2026-10-25 Boat work and some fun activities

Dean got right to work buffing the hulls of the boat.  They were not in bad shape, but Dean has been working hard making them so shiny you can see yourself in the reflection.   He has put in some long hot days with the buffer putting multiple coats of wax on the hulls.

Charm looking sharp.  

Kris doing some small projects, doing laundry, new O-rings on the thru hulls, new seals on some outside hatches, some small sealing projects.

Wednesday we took a break, and rented a car with Jason and Monica and headed to town for some major provisioning.   Went to three different stores, and spent over $500 USD in groceries.   Had a good time, and a nice lunch out as well.

Jason and Monica loading up the cart at Price Smart

Not a huge group of groceries, but more in freezer and fridge already put away

At the end of the day we had some time still left, so headed to a close short hike at the Bamboo Cathedral.  Nice walk through the forest, with monkeys to see as well.

Bamboo grows on both sides of the trail, hanging over the trail making a "tunnel"

Saw several Trinidad White-fronted Capuchin monkeys

It was late in the day, so we only did part of the trail, as the mosquitoes were coming out.

It was good to have a break from boat projects, but Thursday we were back at it.  Dean buffing and Kris doing miscellaneous stuff.    Kris also broke a plumbing fitting off at the threads, so had to take a part to the local machine shop for them to try to get it out for us.   Dean wore out the buffer, and it stopped working, but just a broken electrical wire where it bent coming out of the buffer, so easily fixed.

Kris happy to fix something versus breaking something

Friday we had another break and went on a tour called the "Taste of Trini".   Jesse James, a local who organizes activities, taxis and supports the cruising community took us on the tour.   It was all day, from 8:30 a.m to 8:30 p.m.  There were 7 of us, including Jason and Monica on the tour.  Jesse knows the island and people well, and as he drove us around the island, he would stop and get some food from different street vendors and restaurants, and we would get to taste small portions of different foods.

Monica did a great job of keeping track and writing down all the foods.  Dean sat in the front seat and acted as sous chef, and Jason took photos of all the dishes.   Kris mostly passed plates and made sure the garbage sack did not get in the way of opening and closing the van door.  We had over 30 different foods to try along the way, and saw a lot of the island.

Jesse showing us our route on the map.  Dean was the able assistant

Brazil nuts.  Who knew they grew in these big pods

Stopped for a picnic lunch by the ocean.  Lots of stuff to try

One of the variety of foods we ate in the van

Dean helping to serve and making up plates to pass around

Some of the food we tried:  Aloo pie, doubles, sede, roti, bodi, bighan choka, coconut roll, saheena, kitchorie, calaloo soup, dahl, macaroni pie, pumpkin, red mango, mango chow, bread pudding, barfi, lychee, Kurma, and more.

More food

By the beach where we had our picnic lunch

One of the places we stopped for Jesse to run in and get food.

There were several Macaws in the trees where we stopped for a picnic lunch

At the beach where we at lunch

Locally grown watermelon

Dean and Monica enjoying the watermelon

Jessie getting the next sample food ready.  This is pholourie It consists of fried, spiced split pea and flour dough balls 

Passed a teak lumberyard.  Teak wood grown locally cut and drying

It was a long day, but well worth it, as we never would have tried some of the items, just not knowing what it was, but most was very tasty.  Fun day.

Saturday it was back to work. Dean finished the hulls, and started buffing the deck.  Kris started working on the sail drives.   Went out for a nice dinner out at The Wheelhouse with Jason and Monica.  Have been there several times.   Food is always good, and large portions for a very good price.

Next week is mostly boat work, hopefully our last week in the yard.

2026-10-17 Back home on the boat

Our son Derek and his girlfriend Emma drove 5.5 hours from Boise to Bend to pick us up on Sunday.

We stored our car in the garage in Bend at Norms house, and shut the house up for 8 months of vacancy until we return next year.

Derek and Emma stayed an hour, and then drove us and all our luggage the 5.5 hours back to Boise where we stayed with them a couple of days before flying back to Trinidad.

In Boise, we went out with the family for a nice dinner out, ran a couple errands, and then it was time to pack up.

Out for a nice dinner with the family

Derek and Emma -willing to drive 10 hours for us - so appreciated

All packed up ready to head to the airport

We had a 6:00 a.m. flight, so left Derek's house early in the morning.   A fortunate coincidence at the airport.  The two gentlemen standing behind Kris just as she put her bags on the belt to go through security called her name.   Jason and Kyle were there - and they both worked for Vanmark Equipment at the same time Kris did.  In fact Jason was Kris's counterpart in the Iowa office, and took over management of Boise when Kris left.   She had a good time catching up with them while waiting for Dean to get through security in the non-TSA precheck line.

Our flights had no issues and no delays which was great.

Busy airport in Boise

Busy airport in Denver

Did not get a photo of Houston, Texas, but had a nice layover which gave us time to eat dinner.

Not so busy in Trinidad at 11:30 p.m.

After 19 hours of travelling, we made it to Trinidad.  No issues with customs and immigration, and our prearranged taxi was waiting for us.  Got back to the boat around 2:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, and had a nice surprise waiting for us.

Our welcome home note

Our friends Jason and Monica on the boat Breathe had arrived back in Trinidad a few days before us, and they are on the hard right next to us - They left us this note to see on arrival.   Made us smile before going inside and collapsing in bed for a few hours.

We had prearranged to have an air conditioning unit put in the boat hatch and turned on before coming back, so the boat was nice and cool.   Took us just a little time to make the bed, and climb in and fall asleep.

