Activity whirlwind to the end.
Oriole
Sun 27 Mar 2011 15:59
Crews Inn Marina, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
10:40.73N 61:37.90W
We had our first dive on a
beautiful reef outside Tyrrel Bay on Sunday. John got very short of breath
swimming against the current and had to keep stopping and hanging on to rocks to
get his breath. Anyone who knows his normal exercise tolerance will find
this unbelievable. We think that his diving regulator was badly
adjusted!
On Sunday night the swell rolled into
the bay and we had a very disturbed night and the prospect of hanging around for
the next few days for our survey and more diving did not appeal. The
haulout and survey were hurriedly rearranged to take place in Grenada and
we took our leave of Carriacou and had a great sail down to Grenada Marine
in St David's Bay where Oriole had survived Hurricane Ivan in
2004. St David's was blissfully swell free. We were joined there by
Homarus owned by Blair and Sherri, the former a retired Maine
lobster fisherman, who were to accompany us for their first passage to Trinidad.
The haulout and survey passed uneventfully and we
rewarded ourselves with dinner at La Sagesse, the small
and attractive hotel and restaurant where we had survived the post Ivan
period when Grenada was in total turmoil.
On then to the SE corner of Grenada
to check out with Customs and visit Graham, who had just arrived from Cape Town
to complete his circumnavigation on Eowyn, who we had waved off in
Rodney Bay in January 2010.
Finally at 0300 we raised the anchor for the last
time for the 80 mile passage to Trinidad. This is a fascinating expanse of
water which a verse of one of John's poems explains.
The passage from Grenada to Trinidad's
fair isle
Has just a bit more challenge and
requires a bit more guile,
You're often hard upon the the wind
and currents do not aid,
And Venezuelan pirates some traps for
us have laid.
In the event we had a really great
sail and had judged the weather just right with 15-20 knots of
wind either just ahead of or just behind the beam. Homarus,
a slightly bigger and faster boat, kept close station astern. The
Venezuelan pirate threat is not to be forgotten, and is a realistic threat
off the coast and islands of Venezuela itself, but there have been no recent
problems between Grenada and Trinidad. The NW going current in the
middle of the passage sweeps up from the east coast of South America and always
slows progress to a crawl for a few demoralising hours. However it is
relatively short lived and fairly predictable. As you approach the north coast
of Trinidad the water suddenly turns from deep blue to dark green with the
outflow from the Orinoco and other South American rivers. We pass several tide
rips where the current suddenly changes and if the wind is against the current
it kicks up a "washing machine" sea with overfalls and tumbling waves which
threaten to, and sometimes do, break into the cockpit. Yesterday it
was doing its best or worst depending on your point of view and with a good
20 knot wind we had a very exciting last three hours sailing in the approach
to the Boca, the dramatic steep sided entrance into the tranquil waters of
the Gulf of Paria, where we were accompanied by dolphins. By 1700 we were
tied up in the marina and cleared Customs and Immigration which is always a much
more cheerful experience when you are paying the officers on overtime!
They really are keen to see you and process you as quickly as
possible!
Oriole at rest and the mate
in customary pose - chatting.
Now comes the less exciting task of
putting Oriole to bed again for the Hurricane Season, so this is our final
missive. We have had a lot of fun, good sailing and great company and if
you have dipped into our blog we appreciate your interest and we look
forward to continuing in the same vein in December.