Glaswegians in a Roman Amphitheatre!

We cleared out of Poreč with the lightest touch of paperwork - a simple Croatian Cruising permit issued at the Harbour office.
Then over to the feel pontoon to fill up before tootling off in
very little wind to see Rovinj, about 10 miles south.

Croatia 2 July 2024

Finally set off from Marina Lepanto in Monfalcone, heading south to Croatia.

En route we noticed that there was water dripping from the new ScanStrut chartplotter box, which houses the new Axiom2 Pro9S plotter. On investigation the plotter hadn't been properly seated into its housing and last night's rain had got in. I contacted the Marina and they called back with an apology from Ricardo (B&G), who said he must have forgotten to tighten it up. He offered to drive to Umag if we were still there.

This came hard on the heels of yesterday's fiasco when we are half way to Umag, and Anne noticed lots of pink hydraulic fluid leading out of the console under the Volvo engine panel. We turned around and were back by 16:30 intube for Tech manager Christian and assistant Marco to investigate. They suggest that it is due to thermal expansion after overfilling. I was horrified and insulted to find that the Marina demanded payment for the extra night. Refused to pay.

So despite k look waving at 9 on Tuesday we did just 37nm the first day and found a stern-to mooring in Poreč (€67) where we cleared in to Croatia and got our Cruising Permit. (€108)

Unfortunately by there time we arrived Justin was feeling unwell with a temperature of 102F. I was worried it was sunstroke because he had been working incredibly hard in very hot temperatures to prepare the boat.

Anne and I went off to stumble round Poreč, and explored the ancient basilica founded in the 2nd century AD. We climbed the eight flights of stairs to the bell tower and got there in time to be deafened by the 7pm chimes with the bell swinging ponderously over our heads.

Setting Sail at last........... but heading South

 The last few weeks have been busy with Knight Marine at work on board tracing and fixing a current leak that has intermittently alarmed me me over the last few years.  Our fresh white antifouling is all done and Tin Tin is back in the water, with freshly painted topsides, go faster stripe, and name plates on the bow.  There's some new equipment to make things easier to handle - an electric eWincher handle to trim the sails, and an ePropulsion outboard. Very green😅

The last four days were occupied with cleaning, and provisioning (we filled the boat with tins of food forgetting that I was heading to the centre of European food in thé Mediterranean!)

I also stowed  two folding bikes and a paddleboard imagining hotter relaxed places ahead. 

Justin and I finally set sail on Tuesday 3rd May, in a cold evening to anchor in Newton Creek for the night. We were talking too much and I cut the  corner on the channel and to my embarrassment clipped the centreplate on the bottom.  The protective fuse popped and the plate came up out of the way as it should.  But it was embarrassing.   Too relaxed in waters that feel overly familiar.  Luckily it is easy(ish) to replace the  little copper disc that protects the hydraulic system.  

It was great to be in Newton Creek again, with the eerie sound of curlews calling across the mudflats as the tide empties away, leaving the boats swinging slowly in the narrow channel. 

Tomorrow we sail for the Mediterranean !

Happy New Year 2022!

In the calm period after New Year and Christmas, with the tinsel and Christmas fairy packed away in the loft again for another year, my mind turns to sailing expeditions for 2022.  Tin Tin is in great condition after lots of maintenance in the Autumn and her heating is working well, so I am thinking of sailing to the Baltic this Spring and early Summer.

Plan A is to sail north to the Shetlands, then across to Bergen and down to Stavanger and the fjords. Then onward into the Baltic via Denmark, and see how much we can explore in Sweden.  I had thought of pushing on towards St Petersburg, but I suspect that is a bit too far for one year.  So I think I will split the Baltic into two cruises in 2022 and 2023.  I will explore overwintering Tin Tin somewhere safe and then returning to the UK in 2023, via the Kiel Canal before heading south for the Mediterranean. 

Plan A - 4,100 miles to Russia and back!

Otherwise Plan B is to ignore the Baltic and sail down to the Med via the Azores and Canaries.

I can't sail all this alone, and would welcome your company.  I am encouraged to have stalwart circumnavigator, Justin, potentially available for most of May, June and a bit of July.  

So if you would like to sail with us please let me know when you might be able to join Tin Tin for a week or two, or a month... or more!  In principle we will sail between mid-April and mid-July this year.

Back to Britain

The year of COVID suddenly interrupted Tin Tin's cruising plans.  

In March 2020 we had a lovely two week cruise with Emily & Julien from Grenada up to the Tobago Cays, and then exchanged crews for Stuart and Angela.  

Farewell to friends

A week later, whilst anchored in Bequia we learned that COVID was closing borders and stopping flights.  Stuart managed to get flights back from St Vincent, and the following morning we made an early start and got them to the airport.

Terrifying COVID Cruise ships

Anne and I were left wondering how to handle the situation.   Would it all blow over in a month.... or maybe two?  What about the hurricane season?  There was nowhere to lay up in St Vincent.   Could we enjoy April and May cruising the grenadines, our favourite islands, on our own, but still expect Justin and Mark to get here for the sail back to the UK?

How would the disruption of tourism and supply lines affect food supplies and peoples attitudes.  Would poverty bring desperation and attacks on rich yachts?   

We relaxed for a couple of days, hired a car and went exploring the island, and climbed up into wonderful rainforest in the national parks.  Our mooring in the Blue Lagoon was rather rough, so we shifted over between a little island and the shore for quieter water, and from there explored a fascinating fortified rock guarding the entrance to the bay.

Sunset from the Blue Lagoon

Tuesday dawned, and I was able to get wifi from a beach cafe which allowed me to research news of border closures. There was no going back south to Grenada or Trinidad to lay up, but I discovered that Antigua was still open and that there were 90+ yachts waiting to clear in to St Johns!  We finished breakfast and in a hurry I powered back to the Customs to clear out, and also to get wifi at the hotel to change our flights.  It turned out to be easy to change my flight using the BA app, but Ann's required me to speak to an advisor, and despite several calls this looked to be unlikely to happen.  I could see thither were only a couple of seats left in the last flight so I booked a new seat for Anne for the "modest" sum of $1780.   Now all we had to do was to get to Antigua, clear in before they closed the border, find somewhere to store TinTin, and get on our flight home.

