Arizona and arrival in Trinidad

We've been away from home for over a week and it's time for a blog and a few pictures of our adventures.  I think Laurie has Facebooked a few shots.  We flew to Arizona for a few days to visit Kristen and Terry from the boat "Silk Pajamas".  Their boat is stored in St. Lucia and it will be ready for them later this month.  Laurie and I have never been to Arizona, but have always been amazed by the beauty of the mountains and deserts as depicted in various media. 

A common site in Scottsdale

Kristin & Terry

Scottsdale is a lovely little city where walking trails and parks scatter in every direction.  The main streets are dotted with touristy spots that sell all the usual fare; items with cactus or hot peppers on them, or cowboys, Indians, and horses.  Laurie bought a beautiful Stetson sun hat, because he is afraid that his signature pith helmets won't last forever!  What a great hat that is!

The Singing Cowboy

During the evenings at 5:00 sharp, we joined  Kristin and Terry for drinks in their back yard and to watch the sun set.  You don't actually see the horizon from their back yard but the sky was certainly beautiful with the  view of palm trees.   

The view from Kristin and Terry's back yard

Laurie patiently waiting 5:00

Taken out of the car window!

Stopped to go on a wee 40 minute hike along this beautiful lake!

We walked, drove and ate in and out.  Finally it was time to say "Goodbye and we'll see you at Christmas in St. Lucia!" 

We flew all day Monday and were picked up at the airport in Port of Spain, Trinidad at midnight by Blugh our trusty, dependable friend who works with the travel lift at Peak's Boatyard.  When we unlocked the door of Cat Tales, everything looked just fine; no break-ins, no water, no rats, no roaches, and to make Laurie happy  the batteries were working just fine.  So...what were we to do, but toast the day with a glass of wine at 1:30 am!!  

In the morning, we trudged off for 20 minutes in the blazing heat  to Customs and Immigration where they looked at us indifferently and told us that we had cleared at the airport and there was no need to be there.   Funny how the rules change and we were expected to arrive there at the first light of day for the past several years.  We will still go again next year because you never know when it will change back!  Trinidad is certainly the land of paperwork ; there are no breaks if you screw up, and the rules change with the office managers!  So...we smile and do what they say! 

Shawn and Candace,  from Superb Canvas and Sails arrived at our boat this afternoon right after lunch to install the last bits of our bimini.  Imagine, on a Saturday in the Caribbean!!  We have the most beautiful bimini complete with textilene sunscreen across the entire back, and 2 side panels to block out the sun, and last but not least a new windscreen to go all along the front of the boat to keep out the driving rain as well as the seawater when we bash into waves and they bash back!  The panels will all roll up with ties to get them out of the way, or we can choose to remove them altogether.

Superb Sails and Canvas (Trinidad) Candace & Shawn

When Cat Tales was up on the boat lift last May, we had the rudders removed from the boat.  After investigating, Laurie found one rudder cracked along its forward seam, and the other rudder full of water.  He has stripped them of bottom paint, and scraped a lot of gel coat off.  After draining, he has injected 'git rot' and west epoxy and is now adding layers of fibreglass to all the edges.  He has many steps left to go, as well as the usual boat recommissioning and reassembly,  but  we're hopeful to be able to keep our Nov. 29th splash date here at Peake's.  He can probably explain the operation better, but he's presently under the boat out of the rain and working hard!

My sister, Lorna and hubby, Brian are sitting pretty on their new boat up in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  Laurie and I intend to sail up to St. Lucia by Christmas if all goes well.  Val and her husband, Rick will fly down to meet us for Christmas.  Lorna mentioned that it's a bit strange to hear Christmas tunes blaring out of stores and malls.  I would have to agree!  We've been Christmasing down in the Caribbean since we were in our 20's and I'm still not used to the decorations and music in such a hot climate.  And Santa with short pants on and skinny black legs, in Guadeloupe years ago,  has been etched in my memory forever!

More Summertime Fun!

