So sorry for not posting anything over the last week, but we've been very very busy getting Cat Tales all set for launch, which will take place today at 1:00. Besides the routine issues like cleaning, waxing, untarping, getting the dinghy off the deck, filling propane tank, filling diesel tanks, repairing a leaky hatch at the waterline, defogging the engines, we also had to replace all the 6 batteries, which of course took some investigation. The company assured us that they'd be all recently charged but of course they arrived yesterday less than at peak charge. Laurie had to walk back to the company to borrow a charger and has been monitoring them over night last night and is now returning the charger to the company...of course in the rain!
We're not sure how long it will be until we head to Grenada from Trinidad, but we can be pretty sure that we'll have no Internet for the next day or two.
A very sad thing happened in the boatyard on Sunday afternoon. A boat named Bolero had its mizzen mast fall down onto a power line. The woman onboard the boat touched something that would conduct the current and had tremendous burns to her arm. The man ran to her assistance and when he tried to get up the ladder died of electric shock! Sad indeed.
All for now. No pictures to share this time. Maybe when we start having fun, we'll produce!
Dawn
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Rocky Mountain High
We landed in Trinidad without issue at around midnight on Tuesday. Blugh, our friend and off hours taxi driver was waiting for us. We arrived at our boat ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnd found the usual grime and filth, but nothing was out of the ordinary, except for our missing life raft which was reported stolen late in the summer. We know where it is and will be retrieving it before we leave. Here is a terribly brief update of our fantastic trip to Colorado on the way to the boat:
We now have a new appreciation for John Denver's song. On our way south to the meet up with Cat Tales, we scheduled a stop in Denver, Colorado to meet up with sailing friends, Steve and Maria from the vessel "Aspen". We arrived on Friday night and had 3 full days of sight seeing, and exploring the area. I hope you can get a feeling of what we experienced through the few pictures. Many many thanks go out from us to Steve and Maria who entertained us royally. Besides seeing the sights, we had great conversations as Steve and Maria filled us in on their adventures over the past 2 years going around the world. Their boat is presently in Turkey and they plan to reunite with her in February when the weather warms up over there. You can read their blog by clicking on "Aspen" or click on the side bar of this blog. Our own time chatting with them about their adventures were as enjoyable as anything.
We spent a couple of days getting out in the wide open exploring the mountains around Denver. We checked regularly the height above sea level as we meandered up and down mountains and through passes, and traveled regularly from 6000 feet to 12000 feet, ears popping and dry nose complaining, and sometimes aware of not getting enough oxygen. We crossed the "Great Divide" a few times; this is the point where the rain and water drains either toward the east or to the west. Highlights included driving across mountain passes above 12000 feet to see a few of the fifty two 14000 foot peaks in the state, driving through old western and mining towns and trendy skiing resorts, amazing canyons, interesting restaurants, and fantastic geology.
Heading up the long, long stairway at the Red Rock Canyon open-air Theatre.
Here is just one year of entertainment at the open-air Red Rock Theatre!
At the top of the stairway at the open-air theatre, we paused to catch our breath and take a group shot.
Picking up the mail at Steve and Maria's in rural Colorado in "Pine" about an hour and a half outside of Denver.
We saw lots of wildlife, but this big guy was sitting in the yard waiting for us when we returned home from a road trip!
Marie and Steve are renovating their house which they live in when not on board their boat "Aspen". Exciting times watching the progress!
A Forest Gump restaurant at Breckenridge Mountain where we wandered around and shopped ("BubbaGump Cafe").
We took in a 3D movie and have the glasses to prove it! The boys loved "Immortals"; however, the gals decided we would have appreciated the "Happy Feet 2" movie down the hall!
We have been tossed deeply into the social life here in Trinidad! The weekly potluck was last night and the US thanksgiving is tonight here at Peake's boatyard under the mango trees. It's a bit of a challenge to find and cook a dish to share when our cupboards are bare at the moment, but that's a small problem in the scheme of things!
