View 2009 Grenada 2 in a larger map

The day passed by prepping the boat in between showeres and we said our goodbyes to friends. At 3pm we did some final food shopping, cleared out then bought and loaded up our wine and rum. On the way back to the boat we passed by Whiskers to our goodbyes to them. Au revoirs really. They’re on their way to NZ by next November too so we’re likely to catch up at some point.

Shortly after 4pm we were off. There was no wind in Chaguaramas to speak of so we motored to the channel. It seemed Dignity was performing better than before. This could be wish fulfillment but it’s possible the system was working better overall with the new batteries.

Once through the channel the wind still wasn’t up enough to effectively sail so we motored in a north easterly direction to get us up wind while we could.

Around 6pm we had enough wind to sail so we cut the motor. About this time the waters cleared enough to put on the water maker. We were pretty low so we had hours of running to fill up. Sleep eluded us for a but but eventually we settled into a rhythm. Helen slept from 9 to 11 while I slept from 11 to 2. During Helen’s shift the winds really picked up and we flew along making 7 to 8 knots, sometimes more. By the time it was my shift from 2 to 5 the winds gradually died to the point when about 5am I turned on the motor as we were not making good progress and a squall was bearing down on us.

We then motor sailed the remaining distance to Prickly Bay arriving just in time for the morning net. On the net we were reminded that due to Swine Flu restrictions we could only check in at St Georges (which we knew) but that we had to take the boat there too (which we didn’t). I guess this stands to reason as if we had swine flu they didn’t want us on the bus. As this was our third time checking into Grenada with the restrictions we knew the symptoms we were supposed to sign off on and knew we didn’t have them. Nevertheless we felt it improper to take the bus so we soon weighed anchor and we back to motoring around Point Saline to St Georges.

Once there we anchored pretty much in the same place as before. In the thin sand we know to be there the manson anchor set more firmly than our delta ever did. Not knocking the delta as it works most of the time but it seems the manson outperforms it. We then dinghied into the yacht club to clear in. We bumped into Jim from Bees Knees who is still doing his summer projects there and said a brief hello. We then popped over to Island Water World to see if they would cut cables and put on lugs if we bought lugs there. They said they would. That meant we were on for the house battery conversion. I’m keen to get this done before carnival. That way we can leave the boat for extended periods without worrying about the batteries.

Back on the boat I turned off the power and reconfigured the existing bank down to two 12V batteries liberating some cable which should yield enough pieces to make the set of connectors need for the first set of new batteries.

Back in Island Water World I discovered they did not have the right sized lugs. The ones for the cables I had had holes too big. I therefore took the bus to Southern Electric in the Prickly Bay area. Here I met Ricardo – the guy I set up the possible battery swap for tools. Together we looked for lugs in their store but they didn’t have the right kind either. He pointed out that he had the right tools to drill bigger holes into lugs, if I could find them, that fit the cables but had holes too small.

Next stop was ACE hardware. I was let out the back entrance of Southern Electric to save me a walk of nearly a mile. This involved climbing down a wall and jumping a ditch. All those hash walks had prepared me for this. ACE didn’t have the right lugs either so my final hope was Budget Marine. They turned out to have lugs that fit the cables with holes that were too small. Rip off prices of course but what could I do. I collected what I thought I needed (I now think I may be short) and trudged back to Southern Electric. Ricardo was glad to help. He drill out the holes while I filed off the rough edges of twenty lugs. I was then also able to borrow the hydraulic crimping tool and fancy cable cutter I needed. Out the back door again to get to the highway it was back on the bus and back to the boat.

On the boat I started by making the cables I needed for the first set of five batteries to go in the first box. With the day now coming to an end I figured despite the fatigue setting in from the crossing I had just enough time to get the first set of batteries in. I had to move the inverter to get access and remove the remaining batteries. Now without power I had to get the new box in, the five new batteries in and get them cabled up before we lost daylight. I just managed it in time. Juice was flowing. I reconfigured the charging system for the adjusted capacity and fired up the charger for 10 minutes to test. All was ok. Off with the charger and on with the cross charger to top up the batteries for overnight and that was that.

Dinner, wine and rest finished off the day.

We have a lot more to do today. The remaining seven batteries need to be installed. I need to remove the first set of five to install battery straps I forgot to put on last night. While I have the tools I need to change three more cable ends from the drive banks so I have lugs with the correct sized holes in them. These were cables attached to the boat so we couldn’t do them down in Trini. I don’t have the lugs for these cables so this will involve another run to the stores. I also want to use the crimper to put on the lugs for the doubling up of the cable runs from the batteries to the control board. A lot to do. Then, and only then, can we relax for carnival.

The tour turned out to be quite interesting. The first thing we were shown was what looked like a foot path through the undergrowth. It turned out to be a leaf cutter ant trail.

