Trinidad

Trinidad has a lot to offer visiting yachtsmen, is primarily outside the hurricane belt, at least I hope so this year. It has marinas and boatyards that handle super yachts, with travel lifts to haul 15 to 200 tons and services for both mono and multi hull vessels
The boating mecca of the Southern Caribbean is Chaguaramas situated in the north–western corner of Trinidad.
Chaguaramas was least by the Americans from Britain and used as a naval base for seaplanes during the war. Several of the buildings erected by the Americans can still been seen today and are being used by the Trinidad Tobago Defence Force. One can see the big hangers were the seaplanes were kept, and bunkers that were used for ammunition. In 1965 it was given back to the people of Trinidad Tobago.
Customs and Immigration is conveniently located at Crews Inn Hotel and Yachting Centre.
This area has grown tremendously into a major yachting centre the last 16 years. Owners bring their boats here for the hurricane season and others visit on their way north.
Chaguaramas has several yards of which Peakes and Power Boats are the biggest. Yachts anchor in the bay and some make use of the moorings buoys available. Several of the smaller yards have slip moorings available. Repairs and general maintenance to boats can be done by the owners or you can get an approved contractor to do the work. Boat shopping here is a paradise with several of the big suppliers like Budget close by. I wish I had all the equipment and gadgets available when I built Mila.
It is not unusual to see a big tug or supply vessel maneuvering between the anchored yachts, as Chaguaramas is close to the Trinidad oilfields.
I have not done much travelling in Trinidad except going to the airport or the supermarkets to buy provisions. The maxi -taxis are very efficient and one can go into Port of Spain for as little as 5tt, that’s 5 Trinidad Tobago Dollars. The present exchange rate is 6.25tt to the US dollar. Trinidad is rich in oilfields but unfortunately they don’t seem to spend money on the infrastructure. Some of the roads are in a bad condition and like most countries to many motor vehicles on the roads.
The country is beautiful and green, have a very high rainfall with an abundance of bird life. It is winter and suppose to be the dry season but the average daily temperature is 32 degrees and we have rain showers almost every day.
Mila is on the hard in Power Boats Marina and I am working on the paint jobs. The topsides are going to be painted with "Awlgrip". The new "Sunbrella " canopy looks good and keeps the sun off the deck. I fitted two 6500 btu aircons over two hatches and raised the swim scoop by 200mm this will minimise the noise of water while at anchor.
Milo, the boat cat is back on board and he seems to adapt well, making friends with the other yard cats. He caught a Iguana and brought him into the boat. This was quite scary as the Iguana was about 600mm long. I managed to save him out of Milo's paws but were bitten. Should have left him for Milo. Dominique and Alex did a fantastic job looking after Milo, the two of them left for England soon to be joined by Johness.
That’s all for now