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Diane's DiaryJanuary 6 Monday Day 37 of VZ strike We had a busy day today. Larry walked around to the other side and went to get some boat parts, use the Internet etc. We haven't launched the dinghy due to the number of oil spills. We have already cleaned the dinghy twice and don't want to do it again so we will wait to see if everything is OK before we launch it. I spent the day waxing the deck. I am using the cleaner wax first and than will do another coat with regular wax. I did part of the deck in PLC, but never finished it. The last time I did the whole boat was last winter in Martinique so it really needed to be done again. Don't forget we don't often get to wash the boat down since we don't have enough fresh water and the boat should be washed down with soap and water before the wax is applied. We went to Joe's Pizza with Motu since she has her dinghy in the water. January 7 Tuesday Day 38 of VZ strike Larry hurt his back bending over today. It looks like it will probably be all right and its just a back sprain but he will take it easy. I started waxing the port side of the boat. I came inside to make some corn chowder soup and to sit with Larry to make sure he was OK. It was cloudy and overcast out which makes it a great day to wax the boat since it's better to do it in the shade. I think I have shin splints from walking on the treadmill so only walked 30 minutes today and took it easy by walking slower. January 8 Wednesday Day 39 of VZ strike I went to the PriceSmart this morning. They are well shopped out from Christmas and are out of many things. They said they only get a new shipment every 3-4 weeks. You would have thought they would have better inventory planning since it is a US company but I guess not. I was not feeling well in the afternoon so I lay down to take a nap. We sold our old dinghy by advertising it on the net. The second person that came to see it bought it. We sold it for $500USD but paid $2000 for it almost 10 years ago. It was in very good condition as we always maintained it, washed it regularly, and protected the tubes by using a UV protectant (303- I highly recommend it). January 9 Thursday Day 40 of VZ strike I went to YSATT to get the free cleaning solution to get the oil off the boat, went to the grocery store and bank. I also continued waxing the boat some more. We went to the weekly Thursday night potluck and had a good time. It's a cheap night out and we get a chance to grill. We always have Omaha steak hamburgers, which are very good. January 10 Friday Day 41 of VZ strike I went to the GYN doctor today for a routine exam- $50 including a pap smear. I couldn't go to my own doctor for that price in the US. After, I walked to Price Club to have lunch, Radio Shack at the new movie complex for Larry, then to West Mall to go to the big supermarket and walk around the mall. I didn't get back till around 3:30 and was tired from all that walking when I got back. I rested, read, and went to the pool at 5pm. January 11 Saturday Day 42 of VZ strike I tried to call Aunt Mary for her birthday today several times but got no answer so finally had to leave a message on her answering machine. I went back to the laundry to wash the aft cabin sheet. It had not been washed in a long time and since Larry had to take everything out of the aft cabin anyway, it was a good time to do it. Of course, he had to wait until the sheet was washed and dried before he could put everything back into the aft cabin. I made tortilla pinwheels as we are having S/V Lady J over for drinks tonight. I cooked some sausages up before they came as they take a long time to cook and this way I just have to heat them up and do the vegetables after they leave. I tried using Snobowl on some of the rust stains on the boat. I had to let it sit for over a half hour on some of the tough stains but they finally came out pretty good and just left some little stains. It did really good on regular fiberglass but not as good when the stain was surrounding metal fittings. I went to the pool around 3:30. Lady J came over at 5 and stayed till 8. We had a good time getting to catch up with them. We are going to buy their side boarding ladder for $375USD- a little more than we wanted to spend but he had paid over $900 for it in the US and it definitely was a good one. We have to do a little modification for it plus it's missing a part to clamp it onto the boat but we will be able to get it done here. We could have bought a ladder here in Trini but it would have cost at least $300 and probably higher if we got what we wanted. We had no other way to get off the boat into the water unless we used the dinghy and this was not good if one of us fell overboard. Also, when taking showers in the water, it was hard to keep getting into the dinghy to soap up and all. So, this will be much better for us. Also, once we put the dinghy on deck we couldn't get into the water at all. January 12 Sunday Day 43 of VZ strike I got an email last night that Dad is in the hospital so I hope everything is all right. He has gallstones and needs them and is gall bladder removed. I tried calling home after I got the emails but just kept getting the answering machine. Larry went to the ham study group this morning. I did some emails and made a baked ziti. I also went to the gym for 1.5 hours. January 13 Monday Day 44 of VZ strike I went to the book exchange at TTSA this morning. Since we have TV here we don't read as much as we usually do at anchor but once we get out of the marina I'm sure we will be reading again. I finally finished the first coat of wax on the topsides and now started the second coat. We had a rainy and overcast day so it was a good day to do some more waxing. I finally got a hold of Mom and Dad seems to be all right. I told them I would come home if they wanted me too but so far they said all is well. Dad is going to have his gall bladder removed on Wednesday or Thurs. January 14 Tuesday Day 45 of VZ strike I spoke to Mom and called Dad in the hospital. I think they were happy I called them. One of the worse parts about cruising is being in a foreign country when someone at home is sick. I'm