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Diane's Diary6/13 Thurs Lady J called- they are on their way into Trini this morning but they are towing another boat. We waited until around 10am & they still weren't in so Steph & Larry had things to do & left. I was in the middle of making my special marble brownies for our Father's Day potluck tonight. I lent Ralph from Black Cat our dinghy so they could help tow this other boater in. We also helped Lady J get into a slip at Crews Inn. I am sure they appreciated all our assistance. Anyway, we went to the Father's Day potluck, which was great. Unfortunately, I didn't win the prize for my brownies so I was definitely disappointed as it took a lot of work to make. Anyway, they had a wonderful pan band & wonderful dancers that they have had at previous potlucks. We all enjoyed the evening. 6/14 Friday I vacuumed sealed all the freezer food. It is definitely worth having as the food takes up less room in the freezer this way. However, it uses a lot of amps (8 amps per bag) so it's not practical to use it at anchor. We helped Lady J move the boat to Power Boats for their haul out. We barely got the boat there when it started to really pour out. Jim graciously bought Larry & I beers at the Power Boats restaurant for helping him out. It was raining off & on all day long. I guess rainy season is really upon us. Last year it didn't rain too much during rainy season but since we have been back in April it's been continuously raining out. Actually, when it's cloudy out, it's a lot cooler out so we actually like it. It's just hard to get work done on the outside of the boat when it rains so much. We went to the wonderful swordfish dinner at Tropical Marine again- it's definitely one of the best meals in all of Trinidad- especially for the price of $6USD per meal! 6/15 Saturday Larry drove Steph to the airport this morning- Tom's drivers license had expired so he couldn't drive. Larry had to leave at 4am & I couldn't get back to sleep after he left. Tom treated Larry to breakfast for helping him out. Larry came back at 9am & we had until 12 to return the car. Ironically, they had a flat ire on the way back form the airport. Luckily, it wasn't on the way there or Steph would have missed her flight. Anyway, Larry took Jim & me from Lady J on errands. We went into POS so I could pick up our plane tickets, to Price Smart so Jim could look at air conditioners, & to HiLo so I could pick up some food that was only in this larger store. I started working on using the Cetol on the companionway & oars. Today I managed to get a second coat of Cetol on. 6/16 Sunday Today was Father's Day so I called Dad. I think he was happy to hear us & those we remembered him today. I did emails today, caught up on my logs & did the expenses. I put a third coat of Cetol on the oars & companionway. Since the sun is so intense down here, I'm going to put 6 coats of Cetol on instead of the only 3 coats I use at home. Larry worked on putting the new woodworking on the forward cabin & redoing the new solar panel mounts. 6/17 Monday I went shopping with the ladies to Malabar Meats today. They give us a free bus & 10% off everything in the store as long as we have a busload of ladies come. I bought some nice New Zealand meat & some fish. When I returned, I put the third coat of Cetol on & washed all our canvas bags. I didn't realize these bags were that dirty until I washed them by hand- the water was filthy. I had to use the laundry sink at Crews Inn as they were too big & bulky to wash on the boat. Larry went shopping to do get some boat parts. We have spent far more here in Trinidad than we had expected. We thought we would only stay until the end of May at the latest & are still here. Oh, well, a lot of the expenses like medical problems couldn't be helped. 6/18 Tuesday Jackie from Lady J wanted to go into POS to see the fabric stores so since I wanted to get some more fabric, I took her. We also stopped at West Mall & spent so much time we didn't get back to the boat until mid-afternoon. We ate lunch at the Mall but the food was horrible. I bought some toweling material to make slipcovers for our expensive sport a seat chairs we bought in the US. We have had them several years but they look brand new. In the US, we weren't using them while we were sweating, or had bug spray or suntan lotion on so they looked good. Down here in the islands, I have always kept them covered with towels but they always kept blowing off with the wind. People who have the chairs that didn't keep them covered were all stained & looked terrible. I also put a fourth coat of Cetol on. 6/19 Wednesday Today was another Trini holiday- their Labor Day so everything is closed again. I