is already a yellow/green colour because of that so that means we can't swim in this area. We have a pass to one of the marinas so we have shower facilities and laundry and book exchange etc etc but as soon as we do what we want to do here (checking out autopilots and tuning the outboard) we will likely move to another cleaner anchorage.

Today is Sunday and we have been here since Friday and we have done some things and learned some things but we will save that for the next blog - except - I went up the mast again but this time to the very top to install a windex and fix our anchor and steaming lights. This is not a bad trip - up I mean - but I truly believe that all of those power boats out there keep an eye out for yachties going up the mast so they can go speeding by creating huge waves, thus causing the boat to rock like a toy boat in a tub and of course causing the person on top of the mast to hang on with legs, arms and lots of prayers at the top.

Last Days in Tobago

Here we are again - I was a bit shocked when I realized we had not written anything for a blog since before going to Plymouth, Tobago. Of course Cheryl did her usual amazing job of putting in meaningful pictures of our adventures but it is time to write again.

Just to catch up - we did go to Plymouth, which is on Great Courland Bay. We were excited because the Doyle "bible" we use as a sailing guide indicated there was a dock there so we were looking forward to landing without having to pull the dinghy through breakers and then dragging/carrying it up above the tide line. As it turned out, there was a somewhat opposite problem. The dock was for ferrys and big boats so after tying up we had to kind of crawl belly first onto the dock. Oh woe is us!!

The town of Plymouth was kind of a neat small Caribbean village type of settlement. One main road, a deserted fort that they kept in fair shape (not restored but neat) and a bunch of friendly people. We walked around the first day and made arrangements to get a ride to another village the next day for a Traditional Wedding they were having as part of the Heritage Festival.

Saturday dawned to a very intense and, as it turned out, day-long downpour that put a damper on our plans. We were also visited early that morning by one of the fishermen who was net fishing the bay. Although it was a very large bay, he had strung his nets over quite an expanse. Truth be told I think he exaggerated a bit as to what he had laid out and in fact we never saw him again during our stay there but in the interest of good relations between the people of the islands and Canada, we moved the boat to just off the end of the dock. Not a problem except we lost our internet. The anchorage was not too bad even if a bit rolly. Tobago is a bit different from the islands that come down the chain from BVI in that it doesn't really run north/south as they do. The down side of this is that, since the winds are usually from the east, Tobago has no windward and leeward side and thus no place that is "ocean-swell free". Store Bay, where we first stayed and where we eventually went back to is as calm as it gets because it is somewhat southwest but even there the swells are noticeable most of the time. Rock and Roll heaven!

sunset after the storm

Since the weather was being affected by a number of tropical waves coming from the east we decided we would head back to Store Bay, do a laundry, some grocery and wedding shopping, clear customs in Scarborough and leave for Trinidad. Not all in one day of course! Sunday seemed to be a good day to move so we did, back to Store Bay and it's tourist beach shores.

Cheryl's interjection - Prior to leaving for Store Bay we spent an amusing hour watching the pelicans and seagulls. Doyle's guide had mentioned the unusual fishing technique of the seagulls in this bay. That morning we experienced it with our own eyes. The seagulls would wait for the pelican to catch a fish and then land on its head or back waiting for it to open its beak to swallow the fish.

The next few days we spent doing what we had planned but doing it in a leisurely fashion. Monday the laundry and a little shopping, Tuesday some more shopping for groceries, a meaningful souvenir and a gift, Wednesday we went into Scarborough to clear customs and immigration. I must say that here our Canadian "personalities" seem to be paying off. People have told us some horror stories about customs and immigration. Jimmie and Donna from Bluewater Cat and Tom and Rose from Sojourn both were threatened with 4,000 t/t fines and in fact a guy from Belgium stopped at our boat in Store Bay, I think mainly to vent about customs, and he says he was threatened with a 10,000 t/t fine (these are Trinidad/Tobago dollars, by the way - 6 to one of our dollars). Investigation showed, however, that all of the above had tried to bend the rules and "get away" with something i.e Jimmie didn't check out of Scarboroough, which he was told he should do if he was going to Charlotteville, and Rose didn't check out of Immmigration - not sure but I think she said it was too much hassle. Eddie, the guy from Belgium, didn't think he should have to account for where he was in Tobago - plus he was one of these very aggressive speakers - very "in your face".

