We're Back!
September 30, 2007
Our plane landed in Trinidad yesterday, shortly after noon. One piece of luggage didn't arrive with us. Ken's tote. It's been reported. Hope it was lost and not stolen.
We're back. Our "vacation from our vacation" as one of my niece's referred to our last few months is over. Julia and Morgan are married. Their forest wedding was beautiful--perfect weather, awesome setting, live music, good food, lots of laughter and much love. A happy celebration.
And as you can see in the photo below, Ken married Julia and Morgan!
Before the July 28th wedding, we were busy with wedding events, doctor appointments and visiting. After the wedding Ken and I went on a road trip that took us south to San Diego, over to Las Vegas, north to Bishop from where we headed into the Sierra Nevada for a few days of backpacking. Then it was on to Reno and up the east side Oregon and Washington to British Columbia where we visited friends. We continued our trek northeast to Alberta and the Canadian Rockies. The Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper should not be missed, truly awesome. From the Rockies we drove southwest across British Columbia from Jasper to Whistler, another spectacular drive. No snow in September, so the Whistler ski slopes were quiet. From the mainland we took a ferry to Vancouver Island where we stayed in Victoria. Another ferry dropped us at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, a delightful spot. The sailing in the San Juan Islands is supposed to be wonderful. But it's too cold for my tastes! We took the ferry again, this time to Washington where we spent time in Seattle. Then we headed south through Oregon and back to California. We spent our final night in California with my daughter Theresa who was celebrating her 24th birthday.
Lots of visiting on our road trip. So nice to have the time to stop and see friends and family. Time to talk and catch up. In our previous life of work, work and more work, time was too limited.
On the way from California to Trinidad, we stopped for a few days in Florida to visit with friends and shop for boat parts. And now we're back in Trinidad, getting ready to start our second season of sailing!
Aurora looks great! We had the hull painted while we were away. All of the scratches are gone, the keel erosion has been repaired and the dings in the fiberglass have been fixed. In addition, we are having the damaged rub rail replaced and the topside fiberglass cleaned and polished. Once we're back in the water, I'm going to redo the varnish on the hand and toe rails. She's going to look beautiful. And to our relief, her interior did not mildew and there were no unpleasant surprises waiting for us. We had heard horror stories of bug infestations, water damage and theft. PowerBoats (the boatyard where Aurora has been hauled) did a good job.
Tomorrow is Monday, the boatyard folks will be back from their weekend and we'll be able to start working on getting her ready to splash.
Not sure what our plans are for the season other than we'll stay in the Caribbean. There are places we've not seen and places we'd like to visit again. Initially we'll sail along the north coast of Trinidad and over to Tobago. We may have to come back to Chaguaramas in November to have a refrigerator and freezer installed. Currently the installation company is booked through mid November! Sailing season starts November 1st, and folks are busy having boat work done so they can enjoy the season. Our current reefer and freezer function, but they are energy hogs requiring a daily run of the generator to charge batteries so we have sufficient power to keep them running.
October 8, 2007
As you can see I did not get my first update sent. No internet at the time of writing and then we got very busy getting Aurora ready to go in the water.
Aurora was splashed on Thursday. All went well with the boat. Ken however lost his glasses in the drink when reattaching the genoa forestay. I won't repeat his words of frustration in this update, but they served to vent. No fun, especially in 90% humidity and 85+ degrees heat. Fortunately PowerBoats, the boat yard, had a "diver" who went into the water and found Ken's specs. Not a job I'd want. The water in the harbor is none too clean.
There is still work to have done and do on the boat before we set sail. So for the next two weeks or so, we're in the Coral Cove marina where most slips are occupied by cruisers. Everyone is in the same boat. (not literally!) As a result it has been like returning to school after summer vacation. Seeing who's back and who isn't. Swapping tales of summer trips and travels. Catching up on boat issues and how everyone's splash went. At a pot luck BBQ last night we felt right at home. So different from last year when everything was new and we didn't know anyone. Nice not to be a newbies anymore.
Slowly we are getting settled. The saloon and cabins were full of topside boat stuff stored while we were on the hard. Almost all of it has been put back and homes found for the stuff we bought back from the states. Finding storage is always a challenge on the boat as space is limited, small and not rectangular.
