Caribbean - Barbados, Tobago and Trinidad

Cover picture: Tobago - feeding Hummingbirds

Where we currently are:

We sailed from Martinique to Barbados. Due to currents and winds, this journey is typically done the other way around. Our weather window worked well, although the wind was stronger than forecasted.

We often sail with a reef in our main sail (making the sail smaller). However a couple of hours into our trip we had to add a second reef and turn into the wind and high waves,

I got soaked trying to bring the Jib in and Sven lost his hat and his new shorts (which were drying on the "line").

We ate our pre-prepared fruit salad and warmed up our pre-cooked meal It would have been impossible to handle a knife and chase the rolling fruit and vegetables across the kitchen bench.

We saw big whales behind and in front of us. Their spray (blow) made them visible from far away and we were careful to keep our distance..

It took us 26 hours and we arrived early the next morning as planned.

Barbados

After 300 years of British rule, Barbados became independent in 1966,  

Barbados is known for its soft white sands, the vibrant Bajan hospitality and lets not forget the world-famous pop icon Rihanna who was born and raised here.

We anchored in Port St. Charles then moved to Carlisle Bay.

The check in was at a deserted Port (there were no cruise ships there when we arrived, so every shop and restaurant was closed). It felt strange but after doing our standard runaround, we got our paperwork sorted and passports stamped.

Below you can see a pilot boat and a tug boat (they help big boats/tankers when entering a harbour).

We left our dinghy under a bridge in the city of Bridgetown and walked around town.

In 2011, the historic Bridgetown and its Garrison were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kwilena was anchored in front of the Hilton and the Radisson Hotels.

The public transport system is very simple here.. There are bus "to the city" stops and you guessed it, bus "out of city" stops. You can't go wrong.

Loved this little side street. Many of the ladies wear hair extensions and there is no shortage of shops and stands selling them.

Look at these birds sitting next to each other in a row.

So many different items for sale.

Lots of "gold" jewellery is sold in the street too.

The next two pictures are of our boat in Carlisle bay. The white sand and blue water is lovely and we watched the marine life from the boat..

🥰Love at first sight ❤️. She will never talk back, never tell him what to do....! 😂

Hired the last available car, a Suzuki SUV. We saw many Mongoose running across the roads (some dead ones too). Mongoose were introduced to combat the growing rat population but instead they are killing snakes, the rates original predator...

We also saw the Green Monkey which is a common sight on Barbados. There is not that much to see on the island but we did drive around the island and also ventured inland.

First stop was the Animal Flower cave but we did not go to see the cave.

To move our legs, we climbed up the stairs of the Harrisons' point lighthouse.

The Bajan national dish is flying fish and cou-cou (which is made from cornmeal, okras, fresh herbs and butter). You can have the flying fish in a Sandwich or like Sven with Salad and chips.

St. John's Parish Church. Some of the graves there are 200 years old.

Stopped for a cold drink at the beach.

What is this strange noise at 6.30 am in the morning? Really?? Horses swimming past our boat !!! Turn up the volume please, so you can hear what we heard.

I loved the horses swimming past our boat, it was a highlight in Barbados. Before the sun rises, grooms from the nearby Garrison Savannah start leading the island's racehorses down the short trek to the beach. This ritual occurs nearly daily between approx. 5:30 am and 7 am. Some horses walk directly into the sea. Others enjoy a roll in the sand first before their swim. We thought it was a tourist attraction, but when the locals sang and made noises to encourage the horses, we checked in with Google and were informed, that these are racehorses. How beautiful!

When I (Caroline) was little, my dream was to marry a farmer with horses!

Tobago

It was another overnight sail from Barbados to Tobago (26 hours). We had a good route mapped out to ensure that the current was in our favour.

The South Equatorial current can be up to 4 knots, which is a lot considering that we only sailed between 5-6 knots towards it, It was a strange feeling once we hit the current. It felt like the boat was suddenly lifted on a conveyor belt and we immediately increased our speed! Would not want to do this against the current.