It was quite fascinating to see the ants carrying their snipped off leaves, often with other ants riding atop the leaves to guard against wasp which liked to lay eggs on the leaves which would subsequently hatch in the ant nest. We were later shown the nest soldiers which had formidable mandibles which apparently had the ability to cut right through flesh. We didn’t try that out.

Being terrible about remembering the names of things I can’t give all the names of the birds. We saw a couple of nocturnal birds that would stand on top of vertical branches during the day looking very much like an extension of the branch.

Towards the end of the walk we heard and saw a bearded bellbird way up in the trees. It’s call was extremely loud. I thought it would make an effective bilge alarm.

It was three O’clock by the time the walk had finished so we had to dash off to do shopping. We ended up having a brief look at the Falls Mall before shopping at the large Hi Lo next door. We bought a lot of stuff – particularly non-perishable items – as some things are a lot cheaper here in Trinidad and we had the car which made things a lot easier. By the time we had everything loaded on the boat we were exhausted so we ate and went to bed early.

Looking at the weather forecast today it’s almost certain we’ll be sailing to Grenada tonight. We’re looking forward to getting back as we do prefer it there. We have more friends there and we hear the carnival atmosphere is building up. Now that we have the freezer running I’m keen to replace the house batteries which I need to do in Grenada. So today will be clearing up the boat, making her ready for the trip, clearing out and collecting our wine. I will need to bend the lids of the starboard battery boxes so I can fit them properly.  I may make the second battery box if we have time and may also start on their lids too.

A quick check this morning shows they’re still showing a high voltage which is all good news. The only thing left to do is to bend the rear of the lids around the cables that come out of the back of the boxes.

We’ve also come up with a way to put all twelve remaining batteries into the area we currently have our house bank. We need boxes to store five of them at a time. Helen came up with the idea of sawing up our spare 8D boxes and joining them up to make boxes the right size. It was worth a go so I spent a couple of hours sawing up two boxes then melting the two pieces together.

The result doesn’t look too bad although the joint, on its own, is too brittle. We need to brace the joint with something.

Mike from Whitebird who took our two 8D batteries last week has shown interest in one of the 4Ds so this gives us an incentive to do some of the house bank installation while we’re down here. I may just give this a go tomorrow.

A couple of extras from yesterday.  I picked up a breaker for our house bank charger.  Right now it is wired in parallel with another breaker which is not good.  This will let me do a proper job.  We also visited the duty free wine shop.  Once we have checked out of the country we can buy wine without duty on it.  The prices end up quite reasonable.  We’ve ordered nearly sixty bottles.  I hope this will be enough.

Today we’re touring the island. Should be fun.

We debated our original idea to take the bus into Port of Spain as we didn’t want to go all the way there and find nothing open. We never really came off the fence on this one but we thought it was worth a try. Once in the dinghy we first went over to see Diane and Gerald on Whiskers who had arrived a couple of days ago. We chatted for a while and agreed to meet up at Sails in Power Boats for beers later in the evening. A steel band was due to play and we were hoping to have a good atmosphere. They were also of the opinion that not a lot would be open in town.

We then popped round to Freya of Clyde to talk to Anne and Alan. They had a map to lend to us which we picked up. Again – another chat about things. We talked of our plans and they pointed out the busses would likely to be infrequent too. That kind of did it. We had a plan B which was to go for a walk so we decided to do that.

As we walked along the main road, two local busses passed us by. This was hardly infrequent so we decided to catch the third into Port of Spain. When we arrived we found our bearings and headed off into the center of town. It didn’t take long to realize there something was happening. We came to a corner and there were some men and women in bright African clothing, all the same.

Soon we realized there was a parade on. We had no idea of the size of it. Some of it had already passed by but we stood our ground to watch what was left of it. This parade put the carnivals we have seen in Dominica and Bequia to shame. I was glad I had pocketed my small camera so we could record the occasion.

There were floats of many kinds. There were a number with deep booming drums being beaten intensely by enthusiastic drummers. There were trucks with 20 piece steel bands with bands both young and old all well practiced.

Almost every truck was themed in some manner. Some being themed by a local association or church, some going back to African roots. Practically all were followed by throngs of colourfully dressed crowds enjoying the music and occasion.

It didn’t take long before the end of the procession passed us so we walked further into town only to come upon the front of the parade which had looped back along a parallel street. This allowed us to see the rest of the parade that we hadn’t seen before. There were a couple of trucks with the immense speakers stacks that would send our clothes and eardrums vibrating (as we’d seen further up the islands) but fortunately they were the minority – the rest being live music.

In all we must have spent over two hours watching the parade. It was such a pleasant surprise. We wondered why no one had told us of this and why none of the cruisers, some of whom had been coming here for years, knew about this. Perhaps this was a personal thing and it’s not advertised broadly for tourists to come and see. Who knows? We felt privileged to be part of such a wonderful celebration.

