Tobago to Trinidad

December 03, 2019

Charlotteville, Man Of War Bay, Tobago 20-27 November 2019:

The anchorage at Man Of War Bay is deep and we anchored in 19 meters depth at the Pirate Bay side. It was, at times rolly and it rain a lot when the squalls comes in.The town is small and sleepy and there is not much to do and many of the males seems to be drinking a lot. But they have a good library with friendly staff and I became a member (TTD 25) so I had unlimited use of their Wi-Fi and Internet.

David decided that, after all, sailing is not for him and he seemed happy to see land again. He flew out on 25 November to see his family and friends in the US and be with them for Thanksgiving 28 November.I actually enjoyed speaking to him and learn about the film industry which he has been working in for the last 40 years.

I then had to fix all the jobs on my to do list, like fridge, freezer, fresh water pump and Silicone the teak desk, where I thought there might be leaks. When most of these jobs were done, I departed at 07:15 on 27 November, heading for the Millford Bay on the SW side of Tobago.

He wind was 10 kn, but right from behind and there was a big swell that made for a lot of rolling. I only used the Genoa.

A pod of Dolphins came along and was swimming at the bow for a while and showing me the way to south Tobago. It rains a lot in this area and the rainy season should be finished in January, when I should be back.

Sailing along Tobago I understand what the rain has done to this rocky island as it is covered about 90% in rainforest and its highest mountain is 600 meters. The west coast has a lot of small bays which all seems to be rolly anchorages and has a lot of Piroge fishing boats taking almost all the space available for anchorage. It is therefore problematic for a visiting yacht to anchor in these bays.

I had 24 NM to sail from Charlotteville to Millford Bay, where I will have a brief stop to check my repairs and rest a bit before setting sails for Trinidad. I am looking forward to see that Bay as many friends have told me that the Bay is very nice.

Sunday 1 December 2019:

After spending three days in Millford Bay trying to redo the repairs, I believe that finally managed yesterday to fix most of them and found an temporary way to repair the pump. The coming days will tell if I have seceded.

This this morning I got up at 05:00 and set sail for Trinidad about 90 NM to the SW. The weather forecast showed 10-14 kn E wind for most of the day, dropping to nothing by mid afternoon, i.e. when I should be nearing Trinidad. So some motoring can be expected. As I write this at 06:50 I have full sails up and the wind is 16 kn from the east and the boat speed is a nice 6.5-8.9 kn. Hope this will continue for most of the trip as this is great sailing conditions.

By 10:00 the wind started to moderate to only 11 kn as I started to get under the wind shadow of Trinidad’s north coast (about 10 NM from the coast). Thus the boat speed dropped to 6.2 kn. But the maximum speed today has, so far, been 11.1 kn and the average was 7.6 kn, according to the instruments. There is a strong west running current of 1.2-2.4 kn and my course has been adjusted accordingly.I still have 33 NM to Chaguaramas, but might stop for the night in Scotland Bay, where I have been before and when arriving in that Bay I will cross my outward line and have thus completed my circumnavigation!

Trinidad is an island covered by jungle to a large percentage. Its highest part is about 1.000 meters and it is 100 x 60 km with a population of 1.2 million. There are a lot of oil and gas platforms N, E and S of the island. The oil and gas industry gives the country a big boost of revenues. Close in I was greeted by thousand of Pelicans and Frigate Birds, most of the following the 20 trawlers which I had to zigzag through.

At the front of the Scotland Bay I crossed at 15:15 my outbound line and have now completed my circumnavigation. I will celebrate this event this evening with a few (cold) Carib beers.

As it was Sunday, the Bay is very crowded and most boats have their loudspeakers on maximum. But by 17:00 several boats started to leave and by 20:00 it was all silent, with only a few boats remaining.

The night was calm and when I woke up this morning at 05:00 there was only one other boat hare and the Haul Monkeys were busy hauling. I can’t see these monkeys, but judging from the level of noise, there must be a lot of them somewhere in the trees. I have not hard Haul Monkeys since the Panama Canal crossing.