One day our 14 year old dog Star wouldn't get up to eat. I had to take first water then food over to him so he could eat. He finally did get up but his back legs weren't working right and his eyes were running. Wade, the vet, came to see him the next day and said his condition was irreversible and he was in pain. Charlie and I decided to have him put down the following Monday and have some of our friends over for a wake afterwards.

Meanwhile another couple who were friends of ours from New York flew in to join us for a couple of weeks on the boat. On Monday, a couple of days after their arrival, Wade put Star down and we all celebrated his memory with a fine wake. After he died, Sadie, our cat who was a rescue case from the South Bronx, started sleeping in exactly the same place Star had slept - at the top of the steps leading down into the hull where our cabin is located.

We had originally planned to sail to Tobago with our northern friends. However, the weather wasn't favorable for the trip so we sailed to Scotland Bay, which is just a bit north of the Chaguaramus anchorage. It's a great place to get away from all the activity in Chaguaramus and commune with nature. The hollerin' monkeys were a particular attraction although we heard, rather than saw, them. While snorkeling there I saw 2 spotted sting rays.

Our peace and quiet was broken the next day by the sudden arrival of the Trinidad Coast Guard who were going to do maneuvers there. They arrived in large inflatables, roared through the anchorage, then went ashore firing their guns. Before they started the exercise they politely warned us what they were going to do so we knew it was just an exercise. A while after they finished, we headed back to Crews Inn.

Our northern friends finally opted to go to Tobago via plane since the weather was still not favorable to sail there. Remember the trade winds blow from the east and when you sail to Tobago you're sailing right into them. Coming back is a breeze but getting there is often impossible, especially at that time of year.

Once our friends returned from Tobago, we had a last dinner together at a beautiful, and expensive, restaurant in downtown Port-of-Spain that serves Thai cuisine on the lower level and East Indian on the upper level. The food on both levels is good but a bit overpriced. The Indian food is also spicier than I normally like.

Once our friends left we turned our attention to Carnival, cruiser parties, boat repairs, etc., and I found a way to make a tiny difference in the life of one of the locals.

To be continued.

In Trinidad we were pleased to find some of the best veterinary care available anywhere. This, despite the fact that pets are not generally allowed to get off the boat on this island, so the vet must come to the boat to treat the animal.

Dr. Wade Seukeran from Tenderheart Veterinary Services has an amazing way with animals. At this point we still had 4 cats and the German Shepherd, and he spent at least 10 minutes with each animal getting to know it before examining it. Even Sadie, a feline refugee from the South Bronx in New York, responded well to Dr. Wade's attention. Also we were now hauled out of the water in Peake's boatyard to make needed repairs to the bottom of the boat, so Wade had to climb up a ladder to get to the animals.

He picked up 2 of the cats for operations to remove growths. He returned them the same day in good condition, but I isolated them from the other 2 cats so they could have some peace while they recuperated.

The next day, January 15, we went on a fascinating tour of the mas camps. In Trinidad Carnival is a very big deal. People save all year long so they can buy the expensive costumes that they wear in the Carnival Parade. The costumes are sewn in little factories called mas camps. Each camp has a completely new line of costumes each year, which are judged at Carnival. The competition is fierce with the designers at each camp trying to outdo the others. Some of the costumes are very brief indeed, but some are quite beautiful. A few of the cruisers buy costumes and participate in Carnival. We would be content to observe, an experience in itself.

This tour also stopped at a few of the panyards where the 100-member steel bands practice. There is a competition for them as well. These bands don't sound anything like the small groups that play in some of the tourist spots on the various Caribbean islands. Instead they sound like full-fledged orchestras. Indeed, the sections of the band are named for orchestral instruments: violins, horns, etc. rather than percussion.

We stopped for a wonderful dinner at Fort George, overlooking Port-of-Spain. Also had some excellent rum punch made by the owners of this tour company, Trump Tours. It was so good we ordered a case of it.

There didn't seem to be a guide on this tour, but then we discovered that the guide was actually the husband of one of the cruisers on the tour.

We went back in the water the following day and docked once again at Crews Inn. Went to an event called "A Taste of Carnival" which presented a sampling of all the different kinds of entertainment that we'd find at Carnival. It was especially interesting for us since this would be our first time at Carnival.

To be continued.

It's been less than a week since the last post so I'm slowly getting back on track with these poststhings. Back in Trinidad we took another tour with Members Only to Ajoupa Pottery where we were treated to a demonstration of first class pottery skills. As with many attractions in Trinidad, Ajoupa Pottery is located in a beautiful rural setting seemingly in the middle of nowhere with wonderful views of the surrounding hills. Their ceramic designs, especially the hand painted pieces, are amazing, with some depicting complete scenes of life in Trinidad. However, they're too fragile to carry on the boat, so we didn't indulge.

