Trinidad - December

Nothing exciting to report for December. I am still in Chaguaramas, Trinidad listening to the barnacles growing rapidly on Sadiqi's hull. Having hauled out earlier in the year in South Africa I was not planning on hauling out again so soon. I had to run the Honda generator or Volvo engine every few days to keep the batteries charged. The solar panels just weren't  coping with the cloud cover and almost daily rainfall in Trinidad. 

Chaguaramas - rig tenders

Chaguaramas - Power Boats

Chaguaramas - Power Boats boat yard

My nemesis the sewing machine has been brought out on several occasions to cause me some angst. I do concede that I have more than recovered to cost of the sewing machine with all the work done using it. It has also been a good source of procrastination - where by I have been able to complete some of the less pleasant jobs around the boat. The main sewing jobs have been restitching sun damaged thread.

Christmas festivities: As part of the silly season I combined with Lindsay, another solo sailer, to cook up pizzas on the Cobb. Christmas day is planned to start with champagne breakfast (in my case beer), then a lunch where everyone brings something, then late afternoon get together if anyone is left standing.

Time spent with cruising friends in Chaguaramas: It has been very social with gatherings on shore at Coral Cove boat yard with several other cruisers.

Lindsay "Avolare" from Australia

Nick and Andrea "Muneera" from Australia

Ken and Michelle "Magic" from USA

Ian and Jackie "Blackthorn Lady" from UK

Bruce and Jill "Daemon" from New Zealand

Peter and Ulla "Lavina" from Sweden

Wayne and Tracey  ?  from South Africa

I raise a glass/can to you all on Christmas. I wish you all the best of health and happiness in the New Year.

Trinidad November

At the beginning of November I headed for Trinidad and Chaguarams. It was a good overnight sail until nearing the Boca and the winds dropped all together.  I stopped for a night in Scotsman's Bay to avoid paying overtime fees for checking in over the weekend.

The only change in Chaguaramas was that the temperature had cooled some what at night to make it more bearable. 

Chaguaramas sunset

Having done a fair amount of work on the boat in the last year it was time for the skipper to get sorted out and visit a few medical -ologists. This has more to do with the advancing years of the skipper. I thought I was still under warranty, but apparently not. Any rumours of having picked up a nasty disease in my travels would be greatly exaggerated and would  have had to have been an immaculate infection. Trinidad seems to be best place to get medical stuff sorted out in the Caribbean.  Tobago has free medical services available, however I figure you get what you pay for. Being used as a guinea pig or lab rat by of some still "wet behind the ears" Nigerian or Cuban doctor of dubious qualification is not my idea of fun to save a few dollars.

I caught up with Lindsay on "Avolare" and Olli on "Fagul Bla" whom had been working on their boats out of the water. A fair amount of beer was consumed attempting to solve various world problems.  Also met up with Eric and Lynne on Amarula. 

Over a beer or two Lindsay mentioned something called Mean Time Between Failures MTBF. This is the predicted elapsed time between inherent failures of a system during operation. It is amazing the stuff one finds out when there is nothing else better to do. It also means I don't have much to write about this month. MTBF can also be applied to people I guess. Our inherent life span was around three score and ten. However, with advances in medicine and better standard of living this has improved - apparently. The more complicated the systems on a boat the higher the MTBF index. Hence spending more time doing maintenance work on the systems. The bottom line regarding boats is to keep it simple avoid gadgets. As far as people go eat well and exercise regularly and expiry may be delayed. 

Mean_time_between_failures

I made the mistake of going with Olli, Hossian and his dog to Chacachacare. Chacachacare island is a former leper colony now abandoned and reputedly haunted. This has to have been on of the more dumb things that I had done in a long time. The island is about 7 miles from Chaguaramas and we went in an open RIB inflatable - no VHF radio and one paddle. Had the engine stopped we would have probably drifted to Venezuela not far away.

There have been several incidents near Venezuela recently. A friend of Olli's was boarded and relieved of all money, valuables and computers at gun point a few months ago near Isla Margarita. Another Dutch sailor was not so fortunate and was killed on his boat near the same islands. More recently two boats set off to go to Venezuela to  get anchor chain galvanised. The boats separated for some reason and one was within 5 miles of the shore. Before the crew knew it they had been boarded and had home made guns pointed at them. They were subsequently relieved of all valuables, computers and vhf radio rendered inoperable.

Trinidad being the Hurricane hole of the Caribbean has many cruisers biding their time waiting for the Hurricane season to end. I have met some fascinating people who have been sailing for many years. Two women solo sailors come to mind: Shirley on "Speedwell of Hong Kong", who has been sailing for the past 12 years. And Angela on "Angelos" who has been sailing predominantly around the Caribbean for the last 25 years. Angela's husband died last year and she is continuing on on her own.

Tobago October

Rainforest tour with Christian.

Tobago purportedly boasts having the last rainforests of the Caribbean. I had met up with Sherman and Judy from "Fairwinds" and Doug and Mica from "Banjo". Fairwinds was flying an aussie flag, something you don't see much of this far away from there.

Christian, originally from Austria, has been a rain forest tour guide in Tobago for many years, well travelled a former photo journalist and very knowledgeable on flora and fauna.  

Christian Tobago Rainforest Tours

Rainforest Tour troops

We were picked up at 0415am for the hours drive to Bloody Bay near Charlotteville. Many of the local tour guides prefer a more leisurely tour after breakfast. Only problem with that is the fauna have returned to bed to avoid the heat of the day. After a sandwich and a cup of coffee the 6 of us trooped off into the rain forest just on sun rise. The cacophony of sounds coming from the cicadas, birds and frogs was amazing. Christian talked about some of the local trees pointing out their various  medicinal benefits. 

