Crimson Kathryn and her crew

We’ve reached the end of our first Caribbean sailing season and it has been amazing! We travelled about 650nm from Puerto Rico to Trinidad, visited 13 countries (some only overnight) and stopped at 16 islands. It has been a huge learning experience – clearing in and out of all these countries and discovering their unique cultures. The one big take-away – anchoring in the Caribbean is all about the roll – trying to find the most comfortable place to stay! Like the title says – you know you’re on a boat because you never stop moving!

This last week has gone by in a blur of activity, getting the boat all squared away for the storage season. We feel really good about Peake’s and the care they extend to all the boats in their yard. Our caretaker – “G” has been onboard and is all set to check on Crimson Kathryn once a month. We have a dehumidifier running to help keep the boat dry and we put up our new sun-shade to help keep the boat cool.

This season was all about exploring new islands and meeting new cruisers. We were fortunate to spend a lot of time with our friends Sharron and John (SV Sundog) and to also meet many new friends that we hope to see again next season. For now, the boat is all tucked away; we are packed and ready to fly home and Caribbean Cruising Season 1 is at the end!!! Can’t wait for next season! Thanks for joining us on our adventure this season.

Here are photos that didn’t make it into this season’s posts! Enjoy!

A lot has happened since my last post – busy days!! On Monday April 20th we left the Crew’s Inn dock and headed to the Peake Yacht Services’ haul out slip. Peake’s (as it is known by cruisers) is our new storage yard in Chaguaramas. It has come highly recommended by cruisers we’ve met and so far it is living up to our expectations!! I thought our haul out at Puerto Del Rey last season was good but this one was superb!! The whole process was absolutely professional – we approached the slip and 4 dockhands were there to take our lines (2 on each side). They pulled us into position in the slip and allowed us to get off. While Mark went up to the office to sign the contract and get our introductory package (lots of info and forms – Trinidad is all about the forms!!), I stayed on the dock watching the dockhands and the travel lift operator move our boat into lifting position. They made sure we were lined up in the middle and that the lift straps were centred correctly for our type of boat. Before they started to lift us, a diver went into the water and checked the straps. He also tied the straps together so they wouldn’t shift during haul out. We’ve never seen that done before!!

This yard hauls out some big boats so their travel lift is large – made our boat look small when it was lifted out of the water. Their haul out slip is also very large so they had to lift CK really high – a bit nerve racking for us. Once on land, the power washing started – okay it was more of a power blasting!!! It was a very thorough wash but maybe a bit strong. We’ll need to touch up a few spots where the bottom paint was blasted off (oh well). The next step in the process was to move CK from the travel lift onto a trailer. That went very smoothly and once the boat was secured on the trailer, they power washed where the lift straps were – again never had that done before. The last step was to move us to our land home for the next 6 months which wasn’t very far away and secure the boat on stands. We are really close to our neighbours – inches away on one side.

Since Monday we have been busy completed all the rest of our storage jobs (it’s quite the list). The big jobs were laundry, fresh water rinsing things like the main engine, air conditioners, the toilets and the bilge and putting on our new sun shade. We decided to stay at the on-site hotel and that has been fantastic. Our room is about a 5 minute (or less) walk to the boat and it’s nicely air conditioned. There is also a great restaurant called Patches right above us so we’ve had dinner out each night. Last night (April 21) we had dinner with Chris (new friend on SV Tiago who was haul out that day), and Sharron and John (SV Sundog who arrived in Trinidad Monday morning) at Patches.

We only have 2 more days here before we fly home. We’re in good shape to have everything completed by end of day Thursday (April 23) so we can relax on Friday. We’ve hired another caretaker to check on Crimson Kathryn over the storage season so we’ll be chatting with him tomorrow morning to give him the rundown of our boat. The season is quickly coming to an end!!

We’ve been busy at the dock as we get ready to haul the boat out of the water. Mark and I are checking things off our respective lists each day. It’s a bit challenging to live on the boat as we pack stuff away and start storing items in the V-berth. We only have 2 more days (today is Saturday April 18th) before haulout on April 20th so the last big jobs are underway now. We rinsed off the sails this morning and will pack and stow them inside as soon as they are dry. Tomorrow the dinghy will come on deck and get secured on the bow for the storage season.

