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.