Another interjection - On Monday while our clothes were being washed we took a walk out to Pigeon Point Heritage Park. We had been there before, but hadn't walked all the way to the end of the park. It is situated on an old plantation and is beautiful. The only thing left of the plantation is the jetty, but you can look across Buccoo Reef and Lagoon and walk along the white sand beach.




We went into customs with our paperwork correct and complete, the agent signed us out, we cleared immigration in an orderly fashion (it took 2 hours but that office is also their passport office and we were set to go - no muss, no fuss.

This blog is getting a bit long - not like me to go on and on and on is it!!! Don't answer that.

So, I am going to leave you in Wednesday evening with us going to bed early in order to get up in the wee hours of Thursday morning to leave for Trinidad. I promise you will get the next chapter shortly.

Some Pictures For You

Since we can again access the internet I thought I would post some of the pictures that would have been in the last couple of blogs.

Mt. Irvine Bay

Pelicans and seagulls fought for spots on all the fishing boats anchored in the bay.

We enjoyed the rotis she made. Rotis are tortilla like breads filled with curries.

We had chicken and veggie.

One of the few days we actually saw a sunrise.
It was our last day in Mt. Irvine Bay

Aquajoggers (mostly men) were out at sunrise jogging in the water.

I dare you to!!! These were ropes we saw hanging from a tree.
However, they swung out over very inhospitable waves.

The view from tee#1

Fore

Keep your head down!!

Looking at Hole #9

Building castles in the sand

Pigeon Point Heritage Park looking out towards Bucoo Reef and Lagoon

Griff caught Cheryl unawares while she was taking one of her many pictures.

