Home Port

Our Logs

The Crew

Calendar

Favorite Links

The Boat

Photo Album

Route and Charts

Miscellaneous Stuff





Diane's Diary

Venezuela 2004 - Part 7

March 6 Saturday

Today was the monthly flea market in front of the mini-market. Larry made $15 selling some things and I sold my sewing machine for $60USD. Since I only paid $40 I actually made a $20 profit. I actually think I could have sold it for more. Anyway, we exchanged some money with Midnight Stroller- Andrea was willing to take a check from us so we wouldn't have to spend all our US cash. I did some more cleaning of the bimini frame.

I made a nice chicken Italiano for dinner. We watched another movie Elias rented for us called "Lost in Translation" with Bill Murray. Unfortunately, the last several minutes of the picture were missing so we didn't get to see the end. It was a very strange movie and I didn't care for it at all although the acting was very good. It was just a weird story.

March 7 Sunday

Well, I didn't wake up until 9am this morning. I am having difficulty sleeping at night so when I finally do get to sleep I sleep later than usual. We took it easy since today was Sunday and lazed around reading the paper and all. On the political front, it appears there will be no referendum at this time but now the decision is with the Venezuela Supreme Court so we will have to see how they rule. I don't have much hope though.

I worked on the Fed Taxes again. It's a pain to have to do them especially since we have no tax liability. We watched an excellent movie that Elias rented for us called " Under the Tuscan Sun" which we both really enjoyed. It was a "chick flick" but Larry really enjoyed it also.

March 8 Monday

Dad had surgery today. I tried to call in the AM to wish him good luck but no one answered so I guess they had already left. I'll try calling again soon.

We both went back to the dermatologist this morning. He took off a growth I had on my back and a growth from Larry's fingers. He thinks my hand growths are arthrosis- not arthritis - but it is similar. He recommended taking these pills to help my hands but said they are very expensive here in Venezuela. He said it's possible that eventually my hands will not be able to straighten out and they will become like claws. Well, this was certainly not very good news. He said one of the only things I could do would be to use my hands less but we all know that's just not possible. I will investigate it more on the Internet when I can. Anyway, after we finished with the doctor, we brought the tailor a curtain to fix, and had lunch. Larry went to use the Internet and I walked to the Tijerazo department store to buy some new dishes for the potlucks as ours had become all cracked. Anyway, we got back to the boat around 2pm and my back was getting very sore from the minor surgery so I went to sleep for a while. Of course I had to remember not to roll on that side of my back. We didn't go to the potluck tonight. I really was not feeling well and Larry does not like going to the potlucks anymore. Everyone pushes and shoves to get the food, many people are bringing cheap food and there's not enough for everyone. From now on I will just go grill the food and then come back to the boat with it.

March 9 Tuesday

I tried to call Mom this morning to find out how Dad's surgery went but the phone in the marina was not working again. This seems to happen frequently and it always happens when you really need to make a call. Andrea from Midnight Stroller came by and wanted to know if I wanted to go to Plaza Mayor with her. Since I wanted to call home, I said yes. Mom said Dad's surgery went fine and he will be home from the hospital in a few days. Well, that was good to hear. The price of phone calls to the US went up again. It used to be 150B per minute went to 200 and is now 230B. It's still less than 10 cents per minute so it is pretty cheap- the cheapest in the entire Caribbean! Anyway, Andrea also drove me over to La Cava meat market so I could get some meat. We got back around 2pm and had a late lunch. I cleaned out the rest of the drawers Elias had finished varnishing- the interior of all of them now had to be cleaned. I waxed the rest of the dodger and bimini frame in the PM.

March 10 Wednesday

Larry put the forward cabin back together again. He put the headliners back up and the cabin looks really good. The headliners were really dirty so they all needed to be cleaned out first. I hand washed some shirts. Than I waxed the dodger frame and scrubbed the bimini - it was absolutely filthy with all that red dust we get here all the way from Africa. Elias brought us 2 excellent movies- Seabiscuit and Cold Mountain. We really enjoyed both movies.

March 11 Thursday

We called Mom this morning. Dad is coming out of the hospital today so that's really good to hear. We put lots of things back into the forward cabin and it looks really good. Now Elias will start sanding the main cabin. The boat looks really good and we are both really pleased with the appearance. We also want to put another 4 coats of varnish on the companionway as we realize we are getting so much sun on that area we need more varnish to protect it. Hopefully, we'll never have to do this work again! It is very difficult living on the boat while it's being varnished. Elias brought us back the curtain the tailor made for me. She did a good job except the room darkening material here in VE is just to thick and the curtain does not hang correctly. I'll have to look around to see if I can find the right material. I also picked up my laundry.

