Scotland Bay, Trinidad
10.41.9N
61.40.1W

I find it interesting that the second part of our trip begins on the first of November as did the 1st leg of our trip. We checked out of customs and immigration and from sheer habit, went to see if the antenna that we have been waiting for the entire time we’ve been in Trinidad ever arrived; (it hadn’t) before heading to the duty free shop to purchase some rum for the trip back.

We said our goodbyes along the way and checked one last time on how the new owners (Debbie & Gary) of DocNoMore were doing. They had taken the boat out for a sea trial yesterday and had tried to drive it while the autopilot was engaged and ended up having the steering linkage mess up. They had called asking that we meet them and assist in getting them back into their dock. They were lucky in that they had a skilled captain on board who brought her back into the dock using the two engines and did a great job, we only gave a little push at the end to snug her up. They also mentioned that they couldn’t get a couple of other things running but since they were in working order before Roger & Elaine left, we can only assume that any problems are minor. We asked if they planned on keeping the DocNoMore name. Debbie said she didn’t know but gave me the distinct impression that they wouldn’t; which is fine with me. DocNoMore will always be Roger & Elaine in my mind.

I ran up to the marina office area where there is a restaurant and grabbed one last pizza for the road and almost made it back to the boat before the daily rain came and forced me to seek refuge in the cabana half way back. By the time I got back, Dale had disconnected our cir conditioning and cable TV umbilical cords and had singled up the lines, I had no time to mourn their loss. The only thing left for me to do was to shoehorn myself into a bathing suit and assume my position behind the wheel and wait for instructions to back the Palace out.

Needless to say, we slipped away from our dock and skirted our way through the anchorage without incident. We found our way out into the channel between the islands leading to the Boca, the main channel closest to Trinidad between the Atlantic and the Bay of Paria. Our destination to spend the night was Scotland Bay, a spot we picked about half way out of the Boca.

It was with somewhat mixed feelings that we left Chaguaramas. Of course, it took no time at all to adjust to air conditioning, water and electricity at the flip of a switch and eventually, we adapted to our surroundings and learned how to get around safely. Once we started touring the island, we actually enjoyed the sights Trinidad had to offer.

Surprisingly, after we disconnected, it only took a couple of hours to readjust to no air conditioning, making our own water and turning off electricity when we weren’t using it. We made our way as far up into Scotland Bay as we could without disturbing the other boats and dropped our anchor. It dragged the first time but set well on the second attempt. Rainbow Rider followed suit with their first attempt behind us and then ended up anchoring solidly further ahead of us. Moon Goddess stopped only for a couple of hours before they headed across to Grenada.

Dale commented that he had forgotten how quiet everything was at anchor.

After dinner, I spread out the charts to locate where Chacachacare, our next destination, was. Chacachacare is part of Trinidad but it is the out island closest to Venezuela. Even though other cruisers have told us about their stays there, I’m a little uneasy at being so close to the notorious “peninsula” where all of the modern day pirates roam. We’ll try our luck tomorrow and the first that you’ll hear of it will be after the fact when I upload our blogs, most likely in Grenada.