Plymouth anchorage	Sign at the Adventure Farm	In Tobago, potatoes grow on trees!	Not really. This is a seed pod on what the locals call a "cedar" tree. Not the same as a cedar tree in North America.	Hummingbird at the Adventure Farm
This grass tries to make its tiny seeds conspicuous	When last in Savannah, I gathered up my macro lenses, and now I just cannot resist taking pictures of LITTLE things	Another tiny bloom found on the side of road as we trudged along toward the restaurant	Fungi growing under the trees at the Adventure Farm	Land snail along a path at the Adventure Farm
Strange mask perched on a pole along the road-maybe voodoo	Entrance to the Waterwheel restaurant	Furnace, etc. at the Waterwheel restaurant, site of a former rum factory	Boil pans at the old rum factory	Waterwheel
More machinery at the former rum factory	Remaining foundation of one of the buildings at the old rum factory	Enjoying a drink at the Waterwheel restaurant	There were bats in a number of the buildings at the restaurant!	Steve and Linda on the way back from the Waterwheel restaurant

Back to Trinidad

At about midnight of the day of our Plymouth walk, we pulled anchor and headed back toward Trinidad, where there is a dealer for our brand of water maker.   Several hours into the trip, there was suddenly a vessel right behind us.   It had approached so rapidly Chuck hadn't noticed it on the radar.   Turned out it was the TT Coast Guard in a patrol boat that featured four (4) 250-horse outboards.   They requested that we put the boat into neutral and then said they wanted to board us.  Of course.  We have nothing to hide.  We should have asked that we be permitted to put down fenders first.   Theirs were inadequate, and they banged into our hull when they put men aboard and when they re-boarded their own craft.   Plus, they stepped on the newly-laid varnish on the cap rails with their combat boots!   :-(   But they were generally courteous and friendly, if you discount their AK-47's.  Our first boarding while underway.

We arrived back in Chaguaramas fairly early, checked back in without incident, and called Echo Marine about our water maker.   Chuck picked up one of their technicians early in the afternoon, and he removed the low-pressure pump so that it could be taken back to their shop for testing.   Next morning the word was that the problem was NOT that pump, and so the next step was to rebuild the high-pressure pump, also known as an "Energy Transfer Device", for some reason.   Picked up the technician at 9 AM, and by 10:30 AM they had the rest of our water maker on shore.   Said they would do their best to get it rebuilt that day (Thursday), since the next day was a holiday: the Hindu holiday known as "Divali", and they would be closed, along with the rest of the nation.   (More about Divali in the next section.)   They never called back, and so we are spending the weekend waiting and hoping that they have been successful and will be able to re-install the beast on Monday morning.  On Monday morning, the 12th,  we learned that the key technician has been sick and things have not progressed as intended.  They expect to have the water maker back to us by Wednesday, which will be a full week from when they started on it.   At least we are in a place we enjoy, so can't complain too much.  There is a good weather window later this week to get to Grenada, so we are hopeful things get wrapped up on Wednesday.

YSATT Shuttle Update

We mentioned previously (in passing) that the YSATT (Yacht Services Association of Trinidad and Tobago) shuttle had temporarily and mysteriously closed down.   Very little was ever said publicly, but sources report that private conversations with YSATT personnel shed considerable light on the situation.  There were two main issues:  a large number of complaints about the drivers being irresponsible -- promising to pick someone up at such and such a time, and then forgetting -- and secondly a strong suspicion that some of the shuttle fees were being siphoned off by one or both of the drivers.   So YSATT held a number of meetings and attempted to find a solution.   There was talk of a ticket system -- one would have to buy tickets at any of the local businesses and then just present the ticket to the driver, who would collect and then present the tickets back to YSATT.   This idea did not take hold, perhaps for obvious reasons.   It would require that a large number of businesses to assume the responsibility of selling the tickets, and it would be inconvenient for the passengers.  The ultimate solutions was a surprise, however.   The shuttle service was privatized and bought by a local which severed it from YSATT.   Most surprising was that the person who took over as driver/pilot was none other than the former night-time driver for YSATT.   It was our impression that most of the complaints about irresponsibility had been generated by precisely that person.  He certainly does seem a lot more cheerful these days, however.

The new operation goes by the moniker of "Chaguaramas Shuttle".   There was a fair amount of chatter on the VHF about that combination being somewhat of a tongue twister.  What we hear now, when the shuttle is being hailed, ranges from "Chaguaramas shuttle" to "YSATT shuttle" (he seems to have given up correcting them) to "Chaguaramas water taxi" to just plain "water taxi" (my favorite.)   So, for those of you who have been here before, and for those of you who will be using old guide books:  be advised that the YSATT shuttle is no more.   The new operation looks a lot like the old, but since there is only one operator,  the hours are somewhat more restricted.   Unfortunately, the price has doubled to $10TT per trip.

