Boat Repairs in Chaguaramas, Trinidad

The craziness in the tropical heat is about to end. John’s boat working fever finally has calmed down. Bad Bunny looks really shiny and sharp from the rub rail down. Unfortunately according to John, this just means we have to do more work on the deck to make it all match! (?)

We have been staying at Peake’s Yachting Services (boatyard) for almost three months. We like the ample space and friendly employees in Peake’s Marine. Bunny got a new paint job (Hull, Mast, Bottom, and Dinghy), also miscellaneous repairs and upgrades (Gelcoat Repair, Welding, New Bow Protector, Dodger Vinyl Replacement, Cockpit Cushion Fabric, Jib Furler Parts, etc.) We now plan to explore Trinidad and visit the Leatherback Turtle hatching sight at night before we depart Chaguarmas, Trinidad.

The closest distance from Venezuela to Trinidad is about 7 miles (about 11 kilometers). Due to the Venezuelan Crisis, I originally was hesitant to come to Trinidad. John has been happy with his decision to repair Bunny in Trinidad. Chaguaramas offers extensive boating related businesses. It is like a one stop boating service zone. Some parts are expensive due to tax and shipping costs from another country. Most parts and materials are easily available. Locals said that the yachting business has slowed down compared with previous years.

Our paint job came out very satisfying. We hired Classic Yacht Services (the owner’s nick name is COW as he is a vegetarian.) His crew’s prep work was excellent and the painter, Newton is one of the best painters in Chaguaramas in the opinion of other painters in the yard. We hired Jonas for rigging (Trinidad Rigging) and we liked his meticulously planned work and how he delivered everything on time. We liked Ammsco machinery and their superb aluminum welding job on our mast head crane. We also had a great experience with the woodworker John Francois here in the Peake’s yard.

Bunny has been scheduled to go back to water today. Our 90 day stay expires soon. We plan to leave here in a week and not to renew our visa permit.

PS: We found a last-minute disturbing problem. Our mainsail is totally rotten. We can grab it and rip it by hand at any fold (two layers of cloth) without much force. We have used it for six years and sailed about 25,000 miles with it. We religiously covered the sail with the sunbrella cover when it is not being used. Both main sail and Genoa (Jib Sail) were made by North Sails about seven years ago. The Genoa is still good. The ‘Main Sail’ means so much because it is MAIN element on a SAIL boat. We want to know what if anything North Sails will do about this. While figuring out why and how, and also what company to order, we have decided sail to our next destination with just the Genoa (Jib Sail). Once we order a new mainsail, we will get it delivered to our future destination, most likely Colombia.