Back in Trinidad

Our two months in Vancouver went quickly. We got lots of hiking in up the local mountains and even visited the nearby community center gym to keep the arms in shape as we were not dong anything physical here. Being on the boat gives our arms a lot more exercise. We bought a few toys for the boat and some food items we like as well.

Sept 1 2013 we arrived back in Trinidad with West Jet airlines. We got thru customs and Immigration okay with all our loot for the boat and we did declare everything. The stuff for the boat was kept in a separate bag in our suitcase and itemized on a list with prices which kept customs happy.

We went to catch a taxi and right away we could see we were going to be ripped off. The taxi drivers had a big price board up with highly inflated prices. Our ride to Chagaramus was posted as 430TT, and when we took the taxi from there it had only been 300TT. So we discussed this a bit with the taxi driver and he dropped the price to 360TT. We got him to stop at Customs and he waited for us while we declared our boat parts at Chagaramus customs and then took us to our boat at Power Boats and ended up giving him 400TT for waiting at customs. It might be an idea to arrange For Jessie James to have one of his taxi's meet you at the airport.

We arrived at our boat about 7am, went and found a ladder so we could climb up onto the boat and held our breaths wondering what kind of condition the boat would be in after being empty for 2 months. The outer decks were very dirty, and inside smelled okay and there was a few cob webs around, otherwise everything seemed fine. The roach traps we left out had a couple of huge roaches in them but the boat seemed to be bug free and even the sugar ants we had had before we left seemed to be gone. We had got rid of all our food on the boat before we left.

After buying some eggs and a few other food items, I started to make some breakfast and the propane stove would not light. I could hear a hiss but it would not ignite. So I guessed it was the propane regulator. I got out our spare and 30 minutes later the stove was working.

Our pvc inflatable dinghy, which has had a slow leak in it before we left, gave up on us. I inflated the dinghy a couple days after we arrived, planning on rowing it over to a dinghy repair shop. Just as I got it blown up a seam burst and all the air came out. I taped it shut with some duct tape and inflated it just lightly and we carried it down to the water. As I rowed the air came out and soon the whole front end was down and I wondered if I would be swimming.  Ahh back to the exciting cruising life style! But the dinghy stayed up enough with just the air floor keeping the bow up and the the back half of the two air tubes were okay as were separate air chambers and I could keep slowly rowing if I sat back a bit further. When I arrived at the nearby dinghy repair shop, the repairman said the dingy was not worth fixing as the pvc was sun damaged. He said PVC was not much good in tropics after 3 years and our dinghy was five years old, Hypolon is much better.

So we need to find a new dinghy before we leave Trinidad. When we first started cruising we had no idea of what kind of dinghy we needed, as every boat is different, you can ask a dozen experts and get 10 different answers. Before we left we bought a Triton pvc inflatable with a high pressure  V shaped floor and 8ft 6" long. With hindsight the size of the dinghy is perfect for us and the hi pressure floor was good as it made for a light dinghy which we could pick up easily and carry up a beach with engine on. We needed a dinghy that we could roll up when on passage as did not really have any deck room to stow one. Will probably have to hang around Trinidad until the end of September, a few days longer than we intended. This is because we can not get a new dinghy shipped before the end of the month. The selection locally is poor and very expensive.

INFO

-The best place to get boat parts at least for us, is from Marine Wharehouse here in Chagaramus.  it is a mail order outfit and they  order anything you want.  I got a great deal on a new anchor chain ordered from the US where most of the stuff comes from and better prices than locally.  They also get it through customs for you easily and duty free. You just need to allow a couple of weeks so not good if you are in a hurry. 

-There is a free boaters directory for the area showing where everything is obtained at the YSATT by customs office.