Water Maker Update (added 11/19/07)

We also mentioned previously that our water maker developed a problem while in Tobago.  We did not have the necessary replacement seals to repair the pump that we suspected was the problem, and so we needed to find a service center for our Sea Recovery system.  We had two choices -- 60 miles back to Trinidad or 210 miles north to Martinique (which is a French-speaking country that uses the Euro).  We decided it made more sense to backtrack and go to an English-speaking country where the US dollar exchanges quite nicely as compared to the Euro.  Within a few hours of our arrival back in Trinidad, a technician came out to our boat in the anchorage to evaluate the problem.  After a quick demo, he too agreed that it was a pump problem.  He disconnected the suspected low pressure pump and took it back to the shop.  Later that day we got word that the pump was fine.  The next morning two technicians were back to take out the rest of the unit so they could get to the internal high pressure pump.  It took them a couple of hours to remove it.  We learned that they did not have the rebuild kit (i.e., seals) for that pump and would have to order it from the States.  Chuck was happy to report that he had a rebuild kit in his spares kit.  He had purchased one last year at the recommendation of Tom on Cocoon.  Thanks Tom!

The technicians had hoped to get the repair done that day (Thursday), since the next day was Divali Friday and then the week-end.  Unfortunately, the key technician got sick and it didn't get finished.   On Monday and Tuesday we called to get a status, but got the runaround.  We were beginning to get worried that we might be in Trinidad for a while -- especially since we had just missed a good weather window to go north.  On Wednesday we went in to their office to see what was going on and that seemed to get things started.  They explained that they had to file down the facing of a valve plate that had worn and then replace the seals in the pump.  Halfway through they discovered that some of the seals in our rebuild kit were not the right size.  (We had been sold the wrong kit!  :-( )  They ended up taking apart another pump they were working on and borrowing the necessary seals.  They expect to get new seals in before they have to return that pump to its owner.  We really appreciated their willingness to go above and beyond.  They had the unit back to us Thursday morning -- almost a week after Divali -- and had it working three to four hours later.  Chuck later went in to pay the bill and discovered it was a whopping $284 US.  What a deal!

By the time the repair was completed the wind and seas had picked up so we decided to wait until after the week-end to head to Grenada.

Clouds over the dramatic mountains of Trinidad as we approach in the early morning	Trinidad/Tobago ferry goes rushing by us	Morning at the Port of Spain market - vendor selling pieces of pumpkin which is a very popular vegetable here	Barb checking out the christophene	Chuck buying some vegetables
Barb checking out the pig noses, tails and who knows what else for sale	Meat vendor slicing off some meat for us	Another of many meat vendors	Fish monger ready to cut up our kingfish	Entrance to War Museum in Trinidad (Chuck w/our tour guide)
Tour guide showing us one of the instruments of torture used in war	Moth Chuck saw on a men's room wall	Old army jeep at museum	Inside of jeep - a bit of a mess	Miniature pistol that actually works in museum - note quarter next to it
Dinner with Paula & Ron on the Krogen Dovekie

 

Divali

On November 9, Trinidad and Tobago celebrated Divali, a Hindu holiday marked by Hindu communities decorating their homes and adjoining streets with lights.  Jesse James arranged for multiple buses to transport about 150 yachties to a Hindu temple in Felicity, where we were entertained by dancers and drummers and then fed traditional food (in an adjoining building) served on banana leaves and eaten with no table ware.  We had already become quite fond of many of the items in the dinner, since we have been frequenting a Roti stand in the Power Boats marina and regularly ordering "buss up shot".   Yummy!

By the time we had eaten, it had gotten quite dark and perfect for joining the throngs of strollers and automobiles out in the street admiring the displays of light.   Most of the light came from candles, called "deyas", composed of small clay pots filled with oil and in which a single wick floats.   These are sometimes placed in patterns on the ground, and are sometimes "glued" with clay to strips of bamboo.   There are also a fair number of strings of small electric lights put to use -- in another place and time they would be called Christmas lights.  Most of the women walking the street were in colorful saris, and some of the men wore the typical East Indian white linen smock and trousers.  Families gathered in chairs in front of their homes, and greeted the observers, sometimes offering small packets of traditional Indian sweets.   Some of the displays were very elaborate.   One resident had two huge (two-story) murals hanging on the front of their home.   One was a painting of a waterfall, and plumbing had been installed so that real water fell down the falls.  They also had installed a large circular pool which featured two multi-level off-set concentric circles of framework for lights (and water).  The outer circles were fixed; deyas burning on the tops, and water dripping down to the pool.  The inner multi-level circles were on a floating frame that rotated in the pool and were adorned with yet more deyas.  The fences for the yard were thick with additional deyas.   Spectacular.   There was always a large crowd gathered, rapt with admiration and awe.

Greeted by drummers when we arrived at the Hindu temple	Drummer - note he drums on both ends of the drum	Jesse James - the organizer of our trip to Felicity, Trinidad to participate in the Divali celebration	About 150 of us attended	Inside the temple where we were entertained
Temple scenes	Temple statutes	And more	The Hindu "priest"	Charming dancer
Same dancer in another outfit	Two dancers who are sisters	The dancers invited the yachty kids who attended to join them	Jane of Shian and Barb in the temple (note the shawls they had to wear to cover bare shoulders)	Chuck in the temple (note the required bare feet)
Room where we had a Divali feast	Divali feast served on a banana leaf with the roti "bread" used to pick up the food - delicious!	Barb enjoying the feast	Typical deya - a coconut oil candle that is burned everywhere on the night of Divali	They use split bamboo poles and dobs of clay to hold the deyas
Individuals light up their homes	Another beautiful home lit up for Divali	And another	And one more	Barb walking down a back street
Little boy dressed up	Charming family	Chuck on the main street	Drummers entertaining on the street	This family went all out with a waterwheel - the photo does no do it justice - it was quite beautiful