S/V Aspen – June 10, 2009 – Log #9
Position: 10 degrees 41.0’ N 61 degrees 38.0 W
(Chaguaramas, Trinidad)

Marina Life
Aspen is in a slip at Crew’s Inn Marina, Chaguaramas, Trinidad. So what is life like at a marina in Trinidad, you may ask?

Crew’s Inn Marina is like a country club. It is better than many of the marinas we used even in Florida. There is a pool, hotel, restaurants, stores, groceries, a gym, and 24 hour security in the marina. The jungle is steps away from our boat where the toucans, howler monkeys and thousands of birds while away their time. The hot showers in the marina are a great convenience too!

We now have regular power on the boat, internet access and a great view of Chaguaramas Bay with the coming and going of ocean going vessels, as well as hundreds of sailboats. On the other side of the harbor are more stores and restaurants that we access with our dinghy.

The marine services and boat yards are also opposite our marina. This is where we will have Aspen hauled out of the water to have some maintenance items worked on.

The local bus route is right outside the marina. We can take a local bus, called a Maxi-Taxi, to a mall, movie town, grocery stores or even the capital, Port of Spain. The bus costs 5 TT which is less than $1 US. The buses are mini-vans that are not air-conditioned and they make many stops along the way to pick people up. There are no bus stops so if you want to catch the bus you simply stand at the side of the road and when you see one coming just signal it and it will stop for you. When you want to get off the bus you clearly say stop or knock on the inside so that the driver hears you.

There are many activities for the Yachties here in Chaguaramas. They call us Yachties for some strange reason but no one is offended. The activities range from potlucks to dominoes, island tours, turtle watching, hiking, steel pan band concerts and even happy hours.

Steve is able to communicate to his clients about his geophysical projects better now that he has a faster internet connection and even a local cell phone. The boat is also more stable and that helps him interpret data on the workstation more easily than when it is rocking!

Maria uses the gym in the mornings for her workouts. Steve gets up before dawn and runs on the old abandoned roads and trails in Chaguaramas. The heat becomes oppressive once the sun comes up so it is wise to get out before that happens. We will describe Chaguaramas in our next blog!



Sail on sail on Aspen…
Steve and Maria