Cruising Notes – Trinidad 

Weather – Trinidad is considered as being out of the hurricane belt, so lots of people go there to leave their boats and fly home. It is however in the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone), and this means the climate is hot, humid, has little steady wind, but subject to squalls and rain. The rainiest months are June and November, so keep this in mind if you are planning any painting or varnishing projects.  

Charts & Guides – You won’t need much in the way of charts – nobody cruises anywhere except Chaguaramas and the islands to the west out to Chacachacare, and maybe the north coast of Trinidad, if you are going to Tobago. The cruising guide that everyone uses is the Trinidad and Tobago guide by Chris Doyle.When you arrive in Trinidad, pick up a free Boater’s Directory from the YSATT office; this little book lists many suppliers and services for us cruisers, as well as regulations and other information. 

Formalities – You are supposed to go to the customs dock at Chaguramas, tie up and go in to see them when you are clearing in or out. In practice, you can get away with anchoring and going in by dinghy. There is a small charge for clearing in – there is an ATM right nearby. When you clear out, you will be charged 50 TT per month or part month for the time you are in the water.Don’t arrive outside of normal business hours or you will get nailed a significant overtime fee of about 260 TT. The overtime fee is chargeable from the time you official enter Trini waters – so time your arrival at the customs dock to allow for this. (6TT = 1US)

If you go to Tobago, you have to clear out of Trini and into Tobago.If you leave the boat on the hard and fly home you need to get a letter from the boatyard.Trinidad is rabies free, so if you have a dog or cat it cannot go ashore. 

Safety & Security – There seems to have been a big increase in the crime rate in Trinidad. Without getting paranoid about it, be vigilant. Check any credit card and ATM transactions at the internet café. Don’t walk around at night especially between TTSA and Crews Inn. Shopping during the day in Port of Spain is still OK.

Several boats which were up on the hard at Power Boats got broken into and completely cleaned out while the owners were away this year so much for security guards. Peakes has always been famous for stuff getting snitched from the boats on the hard – things like power tools and equipment left lying around near the boat while working on it. We liked Coral Cove because it is smaller and the guards recognize who should be in the yard and who should not. 

Getting Around – You will see everywhere, white vans with a big yellow stripe. These are Maxi Taxis, and are the cheapest way to get around. There is a central terminal in Port of Spain, where you can transfer to other maxis and run around the island if you want. We have heard that you should not accept an offer of a ride from private cars (with license plates starting with “P”) because there have been kidnappings happening, although so far no cruisers. Take a maxi taxi or take a “hire car” (cars with license plates starting with “H”). These Hire Cars go on a standard route and pick up passengers, and are very inexpensive.

It is suicide to rent a car with the way the locals drive.

There are a couple of taxi services catering to the cruisers in the Chaguaramas area. The guy most popular with cruisers is Jesse James, radio call “Members Only”. He runs all kinds of tours and shopping trips, does pickup and dropoffs at the airport and is very helpful and accommodating  Listen on VHF 68 to the morning radio net at 8AM for details. He has an office at Tropical Marine. Jesse gets most of the business, but there is also Arnold Taxi 623-3748 who does shopping trips, and Ian Taxi. 

Provisioning & Grog – For an island the size of Trinidad, the provisioning is not all that good or convenient. The supply of items at the grocery chains is hit or miss, so if you see it, buy it. The vegetables at the grocery chains are poor quality, expensive and also hit or miss. If you need a lot of veggies, go to the downtown Port of Spain farmers market – at least the stuff you buy won’t go rotten the next day on you!

It is best to get beer duty free when you check out – it cost us 69 TT per case of 24 cans, so that’ not a bad deal at all. We don’t like Trini rum at all – it is aged in oak barrels and tastes dreadful. Vodka and Gin are sky high. 

Medical/Dental – Trinidad is a good place to get caught up with all your medical and dental checkups. It is inexpensive and the doctors are good. Medical facilities for MRI, Mammography and radiology are good and inexpensive. You can ask for doctor and clinic recommendations from other cruisers or on the morning VHF radio net, but I have listed here who we saw.

Dr Michael Moses and Dr Jacqueline Sabaga are both at Regents Medical Center Tel # 632-3554. It is easy to get to by Maxi – get off 2 traffic lights before West Mall. The building is on the right side (the sea side of the highway) and looks like a 9 or 10 storey white apartment building. Walk west (toward the water) and follow the first street around to the right. Access to the building is by the residential street that runs parallel to the highway you came down by Maxi. For 150 TT you can get a physical exam, prescriptions written and get a requisition for blood tests.

