We left as planned at 9pm last night. It was a bit disconcerting leaving in the pitch dark. Even though we had our route out plotted it was something else following it out trusting our planning not to put us on a reef. We came quite close to a green marker buoy we didn’t realize was there but that was about the worst of it in the end.
We soon settled into our nights sailing. We decided on three hour shifts and Helen, feeling quite tired, had the first sleep from 9:30 to 12:30 while I was on watch. No events occurred during my watch. The boat was sailing around 6 knots getting up to 7 at times. We were regenerating which meant we were making enough power to run the autopilot, the radar, the nav lights and the water maker and have a little to spare.
At 12:30 we switched places so I could get my needed rest. Didn’t get much of one. On a couple of occasions Helen had a bit of a relationship moment with the autopilot sending us way off course and waking me with the sails luffing. She also woke me for good reason when we were within a couple of miles of a tanker. At night everything looks bigger and nearer than it really is. But it was a good call to get a second opinion on things. Using the radar and AIS I felt reasonably confident he was overtaking us but I called the watch officer on ch 16 to make sure they could see us. He agreed we would pass their stern which we did.
Despite Helen’s efforts to get us closer to Belize we did manage to pass east of the gas platform Hibiscus. With decreasing wind and the effects of current and regeneration we didn’t pass Hibiscus until dawn. Later than we planned but it did allow me to snap a picture.
With the sun rising and the need to run the radar and running lights behind us I turned off the instruments and the regen allowing the house bank to be kept topped up by solar. We really needed this help as the winds died down to about 10 knots and we spent a couple of hours making only 3-4 knots across the ground. Whenever I felt it was time to cave in and turn on the genset the wind would pick up a little so we ended up sailing all the way to the channel at the north end of Trinidad. Incidentally, I also put out two lures at dawn to catch the hungry fish in their breakfast frenzy. You can count the number of fish we caught on the fingers on my right elbow.
We did turn on the generator as we entered Bocos Monas, the channel between Monas Island and the mainland. The water was pretty turbulent and the steep to cliffs of Trinidad threatened to cut off the wind. Which they did. This gave us the opportunity to bring down the sails before we exited the channel.
Chaguaramas has an industrial history and while much of it has been converted to boat yards, the industrial legacy is still prevalent. It sits in a national park which is very pretty but at the waters edge you get a shocking contrast. Wharves, warehouses, marinas, many, many moored/anchored yachts and ships. The area is rich in terms of marine stores and (we understand) cheap places to go and eat decent food. We’ll try all that out another day.
Today we had to check in. This involved tying up to the customs dock and making our way to immigration and customs in torrential rain. Contrary to expectations set, the immigration folks were quite friendly. Customs were a little more stiff but weren’t too bad.
After clearing in it was back to Dignity to find a mooring. The heavens opened as we did this and we both ended up soaked to the skin. After securing ourselves we both dried up and slept for a bit. We’re both still a bit tired. We’re not going ashore this evening. We’ll watch some 24 to keep us awake and get busy tomorrow. Final piece of news is we learned our batteries and paint have already arrived in the country. We should see them by Thursday.
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