Stinkpot raftup starts in Store Bay, Tobago |
Saturday 25th
August was a big day for the Trini power boat fundi’s….. especially those who
get their buzz from SERIOUS power and speed….. like 100mph plus F1 racing boats
powered by 3 performance tuned, popping,
spitting and roaring V8,s !
First over the line |
The inter island race, “ The
Great Race”, becomes a huge social event
for all the well heeled Trinidadian luxury power boat owners, who stream over
to Store Bay one day earlier, to create a Multi Million $ Raft Up . In the
process they show total disdain for the cruising yachts anchored there for
days, or even weeks, dropping anchors over and across yacht anchors, way too close for comfort,
etc. One irate German /Australian fellow had the temerity to suggest they were
too close, and over his anchor, was promptly told to “F…K Off, and get out of
my country!!”
Thursday 6th
looked good, so we took a bus through to Scarborough to check out. Once again, the Immigration and Customs people went out
of their way to make life difficult, exploit us and rip us off with outrageous
“overtime” fees, generally pissing us off enough to say “thank goodness we
don’t have to go there again!”
Having checked with the
Customs guys in Trini, and advising them of our departure from Chaguaramus to
Store bay, we asked them to confirm that it was not necessary to clear out with
Immigration as well. This they did, after all it’s the same country! We
expected our check out from Immigration in Scarborough to be a breeze…. But NO! “Where are your temporary Immigration Papers
from Chaguaramus to Scarborough ?” After heated arguments and 2 hours, we escaped to
check out at Customs.
By now it was 2.30pm , and we were asked what time we were leaving. “About midnight tonight.” That will cost you $175 overtime fee.
”Why?” I asked. You have to leave within
4 hours of checking out, so if you want to leave at midnight , you must come back here by 8pm , and that would be overtime!!
We also had to pay an
additional months cruising permit, because we were never given a letter by
Coral Cove explaining that we were in the marina, out of commission with no
gearbox while it was being repaired. Producing the dated invoices from Gittens
(the gearbox engineers) and Coral Cove, showing our contribution of $15000 to their
economy, made no difference.
So in the end, we just “K’d
& B’d”, and left. We later learned that the Customs “24 hr period with in which
to leave” policy has never been accepted in Tobago ,
and that all “Fines, fees, and overtime levies”, are paid directly to the
Customs office as a bonus, and that this is quite legal!
We ended up having to motor
the entire way to Prickly Bay over flat, calm, windless, and fishless sea. After a
couple of day’s relaxation, we again hauled out at Spice Island Marina for a
final antifouling before heading west.
Our bright red bootstrap decided to peel off with the tape after the
antifouling was complete, so it was back to more stripping, sanding and
painting! This time with 2 part Awl Grip instead of the 1 part Brightside,
which was way too soft.
New red stripe and ready to splash |
Magic machine that moves yachts about the yard |
Back in the water, Mary smiling and lobster for supper |
Nevertheless, we were back in
the water in 4 days, and are now able to start our serious provisioning before
we head on down to Bonaire , Curacao , Aruba , Santa Marta ,
Cartagena and San Blas, … to start the next stage of our big adventure!
Yes………we’ve made some big
decisions which we’ll cover in the next blog!
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