I'm taking advantage of this time to do some sewing projects. My heavy-duty machine gave me some trouble last season, so I purchased the "Advanced Maintenance" DVD for it and watched it this afternoon. Exciting times! =^) Humor aside, it's so much easier to understand how to fix a machine when you can see the process being demonstrated. Looks like a retaining ring needs replacement, but without the DVD demo, I wouldn't have known.
I'm starting with an easy project, the BBQ cover. At least I thought it was going to be easy. Making a pattern was not simple. But it's done, the fabric's cut and I'm ready to sew. We'll see how it turns out.
Boat chores seem to be all were doing these days, but that's the life. We need to get the boat ready to sail. There are sites worth seeing in Trinidad, Asa Wright Nature Center, Caroni Bird Sanctuary and Pitch Lake to name a few. We'll take advantage, but it will be next week.
Oh yes, my cell phone went missing. Lost? Stolen? Don't know. But it's gone. So my cell number will not work as I had to "suspend" it. AT&T is so nice, they let me stop the use of the phone and still pay for the full service. So I get to pay for the privilege of keeping my nonworking number at the same rate as having it work!
I've been trying for a week to get a new phone with a local sim card. Each day I stop at the Bmobile store and each day I'm told the order of phones will arrive tomorrow. It is the islands. The phones will arrive when they arrive.
Good news. Ken's tote was lost not stolen. We had to have it picked up at the airport, but it is back. It had taken a trip to Boston.
Cheers!
Maryann
And here are some photos of our "vacation from our vacation."
July 28, 2007, San Mateo Memorial Park, San Mateo , CA.
Here is Ken performing the wedding ceremony.
Ken at our camp, east side of the Sierra Nevada. We enjoyed a short backpacking trip.
In the Canadian Rockies we stopped as an elk crossed the road. What a magnificent animal.
The glacial lakes of the Canadian Rocies are a milky, light-blue color due to the glacial flour or silt that is released as the glacier melts.
We spent a day on San Juan Island, an unspoiled setting.
At the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon, we saw the most beautiful refurbished planes including this DC3. Behind it is the Spruce Goose, Howard Hugh's attempt at building a massive cargo plane. It's huge!
Our plane landed in Trinidad yesterday, shortly after noon. One piece of luggage didn't arrive with us. Ken's tote. It's been reported. Hope it was lost and not stolen.
We're back. Our "vacation from our vacation" as one of my niece's referred to our last few months is over. Julia and Morgan are married. Their forest wedding was beautiful--perfect weather, awesome setting, live music, good food, lots of laughter and much love. A happy celebration.
And as you can see in the photo below, Ken married Julia and Morgan!
Before the July 28th wedding, we were busy with wedding events, doctor appointments and visiting. After the wedding Ken and I went on a road trip that took us south to San Diego, over to Las Vegas, north to Bishop from where we headed into the Sierra Nevada for a few days of backpacking. Then it was on to Reno and up the east side Oregon and Washington to British Columbia where we visited friends. We continued our trek northeast to Alberta and the Canadian Rockies. The Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper should not be missed, truly awesome. From the Rockies we drove southwest across British Columbia from Jasper to Whistler, another spectacular drive. No snow in September, so the Whistler ski slopes were quiet. From the mainland we took a ferry to Vancouver Island where we stayed in Victoria. Another ferry dropped us at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, a delightful spot. The sailing in the San Juan Islands is supposed to be wonderful. But it's too cold for my tastes! We took the ferry again, this time to Washington where we spent time in Seattle. Then we headed south through Oregon and back to California. We spent our final night in California with my daughter Theresa who was celebrating her 24th birthday.
Lots of visiting on our road trip. So nice to have the time to stop and see friends and family. Time to talk and catch up. In our previous life of work, work and more work, time was too limited.
On the way from California to Trinidad, we stopped for a few days in Florida to visit with friends and shop for boat parts. And now we're back in Trinidad, getting ready to start our second season of sailing!
Aurora looks great! We had the hull painted while we were away. All of the scratches are gone, the keel erosion has been repaired and the dings in the fiberglass have been fixed. In addition, we are having the damaged rub rail replaced and the topside fiberglass cleaned and polished. Once we're back in the water, I'm going to redo the varnish on the hand and toe rails. She's going to look beautiful. And to our relief, her interior did not mildew and there were no unpleasant surprises waiting for us. We had heard horror stories of bug infestations, water damage and theft. PowerBoats (the boatyard where Aurora has been hauled) did a good job.
