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