Last leg

Our sail north was fast, making 10-11 knots through the night between the islands, and successively passing old friends of St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe and the Iles Saintes.   We were tired as we arrived at the northern end of Guadeloupe, and rather than arrive in the dark in Antigua, I dropped anchor and we had supper and a good sleep.   We set off again at about 4 a.m on the Thursday 26th March in company with one other yacht, and made good time to arrive in a deserted St Johns harbour about 9 a.m.Ashore we found the new COVID clearance and health check to be efficient, and then I set about trying to find somewhere haul Tin Tin out.  The most responsive yard was Jolly Harbour, and a few hours later we were berthed there heaving a very big sigh of relief.  The yard manager, Lindsay, said he could lift us out on Monday, so we had all of Friday to get the boat ready for storage before we flew out midday on Saturday.  

Chatting to other crews facing COVID challenges

Rather inappropriate advertising!

The sea in a bottle?

Our last evening in Antigua

Chatting to other yacht crews, it was clear that everyone was juggling questions of what to do.  Some were planning sail to the US, others to stay put.  A few then decided to haul out but found that we had taken the last lift out slot till June...   We flew home on a jammed British Airways evacuation flight, being given a mask, bottle of water and a sandwich box.  No inflight catering and no bar trolley, but at least the back of seat screens could deliver films.

Back in Blighty

We arrived to find Emily & Julien had kindly delivered the car full of groceries so that we could go off to quarantine in St Mawes.  We weren't wanted at the Mill Farm as Audrey (98) was being isolated and cared for by Emily & Julien.  The roads of Cornwall were eerily deserted  and we felt very, very visible as the only car on the road 

Empty roads for 250 miles to Cornwall

Quarantine supplies

So we enjoyed a wonderful peaceful six weeks in astonishingly good Spring weather, swimming every day in the icy sea, walking five miles a day along the coastal paths and learning to identify the abundance of Spring flowers.

Fast forward to 2021, and my plans to sail back across the Atlantic with Mark and Justin were eventually curtailed by availability and COVID restrictions.  Richard kindly encouraged me to ship Tin Tin home and now she will be loading in Antigua on 28th May and arriving in Southampton on about 10th June.

Prior to shipment I commissioned Chris Waelen to try to repair the lifting teak deck, and then potentially replacing it but he had problems obtaining enough teak.  So instead he stripped it back to metal, and Abu and his team at Caribbean Marine Painting did a great job repainting all the white bits, and creating a non-slip deck. I'm looking forward to seeing TinTin in her new paint.  She should be a lot lighter without the teak too.

There were a few minor dramas along the way.  Peters & May shipping contract specifies a $19,000/day demurrage fee if your boat delays their shipment - effectively the same cost as the shipment itself.  So i wanted to make sure that the engine would work on the day.  P&M specify a window of between 5-25 May for shipment, so I arranged to launch on 30th April so that Ivan of Extreme Marine could service the engine.   But it refused to start and the culprit was the Volvo 'black box' engine management system that I'd had to replace under warranty in Guadeloupe in 2019.   It also seemed that all the batteries were dead, so I had to buy an engine start battery and a single 'house' battery to run the instruments.    

On the upside 'Dora', Emily's paddle-board, has been retrieved from 'hospital' in Grenada, and kindly sailed up to Antigua aboard yacht 'Vela' by her kind skipper Tom, who is even now battling back across the Atlantic with a scratch crew recruited in Antigua.  

Once back in Southampton Tin Tin is booked in with Knight Marine to review her charging system which has given problems all round the world.

Arrival in Trinidad - 7 Feb 2020

Arrival in Trinidad

Emily drove us to the airport and everything went well with the flight watching Ad Astra and Honeyland films. Both very good. Julien met a cousin at the airport!
Picked up by Tristan and driven via the supermarket to Peakes. Shock. Double bed! Hope we can change it tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone

Apologies for any text errors 

The Hurricane Season is over - Time to get ready for sailing home

I'm sitting in St Mawes while the storms rage outside, with wind battering at the windows and the visceral, deep concussion of big waves hitting the sea wall. I'm trying to get my plans in order for the year ahead, and bringing Tin Tin back to Europe.

With Alice due to deliver a child on Christmas Day, we decided to stay in the UK until the New Year.  I expect to fly out with Julien to help me in early February.  Then Anne and Emily will join us in Grenada.  

The month of March is currently free for friends to join us, and Anne and I will be sailing up to the BVIs to enjoy time with Kate and family and Beccy and family in April.

Then I need crew to sail up to Bermuda in May, where I will be joined by Justin and Mark for the 3 week leg to the Azores.

Having explored those islands for a week or so we will head onwards to Portugal and the Mediterranean with the intention of exploring there for a couple of years.

Meanwhile I'm trying to get spares for the watermaker and the speed/log instrument, follow up on the servicing of the winches by Ian Chai-Hong, the repair of the generator by Falco, and decide on whether to do the painting of the hull in Trinidad in January.

Watermaker Aquabase XA223 showing where small leak has started

So much has happened since I arrived home on 21st May, that this week is one of the first moments when I've sat down to think about Tin Tin.

We have enjoyed Summer with friends and family in Hampshire, Cornwall, France and Mallorca.  We did the Round the Island Race, but ran out of wind, and had followed the sailing exploits of Greta Thunberg as she tries to travel carbon free to conferences in the USA and Europe.

Sadly we lost my stepfather, Ioan Thomas, at the age of 92, and my mother, Alice, has slipped gently into the mist of unknowing and, aged 88, has been settled into a care home within a few minutes of my brothers William and Mark, so that she will get all the support she needs. Meanwhile my mother-in-law, Audrey, has lucky genes and celebrated her 98th birthday by horse riding!