I’ve probably mentioned in the past about this leak we’ve had in the galley for years. Every year we try sealing different areas on deck but the darn thing still leaks. Fortunately this season we believe we’ve figured out where the leak is coming from and it’s a place we ruled out several years ago (isn’t that always the way). The cockpit has small compartments for winch handles and other items. There is one compartment on the port side just above where the leak is inside. Sure enough on investigation Mark found a defect in the fibreglass in that area. It looks like the previous owner tried to fix this area but did a poor job. Mark spent an afternoon sanding, chipping and re-fibreglassing the area. It’s now perfectly smooth and hopefully sealed. Fingers crossed we’ll have no water leaking into the galley this storage season!

Although a lot of work has gone on for the past 5 days, we have managed to squeeze in some fun too!! We had a swim at the resort pool which was very nice. We walked out to one of the little grocery stores yesterday to get a few items. And tonight we’re going out for dinner at a place called the Wheelhouse. We’ve definitely had some down time amongst the jobs.

We had a wonderful 3 days at Chacachacare Island. It was quiet – just us and one other sailboat (a couple from B.C. whom we haven’t officially met but have been chatting with for a few weeks. They are friends of Sharron and John). On Sunday, Mark and I did a crazy uphill walk to an old lighthouse and a current radar tower. The uphill was a killer – about 2.8km but the view was worth the hike. We could clearly see Venezuela in the distance as well as the bay CK was anchored in. A huge flock of black vultures have made the area their home and they weren’t super impressed by our visit. Coming down was easy and we were back onboard for lunch. We also got lots of swimming in on Saturday and Sunday – last ocean swims for the season.

On Monday April 13th we made the short 7nm trip back to Chaguaramas and went straight to our slip at Crew’s Inn Hotel and Yachting Centre – pretty fancy name!! Well the marina matches its fancy name alright. The docks are concrete and look new. They have good facilities – laundry, showers, 2 restaurants and a pool!! So far we haven’t used the pool but we did go out for lunch on Monday!!

This marina also holds the customs and immigration offices so this is where Mark cleared us in when we arrived on April 10th. I had mentioned in my last post that there was a story about our clear-in process. Trinidad is very well known for its complicated clear in process. The Sunday before we arrived, Mark and I spend a few hours filling in 7 forms with all our information. Many of the forms asked for the same info but that’s just the way Trinidad likes it. Those documents were emailed back to our storage yard (Peake’s). The day before we crossed, Mark sent our exit document from Grenada, copies of our passports and a few other forms. We were all set to clear in – or so we thought!! We arrived April 10th around 8 am and after a frustrating anchoring process (it’s a difficult harbour), we lowered the dinghy and off Mark went. First stop was Peake’s marina (they had all the forms). They printed everything and made copies of some documents then they explained the clear in process to Mark. Stop 1 – the health office – the officer filled in a form and that was it. Not too bad! Stop 2 – Immigration. That’s where everything fell apart. The first thing they said was that I had to be present (normally only the captain goes ashore) but they were willing to work around that. Next 2 of the forms we had already filled out had to be done again – with carbon paper to make copies! They also had an online component to be filled in. Last stop – Customs. Here Mark had to fill in a form by hand – 2 copies but he had just finished filling out the same form online at immigration. What a long process!!

We’re now in storage mode – get the boat ready for hurricane season and a rest on land. Mark and I both have our lists of jobs to be completed – some now and others once we’re are out of the water. Our haul-out date is April 20th so we have a good amount of time to get our jobs done!

Passages are all different and being prepared for each one is essential for a good crossing. Our trip from Grenada to Trinidad was well planned and we were ready for the 85nm passage. Meals was prepped ahead of time; the interior was secured and organized. We spent days watching the wind and weather and were confident the crossing would be good – if we actually got the prediction. Well you probably guessed that as has happened all season – the prediction wasn’t totally correct.

We dropped our mooring ball in Mount Hartman Bay at 2 pm on April 9th. First stop was the marina fuel dock to get about 20 G of diesel. This was our first delay!! The marina was getting a delivery of fuel so we had to wait for the diesel to settle (after being stirred up from the new stuff). It took until 3:30 pm to get our fuel and leave the dock! We wanted to be underway by 3 so this was not the best way to start our 16 – 18 hour crossing. As we left the bay, we got all sail up and were sailing well by the time we got away from Grenada. The open water between Grenada and Trinidad has some strong west currents. We benefited from the Grenada end current because it was south west which added about 1kt to our speed!! Our course was 170° to compensate for the west current (no one wants to end up in Venezuela!!). Unfortunately the predicted east wind was more south so we couldn’t sail on our course. We started to drift away from our course which we figured we’d just make up with the motor at some point. We were able to sail and with the added current speed, we were averaging 6 knots for the first few hours.

