Chaguaramas Trinidad - The Mecca of Boat Maintenance and Renovation

We are anchored amongst an oil spill and debris.  Our evening entertainment is naming the flotsam that bobs past us - gasoline container, whole tree, plastic bottle, lantern, bush, styrofoam lunch container...five points for a dead rat!  At night we watch the twinkling lights of a nearby oil rig, light up like a Christmas tree.  By day, the pretty purple, yellow, pink and blue colours of the oil slick swirl in mesmerizing patterns that I gaze at while washing my hair at the stern.

While this may not be your idea of paradise - Chaguaramas is the most amazing place for boat repairs and maintenance.  We are but 100 metres from Power Boats, one of the largest boat yards here.  There are countless contractors here, riggers, painters, metal fabricators, canvas and sail makers just to name a few.  There is also a boat supplies shop, a grocery, a roti stand, a restaurant, laundry and bathrooms complete with showers - in other words, luxury.  But Power Boats is not the only boat yard here.  There are about 10 boat yards lined up one after the other.  Coral Cove, the yard next to Power Boats, boasts similar attractions, but has the added draw of its own swimming pool.  The Crews Inn marina is another hub with very fancy restaurant, cafe, grocery, dive shop, wine shop as well as a swimming pool.  Here in Chaguramas, there isn't a job on a boat that cannot be done - there are experts for every nautical whim.  Anything from replacing a hatch seal to repainting your 400ft container ship.  But to top it all off, it is CHEAP.  I take that back.  I was reprimanded by one of the contractors for using the word cheap (it is a serious offense here).  The word I am told to use is "inexpensive".  The word "cheap" suggests bad workmanship and cut corners - which by no means represents the type of work done here.  The work we have seen (in all boat yards I must add), has been exceptional.  The best materials are used, the best methods are employed, and the quality checking is rigorous, with all yards guaranteeing their contractors workmanship.

For these reasons, Chaguramas draws hundreds of cruisers despite the flotsam and oil spills.  So the cruiser community is just as vibrant as other hurricane refuges such as Grenada.  There are cruiser trips to the markets, hikes and domino games here too.  The domino tournament played on a Sunday is of particular note.  The tournament draws so many cruisers that three games are played at once, with the highest and lowest ranking players moving tables every few rounds.  The ultimate winner of the tournament is presented with a flag that must be flown from their mast that week, and returned the following week to be competed for again.  As a pure fluke, I won the tournament the very first week we arrived, and flew the flag with huge pride.  Unfortunately, I had a massive fall from grace the following week, going from first to near last place!  We also joined in on the hike through the rainforest one Saturday.  They promised monkeys, so despite the heat the opportunity was too good to pass up.  After lacing up our hiking shoes (the first time either of us have worn shoes in the last nearly 8 months I must add), we stepped off the bus and into a monsoon rain storm.  But that didn't stop us!  We hiked up a hill into the wilderness of palm trees and bamboo.  We hiked over fallen trees, under low hanging branches and through rushing rivers.  As we listened to strange bird calls and slapped at mosquitos, we kept a keen eye out for monkeys, but none were found.  They hid in the shelter of the bamboo, hidden under the canopy (quite sensibly), while we were soaked to the skin after leaving the shelter of our boats (not quite so sensibly).