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.

Once again we cast off the dock lines and started on our way to Isla Margarita, a Venezuelan island off the coast. Before we left Charlie and Jerry had switched out the port engine starter motor in an attempt to fix the starting problem with that engine. However, the problem was apparently caused by water vapor lock, not the starter. We decided to turn the water off to that engine and continue on to Margarita and Trinidad.

We had no sooner left Puerto La Cruz than the heat exchanger cap on the port engine blew and we lost all our coolant. However, Charlie was able to fix this problem and replace the coolant when we anchored at a small island just outside Puerto La Cruz.

Next day the engines behaved themselves and we sailed to another island, encountering hundreds of dolphins on the way, a sight that brought an instant smile to my face. It seems that whenever we see these playful guys, we always have a great sailing day with no problems. We again anchored out that night.

On the third day out of Puerto La Cruz we arrived at Isla Margarita and spent lots of time anchoring because our CQR anchor refused to dig in. We finally threw out our second anchor, the trusty Danforth, and then we were secure, which was important in this crowded anchorage. that night we had an excellent dinner at a French restaurant with 2 other couples we'd met in Curacao.

The following day we did a major provisioning, especially for wine, beer and liquor, because, being a tax-free zone, Margarita has even cheaper prices than Puerto La Cruz. We went to Rattan, a huge store that sells just about everything.

Speaking of cheap prices, diesel fuel and gasoline are cheaper in Venezuela than just about anywhere else in the Caribbean. Last time we filled up fuel was going for approximately 10 cents a gallon. The next cheapest place to fill up is Trinidad where diesel goes for $1.00 a gallon.

Unfortunately due to the impending general strike, we didn't have time to tour Margarita; instead we left at dawn on December 9 with 4 other boats all headed to Trinidad. Lots more boats left Margarita that morning but were going straight to Trinidad; we opted to take a slower route which allowed us to anchor each night at different points along the northern Venezuelan coast. This turned out to be a fortuitous choice because currently there is such a problem with piracy on this coast that cruisers avoid it at all costs, a shame since it's one of the most beautiful areas we've seen.

To be continued.

Continuing with our adventures in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela - one day we took a bus to Los Altos, an artists colony in the hills just outside the city. Since we neglected to go with a guide, we didn't know exactly where to go but, as we got off the bus, we spotted a woman with a donkey carrying 4 cases on Polar beer, the local brew in Venezuela, and followed her, thinking she was going to a restaurant but she ended up at a house. Someone partied well that night!

On one of our marina sponsored shopping trips we bought a couple of boards, and Charlie made a ramp, making it a lot easier to get on and off the boat. Since we were backed into the wall that surrounds the marina, we were able to run the boards from the back steps onto the wall. Even Star, the dog, had no trouble getting onto the dock.

We also met another couple on a catamaran that pulled in right next to us called "Cat House". They made a very speedy approach to the dock and didn't really slow down until they hit the concrete wall, slightly damaging their boat - not a great way to arrive at a dock, but at least they didn't hit us. Of course we were standing by, fenders at the ready, just in case.

They were a nice couple, and the chief thing I remember about them is the wife kickboxing in the cockpit as a video played in the salon. She was around my age and in terrific shape Turned out they hadn't been sailing very long, and their subsequent fate is a cautionary tale for all sailors, especially newbies.

Sometime after we left Venezuela we heard that "Cat House" was wrecked in Tortuga, another Venezuelan island off the coast. Seems they had decided to leave Tortuga at night with only the autopilot navigating while they were both below deck and ended up on a reef. The boat was a total loss along with many of their personal belongings. As far as I know the boat is still there, slowly disintegrating on the coral, a reminder to other foolhardy sailors who might be tempted to do something similar. We always enter and exit a new harbor in daylight, and both of us are keeping a careful eye out for any possible obstacles in the water.

Back in Puerto La Cruz I observed at least 10 cats roaming the marina grounds, keeping the rat population down. Apparently they were doing a good job because some of the cats in our section of the marina looked a bit thin, so Charlie gave them some of our cat food. Being an animal lover I wondered what would happen to them once we left but have since heard they're being cared for, not sure by whom.

Every day we read an English language paper published in Venezuela called "The Daily Journal". It was so critical of the Chavez government we wondered how they were able to publish it, and, indeed, when we visited Venezuela in 2005, we couldn't find it anywhere. In addition to being a good read, "The Daily Journal" also contained the "New York Times" crossword which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Our plan now was to go to Trinidad, where my son Eric would join us for the holidays. After that we would sail back to Connecticut to deal with the 10 palettes of household furnishings I had in storage there. In addition, they were calling for a general strike in Venezuela to protest the Chavez government, so we wanted to be out of there before that took place. There were also rumors of a possible coup to overthrow the government, so, on December 4 we cast off the dock lines and headed northeast.

