To Trini
We spent a few relaxed days hanging out in Bon Accord lagoon. We walked into town for an occasional Doubles run making sure we had a ready supply for our crossing. They are really good cold also. We spent our evenings enjoying some dramatic sunsets and the competing sounds of the many birds that make their home here in these wetlands along with a local resident with an enormous sound system who played his tunes at maximum volume for the benefit of everyone within about ¼ mile radius of his home. We rarely needed to turn on the stereo during the day and sometimes into the evening as well. We found a water spigot where we were able to take on fresh water in preparation for our crossing. We took Mighty Mouse over to Pigeon Point Beach and enjoyed a walk around the public beach there as well as a peek back into Store Bay to make sure all was well before venturing back over there. We retraced our track on our GPS on a rising tide to maneuver back through the reef and rendezvous with our traveling companions. We spent some time with our friends on Faith and traded some movies. Our Flotilla of the 4 original Team Tobago boats left at Midnight and traveled together to Trinidad arriving at the customs dock around noon the next day. The crossing itself was a motor the entire way as there was very little wind. Our watches were uneventful other than have to alter course slightly to avoid an oncoming freighter. It is a pleasure traveling along with someone who has a nice radar system as it allows us to identify possible trouble in plenty of time to make any course adjustments. The seas were flat and although we are still hand steering until we get the new motor for the Auto Helm it was easy going. Sailing up along the coast of Trinidad in the early morning light conjured images of days of old. The jungle again tumbled down to the ocean and the cliffs along the coast were pocked with numerous caves from small to large where one could imagine pirates might stash treasure or lie in wait for unsuspecting merchants ships to ambush. We motored into the main harbor where we left our traveling companions at Crew Inn. Check in with customs and immigration was effortless thanks to the bay hopping permit we acquired upon our check out from Charlotteville. We made plans to reconnect for future activities and then made our way around the point to TTSA where we welcomed by shouts from our friends Carl and Carrie on s/v Sanctuary. It was great to see them after so long. We had last seen each other at anchor in Isle de Saints back in Mid June. It is really nice to pull into an anchorage we have never visited and find ourselves being welcomed by friends. We also reconnected with John and Carol on s/v Sweet Caroline who are also staying here for hurricane season. It had been more than a month since we had last seen them in Grenada. TTSA is the Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association. It is a yacht club that offers a more secure location for people who need to leave their boats on a mooring to travel to the states and offers guest members, like us, the use of their facilities for a nominal fee. They have laundry facilities, showers, a bar and restaurant, an open air internet pavilion, and a watched dock to lock our dingy to should we need to go into town to shop etc. There is an active cruisers net that meets on VHF 68 to announce activities and regularly scheduled chartered buses that travel to a variety of locations and sights around the Island. We still raise and lock Mighty Mouse with her Engine up onto the Davits every night as dingy and engine theft is rampant here on Trinidad. Engines have even been taken off of raised dingies. Mike has just finished installing our new KISS Windgen and replaced a rusted shut seacock. We still need to rebuild our leaky head but the parts are readily available. We have scheduled to have our teeth cleaned with a local dentist recommended by our friends on Asseance. So we continue to get ourselves as well as DD back in tip top shape. We have spent the last week learning where stores and services are here in Trini and how to get around on the public transportation system. We had a wonderful dinner with our Tobago traveling companions for the last time together as some will be traveling home for a few weeks. Such is the friendship between cruisers but there are very few goodbyes. We know that it is very likely we will meet up somewhere else in our travels. It is a small world after all.