Hurricane Irma lingers on in the BVIs

Tin Tin arrived in Roadtown after a 90 mile overnight motor with barely enough wind to raise the flags.   

I had called ahead to book a marina berth at Village Cay, where Laros had been berthed in 2007.  

On arrival we were shocked to see the chaos of wrecked yachts at crazy angles and masts poking out of the water.   However we eventually found our berth and went to check in. The marina office was horrified to find that we had not yet cleared Customs and insisted that we leave our berth immediately and go round to the ferry dock.  

This felt immensely annoying - first time such stupid bureaucracy has got to me for at least two days! However they insisted that both we and they would face US$10,000 fines if we mentioned that we had tied up at their pontoon.  

So with teeth gritted we negotiated our way out of a tight space, and found the ferry dock.  I'd been calling on VHF to get guidance but had heard nothing back.   We tied up at a ferry dock, and bearing in mind that Customs closes at 16:30 I raced to deal with formalities.

My reception was brusque and smelt of jobsworth.  It took me about an hour and a half to get signed in at all the offices, especially since the immigration refused to deal with me until the passengers from two ferries from the USA had been processed through everything.  We motored away from the ferry dock steaming with annoyance, and tied up again at our Village Cay berth.  There's no electricity laid on yet but apparently there is water.  The little restaurant looks OK, and there's a little pool, but it's US$86 per night, which is expensive.  

Anyway we are now tied up, G&T in hand, getting some perspective by firstly catching up on WhatsApp news from Kate & Mark who are volunteering as doctors in Tanzania, and then feeling too far away from home as we learn of medical problems for my parents, fortunately now being handled by my dear brothers and sister. 

Now we have a couple of days to do laundry and stock up on fresh food as we await arrival of two groups of good friends who are coming to join us over the next month. 

Then the plan is to return home mid March for a month before taking an expedition to the Turks& Caicos Islands, folllowed by a visit to Cuba.  

Then it will be time to lay Tin stun up for the hurricane season again, and I'm delighted that Justin has kindly offered to help me with that delivery trip. 

--

Best regards

Paul

J. Paul Stephens

Discovering Saba

We set off from St Eustatius at first light to sail the three hours to its neighbouring island, Saba. Both islands are part of the Dutch Antilles, along with Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao downnby Venezuela and Sint Maarten 25!miles to the north.

The wind was brisk and the SE swell had built up. As we left the shelter of Statia a cross swell appeared round the northern side making a confused and lumpy sea.

Saba rises sheer from the ocean as a great volcanic plug. Its eastern end looks as though a great slab broke off and fell into the sea. As we got closer, the tiny white dots along the thousand foot high steep triangular cliff top resolved into houses perched on the edge.

The tiny harbour at Fort Bay was being lashed by the breaking swell. Outside the harbour were moored fishing boats crashing up and down in the steep waves. I radioed the Saba Port to ask if they had any mooring for visiting yachts and they directed me to two yellow buoys which were almost in the surf under the cliffs. I declined the offer and we motored a mile and a half round to Ladder Bay where it was very sheltered and we picked up a mooring.

The Ladder is an ancient twisting 800 step ascent up the cliff to a little stone Customs House. This used to be the only way up to the little settlement called The Bottom, high up in a little patch of flatter land. It took twelve men to get the Island's first piano up that near vertical path and into the church.

In order to clear in and see the island we needed to visit Customs in Fort Bay. The pilot book suggests taking the dinghy round, and this we did. We donned waterproofs and life jackets, and I put the VHF radio in my pocket. I also put an extra tank of fuel in case our other one ran out. We made good progress in the lee of the cliffs until we came out of the shelter and started hitting the big waves. When the engine faltered and then died it was quite a concern. However the wind wasn't pushing us ashore andvwebcouldveasily row back into the shelter. We rowed over to a dive buoy and held on there while I swapped petrol tanks. Despite repeated attempts when it almost started, I couldn't get the motor going again. It must have sucked up some debris from the bottom of the tank when churned up in rough water. So we were greatly relieved when the Marine Conservancy boat came past and towed up the half mile into port.
The young skipper, Yelland, had been doing the job for six years, and was accompanied by three attractive young Dutch interns.

Ashore we found a far from welcoming Customs lady, who eventually gave us our clearance.Then with the help of the ferry captain we got a taxi to give us a tour of the island.

Our taxi driver and tour guide, Garvis Hassell, is a lean man of Scottish Irish ancestry, and a seventh generation islander. With a roaring engine he drove his 18 year old minibus up the amazingly steep and twisting island roads, constructed by his ancestor. Josephus Lambert "Lambie" Hassell proved the Dutch engineers wrong by building the first road. Before that the villages were connected by stone step roads along which all goods had to be carried by man or mule.

The islanders houses look very neat and charming uniformly painted in white, with window frames and doors picked out in dark green. The rooves are all a red corrugated sheet, kept very clean as they provide the main way of collecting water.

After crossing the island to see the airport Garvis took
Us high up the mountain and dropped us for a wonderful walk down to the village of Windwardside. The old stone steps provide a 90 minute ascent of the volcanic peak called Scenery Mountain. However we took the 300 step descent meeting goats and a cow grazing in grassland at the top and then diving down through lush rainforest.

In the village we enjoyed a sandwich and then I sketched the view while Anne explored. Then our taxi returned and once back in port Yelland kindly towed us back to Tin Tin. A bottle o Bordeaux changed hands in thanks for our rescue.

Adventures a deux

I haven't contributed to the Tin Tin Round the World blog since we arrived in Trinidad and laid up for the hurricane season last May.  Now after a lovely period of family cruising with our Anne and I are alone, sailing out of Point a Pitre in Guadeloupe heading north to Antigua. Rain squalls keep sweeping down out of a grey sky and the mountains disappear into the cloud Along the coastal strip the land flattens out a little and the rich green of the sugar cane fields and the red roofed houses of the villages look very enticing and picturesque. But today the weather isn't the picture postcard tropical sunshine that we've rathergrown to expect.  

