Tobago and Beyond

After Jono left, we headed made our way Castara Bay and caught up with Porridge and Janelle (www.castararetreats.com).  They showed us around their beautiful Retreat and then we had a lovely night of drinks and dinner with them and 4 of their guests.  We then invited them all out on Our Rose the next day, along with Shaq - Porridge and Janelles son.

We headed to another bay and they snorkelled - I had baked early in the morning, so had Homemade Pie, Salad and Muffins for lunch.  We had a lovely day with them all.

Heading up to Charlotteville we were joined again by pods of dolphins 

(no matter how often we see them, they are still a wonder and soooo beautiful!)

We cleared out of Charlotteville on Wednesday, and left for Grenada at 5pm, sailing overnight and arriving in Grenada at 9am the next morning.

Yesterday, we finally had our "Chafe Guard" installed.  This is a fitting that was sent by Southern Spars in South Africa, which will sort out of Main Halyard chaffing.

We are so grateful to Brett and Teresa (Seismic Wave), Mark (Sea Life) and Jonathan (Chez Nous) who helped us.  We had a matter of inches to spare each side of Our Rose.  Richard did an awesome job helming us in and not a scratch was had!

Tobago (still)...

During Jonos 12 days with us we Snorkelled and Scuba Dived, Swam and we Limed.  

One morning when we came back from a little jaunt in the dinghy, we were waved over to a boat by a guy named "Porridge" - he runs Castara Retreats (www.castararetreats.com)

He had two guests with him, who were snorkelling, so when they were finished, we invited them aboard for a drink.  Brad and Annie were on their Honeymoon

We sailed the length of Tobago with Jono, 

seeing a pod of dolphins that stayed with us for well over an hour,

finally ending up back at Buccoo Reef, where we took him to Sunday School.

No, this is not the religious type - it starts at 9.30pm on a Sunday night.  

They have the local "Pan Band" the Bucconeers play, then the music goes to DJ from about 11pm, which continues all night - lots of dancing and rum punches!

This beautiful sunset reminded us very much of our sunsets at The Bay of Islands, 

with the island off our bay

By the way, our place is still for sale and we are very motivated to sell.

www.thebayforsale.com

Look who's here...

We were travelling with Ian and Wendy (Outsider) heading to Guyana, when our main halyard broke.  When we radioed to let them know we would be diverting to Tobago, we found that they were having trouble with their auto pilot, so they diverted to Tobago also.

Ian and Wendy were great support and help with the main halyard issue, 

with Richard spending some hours up the mast.

The four of us rented a car and "tiki-toured" around Tobago.  

We went for a gorgeous walk, ending up at these beautiful waterfalls (the photo does not show that there are 2 levels of falls)

This disused waterwheel was a tourist attraction not so long ago, however the greenery is taking it back into its fold

Technology today is amazing - we have been avidly watching the Americas Cup,

(and of course the All Blacks) even in very remote bays

We were so excited when Jono called and let us know he was coming to see us.

He arrived last Thursday - it is so awesome sharing with him our new life and our beautiful new home.

Plans Made To Change...

We cleared out of Grenada - next destination Guyana.  We headed up to Union Island, which would then give us a better wind angle.  We got up at 6am and headed off.  At 11pm our Main came down in a huge rush.  The Main Halyard had broken (AGAIN!).  So, we veered off and are now at Tobago.

Richard spent a couple of hours up the mast getting the main halyard back up and also trying to work out why the halyard is getting compromised.  We have emailed the "mast" company and will now email the boat builder to try to get a resolution to this.  Our main halyard breaking twice in less than 6000 nm, when we have not been using the main often is not good!

This weekend it is Trinidad/Tobago Independence day Celebrations - 51 years of independence.  The day started with a parade of all the Forces and Clubs

 With the day finishing with a Fireworks Display

Tobago to Trinidad

After some very friendly instructions from the "Heavily Armed" Coastguard at Scarborough, we managed to anchor.  The holding was not the greatest, however our Rocna dug in nicely.  We went ashore and completed as much of the customs and immigation as we could, due to it being Sunday.

We went ashore the next morning to finalise the immigration papers, then headed to get some fresh provisions.  We were not gone long, when we looked back at Our Rose, and from the angle we were looking at her from, it appeared that she had drifted - right in front of where the Trinidad/Tobago ferry comes in.  We were to find that the ferry had in fact arrived and pushed Our Rose out of their way with the thrusters!  

She wasn't however as close as we thought and not in their direct path.  We up-anchored and headed off smartly... Beware, the holding at Scarborough is not good!  We headed up the coast, stopping at various bays.  We ended up anchoring at Mt Irvine Bay, where we stayed the night.

The next morning (14 May) was Marks Birthday, we started the day with beautiful tropical fresh fruit platter, and then a cooked brunch.  We stopped at all the bays he had remembered from past trips swimming and snorkelling, finally anchoring for the night at Charlotteville, where we had to check in with customs again.  That night, we took Mark to a restaurant, where you had the choice of two items!  

We love this sign, on an old small shed - you would be lucky if they had any internet!

The next day we up-anchored, put out the screecher and headed to Trinidad, arriving at 17.30 where we had to check in with customs again.

The rules in Trinidad and Tobago are very strict - you must plan where and when you are going and have it signed off with customs.  If you are stopped by coastguard, at any time, you must produce the document that states you are where you said you would be!  This is due to drug/gun/blackmarket issues that they have had here on the coast.