Circumnavigation completed - DHARMA BUM III in Chaguaramas, Trinidad again
Friday, 19 October 2012
We left Itaparica together with SALSA and PARPAR. While both Henry and Kirk stayed kind of close to the coast, we went far offshore. In the beginning we were zooming along with the steady trade winds, but then the winds died and at the same time we were hit by a strong counter-current and plenty of squalls. Doldrums. Kirk realized what was happening and went SE in order not to get into the same situation. He went close to shore, got light winds, which SALSA likes very much. We remained stuck out there. So SALSA arrived in Trinidad about three days before us. Henry was going to Suriname and later French Guyana.
While out in the Atlantic the long-distance sailing was fun as usual, but things changed when we were between Trinidad and Tobago. There were ships going all over the place (no reaction on VHF channel 16 or to my strong halogen searchlight), we had to deal with the current once more and then we were hit by a 50-knot squall, which damaged our Bimini some more. Yet another job for after our arrival.
On the positive side there was a big school of large dolphins which were following us for a long time. There is all kinds of wildlife here. Iguanas, needle fish (about three feet long as well as tiny babies), gigantic moths, howler monkeys, different kinds of frigate birds and birds of prey – the list is sheer endless. Perfect for Aurora Ulani.
When I realized that we were going to go through the narrow gap between Monos Island and Trinidad proper during my off-watch, I speeded things up a bit. Normally we don't go in anywhere in the dark, but with all the ships, current, squalls and since we had spent seven months here in 2006, I decided this time it would be OK. We dropped the hook an hour after midnight and fell exhausted into our bunks.
When we woke up again, we looked around us and found the green hills of Trinidad, which remind us very much of Taiwan. Almost feels like home. I must admit, it also felt pretty good to actually have completed the circumnavigation. So many people had doubted us again and again - but here we were. For me, it is one of my lifetime achievements, although lots of people have done it in the past. I recommend doing it first and then start talking about how easy it is. : – )
One thing we didn't like was the fact that we were surrounded by big commercial ships. There was nothing to be done about it at that moment, though. We had to clear in and we did that as soon as we could. It was no problem whatsoever. They told us to come back before 1 January 2013 to extend our permit and that was that. We got a ride with a Swedish fisherman to the next functioning ATM machine and found out that prices had gone up drastically in our absence. It reminded us that we were now in the Caribbean after all and that means expensive. It also means a totally different brand of yachties.
We went to the supermarket to get a few things and after that we met SALSA-Kirk, who came to our boat for a chat. When we were there, we noticed a big military-looking boat anchored very close to us. That turned out to be a problem as around midnight we hit that boat. Fortunately Johann and his wife had been watching things and had their fenders ready. The boat was an old Dutch mine-sweeper, built entirely of six inch teak. We chatted for a while waiting for the crazy currents to change. I had almost forgotten that. It was the pilot, who had told Johann to anchor there and now he was exactly above my chain and anchor.
In the morning I heaved the anchor up which seemed excessively heavy. The reason was a heavy piece of iron pipe which had entangled itself around my anchor. It was so heavy that it took me about two hours to get rid of it. All the time sweat was pouring off me and once again I was swearing like a trooper.
The next few days we had to reanchor numerous times. No free moorings available and everything mega-crowded. In the mooring field the depth is around ten meters but right next to it is a deep channel for big ships where it drops to 30 meters and more. Not exactly ideal conditions for anchoring. On top of that the pilot boat chases you away when a big ship or even bigger barge (transporting parts of a naphtha cracker to Venezuela) comes in and you are not in the designated area. What is infinitely worse is what happens when you are not aboard at that time. The tugboat will simply drag you away which means that your anchor won't hold any more. Since you are not there to remedy the situation, your boat is at the mercy of the fates....
Fortunately a YSATT mooring became available and Jeff of SELAH (I had first met him in Langkawi) helped me to move DHARMA BUM III over there. Not so easy on a catamaran with only one functioning engine/saildrive. While going forward, you only have steering way when the boat speed is up. Going backwards, it is all but impossible. We made it no problem and the next step was to check on things ashore. I talked to Don, the boss of Powerboats, where our boat is supposed to be hauled out. I contacted our old mechanic Raymond, who is going to overhaul the engines, our old Indian friend Scooby, who will do the hatches and the Baco brothers Arno and Peter. These catamaran specialists were here in 2006 too and had built a 55 1/2 foot luxury catamaran since then. The boat should get launched in about two weeks and then they have to test it in the water. They will do the fiberglass work on the nacelle (a kind of middle hull typical for Privilege catamarans). Unfortunately that won't start until the middle of November, so it makes no sense to haul out until then. Also, there are good friends of my old mate Roy Starkey on SEA LOONE (currently in Madagascar) as well as of SULA-Ron, whom we had just visited in Itaparica and who is a good friend of Roy as well. Somehow the world of yachties is very small after all, no matter how far they are apart.
When all the work has been completed our boat will be in very good shape indeed. Kind of strange to have all the work done only to sell the boat. We ran into many other friends, not only the ones we knew from our last time here. Jörn Grote, who used to run First Mate and is now doing his captain's license in Fort Lauderdale and Henry, who used to be the stage-manager for Elton John, assorted wives and children went to the island Gaspar Grande for a "cooler lime" as Jörn called it. It was very good to catch up with old friends.
Peter Laine, who had also built a big catamaran in our absence unfortunately is as busy as always. Alwin, which we had met in New Zealand, had just bought himself a Fountain-Pajot Venezia catamaran. If he hadn't bought a boat already, he would have bought our boat on the spot. Selling a boat in the Caribbean is far from easy. Repairing things over here is difficult enough, but selling it most resembles an emotional roller-coaster. Our old friend Douglas Billings, who manufactured KISS wind generators, has sold his company. Most of the people here seem little changed and pretty much the same as when we were last here.
Apart from the boat, there is our new life to consider. We still want to give Germany a shot, although almost everybody tells us that it is a bad idea. It isn't easy to even get the paperwork done. It looks as if we have to go through the whole process of applying for a long-term visa all over again and this time Liping even has to prove her German language talents before a visa is actually issued. Bummer!
Depending on how long all this takes, we might even meet up with Roy and our old friends Schelmi & Isabelle from the 46 foot Wharram Tiki catamaran WAKATAITEA (they had built it while we were in New Zealand) again. That would be very nice! Also Karl and Libu might come here in ROSINANTE very soon. They are the yachtie friends which I have known the longest. Just like Roy, they built and launched their boat in the early 70s and have lived on it ever since. They did their circumnavigation and home-schooled their two children all the way through high school. If that works out, we can look forward to culinary delicacies, as Libu is just as much a chef as Liping.
Should be a pleasant end to our yachtie lifestyle.
Holger, Liping & Aurora Ulani Jacobsen