After two short months in the Pacific Northwest it was time to prepare for the trip back to Trinidad. Normally we’d be excited to get back to the boat, but this time we knew how much work was waiting for us, plus the heat and humidity we’d live in until the work was done.
We’d waited until the last week to do our major provisioning, not a good idea. I was off to Fisheries Supply to buy a variety of boating items, including one $375 120 ft. length of rope. Isn’t there something in Greek mythology about ropes of gold? Well, this was about as close as you get. Super high-strength Dynema is the new thing: lighter, smaller in diameter, and as strong as steel. We needed it for our new Code Zero gennaker, and it would cost at least double in Trinidad (where they add a 15% VAT on top of every purchase).
Meryl did the usual route of Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer, QFC, and, of course, Costco. Back at Jim and Chris Berry’s we spread out our booty, covering their living room floor. Jim just shakes his head. No commentary is needed.
As a (former) airline employee, we can take two 70 lb. bags in addition to our carry-ons. With Jim’s help we packed two large duffels and three large cardboard boxes. We had everything weighed (we put Jim on the bathroom scale and he lifted the 70 lb. boxes up to his waist while I laid on the ground with a flashlight trying to read the weight. Getting all this stuff into our little Honda rental car was a challenge. It reminded me of when Jim would help us load our cars after camping trips.
Leaving at 3:30 am, and allowing plenty of time, we filled two baggage carts to the hilt at Sea-Tac and tried to balance leaving the car unattended versus leaving the bags unattended at the check-in counter. Someone always yells at us no matter what.
I took the car back to the rental car facility hoping the best. Sure enough I got a call with Meryl in a panic saying United wanted $1100 for the excess baggage fees. Meryl then opened some of the boxes and rearranged weights and went back. Next quote was $800. She got another agent who figured it at $500, and finally a third rather frazzled agent who quoted $300 (which is what the computer said when we checked in online). We swallowed hard, handed over the credit card and then ran for the plane. Luckily TSA Pre was wide open and we whizzed through and raced to the plane, where amazingly, we got the last two seats. We even got to sit together, a rarity these days.
When we flew through Houston last year the connecting flight was at the other end of the airport and we didn’t make it. This time the departing flight was at the same gate so we got a snack and relaxed a little. On the flight a nice Trinidadian lady switched seats so we could sit together and we had a enjoyable flight, but still wondering whether our bags had made it because of the all the delays during SeaTac checking-in.
Landing in the familiar heat and humidity of Port of Spain at 8:30 p.m. we had to get some special paper work to clear Marine Customs at Chaguaramus Bay, about one hour away. Since it was now after 10:00 pm we had to pay a surcharge for the taxi, but he was a nice guy and waited for us at Marine Customs as the agent made me open each box and show him the contents. By law goods brought in for a “yacht in transit” are duty free, but that is very loosely interpreted by Customs. The agent wasn’t in a great mood by let us go with no extra fees. We had reserved a room at the modest hotel at Peakes Boatyard, and hauling all those boxes from the cab to the hotel room left me and cab driver soaked in sweat, but it was good to finally be there with all the boxes in one piece.
The next day we enlisted our buddy Ragnor, the Trinidadian with blonde dreadlocks who looks Norwegian, to help with the boxes. I thought we’d use the motor hoist to lift them up, but he just put them on his shoulders and climbed up the 10-ft ladder to the boat. I gave him a $10 tip which he seem embarrassed to take, but he certainly earned it. Naturally the boxes were on the verge of self destruction as they sat in the cockpit, I'm always amazed they survive the trip.
The boat seemed to survived OK, a little musty and with some mold, but not too bad given the time away. The one huge bummer was that we were supposed to have a portable air conditioner installed, but ours was on some super yacht that was supposed to have launched but was now on a rolling delay. It was around 94 degrees inside the boat and all the fans simply circulated the hot air more efficiently.
Welcome to the Taswell 44 sauna.
We’d waited until the last week to do our major provisioning, not a good idea. I was off to Fisheries Supply to buy a variety of boating items, including one $375 120 ft. length of rope. Isn’t there something in Greek mythology about ropes of gold? Well, this was about as close as you get. Super high-strength Dynema is the new thing: lighter, smaller in diameter, and as strong as steel. We needed it for our new Code Zero gennaker, and it would cost at least double in Trinidad (where they add a 15% VAT on top of every purchase).
Meryl did the usual route of Trader Joe’s, Fred Meyer, QFC, and, of course, Costco. Back at Jim and Chris Berry’s we spread out our booty, covering their living room floor. Jim just shakes his head. No commentary is needed.
As a (former) airline employee, we can take two 70 lb. bags in addition to our carry-ons. With Jim’s help we packed two large duffels and three large cardboard boxes. We had everything weighed (we put Jim on the bathroom scale and he lifted the 70 lb. boxes up to his waist while I laid on the ground with a flashlight trying to read the weight. Getting all this stuff into our little Honda rental car was a challenge. It reminded me of when Jim would help us load our cars after camping trips.
Leaving at 3:30 am, and allowing plenty of time, we filled two baggage carts to the hilt at Sea-Tac and tried to balance leaving the car unattended versus leaving the bags unattended at the check-in counter. Someone always yells at us no matter what.
I took the car back to the rental car facility hoping the best. Sure enough I got a call with Meryl in a panic saying United wanted $1100 for the excess baggage fees. Meryl then opened some of the boxes and rearranged weights and went back. Next quote was $800. She got another agent who figured it at $500, and finally a third rather frazzled agent who quoted $300 (which is what the computer said when we checked in online). We swallowed hard, handed over the credit card and then ran for the plane. Luckily TSA Pre was wide open and we whizzed through and raced to the plane, where amazingly, we got the last two seats. We even got to sit together, a rarity these days.
When we flew through Houston last year the connecting flight was at the other end of the airport and we didn’t make it. This time the departing flight was at the same gate so we got a snack and relaxed a little. On the flight a nice Trinidadian lady switched seats so we could sit together and we had a enjoyable flight, but still wondering whether our bags had made it because of the all the delays during SeaTac checking-in.
Landing in the familiar heat and humidity of Port of Spain at 8:30 p.m. we had to get some special paper work to clear Marine Customs at Chaguaramus Bay, about one hour away. Since it was now after 10:00 pm we had to pay a surcharge for the taxi, but he was a nice guy and waited for us at Marine Customs as the agent made me open each box and show him the contents. By law goods brought in for a “yacht in transit” are duty free, but that is very loosely interpreted by Customs. The agent wasn’t in a great mood by let us go with no extra fees. We had reserved a room at the modest hotel at Peakes Boatyard, and hauling all those boxes from the cab to the hotel room left me and cab driver soaked in sweat, but it was good to finally be there with all the boxes in one piece.
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| The boxes, duffels, and suitcases all survived the trip, barely. |
The boat seemed to survived OK, a little musty and with some mold, but not too bad given the time away. The one huge bummer was that we were supposed to have a portable air conditioner installed, but ours was on some super yacht that was supposed to have launched but was now on a rolling delay. It was around 94 degrees inside the boat and all the fans simply circulated the hot air more efficiently.
Welcome to the Taswell 44 sauna.
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