Old friends and new in Tobago

Last time we left you we were still in Grenada. This time we will regale you with our recent adventures in Tobago. We are a little behind at the moment, so please bear with us. I am writing this sat in Azimuth on the hard in a boat yard in Trinidad. Its been a crazy and enjoyable few weeks. Let me tell you more…

Our good friends Sally and Andrew and their daughter Erin had made a brave choice…. to join us on Azimuth for two weeks on the paradise isle of Tobago!

We were very excited to be leaving Grenada and heading for Tobago to meet our friends! Being only a short walk from a marina where the guide book told us there was a customs and immigration office, checking out of Grenada should have been simple right? Further investigation revealed that infact that office no longer existed. So a new bus route had to be negotiated to get us to the marina in St Georges. I think we must be getting better at finding our way around. It was an easy trip and no problem checking out of the country.

The trip to Tobago looked a bit more tricky. Having got thoroughly used to sailing on a beam or broad reach for the last 6 months, now we were faced with a tricky upwind 70 mile sail. We left that evening and things got progressively harder. As well as the tight wind angle, there was also a strong current against us, the so called equatorial current that flows around the top of South America through the gap between Trinidad and Grenada with Tobago slap in the middle. The winds were light and the sea state was calm for the Atlantic, and it was a lovely sail. Sunrise bought us in sight of Tobago in the distance, and a negotiation with the Trinidad coastguard allowed us to drop anchor in Store Bay on the South West corner of the island. We were one of only 4 boats in the anchorage, a rare feeling in the Caribbean where most anchorages are rammed full of boats.

The rules about checking into Tobago seemed to be quite complicated and arcane in comparison to the rest of the Caribbean. Firstly we had the phone the medical officer. He told us to wait on the boat until he arrived and issued us with a medical certificate? It took about 2 hours for him to get there and then he told us to come to shore. He didn’t ask us any questions, just issued a certificate on the beach?! I don’t think we have ever started a checking in process to anywhere on the beach?! Then he gave us loads of help on where to get money and how to get a taxi from Store Bay to Scarborough to get to Immigration and Customs, who he informed us were waiting for us. The 20 minute taxi ride cost £2 for both of us! The way it works is that everyone shares taxis and they go on set routes. A very easy and sensible system.

On arrival at immigration, the number of forms was bewildering. All filled in in triplicate with the old style carbon paper. I had to find a local photocopier to make multiple copies of boat papers and passports too. However, the people were very friendly, and we got through the process in a couple of hours.

So we had a week to wait before the Thompsons were due to arrive and we decided to get to know the lay of the land. The great joy of that week was meeting all the cruisers anchored in Store Bay. We had a truly international bunch. Tom, Kate and their son Marley from Australia. Gustavo and Danielle from Switzerland, Mark and Susan from USA and Pascal and Veronique from France. What a lovely bunch of people all sharing the same sailing life as us. We were the newbies on the block having only been at sea for a year!

Tobago is a relatively hard place to get to from a sailing point of view. And people are also put off by the reputation of the difficulty of checking in, as well as a history of piracy in these waters. That meant we were only one of about 6 cruising boats on the whole island. So different to other parts of the Caribbean, and we really felt like we had the place to ourselves.

The local beach bar was right next to the anchorage and this became the “clubhouse” for the cruisers! We got to meet everyone in there for a few beers regularly. This is where we found out about “Sunday School”, a local tradition held every Sunday night where we could experience a proper Caribbean party. So a plan was hatched. Some of us sailed up the coast to Irvine Bay, whilst others opted for the taxi route. it turned out to be a relatively small affair but great fun none the less. A huge PA system was blasting out reggae tunes. Many people were competing to see who could smoke the largest joints. There was a distinct smell in the air. Later in the evening the local Steel Band struck up a tune. They were really good. Here’s a little taster…

So we had a couple of days in Irvine Bay and then headed back to Store Bay for the arrival of Sally, Andrew and Erin.

The guys had there own ordeal to deal with first of course, the travel from the UK, a night in a hotel in Port of Spain and then negotiating the ferry to Tobago. What could possibly go wrong??

Well there had been an issue with booking the ferry. It turned out that the weekend they were arriving in Trinidad was the end of the school year. Apparently its tradition in Trinidad for all the new school graduates to head to Tobago with their families and party. Everyone was trying to get to Tobago from Trinidad!

So the poor old Thompsons had to queue on standby to try an secure their seat on the ferry for three hours. Bless them though they managed to get on, and in premier class too. Phew. No sooner has the ferry left than the dreaded sea sickness kicked in …. The poor guys renamed the fast ferry the “vomitarium”. Three hours of hell apparently! However, they made it and negotiated the taxis in Scarborough and we met for a great reunion in Store Bay. Well done guys for the supreme effort!

No sooner had the Thompsons found the sanity of land and started to recover from the ferry ride, than we whisked them off to Azimuth in the dinghy and got them settled in. Unfortunately it was a bit rolly, and this did not help the sea sickness recovery process. It took them 24 hours to acclimatise, but hopefully they weren’t ready to jump ship at this point and check in to the nearest hotel, thinking what have we done???