We took a buoy in Pirates bay, Charlottesville. The officials arrived at our boat an hour after we arrived - I was deep asleep. They asked us to come ashore. There was a lot of paperwork waiting for us, with similar ones needing to be filled out in each of the 3 offices - Immigration, Port authority and Health authority.

Pirates Bay was once a heaven for pirates. Edward Teach, a.k.a. “Blackbeard”, was the most famous pirate. We recently watched a Netlix documentary called "The Lost Pirate Kingdom / The real-life pirates of the Caribbean" which also covered "Blackbeard's" life. Blackbeard it seems had syphilis. When he held prisoners ransom, in 1718, he asked for expensive medical supplies. This included mercury which, when injected through a urethral syringe, was a common (ineffective) treatment for syphilis (Sven thinks this could be very painful....). It was also said that Blackbeard had up to 14 wives in different ports.

Charlottesville is a cute place and Tobago is a bit different from the other islands we have visited so far. The locals are so lovely and welcomed us with : "Welcome to Paradise"

Check out the fishing boats with 2 bent bamboo rods sticking out on each side.

I sat next to this gorgeous boy who was deep in thought.

We walked to the local car renal place....which was really just a wall with nothing behind it (picture 1 below). The car rental process was an eye opener too. A private person drove his car to us, asked for $40.- for the day, no paper work, he just took a photo of Sven's drivers license. We did not have his phone number and he did not have ours. He trusted us with his maybe only valued possession just like that.

The toilets at the jetty (picture 2)

Ha ha, the sign "MAN SHORTAGE" certainly started our discussion with these men. They were only too happy to complain that there are not enough males living here!

Trinidad and Tobago women are considered to be one of the most beautiful ones in the world - so surely, this can't be such a burden?

Like on many of the islands, you can smell the weed on people and in the air. So the sign at the football grounds seems a well placed reminder to "say no to drugs". There is a lot of drinking also, for some starting as early as breakfast.

Oh and this I see more and more now. It is so humid and rains regularly during the day and at night. When the rain starts, Sven rushes out with his brush and polishes something or washes the salt off. We get sometimes wet during the night when we are not fast enough to close the hatches. Sailors can sometimes be seen taking showers or wash their hair outside when it rains. This saves a lot of precious sweet and drinking water.

Dash showing us today's catch. Directly from the water to our boat - amazing and so fresh.. The Tuna was too big for the two of us so we at it different ways over the next few days.

We felt guilty to through the fish guts back into the water.

The night before I asked one of the locals what he will cook for dinner - pointing onto his bag with "chicken fillets". He explained that he will roll the fish guts into foil and cook it in the fire. He asked us if we could give him EUR 1.- so he could eat bred with it .....

A few days later we bought another tuna from Fisherman Dash and made cracked pepper and sesame steaks with Asian sauce and coconut rice / Thai Mango cucumber salad with Garlic marinated Tuna and Sashimi / Basic Ceviche (presentation on plate was not very nice but the taste was amazing).

Many of Tobago's roads are narrow and wind up and down the hills. The locals obviously know them well and drive them very fast.

Below are our highlights from Tobago island. We drove with the locals private car or here called "rental car". to Shurland James Hummingbird Natur Park.

a short video

We also enjoyed Corbin's local Wildlife. It is a small privately run "Park" or rescue centre . We were lucky that someone was there to show us around (seems you have to call first).. We learned a lot about the animals in Tobago. They said we could stay as long as we want ....while they go home... I did not feel comfortable knowing that there are some free roaming Boa constricts around.

Our favourite was the Armadillo. Unfortunately, the locals like to eat them here. We were told that Armadillos, locally known as tattoos, can carry leptospirosis and leprosy, but people still eat them...

Loved the faces of mum and baby turtle which looked "not impressed"

Tobago has no poisonous snakes (Trinidad has 4 types of poisonous snakes)

Still, we were shown two Boa constrictors which live in Tobago. I am really not keen to see one when hiking.

We posted a photo of an Agouti in one of our last blogs (they look like large red/brown guineapigs with long legs). We saw some white ones in this park and learned that this happens due to incest.