Catching Up

Today is Griff's birthday and we decided to celebrate by going golfing at the Mt. Irvine Tobago Golf Club. Beautiful course!!! And now Griff writes!! It is a beautiful course and when we are back in Wifi land we will post some pictures. There are views of the ocean with waves breaking over Buccoo Reef in the background and of course lots of palm trees and coconut trees. When we started, one of the workers told us that we should keep left because there was rough on the right but it just appeared
to be grass a little longer than the fairway grass. Of course Cheryl and I both put our balls to the right and found out that the "less short" grass is very deceptive and hides the ball quite well. It is also VERY hard to hit out of. Overall though, we were both very pleased with our games, especially considering we have only played twice this year, both times on new courses with rented clubs.
Where are we and what are we doing - well, we are still in Tobago although we moved to Mt. Irvine from Store Bay. It is a bit rollier here and unfortunately because of the different current flows due to the tides, we have not been able to make a stern anchor take hold. The boat of course tends to want to go side to the swells so it has been uncomfortable for a couple of nights. The business of going side to the trough of the waves would not be such a problem if we had some wind because then the boat
tends to face into the winds which usually means into the swells. For the last few days, however, while there has been lots of rain, there has been practically no wind. Last night was better and tonight seems good so far. We will be moving to Plymouth (Courland Bay) tomorrow and there is a bit of a point we can hide behind and perhaps break up the swells. There is also a dock there for landing the dinghy which will be a nice change. Tobago is not really yacht-oriented so few of the anchorages have
dinghy docks. The fishermen don't need docks so it is a matter of pulling the dinghy up on the beach above the water line. Since there is a 3 ft tide here, if you go in or come out at low tide it makes for quite a haul and our dinghy and motor make quite a load.
The friends that we sailed down from Grenada with have moved on. They went up coast while we were in Store Bay but we met up with them again here at Mt. Irvine. They are all quite nice people and we enjoyed travelling with them but Tom and Rose in Sojourn have gone to Trinidad to pick up some stuff they ordered and they are going to stay for a bit and visit with people they know on other boats who are there. Jimmie and Donna on Bluewater Cat have gone back up to Grenada for a bit but are coming down
to Trinidad in August to get some work done on their boat. We may end up travelling to Venezuela with either or both of them as well as possibly some others. That would be great because the more the merrier. Two weeks ago, about 4 miles off the coast by the Gulf Of Paria a yacht was boarded by 6 armed men in a boat with 4 big motors on it. They took all the money, electronics, food and clothes from these people but no one was hurt. The big no no about that is that there are certain places around
Venezuela that you don't sail, particularly by yourself and this was one of them. These people were on their own and only 4 miles off the coast so were really taking a chance doing what they did. Not that they were to blame but on the other hand, would you walk through - for example - Victoria Park in Calgary in the middle of the night by yourself??? There have also been a lot of thefts in Porlamar, Isle de Margarita but with one exception they involved thefts from the boat. On the downside, they
happened while in the harbour with lots of other boats around and even more downside, if you are going west and don't want to go to the Venezuelan coast, Margarita is a place you must go in order to clear into customs and immigration.
Enough said about that except we intend to travel with others whenever possible and will definitely be sailing at least 50 miles off the coast of the Paria peninsula. Oh, and one other thing - we talked to the customs people here in Tobago and they said that a lot of the armed boarding's or robberies are done by the Venezuelan National Guard. They are paid a pittance and as the 20th of the month approaches (payday) there tends to be more problems. Next time you want to complain about a policeman
in Canada, think about that!!!
Finally some thoughts about where we are and what we are doing. A couple of things we are still having problems with (although what problems could we really have???). I am still having problems thinking retired - like I don't have to be somewhere or do something on any schedule but our own. I am trying to get rid of the niggly that says "plan, plan, plan" and then "do, do, do". We are sitting in a pretty good anchorage on a very pretty island and the niggly still raises its head in quiet moments.
It may be something like Chris mentioned to Julie about being boat bums. While it is good to not have too strict an agenda, I think that some of the people who sail have fallen into a rut of "nothingness". Sail here, meet your friends in the marina/anchorage and then sail there, meet your friends in the marina/anchorage etc, etc. I am not really condemning people who do this (although nothingness sounds like I am doesn't it). This may be what they want, but Cheryl and I got into this adventure for
the adventure of new things, new people and new places so I guess that is what part of the niggly is about - adventure palls when we stay in one place too long. On the other hand, we want to make sure we do all we can while here. Another thing Cheryl mentioned as a downside of "sitting" is the feeling of not contributing. Maybe some people can retire and do just for themselves. It is starting to seem that this is not something Cheryl and I are ready to do yet. We know there are places we can go to
volunteer our help but that then gets into staying in one spot for a good length of time - again going against the "new adventures" agenda.
Bottom line - if this is the worst of the problems I have with the rest of my life - need I say more???
We are extremely blessed with the family and friends we have and as I have said before, if someone had told me when I was getting out of the Armed Forces that in 20 years or so I would be married to a true soul mate, have a 10 acre home that people would kill for and be sailing on our own 49 ft yacht in the Caribbean - as well as other blessings too numerous to mention - I would have immediately directed them to seek the services of a competent psychologist to deal with their delusional state of
mind.!!
Till next time.