Christian's knowledge of the fauna was impressive as he rattled off names of birds and butterflies that we glimpsed in the dense green foliage. The tour was well worth it. Christian's knowledge and safety considerations was invaluable. One does not want to get caught in the rainforest in a torrential downpour or you may end up stranded between swollen rivers for a long time.

The rain is indeed torrential at times. Quite often, preceding a rain front, there will be a splatter of large drops as a warning. Then it is as if a large bucket of water is thrown over the immediate area. The warning drops sometimes gives one enough time to close hatches on the boat or dash for cover when on land. The heavy downpour do not generally last for long - sometimes less than 10 minutes. On the upside I was not having to lug jerry cans of water to the boat.

I had not been able to complete the Kite Surfing course, that I had started many months before, due to a lack of wind or my being elsewhere when there was sufficient wind. I was hoping that the wind would pick up in October. The temperatures had dropped ever so slightly. However, with the rainfall the humidity had increased.

I spent some time with Gavin and Mandy on "Secret Smile" from Portsmouth. Gavin plays saxophone and on a few occasions has entertained a group of cruisers in Michianna's Bar. Otherwise, Gavin was heard serenading the anchorage with his daily practicing on the sax. 

Tobago September

Store Bay Sunset

September is the hottest, wettest and most humid month in Tobago and the Caribbean. There tends to be less wind and a increased probability of hurricanes. There was still over two months to wait until the end of the official hurricane season.

Boycotting Bago's beach bar. After returning  from a sail to Charlotteville in the north I met up with a mate, Olli on "Fagul Blu". I had met Olli in Cape Town and along the track; Namibia, St Helena and Brazil.  Anyway, Olli is a good sort and we had a few stories to tell so off the Bago's we went. After a few Caribs Shirley, the licensee, wondered over for a chat. The place was not exactly overflowing with customers, I might add. Shirley asked Olli and I for our contact details; facebook, email etc. I scribbled an email address, which probably won't work. I mean why do I want to get spammed about promos unless it is free beer, which is unlikely. Shortly after this Shirley turns around to me and says she wants to get rid of all the yachts from the anchorage because of the apparent discharge of effluent into the water - a euphemism for what was actually said. As you can imagine I was a little taken aback. Fortunately, on this occasion anyway, I engaged the brain, despite being a tad inebriated, before I said anything. One moment she is trying to promote the place the next she is pissing off the customers! Odd, very odd. The next day I mentioned this to John of Store Bay Marine Services, he laughed having been basically squeezed out of his premises near Bago's with a 35% rent increase by the same licensee. A couple of points to bear in mind;
- there is no functional sewage processing on Tobago,
- effluent from Bago's goes into a septic, which ends up in the sea,
- there are no toilet facilities for people on the beach or vendors nearby.
I have never seen more than 20 yachts in the anchorage at any one time, some of the yachts are unoccupied and many have sewage processing systems.
The licensee should seriously consider a change in occupation or refrain from voicing her opinions to her customers.  

Fortunately the beer is just as good and cheaper just up the road.  I could go on and have a rant about Windows H8 that was on a new computer I recently acquired, however I will spare you that diatribe.

Languishing in Store Bay and still boycotting Bagos Bar. I kept myself occupied fixing things on the boat, socialising with friends onshore, replacing Windows 8 with Linux Mint and learning how to use Linux. Getting rid of Windows H8 was cathartic.

I spoke to John and Katy about cooking a roast lamb in the cobb. I also mentioned pizza. Katy suggested I cook Flat Lamb Pie a Syrian dish (Lahm bi'Ajeen). Getting a leg of lamb/mutton was expensive so I went with the flat lamb pie. As I don't have much to write about this month I'll include the recipe . This is my variation of Flat Lamb Pie. I prepared the dough and filling beforehand on the boat then lugged the cobb bbq and prepared food ashore.

Ingredients:

I used the Focaccia/pizza recipe from the Cobb recipe book as the base.  

Lamb Filling:

1 tablespoon oil

500 g minced/ground lamb

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon dry rosemary (I soaked this in vinegar overnight)

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 can chopped, tomatoes.

Mint to taste

Salt

lemon juice

Serve with  lemon wedges and/or yoghurt

Method:

1. Make up the dough for the base and let it rise.

2. Heat oil in a frying pan, add ground lamb and stir over medium high heat until colour changes and meat is crumbly. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often, until onion is soft.

3. Add rosemary, mint, spices, salt to taste and pepper, fry 1 minute longer, then add tomatoes. Cover and cook on low heat until tomato softens - about 10 minutes.

4. Stir in lemon juice. Remove from heat and cool. Mixture should be firm, but not liquid.

5. Punch down dough if used. Roll out dough or pastry on a lightly floured board until 3mm thick - about the size of the Cobb pan. Alternatively take balls of dough the size of an egg and press each into a round with hand.

6. Spray/brush oil on pan. Spread the dough on the pan. Place a tablespoon of filling onto a quarter of the dough and another tablespoon on the other quarter. Fold the remaining half of the dough over the filling - giving two pies - like a calzone. Spread another rolled dough and fill so you have two folded pizza like pies in the cobb.

7. Bake pies for 15-20 minutes with the cobb lid on.  Cut the half pies giving 4 pies at a time. Serve hot or warm, squeeze lemon wedges  onto pies, or yoghurt may be served with them .

The Flat Lamb Pies turned out well and the 6 of us had a good evening with many local Carib beers. No one had seen the cobb bbq before and were impressed.

 

Tobago August

Friend Kate from the USA arrived in mid August after some angst getting flights from Trinidad. We visited Bago's - obligatory. I visited Immigration and Customs in Scarborough to check out with plans to sail up the coast to visit Castara and Charlotteville again.

