Crimson Kathryn and her crew

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!

We certainly lucked out on our sail south from Carriacou to Grenada. We were underway before 7 am on April 3rd and had all sails up in moderate winds (12 – 15 knots mostly east). Our first course was set to travel south to the west side of Grenada, all the way to the south west corner. With the wind strength and direction, we decided to travel on the east side of the island (better wind because the island wouldn’t block it but bigger waves). It was the best decision. We had a fantastic sail most of the way down – there was a brief period where the wind just disappeared but it picked up again. We were around the south east corner and heading for our anchorage just after noon. This trip was about 40nm so it was a fairly big day of sailing.

The south west end of Grenada has many bays for anchoring but everyone knows about these protected bays so they can be crowded. We had 3 possible anchorages in mind – Hog Bay, Mount Hartman Bay (aka Secret Harbour) or Prickly Bay. We started into Hog Bay (sails were down now) and realized quickly that it was way too crowded, so we continued to the next bay – Mount Hartman. This bay was also very crowded but there were several empty mooring balls. After a failed anchoring attempt, we decided to pick up a mooring ball. It was a very good idea!! We were settled in our spot by about 3 pm and had a very quiet night and a restful (do nothing) Saturday April 4th.

Today Sunday April 5th (Easter Sunday) we went to shore. This bay has a small (expensive) marina / resort called Secret Harbour Marina and that’s where we tied up our dinghy. We walked along the road, up and over to the next bay west – Prickly Bay. This bay is the main spot for cruisers on the south side of Grenada. It was very busy with loads of boats on mooring balls and anchored. Customs and immigration are also located at this spot (at the marina) so we’ll be back here to clear out of Grenada. More importantly, our friend Matt (Next Chapter) has his boat in the bay!! We met Matt and his son last year in DR and traveled with them for awhile. We’re hoping to meet up with Matt in the next few days (he has just returned to his boat) and get caught up on his season. While we were over at Prickly Bay Marina, we had lunch at the restaurant! We walked back to the boat after lunch and had lots of time to get ready for a family video chat. It was great to see almost all of the Popiel clan who were together at Mark’s brother John’s house for a lovely Easter lunch. It was great to see everyone and although we had a major downpour on our end, it looked nice in Toronto!

Looking ahead – our season is coming to an end!! We’ll be crossing to Trinidad overnight April 9 – 10. We’re at a marina from April 14 – 20. The boat is hauled out April 20 and we fly to Toronto April 25!!! Crazy

We truly enjoyed our stay at the Tobago Cays and are already planning our visit next season. In my last post I said we’d be moving to Union Island on April 1st – well that plan changed! Sharron and John couldn’t make it down to the Tobago Cays until April 1st so we waited an extra day to be able to see them again. That morning the waves played an April Fool’s joke on us – they picked up from the north and caused us to be very rolly on our mooring ball. We ended up moving into the cut between Petit Bateau and Petit Rameau and grabbed another mooring ball. This new spot was perfect – no roll and quite calm. It was also super close to the bbq beach on Petit Rameau.

After we were settled on our new mooring ball, we went back out to the east side reefs to do a bit of snorkeling. These reefs are more wide open and can be rough but we got lucky and the wind wasn’t too bad. Again the coral reefs were in rough shape – warmer ocean water temps and frequent hurricanes are causing major damage to the Caribbean coral. The fish life however was spectacular. We saw lots of fish – many sizes and colours. It was super cool to swim around the fairly shallow coral and see so many tropical fish. We spent over an hour exploring this area before we headed back for lunch.

Sharron and John made it down in the early afternoon and we had a little happy hour with them before heading over to the bbq. Our dinner was very good and we had some yummy rum punch to drink. Mark enjoyed a lobster dinner while I had their ribs. It was a great way to end our stay in this beautiful area.

Today April 2nd we were up early and were underway by 7:45am. We made the short trip to Union Island in a little over an hour. This island is the last one in the Grenadines so cruisers often stop here to clear out when heading further south. That’s exactly what we did (plus we did a little bit of grocery shopping). Customs and immigration was busy and it took a bit of time to get all the paperwork completed. We were back on the boat and underway a little after 11 am. It was another great sailing day and we had all sails up. The wind was from behind so we had a very nice sail – as Mark likes to say – it was brochure sailing (what people picture when they think of sailing in the Caribbean). It was only about 12nm to Tyrell Bay, Carriacou so we were anchored in the bay by 1 pm. Mark went to shore to check us into Grenada (Carriacou is part of Grenada) while I organized the boat.

Carriacou was hit by Hurricane Beryl back in 2024 causing catastrophic damage to the island. 95 – 98% of the buildings were destroyed and all infrastructure was gone. We’ve watched videos of the destruction and it was unbelievable. The island has recovered with about 80% of the buildings rebuilt but they still have a ways to go. It would be very interesting to explore this island (and help support their efforts by spending some money here), unfortunately we will only be here tonight because we are jumping down to Grenada in the morning (April 3rd). It will be another early start because tomorrow’s trip is about 40nm. Should be another good sailing day!!

Things changed very quickly for us this past weekend. Mark went to shore on Saturday, March 28th to get a few grocery items and while he was gone, the boat started turning around the anchor. The wind in Grand Bay was all over the place and that made for a tricky anchor situation. When the boat spins like that, the anchor can get pulled out – not fun. We had a choice – we could reset our anchor (and hope the boat didn’t keep swinging) or we could pull up anchor and leave! So that’s what we did – pulled up and sailed the roughly 5nm south to the Tobago Cays.