A Rainy Day in Paradise

What do you do in paradise when it rains? If you are in an anchorage that has a dock you can dinghy into shore and do things there that you would do if it weren't raining. Being in an anchorage without a dock poses a problem. If it is raining then usually the swells are such that it is difficult if not dangerous to beach a dinghy, the only way you would have to get ashore. That means you have to remain on the boat and do things there.
The last two days have placed us in the latter category. We are anchored in Mt. Irvine Bay and there is no dock here that we could tie the dinghy to. So, you ask, what have we done to keep ourselves occupied? Yesterday the rain was intermittent so we were able to do some work on deck. Today it has been raining almost constantly - more rainy periods than no rain.
Yesterday Griff rewired the windlass and got it working again. He says he still needs to take the actual windlass apart to determine why it overheated in the first place. He'll get to that if it stops raining today. Because this anchorage is very rolly, we tried to put out a stern anchor in an effort to hold the bow or stern into the swells. This didn't work because the anchor would not set, hold, properly.
One thing that has been bothering both of us is that because we do not have an internet connection we have not been able to access weather forecasts. Griff took the time today to look at our SSB connection and was able to access two weather sites and we will now receive two forecasts daily - one at midnight and one at 2 AM. This means that when we check at 8 AM we will be able to see what to expect weather wise for the day. This is great for peace of mind - knowing if stormy weather is on its
way or if we can safely stay where we are.
I have been able to fine tune our water collection system. It still needs a little bit more, but we have been able to collect about 15 liters of rain water in 24 hours. We are catching the run-off from the bimini in two places. At the back corner I have taken an empty water bottle with the bottom cut off and hung it upside down between the bimini supports. At the mid-point of the bimini side, I tied a bucket between the winches on the side of the cockpit. The other fine tuning I would like to
do is to put some sort of drain into the water bottle and attach it to a hose that we could then run directly to our water jerry cans or our boat water tanks. I have an idea on how to do that, but we'll need some dry weather to do it.
We have taken the opportunity to shower in the rain. It may not have been a hot shower, but it was refreshing until the wind came up and the rain started to pelt down - not unlike turning a shower head onto massage.
We have also been doing some typical rainy day activities - reading, playing Scrabble or crib, and discussing where we are going from here both literally and figuratively. As you can see we have managed to keep ourselves occupied even though it is raining. And of course we are still in paradise so who's complaining!!!!

Something New

We are now in Mt. Irvine Bay, Tobago - a quiet little anchorage. We are the only sailboat anchored here. There are about 6 fishing boats anchored, but we have only seen one fisherman who was working on his engines. Onshore there are a few buildings - a beach resort, a water-sport business and some other shops further down the beach. As I said, a quiet little place. The only problem with being small and quiet is there is no internet access. Therefore, we are trying out a new way, for us, to
post this blog. I am composing it as a word document, then copying it and pasting it into an e-mail and sending it to our blog site that way. The e-mail is being sent via our SSB (single side band) radio. This is like a 'Ham' radio. There is no way for us to tell if it is sent or not. If you are reading this within a day or two after July 13 then you know it was sent. If you comment on the blog site then we will know it arrived when we next can access the internet.
While in this bay we hope to do some golfing and exploring more of the island. So far I have gone swimming around the boat and Griff has been working on the windlass which shorted out when we lifted anchor yesterday.

Tobago - Pt I

Well, after having made it down here in one piece and with no immediate problems arising with Mystic Journey as a result of the journey, we took it very easy Saturday. We had travelled down with Tom and Rose on Sojourn, a 38' sloop and Jimmy and Donna on Blue Water Cat, a 38' - you guessed it - catamaran so after we were all settled at anchorage (Cheryl mentioned we were here first so had some time to make things shipshape), we all shared a car into Scarborough - Tobago's capital - to clear customs and immigration. When I say share a car, I really do mean share, 6 of us plus the driver in one compact car. There are maxi-taxi's here and there are buses here and there are taxis here but we were rushed for time so a girl/lady we were talking to got a friend to stop and drive us to customs at 6 t/t per person. That is Trinidad/Tobago dollars and 6 t/t is about .98 cents. Apparently that is the going rate because that is what we were charged for a taxi to come back.

Tom, Rose, Jimmy, Donna

Anyway, we spent about 2 1/2 hours doing all the necessary work to clear. It was go to customs, go to immigration, go to customs and sign heavy, you are making 4 copies of 4 different forms!!!