We set sail from Store Bay and had a very pleasant sail up the coast in 10 to 15 knot easterly breeze. Castara is a spectacularly beautiful bay and reasonably well protected from east to north east swells. Several days were spent languishing in Castara bay. Kate stayed at the Boat View guest house with a spectacular view of the bay. The view cost around US$60 a night and comes with a free room. The bed, bathroom and kitchen were clean and adequate - great value.

Castara Boatview - $60/night with free room

On the weekend there were preparations for a Fisherman's Festival on the beach at Castara. The noise of the socca music was going to be unbearably loud out on the water. Ian and Jackie on Blackthorn Lady and Sadiqi headed to Parlatuvier just up the coast to escape the noise. Parlatuvier was another small pretty bay, fairly crowded with fishing boats. Because the bay was small I used a kedge anchor, for the first time, to hold the boat from swinging and hitting other boats. This is quite a prolonged process laying the forward anchor (Roxy) then taking the second anchor (the kedge) in the dingy and laying it close to shore. The boat does not lie into the wind. I snorkelled  on the anchors to check  that all was well and dug in. We went ashore in the late afternoon and visited the waterfalls within walking distance from the beach.

Parlatuvier Bay

Parlatuvier Waterfalls

The following day I noticed heavy rain falling in the hills where Kate was staying at Xanadu lodge with friend Trixie. I was preparing to haul anchor and head back to the more sheltered Castara. I heard a rushing noise, looked toward the beach and saw brown water and debris cascading into the bay - it was quite a sight. I thought that the torrent may push the boats about. The water in the bay turned chocolate brown with logs and all sorts of detritus floating in it. I sailed out of the bay not wanting to push muddy water through the engine cooling system or possibly foul the propeller. Parlatuvier was not the best anchorage as the anchor, even Roxy, would hold for awhile and then release. I am guessing this was due to the silt from the river. Another lesson hopefully learned when anchoring near a river mouth. Blackthorn Lady left after Sadiqi waiting for the brown flood  to subside. Unfortunately, they lost their kedge anchor as it was covered by tons of silt at the river mouth. 

Flooding river near Parlatuvier

Parlatuvier  Bay - flooding river mouth

I had been in Tobago for nearly three months. I hired a car with Ian and Jackie to drive to Scarborough to see Immigration to make an appointment to renew my visa. There is still three months of the "official" Hurricane season left. I was not going to venture further north until the Hurricane season was over. Tobago was not bad place to hide from Hurricanes.

Tobago

Back in Bagos Beach Bar - contemplating the navel - polishing stainless steel  and even considering varnishing - I was getting bored - surprisingly enough. I had a bunch of jobs that weren't getting done. The days were sliding by and before I knew it two months had past - symptoms of inertia.  I was starting to look for something to complain and bitch about - hence finding myself in Bago's Bar. It was time to do something - anything.

On the Sunday I was invited by Ian and Jacky on "Blackthorn" out of UK to Sunday School at Buccoo. Fortunately I knew what Sunday School was and was not going to tread on any ecclesiastical toes - god forbid that I should be so pious. Sunday School happens, obviously, every Sunday night and Buccoo is where the steel pan bands play - in fact they only play there on Sunday. It was astonishing watching a band play in such harmony on a bunch of 44 gallon drums of various sizes. I honestly thought that there was a xylophone in one drum, as I could not imagine so many tunes/tones emanating from the single half drum. The drums are painstakingly tuned to provide a most remarkable sound. It was a very pleasant evening. We left by 2200 hours when the locals started to arrive, then the music becomes more socca/rap.

Friday, August 2 - I visited Immigration and Customs in Scarborough, yet again, to get permission to sail to Charlotteville at the northern end of Tobago. Customs is there to protect the nation or so I'm told - maybe Sadiqi and I were considered a security threat - best not to take it personally. Over the weekend the Store Bay anchorage was rolly and very noisy from the bars and the Wet Fest festival at Pigeon Point. It seemed there were wailing ambulances either going to or from the festival about every hour until 0500am on both Friday and Saturday nights.  I had not departed from Store Bay earlier thinking that the north west coast anchorages may be just as rolly if not worse than Store Bay.

On Monday August 5 I decamped from Store Bay and turned Sadiqi back into a sail boat again. That meant taking down all the awnings, wind scoops, sun protectors and securing things generally. By the way, Tobago is only about 22 miles long - a fairly narrow island lying north east - south west. Shortly after leaving Store Bay, motor sailing, the clouds dropped a prodigious amount of rain. Initially Sadiqi motor sailed north east along the coast. When the wind started to fill - 10 to 12 knots also from the north east I bore away and turned off the motor and sailed - beating to windward. I had been anticipating a strong current from the north east. Memories of my badly timed lengthy motor sail from Trinidad came to mind. Fortunately, the current was not as evident and we had a very pleasant sail beating north eastwards, doing several long tacks - Smithy the WindPilot coming to terms with beating to windward after all the down wind sailing crossing the Atlantic. It was a very pleasant sail along a very lush verdant coast line. 

Castara Bay

I dropped anchor in Castara Bay at 15.20 after negotiating Sadiqi's passage through some small fishing boats. . There was only one other yacht in the bay. It is a very pretty bay with small fishing village, tourist cottages, beach bars, palm trees etc. and appeared to be blissfully quiet. During the night I was woken several times hearing waves gently breaking on the sandy beach not so far away. Toward morning the village cockerels started their serenade to the start of the day - some a lot earlier than others.   