Actually the next few days were very relaxing. Life consisted of lots of swimming off the back of the boat. Cursing at the jet skis as they used the anchored boats as a slalom course. Giving in to the heat of the afternoon with a tactical siesta and several trips to shore to sample the delights of Store Bay restaurants and the clubhouse.

A few days of relaxing as hard as possible had the trick and hopefully everyone settled in OK, despite the challenges of living in a confined space aboard a yacht.

We had Mark and Susan from the USA in the anchorage. They very kindly invited us all to celebrate the 4th of July with a BBQ on the beach. Bring your own potluck food and drinks.

What a great afternoon. Mark cooked up a feast of chicken and we all enjoyed the ambience of the beach.

Some of the guys bought along a couple of sets of the French game Boule. Later that afternoon, Pascal gathered up willing players and adjudicated over the game. Easier said than done given that a few of us had maybe had one or two beers. It was great fun. Apparently we were in two teams, but I don’t think many of us actually knew which team we were in?! It didn’t seem to matter. Eventually the teams were properly identified… of course it had to be Trinidad versus Tobago. The competition was fierce, but Trinidad took an early lead and Tobago just couldn’t make up the difference.

Thanks to Mark and Susan for putting this together. We all had a great time!

So, we wanted to take the Thompsons for a sail up the coast to show them a little of the island. But before we did this, it was time to first see Buccoo Reef and the Nylon Pool and for Erin to have a try at diving.

The Nylon Pool was pretty cool. Essentially it is like a swimming pool in the sea with an amazing aquamarine colour. Buccoo reef is huge and very shallow across much of the area, so we took the dinghy along the Tom, Kate and Marley to go and visit it. I took a short video on the GoPro

It was to be a day of watersports. After we got back from the visit to the Nylon Pool, many of the guys decided to go and dive on the reef in Store Bay. Tom is a dive master and he offered to take Erin for a dive too. The rest us non divers went for a snorkel which was pretty good, although the visibility was not the best.

So the next day we weighed anchor and set sail up the west coast of Tobago. The wind was a little tricky so after about 2 hours of beating upwind we relented and pulled in at Plymouth Bay and dropped the anchor off a huge sweeping beach

The next day we took a visit in to the town. This was very different in comparison to Store Bay, a more traditional Caribbean town free from the trappings of organised tourism. We visited James Fort, built by the English to protect the bay (probably from the French). We then found a great little shop serving up a delicious lunch and sat looking out over the bay.

After Plymouth we moved Azimuth down to Irvine Bay where we had been before and there is a really cool beach bar. More chilling for a few days here. We had a great night out at a local restaurant called “The Fish Pot”. The meal was delicious and the rum punch was flowing freely.

We had one or two evenings in the beach bar where things may have got a little silly at times? Good cheap food was served too, cause by now we couldn’t be bothered to cook on the boat!

Whilst in Irvine Bay, we managed to get some details about a rain forest guide called Peter, a renowned botanist who took people on rainforest tours. We managed to arrange a tour for the next day. Peter insisted on a 6:30am start! That hurt … but we managed to assemble on the shore in time, and Peter picked us all up. It was a very memorable day and Peter was an excellent guide , hugely knowledgeable, and really lovely with it. Peter could whistle bird song of many of the forest birds and they would reply. He could also spot lots of different kinds of wildlife that we would have just missed if we were on our own.

On the trip to the rainforest we stopped at several beautiful bays on the way. All of them anchorages, shame we didn’t have the time to visit

The trail is called the Gilpin Trace. A Gilpin is an old Carib Indian word for a Machete. It was the Indians who originally cut the trail as a route across the island.

Peter caught this evil looking whip scorpion to show us. No one wanted to get too close!

Peter also found and opened a trapdoor spiders lair. He couldn’t get the spider to come out though. Perhaps for the best as I would have run a mile!

Here is a video I put together with some clips from the forest. Listen to the sounds in the background. It really was a magical place, and felt very prehistoric. I expected a dinosaur to appear on the trail at any moment.

What an amazing day. For me probably the highlight of our visit to Tobago.

Irvine Bay also had a really pretty reef that you snorkel to from the anchorage or by swimming off the beach. I put this video together. Look out for an eel sticking its head out of a hole in the coral, spotted by Sally. Erin got the best footage as she followed a shoal of fish as they swam around the reef.

All good things come to an end, and eventually it was time for us to head back to Store Bay and deliver the Thompsons to the airport. They had very sensibly decided to avoid the ferry journey back to Trinidad and opted for easier plane trip! As it happen the airport was only 5 minutes walk from the anchorage, easy!

Time for one last evening out and a meal at the Wonky Windmill. A few drinks at the clubhouse too

It was with a tear in the eye that we delivered the Thompsons to the airport the next day. Thankyou guys for coming to see us and making the huge effort to get to Tobago. We had a ball and we hope you enjoyed it too!

Join us next time as we head to Trinidad and get hauled out of the water in Chaguaramus for the dreaded boat work!