After finishing up there we stopped in KFC to grab a bite and came back. Just a little sidebar - there is no dinghy dock in Store Bay so we pulled the 2 dinghys up on the beach and locked them together and then locked one of them to a rock formation. We forgot there is a 3' tide here and got back to our dinghy being turned completely around and moved up the beach. We were lucky that we didn't puncture either dinghy on the rocks they got tossed against. Live and learn!!

Short and sweet, by 6 pm I was asleep and Cheryl shortly after that (she had taken a short nap prior to that - actually fallen asleep on the couch!!)

Sunday we rested and in the evening went over to the catamaran for a fish supper. Jimmy had caught a 60 pound mahi-mahi on the trip over. We took a salad, Sojourn brought potatoes and Jimmy BBQ'd some of the fish. Donna made a strawberry cake for dessert. Fantastic!!! After supper we listened to golden oldies and played Sequence (my family knows that game) and then Oh Hell. Tom and Rose are from Minneapolis and Jimmy is a Texan while Donna is from Georgia (last 10 years in Texas) so it was neat listening to the accents of the south.

Cheryl and I have talked about the whole community of cruisers thing. Lots of the people who sail and probably most who sail in just the Caribbean, base a good deal of their sailing life on doing the party get together thing. Not necessarily with excess drinking (although that happens too) but there always seems to be some event or gathering going on and everybody knows everybody else. This seems to be particularly true of Americans but is not restricted to them. Cheryl and I had talked about whether we would fit into this lifestyle and were wondering whether we would have to make changes to adapt to that type of living. We finally decided that we are not like that at home, so why should we be like that when we are away. We are happy with our "landlubber" lifestyle where our families and a few good friends are what is important and we can continue to practice that as we travel. Having said that, however, we are certainly not adverse to meeting, interacting and sharing things with others and we certainly relish the opportunity to make new friends while we travel this watery road.

Today we went with Jimmy and Donna to visit a fort that is just up the road and we also stopped in the airport at the Tourist Information booth to get some information on the events that will be taking place over the next month during Tobago's annual Heritage Festival. During this festival different events are held at different villages all over the island (I am looking forward to the goat and crab races next week!!) There are some really interesting customs and ceremonies that will be happening so we are looking forward to sharing this with the Tobagans and passing them on to all of you.

The other two boats are going to start a sailing trek around the island tomorrow, stopping at the various anchorages as they go. They have their own diving gear and are really into that so taking their boats around the island makes sense. Cheryl and I aren't sure yet what we will be doing. We may move a bit or do all our "touristing" from Store Bay but for now we are happy to stay here for at least a couple of days. We are trying very hard to be retired - deciding only as far ahead as absolutely necessary what our next step will be.

Stay tuned.

Griff forgot to tell about his adventure today. Just before we left Grenada he had bought a pair of flip-flop sandals for $15EC. Today while we were walking they literally fell apart and he ended up walking barefoot most of the morning. Heading back to the boat we saw a fellow on the sidewalk with a big suitcase and a bunch of 'croc' type shoes tied on top. Griff asked him if the shoes were for sale and they were. He got a sturdier pair of flip-flop sandals for $40t/t. Hopefully these will last longer.

Celebrating our first anniversary at Fort Milford, Tobago

Sailing Again

Finally we are back in the "land" of sailing. We realized it has been 8 weeks since we last sailed, except for Griff's short trip with Graham on Artemo, which is how long ago it was when we landed in Grenada with Randy and Aleitha. It has been 11 weeks since we have sailed with just the two of us on the boat. Now we have embarked on the next part of our journey with a 84 mile overnight sail from Grenada to Tobago.

I must admit I (Cheryl) (me - Griff) faced the overnight part of the trip with some trepidation thinking about our last overnight to Sint Maarten. We were better prepared this time. We know more about what to look for in the weather reports we read; we have more sailing experience; and we had decided to look for others who are planning on sailing to Tobago at the same time.

