All good things come to an end!.
Oriole
Sat 29 Mar 2008 14:44
Monos Island, Trinidad 10:41.87N
61:40.58W
After a day at La Sagesse on Saturday the swell
drove us out of St David's Bay and we sought shelter from it in the calm of
Mount Hartman Bay behind its protective reef. We were away from the crowds but
close enough to civilisation to be able to pick up the wifi - very important for
communications - We managed to talk to Robert in Norway, Dani in Down
Thomas and Andrew up in Antigua. We checked out with Customs on
Tuesday and left Grenada for Trinidad at 0300. Conditions were lovely with
a 15 knot wind just forward of the beam and not a big sea. This bit of
water has its qwerks and the tidal stream and current information is not
available but can be roughly estimated. There is usually
a north-westerly set and for 4 hours in the middle we had 3 knots against
us. About 25 miles off Trinidad the water suddenly changes
colour from blue to green due to the water coming from the Orinoca Delta.
The demarcation is very clear and as we entered the green water the current was
switched off as if by magic. As we approached the Boca (entrance to the
Gulf of Paria) the stream set east. These conditions have varied every
time we have done this passage, the only reliable condition is the
north-westerly set in the middle but of variable strength.
Our temporary resting place before the
laying-up starts on Tuesday.
By the time we had finished checking in with
Customs and Immigration it was pitch dark and we gingerly approached the mooring
in Cactus Bay where we plan to spend the weekend tied up to the dock of the
lovely holiday home shared by the Lazzari, Kelshall and De Vertai families.
Apart from Chris the caretaker who came down to take our lines there was nobody
here, but that will change over the weekend with a public holiday on Monday. We
awoke in the morning to clear blue sky, no wind and no sea and crystal clear
water.
For the last few days we have been talking on the
radio to friends David and Annette Ridout who are rapidly approaching Tobago
from Ascension Island where they will complete their circumnavigation in their
yacht Nordlys which they started in 2003. They will have done over
14000 miles since leaving Australia in May 2007 compared with our meagre 1100
since December! See www.blog.mailasail.com/nordlys
We are booked into Crew's Inn Marina on Monday to
start putting Oriole to bed for the hurricane season. Our schedule will
no doubt be delightfully interrupted by the celebrations of Nordlys'
arrival here on Friday.
Finally if you have been following our
comparatively mundane activities thanks for being there, we plan to be back for
more in December.