Marina CrewsInn	Dinghy Dock
Customs office	Immigration

Customs and immigration are close to each other. For immigration you have to go up the stairs. What I had forgotten to say is that they have rather strict clothing requirements here in Trinidad. For example, you are not allowed to wear camouflage clothing and not even something that looks like it, like the shorts that Fred was wearing yesterday! You can get big fines for this. When we walk up the stairs to immigration, a guard with a grumpy face stands before us. He looks at us, shaking his head and emits a negative voice. Our clothing is apparently not appropriate and we actually have to go back to change. Fred has already taken his shorts into account, but wearing a sleeveless shirt does not seem appropriate to visit the authorities either! The rules (there are quite a few) are written on a sign in Spanish and English, but the guard with his big ass is standing before the sign. His friendliness knows no limits, we can go into the office this time, but next time ……. Brrr. My irritation level is increasing, what a ridiculous hassle.
Things are clearly different in the office and we are treated well. Of course we also have to fill in the necessary forms here, but luckily they have old-fashioned carbon paper, that makes a difference. We have to pay 100 TT (around € 14.00). Since we have not yet seen an ATM (which also turns out not to be here), we only have US dollars. We bought this in advance in the Netherlands because it seemed useful to us. The lady just doesn't have enough money back, so if we want to change it ourselves ...
Okay, but then we also first have a nice coffee. After that Fred goes back quickly, but then they are having a lunch break ………. Then to the supermarket "Massy Stores", where you can get the basics. Afterwards back to immigration to pay. The lady is surprised that we have come back. But we are honest enough and pay exactly what we owe.

The mooring that lie just before "PowerBoats" are from Avi Trudeau (+18684777426) and you pay 1000 TT (€ 140.00 per month). The money is collected by Herbert, a German who has been mooring here with his boat for 4 years. Various sailboats are moored around us and some boats at anchor. In between, medium-sized wooden fishing boats from Venezuela often drop anchor. They are often too close and we address them several times. They don't have a real anchor, they use a large piece of concrete on a rope which they throw overboard. Many boats of all sizes are racing along at high speeds, apparently there is no question of a certain speed limit here. These cause large waves, so that our boat regularly goes astray. On the large quay there are huge, large boats that, among other things, provide the various oil platforms that are located here off the coast with all kinds of goods. Venezuela is not far from here and it is said that Venezuelans often cause nuisance and crime. Sailors therefore try to stay as far away as possible from the coast of Venezuela. Reports are regularly made involving attempted robberies of yachts. It is better to avoid some areas and if impossible, to be better prepared. That is why (mostly Americans, because they are afraid of everything) like to sail in convoy from Grenada to Tobago and Trinidad. These convoys are then accompanied by the CG (Coast Guard). Of course, these kinds of topics are discussed among sailors and the opinions about "How to defend yourself" in case off being robbed are quite different. We are also taking our measures in this way, but I will not describe them here.
 
Engine trouble
Well ... and now our engine problems, because that is the reason that we ended up here in Trinidad.
Less than two years ago we bought a new engine, one that we could easily maintain ourselves. A 50 HP engine from ‘Beta Marine’, the basis is a Kubota engine block that is made suitable for sailing yachts. We wanted a more reliable engine than the old one, which was more than 30 years old, because we have to be able to rely on this in the future. And then we get this… .. within 2 years these huge problems with a new engine. Our minds are now somewhat calm and it is time to make some plans. Monday we are the first to look for a technician. Via the office of "PowerBoats" we come in contact with the mechanic Raymond who goes with us to the boat to see what should happen next. It soon becomes clear that the engine will have to be taken out of the boat and for this we will have to go to the side. According to Raymond, we can sail to the quay on our own with a very low speed. The place where we have to lie is rather narrow and because our bow thruster no longer works, it is more difficult to maneuver. We get help from two dinghies .. (Thanks for this). As soon as we lie down, arrangements are made for the crane to remove the engine from the boat. Raymond contacts the supplier of our engine, Beta Marine in England, to discuss what we can do best. This also in connection with warranty possibilities, or at least we thought then. As soon as the engine is out of the boat we want to moor on a mooring as soon as possible. Avi and Herbert help us to drag the boat back to the mooring. Here we are a lot nicer than on the quay.

Kevin disconnects the engine

Our 'heart' on the hard

The entire process of repairing the engine and the associated problems took more than two months. An enormous amount of time was spent on obtaining information about the correct parts and where we could obtain them. Not to mention the poor cooperation of the manufacturer of Beta Marine. As a result, purchasing the parts took much longer than we had hoped and needed.
It has caused a lot of annoyance and because of this the irritation level on board was very high, so we could not get along well. Of course things sometimes break and some things have to be repaired, but this was something else.
There were times when we didn't like this situation anymore, but luckily we got through this together.