After Ajoupa we stopped by the Hindu Temple In The Sea which is a beautiful temple built out on the water and connected to the shore via causeway. History has it that Siewdass Saddhu, a devout Indian labourer in colonial days was determined to build a temple. First he tried constructing it on land, but the estate owners tore it down. So he built his temple in the water instead, since the sea didn't belong to anyone. For access he constructed a 500-foot causeway out of stones and built much of the temple with his own hands. That structure has been replaced by a simple, elegant structure which attracts visitors for its location and its spectacular 180-degree of the water and shoreline.

Continuing our tour we went to the Wallerfield Wild Fowl Conservatory where I was able to get closeup pictures of the red ibis, Trinidad's national bird. Unlike Asa Wright, Wallerfield is located near a swamp, not in a rain forest, providing a whole new range of flora and fauna to delight viewers' eyes.

Just prior to returning to Chaguaramus we stopped at a marvelous spot overlooking the town of San Fernando, which we had previously visited. All this on one tour!

To be continued.

Realize I've let things go again and it's been over a week since I posted so let's get to it.

A lot of people, myself included, don't realize that quality healthcare is available outside the U.S. at a very affordable price. It turns out that many of these doctors trained in the U.S. For instance Charlie had developed some lumps on the side of one of his fingers so we went to see a hand surgeon to get them removed. The procedure was done on an outpatient basis but still required being in the operating room for at least an hour with the surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurses. The cost for all of this? Around $2,000. Just imagine what that would have run in the States.

The operation was done on December 31, 2001, so we had a quiet New Year's Eve aboard "Blue Star". Chaguaramus wasn't quiet, though. Several boats set off flares, none hitting us although some came close. At midnight many boats blew their horns. Meanwhile there was constant loud music from the New Year's Eve party at Crews Inn as well as from other places.

Once Charlie recovered we rented a car and toured a bit of Trinidad, driving over narrow, curvy roads. First we went south to San Fernando, a large noisy town where there were many street vendors selling underwear in particular. The next day, January 6, we took another tour to the north shore over roads that were even worse than yesterday's tour. Many times the road was so narrow that there was room for only one car, and there were steep hills. The locals drive down the middle and play chicken with you, a bit unnerving to say the least. The beautiful scenery was worth it, though, and we made our way to Grand Riviere where we stopped for lunch before heading back to Chaguaramus. From now on we'll use a tour company, that way even the driver gets to enjoy the sights.

With this idea in mind, we took a tour with Members Only to a steel drum factory. "Factory" is a bit of a stretch here as the building looked more the size of a large house than a true factory building, but the method they used to build the drums was fascinating. I especially enjoyed watching them tune the drums using an electronic keyboard for pitch. We also stopped at a lovely waterfall where a dreadlocked man was calmly bathing in the nude.

That evening we had a special birthday party for me and 2 of the guys from the couples we met in Curacao who all had birthdays around this day, January 8. Naturally we had it at Joe's Pizza, just one of the many occasions we celebrated there.

To be continued.

I finally finished cleaning the boat just in time for my son, Eric's, arrival on December 18. The first thing we did was go shopping at a couple of malls in Port-of-Spain, the capital of Trinidad. Trinis really go all out on decorating for the holidays. The malls there are trimmed as well as any I've seen in the U.S. These are large malls with the kinds of stores one expects to find in the U.S., just the store names are different.

The next day we went on a tour with Members Only to the Asa Wright Conservatory, located up in the rain forest and filled with exotic plants, birds and butterflies. Our informative guide had extensive knowledge of everything we saw, and anything he didn't know, Jesse James, a native of Trinidad and owner of Members Only, knew. At one point humming birds came to a feeder so close I could have touched them. We had a wonderful lunch at the Conservatory lodge, which also has accommodations for those wishing to stay overnight.

I've mentioned several times how the cruising community is like a kind of utopia where everyone helps others and no one cares what you did before you started sailing. Even the size of your boat is no stigma against participating in all cruiser activities. Especially on an island like Trinidad which is thousands of miles from the U.S., all cruisers have had to have a certain amount of sailing experience just to reach the island on their boats. The only exception would be someone who purchased a boat in Trinidad, but even they have to sail away from the island at some point.

