Yes we're still in Trinidad... we've been on the hard for the last 5 days; when the boat came out of the water we found some damage to the gel-coat of the rudder which meant water had got inside and the problem needed to be fixed. The boat also needed desperately to be anti-fouled - judging by the lack of paint left on the hull we don't think this has been done for a very long time! So all in all it's a good job we came out of the water.
One of the pros of being in Trinidad is that the facilities here are excellent, certainly by SA standards. We came out of the water with Peak Yacht Services and we must say they are completely professional and extremely well organised. The yard is probably one of the biggest here and there is room for in excess of 100 yachts and catamarans of all different sizes - it's quite impressive.
Some of the companies here do work on 'island time' but everyone seems to know what they are doing, but some know what to charge too (we were quoted US$45 per hour on one job just for the labour!!). We were also quoted quite a ridiculous price for anti-fouling so out came the rollers and brushes and Jan managed to do the job with my input of course!
So apart from getting some work done it's also been very boring having to wait for the rudder to be fixed and there's not much to do here in Chaguaramas. It's really too hot to do much; temperatures are in excess of 32 degrees with about 90% humidity - a reminder of why we don't visit Durban in summer!
The one highlight though is that it is turtle season here in Trinidad. We took advantage of this and went on a 'turtle watching tour' the other night and I must say it was a fantastic experience. Matura Bay is about a 2 an a half our drive from Chaguaramas so we went with Jesse James (the local cruisers' hero who can organise just about anything!). It was a stormy night with rain coming down in torrents. After standing around in a shed in the dark for over an hour we had written off the evening as a bad job - after all turtles are wild animals and you can't guarantee a lion sighting in the Kruger!
Suddenly radios came to life and the signal went up - a female turtle had been spotted on the beach. Luckily the rain eased as we trekked roughly 3km down the beach in search of the turtle.
To cut a long evening short we had the most amazing experience of watching the whole process of a female laying her eggs. Quite humbling to think this has been going on for millions of years.
Anyway we're back in the water tomorrow which will be a huge relief from the heat and the killer mosquitoes - at least there is a breeze on the water!
Hopefully we will be leaving before the end of the week and let's see how far we get this time!

