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Diane's DiaryJuly 14 Thursday It was cloudy and overcast the entire day with the effects from Hurricane Emily. We were fortunate and dodged the bullet as she turned north and when she passed our longitude (64.3N), she was at 12 degrees North so was far from us. We had very little rain except at 5 am this morning. I still am sick but think it's just a very heavy cold. I was woken up in the middle of the night when I didn't feel well. We watched another DVD "Red Dawn" we borrowed from Panda. It was an old movie about the Russians invading the US but I thought it was just OK. Our new "tenants" for our slip never called back as I suspected they wouldn't so we will look for someone else. Actually, I put out the word yesterday, as I was pretty sure they weren't going to rent it. I hope we get someone else on our own. If the marina rents out your slip while you are gone, you only get half your slip revenue so it's not that good a deal for the slip "owner". July 15 Friday I am finally feeling much better today though am only about 80%. I went to Catalano meat market with Jeannie this morning and bought a bunch of meat. We were in the store for over 2 hours. I put all the meat away in plastic bags to get ready to vacuum seal before we leave. After lunch, I washed all the vegetables in a Clorox solution, dried them and put them away. Candace from S/V Reality dropped by and we exchanged DVD's. They had about 10 original DVD's plus we had some they wanted to watch so it worked out well for both parties. I made meatballs and walked with Suzi in the afternoon. We walked around 2 laps when it started to pour out so we had to stop. I didn't even get to get a shower since it was raining out so hard. We watched SV Panda's excellent DVD "Last of the Dogmen" at night. It was fantastic and we both enjoyed it so much we would like to keep it. July 16 Saturday We are now having a flea market every other Saturday so we went and actually sold some stuff and made 27,000B- about $10USD! I actually think the flea market is more effective when it's only once a month but everyone still goes to it- you never know what you will find! Anyway, I spent the rest of the day updating the financials in my logbook and in the computer. After I finished that, I started working on my logs. July 17 Sunday I made our usual Sunday omelets- this time with bacon and cheese. I worked on my logs before going off to play dominoes at 1pm. I did very well after 2 hands and had 150 but got killed on the last hand so wound up with 310 for the day. After dominoes, I walked with Suzi. Twilight came back for the US today and brought us back some blank DVD's. July 18 Monday I waited the entire day to get money traded as they said they were coming to the boat but never showed up. At 9am, another boat Liberty came over as they heard we wanted to sublease our slip. I gave them all the details and told them if they wanted it they needed to give a deposit so we knew they really wanted it- not just mouthing off like Novatrix was. Anyway, they stopped by later that day with a deposit in hand so they are going to rent it for 3 months starting around 8/1 or whenever we leave for a three-month period. Novatrix finally called back today - after 5 days to say they weren't going to rent our slip. I told them we had already found someone else! They had brought us a case of rum from Margarita and told us to come get it but I don't want to bother with them so will not go. Let them take care of the rum- they didn't do right by use either! It started to rain out about 1pm with lots of thunder and lightning- that's unusual as it usually rains much later in the day. We discovered the air conditioner was really dirty so in all the rains we cleaned the unit entirely- this is something we should do every few months as it was absolutely filthy and had lots of mildew on the cardboard pieces. It stopped raining late in the day and I was able to get my walk in with Suzi. July 19 Tuesday Our moneychanger finally came at 10:30am this morning. Afterward I walked over to Autumn Wind as we owed them money but they had already left for a few days. I also walked over to Reality to give them back their DVD's. I had a migraine headache so took an Imitrex and lay down in the pm. At night we went to a Trivia night in the restaurant to raise funds for one of the cruisers. Marcie from S/V First Light has colon cancer and had no medical insurance. The cruisers have helped out locals in the past but now it was decided to help one of our own. We had an excellent time and the money went for a good cause. Our team actually won and we got to take home the trophy! The violinist came to the restaurant at 9pm. This was the first time we had heard him and he was absolutely great- we really enjoyed his concert. The only problem is he comes so late - we usually like to be back in the boat by then. July 20 Wednesday At 8:30am I went with Arnold's taxi service to CM along with the folks on Panda. Unfortunately, Arnaldo had to be back in the marina at 10:30 to pick up another cruiser so we didn't have a lot of time but I was still able to get a lot of things. I'll come back to get my refrigerated products such as large blocks of cheese, a few days before we leave. After lunch it poured of again- just as the folks on MV Conch Daddy were coming over to exchange DVD's. Wayne has the third season of the TV show "24"- we had seen the first season and liked it but unfortunately he doesn't have the second season. Hopefully we'll get to watch it all before we leave. Larry went over to their boat in the pm to show Wayne how to use the DVD burner and copy movies- he didn't come home till after 8pm. I waited for him for dinner until 7:30pm and finally just ate by myself. I made chicken Italiano- one of our favorite meals and cooked up some mushrooms. I did get walking with Suzi in between the rainstorms. I was a little upset that Larry didn't call but he said