To be continued.

In Puerto La Cruz we saw many of the people we'd met in Curacao. Unlike gatherings of land-based people, in the cruising world, the last thing you know about anyone is what they did prior to going cruising. You're more likely to know what kind of boat they sail and how they're latest passage went. Liveaboard cruising tends to be a greater equalizer since the wind and waves don't really care about your past life. However, I did find out about the previous lives of a some of our friends, so to give you an idea of their varied backgrounds, I'll describe a few couples we knew.

First there was a older couple in their 70's who'd sailed around the world 3 1/2 times in a 32' Westsail. They grew up literally blocks from one another in a small town outside Buffalo, New York and went to school together from elementary on up. He'd been in the Merchant Marine and was retired from the Navy. I believe they're now land based.

Then there was a couple from Kentucky who had a trawler - yes, we have friends on powerboats as well as sailboats. They both had worked at a bank and his family owned the bank. He once told me "the difference between a house and a boat is that in choosing to live on a boat, you've chosen a home that could kill you". As far as I'm concerned I feel every bit as safe on my boat as I used to in my house; safer, in fact, because if the neighborhood goes down, you can always move. I think they were in Trinidad last year continuing on their voyage.

Another couple we know now sails half the year in the Mediterranean and spends the other half land based in the U.S. The husband, born in Cuba, was formerly an executive with a large oil company and once told me "everyone who is not a leader either follows or gets out of the way". Apparently he was still working on that concept with his very nice and feisty wife.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with all these people and more at Mares Mares, a nearby luxurious marina with a wonderful swimming pool. Even though we were in Venezuela, we had an all American Thanksgiving buffet, which included turkey with all the trimmings as well as a number of other dishes. We really enjoyed swimming part of that meal away in their wonderful pool.

To be continued.

With our dock slip in Puerto La Cruz booked for an entire month and not being able to take any trips to the interior of Venezuela because we didn't feel comfortable leaving our 6 pets, we had plenty of time to explore the city as there didn't seem to be any day trips available. Puerto La Cruz is a regular destination for cruisers, especially in hurricane season, and, as such, has a full complement of services available to boaters. At Bahia Redonda services included weekly bus trips into town for provisioning, a laundry, a small grocery store onsite and public phones.

One of our first errands was taking my little male cat, Tiki, by taxi (these were available at the street entrance to the marina) to the vet who was a Dutchman and so spoke a little English, a rare commodity there outside of the marina, and I was able to tell him about Tiki's eating problem. He gave me liquid vitamins which seemed to help for a while, and Tiki started to gain weight.

Unfortunately his improvement only lasted a couple of weeks and then we had the very sad task of returning to the vet to have him put to sleep. By that time he wasn't grooming, eating or even purring and was extremely thin so I made the only humane decision I could for him. He was 15. This was also my first experience with being there while the vet gave him the shot, and I found it so comforting that I now ask to be there when the animal is put down.

We also took the provisioning bus into a major shopping area near the marina. The bus made regular stops at a grocery store, hardware store, home improvement store, and a branch of Citicorp before winding up the tour at a deli/bakery where we got some of the best Sicilian style bread I've ever eaten, and I'm not much of a bread eater.

In addition to going on the provisioning bus, we also took the public bus into the center of Puerto La Cruz. You may recall that I'm originally from the heart of Manhattan in NYC, and Puerto La Cruz reminded me of nothing so much as the way Third Avenue used to look when the El train was still in existence. Of course Puerto La Cruz has no El but the street scene is the same: very crowded, hot and dirty with lots of small shops lining the streets where you could find goods even cheaper than the stores in the shopping area near the marina.

The first time we went into town on the public bus, Charlie needed cash and decided to use an ATM located right near where we got off the bus. Now he was used to the machines in the U.S. which keep your card until the end of the transaction so when this machine spit the card right back out, he put it in again, and again, and again until the machine kept the card and wouldn't give it back. Remember there was a huge language barrier here as very few people spoke English. We went inside the bank where Charlie finally found someone he could explain his predicament to, and he finally got the card back. Very lucky for him.

We also made many trips to a large mall near the marina. To reach the mall we took the dinghy from the marina through a series of canals along which were some very expensive-looking houses and a couple of townhouse projects built to resemble houses on European canals. I even learned enough Spanish that I was able to make the waiter in a restaurant in the mall understand that I wanted to take my leftovers with me. I was greatly pleased.

Another fun thing we did was go to one of the small local restaurants on the beach near the marina for fresh fried fish and beer. For $2 or $3 we got more food than we could eat and drink, and the fish was caught locally, most likely by one of the fishermen whose boats were moored in front of the restaurant.

To be continued.