We saw Quenks, although pig-like in appearance, they are not a member of the pig family. They can get very aggressive when cornered. I do not know what the name of this strange bird is (second picture).

I would have liked to be in Buccoo for the goat races. They are held at the stadium around Easter and look like fun. Was also keen to stop at one of the local dirt ovens where they bake bred on certain days, but unfortunately not on the days we passed them.

We gave a local lady a lift who waved at us at a bus station.

Back at the beach, a local sat next to us to introduce a family member, a 9 months old girl

People chatting at the jetty.

We ate a good and simple lunch. Fresh cooked Roti with curried chickpeas, mango and chicken. Picture 3 shows the resting chef.

People watching while eating our lunch

A local shop

Just a few other colourful impressions. "Luxury Lifestyle fashion" promises" forever stylish, always sassy" (picture 2)

We did 2 hikes. The first one was called Blue Copper trail which had no marked or clear trails. There is no internet, so the downloaded off line map was useful. The second one, called Gilpin Trace was lovely and you could easily make out the path. It had lots of leaves on the track. So the first time something went for our legs my immediate thought was... a snake...

However, it turned out that we disturbed many not so pleased and ready to pinch crabs,

If you have volume on you can hear the birds in the background. I have another film which I did not load... Sven promising he would not flick one of these at me while filming but did anyway.... I should have known better, the temptation must have been just too big for him to resist.

Some creatures blend in nicely, others just don't. But in both cases their faces and action clearly state: Stay away from me or I will use my claws to pinch you.

How beautiful is nature!

Can you see Sven?

Our shoes/feet got pretty muddy so the running rivers came in handy. I lost another toenail from hiking ... must not be used to wear closed shoes anymore (I normally wear hiking sandals)

The green mangoes still hang on the trees and the riper ones are lying on the side of the road just for the taking. Most of them just rot away. Even the animals seem to have had enough of them....but not us.... so we collected many. Seems the locals have nowhere to process or freeze them.

Pirates bay. We were on the very left. The boats next to the beach are all fishing boats.

That's the spirit, A sign in a local beach restaurant:

Passion fruit, Mangoes, Bananas and starfruit. Here you eat whatever is in season/available.

We were 2 sailing boats in pirates bay. When the other boat family heard that we have never been to a beach BBQ, they immediately told us to meet them at 6 pm.

Below picture shows the bonfire and looking back onto our 2 sailing boats with their anchor lights on..

There were so many fire flies. It was magical., One even landed next to our feet doing its magical light thing.

The next morning we returned to customs to let them know that we are leaving Tobago, then prepared a float plan which we emailed to to the Trinidad Coast Guards. This is a "newish" and recommended procedure and was introduced to combat piracy... Trinidad Coast Guard has stepped up patrols, particular around the oil rigs.

We decided to break up the trip and do 2 daytime sails from Tobago to Trinidad instead of another overnight sail. For me, it feels less stressful if a boat approaches us during the day, than worrying when one is coming close during the night.

It was an unpleasant sail. We had more squalls during this day trip (sudden violent gusts) than we had during our entire Atlantic crossing.

Trinidad

We arrived in Grand Riviere, Trinidad before sunset. It was stunning - the green wilderness here is a delight to the eye, It was just us and 2 Venezuelan Fishing boats in that bay. We locked the doors just in case... that's unfortunately what reading bad and old news does to you. ..you become paranoid.

Continued our journey the next morning and motored along the Northern coast of Trinidad, then between Trinidad and Monos Island.

We use various sailing apps, below is called "NoForeignLand" and gives you land and sailing info. The red spot showed water turbulence, the blue spot is where were were at that time. The app even shows you where the last Crime occurred (represented by a small black pirate scull logo and drill down feature)!