Tomorrow is Monday, the boatyard folks will be back from their weekend and we'll be able to start working on getting her ready to splash.
Not sure what our plans are for the season other than we'll stay in the Caribbean. There are places we've not seen and places we'd like to visit again. Initially we'll sail along the north coast of Trinidad and over to Tobago. We may have to come back to Chaguaramas in November to have a refrigerator and freezer installed. Currently the installation company is booked through mid November! Sailing season starts November 1st, and folks are busy having boat work done so they can enjoy the season. Our current reefer and freezer function, but they are energy hogs requiring a daily run of the generator to charge batteries so we have sufficient power to keep them running.
October 8, 2007
As you can see I did not get my first update sent. No internet at the time of writing and then we got very busy getting Aurora ready to go in the water.
Aurora was splashed on Thursday. All went well with the boat. Ken however lost his glasses in the drink when reattaching the genoa forestay. I won't repeat his words of frustration in this update, but they served to vent. No fun, especially in 90% humidity and 85+ degrees heat. Fortunately PowerBoats, the boat yard, had a "diver" who went into the water and found Ken's specs. Not a job I'd want. The water in the harbor is none too clean.
There is still work to have done and do on the boat before we set sail. So for the next two weeks or so, we're in the Coral Cove marina where most slips are occupied by cruisers. Everyone is in the same boat. (not literally!) As a result it has been like returning to school after summer vacation. Seeing who's back and who isn't. Swapping tales of summer trips and travels. Catching up on boat issues and how everyone's splash went. At a pot luck BBQ last night we felt right at home. So different from last year when everything was new and we didn't know anyone. Nice not to be a newbies anymore.
Slowly we are getting settled. The saloon and cabins were full of topside boat stuff stored while we were on the hard. Almost all of it has been put back and homes found for the stuff we bought back from the states. Finding storage is always a challenge on the boat as space is limited, small and not rectangular.
I'm taking advantage of this time to do some sewing projects. My heavy-duty machine gave me some trouble last season, so I purchased the "Advanced Maintenance" DVD for it and watched it this afternoon. Exciting times! =^) Humor aside, it's so much easier to understand how to fix a machine when you can see the process being demonstrated. Looks like a retaining ring needs replacement, but without the DVD demo, I wouldn't have known.
I'm starting with an easy project, the BBQ cover. At least I thought it was going to be easy. Making a pattern was not simple. But it's done, the fabric's cut and I'm ready to sew. We'll see how it turns out.
Boat chores seem to be all were doing these days, but that's the life. We need to get the boat ready to sail. There are sites worth seeing in Trinidad, Asa Wright Nature Center, Caroni Bird Sanctuary and Pitch Lake to name a few. We'll take advantage, but it will be next week.
Oh yes, my cell phone went missing. Lost? Stolen? Don't know. But it's gone. So my cell number will not work as I had to "suspend" it. AT&T is so nice, they let me stop the use of the phone and still pay for the full service. So I get to pay for the privilege of keeping my nonworking number at the same rate as having it work!
I've been trying for a week to get a new phone with a local sim card. Each day I stop at the Bmobile store and each day I'm told the order of phones will arrive tomorrow. It is the islands. The phones will arrive when they arrive.
Good news. Ken's tote was lost not stolen. We had to have it picked up at the airport, but it is back. It had taken a trip to Boston.
Cheers!
Maryann
And here are some photos of our "vacation from our vacation."
July 28, 2007, San Mateo Memorial Park, San Mateo , CA.
Here is Ken performing the wedding ceremony.
Ken at our camp, east side of the Sierra Nevada. We enjoyed a short backpacking trip.
In the Canadian Rockies we stopped as an elk crossed the road. What a magnificent animal.
The glacial lakes of the Canadian Rocies are a milky, light-blue color due to the glacial flour or silt that is released as the glacier melts.
We spent a day on San Juan Island, an unspoiled setting.
At the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon, we saw the most beautiful refurbished planes including this DC3. Behind it is the Spruce Goose, Howard Hugh's attempt at building a massive cargo plane. It's huge!
posted by Maryann at
11:56 AM |
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