12) Chaguaramas, Trinidad

February 13, 2005

Mystery pool and restaurant.

            The first morning I was in Trinidad Jeff and I walked to the restaurant in the marina we were staying in for breakfast.  It was closed.  We walked to the marina next to this one and their restaurant was closed.  We learned from the gate-guard that the hotel restaurant down the road might be open for breakfast.  We got some vague directions and headed off.

            We came upon a deserted looking building that could have been a hotel.  We asked a grounds-keeper for more information and he pointed us to the back of the place.  So, we walked on thru the buildings and yard and came upon this swimming pool.  This pool sits directly below a multi-story building with a long staircase that leads directly to an outdoor balcony with seating.  It wasn’t really a restaurant in the sense that we all understand.  But, looking through the doors we discovered several tables with food laid out.  We stumbled upon the hotel buffet.  We did what anyone as hungry as us would do.  We picked up plates and loaded them up.  I got stuff I had no idea what it was.  Fresh juice and fresh fruit were the only items I recognized.  Everything else was local cuisine.

            Well, we ended our breakfast and honest that we were we looked for the place to pay. We caused quite a commotion with the staff because this took them by surprise.  They thought we belonged there.  Someone came from the back with a pad of paper and figured out a bill that we all agreed upon and it was settled.  We paid about $6.00 US each.  Not bad  One successful meal accomplished and no worries until the next meal.

Mystery pool and restaurant.

Crews Inn restaurant.

As of this morning I now know what one of those mystery items was.  I had the buffet from the Lighthouse restaurant near the Crews Inn hotel and I recognized an item labeled smoked Herring.  The island style has some spices and vegetables added to it.  After having it the other day and liking it I tried it again today and it was just as good.  I also tried salted fish this morning that apparently I tried the other day.  It too had spices and vegetables added in and I did not like it today as I did not like it previously.

Bologna with sweet peppers and onion was on the menu today.  Let’s see, Spam is popular in Hawaii and I’m thinking Bologna is popular here.  Funny, it was really good.

11) Chaguaramas, Trinidad

February 12, 2005

            After last night’s late conversation I did think about “it” for a second and decided it was time to leave Trinidad and S/V Laetitia.  The deal-breaker for me was the lack of a life-raft and/or an EPIIRB.

Several months in advance of arriving in Trinidad a group of about 10 met the owner and each other for the first time around a large table in the restaurant called Skates in Berkeley, CA.  Jeff's presentation included charts, pictures and several documents about the boat and all seemed in order.  Several of us decided to move forward and a few had reservations and backed out.  Jeff told us the boat was having a new teak deck installed and that was the only work being done to the boat.  He arrived at the boat a week before any of us did so he could be prepared when we got there.  He anticipated there would be something for him to do since the boat had been in that yard for well over 6 months and he had not been back since parking it. 

I was repeatedly assured prior to leaving San Francisco that this vessel would depart on February 15th and that this vessel was qualified and prepared for the proposed passages.

I arrived Port of Spain on February 5th offering to help clean up the boat and provision as a good will gesture with great optimism and anticipation.  After witnessing first-hand the condition of the boat and the struggle to get anything done by the boatyard workers, which Jeff had a work-order contract with, I came to a conclusion.  There is a distinct difference of opinion between Jeff and me as to what a qualified vessel for offshore passage making should be.

             I packed up the next morning and prepared to leave.  Jeff and I went across the water to the Crews Inn so I could check in and so he could meet with business owners that were supposed to be working on the boat.  We returned to the boat that morning and went our separate ways.

            Power Boats marina is on the right in the distance and hidden. Crews Inn is in the complex in the center across the water where the red & white striped symbolic lighthouse is.

Crews Inn Marina

I ended up leaving the room at Power Boats yard in the early afternoon when miraculously a taxi pulled right up to my door dropping off the neighbors.  I was dreading the 2-3 mile walk with my luggage, putting the luggage in the dinghy and/or the lack of phone to call the rare taxi.  I checked-in to the Crews Inn hotel and got a flight for Monday morning.  But, arranging a flight was an extremely difficult process and involved a lengthy series of e-mails to the states and hope.  

I settled in.  At this point things got better!

Crews Inn

Crews Inn

Crews Inn

(You Tube clip) everything else pt1

(You Tube clip) everything else pt2

      (You Tube clip) everything else pt3     


Post Script: I searched the e/m trail from this period and unfortunately did not save them in an e/m category that was not automatically dumped.  I did manage to find (1) e/m from a crew-member that found the boat in Panama so it did in fact leave Trinidad.  I have no regret not participating as the offer changed when the life-raft was no longer a viable piece equipment.

