Tantalizing Tobago

While it's been just over a month since we made landfall in Tobago, and we are now enjoying the warm waters and Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, (we are currently moored off the private island of Mystique, home to the rich and famous!), we have had quite a difficult time finding internet access strong enough to be able to get this blog update posted!  In fact, it took me an entire day to upload one photo, and then we lost connection, and I lost the upload!  But I persevered, and little by little, my photos were uploaded, and I hope to now have enough bandwidth to be able to post this update on our time in Tobago! 

Tantalizing Tobago
We had only planned to stay in Tobago a few days, to catch up on sleep and feel dry land under our feet again, but 3 days turned into 4, 4 to 5, and so on, and we ended up staying a week! We had decided to skip its big sister, Trinidad, as it was a little too close to Venezuela for our liking. Venezuela unfortunately has a bad reputation with cruisers with regards to safety and piracy, and we had even read about 2 boats being boarded by pirates on their way from Trinidad to Grenada. Tobago was also described as being much more sedate, largely unspoilt and undeveloped. We found this description to be pretty accurate.

Getting ready to raise the Trinidad and Tobago courtesy flag

There are only 3 real anchorages in Tobago: Scarborough, which is the capital, but is on the windward side (the side facing the Atlantic ocean, and therefore less protected); Store Bay, on the southern point, where the most tourism is located (and thus party boats in the anchorage), but no officials for clearing in; and Charlotteville in the north, a sleepy little fishing village. That sounded more like our cup of tea, and because we were also able to clear in with customs and immigration in Charlotteville, we decided on that as our landfall.

Map of Tobago, courtesy of Google maps, to orientate yourself with regards to places mentioned in this blog.  Charlotteville, where we were anchored is right at the top of the island.

The small village of Charlotteville in Tobago

The anchorage proved to be pretty, but a bit rolly, which, after 19 days at sea, didn’t bother us one bit! We were able to sleep through the night for the first time in 3 weeks! We cleared in on Friday, 23rd February, 2018, and it took us a few days to recover. Luckily, it absolutely poured with rain the next two days, which gave us not only an excuse to stay on board and do exactly that (recover!), but also gave our boat a really nice wash down, washing away all the salt that had covered every conceivable surface over the last 19 days at sea!

Gaby enjoying a swim and a drink off the bow while anchored in Charlotteville

When the sun finally emerged a few days later, we went about the task of exploring the island. Charlotteville is really a small fishing village, with not a lot of infrastructure (but with a GREAT library, which, after joining for 25 Trinidad and Tobago dollars (TT$), about 4 US$, allowed us not only to enjoy the air conditioned building, but also borrow books and magazines, and most importantly, gave us free internet access!!). We asked around about car hire, and eventually the lady at the little “supermarket” told us to go and talk to Popeye. She gave directions, (walk over the bridge, look for the white picket fence on the right…) and he would be able to assist us. We sent Dave out the following day to search for Popeye, whom he found, and through whom he was able to secure a car for the following day!

Enjoying our first cold "Carib" beer on the day we arrived!  (for the record, the kids were not drinking beer!)

The day dawned overcast and rainy, and after a mad dash to the dock in the dinghy between rain storms, we discovered that Dave had left his wallet on the boat! So he and Ben had to go back, while Gaby and I went in search of Popeye. Not too much later, all was sorted out, we got our car, and off we went. Tobago is not a large island, roughly 27 miles long and 5 miles wide, (300 square kilometers or 116 square miles in area), with one main road around the perimeter, and 3 or 4 roads cutting across the interior. The island is covered in rainforest, with much of it coming right down to the water’s edge. The Main Ridge Forest Reserve, is a hilly range of rainforest which covers 60% of the island. Amazingly enough, this 14,000 acre reserve has been protected since 1776, making it the oldest protected rainforest in the western hemisphere!

The thick vegetation cascading down the mountain side to the road

We drove through the windy roads, through the forest, every now and then emerging in a small village, marveling at how houses have been built on the cliff edges and onto the side of hills. We made our way across to Scarborough, the capital of Tobago. Here we visited Fort King George, an 18th century fort perched on the hill overlooking Scarborough, Bacolet Bay and the windward coast. It was a perfect location to keep a lookout for the many invaders who fought over this island in the past.

Driving through one village, this tree caught our eye.  It's trunk was enormous!

Ben, Gaby and Dave walk along the palm-lined path to Fort King Georg

This building was once one of the men's barracks 

The powder magazine, where all the gun powder was stored

Beautiful old, brick walls stand the test of time

The vantage point of the cannons at the top of the hill.  On a clear day, you can see Trinidad.  We were able to make out its silhouette, but only just!