We then wondered around for a while zig-zagging through the streets at random. Many of the shops were indeed closed but a few were open. We didn’t go in many but the cold air conditioned air pouring out of some was very welcome. We had lunch in a Chinese restaurant. Every takeaway had solid bars between the eating area and the cooks as if they were in jail. This was a reminder that crime is an issue here in Trinidad. The meal was a little bland but we had huge plates of food for about US$4 each, including a large soda. Not bad.

After lunch we were worn out so we headed back to the bus station via a supermarket where we shopped for some essentials and, by luck, a street market with lots of fruit for sale. On the way back we were again deluged by rain but not for long. By the time we arrived in Chaguaramas, the rain was mostly behind us.

Back on Dignity we were set for a rolly time. Not only was the swell coming in and making the bay choppy, the hoards of power boats coming in and out were creating immense wakes. A few were respecting the anchorage but they were the minority by far.

I did do a little more work on the batteries. I used my mini blow torch to heat the lids where they needed to bend around the cables. It wasn’t often pretty but it worked. Now all four lids sit snugly on the batteries. Port side fully done.

In the evening we went ashore to Sails for beers and a plate of chips. We sat down with Carol and John from Sweet Caroline and another cruising couple from Sail Away. We were soon joined by Diane and Gerald from Whiskers. We were also joined by Gary and his wife from Inspiration Lady. We’ve crossed paths before in Grenada. We didn’t get much time to talk but hopefully we’ll bump into them again in our travels. It looks like they are aiming for a Panama crossing around the same time as us.

We invited Diane and Gerald back to Dignity for a final Rum and Ting. On the way out we passed the Freya’s who we’d not had much of a chance to talk to in the evening. We had a pleasant time aboard with the Whisker’s. A late night to bed was the result.

This morning the weather looks fine. We need to goad ourselves into getting to work on the starboard side drive bank. The plan today is to remove the battery cabling, lift out the six 8D batteries and remove the boxes and all straps and dowels. We’ll then clean up the locker before redoing the dowels and straps and putting some wood filler to cover some burn marks left by some welding that was done before Dignity was originally delivered. If the wood filler sets sufficiently we’ll place another 12 of the 6V batteries into the boxes ready for cabling tomorrow. We still ache so we’re not looking forward to this work at all.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tSb078LsGk[/youtube]

On the off chance I could find boxes I lowered the dinghy to go ashore. Then it started raining again. Another real downpour. That pinned us aboard so we waited it out and had lunch. In the meantime we discovered a small leak in the hatch above our bed so we made plans to fix that too.

Once the rain had subsided I went back ashore to look for boxes and other items. As suspected, I could find no boxes but I did manage to get a dive tank holder, a breaker which I’ve been looking for since Martinique, a new hydrometer for testing battery acid and a decent pair of cutters for cutting hooks (remember the sea gull?).

Back on the boat I was just preparing to install the dive tank holder when the phone rang. I was informed that the batteries were ashore and I needed to bring in some paperwork. So off I went with our customs papers to be copied. I was asked to come back around 4pm when the customs inspection should be complete. I returned a little after and had to wait a while. The prospect of lugging all those batteries by dinghy didn’t appeal to anyone so we agreed to keep them on the truck and move them over to Peaks dockyard where we could temporarily dock.

That we did and with the help of a couple of guys we loaded the 36 batteries and 7 gallons of paint/primer onto Dignity. Not easy work. The batteries were places roughly one third in each hull and one third in the cabin. The effect on the water line is obvious as we’re now dipping at the front. We need to lighten up.

As soon as we could we were back on a mooring, showered and ashore at Sails bar/restaurant where we had agreed to meet Ann and Alan from Freya of Clyde who we learned are here in Trinidad for the summer. We had dinner and beers together and they, being regular summer guests here in Trini, were able to share much info about the island with us. We won’t be able to use it all as we’re heading back to Grenada next week for the Carnival. Still it was nice meeting up with friends from earlier in the season and catch up.

This morning we both ache a little from yesterdays activities. We’ll ache some more tomorrow because today we start swapping batteries. I am focusing first on the port set of drive batteries. Once we have the new batteries in place I can measure up and take all the old cables and have them cut to new lengths and new lugs put on the ends. With them in place I can then take the cables off the second set of drive batteries and hopefully have them cut and prepared today too. If there’s time.

I’ve had some thoughts about what to do with the house bank but the final, proper job will probably get done in Grenada where we have more time. That will also allow us to enjoy Trinidad a little during our brief stay.

So right now we’re limbering up mentally and physically for a strenuous day. Once the coffee is down, it’s off to work we go.