Chacachacare

We spent a few days at the island of Chacachacare which is about 8 miles west of Chaguaramas, where we've been for the past months. The island used to be home to a leper colony but is now uninhabited, except for a lighthouse keeper.

One reason for going was as a shakedown cruise to checkout systems that have been unused for the months we've been in the marina. I flushed out the watermaker and checked its output and it seems to be fine. The batteries, however, were in a bad way having lost a lot of their capacity. We've just come back to Chaguaramas to replace them. Our previous batteries were maintenance-free gel type but our new ones are liquid lead-acid golf cart batteries. Much cheaper, but more work.

Leaving the Marina

We're finally getting out of Coral Cove Marina today. We are totally provisioned and maintained out! We plan to explore the islands off the tip of Trinidad (e.g. Chacachare for a few days while we make sure our watermaker and other systems are still working. Then we'll come back to Chaguaramas for a last shop, a movie trip to see Harry Potter, and to clear Customs. Then we'll leave for Grenada and points north.

Back in the Water

Dos Gatos is back afloat in Coral Cove Marina after 2 weeks in the yard. It turned out that some of the anti-fouling paint was peeling so we had the paint sanded back to the gelcoat to start again with epoxy primer. As a result the haulout was much longer (and much more expensive) than anticipated.

Anyway, we're now back in the water, Ginger is aboard again, and we're completing a few loose ends. Yesterday we made a trip to the supermarkets and loaded a van with food and supplies. We should be out of here in a week or so.