What a difference a few degrees make


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Central America Caribbean » Grenada » Carriacou
December 22nd 2011
Published: December 22nd 2011
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Christmas in TrinidadChristmas in TrinidadChristmas in Trinidad

We just had to take photos of the Christmas decorations at West Mall in Trinidad - just like back home
What degrees am I talking about? It is degrees of latitude. As a reminder latitude are those “lines” around the earth that are parallel to the equator. There is an equal distance between these lines, and there are 60 minutes to a degree, with 1 minute of latitude equaling 1 nautical mile (this one’s for you Cyndie). With this information it easy to tell how many miles you travel north as the crow flies. For those of you who loved the SAT word problems, if a boat left point A traveling at … sorry I couldn’t help myself. Why am I telling you this? When we left Trinidad we were at latitude 10 degrees 40 minutes N and in Carriacou we are now at 12 degrees 28 minutes N. With the above information you can calculate that if we went directly north we traveled 108 miles.



That doesn’t sound like much but we have noticed that it really does make for quite a few changes. The most noticeable when we put down our anchor was that we could see the bottom again. The water is clear blue again and is inviting for swimming. In Trinidad it was only
SunriseSunriseSunrise

Here is a sunrise for Sharon!
occasionally that you could see a few feet down into the water, otherwise it appeared to be almost black. In the area that we were we also saw lots of debris in the water because it was washed down the rivers every time it rained and it rained most days.



The temperature in Trinidad ran between 89-95 degrees while in Carriacou we have been seeing temperatures of 82. There isn’t much difference in actual temperature, but what we notice is that there is significantly less humidity here. What a difference that really makes as we can now do the simplest of tasks without sweating. As I mentioned to Bob I never knew I could sweat so much in my life. When you can take a cold shower and while dressing you start sweating, you realized how humid Trinidad was. We now can walk around town in the middle of the day and still be dry! What a pleasant change this has made.



The last few nights in Carriacou we have had quite a bit of wind which has been keeping us here. We always have a comforter on the bed but in Trinidad we
Another sunriseAnother sunriseAnother sunrise

Sunrises are just as beautiful as sunsets
always removed it before going to bed – the last few nights we actually used it



After reading this I could imagine that some of you might be asking, if this was the case, why did we stay in Trinidad so long. There were a few reasons for this. The first most obvious one was that our insurance company wanted us south of 12 degrees latitude for the hurricane season and Trinidad fit that criteria. We also found that if you wanted work done on your boat this was the place – quality craftsmanship and good prices and the airfare from Trinidad back to the US was reasonable. These were factors that influenced our decision to go to Trinidad, but the most important reason for our staying as long as we did was the beauty of the country, the culture and the people. As always the people are what you remember and we will fondly remember the people we met in Trinidad – they are a warm and caring people who take pride in their country and are eager to share it with you. Again, thank you to those in Trinidad that made it such an inviting
One of the people who helped usOne of the people who helped usOne of the people who helped us

Mike was a true artist when it came to moving boats around in small spaces!
place to stay.



We are now in Carriacou where we are finding the same type of kindness. This is a much smaller island where everybody seems to know each other. We have been here only a week, but already feel welcome. We think it will be a nice place to spend the Christmas holiday.



Our best wishes to you all wherever you are spending your holidays!


Additional photos below
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Our "home base" in TrinidadOur "home base" in Trinidad
Our "home base" in Trinidad

Here is a view of the Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association where we were anchored
What does Reality look like?What does Reality look like?
What does Reality look like?

Reality was from St. Lucia but we met him in Trinidad
Cheering on the dragon boatsCheering on the dragon boats
Cheering on the dragon boats

The dragon boat teams practiced in the bay where we were anchored and many times we cheered the teams on - they had them for all age groups
JesseJesse
Jesse

Any that have read the blog know this is the great ambassador of Trinidad, Jesse James.
We wish her wellWe wish her well
We wish her well

While waiting at the bus stop we had a nice visit with this form 5 student. We wished her well as she will be sitting for her exams this year.
Carriacou & blue waterCarriacou & blue water
Carriacou & blue water

A veiw of Tyrrel Bay where we are anchored in Carriacou


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