We now have a new appreciation for John Denver's song. On our way south to the meet up with Cat Tales, we scheduled a stop in Denver, Colorado to meet up with sailing friends, Steve and Maria from the vessel "Aspen". We arrived on Friday night and had 3 full days of sight seeing, and exploring the area. I hope you can get a feeling of what we experienced through the few pictures. Many many thanks go out from us to Steve and Maria who entertained us royally. Besides seeing the sights, we had great conversations as Steve and Maria filled us in on their adventures over the past 2 years going around the world. Their boat is presently in Turkey and they plan to reunite with her in February when the weather warms up over there. You can read their blog by clicking on "Aspen" or click on the side bar of this blog. Our own time chatting with them about their adventures were as enjoyable as anything.
We spent a couple of days getting out in the wide open exploring the mountains around Denver. We checked regularly the height above sea level as we meandered up and down mountains and through passes, and traveled regularly from 6000 feet to 12000 feet, ears popping and dry nose complaining, and sometimes aware of not getting enough oxygen. We crossed the "Great Divide" a few times; this is the point where the rain and water drains either toward the east or to the west. Highlights included driving across mountain passes above 12000 feet to see a few of the fifty two 14000 foot peaks in the state, driving through old western and mining towns and trendy skiing resorts, amazing canyons, interesting restaurants, and fantastic geology.
Heading up the long, long stairway at the Red Rock Canyon open-air Theatre.
Here is just one year of entertainment at the open-air Red Rock Theatre!
At the top of the stairway at the open-air theatre, we paused to catch our breath and take a group shot.
Picking up the mail at Steve and Maria's in rural Colorado in "Pine" about an hour and a half outside of Denver.
We saw lots of wildlife, but this big guy was sitting in the yard waiting for us when we returned home from a road trip!
Marie and Steve are renovating their house which they live in when not on board their boat "Aspen". Exciting times watching the progress!
A Forest Gump restaurant at Breckenridge Mountain where we wandered around and shopped ("BubbaGump Cafe").
We took in a 3D movie and have the glasses to prove it! The boys loved "Immortals"; however, the gals decided we would have appreciated the "Happy Feet 2" movie down the hall!
We have been tossed deeply into the social life here in Trinidad! The weekly potluck was last night and the US thanksgiving is tonight here at Peake's boatyard under the mango trees. It's a bit of a challenge to find and cook a dish to share when our cupboards are bare at the moment, but that's a small problem in the scheme of things!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Summer in New Brunswick
A view from our deck at Grand Lake, New Brunswick, fall of 2011.
As our season in New Brunswick comes to a close, and we start preparing to return to Cat Tales on November 22nd, it may be appropriate to write a few lines on how we fared during our northern stay, and provide some pictures as well. The weather in New Brunswick this spring and summer was particularly wet, with areas that used to grow grass often growing moss instead. The water levels at Grand Lake, where we spend our summers, actually broke records, with the result that there was precious little beach to be had. The rainy weather allowed for a June canoe trip down the Bartholomew River for Laurie and his brother Ken; however, the extra water in the river was offset by outrageous attacks by mosquitoes, black flies, moose flies, etc.
Laurie and brother Ken
A big project for Laurie (speaking) was to build a 4-season room on the side of our cottage. With the design help of my brother Mike, I settled on a thickened-edge slab for a foundation, and decided to see how much of the project I could do myself. I got the lumber for formwork from a demolitions landfill owned and managed by our neighbour, Dave Wasson, and did the picking and nail-pulling myself. There was significant work in preparing the ground and forming and compacting the soil under and around the slab to allow proper support and insulation against frost. I hired two labourers who helped me place the concrete, and with a little help from both those two and two of my neighbours, we survived the failure of the form, and got it acceptably braced. However, a laminated beam that was ordered for the roof never showed up, and the rest of the project was cancelled for the year.
Laurie paying off "Inspector Ron!"
It did allow me to spend a lot of time on the landscaping, and I can report that the yard never looked better. We’ll build a little frost protection for the slab before we leave it for the winter, and will start on the structure in earnest next May.
Laurie working on putting the yard back together.
All rocks were hand picked and brought back by trailer, trunk or rowboat!
Dawn’s father, who had been suffering with vascular dementia (making him much like an Alzheimer’s patient) died, ending two years of frustration for him. Dawn’s sisters joined us, her mother Jean, and the local relatives for the funeral and wake; and all had a nice visit.
Dawn and her sisters
Our crowd of “cove-dwellers” are still getting together regularly for a barbecue every Friday night. This was supplemented with many dinners shared during the week, and lots of visits from friends and family in town and out-of-town.
