Haul Out in Trinidad

We departed Store Bay, Tobago at 11:55pm on 24th February 2015 and arrived in Chaguaramas at 12:30pm the next day. We picked up a mooring opposite the Power Boats Boatyard (N 10.40.724 W 61.38.072) for a week.

Clearing in at Chaguaramas was fairly easy compared to when we cleared-in at Scarborough. The Customs and Immigrations office are within 50m of each other.

 

We hauled out at Power Boats on the 2nd of March 2015, mainly to re-anti foul our hulls and service the engine. But as you know, there's always something more that needs to repaired, replaced, serviced, etc.

I was really nervous when Raptor was on wheels moving on land, weaving through the boatyard, like a car! I was so afraid we would hit something. But Don (the owner) who drove the trailer is very skilled & experienced.

 

Raptor on wheels

Resting Raptor on blocks of wood

You can see the brown stain above the waterline we acquired from being in the rivers for the last 3 months.

Close up of the Barnacles

So that's us on blocks of wood! Located between the Dockside mini market and the Power Boats office/toilets/laundry room.

The largest blister on Raptor

Smaller blisters

A total of 30 over blisters

Before Anti Foul

After Anti-Foul

Anti Foul is done! Raptor looks like new from the outside again!

We would've launched after servicing the engine, unfortunately Alex who thought he was still in his 20's injured his back while lifting our 50kg Yamaha 9.9hp outboard from the ground up to hand it to me on the transom, which was about 1.3 meters off the ground. He had successfully handed it to me but heard a crack and knew he had done his back in. It was a painful lesson. 

After 2 months on the hard, he was still in no condition to work on the boat or go sailing. So we decided to leave Raptor and head home for a desk job instead.

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Recipe | Whole Wheat Banana Bread

Nutella, Cocoa, Cashew Nut & Chia Seed Whole Wheat Banana Bread 
(photo looks a little dark but rest assured it's not burnt.. It's the chocolate!) :)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• a pinch of salt 
• 1 egg
• 1½ cups of whole wheat flour/all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar or nutella (optional)
• 1 teaspoon chia seeds (optional)
• 1 teaspoon flax seeds (optional)
• 3 tablespoons of crushed nuts peanuts/hazelnuts/cashews/walnuts/almonds (optional)

Method:

1. In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas & butter until soft and smooth with a fork.

2. Mix in the vanilla extract, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder or sugar. Stir in the beaten egg.

3. Add in the nuts, seeds, nutella (optional). Mix in the flour.

4. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly grease a 4x8 inch loaf pan with olive oil. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick (inserted in the middle of the loaf) comes out clean.

6. Remove from oven, let bread cool in pan for 5 minutes and turn it out on to rack. Slice & serve.

Note: Sometimes I pour half the batter into the loaf pan, then spread a layer of nutella before pouring the rest of the batter in for a sweeter version and a layer of nuts at the top. 😊

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