called our electric company to get the electric reconnected when we get home. I also emailed & sent a letter to our tenant. I filled the starboard water tanks & cleaned them out with Clorox. I also cleaned the bilge with Clorox by letting it sit in the tanks overnight. I also cleaned the oven with oven cleaner, cleaned the bathroom & finished one more slipcover. I have only one left to do! 6/20 Thursday I called Alpha Canvas to get them to adjust the port side curtains. They were supposed to go several weeks ago. I scheduled a life raft inspection with Marine Safety Equipment. I updated our checkbook. At 2pm, we left with a group of boaters to see the movies "Sum of All Fears" & "the Bourne Identity." We saw both movies for $2USD. Both of them were excellent. We hired Jesse James to drive the 12 of us & we all went to TGIF afterwards for a late dinner. It was a very nice evening out. 6/21 Friday Well, it rained pretty much the whole day. Larry went to pick up the life raft we had inspected. We had bought this raft almost 2 years ago brand new so we needed an inspection as the first one should be at the 2 year mark. So, since it's much more expensive to get a life raft inspected in the US ($250 minimum vs. $150 here) we decided to get it done. Thankfully nothing was wrong with the raft. We have heard horror stories from some of our other friends about how their life raft needed a lot of work when it was inspected. Larry went to pick up the bottom paint since we are going to paint the bottom again in VZ. He also picked up the bimini as we had the port sunshade fixed to use it. Since we had put up the wind generator pole several years ago, we couldn't use this panel, as it didn't fit around the pole. I worked on the slipcovers & emptied the port tank & flushed it out with Clorox. We went to the weekly swordfish dinner at Tropical Marine. We were going to leave tomorrow but Larry thinks he broke his tooth tonight. So, he will make an emergency appointment with the dentist tomorrow. 6/22 Saturday I did the last coat of Cetol today- #6. I am going to wait to put the clear topcoat on until we get to VZ as it is to humid here & the clear does not dry well. I swept the floor & vacuumed. I rested for an hour. Larry went to the dentist today & he needs a new crown. Unfortunately, that will take about 3 weeks so we don't have the time to do that now. Crowns are about $300USD here- a lot cheaper than the US. We will either come back here to get it done in November or get it done in VZ. We now it's a lot cheaper to get it done here or in VZ rather than the US. 6/23 Sunday We worked on the last slipcover today- they are all done now! Yea! It took a lot longer than I expected but then, everything on the boat usually takes longer than you think. They look really good & hopefully will keep our ultra suede cushions in better shape plus we don't have to use towels on them anymore. My local Trini friend Rex stopped by to say hi. Since Steph is away in the US, we had Tom over to dinner tonight. I made chicken Parmesan & cucumbers & sour cream. We had a good time with Tom but definitely missed Steph. 6/24 Monday We lifted the dinghy onto the foredeck so Larry could do some boat repairs. We also washed & cleaned the dinghy. We haven't kept it in the water too much yet the bottom had to be cleaned. We also started working on slipcovers for the nice sport a seat chairs we keep in the cockpit. We love the chairs but if you don't cover them, they start to look really dirty. Thankfully, we have also covered them with towels so they look really good. We filled up the other propane tank even though we have only used it for almost 2 months. We usually get 3 months out of a tank. However, propane is really cheap here- with the transportation for the tanks we only pay about $7USD to refill it. We can get it filled in VZ but it's more expensive & more difficult to physically get so it was easier to do it now. 6/25 Tuesday I defrosted the refrigerator & cleaned the cleaned the refrigerator. It's much easier to do it while we have access to unlimited electricity & water. Down here with the intense heat, the freezer needs to be defrosted every few weeks- even with the AC running 24 hours a day. Larry fixed the lifting strap on the dinghy & the rub rail. We went to West Mall to get our haircuts before we leave. The haircut is only $6USD for me & $5 or Larry so it's a lot cheaper than at home. Of course, they don't wash & blow-dry your hair but at this price, I don't care. We spent some time looking around the mall & had lunch there. Nick, the new owner of Great White Wonder, invited us for drinks to meet his wife who just flew in. We have been very nice to him & I guess he wanted to repay the hospitality. |