21 August 1994 Hog Island
I took the starter motor off and discovered that there is 800ohms between the negative post and the case. It should be open circuit. Glenys and I went snorkelling and found a load of lobsters. I didn’t bother to go to the Sunday barbeque and I’ve stopped drinking. We have decided to go to Trinidad in a week’s time.
22 August 1994 Hog Island
I went over to Secret Harbour in the morning and did some phoning around. Glenys and I went for a dive with Tony from “Marina Em”. We tried to go out to The Porpoises but it was rough and we nearly got turned over by a big breaking wave – we went somewhere else.
23 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys went into St Georges with Kirsty from “Tekaroa”. I fitted a sea water pump and tap in the galley. We are going to start to use sea water to wash up the dishes. This should help preserve our fresh water supplies. I spent an hour scrubbing the hull and got covered with hundreds of horrid tiny shrimp-things.
24 August 1994 Hog Island
I went up the mast and removed the wind indicator. The vane has corroded away, so I epoxied on a piece of Formica. I went over to “Marina Em” in the afternoon to help him with a minor computer problem. I was offered a gin and tonic with real ICE, so I broke my alcohol fast.
25 August 1994 Hog Island
I put the wind indicator back up the mast. We then spent the rest of the day tidying the boat because we decided to go around to Prickly Bay tomorrow to see the Steel Band. We had Tony, Dee and Marina from “Marina Em” round for dinner.
26 August 1994 Hog Island to Prickly Bay
Brett finished his last lesson of second grade – he’s now got a few weeks holiday. I made him a certificate and we had a little presentation ceremony. I scrubbed the propellor and the anchor chain and we motored around to Prickly Bay. We went to the Steel Band night which was very good. Gary met us there and brought a box of diving spares from Outfitters. I’m still missing a lift bag.
27 August 1994 Prickly Bay to Hog Island
I started to fit new bits onto my dive gear. Glenys took the boys to visit “Destiny”. We motored back to Hog Island. I went snorkelling with Tony and took my newly made lobster snare. I caught a 1¾lb lobster and had to smuggle it onto the boat wrapped in a towel – the season doesn’t start for a few days.
In the evening, Ian from “Manx Cat” had organised a soiree called the “Hog Island Culture Club”. Glenys took her clarinet, dressed in a black cocktail dress – she looked really good. Yachties are normally really scruffy!
28 August 1994 Hog Island
Glenys, Tony and I went for a dive. We went with the deliberate intention of poaching and caught 4 lobsters. We went to the barbeque. I wrote some long letters on the computer. We went to “Marina Em” for a huge lobster dinner.
29 August 1994 Hog Island to Chaguaramus Bay, Trinidad (Day 1)
We motored around to Secret Harbour and filled up with water. We then motored around to Prickly Bay. I went to clear out at two o’clock. As I filled in the forms, the Customs guy asked me what time I was leaving. “Six o’clock”, I replied. “You’re clearing out a bit early, aren’t you?” I said I had to take my dinghy on deck, etc. He then demanded £5 for overtime because I was going to leave after normal working hours. I told him that if I was going to have to pay overtime, I would set sail at four o’clock. He begrudgingly let me off without overtime. We left at six o’clock anyway.
We had a nice sail about 60° on the wind. Very dark night. Craig has had prickly heat for the last couple of weeks. He has a lot of spots on his face which he has scratched – he looks a mess, poor soul!
30 August 1994 Hog Island to Chaguaramus Bay, Trinidad (Day 2)
We arrived a little bit too far upwind and had to slop downwind for the last hour. We motored around to Chaguaramus and anchored next to “Tekaroa”. “Ootek” are here, and “Rubiyat” is on the hard. I cleared customs and had to fill in 4 forms with a total of 14 copies! We wandered around the boatyards, had a few beers at lunchtime and arranged to be hauled out on 2nd September. We went to the bar in the evening with “Tekaroa” and Alison and kids from “Lily Maid”.
31 August 1994 Chaguaramus Bay
Trinidad’s Independence Day Holiday. The boys and I dinghied over to Gaspar Grande Island and went to Gasparee Caves. This is a limestone cave with 2 big holes in the roof, a small lake at the bottom and fruit bats living in there. They have a guide to take you down the 100 ft deep cave which is very nice.
We did a few jobs in the afternoon. I had to break part of a clamp for the roller reefing in order to slacken it enough to take it off.
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