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Diane's DiaryJanuary 16 Friday I made some scones for breakfast and they came out really good. I also made a big batch of turkey enchiladas so we would have a dinner prepared for the next day or so. At 11:30, we walked into town to get some more bread since it'll be 2 more days till we get into PLC and we have no bread left. My hand is almost 100% again and feels so much better. We ate a nice lunch at the Carenero YC. We came back to the boat, raised the dinghy and left at 6pm while it was still light for the 70-mile trip to Islas Piritu - our last big hop before PLC. On the way out of the anchorage, we hit something submerged in the water that halted the progress of Destiny. The water was so filthy we couldn't see the bottom at all. Fortunately, I was at the helm so that means we weren't going to fast. Larry tends to drive a lot faster than I do which meant we would have impacted a lot harder. As it was, we were not going to fast at the time. Larry immediately told me to reverse and I did. We did not think we did any damage to the keel but we'll check it out at Islas Piritu even if we have to get the dive tanks out to see how it is. The water is filthy in PLC so we would rather dive on it ourselves in Piritu. The autopilot wasn't working again so this meant a long night at the helm for both of us. On my shift, I watched a dark cloud get closer and closer. I thought it would pass us by but no such luck. I had my foul weather jacket on since it was a little chilly but got soaked right through in a torrential rainstorm. We are completely exposed in the cockpit without having the autopilot and being able to hide under the dodger. Larry heard the thunderstorm and came up on my watch and took over for me as I was chilled to the bone. I stripped all my clothes off and wrapped myself in a towel when I went below and fell asleep immediately. I seem to have no problem with seasickness as long as we don't have any big waves, which we didn't. We arrived in Islas de Piritu and anchored in 13 feet of water. We wanted to anchor in as shallow as water as possible as we are having problems with the windlass. If it didn't work, Larry was going to have to haul it up by hand. I went to bed and slept until noon but Larry didn't go to sleep at all. In the PM, we went swimming and checked the bottom. All seems to be OK from the submerged object but a lot of the paint is off the bottom of the keel from the grounding in Chichiriviche. We may have to haul the boat out and paint it. We were both so tired we didn't do much all day long and went to bed at 8pm. We were so tired we slept until 7:30am! January 18 Sunday We slept until 7:30am, which was very late for us. We had a quick breakfast of some leftover scones, listened to the net, and got underway for PLC by 9am. Even though it was only 3 hours away, we knew from past experiences that when the wind comes up as it does by late morning or early afternoon, it could be difficult to get into the marina. We arrived at BR around noon but Arnoldo the dock master wasn't here today. Instead we had his assistant Edgar who does not speak any English so it makes things more difficult. Well, we had heard the marina was crowded but the only 3 slips available we all the way down near the gas station - about a good 10-15 minutes walk to the marina office and pool. Needless to say, we weren't so happy about being so far out. Anyway, it was hot out already so we washed the boat down really well since it had been a long time since Destiny had a good wash. Salt water is not good for the boat but unfortunately we don't have enough water for ourselves on the boat let alone wash the boat down. Anyway, after that was done, we put up the AC. Oh, how wonderful it feels to have some nice cool air again! By the time we did all this it was 4pm, and time to quit for the day. We had a few beers and drinks, I went to the pool, and than took a wonderful nice long shower- the first "real" shower we have had since we left here back in September. Anyway, I had been looking forward to watching some TV but we do not have any TV on the seawall and have to wait till we move to the floating dock. Anyway, I watched some old Gilligan's Island TV shows I had recorded at home and we were so tired we went to bed at 8:30pm. The AC just feels wonderful!!! We're glad to be back at PLC and cheap things to buy again. We loved Bonaire but it was way to expensive for our cruising budget. PLC is a lot cheaper and is much cheaper than living in the US. Plus, the beer, rum and lomito are so cheap here - way less than the US. January 19 Monday We slept very late for us - 7:30am - must be all that wonderful AC. We listened to the normal PLC net and reintroduced ourselves as returning. I gave our papers to Jaime to check in. We need to get B's today as we are almost completely out and we need to go food shopping today as we have absolutely no fresh food. I spent the morning talking to other cruisers and finding out what the latest exchange rate is. Geoffrey on S/V Panache was nice enough to lend us some B's so we could go food shopping. He actually gave