We had time for one more hash in Grenada before we left which was at St Paul’s just above the capital, St George’s. It turned out to be quite strenuous and we just managed to finish the course without collapsing! Unusually for the Caribbean islands, there were splendid views from many points on the walk. We also managed to find some frozen US cod in the Foodland supermarket in the Lagoon in St George’s and stocked the freezer. Oh, what a taste of home!

A few days later we left for Trinidad and suffice it to say it wasn’t too good a journey. Two quite violent squalls didn’t help but we eventually reached the safe haven of good old Chaguaramas again. We took a buoy in the bay for a couple of weeks and are now back on the slip in Powerboats C Dock. It is good to see old friends again.

There is quite a bit of work to do on the old girl again - mainly replacing the 40 year old stanchions and bases and replacing some of the port side of the cockpit and coach roof which is rotten. Mike has quite a bit on his plate again this year while Pat swans off home!

Since coming back to Trini we have met up with Peter and Sheila again and they kindly invited us for another overnight stay at their lovely home. On the Sunday morning before going back to Chaguaramas we were treated to a visit to the home of one of the members of the Trinidad and Tobago Garden Club. The club members meet regularly at each of their houses to admire and learn about various plants. Sheila’s garden is the smallest in the club and takes a bit of beating - in our unbiased opinion of course!

We have started changing the stanchion bases this week which involves removing the headlining and insulation in the main and fore cabins. You can imagine the mess! It will get even worse next month when Mike removes a portion of the coach roof! Thank goodness Pat will be back home then. Yes, she’s coming home for another 10 weeks again, looking forward to some of those grey skies and catching up with family and friends.

We did do a fantastic hike last weekend. A group of us went with Jesse and met up with our guide Snake (he of the Rincon Waterfall and the Tamana bat caves) and also Jesse’s two brothers Daniel and Davey and their two friends Billy and Mark. We made our way in three vehicles high into the northern range of mountains on ever deteriorating roads. After reaching an even worse road we all left the transport and started down a really steep track. When we reached an abandoned cocoa house we all had a good snack on mangoes and oranges from the surrounding trees. We then descended through the rain forest to the magnificent Guanapo gorge. During our descent it started to rain and Snake was not sure if we’d be able to enter the gorge in case of flash floods. Luckily the rain stopped just as we reached the head of the gorge and we were faced with our first challenge, a six foot leap into a pool below a waterfall! There then followed an exhilarating descent of the gorge down more waterfalls and through flumes of rapidly running water. Everyone really enjoyed the experience and we hope to do more gorge walks later in the year. The only downside of the day was the interminable climb back up the steep track. Luckily Daniel came down to meet us half way in the pickup and we were transported the rest of the way to the top of the hill. They had already jogged up before us! Oh, to be young and fit again! When we all eventually got back to the van and changed out of our wet clothes we were surprised to hear Jesse offering us chicken pelau, a local rice dish that Daniel and Mark had prepared for us at 4.30 am that morning. What great lads!

Snake has his own web site at www.hikeseekers.com which lists the walks available and we can say that he really takes care of your safety on these not so benign forays into the rain forest. He  is so knowledgeable and patient, especially with us not so youngsters! Mike has written up an account of the day for the Caribbean Compass magazine and will be submitting it soon. Check out their and Snake’s site later.

Last week we were back doing the everyday jobs. Four of the new stanchion bases are fitted and the boat is getting back in order in the starboard side main and fore cabin. The next four need to be done this week too so the port side of the boat will be in uproar again!

Mike went to his archery club on Saturday for the first time since we have been back and enjoyed meeting up with his ‘old mates’ again.

Pat is flying home on the 10th August and hasn’t decided whether to do any updates before her return. It depends on what Mike manages to get done and what photos he takes. If there is anything major to report we will update as usual but it may be that we leave it until Pat’s return in mid October. We will e-mail if there is an update before, otherwise, see you beginning of November. Thanks to Neville on s/y Alba for letting us use some of his photos this month.