Blood tests can be done at West Shore Medical – a clinic also on the sea side of the highway, just past West Mall. Get off the maxi at the pedestrian overpass, cross the highway on the overpass and walk back the way you came on the other side of the street. A full set of blood tests cost us about 100 US each. We have also heard that you can get blood tests done at St Clair Medical Center. This is a walk in clinic, no paperwork from a doctor needed. Just go in and get any tests you wan t done. Cost is $25 US but we did not go there so don’t know if this is the price per test or what.

I went to a dermatologist – Dr Marilyn Suite – at 7476 Dundonald in Port of Spain. Just get the maxi as close as you can and it is a bit of a walk in from there. Charge for a consultation was 200 TT.

The dentist I saw was Dr Shivaughn Marchan on 17 Gallus St. Again, take the maxi almost into Port of Spain, and get off after the National Stadium and walk a couple hundred yards up Gallus St. She did an excellent job – exam, cleaning and x ray – for 410 TT. A crown would cost 2200 TT and you would need to allow 4 weeks. 

Boat Parts and Shopping  – Trinidad is the mecca for boat stuff. But we don’t think it is all that cheap any more. There are lots and lots of chandleries and services – anything you need fixed or to buy, you can get it here. There are several haul out yards, all of pretty much equal caliber and pricing structure.

Trinidad is also the Mecca for fabric – upholstery, Sunbrella, and clothing fabrics and sewing notions like thread, elastic, Velcro and nylon webbing. Downtown ort of Spain is a place to stock up on these items but we have been told to go to Chaguanas (you can get there by Maxi  where the prices are much cheaper.

There is rumor that the Sunbrella you get in Trini is second quality, and so to the cushion foam. We don’t know for sure, but we bought a couple of 4X8 slabs of 4” foam for interior cushions so we will let you know…..

Canvas work in Chaguaramas is not cheap at all any more – in fact the prices for materials – Sunbrella, notions like webbing and zippers - in the Chag area are about 50% higher than in St Martin. In addition, many cruisers were really crying, because of the long waiting lists of people trying to get work done made for long waits sometimes.

Speaking of sewing, we met a really delightful young Venezuelan man who repaired both our sewing machines - the sail machine and the home machine. He usually charges 100 TT for a cleanup and tune-up. He worked on our machines for 5 hours and they had major problems. He fixed them beautifully and cost 300 TT for the both of them. We were very happy with his work. His name is Walid Hassan and can be called at 749-5784 or on VHF 68. He also does good day work like varnishing or painting. He knows how to sew too, and can make things for you using your machine.

For general household shopping, Port of Spain is good. Both Charlotte and Frederick streets have loads of stores with all the little household items you have been wanting for so long but couldn’t find. For Mall shoppers, there is the West Mall, and right in the same parking lot, a great new SuperPharm pharmacy, big, bright and good selection. 

Fuel & Water – Trinidad has their own oil, so fuel is dirt cheap here. Diesel and gasoline was about ¼ the price it was up island. Fill up ALL your jerries. Propane was 1TT per pound so fill up all your bottles too.

I think it is unwise to catch rain water for drinking – just a look at the horrible black soot on our decks convinced me that I didn’t want that black stuff in my stomach. City water is readily available at any of the docks or by jerry jug. Or you can just drink beer! 

Laundry – There are do it yourself laundries at the boatyards and you can also try to buy tokens even if you are not hauled out there. It is about $3-4 US per token, so not all that cheap, but it beats the bucket method! TTSA has good washers and were quite cheap last time we checked. Otherwise, you can have the laundry service at Tropical Marine do it for you, but cost, I think, is $10 US per load, maybe more by now. 

Anchorages –  

There are a couple of good anchorages, but none are close to Chaguraramas. Scotland Bay is nice and quiet, Monos too. Chacachacare is nice - uninhabited, a good hike to the lighthouse and exploring the old ruins of the leper colony.

But in and around Chaguaramas, expect dirty water – oil and floating garbage galore. Barnacles really grow here in the rich polluted soup.

One poor innocent we met actually sailed down to Port of Spain and anchored there – and described it as not a nice experience.