us the wrong amount- way too much- and was very happy I pointed the error out to him. He really appreciated my honesty but I would not have been dishonest with him - that's not in my nature. Larry put up the awning while I was gone. Our slip is so far away from the marina office it takes me 10minutes to walk around to the office. We called Alejo's friend that had a slip for rent but he wanted a ridiculous price - $250USD per month when the marina gets $150. Yes, we would like the side to berth that he has but it's not worth a $100 per month surcharge. Anyway, we left shortly after noon to take a taxi to Plaza Major to go to the supermarket and eat lunch. We were fortunate that one of the local taxi drivers that we knew (Potter) saw us and gave us a free ride. Normally, we would never take a ride with just any car that stopped for us but we recognized Potter and he recognized us so we were happy to accept the ride. We went to McDonald's for lunch- at less than $5 for both of us for an entire meal it's a real bargain here. That same meal would be at least double in the US. I also called Mom and Dad to let them know we arrived safely. We had our wonderful ice cream that we really love. Ah, it's nice to be back in the land of cheap prices again! Larry was on the Internet for an hour for about .50! It was several dollars an hour in Bonaire in comparison. January 20 Tuesday Jaime couldn't do our clearance in since they have a new problem with not having the correct clearance to do the papers. So, I had to call TBS and Marisol to see who was cheaper. I also called Giulio, Orient Canvas and Centro Medico so I spent all morning on the phone. It's definitely bad not having a phone as you just can't ask people to call you back so you wind up spending a lot more time on the phone. We changed propane tanks today so we really didn't get a complete tank out of the one we filled up in Bonaire. The rest of the day was spent doing more boat projects and getting used to living in the marina again. January 21 Wednesday We cleaned the dinghy this morning as it was absolutely covered in salt. We had not washed it since we left here in September so it needed a good cleaning. I went to exchange money in the PM but it took a long time as there were a lot of cruisers and the money exchanger was over 30 minutes late in arriving. We cruisers pool our money together so we get a better exchange rate when we have a larger sum. I also hand washed some laundry, as I haven't done a proper laundry since we left here in September. I did hand wash some clothes along the way but I don't think they get as clean as doing them by machine. January 22 Thursday We finished cleaning and waxing the dinghy in the AM. It's amazing how long this takes especially in the broiling hot sun. We got our boat papers back and I walked to the office to give them a copy. I also made some phone calls. We went over to our friends on S/V Plenum at 5pm for a drink and then went up to the restaurant together. We had some more drinks and dinner also. Every Thursday night they have a different movie playing at the restaurant so we decided to stay and have dinner with Plenum. However, the movie they were showing was called Scary movie and Larry wasn't interested in it so we only stayed a few minutes. January 23 Friday We both have colds. It seems like every time we come into PLC one of us gets sick. I suspect a lot of it has to do with the sanitary conditions around here - OSHA would have a field day here, as there are NO standards. Plus, I suspect the water supply is contaminated. Anyway, I also have a bad headache. We moved slips early this morning before the wind came up. We couldn't get a slip on the floating dock where they have cable TV but we were able to get a closer slip on the seawall dock where we presently are. Now it's not that far of a walk to the pool. If we only had cable TV here it would be much better. However, we definitely have much more space here than on the floating dock as we can use part of the seawall. Also, taxi drivers can pull up right behind our slip, which makes it easier to unload groceries. The marina wants to raise prices and for those of us that have a cheap rate it will mean an almost 100% price increase. We are going to have a meeting with all the cruisers on this on Sunday. I took it relatively easy today, as I am still not feeling well. Orient Canvas brought our dinghy back as they had taken it to be re-stitched. We wanted to put the dinghy cover while the dinghy was out of the water otherwise it's very difficult to get the cover back on. So, we finally got our dinghy back into the water. We use the dinghy here mainly to go to Plaza Mayor and to the Maremares Wednesday night cocktail party. I made some Just Delicious soup mix for lunch. I lay down in the afternoon, as I didn't feel well. At 3:30, we went to CMO so I could drop the laundry off. On the way back we stopped off at Midnight Stroller- friends of Tom and Steph. I reheated some leftover turkey enchiladas for dinner; we took showers and watched a video. I finished another David Poyer book that I had left with Steph while we were still here. |