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Larry's LogSunday was a very quiet day. I went over to see Tom and play chess around 10 and Diane stayed on the boat. We played chess to about noon and then Diane walked over and Steph made a nice lunch of Taco salad, which we ate at the restaurant tables, since the restaurant was closed. We just sat around for most of the afternoon. Just before we came back, I took Clem (their beagle) for a dinghy ride, which she seems to enjoy. To avoid separation anxiety, Steph came with us. Diane and I then took the dinghy back to our boat after a very nice day. The next day was not very busy for me although Diane did make a number of phone calls and went to Plaza Mayor as well. After I did the weather, we went over to see Tom and Steph around 9:30 and we saw the work progressing on the hard railings they were putting on the boat. We talked for a while and then we went back to Destiny and checked on Elias - he was already working. It was pretty hot and humid, especially in that little room and the buildings blocked what little breeze there was. But he was busy and preparing to do the large doors. We talked about some small problems we noticed over the weekend and made some decisions since one of the small doors was a little discolored and others needed some more sanding along the edges where the saw had cut them out. He would sand the edges again but the discoloration was really imbedded and couldn't be removed with bleaching, which might affect the rest of the door. We would have to live with it. The rest of the day, Diane made her phone calls, inquiring about plane flights and costs back to NY. She was thinking of visiting for a while since our cat was sick. I would stay at the boat and take care of things here. We hadn't made a final decision about it yet, and we got an email from the veterinarian in the evening that said he might be OK - he was going to see him again on Thursday. The rest of the day I spent in inventorying my supplies. If Diane did go back, she could also pick up some boat supplies that were difficult or impossible to get here. Tuesday, July 29 and it now 3 weeks since the eye surgery and my right eye is very slower getting better. I can see distances much better with it; the left eye seems to be getting a little better although distant objects are still slightly 'double' when I look with just that one eye. After the weather, I started putting some of the things back up in the companionway now that the varnish was completely dry, like the headliner and flashlight holder. Elias had come late since he went to Cumana last night to bring his girlfriend some medication for her puppy so I waited around the boat while Diane made some more phone calls. He came around 10:30 and started on the doors stored in the room we rented. I had asked him to sand the saw marks off the edges so that would take some time. We didn't do much else the rest of the day and it rained again starting after lunch so we just relaxed on the boat and watched a movie. The next day I measured the cabin sole for some runners we wanted to buy. We had put down some old towels and throw rugs on the newly varnished wood to protect it but I took some measurements hoping we could find some nice rugs to put down instead. Elias came by earlier than usual and we left to meet Tom and Steph at around 10:30 to go to Exito, a large store, something like a K-Mart. We got back around 1 after not seeing any runners we liked. After lunch I did some work on the web site and then visited with Texas Reb, Don and Nancy for a little while. They had come in for just a few days earlier in the morning and it was nice to see them again. They had been on their way to Los Roques but had a problem with their outboard so they decided to come to PLC to get it fixed. I saw on their boat a very nice idea that I might apply to Destiny - an insulated cloth covering over the companionway, used instead of the solid hatch boards. It kept the air conditioning in while not necessitating the large hatchboards. Of course, when they left the boat, they used the boards for security. After the brief thunderstorm, we went over to Maremares Marina for their weekly cocktail party. We saw many cruisers there that we hadn't seen in a few weeks since we hadn't gone recently due to the rain. Today was fairly busy. After Elias came, we went back to Makro, similar to a Sams Club. We were looking specifically for runners for the floor but they didn't have any. We did some grocery shopping though, and found some 'tipo Americano' Oreo cookies - one of my favorites. We got back to the boat and after lunch, Diane went to Plaza Mayor with Don and Nancy. They hadn't been there before and liked it. I stayed on the boat and mounted the VHS tape cabinet that was now finished and did some more straightening up. They got back around 3. We had planned to order pizza around 5 and it stopped raining about then so we thought we would go ahead. Tom and Steph were walking over and Brian from Full Monty, and Don and Nancy were also going to have some. We would all meet by the pool, order the pizza and maybe take a quick dip. It all worked according to plan for a while but around 6, it started raining again. Fortunately we had finished eating but we were still having drinks and talking when it really started to pour. We had some cover from the little umbrella over the table but we all eventually just said we were getting too wet. By that time, it was dark and Tom and Steph wouldn't be hard pressed to get a cab so I drove them back in the dinghy. Of course, it was raised already and I was completely soaked by the time it was down but 'it was an adventure.' I drove them back to CMO and came back to