Guadeloupe looks like a butterfly and we will be sailing right round the western wing, Basse Terre.  Oddly Basse Terre (or Low Land) is the mountainous active volcano, while the other wing, Haut Terre, is low and fairly flat.  Its volcano was much more ancient and has eroded away almost competely.  

On enquiry it seems that Bas and Haut refer to Low and High winds, as the mountains create a sheltered western coastline while the flat island is swept by the unceasing Trade Winds. 

I came back to Trinidad in November with Stuart, who was a great help in getting Tin Tin recommissioned for the winter season.  There turned out to be a lot more work than I'd anticipated and we must have engaged with about twenty different professionals to get all the jobs done. The saving grace was that the cafe bar at Peakes  Marina  offered a half price Happy Hour from 4pm till 8pm, including various dishes from the menu. Over ten days of hard work I gave Stuart a guided tour of most of the cocktails!

Finally we set off to sail to Grenada in the darkest hour of the night with lights off and AIS off to avoid Venezuelan pirates. On arrival our engine wouldn't start, but we sailed into Prickly Bay and anchored. 

Luckily we got the engine fixed before Anne and Beccy arrived and we set sail northwards towards St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia, and Martinique. 

--

Best regards

Paul

J. Paul Stephens

Grenada to St. Vincent and the Grenadines

11th December
We motored out from Prickly Bay after a breakfast of fresh pawpaw and lime juice, passing the great red tiled rooves of the University on our way to the southern most tip of Grenada. Here we turne s north and motored up the length of the island, close enough to enjoy looking at villages and coastline as we passed. An occasional rain squall came over the mountains, bringing with it great gusts of wind. We passed Gouyave, where Stuart and I had strolled on Sunday, and we looked through binoculars for the "heritage" building that we had visited on the Main Street, which had been taken over by a church, who were trying to buy the property. The view from the sea uconfirmed what we had observed on land, that the town turns its back on the sea, with few properties facing it, and with no cafes or bars set up to look outwards. The church could do well to use its heritage property to open a restaurant and bar for tourists and, with the revenue, pay off the loans needed. In a way it's like any fishing village, where people prefer not to look out on the dangerous ocean from which they make their livelihood.

It was the same in all our tour of Grenada, apart from one or two bars in the southern bays where yachting has enabled marine industry to establish.

We rounded the northern end of Grenada, within sight of Sauteurs, and here set sail for Carriacou. The west going current was strong between islands, and we struggled to lay the course for Tyrell's Bay, eventually tacking and motorsailing in, in order to get there in a reasonable time. We eventually dropped anchor close to the shore, amongst many other boats. Nearby the blue painted Lazy Turtle Restaurant was built on the shoreline, with a welcoming little dock. We went ashore at sunset and enjoyed the Wi-fi, cocktails and. Sunset, topped off with a shared pizza as hors d'œuvres. Depending on one's exchange rate cocktails at EC$22 cost £7-9.

Next morning we upped anchor and motored round to Hillsborough to clear Customs for St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Here we found a charming town, with characterful buildings along the Main Street, a steel pan/ keyboard duo playing beautifully outside the ancient tourist office. The Customs and Immigration guys were very charming and I was soon cleared out and ambled up the street with Stuart, whilst Âne and Beccy were up the other end shopping for fruit and veg.

We found a waterfront that acknowledged the beauty of the bay, with blue picnic tables and benches under a conical roof providing beach picnic spots. Here we met Leanna (Trinidadian) and Fabio(Italian) who live aboard their blue 28ft yacht AzzurrO. They are sailing up to Martinique.
Back aboard we enjoyed our salad lunch and then set sail for Union Island, clearly visible just 5 miles away.The wind and current were kind and we had a great sail close-hauled, and picked up a buoy for the night (EC$80) and bought banana bread from the boatman (EC$30)

Ashore we found that we had to walk to the little airport to complete formalities, and then wandered round Clifton village which was evidently much more attuned to tourist requirements. We enjoyed fruit smoothies on a nicely painted deck over. The water, and then headed back on board to relax and enjoy our evening.

11th December 2018 Carriacou

I collected Anne and Beccy at the airport in Grenada, having time before their delayed flight landed to go to Budget Marine to buy a new toilet seat for the forward heads, and 30 stainless steel circlips to use to hang the new blue shower curtains.

It was exciting to wait with locals for the arrival of family and, before it was my turn, I really enjoyed the excitement of families as grandchildren arrived. Then there was Anne and Beccy!

My little white rental car just about fitted them and their luggage in, and soon we talking excitedly and in no time were back at Prickly Bay. The dinghy managed to carry us all out including Stuart and all the bags. I prepared a salad lunch with the big creamy yellow green avocados from a market stall.

Later as the sun set we drove into the capital, St. George, and drove up the steep streets to the Roman Catholic cathedral renovated after Hurricane Ivan destroyed it in September 2004. When we last visited in LAROS in December 2005 it was still a wreck as was the neighbouring Anglican cathedral. Both are now gleaming towers above the town. We then drove through little back streets to the Fort overlooking the bay, where the Police have their HQ. The sun was setting and looking back t other hill with the cathedrals, all the buildings were in an amazing glow rather as if it was a stage set. But close to us the blackened skeleton of the Presbyterian church was a reminder of Hurricane Ivan.

Down on the waterfront there are only two obvious restaurants with balconies on stilts over the water. We went to BBs place which is run as a family affair with all the local dishes named after the owner's children or grandchildren. Our meal included lots of local vegetables and roots, including cassava, dasheen, yams, sweet potato, green bananas, and plantain, collectively called "Provision"!

