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osirissail · 05-04-2009, 16:38

I have spent considerable time in both Grenada and Trinidad - 3 years out of the last 5 years. I was in Grenada for Hurricane Ivan and would not recommend leaving your boat there if you have an alternative. Staying on the boat during the hurricane season however is not a problem - I did it for 3 years - as you can make the run to Trinidad if any hurricane actually threatens the island.
- - If you do not have a choice and have to stay in Grenada then for all means use Grenada Marine Boatyard in St. Davids. It had a very good record of boat survival during Hurricane Ivan.
- - In all cases you need to have your reservations in for any boatyard in Grenada or Trinidad "last week" as there are a thousand boats in the area and room for maybe half that number. Grenada fills up faster than Trinidad.
- - Trinidad is not as bad as its reputation. It is more like being in Baltimore or New York or any other major industrial city area. There are areas you need to stay out of; there are common sense rules of not wandering around at night; and others that you would follow if you were staying in a heavy populated industrial area. I have not had any problems there for the half dozen times I have been there over the last 3 years. But I was born and raised in NYC, so am aware of the common sense things to do and not to do in such a high population place. Although the officials in Trinidad are "cruiser-unfriendly or indifferent" versus Grenada's "you-all come on down" attitudes.
- - Currently there are only 4 boatyards in Trinidad available to cruisers - Coral Cove Marina/boatyard; Power Boats Mutual boatyard; Peakes boatyard; and IMS boatyard. They all have websites. Coral Cove and Power Boats have "secure yards" within their bigger yards. These are areas that are fenced off from the main yard and are offer high security storage.
- - Surprisingly, (not really) all the boatyards on both islands manage to charge almost identical prices. Trinidad has the added advantage of offering access to many different sources of supplies and services from Grenada - but at a higher prices - unless you know where to shop.
- - Life is much more peaceful and pleasant in Grenada as they only have about 100K people versus Trinidad's 1.8 million people. Kind of like Peoria versus Chicago kind of thing. So pick the island best matching your lifestyle preferences - big city versus country town.
- - But make your reservations soon . . .

05-04-2009, 16:38	#3
osirissail Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: onboard in the Caribbean - mostly in Grenada Boat: Gulfstar 53 - Osiris Posts: 851	I have spent considerable time in both Grenada and Trinidad - 3 years out of the last 5 years. I was in Grenada for Hurricane Ivan and would not recommend leaving your boat there if you have an alternative. Staying on the boat during the hurricane season however is not a problem - I did it for 3 years - as you can make the run to Trinidad if any hurricane actually threatens the island. - - If you do not have a choice and have to stay in Grenada then for all means use Grenada Marine Boatyard in St. Davids. It had a very good record of boat survival during Hurricane Ivan. - - In all cases you need to have your reservations in for any boatyard in Grenada or Trinidad "last week" as there are a thousand boats in the area and room for maybe half that number. Grenada fills up faster than Trinidad. - - Trinidad is not as bad as its reputation. It is more like being in Baltimore or New York or any other major industrial city area. There are areas you need to stay out of; there are common sense rules of not wandering around at night; and others that you would follow if you were staying in a heavy populated industrial area. I have not had any problems there for the half dozen times I have been there over the last 3 years. But I was born and raised in NYC, so am aware of the common sense things to do and not to do in such a high population place. Although the officials in Trinidad are "cruiser-unfriendly or indifferent" versus Grenada's "you-all come on down" attitudes. - - Currently there are only 4 boatyards in Trinidad available to cruisers - Coral Cove Marina/boatyard; Power Boats Mutual boatyard; Peakes boatyard; and IMS boatyard. They all have websites. Coral Cove and Power Boats have "secure yards" within their bigger yards. These are areas that are fenced off from the main yard and are offer high security storage. - - Surprisingly, (not really) all the boatyards on both islands manage to charge almost identical prices. Trinidad has the added advantage of offering access to many different sources of supplies and services from Grenada - but at a higher prices - unless you know where to shop. - - Life is much more peaceful and pleasant in Grenada as they only have about 100K people versus Trinidad's 1.8 million people. Kind of like Peoria versus Chicago kind of thing. So pick the island best matching your lifestyle preferences - big city versus country town. - - But make your reservations soon . . .