glad to hear the surgery isn't too bad though. I will try and call every few days to let them know we are thinking about them. I won the local Boca magazine contest for arriving boats. I dropped my name into the basket and won first prize for a dinner for two at Sails restaurant worth about $32USD. So, as soon as we get the dinghy into the water we will go next week, as the coupon needs to be used by the end of the month. The Boca asked me to write a small article while I was getting my prize so since I had already written our friends about the attack of the sailboat on the north coast of VZ, I just expanded it a little and wrote about that. I get about $32 for the article (the Compass pays $50) but this will help pay for the Taste Of Carnival tickets that are now up to $6 each. They used to be free but within the last few years, the price has been steadily rising. There are 3 events so we will probably go to all of them. In the afternoon, we went to the new movie theatre with Lady J. The new theatre is really very nice but is much more expensive than the old ones. Tuesday is special day with tickets for $4USD each, evenings and other days the tickets range from $5-6. You may think this is pretty cheap for a first class new movie, but the old movies are double features, cost $2USD for both movies and have cheap popcorn and soda. For us the advantage is the new theater is in a better part of town, is easier to get too, and has matinees so we can go during the day when it is hot, there are fewer people, and it's safer and easier for us to go during the day when we can get a maxi back. So, we went to see the new James Bond movie that we all enjoyed. After, we went to Joe's Pizza and had a nice cheap dinner. Normally, we don't like to walk back after dark, but with the 4 of us, we felt it was safe to walk from the other side. January 15 Wednesday Day 46 of VZ strike I went to the gym at 9am and walked on the treadmill for 55 minutes and lifted some weights. We left at 12 to go to the dentist. We had lunch at Pizza Hut in the mall and then went to the dentist. After, we took the maxi back to Radio Shack and to Price Smart to get a new propane tank. We are going to run out of propane in our other tank very shortly and 1 of our tanks is getting rusty so Larry doesn't want to refill it. The tank usually lasts about 3 months and since we last switched tanks on 11/12 we know we are going to run out soon. We got back to the boat around 4pm and just took it easy. January 16 Thursday Day 47 of VZ strike They had another book swap today. Normally, I wouldn't go to 2 within a few days but I did since this one was right here in CI. After, I went to the Boca office- he changed my article a lot without my permission, which I didn't appreciate. A lot of cruisers complain the Boca does this and Jack doesn't seem to understand this is not good to do. We went over the changes and I made some changes on the things revised. I also got my picture taken for winning the dinner for 2 contests. I went to the grocery store, and bank. After lunch, I finished waxing the port side of the boat with wax. Then I went to the gym and we went to the potluck at 6pm. January 17 Friday Day 48 of VZ strike I did some emails in the am. Since my computer is broken we have to share a computer and this is not working out well since Larry is always on the computer. I tried to call my Dad in the hospital but couldn't reach him. Only 1 phone to the US is working which makes it difficult to call as a lot of cruisers use these phones. I started cleaning the interior headliner as it has a lot of mildew on it. I cleaned the spice racks so I had to take all the spices out. Then I used some Scott's Liquid Gold. I went to the gym and walked around 45 minutes on the treadmill and did some weights. We went to dominos tonight at Crews Inn. They order a take out delivery from Joe's Pizza. January 18 Saturday Day 49 of VZ strike Larry went to the dentist at 9am as he is getting a new crown. The cost went up considerably from last year though so now it is almost $350USD up from around $250 last year. I feel they have purposely raised the prices just for the cruisers as there is no way a local would pay that amount. However, it is much cheaper than getting the work done in the US especially since we have no medical or dental coverage any more. I called Mom and Dad and finally got through to them. I did some emails. I seemed to be very tired today and think it was from a lot of exercise so I took a nap and didn't do any exercise. January 19 Sunday Day 50 of VZ strike I seem to still be very tried and wonder if it was from doing too much exercise too soon so will take it easy again today. It rained on and off all day today so it was a good day to take it easy. Larry went to the ham study group as he is studying for the ham test. He wants to use winlink, which is an email service for ham users only. January 20 Monday Day 51 of VZ strike Well, today I used up the last of our wonderful ganzo meat from VZ. It's like stew meat but lots better than normal stew meat in the US. I spent a while making the preparations- marinating the meat, and cutting up all the carrots and mushrooms. We brought our new propane tank into be filled. Then I did a million dishes from making the dinner preparations- or so it seemed! We had more oil in the water so I went to YSATT to tell them about it. January 21 Tuesday Day 52 of VZ strike I washed all the area rugs on the boat and could not believe how filthy they all were. I had to change the water at least 10 times before it ran clear and I could get them clean. We cleaned the dinghy and put 303 protectant on it. Larry cleaned the rust off the fittings on the big cockpit locker. I had tried with SnoBowl but it did not remove all the rust. I also vacuumed all the floors (we seem to get so much dirt in the boat), cleaned the refrigerator, sink, stove, and under the sink. I know how you all at home don't think we do anything all day long but as you can see we are actually pretty busy. I also went to the gym and walked 50 minutes on the treadmill. We were both so tired that night we went to bed at 8:30pm. We also got our cushions back from Alpha Canvas. |