Our 170° course would take us east of the Bocas Del Dragon – the river on the west side of Trinidad that we would take to get to our destination. The course would also take us between 2 oil rigs about 25nm north of Trinidad. We were told by other sailors that if you aim to go between these 2 rigs, you’ll be in a good place to turn west after them and make it to the boca. So that’s what we did and as the wind / current changed over the night, we made our way back on course and passed about 2 nm east of the most westerly rig. We were lucky to be able to sail until 1 am. After that point we motor-sail until we were about 3 nm away from Bocas Del Dragon. The wind totally died at that point so we just motors the remaining 7 – 8 nm to Chaguaramas (our destination).

First views of Trinidad were surprising – the north west coast was lush, rugged and mostly uninhabited. It was stunningly beautiful with rock cliffs and lots of hazy moisture in the air. As we motored through the Boca, we saw caves and a few small bays. The south end of the river had many really nice looking homes – could be resorts. It didn’t take long for us to make it to Chaguaramas Bay – arriving at 8:15 am. This spot is the centre for cruising in Trinidad. There are several marinas and storage yards here. It’s also where you need to clear into Trinidad (that process was crazy but I’ll save that story for my next post). This is our hurricane storage spot for this summer.

We are currently anchored at the last bit of Trinidad before you reach Venezuela – Chacachacare Island. This island was once a leprosy colony but now it’s a quiet spot for cruisers. We’ll be here until Monday when we’ll head to Crew’s Inn Resort and Marina back in Chaguaramas and start the process of getting the boat ready for storage!

Our stop in Mount Hartman Bay (Grenada) has been great. We’ve met some cruisers who live full-time on their boats here in the harbour and others who leave their boats on a mooring ball for hurricane season while they go home. We’ve had an opportunity to walk around our end of the island and we also went on the weekly shopping bus that takes cruisers to all the good grocery stores plus marine parts and hardware stores.

The weather has been hot and rainy!! Monday April 6th was a stay on the boat day because of rain (and it was a holiday so most places were closed). Tuesday April 7th was our shopping day. We met up with about 12 other cruisers and boarded a large van that took us into town. It was a great adventure for Mark and I (and a weekly routine for all the other folks). First stop was the bank (so we could pay the driver!!) and then we went to the Spiceland Mall! Yes an actual mall!! It had some interesting shops but most importantly, it had a big IGA grocery store! We didn’t realize this trip included stops at 3 other grocery stories so we stocked up from the IGA. They had a good selection of fresh produce and the prices were high but not crazy. We looked around the other grocery stores at each stop so we know what’s available for next season when we head north. We were back at the boat a little after noon! That night (April 7th) we met up with our friend Matt (who had just returned from a short trip home to New Zealand). Mark and I walked over to Prickly Bay and we had drinks and dinner at the restaurant there. It was great to see Matt again – last time we saw him was in Puerto Rico last March. We had great fun chatting and the only negative was that our dinner order somehow got lost and we waited a long time for food. We got a free drink out of the long wait so that was ok!! We got back to the boat around 9pm!!

On Wednesday April 8th we spent most of the day working on our messed up black water system. Mark now thinks he may have reassembled the macerator pump incorrectly and that’s why it doesn’t pump out well. It was a long smelly day but at least we’re getting to the bottom of the situation!! We also had dinner with Matt again – this time at the restaurant near us. We had another great evening chit chatting and exchanging boat job stories! Always lots of those to share! We had an early evening and said our goodbyes to Matt on the dinghy dock and were back onboard by 7:30pm.

So here we are – it’s Thursday April 9th and we’re getting ready to cross to Trinidad. Mark has already walked over to Prickly Bay to clear us out of Grenada and he has submitted all our paperwork for Trinidad (they require a lot of documentation!!). I made chili yesterday for our crossing and today I’ve started getting the boat ready for our night passage. We always make up the main cabin as a sleeping area when we travel overnight – the table gets put up and the seating area gets rearranged into a bed. We will head over to the marina just behind us to get a bit of diesel and then we’ll be on our way. We’ll be leaving here around 2pm and hopefully getting into Chaguaramas Trinidad about 8 am Friday. The trip is about 85nm but there is a pretty strong westbound current that we’ll be working against so we’ll see how it goes!