November 17, 2012-Arriving in Tobago

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Sailing the coast of Tobago.

We had a plan to leave Crews Inn Marina in Trinidad Wednesday at 13:00, motor to Scotland Bay, anchor there and relax for a few hours before setting out into the Atlantic just before nightfall.

The reality was that after the trials of getting out of Chaguarmas and then having boat problems on the way to Scotland Bay (easily fixed, but still…) when it came time to up the anchor again neither Judy or I had much enthusiasm for the idea. All we wanted to do was take a nap.

So we stayed. That was Wednesday.

It rained for two days; rained hard. We filled the water tanks and did a lot of sleeping but by Friday we were ready go, rain or not, and so late Friday afternoon we weighed the anchor and motored out of the Boca into the Atlantic Ocean, looking for some wind and looking for that next paradise.

Sunrise found us beating towards the Island of Tobago and by mid-morning we fetched up in Store Bay, Tobago.

Then we had customs and immigration to deal with.

It seems that when you clear out for Grenada you’re supposed to show up in Grenada, not back in Trinidad and Tobago, which in fact, is one country. We spent the better part of Saturday trekking back and forth between official’s offices before getting all the proper stamps and documents. But we did it and so we were made legal.

Store Bay was alright, we stayed for a few days, it rained a bit, and then we thought we’d mosey on up the coast to Charlotteville and see the sights along the way.

The first stop was Mt. Irvine Bay and that was OK too; it rained some more and we filled the tanks again, met a few nice folks anchored there and watched the surfers, but the next two stops were impossible. Both Castera Bay and Parlatuvre were rough and crowded with fishing boats. Parlatuvre in fact was so small it would have been downright dangerous to stay there with only about 100 feet of broiling water between us and the rocks behind us after anchoring clear of the fishing boats. We could not stay.

The only thing to do was to head onward to Charlotteville and hope we got there before dark and hope it was a good spot.

It turned out to be a nice sail, even if it was a twenty mile beat for the day; we had steady winds and a long blue swell and we made good time to weather. We dropped the hook in a very nice place called Pirates Bay just around the corner from the bustling village of Charlotteville, Tobago. Here we might stay for a while; it is quiet and scenic.

It rained and we filled the water tanks.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Filling the Tanks.

Click here for more photos.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Tobago