Reading between the lines of the following e/m is easy for me.

Sunday, April 3, 2005 3:39 PM

Hello All,
This is brief update on the travels of Jeff, crew and Laetitia.  I met Jeff, Joby and Peter in Bocas del Toro in Panama.  Everything was very smooth.  I planned to meet them at the marina on the 20th and actually found them on the street while strolling around after dinner.  We spent a few days in Bocas which is a fantastic little town with everything a person could want aside from high end resorts which few of us care for anyway.  The people were great, the snorkling was great, the town was cozy and mellow and the beer was plenty.  After a few days we sailed to Colon which is the entrance to the Canal where Jeff made plans to go through with an agent. 
Everything was great and I really enjoyed the crew.  Jeff is a pretty mellow guy and very appreciative of cleaning and prompt responses to simple requests.  If any of you have had doubts about joining Laetitia and Jeff, I would brush those aside, buy your plane ticket and go have a fantastic trip.  I know Ronnie didn't have a good experience and that sucks especially as a teacher trying to get away but ...I must say that I had exactly the opposite experience.  Maybe it was the luck of the draw but it seems like Jeff is a conscientious person and tries to keep everyone happy.  Okay all, good luck and safe sailing.  Jeanne

10) Chaguaramas, Trinidad

February 11, 2005

            I worked on the boat this morning for a little while and did not make much progress again. Some things are missing and can’t be installed, etc.  It is a bit frustrating.  Today they continued sanding the bottom.  They are still many days away from completion.  Jeff expected to put the boat in the water on Monday (today is Friday and the weekend is here again).  Late this afternoon Jeff went with the guy in charge of the bottom and bought the paint.  Marine bottom paint is very expensive and for this 44’ boat he spent a little over $1,000 for just the primer and paint.

        
Someone worked on this new refrigeration system today.  They managed to get the freezer to work correctly.  The refrigerator works if you connect it straight to the battery.  There is a problem with the main fuse/circuit control panel.  The electrician has to ‘fix’ this problem. Apparently, it’s difficult to get them to do work.  The electrician is still involved installing a new larger alternator and voltage regulator.  Some of his parts came in to customs today.  He is also waiting for a spacer to be manufactured because the new larger alternator has to be pushed farther away from the motor.  Without the spacer the alternator will destroy belts from misalignment.  There is no arrival date for the spacer.

 

Jeff.

Jeff and I took a dinghy ride over to the Crews Inn Marina customs area to receive parts.  That went fairly quickly since the electrician showed up and got it through.

We then went and saw three other businesses that were in the same area.  We talked to the refer guy and got the story on the system they are installing.

We talked to the guy handling the electronics/navigation equipment.  There seems to be a problem.  Jeff bought a processor (and didn’t know why or what it was) that allows a laptop to be plugged into the navigation system on the boat.  The processor is coming from England and won’t be here until maybe Wednesday 2/16.  (The original pitch to us crew was that the boat would leave without a doubt on 2/15).  You need the $1,400 software in the laptop to interpret the information from the sensors on the boat to get the most out of the system.  Jeff does not have a laptop and did not know anything about software.  He told the guy to mail the part to his home in Los Angeles.

So, this boat will travel using only the chart-plotter slaved to GPS with no hand-held back-up GPS.  That’s still an OK way to go but why spend all the money on this system and not use all the features.  But, the paper nautical charts are incomplete in that they cover large areas but not smaller areas with the fine details and do not allow for departures and approaches to land due to their scale.  

I have yet to see or be advised about route and weather planning.  And, the new equipment that is supposed to be installed as well as all systems are untested and uncalibrated and it has been proposed to "practice and test on the way".  Keep in mind there is no West Marine or anything resembling a marine supply store that we take for granted.

There is a problem with the anemometer (wind meter) on the top of the mast.  It does not work properly/consistently.  The boat needs to be ‘turned on’ to find out if it works.  It sounds like someone will go up there and replace a chip.  Some of these jobs overlap and no one steps up to the plate to make it happen.

            Most of the navigation and electronics are still missing.  And, we are finding out that there are problems with the circuits causing an electrical anomaly with the refrigerator.  It is very frustrating to look at these pictures and see the condition of this boat when the crew is here and ready to go.

The refrigerator on the right is still being worked on.

           

 

            My first impression is that this is a boat under construction and far from ready to make a potentially difficult and dangerous offshore ocean passage.

