Lyn's Log, 18th August 2006
Return to Trinidad

Chaguramas, Trinidad.
N10º41', W61º38'
10,719 miles.

On Friday 11th August, we left Dover. We had met many of our friends on the Wednesday and said our goodbyes. I felt sad to say goodbye to Ruth and Barry (pic) but as they said, we can keep in touch quite regularly. We drove through Gosport and picked a pair of new dodgers we had had made, then continued to Plymouth. The August holiday traffic was bad and it took us several more hours than usual.

Then that Saturday the news broke about the plot to bomb several airplanes, the chaos at the airports and the draconian emergency regulations concerning luggage. We followed the news daily until our departure from Heathrow on Wednesday 16th August. At the last minute we had to buy a new bag in order to manage our baggage according to the new rules, which permitted only minimum handluggage with a ban on liquids. On Tuesday we left Plymouth early and after returning the rental car, spent the night in a hotel near Heathrow. At the entrance to Heathrow Terminal 3 next morning it looked like chaos. There were security staff everywhere, people were not being allowed into the terminal, and marquees had been erected outside for travellers to wait. But at our entrance we were allowed straight in, to join an enormous queue that seemed to stretch for miles to the check-in desk. While Andrew queued, I went to the Customs office, and soon had the documentation sorted to claim back VAT on some boat parts we had bought. After the queue for the check in, we then faced a much longer queue where everyone shuffled slowly forward towards the airport security check. It was all a bit like Alton Towers on a bank holiday weekend - endless queueing backwards and forwards round the barriers, then suddenly its all happened and you wonder what the fuss was about. We were at last in the departure lounge with a bottle of free mineral water to compensate for any we had had to throw away earlier. We congratulated ourselves on getting from the entrance to the departure lounge in just two hours, still in good time for the scheduled departure.

Then our plane was late arriving on the incoming flight. After losing its take-off slot, it was over two hours late in getting airbourne. The cabin was in shabby condition, it hadn't been properly serviced in the hasty turn-round, the inflight entertainment was broken. I was hoping that the same didn't apply to the flight systems, when midway across the Atlantic we were interrupted by a special announcement from the captain. The plane had "a small technical problem - nothing to get worried about". But as it would need repairs it could not make its scheduled stop on Antigua and would have to head direct for Trinidad. As we digested this news, the cabin lights went off and the aircraft started to lose height. Hollywood buffs will know that next thing to expect is an ashen faced stewardess at the cabin door asking if anyone knows how to fly a plane. I am relieved to report this did not happen, and we arrived safely enough at Trinidad. Because we hadn't stopped en route the arrival was in fact almost on time! But not so good for the majority of passengers bound for holidays in Antigua, who faced a further delay of several hours waiting for another plane to take them on.

Customs took a while to negotiate with our duty-free boat parts, but by early evening we were once again back at Sentinel to find to our relief that all was in good order. We have had eight lovely weeks in England and are not so sure that we are glad to be back in Trinidad. It is the rainy season now, stiflingly hot and humid, with thunderstorms and torrential rain showers each day. There seem to be more mosquitoes than ever. We have decided to hire an air conditioner for the yacht, and at least the cabin is comfortable. Now it is back to the grind of trying to get things fixed - in a country where the work ethic is low and we generally end up having to do it all ourselves. It looks like Andrew will finally have to face doing some welding repairs to the deck. I have lost count of the number of companies I have contacted about replacing our old hatches, but nothing has worked and it looks like we will have to "mend and make do" for the time being. Repainting the yacht will be a real chore in this heat and with the uncertainty about the showers. At least our sail has been nicely repaired, even if it broke the sailmaker's machine in the process. This week we have the country's Independence Day celebrations to look forward to - Trinidadians certainly know how to party. And some good news, two articles we wrote for Yachting Monthly while in England have been accepted for publication.