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Larry's LogFriday we had a meeting at the marina with the General Secretary of ONSA, a volunteer organization in Venezuela that tries to help with maritime security and search and rescue. They maintain a database of incidents and attempt to work with the authorities in improving the situation. That lasted all morning I picked up the new chainplate while Diane went to her doctor for a checkup. It had been polished nicely and was now (finally) ready to install. Later on, we went back to my doctor and got the redone test results. The values were better but still high and we both felt that the lab was wrong so the doctor said to repeat it in a week at a different lab but also gave me a prescription for an antibiotic. Back at the boat, we just relaxed. Saturday I finally installed the new chainplate but because the new plate was slightly wider, the cover plate no longer fit. I had to get out my Dremel tool and enlarge the opening until it fit. Sunday was a busy day for me. In the morning, while Diane worked on the finances, I put the headliner back in near the chainplate that I had put in the day before. I could now put the VHF cabinet back in and fasten the TV stand back down. That took all morning. After lunch, while Diane went to play dominoes, I rearranged the boat a bit and cleared out the v berth a bit so I could look at the area where I needed to mount the solenoid for the new windlass. It took a while to move things around but I examined the area finally and figured out where the unit was to go. I also needed to move the chain out of the chain locker so before the rain started, I got some 'Drideck' out and pieced together but couldn't get the chain out before it started to rain again. It had been raining almost all day so it was a good time to work inside. I had wanted to get another chainplate out but couldn't in the rain. Monday to Wednesday: I got another chainplate out and brought it over to the shop. Unfortunately, when I got back to check it on Wednesday, it still hadn't even been sent out to the other shop. At this rate, it will take months to get them all done. I also continued working on the windlass. I made up the wood pad for the bottom of the anchor well but had to do it in stages since my clamps would only fit up to 3 pieces at a time. So, I made it by gluing 3 one day and 2 the next. To put these together, I'll first drill the big holes for the chain pipe and wires and then glue them using some scuba weights to hold everything down. I managed to remove the cables from the anchor well and cut them down at the spot I was going to attach the solenoid. Unfortunately, I discovered that they were 2/0 cables not 1/0 as I had thought (there were no markings) and I didn't have any terminals for them. I tried getting some at the local chandleries but they didn't have any but I did get some at a large hardware store; they weren't 'marine grade' and the post hole was too large. The cable itself was very old, un-tinned and had fairly thick strands but had lasted pretty well so I figured that using automotive type lugs wouldn't hurt. I'm sure that the old ones were that type. Diane had also asked if I could finally glue the plastic wine glass back together so I did that and setup the water filter for filling the tanks - we had been carrying it for about 2 years now. Wednesday I was supposed to start doing the net in the morning but when I started, the local guy who was supposed to do it came in saying he was supposed to do it that morning. It was his 'day' but he hadn't done it in 2 weeks - he said they had 'technical difficulties' - so I just let him go ahead. He didn't speak English well but he finally got through it. Later, I spoke to Tony on Side-by-Side, the net controller on Tuesday, and he asked if I wanted his day since he was leaving Friday anyway. So I'll Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Thursday morning I went to get another blood test at a different lab - hopefully the results will be good - otherwise I may need a biopsy. While in that area though of town, I stopped at a nice marine store to look for some tinned battery cable, but there was none to be had. I may have to get regular un-tinned copper cable - that was used on the old windlass with no adverse effects since I was careful about the connections. I checked again with the yard about my chainplate but it still wasn't back - I am starting to get concerned. We went to the doctor again the next morning after getting the new lab results. Although the level was still a little elevated, he didn't feel I needed a biopsy at this time. He said I should have another test in 6 months to keep an eye on it. At least the medication I took was safe and helped all the symptoms. After the doctor, we went to the mall, got some things and went back to the boat. I worked on the windlass installation a little until it started to rain - which it was doing almost every afternoon. Saturday to Monday: The weekend was busy with the windlass. I got the wood pad together and sanded the edges, drilled the holes for the cables and got the anchor well ready to fill the old holes. The metal shop still hadn't gotten my chainplate back but I had plenty to do, although on Saturday I relaxed a lot of the day since it was raining and I couldn't work outside. Sunday, while Diane went to play dominoes again, I did some more work on the windlass installation and then figured out how to run the cables leading to the windlass - there were 3, a battery negative, a positive from the 'up' solenoid and the last from the 'down' solenoid. I had already put the terminals on the battery positive lead to the solenoids. The solenoid box was going under the v-berth, where it would stay dry but was still fairly close to the windlass. Early in the morning on Monday, I continued with the anchor well and filled the old holes with epoxy. I had to put in a backing board on the large holes where the washdown connector and old battery cables had been - I did that by splitting a small piece of ½ inch plywood in half so it