More cannons overlooking the east coast of Tobago

More old fort walls slowly being overgrown 

We also went to Speyside, where you can find the world’s largest brain coral. Unfortunately, it is too deep to snorkel, and you’d have to scuba dive to see it. Throughout the day, the rain came in spurts, and every now and then, the sun came out. Our stomachs started growling, and we started looking for a place to have some lunch. We were starting to lose hope, and planning to dig into our precious supply of granola bars and apples that we had packed in case, when Dave suddenly stopped and reversed. He had spotted a little place, perched on a hill overlooking King’s Bay. The menu was written on the chalk board outside. We didn’t know exactly what it meant, but we went inside anyway, and ordered 4 portions! We were very pleasantly surprised when we were each presented with a plate overflowing with potato, mango and pumpkin, and a type of wrap, but shredded. All mixed together, it was delicious!

King's Bay Cafe:  our lunch stop

We understood "Mango, Pumpkin, Potato and Chicken".  We just didn't know what "Bussup Shot" was!

Gaby with her delicious "Bussop Shot"

Once again enjoying the Carib beer!  You may have noticed both Ben and Dave had haircuts (done by yours truly on one of the rainy days...and long overdue!)

Our day ended back in Charlotteville, where we returned the car and headed back to the boat, after purchasing some locally baked bread for lunch the next day. We (that is, Dave), did have some work to do on the boat as our water maker had started acting up during the passage. We were still able to make water by by-passing all the safety features and running it manually, but Dave took it apart to check the sensors that gauge whether or not the filters need replacing. Once he had removed and cleaned them (not an easy task, I might add), it shut off immediately once he turned it on again, and we deduced that it probably was the sensors, and he had further damaged them when he took them out and attempted to clean them. We made a plan to order new sensors in the States, and arranged for Dave’s mom to bring them to us as she was planning to visit us in the Caribbean.

Dave taking the water maker apart!  We are so lucky he's such a handy guy!

With one last exploration on the dinghy of the surrounding areas and a swim at the little beach in the anchorage, we were ready to depart for Grenada. The distance from Tobago to Grenada is about 80 miles, and in order to arrive in daylight hours, the most sensible thing to do is sail overnight, in order to arrive there in the morning. So, our plan was to leave around 5:30 or 6:00pm. Dave took the dinghy to the town and went to check out with customs and immigration at around 3:00pm because we knew they close at 4:00pm. Customs was there, and checked us out, but the lady from immigration had decided to go home, and Dave was instructed to go to Scarborough to check out with immigration there! We were outraged!! How on earth was Dave supposed to get to Scarborough, at the complete other end of the island, without a car, with no regular taxi or bus service, and at least an hour’s drive away?! We hadn’t come late, it wasn’t our fault that the immigration employee had just decided to abandon her post and go home. And honestly, if you’re going to do that, can’t you just give your stamp to the customs guy and have him stamp anyone who happened to come while you were playing hooky?!

A typical Tobagan road

Poor Dave communicated his (our) predicament to me via the radio. We were sorely tempted to just leave, but since we had been checked in, and had an entry stamp in our passports, we really needed to get an exit stamp, otherwise the next country might give us problems. So Dave said he would see what he could do and get back to me. He went to find Popeye, to see if he could rent a car again, but he unfortunately couldn’t help. He recommended someone he knew who would drive Dave to Scarborough for $TT400, but that was an outrageous price, and we didn’t even have that many TT$’s. Twice the guy from customs seemed to “appear” where Dave was, Dave assumes he was checking to see if we were just making a run for it, or if Dave was trying to arrange a ride to Scarborough. Eventually the customs guy took pity on Dave and said he’d give him a lift to Roxborough, a slightly larger town on the other side of the island, and a little closer to Scarborough.

At the gas station in Roxborough, they found Nixon, who was on his way to Scarborough, and agreed to give Dave a lift. Once they got there, he took him to the immigration office and we got the stamps we needed. Now Dave needed to get back. Nixon wasn’t planning on driving all the way back to Charlotteville (and back), he had reached his destination! However, Dave managed to talk him into doing just that, and they agreed that Dave would pay for the gas/petrol, and along the way, bought him 2 beers! Dave was back at the boat at around 7:00pm, 4 hours after he’d left, with a 3 hour trip to get our stamps from immigration!

While Dave had been gone, we’d gotten the boat ready for the trip over to Grenada, so by 7:30pm, we’d pulled up the anchor and turned our backs on Charlotteville. The moon rose, a big, round, bright full moon, and the wind was light. It was the perfect combination for a mellow night sail to Grenada, and 13 hours later, we sailed into Clarke’s Court Bay. We were 80 miles closer to home!

Gaby celebrates life!