 

       
            The water-maker that is installed under the slats on the right was removed today and taken to the ‘shop’.  Jeff admitted that he ‘pickled’ it wrong.  You have to ‘pickle’ it for long-term storage with a special chemical cocktail.  If it is not pickled correctly then the saltwater organisms grow on the membrane and destroy it.  My impression today is that the membrane must be replaced.  The water-maker is inoperative and its successful operation is suspect. 

            The freshwater holding tanks should be cleaned and sterilized.  This boat has been sitting in the tropics on the hard for months and it is reasonable to assume that the water might be tainted.  The old diesel fuel should also be cleaned to remove growth and debris.  We discovered that the fuel-water separator is located in the lowest part of the bilge and requires a mirror to gain access.  Fuel spills will occur upon removal for cleaning.

Pete was gone all day today.  He took the bus into town to meet some friends he has that live on Trinidad.  Then they traveled to the southern end of the island to meet more people and have dinner.  It took him two hours by bus and taxi to make it back to his room.

He showed up around 11 pm local time and stopped in our room to see what was up.  Jeff and Pete talked about a lot of things and out of the blue Jeff started talking about the life-raft, not the dinghy.

He basically prefaced it to the both of us and said what do you think of this; he checked on the raft today at the certifier’s (life-rafts must be re-certified annually, inspection, flares, batteries, supplies, etc. replaced).  They said it needs to be replaced, they would not repair it and that it is beyond repair.  He didn’t agree with them and thought they were trying to make a sale.

This particular raft was manufactured in 1990 and now we know it has had a rough life.  It is an offshore model, as opposed to a coastal model, and has two main inflatable tubes around the perimeter.  The idea is that when one fails you still have the other to keep you afloat while you repair the first.  He actually said that he has spent enough money already and was not going to buy another raft.  He said that we were 4 young strong healthy guys and if we have to use this raft we can each share hand pumping the tube that has failed!  He actually proposed going to sea with a liferaft that the certifier said has to be replaced.  He was going to go to sea with a liferaft that has already failed!  He asked them to paint on a rubber repair or just put some giant patches all over…

Then I find out that the antenna on the EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) has broken off.  It cannot be repaired.  It has not been re-certified as it too has to be on an annual basis.  I asked if it was registered and he said he did not know.

When you purchase an EPIRB with the intent to use it you must register it with the application that comes with it.  That information goes into a database and is identified with that vessel and that name.  There is also a primary contact as part of this database.  When you go to sea on a passage you tell your primary contact the schedule.  If the EPIRB emits a signal the maritime search & rescue will call the primary contact to verify that the vessel is at sea and that this is a viable emergency.  They will not respond to many blind signals for lack of resources. Logic says to make sure the database is current for the best chance of a rescue.

Pete and I discussed in-depth that we could overlook many of the incomplete and inoperative items and still successfully move this boat from here to California.  But, we also agreed we would not go to sea on a boat without a life-raft or an EPIRB.

Jeff actually proposed that we think about it.  He thinks that it’s not that big of a deal sailing through the southern part of the Caribbean and that it’s an easy sail.  Long story longer, Jeff looked through a local catalog and found out that life-rafts are special orders.  Uhm, duh.  They are not sitting on shelves rotting.  They are made to order so they are as fresh as possible.  There are not many crew members that will get on-board vessels without a life-raft or EPIRB.

There are many many many missing parts, pieces, items, hardware, fittings, lines, ropes, chain, wires, etc. on this boat.  There are many many many projects that are not completed.  This is a boat that the owner declared would be ready to depart on 2/15.  We who are here relied on this and those down the line are relying on it.  There is a guy that flies into Bonaire on 2/23 to meet this boat.  This boat most likely will not make it there on time.  Jeff is convinced that everything is great and he’ll be leaving this next week. 

9) Chaguaramas, Trinidad

February 10, 2005

            This boatyard came alive today.  There are two guys scraping the bottom.  They assured us that today they would finish scraping and start sanding.  Jeff put the heat on them and said this boat is going in the water on Monday.  When the boat is in the water we will be staying on it and saving the money spent renting rooms.  I thought I heard that there are no slips available and we will have to anchor out.  Then, we will have to dinghy in to the boatyard shower, etc.

            Inside the boat two guys are working on the new refrigeration system.  Jeff is hovering around inside and Pete, Joby and I are coming and going.  Way too many people are inside at this time so I am back in the room.  We didn’t do very much on the boat today.  Some of the boats have portable A.C.’s on deck plumbed through hatches to keep the inside of the boat comfortable.  It is so hot here, to work inside they keep it cool.  Also, you have the option to cool it to keep it from rotting in the tropical sun when it is stored on the hard.