K

Castara

After two days languishing at Castara Bay I hauled anchor and headed further north to Charlotteville. The winds were light at the start and soon filled the further offshore we went, I was able to turn off the engine and sail. Charlotteville is on a large sheltered bay to the north of Tobago. There were a good number of yachts anchored in the bay. I inflated the dingy and headed to shore to do the obligatory Immigration and Customs business. I checked in and checked out as I was planning on leaving Charlotteville the next day to head slowly back to Store Bay. This was only an exploratory visit.

Charlotteville

The next bay of call, not too far south of Charlotteville is Englishman's Bay - reputedly one of the prettiest bays in the Caribbean. The bay is not large and does not offer much protection in weather from the north or west. I dropped anchor. It is indeed a very pretty bay with lush green forest on the steep sides of the bay and sandy beach with tall palm trees between. There is only on structuKre near the beach - being a restaurant and curio shop. There are houses higher up the hills. An hour or so after dropping anchor my solitude was arrested with the arrival of 3 other yachts in the bay. 

Englishman's Bay

Englishman's Bay

In the early morning I rowed ashore braving the beach break and managed to land without an embarrassing incident. I wondered along the beach until the heavens opened and it persisted down with heavy rain. It rained and rained all day and into the night only varying in magnitude. I had opened the water tanks to capture rain water from the deck. I had to close them soon after when I noticed flying ants around not wanting a tank full of rotting insects. The bay was very choppy, Sadiqi rolled and pitched around a lot. I was not able to do much on the boat with out getting thrown about. I kept occupied by reading. Just after midnight I had a look on deck to check that all was well and noticed thousands of twinkling little lights moving about against the dark trees. I did give my eyes a rub and check that I was not hallucinating. I'd seen fire flies before but not that many - it was quite surreal.

On the Sunday during a brief respite in the rain I hauled anchor and headed back to Castara only 2 miles south. It seemed that Castara Bay was a little less rolly. I managed to get some jobs and chores done on the boat. 

Castara

On the Monday it was time to return to Store Bay. It would appear I had arrested the inertia - I was feeling much better after the sail up the coast. I will be heading back to this area before the end of the month.

It was a great sail back to Store Bay in 12 to 18 knots of wind from east north east. Sadiqi romped along happily at around 6 knots SOG with Smithy on the helm. The sail north, visiting the quiet, pretty bays had certainly lifted me from my lassitude. I received a call from Dwight, the kite surfing instructor, just as I was passing Pigeon Point, to say there was wind. I had to chuckle and say "Yes I know. If you see a sail out to sea that would be Sadiqi heading back to Store Bay." It was indeed a good day for wind the first in many days/weeks.
KBack in Store Bay - not much had changed. There were probably 12 boats anchored in the bay. After visiting Scarborough to do the obligatory immigration and customs I visited John and Katy at Store Bay Marine Services, then visited Bago's for a beer. In the evening the loud tour boats returned their passengers to the beach blaring socca muzak over that bay as they did most days.

Trinidad

Five weeks of hanging around Bago's Beach Bar it was time to move. I pulled out the Powerdive unit and cleaned the bottom of Sadiqi. There were a fair few barnacles. On July 15 at 2230 hours I hauled anchor and headed toward Trinidad a sail of 60 miles downwind. It was a pleasant sail with the wind and current. On nearing the entrance to the Gulf of Paria the wind dropped. I started the engine and headed to Chaguaramas Bay. Chaguaramus is a ship and boating centre - very industrial. Many people store their vessels in the boat yards of Chaguramas during the hurricane season (June to November). I dropped anchor near Lindsay on Avolera. 

Chaguaramus

Lindsay and I did a small tour of Port of Spain and Chaguaramus national park. I visited the Chandleries to buy cruising guides for the Caribbean and bits for the boat. Being a bit closer to the equator than Tobago, Trinidad was hotter and more humid with less wind. Lunches were spent in the Wheel House Bar for food and replenishment of the fluids. 

Chaguaramus national park

After a week in Trinidad I decided to head back to Tobago a much more pleasant, cleaner  and cooler anchorage. I checked out with Immigration and Customs, hauled anchor and headed for Scotsmans Bay for an early morning start to Tobago. Having had an easy sail from Tobago I was in for an uphill sail - against the current and prevailing north east wind. My strategy was to hug the northern coast Trinidad, hopefully finding the counter currents before heading to Tobago. 

Scotsmans Bay

I should have listened to the advice I was given about only sailing toward Tobago when the wind was from the South East or South. The winds swing from the south east just after, what is called locally as, a Tropical Wave. Tropical waves, tropical easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, which moves from east to west across the tropics causing areas of instability and thunderstorms. The tropical waves are not as organised as tropical storms or hurricanes and occur about every five days. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_wave

The sail along the north coast of Trinidad was not at all unpleasant. Sadiqi made good progress beating into the wind (10 to 15 knots) until nearing the north east tip of Trinidad when, to all intensive purposes, we appeared to be making little progress. I started the motor in an attempt to improve the forward progress. There is a 2 to 3 knot current that we had to cross to get to Tobago. It was a long motor sail. I eventually dropped anchor at Store Bay 0345. I had not had much sleep the night before and had only about an hours sleep while sailing. I find these short overnight sails close to the coast much more tiering than sailing long distance in the open ocean.

I was relieved to back in the clean, cool waters of Store Bay. The obligatory visit to Immigration and Customs was done around midday without mishap.

