Monday, March 23, 2009

Today's Quest... Lumber

We need a few lengths of pine 1x1's to do some light framing for various boat projects, the current one being a new box to enclose our new electric motor.

At about 2pm we dinghied over to Budget Marine and then walked up to BIP which is on the road to Marigot. It wasn't a totally useless trip, although we didn't get what we set off for.

We dumped our trash at Budget and took a quick look around the store. A Coke would have been nice but you can't trust that vending machine (you've been warned!).

We then stopped at Carl & Sons Bakery and each had a piece of cherry-topped cheesecake & a cup of coffee. Mmmmmmmmmm!!!

(By the way, they had ONE bag of Fresh Step clay kitter litter in their little store)

As we passed by NAPA, we noticed that they didn't have any cars in their parking lot, and neither had the bakery. Not much in the way of traffic... Is it a holiday? Don't think so.

Then a bit further along the road, we stopped at the mattress/upholstery place because we can really use a new mattress. They don't have any foam at the moment but they are expecting a shipment in 3 days. We've heard that story a few times before :) But he gave us a good price and we'll check again next week.

Then we arrived at the top of the street, turned right past the little shopping center and checked out what BIP (a building materials store of tiles, roofing, wood, flooring) had for us. We went into their wood warehouse and we surprised at how bare it was. We then went into the section where they have the finished wood moldings, etc. Surprise! No 1x1's or even 2x2's. Not much stock. Bob asked if they were going out of business. The man said that we were not the first customers to ask that, but no they just weren't making any orders right now. He did suggest Ace Hardware, but even when they do have something, it is really poor quality. I want to say "crap" but that doesn't sound nice. OK, they have crappy wood when I have seen it in the past. RANT!

On the way back down the hill, we stopped by Carl & Sons Bakery again to pick up a bag of sugar (so we can try that pressure cooked walnut bread recipe, see below) and a treat for breakfast tomorrow.

So, it was not a wasted trip. Plus, on the way back to the boat I took some pictures for Bob's BoatBits blog of the mermaid that graces the bow of the Irish Jongert "Orchestra".

We'll go over to the French side and check out Home & Tools tomorrow. Fill up the dinghy's tank, too as it's a little cheaper over there.