he lost track of the time. I know that's probably true as when he gets on the computer he just focuses on that and loses all track of time. I was mad he didn't call but I guess I should have understood- I just didn't think he would be on Conch Daddy for so long! July 21 Thursday I made some phone calls in the morning and around 10:30, I left with Terry on Vixen for Plaza Mayor- she is new here and was grateful for the ride and bought me a batido. We went to the pharmacy, I had a pedicure and we had lunch since it started to rain out. We got back to the boat around 3pm. I did get to walk with Suzi later in the day. July 22 Friday At 8:30am, I went to CM with Panda and Jeannie. Unfortunately, we had to return by 10:30 as he had another client than so we had to rush. Next time I am going to tell them all I need 3 hours so we have enough time! We also went quickly to Exito as I am looking for more DVD cases- they had them but they weren't the good quality I got the last time so I didn't buy them. We ran out of time so only quickly got to go to the bakery and didn't have time to stop at Fijorca. I put all the food away and worked more on my food inventory later that day. It is incredible how long it takes to provision for 3-4 months. Everything has to be sorted and categorized- if I forget anything either we do without it or I buy it at a premium in Bonaire. I wish I had my own car to go shopping as it would make things a lot easier and faster but that's the way it goes! It poured out later in the day so we didn't walk. July 23 Saturday It is extremely hot and humid out today but not as warm with all the clouds around. I hand washed some clothes and also cleaned the AC cover which was just disgusting. I hadn't washed it since we put it on the AC in December and it was just filthy. I'll have to remember to clean it more often this time. I also waterproofed the cockpit cushions. I put away all the coke and beer that had been sitting outside the boat. I also inventoried the last food locker below the dish drain so now I have an accurate account of all the food we have. Larry is busy with the PC. We finished watching the "Taken" series by Steven Spielberg that Panda lent us. It was OK, not terrific but definitely worth it! It was 10 DVD's and about 15 hours of viewing time. July 24 Sunday I would like to finish my logs before we leave, as I am over one month behind. Electric is at a premium when we go out so this is something I should just finished before we leave. I made my usual Sunday cheese omelets and than worked on my logs until it was time to play dominoes at 1pm. We watched the Tour de France this morning because the American Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive race- what an amazing feat of sports history and one, which I doubt will ever be duplicated. Although I don't care for him, I'm glad he won. I went to play dominoes and just when it ended we had the worse rainstorm I have seen in a very long time. It rained quite hard for at least a half hour and most people just stayed in the restaurant waiting it out. I rain back to the boat when it was almost over so didn't get to wet. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to walk due to the rain. July 25 Monday I went to the travel agency in PLC to find out about plane tickets to go home in December. I have asked the travel agencies here in the marina to look into it but they seem to be to busy and don't get the correct information. I just took the por puesto into town myself as I wanted to go quickly and didn't want another cruiser slowing me down. I went to the department store Tijerazo and found some cheap DVD cases- not as good as the last one I bought but for the VCD's which aren't so great anyway they'll have to do. I also stopped at the cooked chicken store in downtown PLC- they make the best-cooked chicken and I just brought it back tom the boat for lunch with Larry. Larry doesn't like chicken on the bone so I didn't buy him any but he had already eaten lunch by the time I got back. I worked on my food inventory in the PM. I think I have an excellent handle on exactly what I need to buy and will keep revising it as we take future trips on Destiny. July 26 Tuesday I went to Makro this morning on the free weekly bus. I was actually finished by 10:30 but the bus didn't leave till 11:30 and unfortunately my bags were onboard the bus which was locked otherwise I would have just taken a taxi back by myself. I bought a lot of stuff- about $400 worth so when I got back it took me a long time to put the food away. Jeannie got me 2kg of great shrimp so I spent the afternoon cleaning the shrimp, inventorying the food I just bought and updating my shopping list. We went to dinner in the restaurant with Autumn Wind. The violinist came to play at 8pm but I was just too tired from all the work so I didn't enjoy him as much as I usually do. July 27 Wednesday I hand washed all the rugs on the boat this morning. I had not washed them in a few months so they really needed to be done. I also made some chocolate cakes and gave pieces of cake around in the marina. I really made the cakes especially for Carlos the marina manager, as he has been very good to us. I did get to walk with Suzi in the afternoon. I made a fantastic shrimp dish for dinner with the last of my feta cheese from Bonaire. Yes, you are reading this correctly- I did buy it in Bonaire last year, as its unavailable here in Venezuela. Fortunately, since it's packaged in brine water it will keep for a long time as long as it's not opened- once the air hits it, it will go bad quickly. We both enjoyed the wonderful meal. We had not had shrimp for a long time as it was expensive and not great but Jeannie hit the payload with this great bunch- they were huge, fresh and excellent. Larry put the dodger back up on the boat- it's amazing how much we have to bend to get in and out of the companionway now with it up.
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