Wildcat Sailorgirl

Tobago - Do You Have

Dash showing off the kingfish he caught

As I mentioned before, we quickly got to know some of the locals in Charlotteville. It's a small fishing village that is somewhat isolated where everyone knows everyone. Because of this everyone helps everyone else out. They soon included us in this. They were not shy to ask us for things or a ride whether stopping by our boat at anchor or chatting with us ashore. Sometimes we could and did assist, other times we declined. We've had this a bit in other places but it was full on here. Not aggressively, just honest asking. And that was ok. It fit with the feel of this tight little village. No different than you would find in any small town USA.

A few of the things we were asked-

"Do you have any WD40?"

"Do you have a light?"

"Do you have anything to drink? Coke? Beer? Something stronger?" Or "What do you have to drink? I am very thirsty."

One local charter boat captain asked if we had any fishing line and a lure.

"We going to da beach. Can you take us?"

"I need a ride out to my fishing boat. Can you take me out and back?"

"I see you lock your dinghy or I already borrow it to go out and back."

"Do you have US dollars? I have a friend who would like to exchange some."

"I have am able to exchange money for you so you can change your US dollars into TT if you need."

"Do you have a cell phone? I need to call my brother to come and get some fish."

"You live on a boat. I never been on a sailboat. Maybe I can come out to your boat tomorrow and take some pictures aboard to send to my girlfriend in Trinidad."

Fishing With A Local

Dave in his fishing pirogue Neva 2 Late

"Good day. How are you? Is everything good for you? Would you like to buy a tuna I just caught? And do you have any interest in going fishing tomorrow morning? I am going out fishing and I wanted to see if you wanted to go and learn how we fish."

Birds fishing is a good sign of fish for the rest of us

That is what local fisherman Dave said when he stopped by our boat in Pirates Bay. "Sure" said Tom. FYI - The invite was for Tom alone. We have seen NO women fishing. NONE! But that is ok. It would give me chance to chill on the boat by myself. Dave said he would pick Tom up the next morning at our boat at 6:30AM. He asked only that Tom pay for the gas. Ok. Oh yeah....he needed the money now. Hum? Tom said "Half now, the other half tomorrow." "No, that won't work. De gas station only open today so I must have all the money today to get the gas." Hum? "Don't worry. I won't cheat you. I will pick you up tomorrow as I say." Okay. "As you can see my boat is called Neva 2 Late - big letters. Everybody know me. I won't cheat you. I will show up."

The poles make it look like the boats have whiskers

There was a jazz show that evening over on the windward side of the island. Dave mentioned that he would be going. I told Tom "You better be ready at 6:30AM but with typical island time AND the jazz show, it will be interesting to see what time he really shows up." Later I whipped up a batch of brownies for them to take fishing. Good luck brownies.

Dave always has a big smile. The Sisters in the distance on the right

6:20 AM "Hello? Good morning. I here to take you fishing" Dave called out. Sure enough, there he was bright and early. Tom grabbed sunscreen, a hat, water and the brownies and headed off in Neva 2 Late with Dave.

Success - YES!

The fishing pirogues of Charlotteville are similar to other island pirogues -approx 18 ft long with deep V bows that help them maneuver the open waters. However the Charlotteville pirogues are fitted with long bamboo poles out to each side that look like catfish whiskers. The fishermen run a fishing line off each of these and two out the back.

Perfect for two people. In fact we got 2 meals out of this one

Dave immediately started rigging up right there in Man of War Bay and then they headed southwest off shore towards a group of rocks called The Sisters. They fished from there north all the way up to another group of off shore rocks called London Bridge.

Cleaning the tuna for dinner

Three hours later they were back with one tuna. Such is fishing. But at 2 1/2 lbs it was just perfect for the two of us for dinner. Tom cleaned it up and that evening we tossed it on the grill. YUM!

Charlotteville Tobago

sv Honey Ryder at anchor in Store Bay with sy Tango

After spending several weeks anchored in Store Bay, basically using it as our base to explore more of Tobago as a whole, we decided to move up to Charlotteville on the north end of Tobago. Man of War Bay there is huge. We tucked up in a small corner of the bigger bay called Pirates Bay. It was lovely, simply lovely.

Man of War Bay - Charlotteville

sv Honey Ryder anchored in Pirate Bay

"Wilson! Ohhhhh Wilson I'm sorry" OR "A three hour tour...."

Maybe the professor off Gilligan's Island fashioned this

Charlotteville is a sleepy little fishing village of approximately 2600 people. It is somewhat isolated. Resources are slightly limited. There are a few small shops selling basics. Once a week on Thursday night a guy comes to town and sets up a fresh fruit and veg market that runs through Friday evening. There is one gas station. It ran out of gas twice in the week and a half we were there. There is one ATM but it only works with that bank's debt cards. A one way trip down to the capitol city of Scarborough on the windward side of the island is an hour and 15 mins by big bus or Maxi Taxi on a good day, often times longer.

View into town from our anchorage in Pirates Bay

Beach workshop for dinghies - this one belonged to a German boat with two small boys - this was THEIR dinghy

In a small village like this, many are related, everyone knows everyone else and there are NO secrets. The sense of community is strong and they are proud. Many, many people stopped us to say hello and to ask if we are enjoying their community/bay. While some they offered their services as hiking, bird and tour guides, for beach trips and BBQ's, fishing, diving/snorkeling and such, they were also genuine in wanting to be sure we were finding the things we needed to make our stay a good one.

Info board

A community chalkboard helps kept locals informed of specific events. However, it soon became obvious that the daily gathering at the outdoor fish market was where real community things get discussed, argued and settled. Or at the card game of gin rummy that took place near the pier each afternoon.

The fish market - I took this late. Normally it was buzzing with people

Sunset at the pier

Each night the lights of the cricket field in the middle of the village came on in case anyone wanted to use it. Several times saw kids playing cricket and football (soccer) there. The local library was very nice and we used it often for internet as did the locals.

Very nice

ATM but NOT for us

There were never more than six yachts anchored in Man of War Bay during the time we were there. We briefly shared Pirates Bay with one other yacht but most of the time we had it all to ourselves. Locals said this is the low/slow season. December and January are high season as well as hurricane season. Although there are NO yacht services in Tobago (so you better be self sufficient), apparently many yachts choose it as their hurricane hideout. Probably a good one given it's south of the hurricane zone.