Quentrall-Thomas's last voyage

Peter Quentrall-Thomas died as he lived, with a love of life, adventure and the sea.

This was the way his friends and relatives chose to remember the veteran sailor as they paid their final respects at his funeral on Thursday morning.

Quentrall-Thomas, 73, was laid to rest at Belgrove's Funeral Home, Tacarigua, after a brief ceremony.

Rather than follow a strict format with a homily and a eulogy, the event consisted of mourners sharing memories and stories of their experiences with Quentrall-Thomas, who was remembered as a doting family man, intrepid seaman and eccentric businessman. At his request, most of them wore floral Hawaiian shirts.

Sharing his memories, CEO of the TT Energy Chamber Dr Thackwray Driver said Quentrall-Thomas' travels made him more mindful of the importance of doing business on an international scale. and recalled their first meeting.

"I met him back in 2002. when he gave me a stack of Chinese newspapers and he told me that as I was the new CEO, I needed to know what was going on in China.

"I think he had a great passion for doing business with the rest of the world. He had in his offices a big map and in our meetings we would see this map with TT as tiny dots. He was very committed to this vision of thinking global."

Journalist Marina Salandy-Brown said she remembered Quentrall-Thomas as a fearless sailor and traveller who would visit ports in search of adventure and excitement.

Recalling one particular trip up the Amazon River, Salandy-Brown said Quentrall-Thomas ,despite his eccentricities won over a stern immigration officer with his charm.

"The officer was less than pleased that he didn't have the necessary paperwork in order to be travelling, but within a matter of minutes, thanks to his classic charm and a bottle of rum, that very same officer invited us to lunch and even gave us a free tour of a rubber plantation.

"He was that kind of person."

Relatives said Quentrall-Thomas had a deep passion for living life to the fullest and said his last wish was to make his funeral as happy and lively as possibly, with soca and calypso music.

Quentrall-Thomas was a retired civil engineer, past president of the South Trinidad Chamber (now the Energy Chamber) and former chairman of the Point Lisas Industrial Corporation.

In February 2017 he became the first Trinidadian to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, travelling almost 3,000 miles non-stop in 19 days.

He died on Christmas Eve.