Seascape: A Penny Saved is One-Sixth of a Penny Earned….

(**DISCLOSURE! –This is an older blog that I didn’t post on time – I have been remiss…I will try to catch up and get you on track with where we currently are - which is in Culebra, Spanish Virgins today!)

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We’re still in Trinidad, but we are planning on a short trip back to Florida to visit friends and relatives ….and doctors and dentists…. I have a list three pages long of what I would like to check on or get when we’re back in the states. I was just getting used to substituting new Island foods and products for long-loved USA ones…. I felt like a true islander. But tempted with the lure of the familiar, my list is growing. I’m probably going to need a small loan to purchase everything on the list, so I have started by saving Trinidadian pennies.

The exchange rate is $6.25T / $1.00US! That makes 6 Trinidadian pennies equals one USA penny! Trinidad pennies are so UN-valuable that locals just throw them away! When I first arrived here I kept seeing all these pennies on the street. At first I picked up the ones with the “heads” side up – for good luck. Then one day I went into Port of Spain with some girlfriends and everywhere in the streets were pennies. Every time I came out of a store and looked down – there were at least 6 – 10 pennies right there on the ground! I just couldn’t ignore it anymore and started picking them up and keeping them!

Walking to the bus in Trini

Eccentric? …. Maybe…. But I have never been able to tolerate waste, and this just perplexes me as to the sheer quantity of pennies that are discarded on a daily basis. So I have started making it my mission to collect them and I will see how many I can accumulate in the next month. My friend Ann Miller (M/V Ann Louise) thinks I’m so funny, that she has taken to being the “Penny Fairy” and scatters pennies along my dock when she takes her morning walk! She can make fun – but Benjamin Franklin would have loved me, if he were still around!

The money exchange in the islands is one of the reasons you needed to take math in school! Every time I shop, I have to do a mental calculation of the cost of the item. At first I thought everything was so expensive….a carton of milk is $12! (TT) “Wow – that’s a lot! - I think – then I mentally divide by 6 and – whoa!.... It’s only two bucks US! When I go to the local grocery store, I panic when it totals $180.00 (TT) – but then I realize that’s only $30 bucks! I’m starting to get used to it now – just when we’re planning on leaving! Then back to EC or Euros – which are a whole different calculation! I could use my iPhone calculator or my currency converter – but I think it’s really best to keep in the habit of doing the mental arithmetic. After a year cruising and rarely knowing what day it is, brain usage is becoming imperative!

We hear from other cruisers about which country is the best for flying to different destinations. Luckily, we have learned that going to Europe – especially the UK is less expensive from Tobago, and Trinidad is less expensive than Grenada when returning to the US. Of course that’s always changing… but it helps to hear from other cruisers experiences.

The latest catastrophe was with our Washer/Dryer unit. I was giving Cap a haircut out on the dock and forgot to get his electric razor for trimming – so I went back inside to get it and found smoke billowing out of our laundry unit. “FIRE!!!!!!” I shouted to Cap, and he jumped up and ran in. We thought our dryer was the problem. It was stopped mid-cycle and so for the next hour we proceeded to clean out all the lint from the dryer hose. This is no easy task as it is located in some big hole with a tiny door and you have to be double-jointed and about 3 feet tall to get into it and reach the hose. Of course this is a job that is sure to cut and scratch Cap. He starts bleeding right away. This is what happens with “jobs” on a boat. After we have every last shred of crap cleaned out of the dryer, we gingerly turn the circuit breaker back on and turn on the dryer …..And Lo and Behold! It works! The two of us are jumping for joy – another problem – SOLVED! We go make a cup of tea, as we are both exhausted. As I am sitting sipping my cuppa, I remember I had wash in the machine too! I’d better go put it in the dryer…. But when I open the washer, I find the load has stopped mid-cycle and the tub is filled with water. I turn the dial back on and…..Nothing…. That’s when we realize – it wasn’t the dryer – it was the washer that was smoking!

So I bail out the water and take the wash to the Laundromat. We talk about it and look up numbers for repairmen – but after a little research, we realize our washer/dryer is over 25 years old and that they no longer even make the parts for it! We decide to avoid trying to repair a relic and opt for scanning the internet to find a replacement.

Cap with W/ D at Customs

removing the old W/D

This takes about three days! Long story short – they don’t make any of those units in the same size as our old one – and none will fit the spot we have for a washer/dryer! When I try to commiserate with my sailboat friends about this dilemma – they all look at me as if I had two heads! Most sail boaters don’t have a washer or dryer and do their laundry in a bucket – like the pioneer days! So no one is feeling very sorry for me…. Cap and I finally find a separate washer and dryer that fit our existing space without needing extensive carpentry, and immediately put an order in with Fanny at Marine Warehouse, in hopes that they can get it on the next shipment, that would arrive before we leave for the states.

Installing new W/D!

Oh no – that would be too easy…. So it will arrive just when we are away and who knows how that will work out…..I sure hope it doesn’t get lost! We will have 3 days to get the thing installed and working, before we have to leave the marina. This could go smoothly-or- it could be a complete disaster – depending on ….luck!

Well - finally we've got our mojo back! The removal and install couldn't have gone smoother and we are so happy with this brand!