Kite Surfing

I had had a few kite surfing lessons near Cabedelo in Brazil - the wind was onshore, the shore break was interesting and language was a challenge. I had got to the stage of being dragged through the water by the kite with the instructor trying to hold onto my harness. The one important thing I had not been taught was about the kite itself and how to release it if I really really needed to.
I walked to Pigeon Point Heritage Park to see the guys at Radical Sports the local windsurfing and kite surfing school. Easy walking distance from where the boat was anchored. Anyway, after chatting with Brett, the owner of the school, I bit the bullet and signed up. I think this proved a much safer learning environment. The breeze is usually side onshore and not much in the way of waves. The only hazard appears to be the conch shells in the weed patches off the beach, which wreak havoc on the feet.

http://www.radicalsportstobago.com/
https://vimeo.com/user5005128/channels

This is not a cheap sport to learn - the lessons are definitely worth it. In the first six hours of lessons, taken over several days, one learns; how to setup and control the kite, body dragging using the kite to retrieve the board or get to shore, emergency drill for getting to shore if the lines get tangled of loss of board etc. Toward the end of the 6th hour I was ready to learn how to water start. After a few failed attempts and near drowning I managed to skip over the water for a few metres. 

I also had a brief wakeup call as to just how dangerous kite surfing can be. While water starting a gust hit the kite launching me into the air and subsequently slamming me into the water, the kite dived vertically into the shore break with a hell of a bang. I think I had a pretty perplexed look on my face as Dwight the instructor asked me it I was alright. I was surprised at how quickly everything had happened. I confess that this incident did take the gloss of the sport and I seriously considered my mortality.

I was not able to get back on to the horse - so to speak as the was insufficient wind to kite surf. I still had several hours of lessons to go. I visited Pigeon Point on the odd occasion to chat with Brett and Dwight.
 

Tobago

wikipedia Trinidad and Tobago

noonsite Trinidad and Tobago

Currency: Trinidad Tobago TT Dollar   US$1 = TT$6

Caribbean Weather

After dropping the anchor and inflating the dingy I rowed over to one of the other yachts and met Harry on "Leonotis". Harry kindly provided information on ATM, taxi's, phone sim cards and the check in procedure. Respectfully dressed in long pants and collared shirt I headed to Scarborough to see Immigration and Customs. An official taxi charges around TT$40 for the trip. By standing on the side of the road and sticking out one's finger an unofficial taxi will pick one up and charge TT$6. The clearing in was relatively effortless. I was granted a visa for 3 months. A warning on the Customs checkin process, say the boat arrived, during office working hours, between 0800 and 1600, otherwise one will be charged overtime regardless of the time one actually enters the Customs office. Another flaming Customs rort! And should the customs officer feel so inclined a boarding fee may also be charged without actually boarding the boat.

I returned to the boat, changed out of my respectful attire and put on standard grotty yachtie attire - tee-shirt and shorts. I retuned to the beach and headed to Bago's Beach Bar with Harry for a Carib beer. That night I had a very good sleep with Sadiqi gently rolling at anchor.

Tobago - Store Bay

I try to abstain from making any serious decisions on the second day after arriving from a long passage. This is because I am usually very tired after a good long sleep and have been know to make some really dumb decisions. Somehow, I survived my first weekend in the Caribbean. This was despite suffering a CRAFT episode at Bago's Beach Bar on Saturday night. I awoke Sunday morning back on Sadiqi, still inebriated, wondering how I had got back onboard. Fortunately, I had gone ashore in Harry's dingy and he had somehow got me back to Sadiqi. I also discovered I had lost my wallet. In the evening I returned to the scene of the crime and was presented with my wallet with cash and contents - I was amazed and very grateful. It would appear we live, I'm not so sure about the learning bit.

Some of local characters seem so laid back and chilled out that it is difficult to believe they are standing (vertical). There appears to be an abundance of substances available on the island to help one become even more relaxed and chilled. 

Pigeon Point Heritage Park

Mac and the tribe arrived on the beautiful schooner "Moonbeem", Mac had visited Forteleza, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana. He said that Guyana was the best place to visit. More beer was consumed at Bago's in the telling of all sorts of stories.

Lindsay on "Avolera", Australian registered,  arrived in Store Bay, Tobago. I had been swapping emails and chatting with Lindsay on HF radio. Lindsay spent 66 days sailing from Port Elizabeth to French Guiana - an epic voyage. I had met Lindsay in Richards Bay. I introduced Lindsay to Bagos and he thought he was in heaven. Actually, his fridge had packed up on the boat and he had not had a cold beer in a long time.  

Bago's Beach Bar

Unfortunately, this paradise is infested with dreaded sand flies/fleas! Using insect repellents works to a point. The most effective deterrent is not to scratch if one feels an itch - any itch. Once you scratch - that's it - you'll be scratching for week and will break the skin. 

Store Bay, Tobago

When I lugged my jerry cans up the road to the local fuel station I did a double take at the prices - diesel was around 25 cents a litre and petrol around 45 cents a litre. Trinidad and Tobago are an oil and gas producing territory. Fortunately, I use very little fuel so was able to fill my 20 litre jerry can. Had I turned up to fill 10 jerry cans I would have been questioned. Apparently, getting fuel from the dock in Chagaramus, Trinidad you pay twenty first century (non subsidised) fuel prices.

July 8 - Tropical storm Chantal put in an appearance in the Caribbean and fortunately was not heading for Tobago. One tends to take a very keen interest in tropical storms and hurricanes at this time of the year. In fact it will dominate any yachtie conversation while impending weather is about. I use internet site:
http://weather.org/stormwatch.htm
to check on the progress of imminent storms. 

Storm clouds over Tobago

 

Brazil to Tobago

25-05-13 Saturday
0520 Sadiqi departed Jacare, Cabedelo, Brazil.
Engine: 1241.6 Hrs. Log 1000.2 NM.
Wind - very little land breeze from the west.

Sadiqi motored out of Rio Paraiba along with the flotsam and jetsam on the flooding spring tide. It was rough going out through the channel with wind against tide and short choppy seas.