The Tobago Cays are made up of 5 small islands and many reefs. The whole area is a marine park and there is also a protected sea turtle area. There are many mooring balls around the islands or you can anchor (they prefer cruisers to pick up a mooring ball to help save the coral from anchoring damage). We arrived at the most northern island – Petit Bateau and found an empty mooring ball. We were settled on the ball by about 1 pm. It is an absolutely stunning area – blue, clear water with several white sand beaches. It’s also very crowded – lots of sailboats plus a few mega yachts and mega sailing vessels. We spent our first afternoon snorkeling the reef right beside us. It’s was very interesting to see the different variety of coral (unfortunately not super healthy) and so many tropical fish. We also saw a sting ray just resting on the sandy bottom.

Our plan for Sunday was to work on the black water tank problem (still not able to pump out our tanks) in the morning and then check out the east reef area in the afternoon. Mark started the nasty job around 10am and boy was it a stinker!!! Fortunately Mark finally found the source of our problem (this after checking hose connections, the macerator pump and other parts of the system). The hose that connected the macerator pump to the through hull (a very long hose) had a clog somewhere. So out it came and we worked on removing the clog on deck. After much finagling, the hose appeared to be clog free!! By that time it was 1 pm so we stopped for lunch. The hose still needed to be reconnected and there was clean-up to be done so we really didn’t have time to go exploring. But 🤞🤞 our problem has been resolved and we’ll be able to empty our holding tanks when we next move into deeper water!

Today March 30th we got our chance to explore the east side islands and reefs. We went to Baradal Cay and left the dinghy on the beach. Some other cruisers were out with their kite surfers – it was a great day for that kind of activity. We put on our snorkel gear and had a great swim with the sea turtles. The area just west of this little island is a turtle sanctuary. We saw many turtles and they were so used to drivers that they just looked at us as we went by. The water was very clear and visibility was perfect. We also heard from our friends Sharron and John – they are heading to the Tobago Cays tomorrow (March 31st) so we’ll meet up with them. One of the neat specialties of this area is the bbq put on by locals. They prepare lobster, fish, ribs and chicken with a whole bunch of sides. We’ve booked dinner for the 4 of us tomorrow night!!

Looking forward (as we always do), the wind is starting to build in the second week of April so we’ve decided to leave the Tobago Cays on April 1. We’ll stop at Union Island to get some groceries and to clear out of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. After that we’ll continue down to the south end of Carriacou where we’ll check into Grenada. We’re hoping to be in the south end of Grenada by Friday, April 3rd where we’ll wait to cross to Trinidad!!

Before I talk about the town, there’s something I forgot to mention in my last post – we’ve now experienced the Caribbean “boat boy” scenario. Many cruisers have reported that some of the island in the south part of the Caribbean (basically starting in St. Lucia) have young men in boats who zoom out to meet you as you head into a bay or harbour. Boat boys offer a variety of services (help with anchoring or mooring, ice, take garbage, sell produce etc) for a price. Mostly the boat boys are polite, helpful and will take no for an answer. When we arrived at Canouan yesterday, we were greeted by a boat boy who tried to get us to take a mooring ball (which we didn’t want to do). He came back a few times asking if we wanted ice or had garbage he could take to shore for us. He was very friendly and was respectful of our no thanks.

Today (March 27th) as we got into the dinghy, our boat boy was back! He told us which dinghy dock to go to and then followed us in! He helped us get tied up and said he would watch over our dinghy while we were on shore. His name was Shireek (not sure of the spelling) and he was probably in his early 20s. It was funny because we didn’t really need a tour guide but Shireek was determined to show us around. First he told us a bit about the ferry dock and then he took us to a little gift shop close by the ferry dock. This actually was a really worthwhile stop.

Back in 2024, Hurricane Beryl ripped through the lower part of the Caribbean, causing major destruction on several islands, including Canouan. They lost 90% of their housing and the island was in rough shape. The woman who owned the gift shop gave us an excellent overview of the hurricane destruction and the subsequent rebuild of the island. She had really good photos and told us all about this one British man who took it upon himself to help restore the island. He brought in supplies and construction workers to help the locals rebuild the communities. Within 14 – 18 months, most of the work was completed!! Today the island still has the look of a post hurricane environment (small trees, lots of waste material around and a few buildings in rough shape) but it also has recovered a great deal.

After that stop we told Shireek that we would like to explore on our own and he went back to look after our dinghy. We continued to the east side of the island and walked back around to the main “downtown” area (a couple of restaurants and a few shops). We picked up a few items and had lunch at the cafe in the ferry terminal. Our new friend Shireek met us at the cafe and walked back to our dinghy with us! He wanted euros (not east Caribbean dollars) so we gave him some money and headed back to the boat. We had a nice calm night yesterday (no rolling but lots of gusty wind) and are looking forward to another good sleeping night. Our friends Sharron and John remained at Bequia so they’re keeping us updated. We probably won’t see them again this sailing season but you never know.

Our last few days at Bequia were challenging. When we first arrived, the anchorage was very calm and we seemed to be facing into any swells. But the last few days at anchor were not great. The north wind swell was rolling into the harbour and we were rolling a lot!! It became very difficult to sleep well or to do work onboard,

We had planned to jump down to Canouan (about 20 nm) on Thursday March 26th before all the rolling started and we were very happy to leave Bequia this morning (March 26th)!! Our sail south was wonderful! We had wind on the beam (90° to the boat) and only the jib and mizzen deployed so we had a wonderful sail! We left Bequia around 9 am and had a great sail south to Canouan. It was really interesting sailing south from Bequia – we could see so many islands because they are all very close together.

It was a lovely sail to Canouan and now we have a few days to explore this small island before we move on. Tomorrow we’ll go ashore so I’ll have more photos!