A special weekend in August, was the annual Pig Roast hosted by Hugh Whalen and Liz Abraham, was one of the blurriest yet; primarily as a result of attendance by Scott Kennah and Laurie’s brother Paul, unsupervised and uncontrolled.
Sailing our 21’ Hobie took a bit of a back seat to the construction of the sun-room foundation and the rainy weather; but we did get a couple of really nice sails in. The most enjoyable was after one of the rudder cams broke, and I took the opportunity to reconstruct both rudder assemblies - even redrilling the rudders. The boat, with almost no weather helm is now a dream to sail - and we're looking forward to sailing it next year.
All in all, the summer in New Brunswick has kept us quite busy. The fall brought unseasonably warmer and sunny weather, but of course could not revive beach activity.
The cottage, Hobie, and the construction project are all put to bed, and we're ready to start flapping our wings. We have flights for November 18th to Denver, where we’ll spend 3 days with Steve and Maria of s/v Aspen before continuing on to Trinidad. We’ll write more either from Denver or Chaguaramas.
As our season in New Brunswick comes to a close, and we start preparing to return to Cat Tales on November 22nd, it may be appropriate to write a few lines on how we fared during our northern stay, and provide some pictures as well. The weather in New Brunswick this spring and summer was particularly wet, with areas that used to grow grass often growing moss instead. The water levels at Grand Lake, where we spend our summers, actually broke records, with the result that there was precious little beach to be had. The rainy weather allowed for a June canoe trip down the Bartholomew River for Laurie and his brother Ken; however, the extra water in the river was offset by outrageous attacks by mosquitoes, black flies, moose flies, etc.
Laurie and brother Ken
A big project for Laurie (speaking) was to build a 4-season room on the side of our cottage. With the design help of my brother Mike, I settled on a thickened-edge slab for a foundation, and decided to see how much of the project I could do myself. I got the lumber for formwork from a demolitions landfill owned and managed by our neighbour, Dave Wasson, and did the picking and nail-pulling myself. There was significant work in preparing the ground and forming and compacting the soil under and around the slab to allow proper support and insulation against frost. I hired two labourers who helped me place the concrete, and with a little help from both those two and two of my neighbours, we survived the failure of the form, and got it acceptably braced. However, a laminated beam that was ordered for the roof never showed up, and the rest of the project was cancelled for the year.
Laurie paying off "Inspector Ron!"
It did allow me to spend a lot of time on the landscaping, and I can report that the yard never looked better. We’ll build a little frost protection for the slab before we leave it for the winter, and will start on the structure in earnest next May.
Laurie working on putting the yard back together.
All rocks were hand picked and brought back by trailer, trunk or rowboat!
Dawn’s father, who had been suffering with vascular dementia (making him much like an Alzheimer’s patient) died, ending two years of frustration for him. Dawn’s sisters joined us, her mother Jean, and the local relatives for the funeral and wake; and all had a nice visit.
Dawn and her sisters
Our crowd of “cove-dwellers” are still getting together regularly for a barbecue every Friday night. This was supplemented with many dinners shared during the week, and lots of visits from friends and family in town and out-of-town.
A special weekend in August, was the annual Pig Roast hosted by Hugh Whalen and Liz Abraham, was one of the blurriest yet; primarily as a result of attendance by Scott Kennah and Laurie’s brother Paul, unsupervised and uncontrolled.
Sailing our 21’ Hobie took a bit of a back seat to the construction of the sun-room foundation and the rainy weather; but we did get a couple of really nice sails in. The most enjoyable was after one of the rudder cams broke, and I took the opportunity to reconstruct both rudder assemblies - even redrilling the rudders. The boat, with almost no weather helm is now a dream to sail - and we're looking forward to sailing it next year.
All in all, the summer in New Brunswick has kept us quite busy. The fall brought unseasonably warmer and sunny weather, but of course could not revive beach activity.
The cottage, Hobie, and the construction project are all put to bed, and we're ready to start flapping our wings. We have flights for November 18th to Denver, where we’ll spend 3 days with Steve and Maria of s/v Aspen before continuing on to Trinidad. We’ll write more either from Denver or Chaguaramas.
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