           

Tonight we all took the dinghy over to another marina for a BBQ dinner.  The name of the place was ‘Wheel House Pub’.  The sign on the wall speaks for itself.

8) Effects of hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan passed through the southern Caribbean in 2004 and devastated Grenada and also caused substantial damage in Trinidad and Tobago.  Some of the boats damaged from this storm made their way to Chaguaramas to be repaired.  Tucked away on Trinidad’s northwestern coast, seven miles off the Venezuelan coastline, is Chaguaramas.  Situated inside Trinidad’s largest national park, Chaguaramas has a safe, quiet and peaceful luxury marina and yachting center outside the hurricane belt and protected by the lush mountains of the Northern Range.  These boatyard businesses and services are purported to be the largest collection of marine repair and maintenance facilities in the Caribbean.

            The following pictures are of a boat that survived the storm with substantial damage and made its way to Chaguaramas.  The only reason this boat is still floating is that it is an aluminum hull.

Take a close look at the bent anchor on the bow roller.

7) Piracy Notes

Read a little and talked to some locals and we are deciding to bypass Isla Margarita off the Venezuelan coast.  Some piracy had occurred most recently and it’s wise to stay away.  The February 2005 ‘Caribbean Compass’ newspaper reported the following: …the Boca Del Rio area of Isla Margarita was recently a hot-spot for thieves targeting yachts.  Two of three thefts there reported in December involved yachts being looted by armed boarders.

            The following story reported in the February 2005 magazine called ‘The Boca’ portrays what piracy can do to dreams: In the last week of December, Rob Colbert and family of s/v Windsalm were robbed at gunpoint at Boca Del Rio on Isla Margarita and fortunately no one was harmed.  Rob explained; four young thieves armed with pistols and knives surprised us at midnight, rummaging while keeping us at bay for two hours.  They took all our cameras, GPS, computer, watches, dive gear and radios valued at US $7,000.  Rob reported the theft but the police seemed only to be interested in the description of the guns.  “I doubt that anything will be recovered”, Rob continued.

            Rob and Jo recently left Chaguaramas after spending 1-1/2 years doing extensive upgrading of their Westsail 32 at Peake Yacht Services with lots of help from his wife Jo and their three boys.  Their plans were to sail to the South Pacific and then back home to British Columbia, Canada.  “We haven’t made definite plans yet, but we are considering shipping the boat home,” Rob said.  “ We just need time to heal the wounds.”

            The owner of the refrigeration shop said there was recently a very bad act of piracy off Isla Margarita.

Here is another article from ‘The Boca’: A captain of a 50’ trawler who regularly travels between Cumana, Venezuela and Trinidad recently visited the Boca office offering some good advice relating to traveling along the northwest coast of Venezuela.  “Twenty-five miles off is still too close since boats can easily be spotted from shore and easily intercepted by high-speed pirates.  I have had it happen and I say that fifty miles offshore is much better,” said the captain that wished to remain anonymous.  He suggested that the crew should be alert at all times and suggested to keep running lights off.  “And one last thing,” he continued, “I recommend to avoid Puerto Santos area completely.”

11.02.2005 at 0400 LT in posn 10:16N - 064:35W, cement terminal, Pertigalete port, Venezuela. 

Two unlit boats approached a bulk carrier within 100m.  Security guards fired warning shots and boats moved away.

6) Chaguaramas, Trinidad

February 9, 2005

Woke up sore this morning from walking around so much yesterday at Carnival.  Walked past the boat on the way to the Internet café and saw a worker scraping the paint off the bottom of the boat preparing it for the new bottom paint.  They decided to scrape off the old existing bottom paint, sand, prime and then paint.  It’s about a 3-day job at the good yards in the U.S. Since we are here on an island and there is definitely an island time theme going on, I think it will take them at least twice as long.  That means it will probably take six days spread out.

I spent one hour in the café and on my way back to the room I saw Jeff and Joby on deck getting ready to run halyards.  There is no running rigging (ropes) on board because they were removed for long term storage getting them out of the sun.   The boat was purchased in Germany and brought here with the intent to have the deck re-surfaced with new teak as it is rumored to be done cheaper here than in the U.S.  Unfortunately, the boat has been in the hands of the yard for at least the last 6 months and with an absentee owner back in California it appears not everything had gone as planned.
 