Destiny, pumped out the dinghy, raised it again and went inside. After drying off and changing into dry clothes, I just relaxed the rest of the evening. After Elias started work the next day, about 8:45, we went to EPA looking for the small rugs to protect the cabin sole. We found some but we didn't like them very much so we decided to keep looking. I bought some things, like more sandpaper, and we went back to the boat. By that time it was lunch. In the afternoon, I occupied myself with polishing the brass hinges and miscellaneous hardware that I had taken off the doors. Since the wood was going to look so good, I thought the hardware should also. It took some rubbing, but some of them finally started to look pretty good using the metal polish I had and paper towels. I also got out the Dremel tool with the polishing wheel and that helped also. Diane was doing some things on the PC. About 4 I went over to CMO to pick up the laundry and visit with Tom and Steph. After a while, it looked like rain again (surprise) so I brought the laundry and the gas I just bought back to Destiny and went back to Mima to continue my visit. We had a very nice time talking (and a drink or 2) and went back to Destiny about 6:30. It was raining, just lightly by this time, but I raised the dinghy and opened the drain plug at the bottom to let the water drain out. Saturday we had a fairly busy day. In the morning we went to another store in downtown PLC to look for the runners we wanted. Elias had told us about the store and after he started work, we left. The taxi took us there and we found some that would work. We had to buy several to cover the entire cabin sole but they seemed to be fine and they were pretty cheap. We then went to find the guy who did the small decorative signs in wood. We found him and were ordered a small one with "Destiny" on it, and small palm trees on each side. He said it would be done in 20 minutes and so we went to have an ice cream and then came back. It looked like it was about to rain again, so we picked up our sign, and the one that said "Venezuela" on it and got a cab back to the marina. The "Destiny" sign was still wet so I couldn't look at it very well but when we got back, I saw that it wasn't done as well as the others we saw. I was a bit disappointed so I tried fixing it with my Dremel tool after lunch and it was a little better. Since I couldn't use them anymore, I brought my old glasses (several pair) to Karen at the Mini-mart to donate them to the local hospital and then we paid her for the rental on the storage room. We decided to keep it for a month so we could have Elias finish all the doors on the boat. That would take us to the third week in August, so we knew we would be in PLC until then, at least. We could take care of some other things we wanted to do and then leave for the offshore islands and Bonaire for a few months before heading back to get the varnishing done, do some more touring to see Merida and Los Llanos (Venezuela's top bird watching area) and finally decide when (or if) we wanted to head back to the States. We might visit NY and California then as well. Around 5, Elias came back to drop off the key to the room and we showed him the signs. He said they were nice but Diane mentioned the slight problems with the "Destiny" one and he agreed that it wasn't as good as the other. He offered to take it back to the guy - he knew him - and ask him to redo it when he had more time and could do it carefully. We agreed and I figured maybe he could fix it easier than I could or maybe redo it completely. It was a little thing but I didn't want to display it as it was. We watched a couple of videos that night and just relaxed. Sunday morning we didn't do much except I cleaned some more of the door hardware. All of the locker hinges were made of plain steel coated with brass and where the brass had disappeared, had rusted so I decided that those had to be sanded and painted. I got out the Dremel tool and sanded them with that. I had just bought some white enamel so I tried one to see how it would work and look. The only other thing I did, which actually took some time, was going through all the sailing magazines we had collected on board. They were starting to take up a lot of space and I had to go through some. I started to save some but then figured out that the last half of the magazine (at least for the thicker ones) were all advertisements, so I just separated that half and kept the part with the articles. That saved half the space right there; I also threw out about a dozen that had nothing of interest. I got through about half the pile. Diane was busy doing emails - she did almost 20 that afternoon. We were very behind in our correspondence. Monday, I got up as usual to go download the weather pages but when I got to the office, Arnaldo, the dockmaster, said there was no power in the marina buildings. The docks got their power from a different source so the boat was still fine. Oh well, it will probably rain today. It was a pretty busy day for us. In the morning, while Diane made some phone calls, I fixed the faucet in the galley since it was very loose and cleaned out the fan for the refrigeration compressor. I then started going through the magazines again. I also flushed the watermaker again to make sure nothing started to grow inside the membrane. After lunch, we started straightening out the boat again, getting things off the settees and such. Steph came by for a little while and we just talked a bit before she left. They were considering hauling the boat now to get it re-painted (CMO was going to do it free since they paint was only a year old and turning brownish) and finishing the rails later. Not too much else. |