We kept a watch on the weather as there was a system building off the coast of Africa that looked like it might build into a storm or hurricane and head towards the area we were sailing to or at least affect the weather in that area. On July 3rd we again looked at the reports and the system had progressed into Topical Storm Bertha, however, it had changed direction and was now headed into the middle of the Atlantic so it would miss all the islands. We decided maybe it was time to head out.

We had been talking with a couple that was heading out with a couple of other boats, but we could not get a committment from them as to when they would be leaving. Finally, on the morning of July 4, we heard on the Coconut Net that Sojourn was leaving that afternoon headed for Tobago. We stopped at the boat on our way into shore and told them we would be interested in joining them and would let them know for sure on our way back to the boat. We discussed things over lunch and decided to clear Customs and Immigration and head out. We stopped and let Tom and June know we would be joining them and they said that Jimmie and Donna on Blue Water Cat would also be going. Plan was to head out between 4 and 4:30 PM.

Now comes the more sailing experience part. I wonder if that really helps. First we forgot how long it takes to get the ship organized and stuff stowed away before heading out to sea. Then when we went to get fuel, the dock was empty but another boat came in just as we were weighing anchor and got to the fuel dock before us. They seemed to take forever to get fuel. By the time we got to the dock it was 4:30 and they should have been closed but the attendent agreed to wait and give us fuel and water. We finally left at 4:45PM. Sojourn had left about 4:15PM. When we got out to the entrance to the bay we could see them and Blue Water Cat in the distance. We got our sails up and were having problems with the foresail rigging, the fairleads, so I was going to head onto the deck to fix them. At that point we realized not only did we not have our lifejackets and tethers in the cockpit we didn't have our jacklines (lifelines) out on the deck. So much for more sailing experience. We got that all done and got the sails up. Not much wind, around 8 knots, so we put up all three sails and continued motoring. We contacted Sojourn by radio and the three of us were on our way.

After about 4-5 hours we passed Blue Water Cat so we were now in the middle. It was a comforting feeling to be able to see their lights and to be in radio contact with them through out the night. We passed Sojourn about midnight. It's not that we were going that much faster than the others. It was more that they were smaller boats with smaller engines and having more trouble going into the wind and current than we did. Again, Mystic Journey did well with the seas and wind we asked her to deal with. The wind was on the beam, but light most of the night - it never got over 12 knots and was usually less than 10 knots. The seas were relatively calm - 0-1/2 metre, but there was a 1-2 knot current coming towards us. This slowed our speed by 1-2 knots. It was very enjoyable sailing - healed over slightly and no waves breaking over the bow and rushing down the decks.

Some memorable times from the trip:

1. Seeing Grenada in the distance behind us. The lights reflecting off the night sky were visible well after dark until 9/10PM.
2. The large number stars including the Milky Way - very similar to the numbers we can see on the acreage. There were so many distant galaxies visible that it looked like a layer of material behind the stars that were more prominent.
3. Having to turn the deck navigation light off because the stern light was reflecting off the dinghy which in turn reflected off the windshield into the cockpit.
4. Seeing large ships going across our path and being able to discuss with the others what they were and which direction they were going.
5. Sleeping on deck, or at least resting our eyes when not at the helm.
6. Seeing lights reflecting on the horizon to port and realizing that they must be from the PetroCanada oil platform that is north of Tobago. I think it would have been neat to see it up close just to see what one looks like.
7. Seeing the sun rise. It was not colourful, but seeing the sun behind the clouds was spectacular.
   We arrived in Store Bay, Togago at 8:45AM about 1 hour before the others. We had enough time to get the boat anchored, organized and have a swim and shower before everyone was ready to head into Scarborough and check in with Customs and Immigration. From what we have seen of Tobago so far it is much more like a Caribbean island, not as cosmopolitan as Grenada was.

Happy Canada Day!!

Well, here we are, still in Prickley Bay, Grenada and loving it. We actually meant to leave either Monday or Tuesday (today) night but for reasons I will explain we decided to wait. It's a bit convoluted so hang in there.