0810 - 7.5 miles out from Jacare and into the SE trade winds at 10 to 12 kts.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 06 37.17 S, Lon: 034 37.90 W.
COG: 35 Deg M, SOG 5.2 knots.
Winds: 10 to 15 Kts SE. Swell 2 meters.
Engine: 1244.7 Hrs.
Distance covered since leaving Jacare 29 miles.

1700 Beer o clock - nice sailing.
Wind 10 - 15 knots SE.
Sailing 25 miles off the coast around the 1,000 metre depth contour.
COG 9 Deg M, SOG 5 knots.
Lots of ships sailing north and south.

26-05-13 – Sunday

Fast sailing overnight with the north setting current and winds 10 - 15 Knots SE on the beam.

0730  Winds 10 - 15 Knots SE.
Turning the corner and bearing off the wind.
Poled out the jib.
COG 325 Deg M, SOG 5.5 Knots.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 04 34.36 S, Lon: 035 15.66 W.
COG: 330 Deg M, SOG 6 knots.
Winds: 14 - 18 Kts SE. Swell 2 meters.
Engine: 1244.7 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 134 miles.
It was a sunny day and great sailing.

1700 Beer o clock. Rolling along with main and poled out jib.
2 to 3 knots of current. SOG 7 knots.

27-05-13 – Monday

Another fast sail overnight with a west setting current and winds 12 - 18 Knots SE.
Grey skies in the morning. Started the engine to charge the batteries.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 02 51.57 S, Lon: 037 41.67 W.
COG: 310 Deg M, SOG 7 knots.
Winds: 14 - 18 Kts SE. Swell 2 to 3 meters.
Engine: 1246.3 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 178.3 miles.
Fast downwind sailing.

1530 Wind 15 to 20 knots SE.
Put one reef in the main.
COG 325 Deg M, SOG 7 knots.

Chasing the sunset

28-05-13 – Tuesday

Another fast sail overnight with the strong Guiana current and winds from behind at 12 - 18 Knots SE. Bright sunny day with large cumulus clouds about. Started the engine to charge the batteries.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 01 10.50 S, Lon: 040 41.05 W.
COG: 330 Deg M, SOG 9 knots.
Winds: 15 - 20 Kts SE. Swell 2 to 3 meters.
Engine: 1247.3 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 205.5 miles. (Best distance in 24 hours)
Fast downwind sailing.

29-05-13 – Wednesday

In the early morning the wind eased 10 - 12 knots SE - Doldrums so close to the equator.
COG 315 Deg M, SOG 7 knots.

0616 crossed the equator into the Northern Atlantic.
I started the engine to charge the batteries, turned Sadiqi into the wind and furled the sails. I went for a swim to clean the barnacles off the propeller. Under bare poles Sadiqi was still doing 5 knots in a NE direction. I had a safety line attached and was dragged along behind the boat.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 00 22.76 N, Lon: 043 25.57 W.
COG: 327 Deg M, SOG 7 knots.
Winds: 12 - 15 Kts SE. Swell 2 meters.
Engine: 1248.2 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 189.1 miles.
This has to be sailing at its best with almost flat seas and good boat speed.

30-05-13 – Thursday

Overnight the wind dropped below 10 knots from the SE. The sails banged and slatted. I furled the jib and coasted along at 4 knots SOG.
At sunrise there were many large dark cumulus clouds with grey curtains of rain hanging from them. After running the engine to charge the batteries I unfurled and poled out  the jib.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 01 43.90 N, Lon: 045 27.30 W.
COG: 330 Deg M, SOG 5 knots.
Winds: 3 - 6 Kts E..
Engine: 1250.6 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 146.3 miles.
Motor sailing to the north of the Amazon river mouth. I furled the jib and motor sailed with a single reefed main to ease the banging and slatting and my nerves.

The wind, what little of it there was, the waves and current seemed to come from all directions making for an uncomfortable and slow journey with the hot noisy motor banging away. And the mainsail banged from side to side. It would appear the very pleasant fast sailing of the previous days was just too good to last. Then again we had just traversed the equator and were probably in the doldrums.

1920 There was wind of a consistent direction; east and strength 10 to 12 knots to be able to turn off the engine. Bliss.
COG 320 Deg M, SOG 5 knots.

2015 Wind 15 to 20 knots ENE.
COG 330 Deg M, SOG 6 knots.

31-05-13 – Friday

Three years since leaving Fremantle Western Australia.

It was slow going over night with light winds and lumpy seas.
It was a clear bright morning with not much in the way of ominous looking cumulus clouds about.

0730 Raised Big Bertha - the asymmetrical spinnaker.
Wind 10 to 12 knots ESE.
COG 330  Deg M, SOG 5 knots. Not the smoothest of sails with 3 to 4 metre lumpy cross swell from the NE.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 02 50.30 N, Lon: 046 57.62 W.
COG: 320 Deg M, SOG 4 knots.
Winds: 10 - 12 Kts ESE..
Engine: 1257.9 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 112 miles.
Barely flying the asymmetrical.

1700 Beer o clock was delayed to haul down Big Bertha as a dark squall was approaching from astern. 


01-06-13 - Saturday.

0240 Woke to banging sails, very rough seas and little wind.
I turned on the engine.

0615 Winds 10 - 17 knots NE.
Turned off the engine - the ears were still ringing.
COG 325 Deg M, SOG 5 knots.
Localised storm cells causing wind.

0620 There was not much wind from the NE.
Turned on the engine to remove the mainsail and restitch, by hand, some seams that had parted.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 04 04.94 N, Lon: 048 17.54 W.
COG: 330 Deg M, SOG 4 knots.
Winds: not much raining..
Engine: 1265.7 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 110 miles.
Barely flying the asymmetrical.
Motoring along. Generally it was a grey day and on more than occasion very wet.