For an example of the lengths cruisers will go to help other cruisers: our friends, Jerry and Linda, had run into a bit of bad luck with "Heartland"; their engine wasn't running and they couldn't use their sails for some reason that I fail to recall so Fred had towed them most of the way from Puerto La Cruz to Trinidad with his catamaran. Now both boats were coming into the Chaguaramus anchorage and "Heartland" needed help docking. A small dinghy flotilla materialized to help them. I was in one dinghy with the husband of one of the couples we had met in Curacao. Charlie and Eric boarded Fred's boat, and another couple we knew from Curacao were in a second dinghy. The dinghies were positioned on either side of "Heartland" and maneuvered her into her berth at Coral Cove Marina, having unhooked her from Fred's boat, all without harming her or the surrounding boats. Afterwards we all went to dinner at Joe's Pizza.

On Christmas Eve we went to a pot luck supper at our marina, Crews Inn, then on Christmas we had another pot luck on our boat with several cruisers we knew from Curacao. Finally on the day after Christmas we took Eric to the airport for his flight to the States.

To be continued.

Once in Trinidad we hit the ground running: visited several workmen about making needed repairs, went to lunch at a roti place, went to wine tasting, supper and a Christmas concert by local artists at Crews Inn, our marina. In addition to the wonderful performances, the highlight of the evening was dancing with Charlie, something we don't do very often.

All of this activity took place in Chaguaramus. The marinas, chandleries, and boatyards are so close together that it's easy to walk from one to the next. However, they're mostly located on the side of the anchorage opposite Crews Inn, so if you're at Crews Inn, you need to take your dinghy over to the other side. It's possible to walk around the anchorage, but a dinghy saves lots of time.

I should also explain what roti is for those of you unfamiliar with the term. It's a chicken, beef, shrimp or vegetarian curried stew which is wrapped with a flour substance similar to a tortilla. It can vary but I find it's usually delicious. It's very popular in Trinidad and can also be found on islands throughout the Caribbean. One caveat with chicken roti in particular - order it "boneless" or you will find the entire contents of the chicken, including bones, in your roti.

On December 14 we visited Joe's Pizza for what was to be the first of many visits over the course of the next 5 years. In addition to great pizza they have all kinds of pasta, salads, calzones and other Italian specialties. Their chicken salad is huge and laden with many different ingredients. Truly delicious. Joe's is still a main gathering spot for cruisers in Chaguaramus.

The next day we finally moved into a space at the end of one of the docks at Crews Inn. One of the problems with a catamaran is finding a slip wide enough to accommodate our 24' width, so usually we're on the end of a dock.

Christmas season in Trinidad is full of special events. One is Carols By Candlelight at the President's Mansion which is held at dusk on the lawn outside the mansion. Everyone receives a candle, and as the sun goes down, the sight of everyone singing Christmas carols holding their candles is incredibly lovely. Some of the best music I've ever heard was played in Trinidad, and this carol gathering was no exception.

The next evening we went to Parang, stringed-instrument music that is only played at Christmas. This was a very different event from the previous night as it was held in a kind of amphitheater somewhere up in the hills and was very crowded. After weaving our way once through the crowd, we opted to stay on the periphery where we could still hear the music and see the musicians without getting jostled by the crowd. Musicians were mostly playing acoustic guitars and other stringed instruments. A really fun event that we'd heard about from the people we'd sailed with from Margarita to Trinidad.

To be continued.

The first day out of Margarita we anchored at Puerto Santos, a small fishing town on the north coast of Venezuela. Although the town is poor enough that many houses appear to lack doors and glass in the windows, all houses have electricity because it's free in Venezuela. Even at this point when it was still relatively safe to anchor in this area, we were glad there were other cruising boats with us as our boats definitely stand out anchored among the local fishing boats.

Next night we anchored at Medina, where we swam into shore and explored the beautiful little resort we found there. On the following night we anchored at San Francisco, one of the loveliest places we've been, where the rainforest covers the hills and runs right down to the sea.

On December 12 we finally arrived in Trinidad, which would become one of our favorite islands. Since we arrived earlier than our planned arrival date, the Crews Inn Marina didn't have space for us yet so we anchored out in Chaguaramus Bay. Anchoring in the soft mud proved more challenging than usual due to the numerous squalls hitting us, but we were finally successful.

For anyone not familiar with Trinidad, our approach involved sailing through a narrow channel called the Boca, then navigating around several islands until we came into the anchorage proper which we recognized by the hundreds of masts in evidence. The masts belong to the many boats which are not only anchored but also docked in the many marinas or ashore in the boatyards. It's truly an impressive sight.

Chaguaramus is the cruising center of Trinidad. Whatever repairs you need, whatever parts you want, you'll find craftsmen and chandleries that can provide everything you can imagine. Also, Members Only, owned by Jesse James, runs all of its tours from here as does Trump Tours, another local tour company.

To be continued.