Also this past "vacation summer" we got some socializing and visiting in:

The off-season started with a stop in Ontario on our way home, to enjoy the joint party for Steve Wojcik's birthday and Brian Jeffrey's retirement. Steve is married to Kendra, our niece, while Brian is Kendra's dad, married to Lorna, Dawn's sister.  Brian and Lorna have purchased a C&C 38 in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia; so you'll be hearing more about them as we continue to blog this sailing season.  We stayed with another of Dawn's sisters: Valerie, who, with husband Rick, treated us absolutely royally during our stay.

Lorna, Brian, Steve & Kendra

 Once home, Laurie made quick arrangements to canoe the Renous River with brothers Mike and Ken.  It was a great 3 day excursion, albeit with some hard work in heavy winds.

Laurie, Mike & Ken

With the "people of the cove" we got together for some fantastic friday night

barbecues.    We had great food, great friends, hilarity, and sometimes a little

drama.

Our travel was minimal, but included a trip to St.Andrews, New Brunswick with Paula and Brian of S/v Magique, who live in Saint John.  Their boat is presently

in Bonaire, near Venezuela, so we missed them in our winter travels along the

Windwards and Leewards.   They try to talk us into catching up with them as the

head west, and we try to convince them to come back east.  Hard to say how this

will end...  While together in St. Andrews, we enjoyed sharing a really cute

cabin at Seaside Beach Resort, supper at Harbour Front Restaurant, hiking along

the old railroad trail beside the sea into Chamcook Bay, a tour and lunch at the

fantastic Kingsbrae Gardens  http://www.kingsbraegarden.com/ , touring museums

and historical sites, and looking into all the neat little shops.  It really was

fun, and something we'll do again.

Brian, Paula & Dawn

We also got to Buctouche to visit with Laurie's Aunt Marian and her family for

her 94th birthday.  Besides enjoying many members of Laurie's mother's family

there, we enjoyed sharing a cabin with his sister, Laurene (Lolly), and biking

some pretty fantastic trails.

Marian and Beth

Brother Paul and his wife Alida, presently living in Calgary, visited us for a few days as well, and it was a good excuse to get together with other friends and family.

Scott, Agi, Paul, Alida & Tina

Dawn did a little kayaking on beautiful mornings in the cove.  She often set out with a party of 4 to 6 other females for some quiet alone time.

The last really big item for the time in New Brunswick (although we're still

here) would be the visit from Steve and Maria of S/v Aspen.  This is the couple

we visited last fall in Colorado.  Aspen is still in Turkey, which has been

their base of sailing and touring operations forthe last sailing season.  They

regaled us with their amazing travels.  I would highly recommend their blog: 

http://syaspen.blogspot.ca/  which includes fantastic pictures of sites in

Turkey, Greece, and Israel during the past year,and of course their adventures

travelling around the world over the last three years.

Laurie, Dawn, Maria & Steve at the "Old Boot Pub" in Gagetown, NB

With most of the work done around here, we are ordering boat parts and filling duffel bags.  Certainly, we'll take time for some more fun.

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation...

As it is mid-October, cold and raining, here in New Brunswick, we are thinking more and more about heading back to Cat Tales.  However, it makes sense to tell you what we've been up to.  This may take more than one entry.

The biggest thing in our summer has been the work to the cottage.  Last year,

Laurie (me)succumbed to the (ahem) requests, and began working on a small addition.  Indeed, the summer before, two years ago, I moved the shed to allow both planning and building.  Last year, I cast an engineered, thickened-edge slab as a foundation.

As it took so long and as I could not get the laminated beams for the addition required to match the existing cottage, I worked last fall on the landscaping, rounding up rocks to make a patio around the construction.

This year, the beams were ready, and I started cutting and pounding in earnest.  I did all the work myself, except for the roof, where I had assistance in getting the sheets of OSB up and hired a contractor to shingle it.  Of course, I also put the Cove crowd to work when it was time to lift the heavy windows.  For the exterior lumber work and much of the interior, Dawn worked hard staining and painting, and I could not have gotten the ceiling pine up without her.  Indeed, Dawn and I worked side-by-side for the weeks of late August and September on the siding, ceiling, and the floor. 

The floor is tongue-in-groove bamboo; very pretty.  We haven't finished the decorating inside yet and will do it over time as we find suitable items.

Check in again for more highlights from our summer:  travels, visitors, purchases for Cat Tales.