Arrived safely and anchored near Chaguaramas Harbour. We were surrounded by many other boats. There was no wind and the boats turned in different directions, but somehow, even though some were on anchor and others on buoys, it works without the boats touching,

Our boat got hauled out the next morning, to get its yearly antifouling done. It poured down and we were drenched yet again. At least the rain is warm here but clothes do not dry well in this humidity. There are also so many mosquitos around and we hate spraying chemicals on us. They have mosquito-borne diseases here such as Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika/yellow fever etc. They still seem to bite once the chemical has worn off a little and we scratch the bites constantly.

What can I say,,.. to be in a boat yard is not really nice. But the people here at Peake Yacht Services are really professional.

Our view for the next week....

Shower and toilet block of Peake Yacht services. I make sure that I don't have to go during the night.

The possession and consumption of cannabis is decriminalised here. Sometimes we get second hand weed smoke, making its way up from below our boat!

Clean fenders and let them dry in the sun.

We can obviously not use the bathroom and shower while in the service yard. However, we can use the kitchen sink for rinsing some cups or plates. Oups.... what's the off chance someone standing under it just at the wrong time.... I got Sven perfectly.... only noticing it when he was shouting...

Love our little water tester. As expected, the water at the yard is at the lower limit of "poor", so we will not fill up the boat and will not drink it while here.

We are staying 3 nights in an accommodation on the shipyard ground, the other days, as mentioned, we use the yard's shower and toilet facilities.

Green Iguanas are enjoying the sun in front of our accommodation.

Got another rental car. So glad that Sven can so easily adapt from right to left hand drive. Even google map gets it wrong sometimes and has tried to get us the wrong way into a roundabout .... can't be trusted 😊

Our first stop was the Hyatt Hotel in Port of Spain/Trinidad where we enjoyed an all you can eat breakfast (we were keen to eat something else than Knaeckebrot and Oats). The restaurant overlooked the beach and boats ( because we see this so rarely 😊)....

From there we drove straight to Pitch Lake, the only asphalt lake in the world you can walk on. It is the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, estimated to contain 10 million tons and spread across 100 acres. Its content is estimated to last for another 200 years. There is also sulfur in the water and you are allowed to take a dip (guide would obviously have to show you where...). We saw vultures waiting to eat some stuck animals e.g. cats, goats. There are spots where you slowly sink if you don't know where to step.

The teacher and the children playing in the mud.

The lake was re-discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh in his expedition there in 1595. He found immediate use for the asphalt to caulk his ship. The lake has its own story and goes: Indigenous people were celebrating a victory over a rival tribe when they got carried away in their celebration and proceeded to cook and eat the sacred hummingbird which they believed possessed the souls of their ancestors. According to the legend, their winged God punished them by opening the earth and conjuring the pitch lake to swallow the entire village. The lake became a reminder of their sins.

Our temporary footprints

Perfect timing! We were just near a shelter when the sky opened up and heavy rain poured down.

There is a small "museum" on the site. It was interesting to learn more about the lake and the use of the asphalt. For example it is known to have produced the pitch for the paving in front of Buckingham Palace.

Quick granny nap before going to the next activity. Early retirement can be exhausting!

Next stop was the Caroni Swamp. It is the largest mangrove wetland in Trinidad We did not pre-book anything and were lucky, as we often are. The river boats had already left but the owner was keen to get us onto a boat which was not full as yet. They drove us in a separate boat down the mangroves. Once caught up we climbed into the other boat.

On the way he casually pointed out some Boa Constrictors hanging in the trees above the boat!

In the Mangroves

The 12,000-acre Caroni Swamp is the natural nesting home of the Scarlet Ibis bird, one of the national birds of Trinidad and Tobago. The major attraction at this mangrove is the opportunity to observe, close to sunset, the ritualistic roosting habits of thousands of these bright red birds. The guide explained that the birds travel daily to the Venezuelan mainland to feed, then return to the Swamp at dusk, a distance of about 11 miles. The mangrove trees provide nesting places for the migratory birds, making it perfect for birdwatchers.

We watched the birds flying over us and watched the Scarlet Ibis gather in preparation for the night .