Sketch of Sauteurs Leap, Grenada

Grenada

Tin Tin left Peake Yachts at 16:30 on Wed 5th December and motored round to Scotland Bay and dropped anchor for the night it was glorious to be making progress at last.

The following morning we set off at 04:30 under a clear dark starry sky. And then had a fast sail north to Grenada arriving reefed hard down in sudden 40 knot squalls and rain. As we dropped sail we discovered that the engine wouldn't start.
We quickly hoisted sail again and tacked up until we could make our way safely into Prickly Bay to drop anchor (using skills from a Cornish childhood.

On Friday morning we cleared Customs and Immigration at 11:00 and then, finding that no engineers were available to help, we bled the diesel line and cleared air from it, solving the problem.

Ashore I hired a car and we spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the island. In the north we found the airstrip with two Russian marked aircraft wrecks, remnants from the American invasion to oust the Cuban «advisors». It was poignant to see the bullet holes in the metal and then to find an A4 sheet pasted inside mourning an American K. I. A. on 25th Oct 1983.

We continued northwards to a village called Sauteurs (or Leapers on different signs. ) where I sat on the jetty and sketched the cliff from which besieged Caribs leapt to their deaths. It's topped with a fine church, and on the beach below brightly painted fishing boats with big outboard motors are bombing at moorings or drawn up on the sand.

Grenadan villages don't seem to make the most of their sea fronts. Very little in the way of cafes or restaurants on our trip round unlike Barbados where some villages had places attractive to tourists, with funky beachside bars or cafes. We stopped in various roadside bars and eventually in Houyave on the West we found a local restaurant which served macaroni pie, fish and chicken.

Bringing Tin Tin back to life after the Hurricane season

Stuart and Paul arrived on Monday night in Trinidad and over the last four days I have been trying to get all the contractors who had agreed to do work to show up and complete it before launch on Monday 26th November.
The interior of the boat smelt fresh and mould-free as the dehumidifier has done a good job. On deck everything needs a good clean. The awning that Mark fitted has done well, hasn't ripped in strong winds, and has kept the torrential rain from filling the cockpit. It's also kept the boat shaded so that wasn't too hot. Having said that it's 35*C or more inside.
We were met by our Boat guardian, Dwayne Shuffler, on Tuesday morning. He's done a good job of send8ng me mphotos and updates by WhatsApp every two weeks.

Stuart got stuck into dismantling winches to relubricate them, two of which had seized solid. I got the old washing machine out today, emptied gallons of rusty water, and then with help from Dynamite Marine hoisted it out of the hatch and dropped it to the ground. I also screwed in grease nipples and lubricated the Maxprop. Other challenges have been to get electrical things to work where fuses have gone such as chargers for hand held VHF radio and dinghy inflator.

Curtis and Silva from Dynamite Marine have been working in terribly hot conditions to replace toilet hoses, which have become so constricted by calcium deposits that's hard to pump anything out. Ian Hong of Windlass Services has been refitting the anchor windlass that he had to dismantle and service, and has had to take it out and refit it a couple of times to solve a gearbox oil leak.

Curtis the Hydraulics man has finally serviced the hydraulic steering ram and topped up the system with oil. Meanwhile Jesse Gangasingh from Caribbean Marine Electrics has replaced the solar panel charge regulator so that it no longer boils the batteries. Could this be the answer to the long running mystery of battery failure? He has also and rewired the fridge with higher spec wires, and dealt with the coolant water problem by re-routing it. He has been trying to find better battery solutions, but in the end I chose the only one that fits, and Christian at Peakes Chandlery got five for me immediately. We will load them once we are back in the water.

Lenora's daughter, Mackenzie, from Speedy Sails came round to finalise bimini and sprayhood repairs and drove me to the sailloft to pay the deposit by card. Then Rishi took us round to Jonathan Outboards to see our two motors freshly serviced, and finally Kevin took us to the bank in Peake Yachts' shuttle bus to get cash to pay all these people. It's very hot and humid so that I am drenched in sweat just sitting still! We don't have much appetite, but need to drink a lot!

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Samantha from Econocars picked us up and drove us to the dépôt to rent one for the weekend. Almost on its last legs, suspension like a bouncy castle, but at least this time the wing mirrors are attached. It felt good to be able to drop in at a supermarket to stock our room fridge so that we don't have to eat at Zanzibar restaurant every meal. I bought a pawpaw for breakfast and was amazed that Stuart calls them the Vomit fruit. Clearly he's never experienced a cold one with fresh lime for breakfast!

On Saturday we will have an expedition into the hinterland and visit the Asa Wright Nature Réserve.

Homeward Bound

Mark and I are finally aboard a flight home, and I have time to reflect on the last few days. 

Saturday was still hectic as we stowed equipment, cleaned and polished, and in the end didn't finish until sunset.   However I did manage to rent a car from EconoCars, and very ramshackle it was for £15/day. Bald tyres, doors about to fall off, and a limp drivers mirror.  However the boot opened OK, and enabled me to load my two heavy bags in, but then refused to ever open again!  We had to take the back seat off and just managed to squeeze the bags out through a hole when we dropped at the airport.

So Sunday was our one day off, and we drove along the North Coast with steep cliffs and deeply indented bays to Maracas Beach, and then onwards through little communities until we came to an incongruously large road sign and junction, where we turned right to climb over the mountains towards Acarina.  The road was really only single track, winding up through gorgeous dense tropical forest.   However it was tarred, although some sections were badly in need of patching.    We stopped under one tree which had carpeted the forest floor with vivid pink from fallen flowers. 

