Trinidad Wood Score

[Edgar]

I just returned from a 10-day business trip to Trinidad. I finally had a free day on Saturday, so I asked my driver to take me to a local sawmill to see if I could collect some small scraps of local wood.

We met the owner and told him what we were looking for. He took us over to a big pile of wood that he called his scraps, handed me a piece of chalk and told me to mark what I wanted and he would cut it for us. I selected a few boards, marked off lengths that I thought would fit in my suitcase & he cut them for us.

When he was finished, I asked him how much I owed him and he just waved his hands & said "no charge". So I reached in my pocket and handed him a Sierra pen made from a nice piece of Koa. He was quite surprised & very appreciative. As we were driving away, I saw him showing the pen to his wife with a huge smile on his face. Made my day.

Top to bottom we have Mora, Crapau, a very white wood and a couple of pieces of Balata. These are all about 2" x 3" x 20-22" - probably enough for at least 150-200 pen blanks, but I'll use most of it for larger projects.

I forgot what he said the white wood is, so I may have to ask my driver to go check with him sometime. It looks a lot like American Holly.

I also gathered a few pieces of interesting driftwood from the beach near my hotel.

I'll have to take an empty trunk along next time.

 

[mark james]

This is not surprising to me! I have travelled on Scuba Diving trips to Honduras, Belize, Turks & Caicos; Cocos Islands; Cayman Islands... and in all places the local folks were great! They worked hard, and they appreciated when their efforts were noticed.

People are very appreciative for others to take an interest in what they are doing.

Very nice report Edgar! I suspect the folks you came into contact with will remember you for quite some time!

The timber you got will be personally valuable! Have FUN!

 

[Jim15]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[Bob Wemm]

Ed, the idea is to leave all your clothes behind and come home with a suitcase full of wood.

Bob

 

[Skewer]

Awesome Souvenirs!

 

[CREID]

Now, you did declare all that to customs as premium pen blanks, right?
Curt

 

[liljohn1368]

Great score Edgar. I have a hardwood saw mill about 20mls from me. I have thought doing this same thing. It wouldn't be from another country but I think it would still be worth checking out. This mill cuts hardwood flooring....

 

[triw51]

Ed, the idea is to leave all your clothes behind and come home with a suitcase full of wood.

Bob

I mailed my cloths home and came back with a suitcase of beautiful wood.

 

[robutacion]

Oh boy...!

I will only say one thing, imagine how I would feel being there, with a small suitcase to fill, i would be going, nuts...!:redface:

Thanks for the pics, those are as raw as a sawmill will ever be.

Didn't they have some burl pieces that come with the logs...???

Cheers
George

 

[Skie_M]

Hmmm .... I'ld have asked to borrow a hammer and some nails, and then I'ld have BUILT A CRATE out of that wood, and filled it with more wood, and shipped it home through check-in luggage.


(Yes, I know, it's a shame to put holes in it ... but that gives it some character here and there, right? Besides, I get more of that pretty hardwood in the package if I package it with the pretty hardwood!)

 

[Indiana_Parrothead]

Very nice Edgar, and giving him the pen was great.

Mike

 

[stonepecker]

Good for you Edgar.
I will never have that kind of chance, so I am aliitle 'green' today.
Be sure to post some of the finished woods.

(The gift of the pen was a very nice touch)

 

[TellicoTurning]

I just returned from a 10-day business trip to Trinidad. I finally had a free day on Saturday, so I asked my driver to take me to a local sawmill to see if I could collect some small scraps of local wood.

We met the owner and told him what we were looking for. He took us over to a big pile of wood that he called his scraps, handed me a piece of chalk and told me to mark what I wanted and he would cut it for us. I selected a few boards, marked off lengths that I thought would fit in my suitcase & he cut them for us.

When he was finished, I asked him how much I owed him and he just waved his hands & said "no charge". So I reached in my pocket and handed him a Sierra pen made from a nice piece of Koa. He was quite surprised & very appreciative. As we were driving away, I saw him showing the pen to his wife with a huge smile on his face. Made my day.

Top to bottom we have Mora, Crapau, a very white wood and a couple of pieces of Balata. These are all about 2" x 3" x 20-22" - probably enough for at least 150-200 pen blanks, but I'll use most of it for larger projects.

I forgot what he said the white wood is, so I may have to ask my driver to go check with him sometime. It looks a lot like American Holly.

I also gathered a few pieces of interesting driftwood from the beach near my hotel.