We also saw many Flamingos which are not native of Trinidad. Seems they escaped from South America due to some deforestation. Can you see the Flamingo 😂? We only use our iphone mini for photos, so could not zoom in that far. But flying Flamingos are so fascinating - looks just like a long stick with wings.

Happy Birthday Sven.

Drove to a very simple place out in nowhere. You can see the Lady's outside cooking corner. The result, taste and presentation was amazing. She cooked the lobster, crabs and mussels in different sauces. They only offered plastic forks and knifes.

We wanted to find out more about steel pans (also known as steel drums) The steel pan was created in Trinidad&Tobago in the 1930'. Its history can be traced back to the enslaved Africans who were brought to the Caribbean in the 1700s.

Google advised us of a current exhibition in the Carnival "museum".

Below picture was taken in Grenanda where we first saw some steel pans.

Carnival "museum". Left photo shows a section where Carnival clothes are being made. The other shows a painter telling the history of the steel pan which was really interesting.

Again lucky - we did not book a Leatherback turtle excursion and just drove to Matura beach (it is a 2 hour drive from where we were). During the nesting season, nobody is allowed to go to certain beaches without a guide. Leatherback nesting season is from March to the end of August.

A Nature Seekers guide took us to the beach on a moon lit night, where one turtle was already digging to lay its eggs. We were asked to only use our red light head torches until the turtle starts to lay its eggs. The Leatherback turtles go into a trance once they start laying eggs and normal torch light can then be used. You are also allowed to touch the turtle during that time.

The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world.. They are named for their tough rubbery skin and have existed in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs. Their favourite food is jellyfish! Leatherbacks reach maturity after 15 to 25 years only. Mature female turtles return to their natal beaches for nesting, but adult male turtles live entirely at sea. Leatherback turtles are endangered, Good news is that charities and conservationist groups are working to protect them. At Mature beach they take and protect the eggs to ensure survival of the baby turtles (many get eaten by snakes and birds before they even make it safely into the water).

We ordered Starlink and DHL did not disappoint. It got delivered on time.

The simple Starlink Installation instruction steps were just incredible (just 3 pictures!)! Would it not be nice if everything was that easy and truly just "plug and play"?

Last meal at the boatyard next door before being lifted back into the water.

I did not finish my lunch but Sven happily ate the 2nd fish on my place.

Trinidad immigration check out (customs was later). These are the forms they gave us to fill out. Lucky for us we could bundle the colors and use some carbon paper for this process (they needed 3 copies of each of the pink, white, yellow and dark yellow forms).

We also summitted a float plan with coast guard to ensure a safer passage.

We do love challenges and pushing ourselves but are of course aware of potential hazards.

Over the last nearly 3 1/2 years I have been thinking about the following scenarios.

• When Orca's/Killer whales were attacking boats around Gibraltar, Spain Portugal

• Seeing refugee boats

• Hurricanes, sever storms, rough seas, lightening destroying boat instruments or starting a fire, tsunami, landslides...

• Sven falling over board and the difficulty I would have to get him back on board if tethered in or trying to see him in the waves if he was not on a safety line (we do, however, have personal locator beacons in our life wests).

• Potential of engine failure or hitting something when sailing during the night and boat taking on water with hundreds of metres of deep ocean water below us and no other boat nearby.

• Pirates or fishermen boarding yachts - in particular now that we are cruising near the Venezuelan coast.

Above, are of course minor compared to all the freedom and fun times we are having and the benefits this kind of travel provides. I also was told that I am more likely to get injured in a car accident or hit by lightening..... Very reassuring !

❤️Greetings to all of you - our families and friends.❤️

We are happy to be back on the water - hoping to get less mosquitos soon.

Whats next: Heading back to Grenada, then sailing to the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) which are special municipalities of the Netherlands and form part of Leeward Antilles.

The AIS link is still not working  (we are waiting for an AIS replacement)

https://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/vessels/KWILENA/CURRENT-POSITION/1/503113040 

Below is our interactive map of all anchorages and marina stops to date (road trips are not shown on the map).

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1j2hVU8cenT9-aasLyDWIAIpBTASPo44&usp=sharing