An hour later we arrived at the Asa Wright Conservation Centre, established high in the mountains with a large area of forest under protection.  The rather grand 110 year old colonial style buildings welcomed us to grand high ceilings dining and sitting rooms, and a long verandah overlooking the steeply sloping forest below.  The centre is famous for its bird life, and there are 17 species of humming bird to be seen.   There are humming bird feeders hanging just outside the verandah, and we spent a long time watching many different humming birds darting up within a foot or two of us to hover absolutely stationary whilst they dipped beaks into the sugar syrup.     Later we joined a guided walk in the forest, being introduced to extraordinary birds such as the white bearded manikin, which perched on a slender stick above his "lek" where he tries to attract a mate by proudly displaying his nicely cleared circle of forest floor.  Of course he chucks leaves and twigs into his neighbour's lek, and has to spend lots of time clearing all the stuff they chuck back.  

We also saw a yellow headed mannikin, a black bird with bright yellow crest, which does his display in a shaft of sunshine up in a favoured lek high In the trees.   Then there's an astonishingly loud wattled bell bird, which produces deafening calls up in the canopy.  Deeper into the forest are caves where the Oil Birds live. Apparently they only fly at night and, like bats, live in caves and use echo location to find their prey.  Locals used to collect the fat chicks from the nest, to extract the oil used for lamps and cooking. They are now a protected species and we weren't allowed to see them unless we stayed for 3 nights at the Centre.

Monday dawned and we got all the laundry done. Mark rigged an awning across the cockpit, and we raised the dinghy and tied it down on deck.  There was a final flurry of contractors to chase, dealing with spray hood repairs, windlass servicing, sails and outboards.   Before leaving the boat I had to get special letters produced by the boat yard and authorised by Customs and Immigration, and I was also pleased to find a Pharmacy which took charge of a big bag of out-of-date drugs.   Then with everything at last in good order we closed up at 6pm had a couple of beers and a light supper and off to bed for a few hours before rising at 03:00 to drive to the airport.

So much stuff to sort out!

Friday evening is here much quicker than expected, and it doesn't feel as though we are anywhere near getting everything done.  

We got all the sails off on Thursday, before we lifted out, and also pickled the water-maker.   Then once ashore we were parked in one of the long tanks of boats, with a catamaran astern, with a French couple living there while they pack up.  It certainly makes for an easy living space, and they even had a dinner party last night!  

Then today we have had Jonathan Outboards collecting ours for service, Winch Works dealing with the anchor windlass, Dynamite coming to sort out the "heads", Greg and Dave from the yard looking at the paintwork, Ken from Ullman Sails collecting all our canvas, and then taking us to the sail loft to inspect each sail in detail to agree the repair programme.   It's salutary to see how the threads rot in sunlight and need restitching, and where the mainsail rolled in the boom has discoloured because the boom has got hot in the tropical sun.   In the end I had to replace the protective coloured strips on the staysail and Genoa, and do a lot of restitching on the main. The Parasailor is in good condition, apart from one string that has snapped, though badly needing an airing having sat on the foredeck for a long time in sun and spray.

No shows today were Curtis the Hydraulics man, who said that he would try to service the seals on our steering system before we leave on Tuesday. Neither did we get a repeat visit from Shaun of Superb Sails & Canvas who is going to repair our Bimini, which suffered some damage when "George" failed due to the hydraulic problems and we had an involuntary gybe.

However two dehumidifiers appeared today; one for rent from "Blues" the big yard foreman with the gold tooth, and the other for sale on behalf of a departed yachts-woman by Mark from Dynamite. I chose to buy secondhand.

This morning I finally got Steve the Taxi man to take me to an ATM in town to get some cash, which is long overdue..... normally the first thing I do, but somehow here it felt more difficult to fit in between all the contractors visiting.   He offered to take us on a tour, but like several other locals was anxious about our safety. Trinidad has a high crime rate, which must have totally stopped the tourist industry.  It's all driven by the big money coming from oil, corrupt politicians, a huge gap between wealth and poverty, a lot of drug running through Venezuela, and lots of illegal guns.

Steve suggested that I could hire a car through Stuart at Peake's Yard, but when he arrived he was very unwilling to hire me a vehicle to tour the island, but only if we wanted to run to the supermarket and back!  

Peter Peake of Peake Yachts has been most welcoming and attentive. We mentioned that Tin Tin had suddenly dropped down an inch this morning, and he immediately had the yard team putting in more blocks and props.  It seems he is a man of many talents as we see the Peake logo on air-conditioners and dehumidifiers too.

Laying up in Trinidad

The Peake Yachts yard in Chaguaramas has been a welcoming place.  It's one of several yards along the south edge of Trinidad in an almost landlocked bay.  Ashore there's a restaurant on a terrace overlooking the bay serving the kind of big portions of fried food one expects in America.  This is very different from the French Caribbean. There's a small dock with 5 good sized yachts and Tin Tin moored stern-to facing out into the bay.  

We've been having trouble with getting from our stern onto the dock, despite Tin Tin's special gangplank (a lovingly engraved and varnished scaffolding plank from Travis Perkins).  The problem is that one has to pass under the stern arch which carries the solar panels, wind generator and assorted aerials, in a sort of crouching limbo dance and to then teeter up to the dock with everything going up and down.  Returning is worse, because initially the boat was too far away from the dock to be able to grab anything so  one had to set off without any hand hold along a narrow seesawing plank with a long way to the water below.  This was because when we had reversed into the slot between other yachts, our bow rope attached to the mooring buoy was only just long enough. I had to motor at full throttle backwards to get our stern lines to the dock, and then there we sat with all lines thrumming unable to get any closer.  Obviously we fixed it eventually by attaching more rope at the front and sliding back a few feet, but this was only after we had welcomed some brave boat contractors on board!  

It gives me a slightly anxious moment to think about times ahead in the Mediterranean where this is the norm.........

En route from Barbados I had already written out a list of 35 items from our maintenance log that needed attention, and my first challenge on Monday was to try to identify, meet and interview the appropriate contractors to deal with the things that we couldn't handle.   Our first day passed with little sense of progress but then, on Tuesday, people started turning up and filling our cockpit as I ran through the list.  

Gary the yard manager to look at paint repairs, Jessie from Caribbean Marine Electrical to tackle wiring issues, Mark from inspiringly named Dynamite Services to replace blocked toilet hoses, and Jason from  Liferaft Servicing. 