I'll have to take an empty trunk along next time.

It's a shame I wasn't into wood turning when I made my trips to Trinidad... I went down there about 3 times a year for a couple of years. I could have hauled lots of wood back.

Next time you go, do as the Trini's do when they come north... always bring a large empty suitcase to fill with your purchases... I had clients up from Trinidad regularly and they always did that... a lot of things were much cheaper in U.S. than there, so they would fill up the suitcase... evidently it was duty free back into Trinidad.

I always drove my self when I went down... the first time was a trip trying to get used to the left hand drive... good thing most rent cars have curb feelers on the passenger side of the cars... first time I went down I had to stay in Port of Spain because couldn't get a hotel room in San Fernando where my clients were... I knew I needed to make a left hand turn out of the hotel to get to San Fernando, but my agent's office was across the street in the port area... when I finished with my visit to him, I made my left hand turn... going the wrong way. Somehow, after I figured out I was going the wrong way (after about 1/2 hour of driving) I turned around and wound up in Queens Ann's park... still don't know how I got there, but I made 4 trips around the park before I figured out a way off the loop and back onto the San Fernando road... I wound up going through a neighborhood I was told later wasn't a safe place to be... The round abouts were fun too... I'm used to them as we had one in a neighboring town in Texas, but approaching on the wrong side of the road was a little nerve wracking the first time or two.

I liked Trinidad, loved the people and their music was always upbeat and happy. Good food too.

 

[D.Oliver]

I'm thinking I better mark this thread. It might be useful come about BASH time.

 

[Edgar]

Thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions.

I wasn't sure what to expect this time, but I hope for a return trip next year and if it materializes, I will certainly be better prepared. I will pack my clothes inside a second suitcase so I will have an extra one for hauling wood back home. I'll also be able to give the sawmill owner an advance heads up so he will be expecting us to drop by.

Chuck, you are a braver man than I am. I usually rent a car and do my own driving when I'm traveling, but Trinidad is a place where driving is best left to the Trinis - especially in the rural areas. My work was on the east side of the island where the roads are very narrow & winding, no shoulders and poorly maintained. Besides that, road & street signs are almost non-existent in the small towns, so unless you are familiar with the area, you can spend lots of time chasing your tail.

Chuck & Mark - you are absolutely right about the people and food. The Trinis are some of the warmest and friendliest people I have met anywhere in the world and the food was awesome. Every meal was delicious and the serving portions were quite large. I need to go on a diet.

 

[Edgar]

Here's my driver for the time I was in Trinidad and his lovely family. On weekends they operate a small roadside ice cream and snack stand where they sell their own awesomely delicious homemade ice cream.

He also built this large doghouse and donated it to a local group that was holding a dog show. We stopped off at the dog show to meet some of his friends & pick up some food before we went to the sawmill & did some other sightseeing.

 

[stonepecker]

Maybe you should send him some pecans Edgar.
Then next time you are there he just might have a sample of pecan ice cream.

 

[TellicoTurning]

Thanks for all the kind comments and suggestions.

Chuck, you are a braver man than I am. I usually rent a car and do my own driving when I'm traveling, but Trinidad is a place where driving is best left to the Trinis - especially in the rural areas. My work was on the east side of the island where the roads are very narrow & winding, no shoulders and poorly maintained. Besides that, road & street signs are almost non-existent in the small towns, so unless you are familiar with the area, you can spend lots of time chasing your tail.

Chuck & Mark - you are absolutely right about the people and food. The Trinis are some of the warmest and friendliest people I have met anywhere in the world and the food was awesome. Every meal was delicious and the serving portions were quite large. I need to go on a diet.

I rode with one of the locals on one of my trips down... we were going from Port of Spain to San Fernando for something to do with carnival... I think I was safer doing my own driving... the lady driving was the wife of my agent and not sure if she was watching the road or not, she talked all the way to SF...and we may have hit only a few of the high spots in the road... evidently there is no speed limits in Trinidad.

At my last job I had a young Trinidadian working for me... very bright young man, matter of fact, when I retired, he took my job as head of my department. I met one of his friends once... his friend was of Chinese descent and when I first met him, I expected to hear a Chinese type voice, instead he had a very very distinct Trinidad accent.. threw me for a minute.

I spent most of my trips on the west and south side of the island, never got over east. Understand it's pretty wild over that way. I did get around the north end once, but it wasn't intentional.