FUEL CRISIS IN TRINIDAD !!

When we returned to Coral Cove Marina at the close of our Tobago cruise with Paige and Dmitry, we knew we were very low on diesel fuel. We had intentionally run low so we could clean and refill our tanks with the cheap Trinidadian diesel. In fact, our big generator sputtered and died on our last day of the cruise. Its 400 gallon tank was empty!

Timing is everything – and ours was bad!

Unfortunately, while we were cruising, the government of Trinidad had decided to enforce an old law on their books prohibiting sales of fuel to foreign-flagged vessels at the same price as locals pay. (Murphy strikes again.) Since Trinidad is an oil producing country, gas and diesel prices are “subsidized” here, so that locals can buy it far below average world prices. Overnight, the price we must pay for a gallon of diesel quadrupled, rising from $.91 to $4.25!! Not only that; but the fuel vendors were now required to use different pumps to sell fuel to foreign vessels, and to obtain a separate bunkering license for those pumps.

The upshot of this was that there were no fuel vendors at all in Chaguaramas that could legally sell fuel to us until they complied with these requirements. It took over two weeks for the vendors, government and foreign consulates to sort this out. In the meantime, the yachting community was unable to buy fuel even for their dinghies, which they must use as transport to and from shore when anchored in the bay. Obviously, the cruising community was furious with the government, as were all of the merchants and vendors who make their living serving the yachting industry!

So, for weeks, we were basically marooned at our dock at Coral Cove marina. This wasn’t really a great hardship for us, since we at least were able to unload our scooters, and use them to get around. In any case, we were waiting for an opening at Peake’s Boatyard to haul out and perform annual bottom maintenance. If fuel had been available at a reasonable price, we might have gone elsewhere to have this work done.

At last, we had a haul-out date, Monday, September 15. We decided to take on 400 gallons of fuel prior to our haul-out, thinking that we might go directly to Venezuela for cheaper fuel once we were back in the water. (We really need 2400 gallons to prepare for another few months of extended cruising.) So on Saturday, September 13, we took KINGDOM over to the Powerboats Marina fuel dock. Murphy struck again…We were only about 100 feet from the fuel dock, when our starboard engine sputtered and died from lack of fuel! We maneuvered the boat into the dock using the bow thruster and the port engine. Whew!! Another close one!

We knew we were low on fuel, but that is cutting it too close! We have resolved never to let our tanks get lower than 500 gallons in the future. If we had only topped up our tanks on our arrival in Chaguaramas, we would have been able to buy it for less than a dollar a gallon! Timing is everything!