Tobago

After news of cyclone Ernesto developing, we decided to take the plunge (against some opinions) and sailed south to Tobago. The wind was not working with us so we motor sailed most of the way. It was a rough sail with 2-3 metre swells. Luckily, when we were a few hours away from Grenada, my brother and I decided to sit on the front of the boat, getting splashed by the waves and singing very off key at the top of our lungs. Suddenly, my brother yelled hard left to my dad and Jangles swerved quickly out of the course of a large wooden plank that was bobbing out of the water. It looked as if it was attached to something below the water as the plank stood up right. And on cue, one of the rods went off. A Dorado had been lurking beneath the plank and had liked our little pink lure. Dorados are usually found under floating objects as they wait there for flying fish to come and lay their eggs. Joshua reeled in a decent sized Dorado that we had for dinner that night. We also hooked something that resembled a small Russian submarine. As my dad fought with the rod we began crossing out the fish it couldn’t be. It wasn’t jumping, only diving, so we crossed off Marlin and Sailfish, as they are usually jumpers. Eventually when we got the line close to the boat, the large Marlin (which must have been about a metre and a half long) surfaced, giving us a glimpse . . . just before the line snapped. We all sat back in disappointment and amazement as the marlin swam away with our lure. However, we still had a great meal of Dorado as we chased the moon to Tobago.

Ice man

We arrived in Tobago, as always, in the very early hours of the morning.  We had to anchor in Scarborough as that is one of Tobago’s ports of entry. We were all woken around nine am and told to change because customs required all of us to be there. As we got to the dock and began climbing off, my mom’s foot got caught between the dinghy and the dock and man overboard she went, into the water (which didn’t look very sanitary). So my mom dripped through the customs and immigration process before we got back to the boat. If there is one thing to know, it is that customs and immigration in Trinidad and Tobago are not very pleasant.  We spent a while waiting for ice that some local was going to bring to us as my dad had already paid him to fetch it.  We eventually decided that the money and ice where missing in action and finally put the dinghy up and were about to leave when the guy came running down the dock. So we stuck the kayak in the water and told my brother to go. He came back with the biggest bag of ice I have ever seen.We lifted anchor to move to another bay. After getting stuck in a few rain squalls, we finally anchored in Store Bay and got picked up by a friend we had made in St. Lucia, Robert. We had a delicious dinner of steak and lobster at his villa with his wife, Agnes and their local friend, Ricky. Ricky prepared the lobsters in the kitchen, even giving Josh a chance to slice one open.

Our chefs: Robert, Agnes and Ricky

Josh cutting up a lobster

We stayed on the boat the next day as there were high winds of 35 knots, lots of rain storms and a pretty rolly anchorage, so we stayed as we were worried about the anchor dragging.

The following day, we all packed our bags as Robert and Agnes had kindly offered for us to stay with them for a few days in the villa they were renting. We all got to pick rooms and spent the afternoon between the couch with the Olympics show casing on the television, and the porch where the great view was as well as where the beers were.

It was an early rise on Sunday morning as we were driving to the Speyside, which is on the northern tip of the island to finally do some diving. I sat out as I had an ear problem, but Rebecca, Josh, mom, dad, and Robert got suited up. They all did two dives, both of which I believe were fantastic. They saw untouched colourful corals as well as many glorious sea creatures, few of which include nurse sharks, spotted eagle rays, and many other fish (way too many names but they were pretty). We had a superb lunch at local restaurant called Jemmas Tree house. Later on it was another afternoon of Olympics and beer, along with a quiet evening.

Dive boat ready to go!

Joshua and Ricky

On Monday, we packed our bags and headed back to our floating home, saying goodbye to the long showers and nonmoving floors. We invited Robert, Agnes and Ricky aboard Jangles for a small taste of our home. We went for a sunset sail, light winds with the Screecher sail just staying filled enough to give us a gentle 3 kts of boat speed. Just as the sun was going down we had a great surprise of some dolphins joining us. They swam with our boat for a long time, following our fishing lures that were trailing in the water. As night overtook, we ran around the boat with the big torch shining it into the water as we watched the dolphins stun flying fish and having them as their meals. A few lucky flying fish managed to take flight just in time to avoid the dolphins belly, others weren’t so lucky. We had a pizza dinner aboard that night. We arrived back to the anchorage just as the lightning began. The dolphins followed us all the way and eventually left as we entered the bay. We sat on the trampolines chatting for a while before we finally said our goodbyes. I just want to say a big thank you to Robert and Agnes for inviting us to stay with them for a few days, we had a great time and you introduced us to the amazing island of Tobago, one to which we will be returning. We wish you all the best with your packing and travels. Hope to catch up with you both real soon.

Ricky, Agnes, mom, and Robert

Drinks up front

We checked out the next morning and headed towards Trinidad. As night took over, everybody was summoned on deck to look out for fishing nets. We have had previous experiences of running into fishing nets in the middle of nowhere just outside Trinidad. We managed to avoid an area of nets that was marked by one small flashing beacon. When we got to the anchorage, we were shocked by how dirty the water was. All of the recent rain had washed all the debris from the rivers into the ocean. We motored through bits of trees and litter until we finally anchored safely.

We had only booked for Jangles to be taken out of the water next week Monday, but with the condition of the water we phoned and asked to make it earlier. So lucky for us, at that very moment, early in the morning, they had an opening. Within ten minutes we were lifting our anchor and heading to Peaks. They hauled Jangles out of the water, and we all held our breath as she took flight and left her home to experience land for a while. She will rest quietly for the next 8 weeks until we return to her once again.

Jangles on her way to her land perch