1600 Wind 10 to 12 knots NE.
Turned off the engine- bliss

1800 stopped the engine and drifted.
Cooked spaghetti bolognaise.
I needed a good long sleep - went to bed.

02-06-13 - Sunday.

0300 Wind was less than 5 knots NE. At least the direction is fairly consistent.
Mainsail was banging from side to side. It was a nasty sloppy sail banging sea.
Sadiqi had drifted 15 miles in 9 hours with just the reefed mainsail.
I put my principles aside and started the engine.

0600 Winds were less than 8 knots NE.
Motor sailing. Transferred 20 litres of diesel into the fuel tank. Topped up the water tanks with rain water.

0730 stopped the engine to go on the HF radio and chat with Lindsay on "Avolera".

0830 Wind 6 to 8 knots NE.
Hauled up Big Bertha.
COG 320 Deg M, SOG 5 knots.
Nice to be sailing again. I hope the engine will cool down within the decade.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 05 02.80 N, Lon: 049 28.69 W.
COG: 325 Deg M, SOG 6 knots.
Winds: 8 - 12 Kts NE.
Engine: 1273.3 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 91 miles.
Good sailing with Big Bertha - no banging engines or sails - silence is bliss.

1600 Hauled down Big Bertha due to the approach of a big black squall. Then it persisted with rain - no wind and strange currents and eddies.

1930 The rain squalls passed with winds reaching 20 knots from all directions, then there was no wind and the sails banged and slatted in the residual slop from the squalls.

2030 Started the engine - stuff the principles I could not stand the noise of the banging mainsail. The whole boat would shudder as the sail banged from side to side.

03-06-13 Monday.

Just after midnight I stopped the engine.
Wind 5 to 10 knots NNE.
There was just enough wind to fill the sails. The sea state had moderated.

At sunrise I was dodging an oil rig and support ships in French Guiana waters near the border with Brazil. I had seen the loom of the rig from many miles away and wondered what it was as nothing was marked on the charts.

0730 Wind 15 to 20 knots NE.
COG 320 Deg M, SOG 7 knots.
Rain squalls and very wet.
Sadiqi was back in the strong Guiana current near the continental shelf.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 05 59.34 N, Lon: 051 24.27 W.
COG: 320 Deg M, SOG 7.5 knots.
Winds: 12 - 15 Kts NE.
Engine: 1277.3 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 128 miles.

1615 Wind 5 to10 knots NE.
Hauled up Big Bertha - flying along.
COG 320 Deg M, SOG 7.5 knots.

1730 Hauled down Big Bertha just before the afternoon rain squalls came through. 

Afternoon showers

04-06-13 Tuesday.

The wind was pretty steady over night at 12 to 18 knots NE.
A fast sail between the continental shelf and 1,000 metre depth contour.
Speed over ground SOG was mostly around 8 knots. This was not the driest of sailing conditions with the deck being almost constantly wet.

0645 Wind 10 to 15 knots NE.
COG 320 Deg M, SOG 9 knots.
It was a grey soggy morning.
Sadiqi entered the territorial waters of Suriname.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 07 32.30 N, Lon: 053 49.86 W.
COG: 318 Deg M, SOG 7.5 knots.
Winds: 14 - 16 Kts NE.
Engine: 1278.6 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 172 miles.

1700 Beer o clock
Wind 14 to 18 knots NE. Swell 3 to 4 metres from the NNE
COG 318 Deg M, SOG 8 knots.
Partially furled mainsail and jib.

05-06-13 Wednesday.

Another fast, wet and boisterous night sail.
Green water engulfed Sadiqi's topsides on more than the odd occasion.
Sadiqi was called on VHF radio in the early morning to be advised that a ship nearby was towing a 6 kilometre cable.

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -3.
Lat: 09 14.51 N, Lon: 056 43.78 W.
COG: 320 Deg M, SOG 8 knots.
Winds: 14 - 18 Kts ENE.
Engine: 1279.1 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 200 miles.

1400 Changed Time zone to UTC -4

Late afternoon there was less current, the wind eased swinging toward the east. The SOG dropped to around 6 knots, the motion of the boat became easier and drier.

06-06-13 Thursday.

It was a fairly easy and slower night with Sadiqi surfing down the 2 to 4 metre swell instead of going through it. The morning was grey with a lot of blackness and wetness toward Venezuela to the south. During the nights Sadiqi has managed to repel sustained attacks by squadrons of flying fish. This was evidenced in the morning by the body count on the deck  and the fishy stench.

Mid morning with the passing of the rain squalls the wind dropped and the sails started banging again. This only last half an hour before the consistent 12 to 16 knot north easterly trade wind returned

Noon
Time: 12.00L UTC -4.
Lat: 10 22.72 N, Lon: 059 09.63 W.
COG: 310 Deg M, SOG 5.5 knots.
Winds: 14 - 16 Kts ENE.
Engine: 1279.9 Hrs
Distance covered since noon 159.2 miles. (25 hours)
Sadiqi was 110 miles from her planned destination of Tobago. The skipper was hoping to make landfall around midday to clear in before overtime charges were imposed.

In the evening there were a quite a few ships passing and some small fishing boats around. On approaching the continental shelf the seas were quite turbulent.

07-06-13 Friday

Sadiqi was still making good speed. To slow down I fully furled the headsail and partially furled the mainsail. I wanted to make landfall in daylight.
Wind 12 to 15 knots NE
COG 300 Deg M, SOG 4 knots.

0711 I called Tobago Port Control and asked for permission to anchor at Store Bay which was granted. Yachts are supposed to arrive in either Charlottesville or Scarborough to clear in.