Rainer for electronics wasn't interested to come, ditto Calypso Canvas, but I managed to find Curtis for the hydraulics who will come tomorrow, and I got Sean from Superb Canvas as well to deal with repairs to the bimini, plus Ken from Ullman sails on Friday, and maybe Bates the watermaker man too. That leaves me to get hold of the speedy maintenance man, Dwayne Schuffler to agree monthly boat checks, and Jonathan to service the Outboards.

It has been particularly difficult to find a dehumidifier to combat the mildew problem in this humid climate.  Lots of stuff is going green onboard, and we need to have a system to prevent that.  Many boats have an air conditioner fitted to a hatch to keep things cool and dry.  Others have dehumidifiers.  But I cannot find a single chandlery (there are about 5) which stocks them, nor any hardware store.  The chandlery here had sold out of its stock of 50, so I think we are a bit late, as the yacht parking lot is already very full.  Luckily, today I spotted a fading advert put up by a departing yacht offering a 4 month old dehumidifier for sale.    It turned out that the yacht was long gone, but the unit was still available and being stored by a boat service company - Dynamite in fact!

I also went through all our extensive drug supplies and took out all the out-of-date items,  plus all those due to expire before we return.  I hope to dispose of these through a doctor somewhere here. Going through the list I was pleased to see that I had signed out very few medicines to treat maladies during the trip - mostly antibiotics.

Then Mark has been dealing with sails, drying out our spinnaker, which has been on the foredeck getting wet, and we have also removed folded and bagged the Genoa and staysail. The main will be next, and they will go for valeting and storage. Ropes are removed, labelled and washed in fresh water to get rid of thickly ingrained salt.

It's annoying that there's no ATM near here, and we will have to take a taxi into town. We asked our waitress about how to do this and she advised us only to get a taxi from the yard to take us, wait and bring us back.  Yachties who had hailed a cab had been beaten and robbed apparently.  However the Maxis, yellow minivans, are apparently OK provided they are full of people.    We will have to adjust our perceptions of risk again, and I wonder whether it's safe to hire a car and explore on our own........ but then again, that's what people said in South Africa, and we were fine.  

So here we are after two days, and there's a lot more to fit in before lift out on Thursday morning.

Barbados to Trinidad

Mark and I had an enjoyable few days in Barbados, finding the people welcoming and friendly. We rented a car and explored the east coast, surprised at how extensive the areas of housing are, but then I read that it is the most densely populated island in the Caribbean.  

We found a lighthouse under renovation at Rugged Point, and were allowed to climb the 114 steps to the light where, balanced on scaffolding, we could see the jagged cliffs below being pounded by the sea.
Long streamers of the golden sargassum weed were driving into the coves and later, at Long Beach, we found a dense mat of seaweed covering beach and bay, undulating in the incoming swell like a huge golden shag pile carpet, and stifling the breakers.  This is apparently an unusual occurrence and must be depositing thousands of tonnes of weed on the east coast beaches. 

We stopped for lunch at Bathsheba Bay where a restaurant, painted a lovely lurid purple and green, stood in a seafront park amidst coconut palms.   I took time to sketch and paint here after our meal, with a view  strange coral formations, undercut by the sea to leave jagged islands balanced on a narrow base.

Barbados was under uninterrupted British rule for 300 years, and still has the Queen as Head of State (although not evident on the currency).  So there are red ER II letterboxes to be seen, tea time is observed, The Anglican Church is established in all ten parishes, and cars drive on the left. All very civilised.   Yet the buildings have an exuberant style and thrilling colours, interspersed with rum shops painted bright red and adorned with huge painted signs advertising "Banks, The Beer Of Barbados!"  It felt safe and happy, with few people in obvious poverty on the streets and, apart from the enthusiastic taxi drivers touting for business, there was little sense of being hustled.

Rum shop

Later we explored town, and found the rum showroom, where we decided against tour and tasting, and instead Mark went off for a tour of the cricket ground at Kensington Oval.

Over on the west coast the beaches are sparkling white coral sand, clear of any weed and, with a gentle sea in stunning aquamarine colours, make a most attractive sight.  We stopped in Speightstown, and enjoyed strolling the colourful streets, lunch in a beach side cafe, and exploring St Peter's Church.  It would be a good place to rent a room for a peaceful holiday.  

At the northern tip of Barbados I ventured into Animal Flowers Cave, descending steps into a wave cut grotto looking out to the surging sea.  The limestone formations allowed one to imagine a shark, a hand and a map of Barbados, and then one could swim in the saltwater pool that extended out to the cave mouth, where an occasional wave sloshed foaming water into the pool.  Naturally I was in there straightaway!

The Barbados Yacht Club deserved a visit in Bridgetown, and we found an established elegant club, with members using the tennis facilities, dinghies being launched down the beach, and a shady beach bar with a gnarled tree on the sand, where I spent a happy morning painting and reading.

The beach at Barbados Yacht Club.

Then for our last night we drove out to the Fish Fry at Oistins which turned out to be a huge event, with large numbers of tables set out between competing kitchens, all serving meals of freshly grilled dolphin (dorado), marlin or swordfish, with Bajan specialties such as the unlikely sounding Macaroni Pie, all to the throbbing pulse of a big sound stage pumping out reggae competing with a steel band. On a table next to us old men were animatedly playing dominos, slamming down the tiles with determination.  Next to them a small boy begged us to play dominos with him, and then proceeded to slam his tiles down just like his elders.

We upped anchor on Saturday morning, but not before we had taken the dinghy to the beach to return the hire car keys at The Pirate Cove car park.  I swam the couple of hundred yards back out to Tin Tin.

