The crossing to Trinidad goes very smoothly and quickly. It's still quite a distance of over 500 miles, but because there's a strong current for a large part of the time (the Guyana current is about 2 knots) we expect to make a quick crossing. We also notice that we are well trained in doing these kind of crossings, it almost feels like "we'll just do that"; it really isn't, so always be careful, prepare and plan well!

We sail out of the estuary of the Suriname River with the four boats. That takes some careful navigation, because there is only a narrow dredged channel and beyond that it's pretty shallow. Just before dark, with a strong wind and sailing at an angle, we reach the outer harbour and we can set course NW, half wind, towards Trinidad. We sail together with the Barbarossa and the Jonathan, and the Valentine immediately chooses a more northerly course, because they are going to Tobago.

The nice thing about a year of sailing is that you meet different people all the time. We met the crew of the Jonathan in Suriname. Giel and Monica have three children (Daan aged 8, Nikki aged 6 and Luuk aged almost 3). They sail on a Trintella 57, a beautiful big boat. On their way to Suriname, the Jonathan ripped up the mainsail, so Trinidad is also a convenient stop for them to do some repairs.

We decide to sail up together with the three boats; the Barbarossa still has its damaged keel so we had already decided that from a safety point of view. And Jonathan doesn't have a mainsail, so that's not very nice on a crossing like this either. Sailing together goes very well this time as well. And it is great fun! We have a great time singing over the radio, playing guessing games and just chatting about the day's distances. Because the Brandaan has a roller mainsail, we can trim the boat quite easily as far as speed is concerned, so sailing up together is also quite doable.

The first night goes well. We have a good speed and in the first 24 hours we seem to have done exactly 8 knots on average (192 miles day length). A speed record for all of us. The first day we clearly have to get used to a moving boat. We don't do much more than lying quietly and we certainly don't do too much inside on the computer or in the kitchen. We do enjoy the tuna the Jonathan has caught! At the end of the afternoon they throw up a delicious piece and we give them some wasabi. Giel has a great trackrecord of catching fish, so we are going to learn a lot from him!

The second night goes well too. Every now and then the wind is strong and the current is still with us, so we make good progress. We leave school for a while, because we keep quiet on the second day as well. During the day, it's murderously hot and a good bimini (sun canopy over the cockpit) is absolutely essential. Fortunately, we had a bimini installed on the Brandaan just before we left for our trip and we enjoy it a lot. The second day we cover a distance of 183 miles. So after two days we have covered almost 400 miles. A two-day speed record!

The third night is a lot more turbulent, but it is a lot more fun sailing. We sail very close to brightly lit oil platforms and ships anchored there. There's even one platform right on our course line and it refuses to move. So we go around it. A beautiful sight, a sea of lights around us, but we have to be careful. In between we get some heavy showers with lots of wind. The speed has decreased because the current is no longer there. Early in the morning we reach the northern tip of Trinidad and so we enter the last day and ..... is Eline's birthday. Hip hip hurrah!!!! Together with Marinthe we hang the garlands, and when Eline wakes up, it already smells like homemade chocolate cake. The Jonathan and Barborossa sing nice birthday songs over the radio, and at breakfast with chocolate cake she unwraps the presents. Lego from us and a beautiful drawing from Marinthe.

The current is now against us (that was not the intention, was it? Oh well, we've run into a lot of contrary weather this year) and the wind is also not cooperating, so we rev up the engine to be able to arrive in the afternoon. We motor along the entire north side of Trinidad and around 14.00 hours we sail around the point into the bay where several marinas are located and where the Barbarossa will be repaired. As soon as we arrive it turns out that the Barborossa can already be put on shore. So it's a hectic afternoon with a time-consuming clearing process and putting the Barbarossa on the side. Once we are ready we all celebrate Eline's birthday on the Brandaan and afterwards we go out for a nice dinner in the restaurant in the harbour. And finally we have good internet access again, so all the congratulations via email, sailmail and the website are pouring in and Eline is very happy with that. It's a strange thing to have a birthday here and it's very nice to receive all these congratulations!

We're in the Caribbean! That is a powerful feeling. We already had a feeling of recognition when we entered the bay ... We sailed in rented boats in the Caribbean for many years and always wanted to go there on our own. And now we are there and it feels very special!