March 12 Friday

I left at 8am this morning with S/V Sylvester to go to the market. I had never been there before as Elias told me it was not safe to go by myself- he suggested going with at least 2 other people. Well, I felt no threat whatsoever from anybody. We did need to watch out for pickpockets but no one approached me as far as I could tell. We got back form the market by 10:30am. None of the meat, chicken, or fish is refrigerated so it's best to go early in the morning. OSHA would have a field day here in VE. There would be so many safety violations they wouldn't be able to keep track of them all!

We got back from the market, I quickly put the food away, and we left to go back downtown to the dermatologist. The doctor was supposed to come at 11 but he didn't show up until 12. He said my hand x-ray showed Heberden Nodules with deteriorating cartilage. He said I should start taking the pills he prescribed but they are very expensive here- $20US for about a 2 weeks supply. Maybe I can wait until we get to the US to buy them. Since I haven't taken them in all this time a few more weeks is not going to matter much. But basically he said there's not much I can do for this condition and that it's hereditary.

We had lunch out and than headed back to the boat. I cleaned 2 lbs of shrimp that Andrea brought for me.

I got stomach cramps and diarrhea the entire afternoon so I lay down for a while. We went up to take some showers, saw sv Marnel 4 at the restaurant and they invited us to come stay for a drink so we did.

March 13 Saturday

We both worked to get the leaf off the table. Elias is starting to sand the main cabin today. He will do the starboard side first so we can still use part of the main cabin to sit in. We called Dad in the AM to see how he is doing and it sounds like all is going well with him so we were happy to hear that. Elias stayed for a few drinks after work at 5:00 and didn't leave until 6:30. At this time, it was too late to start dinner so we went out to eat in the restaurant. The restaurant was extremely crowded so the meal was not great and service was very bad. We were not very happy but this is a new owner so I guess we need to give him some time to get settled in.

March 14 Sunday

I woke up late today- 8:15am- just in time for the security net. I drank diet coke in the PM last night and I think the caffeine definitely affects me. I made some bacon and eggs for breakfast. I finished the taxes and another cruiser will bring them back to the US for us. Larry printed the taxes out for me. I also worked on my logs and updated my spreadsheet. We switched propane tanks today. We last filled a tank on January 20 so this tank only lasted 2 months- normally we get almost 3 months on a tank. But the refills are only $6 here for a 20 lb tank as compared to $13 for only 13 lbs in Bonaire. So it's definitely a lot cheaper to get propane here in PLC. Next time we leave, we'll make sure we have 2 full tanks.

We had a nice dinner of shrimp and fresh pasta and it was excellent.

March 15 Monday

I made some nice biscuits for breakfast this morning and then Norma and I went downtown shopping. We went to the big Tijerazo downtown store and I managed to get a few things I wanted. I was looking for some UV sun blocking curtain material but couldn't find what I needed. We had lunch and walked around for a little while before coming back to the marina.

March 16 Tuesday

I cleaned all the stainless steel on the dodger frame and on the port side near and on the gate. I worked on it from 9-11 when it just got to hot to continue working so I went inside. I made some excellent banana nut muffins that came out superb. At 2pm, Larry and I went to Plaza Mayor. Larry went to the Internet café and I got a manicure. We saw an excellent movie "Something's Gotta Give" with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton that we both really enjoyed. Afterwards, we went out to dinner and had a nice time. It was really nice just having a dinner out for a change.

March 17 Wednesday Happy St. Paddy's Day

We were on our way to the doctor's office when we saw Andrea so she gave us a lift to Lecheria. Larry had to do another PSA test. Unfortunately, the doctor wasn't there today since he was in surgery so we'll have to go back tomorrow. We stopped for breakfast and to go to some stores but than when back to the boat. In the PM, I did some emails. They definitely accumulate if you don't keep up with them on a regular basis. Elias rented us another movie called "Freaky Friday" which was stupid but we both enjoyed it. Not the greatest movie I have ever seen but for .34USD it was worth watching. Wonder when we are getting cable TV? They keep promising us but so far we still don't have it. Nights are boring without TV. We have lots to read but want to save it until we get out to anchor.

Next | Previous