Out at sea, some 40 miles south of  Barbados we heard a distress call on the VHF from a fishing boat. We were the only vessel to respond, and the fisherman was very relieved to hear us. He'd been drifting since Thursday, and despite calling regularly we were the first response he'd had. It seemed that his batteries were flat or the starter motor wouldn't work.  I made attempts to get hold of the Barbados Coast Guard, but we were too far away, so as he was only 8 miles away we headed in his direction.   Luckily my attempts to raise the coastguard alerted another fishing vessel, and we heard the whoops of exuberant relief in the Bajan dialect when he heard his friend was on the way.  By the time we got close the Missy D had been taken in tow and was plugging upwind the 40 miles to home.

Later we ran over a fishing net, and had a struggle to disentangle it. Eventually the fishermen told us to cut the line, but we then rejoined the ends so they lost nothing.

The following day we raised Trinidad through torrential rain storms at midday and were sailing through the narrow channel to Chaguaramas between high cliffs by 1700.

We tied at the arrivals dock, only to find that as it was Sunday there were hundreds of Trinidad dollars to pay Immigration and Customs for overtime.  With no ATM available, no credit cards or US $ taken, and being not allowed to leave until we had cleared in we were stuck in Catch 22!  The immigration lady suggested that we came back after 0800 on Monday when no fees would be payable.  We asked the hotel whether we could stay on the arrivals dock overnight, but they wanted US$100, so we found a spare mooring and drank a celebratory Piña Colada and cooked supper whilst being blasted by intense music from a big party boat.   

We have arrived in Trinidad!

Barbados

We arrived in a strong wind and breaking seas, thinking that there would be little shelter from the swell in Carlisle Bay. Customs required us to moor at the cruise ship terminal, which was tricky alongside the big fender pads which keep the cruise ships off the dock. There was no way we could have moored unaided, but luckily someone was there to help.

We then climbed precariously up to the dock, and completed formalities in the cruise terminal, welcomed to Barbados by a big poster.

Back in Carlisle Bay it was surprisingly sheltered from the waves, and we joined two other yachts at anchor about a hundred yards off a gleaming white sand beach fringed with beach clubs and their sun umbrellas.

We took the dinghy ashore into The Carenage harbour which is reminiscent of Weybridge as the narrow channel curves into the town with boats moored along the quays. A lifting bridge lets boats into an inner harbour right in town, and we were surprised to see many moorings available.

Walking around we were constantly hailed by hopeful taxi drivers, or hooted at by minibuses touting for trade.

There is a grand stone church flying the Barbadian flag with Neptune's trident prominent on the yellow and green ground. We found a bank ATM, but Lloyd's bank was being cautious and refused to let me draw any cash. Luckily Mark got some.

Next stop was one of the beach bars called Pirates' Cove, where we relaxed with a Banks Beer and took in the view of Tin Tin through palm trees, white sands and clear blue water.

Where next?

Tuesday 8th May 2018
It may have been a mistake to clear out of Surinam at the same time we cleared in, even though at the time it seemed to save so much hassle. That meant we had no slow time to discover any more of the country and had to leave on Saturday morning. Quite what else we could have done is unclear, but there are always encounters that unfold in unplanned ways.

So, as we set sail down the Commewijne, watching the early river taxis zig zagging from one landing stage to another, I felt rather sad that I had rushed it, having acted in concert with the pace of life that we encounter when visitors join us from the "normal" world with tight schedules, planes to catch and places to be.

Having reviewed Guyana as our next destination, I decided against, as the authorities insist that yachts head 50 miles upriver to clear into the country and, for safety, deter them from lingering at Georgetown on the coast. So now we had a week in hand before our planned lift-out in Trinidad.

As the strong breeze and tide took us rapidly out to sea in muddy water only 4 metres deep, Mark suggested an interesting idea; with spare time, and Guyana not seeming so attractive, why not sail north to Barbados, before we head to Trinidad?

So here we are three days later about 12 miles short of Barbados which is hidden in a rain storm ahead as I eat my muesli at 7am.

In truth it has been a trying voyage as neither of us has got our sealegs, and are both struggling all the time with feeling so queasy that we are having trouble eating. Most unusual and it's made this leg a mini-trial rather than the relaxed enjoyable sail that we'd expected. The wind and current gave us a fast ride, and the sea has been very lumpy as we buck and smash along at 9 knots, making 195 miles from anchor in the first 24 hours.

Mark heroically made spaghetti and tomato sauce on night one, but we couldn't look at it, and ate cold rice pudding instead. I managed to reheat Mark's spaghetti on night two but, although he ate his, most of mine fed the fishes. Then last night Mark did a spaghetti in cheese sauce with crispy bacon, but although I enjoyed mine he couldn't look his in the eye and it sits there under clingfilm waiting for happier times.

However we have both made soda bread for lunch, and yesterday Mark produced drop scones for tea. Some still sit forlornly hoping to tempt us!

We've had problems with the hydraulic steering, which is worrying. It gets very stiff and "George" the autopilot struggles to steer the course. By hand it feels all wrong as though the rudders are sticking on something. We will have to investigate and get it repaired. It's fortunate that it hasn't been a major problem yet.

There have been more birds around; white tailed tropic birds with their long white tail feathers and yellow beaks, a booby (or maybe it's a gannet in the Atlantic) diving repeatedly into shoals of fish near us, storm petrels fluttering like little black bats close to the surface, too fast to make out their defining tail shapes and give them their full name. Yesterday I saw a skua fly past, Arctic I think, and again later an immature one bullying a tropic bird to get his fish in a wild aerobatic fight.

The sea has been stranded with long lines of golden ochre sea holly, or sargassum seaweed, somehow channelled into long lines trailing downwind, giving a curious sensation as they writhe and undulate with the passing waves. The waves breaking over Tin Tin have festooned the guard rail netting with holly in a rather festive way.

So now for a few days exploring Barbados, and then a 24 hour sail to Trinidad to deal with repairs and laying up. As I look up from writing I am rewarded with the unmistakable grey outline of land ahead, with a shaft of sunshine picking out one white building in the gloom.