There are messenger lines (thin white ropes) running up the mast and it should be fairly easy to do the work.  Walking away I heard Jeff say to Joby that all the labels on the lines are gone.  A little side note, all lines on sailboats are different and serve different purposes.  They have different stretch and strength characteristics, lengths and identifying designs in the threads.  Missing labels makes it a little harder.

As I walked up to the boat I noticed that the bottom paint worker was gone.  Well, it appears that during the one hour I spent in the Internet café the worker spent one hour working on Jeff’s boat.  At this rate it will take about a month to do the bottom paint.  Jeff asked me if we could scrape the bottom paint off ourselves and “how hard could it be?”  

While scraping you need to avoid scraping too hard and digging into the fiberglass and creating divots.  I know how hard it can be to scrape the bottom.  If you have ever done sheet-rock on a ceiling imagine that, but harder.  You are in a boatyard working off rickety scaffolding, scraping off toxic blue paint, it’s tropical hot and muggy, it’s physically very demanding.  Jeff paid the boatyard to do all this work and he is rightfully upset that they are not doing it in a timely efficient manner.  

There is so much that needs to be done that it’s hard to find a place to start.  We personally have no tools, workspaces, materials, specs, etc. to even consider starting on something that is halfway done.  Some of the manuals are in German as expected and are useless to us and there are many missing pieces and parts. 

The macerator is inoperable.  I guess it only matters if we need to discharge the holding tank.  There's a lot to be said about holding tanks and discharging directly overboard.  I find it incredibly difficult to swim in a crowded anchorage because I know the truth.

Some of the navigation lights are inoperable and need to be replaced as well as each bulb should be duplicated and stored as spares.  It's really only a safety concern if you want to be seen at night.  Even though there are rules of the road it is easier to say bigger always wins and it is best to be prepared.

Upon inspection of the boat I found a cracked stainless upper-shroud inner-stay attachment plate.  The stainless wire shroud passes through a stainless metal plate with a hole in it that has a design that allows it to capture and hold the wire.  This wire is structural in nature and by association the plate is also.  The only risk of a compromised rigging structure is the mast coming down.

The anchor chain is only 160' due to its large size which makes it very heavy.  The windlass accommodates this chain link but will not accept a smaller link or rope.     

 

            The mainsail is very old and in tatters in some areas which makes it potentially unusable and/or non-repairable.  It's a bit risky to attempt an approximately 5000 mile trip from Trinidad to Marina Del Ray with one poor-quality mainsail.

             There is no way to attach the stay-sail forward of the mast and there is no try-sail for aft of the mast so collectively there are no storm sails.

             There is no drogue or series of lines that can be dragged for slowing the boat down in following seas during a high sea-state condition.  In the unfortunate event that high seas are encountered these boats with no sails up can reach speeds that force the boat to surf down the face of the waves and punch the bow through waves being overtaken.  Pitch-poling can result in the worst of situations. 

             The starboard main-sheet winch is inoperative;  it spins with tight spots and will receive a winch handle but will not engage. 

            
             This boat was run aground on a reef in the Caribbean after its delivery from Germany and resulted in a destroyed rudder.  An entire new rudder was manufactured but there is still possible bearing/race and steering quadrant damage.  Another recent grounding removed a substantial amount of lead from the lower leading edge of the keel resulting in fairing removal at that area and the fairing along the keel to hull connection.  There is possibly structural damage to the tabs in the bilge.  

 

                                                                       

With what I now know this image is a precursor of things to come.  The owner is in the picture.  He put the sign on the boat and is adamant that all who board this boat remove their shoes.  I noticed over time that he was the only one wearing street shoes all over the boat.  He actually said to me that when the boat goes in the water he was going to make us crew leave our shoes onshore because he didn’t want the boatyard debris on the ground tracked aboard.  I am a boater and I wear street shoes across the boatyard and carry my boat shoes in a bag.  I religiously change shoes.  How do you point out to the owner that it is him tracking the dirt aboard?  

The thing about leaving shoes onshore bugged me quite a bit.  There are no slips or docks available and when this boat goes back in the water it will have to anchor out or attach to a mooring if one is available.  Basically, if you tie to a dock and your boat is there then it is safe to leave your shore shoes on the dock and not on the boat.  If you are away from shore and you leave shoes onshore you can pretty much count on them disappearing. 

I even noticed that the workers on the inside of this boat would leave their shoes on the ground, climb the ladder and work barefoot.  I am fully aware and convinced that there are those among us who lack global awareness of their own environment and actions. 

Many times I found refuge at the dock restaurant and tuned out.

           

5) Pictures of Carnival

By far, the most prolific fast-food restaurant I have seen is KFC.