Thursday and Friday were work days, putting the sails back on, cleaning up, and making sure everything looked OK still.   Our freezer/refrigerator would not work, so Kris worked on that, and finally figured out the problem and got it working.  Dean scrubbed the boat, as it was covered in dirt, and helped to put everything away and get our home livable again.   We put the mainsail back on the boat to get it out of the cabin.

We also spent time with Breathe, visiting and sharing stories of lives away from the boats over the summer.

Saturday we got up early, and took the cruiser bus with Breathe to the large central farmers market to get some fresh food.

Kris and Monica talking to our driver of the bus

Lots of tents and people selling fruits and lots of veggies 

It was busy and hard to see it all in just one hour.

We bought quite a bit. Pineapple, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, bananas, apples, broccoli, onions and potatoes.

Back on the boat, did some more work, sweated through our clothes in the heat and humidity, but got the jib back on, so the boat is looking put together again.

Sails back on, boat washed, sling seat installed.  

After a nice shower we went out to dinner with Breathe.

Very good pizza for dinner

We still have quite a bit of work to do, buffing and waxing and bottom paint plus a few miscellaneous projects.  And will need to make a large provisioning trip to the big grocery stores, but it is good to be home.

2026-10-11 Two very busy weeks.

What a very busy couple of weeks.  

Last week there was no blog, as we were just busy and tired.   After our big sale we had a day of cleanup, and then headed over to Albany, OR to look at a retirement home for Kris's Dad Norm.   Kris's sister Kay and husband Pat met us there, and we had a nice tour, and even stayed for lunch

Wednesday morning Norm decided to go ahead and move to the place we just visited, so we hustled around, packing him up.   We went and bought him a new chair and bed, and packed a bunch of stuff from the house

Norm trying out new lift chair

Had a bit of a misadventure while packing Dad for his new place.  He has several guns, and we don't want them to stay in the house, and he can't take them to the independent living facility, so we packed them up for Kris's sister Kay to store until we can arrange to sell them - which is a bit of a hassle in Oregon.   

Kris helped Norm make sure all the handguns were unloaded and safe, and then Dean went to help with the rifles and shotguns.  Dad was checking the shotgun, and found it loaded, but for some reason only saw one shell which he pulled out.  Guess what, there was another shell.  The gun had cocked, so he released the trigger and BAM.  He blew a hole in his bedspread, two blankets, mattress pad, air bed foam, air bed bladder, headboard, electric cord for the clock radio and wall behind the bed.   Deans ears were ringing for a few hours after that.  Thank goodness no one hurt, and we were able to fix the wiring on the clock radio.  Still haven't patched the hole in the wall.

Hole in the wall from the shotgun

We worked our rears off buy by Saturday evening had him moved into his new place.  He is in a nice Independent living apartment in Albany, OR.  We spent the night Saturday - as they have guest rooms for $65 a night including food.

On the way back to Bend, had to stop and get lunch at A & W.   

Restaurant has been there since 1961.  Place your order by using the phone in your booth

A & W out front

Must have the A & W bear as well

Of course, we both had a frosty mug of root beer

We could not fit everything he wanted to take in the back of the truck with one trip, so we loaded up and made another trip over the mountains on Wednesday with the remaining items.   Over and back in one day plus unloading makes for a long day.

Now we had to get Dads place ready to sit vacant until we sell it.   We still have a lot of stuff to get rid which means another big sale, and we will need a month or so to get it ready.  So probably next June when we can come back and do that.   Kris started cleaning the house from top to bottom, and did not get far, when she discovered an issue in the master bath.

Kris ripping up tile in the Master bath

Kris found loose tiles and dry rot by the toilet. She found where the tank to toilet hose had been leaking.  She went to shut the water off at the valve, and then the valve started leaking.   A trip to Home Depot for the parts and the leak fixed, but significant dry rot around the toilet which will need fixed before we can sell the house.   Just don't have the time to do it right now.

In addition to cleaning, a bit of organizing needed.  Putting like things together and such.  Kris thinks she got all the hats, but not sure.

She could only fit about half the hat on her head at one time.

Of course Dean did his part in the sorting and cleaning as well. - Just kidding, he worked really hard too

In addition to getting the house ready, we have to get ready as well, as we head back to Trinidad and home on the 14th.

Dean did some sorting of his own.

Time to throw out the old and keep the new

Saturday we made a run to the dump with a full trailer.  Bend does have a nice dump

Bend's landfill

Had the dump trailer full of garbage.   Truck with canopy is Norms, which we used to move him.

It is definitely time to head back to Trinidad.  Weather here is cold.

Weather in Bend

Weather in Trinidad

It will be nice to go back, but think we will be a bit warm, as we have acclimatized to the weather here a bit now.

2026-09-27 Setting up sale - and first two days of garage sale

Not much to blog about this week.  Kris worked full days until Wednesday night setting up and pricing all the items for Norm's sale.  

Kris's sister came over Thursday night, and the sale started at 8:00 a.m. on Friday.

Had several people in line when we opened up the doors and Friday stayed fairly busy all day.  We froze, as the high for the day was only 59 degrees, and it was cloudy and windy.

Saturday was slower, but sunnier.

So far we have made $3,600 for Norm at the sale, and still have half a day today to go.

Kay checking people out at the sale, with a line of folks waiting to pay.

We still managed to take our daily walks, and Norm even went on a couple with us - although a much slower pace.

Cows on the walk

Norm joined us for a walk.  You can tell it is chilly out now.