We had our first "gathering" at the boat on Sunday. A friend of Julie and Graham's, Chris, stopped by to pay his respects. J & G had told him to look out for us so when he got here he made it a point to say hello. Super nice guy. Anyway, while he was on board, a couple of his friends, Rene and Cheryl, were passing by in their dinghy and so they stopped to say hello. They are from Ontario (Chris is from Whistler). Next thing we knew, 2 friends of R&C stopped by, Dave and Tom, both from the USA and then their wives, Michelle and Rose, came by in another dinghy. Great fun!!

How does this relate to going to Tobago you ask. Well, Dave, Tom and spouses are also going to Tobago and when we heard this we decided/were asked to come along - buddy boating. The original intention was to leave on Monday night as we had planned, but Monday Dave came over and told us that a Tropical Wave was forming over Dakar in Africa with a possibility of it turning into a tropical storm.

Not all tropical waves turn into storms but if conditions are right it can happen. Of course a tropical storm can become a cyclone and that is like a hurricane. If this tropical wave developed into something, it would likely be down around Tobago in which case, after we got there we would have to leave to go a bit further southwest. Final decision, wait until Friday to see what it is going to do and then act accordingly. There you go - short story made long!!

In the meantime, we have been working at stuff we wanted to get done, some of which we had intended to do in Tobago. We (mostly Cheryl) cleaned the boat thoroughly to rid ourselves of the last of the "on-the-hard" dirt. We siliconed where we needed to stop a couple of leaks we had. It has been raining down here so much that it feels like spring in Alberta, but it did help us to find leaks we had not noticed before because we had not had the amount of rain that caused them to show.

Another big thing was finishing up the block and tackle for the dinghy davits. We are almost where we want to be with that and it is now ready for the maiden voyage with the dinghy hoisted out of the water behind the boat rather than trailing us in the water or upside down on the front deck. It looks good. The only thing we need to do is replace the rope used in the tackle with wire but we can't get the wire here so will wait for Trinidad for that.

We also found out some information on places in Venezuela that we want to visit. We have been kind of reluctant to consider Venezuela because of security but after talking to people who have "been there, done that", we have found out that while there are places you really should not go, there are a lot of places that have great security and are well worth the visit. But I am getting ahead of myself and that is something I really want to avoid.

Final thoughts - regarding getting ahead of myself - both Cheryl and I came to the realization that we have not totally been able to become "live for the day" type of people YET. We had both been a little bothered the last few days and when I finally figured it out, I realized that I had been looking for problem areas in the future that may or may not exist. By that I mean that I was fretting about things like security, weather, anchorages etc etc etc for places and things we may never do. I had to re-focus and realize that right now we are going to Tobago PERIOD. No fret, no sweat about what we may or may not do after that. Talking it over with Cheryl I found that she had been doing the same thing. We'll work on it!!!

Other final thought - I found myself almost making decisions on when and where to move from here based on - wait for it - what I thought you, our faithful readers, would enjoy most. Like, "we can't stay in Grenada any longer, our readers will be getting bored of hearing the same old things" or "I wonder where people would find it interesting to read about next". Admittedly these were stray thoughts and didn't really have a chance to influence any of the decision making but when I realized that those thoughts had been floating around, it certainly reminded me of some of the old stuff I thought I had gotten rid of.

Always time for learning, always time for growth

Cheryl's final thought - Today was Canada Day and we missed our annual barbecue with family and friends. We did hoist a humungous flag (3 feet by 6 feet) that Randy and Aleitha brought for us and four smaller flags along the sides of the deck. They did attract attention from other Canadians. We also sent out Canada Day greetings to all fellow Canadians on the Grenada Net this morning. This is a broadcast on the VHF radio every morning (Monday to Saturday) for cruisers to get the weather forcast and pass on and get information 0n who is arriving, who is leaving, social activities, services required and 'Bargains from the Bilge' (anything you have that you want to sell). Today was rainy and overcast most of the day so as Griff mentioned we mainly worked inside.

THE VIEW FROM OUR COCKPIT