11/01/2011, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
The bold call "Kiss kiss Kiskadee" given by the Great Kiskadee will always remind me of Trinidad. These flycatchers have a lemon yellow breast and a black head that is divided by a conspicuous white stripe above their eye. We have checked into customs in Trinidad about a dozen times and more often than not, these have been the first to welcome us back to Trinidad. At these times the call I hear is "chris, chris, christophene". Kiskadees are not fussy diners; they eat all manner of insects as well as palm fruits, and small rodents. You can see Great Kiskadees around the marinas and boat yards in Chaguaramas perched on lifelines and bowsprits.
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10/22/2011, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
This is the less than glorious part of boat owner ship. Hunter is mixing the bottom paint with a paint stirrer attached to a drill. Mix for 15 minutes and apply.
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10/21/2011, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
I am painting the keel of the boat. I guess it would not surprise you if I got a bit of paint on my face and glasses.
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10/02/2011, Berkshire Botanical Garden
I have spent quite a bit of time in the last month planning for the last two days. The Berkshire Botanical Garden held its annual Harvest Festival and my job was to develop a composting program for the food vendors. We had a large compost dumpster from a local composter who can compost all foods and most paper products. Most vendors brought compostable plates, cups and silverware. I had a team of hard workers who were not faint of heart about digging into the trash to find the compostables. We did have trouble sorting the cups for hot drinks and in this photo I am posing with a variety of hot cups and lids.
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09/28/2011, Berkshire Botanical Garden
My fetish with sorting trash has come home to roost. I have volunteered to help at the Harvest Festival at the Berkshire Botanical Garden on October 1st and 2nd.. About 5,000 people will attend this 2 day event that has about 115 vendors that provide food, hay rides, crafts, fresh produce, a haunted house and much more.
My job is to lead the "Green Team". That is a nice title for trash management and our goal is to have no trash for the landfill. On site trash should be compostable or recyclable. The food vendors will be bringing compostable plates and silverware. I now know a lot more about composting, recycling and managing large events.
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09/24/2011, Lenox, MA
There are many outdoor events in the Berkshire Mountains and since this is apple season this week's event is the Apple Squeeze. There were stands with apple cider and baked goods with apples, apples for sale, face painting, pony rides and the usual food and crafts. Margaret in this photo is selling ceramic graters for hard foods such as carrots, parmesan cheese, nutmeg or garlic. She definitely has a flair for sales
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09/14/2011, Lenox, MA
Last Saturday was warm and sunny and we watched the Tub Parade in Lenox. The Tub Parade commemorates the Gilded Age, when tycoons as Westinghouse, Carnegie and Proctor made Lenox their summer retreat. Each September, these families closed their mansions and marked the end of the season with a parade down Main Street showcasing their prized horses, carriages (also known as "tubs"). The carriages were decorated with flowers and the riders were in period costume. The horses ranged from miniature ponies to Belgian draft horses with feet as big as frying pans
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09/04/2011, Lenox, MA
I know this is supposed to be a sailing blog, but you will have to bear with me as we explore of new home in Massachusetts. We have been enjoying riding our bikes through the small towns and country roads. There are wonderful sights, sounds and smells.
Sights: fields bursting with ripe corn, large farms with very old barns, and gardens with wonderful scarecrows.
Sounds: leaves crunching beneath bike tires, lawn mowers and blue jays
Smells: slightly fermented apples on the ground, cows, wildflowers
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08/31/2011, Lenox, MA
Hurricane Irene has passed, but there are still 2.5 million people without power. Many rivers are out of their banks and have flooded out roads and bridges. There are several communities in Vermont that are isolated from the major road systems and the National Guard has been dropping supplies by helicopter.
This is a grib file captured at the time that Irene was pounding the Maryland, NYC, NJ area.
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08/22/2011, Tanglewood, MA
Last night we went to Tanglewood and listened to John Williams conduct the Boston Pops Orchestra. John wrote film scores for many popular motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films. We sat under the stars on the lawn enchanted by the music and film clips.
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08/17/2011, Lenox, MA
Jesse and Sharon Rose cooked us an excellent typical Trinidad dinner. It was wonderful
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08/17/2011, Lenox, MA
We picked blueberries today with Jesse, Sharon Rose and Julie Rose, our friends from Trinidad. We picked 21 pounds- we might have gotten carried away! Blueberry cobbler tonight!
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08/12/2011, Lenox, MA
We have settled in for two months of terrestrial living while taking care of my parent's house in Lenox, MA. One of the joys of this season is the farm fresh fruit and vegetables. When not biking and exploring the Berkshire Mountains we can be found eating sweet corn, peaches, tomatoes and other local fresh produce. Last week we went to an ethnic street fair and folks who have traveled with us know that I am a bit of a street food junkie. In my opinion there are not better tacos than those that are cooked over a grill on the street and served with fresh tomatoes and cilantro.
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08/02/2011, Florida
We just spent a few days with my parents. I scanned a few photos of my Dad during World War II. In this photo Dad (Sidney Ukrain) is getting ready to fly a mission as a gunner. His B-17 was named Lazy Dazy.
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07/19/2011, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
We hauled out yesterday and everything went fine. Peake Yacht Services is very professional about their service. Their priorities are the safety of the boats and the workers and the comfort of their clients. What a difference from our haul out last year at Curacao Marine!
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07/17/2011, Chaguaramas. Trinidad
One of our chores before hauling out is to get he sails to the sail loft for repairs. The sails are in good shape, but need minor repairs. When the sail is spread out you can see it is huge and why doing on board repairs is difficult.
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07/12/2011, Grace's Roti Hut
Even the local iguanas line up for Grace's Roti.
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07/11/2011, Chaguaramas, Trinidad
We are on the dock at Peake Yacht Services getting ready to haul out. It is very industrial here, but our stay will be short and busy. Hunter is getting ready to take down the sails to send to the sail loft.
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07/10/2011, Hog Island, Grenada
We always enjoy our time in Grenada. We are leaving several friends behind, both yachties and local folks. Hunter has been going out diving for conch with our friends Dwight and Stevie a few times a week and after the dives the guys come over for a lime. A lime is a Caribbean hangout. You hangout with your friends and chat, eat and drink.
To Hog Island anchorage I leave a half dozen clothes pins- the good Italian clothes pins with springs that do not rust, not the cheap ones made in China. I also leave a towel and a promise to return.
This is a photo of Dwight and Hunter in our cockpit.
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07/04/2011, Lower Woburn, Grenada
Woburn is a small fishing village in the south end of Grenada and even though most fisherman and divers now use motors to get out the sea, many of the locals enjoy sailing. What could be more perfect: a nice windy Sunday with the Woburn fleet of five sailboats, a crowd of locals, music and rum? There were three races and Top Ranking cleaned up with its new sails and sharp crew. Our Friend Peter joined Top Ranking, while Hunter Martha and I chased the boats to see the buoys.
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