By Bob Osborn
After 17 years of hard use, Pandora, our 2007 semi-custom, Roger Martin designed 47-foot sloop was in need of a refit. With moisture in some deck areas and myriad other paint and repair needs, I was looking at a big job.
I had heard good things from fellow cruisers about getting work done in Trinidad and decided to check it out. However, I was more than a bit anxious about having a big job underway more than 2,000 miles from home. How would I keep tabs on the work and ensure that it was done right and on time?
Two of the larger yards in Trinidad are PowerBoats and Peakes Yacht Services and I decided to follow many of my friends and contacted PowerBoats and Amos of Perfect Finish, who works out of the yard. I had heard good reports about his work so we set up a video call.
In preparation for a call, I borrowed a moisture meter and mapped out the affected deck areas in blue painter’s tape and outlined in some detail other work that needed to be done.
After several calls, we settled on a price and work schedule including weekly “video tours” as well as regular photos documenting every step of the job. I had heard horror stories of owners leaving boats for months only to find partially completed jobs when they returned months later.
I did not want any surprises and Amos agreed to a firm quote for the job to avoid the all-too-common change orders and “time and materials” contracts common in the U.S.
Except for one specific area not covered in the quote, the price was set and details of the work and materials confirmed. Additionally, all payments were to be made through the yard office upon approval to ensure that no money would be released until the agreed work was completed to my satisfaction.
Last May, after a season of cruising the eastern Caribbean, I delivered Pandora to Powerboats Marina where she was hauled until November when I planned to head north to Antigua to meet up with the Salty Dawg Caribbean Rally fleet.
When I arrived, it was very hot but within hours Pandora was hauled and an AC unit installed in a deck hatch making Pandora livable for me to stay aboard for the week until the job was well underway and I headed home to the US. The AC was to be left in place for the summer to ensure that the heat and humidity would not damage the interior and the boat was fully covered within days as well.
The proximity of Trinidad to Venezuela is concerning to many but security in the marina is very tight and those that had stored there for years many who had stored their boats there for years were very positive about the experience.
For those that might wish store and have work done in Trinidad, there is a question of available space. The fact is that the yards in Trinidad were basically full when I arrived last May and had been so for some time so when nearly 100 boats headed south from Grenada in June to escape the path of hurricane Beryl, there was no space left to be hauled.
As hurricane Beryl passed to the north in June, 2024, I could not help but wonder what it would have been like had Pandora been stored farther north where so many boats met their end. The idea of spending thousands only to have the newly refurbished boat destroyed was a horrifying image.
With more intense storms forecast in the coming years and more restrictions included in insurance policies, there is little doubt that cruisers will be even more focused on keeping their boats in an area that is free from harm, especially as insurance policies expand exclusions from storm damage. Chris Parker, of Marine Weather Center, a leading weather forecaster for the Caribbean, notes that Trinidad is really the only place in the Eastern Caribbean that is safe from Hurricanes.
The work on Pandora turned out to be of excellent quality and the yard well run. As I continue my plans for running Pandora to the Med in the spring it’s nice to know that she is in better than new condition and ready for the crossing.
Bob Osborn is Rally Director of the Salty Dawg Sailing Association and immediate past president. He sails seasonally, with his wife Brenda, aboard Pandora, their Aerodyne 47, monohull. In the spring he will be leading the first Salty Dawg Rally to the Azores and will continue to the Mediterranean for several seasons of cruising. He can be reached at Bob@saltydawgsailing.org
Resources:
Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center. https://www.mwxc.com/
Salty Dawg Sailing Association, a not-for-profit, Blue Water educational organization. www.saltydawgsailing.org
Powerboats Marina: https://powerboats.co.tt/
Peaks Yacht Services: https://peakeyachts.com/
www.sailpandora.com The author has kept a blog for many years, with over 1,000 posts, chronicling their travels, writing about many popular cruising areas.