0840 Arrived Store Bay, Tobago.
Engine 1282.3 Hours.
Log 1054.3 Miles.
Sadiqi sailed just under 2,000 miles in 13 days using 40 litres of fuel.

Brazil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil
http://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Brazil

Currency AUD1.00  = BRL 2.00 Real

The checking in procedure was a little more involved than first thought. Fortunately I managed to tag along with James and crew from "Rhapsody" and hire a taxi. My biggest challenge was language with, in most cases, only Portuguese spoken. I wore long pants and my best shirt as an audience with the Federal Police (Immigration) would otherwise be refused. It was also a case of hurry up and wait. We had to provide proof of having the means to support ourselves financially, cash or bank statements, with a minimum of RBL 50 per day. In my case I was able to provide cash to get me a visa for 30 days. The only cost was for the patient taxi driver. We just managed to finish the whole process before lunch time when everything closes for several hours.

Other boats that I knew in the marina.
Gary, Vicki, Zeke and Nina on "Mojombo" from Australia.
Tom, Kim and Emily on "Emily Grace" from USA.
James with French crew Roman and Ellen on "Rhapsody" from USA.
Max on "Safina" from Germany.
Charlie on "Shawble" from UK.

I chose to anchor Sadiqi  off the Jacare Yacht Village and row in to use the facilites. A weeks use of the, so called, facilities at the yacht village cost me RBL80.00 - very expensive.

Getting an internet broadband sim card for foreigners is apparently very complicated in Brazil. Limited wireless access is available from Jacare Yacht village, which is at best sporadic, if working at all, and it does require taking the computer ashore.

Joao Pessao capital of Paribia district

Kite surfing. Roman and Ellen, the young French couple crewing on "Rhapsody", who had bicycled down Africa convinced James, their skipper, to go Kite surfing. James, managed to convince me and for some inexplicable reason I rose to the challenge- at the time no alcohol was involved. In the deep dark recesses of the selective memory there was a nagging thought  to do with age, dogs and tricks. My real concern was injury and the other was if I liked it I  would get hooked. I take enough risks with my current endeavours with out compounding it further. The cost of lessons was a little prohibitive at 100 BRL or AUD50 per hour for one on one instruction - in broken English. The first hour was spent learning to handle a small kite - the kite had to controlled in an arc from 12 o clock to 3 o clock or 12 o clock to 9 o clock. The second hour was learning how to handle a larger much more powerful kite, then doing a body drag in the water. After an hour of being dragged through the shore break I was half drowned and exhausted. 

I got adventurous and cooked up pizza on the Cobb BBQ for James, Roman and Ellen from Rhapsody. The Cobb BBQ elicited a number of questions not having been seen before in this part of the world. The young French couple were suitable impressed with the outcome.

Gary and Viki on Mojombo with local expat Brian organised a bus tour inland:

• Areia a colourful, former slave trading town. 

Areia

• farm stay at Hotel Fazenda Pai Mateus to look at rocks.

 

Pai Mateus

• A Cachaca distillery (Brazilian rum). 

Cachaca Still

The coastal area was lush with vegetation further inland it was scrub, cactus country. With a drive of several hundred kilometres inland over some bone jarring roads in a hot cramped bus with 15 other people.  With the benefit of hindsight I'd find it difficult to work up the enthusiasm to want to repeat the experience. It did not help that I was laid low for a week after that with a nasty cold/flu virus. I was not able to get back to the kite surfing lessons and also lost momentum when James, Roman and Ellen left Cabedelo.

I was led astray by Sam from Ireland and John from UK. Sam was on his way back to Ireland having visited the Pacific going and returning via Beagle channel and Magellan passage - not Panama. John had arrived in Brazil many years ago and just forgot to leave. I was becoming more captivated by the place.

Pizza - Skipper and James

I was introduced to the Brazilian BBQ (Troscaria) an experience for any carnivore. Sal e Rasha - restaurant  where one can eat as much of the outstanding food as one could fit for 30 BRL ($15.00) 

Brazilian national cocktail Caipirinha - Cachaca, lime juice, sugar and ice.
Caipirinha (pronounced: Kai-Pee-Reen-Ya) -  Brazil's most popular cocktail and its native spirit, respectively. Cachaça is Brazilian rum that is made from the fermented juice of sugarcane, as opposed to most rum that is made from molasses, the by product of sugar production. Cachaça is often more robustly flavoured and vegetal than traditional white rums, but not always. The Caipirinha is a rustic form of a Daiquiri: just rum, sugar, and lime. But the rum is cachaca, the sugar is usually raw or turbinado, and the limes are muddled and left in the drink. My experience with Caipirnha was that one had to have several glasses to get to appreciate the flavours after which it is irrelevant as the tongue is fully anesthetised - it is an acquired taste, which the skipper has'nt.

Ollie and Merja on Fagel Bla arrived from Ascension Island and the celebrations continued. After they had had a good nights sleep I dragged them up to Booggers - the local bar on Jacare street, where a can of beer costs 2RBL.

Sunset Jacare

All too soon it was time to prepare to leave Brazil and start provisioning. Fortunately, I had provisions left from Namibia and only needed meat, eggs, bread, fresh fruit and vegetables. The shopping experience in the supermarket was suck it a see due to the language.

This is the wet season in Brazil (winter) and the rain is often torrential One second you are sweating buckets in the heat the next you're drenched in cool rain.

When it was time to checkout of Brazil I chose not to use an expensive taxi. I nearly succeeded in getting lost without the use of android and google maps. What had cost nearly AU$50 between James and I on checking in cost less than AU$5 with a coconut milk drink thrown in. I did sort of know where I was going having been there once before. The check out procedure was relatively painless.