was now just ¼ inch thick and putting stainless steel seizing wire through it where the hole centers would be when it was in back of them. I got the wood in place by attached the wires to some light line that I dropped down the holes from above. Diane lifted the line from the anchor well while I guided the wood into place from below in the chain locker and then held it until I came up. I used another small piece of wood to act as a fulcrum while I tightened the wires to hold the backing board in place. Once the epoxy dried, the wood could be glued to the fiberglass and I could cut the wires and epoxy over them so it wouldn't rust and stain the rest of the compartment. I also filled in the boltholes that held down the old windlass - they couldn't be used again. After lunch, I went to finish the epoxy but it started to rain lightly. Luckily it stopped after 30 minutes so I could finish the job. At least that part was done, so I went over to the yard but the chainplate was supposedly accidentally left in their car. I was told it would be back by 5 - we'll see. Tuesday to Thursday: Tuesday morning the chainplate still wasn't there. Maybe I had misunderstood before, but now Luis, the manager's son was there who spoke English and he said that they had gotten the chainplate but the holes were obviously wrong so they just sent it back. Very frustrating. I spent some time that morning trying to figure out a way to get the windlass to fit and still have the chain line up perfectly with the bow roller and the groove in the deck. I got some advice from other cruisers saying it would be OK but I decided to send an email to the manufacturer and ask them the question. I sanded the epoxy filling the old windlass holes and then relaxed. The next day I decided to buy the new cable I needed for the windlass. I asked one of the locals here who runs a travel and service business to call for me to make sure that the store I had found before still had the cable. The owner, who spoke excellent English, was busy so his assistant called first and said they didn't have it. I was concerned that maybe he hadn't asked correctly so I waited and finally Carlos, one of the owner's, helped me. Yes they did have it so I thanked him and took a cab over to the place. It was near where my doctor's office was. I got there, looked around a little and found the owner's son who spoke a little English. I asked for the cable and he called to their 'depot' to get it cut. I asked to see it first so we went over. It wasn't tinned but it was type 3, which is finely stranded, meaning that it's very flexible. I said OK (tinned cable is not made in Venezuela, at least not in the 1/0 size I needed). We walked back to the showroom and I found out that the cable I got was more expensive than originally thought. When I pointed this out, he showed me that there were 2 kinds of cable that they had. He had asked if it was for a boat and when I said yes, he gave me type 3 cable. There was also type 2 cable, meant for houses, which was not very flexible and would have been very difficult to work with, but of course, less expensive. I went to check on the chainplate in the afternoon and amazingly it was there. They had told me it would be ready by mid-day but Luis said they had brought it in the morning. Why someone didn't then walk it over to the boat, I don't know but at least I had it now and a preliminary check of the hole alignment seemed good so I was hopeful. They had also already polished it. I went back to the boat but didn't check it right away since it was about to rain again. When I got back with the chainplate, I decided to change the vang fitting since I thought it would rain later, and I would need a few hours to do the chainplate. When the vang was fixed before we left for the States, they couldn't get a new hydraulic fitting in stainless steel so they used a plain steel one. I brought back a stainless fitting (2 actually) so I proceeded to change it. That required moving the end of the boom out to the side of the boat, past the awning, so I could attach a halyard to the back to hold it up while I removed the vang. I got the vang off by pumping it down to have the halyard take the weight of the boom and sail and then removed the vang fitting on the mast and then the boom. I got the old fitting off with no problem and did notice that the threads where it was going into the vang had started to rust. I cleaned up the threads on the vang, put some heavy duty Teflon tape on the new fitting where it went into the vang and tightened it on. The hose went on without tape since that's a hydraulic connection (although I noticed a small o-ring built into the end). Dane helped me remount the vang (she pumped the vang back to the right size while I put the clevis pins back in). Thursday morning I checked the new chainplate and it did indeed fit well so I removed it to clean up the deck hole (I had forgotten to remove all the old caulk before). I got the old caulk out and used the Dremel tool to clean up some small imperfections but then saw that there was a large void in the epoxy on the side of the hole. I had removed the balsa core in those locations years before and filled the area with thickened epoxy but evidently, I had left a small air pocket on that one. It wouldn't have gotten wet and the rest of the deck core was protected but I didn't want to leave it that way so I drilled out the area and refilled it. Of course, that precluded finishing the chainplate that day but it seemed there was LOTS of time anyway. I still hadn't heard from the windlass people - I had written to another guy there since the one I originally contacted sent me a message that he was leaving and to contact a different person. The windlass was sitting in the anchor well on top of the wood pad, not fastened down in any way since I was unsure about the final location. The Bahia Redonda office had called saying the new wireless LAN cards were in. They had setup a wireless LAN so cruisers could access the Internet from their boats. When I tried the first card about a week ago, my laptop wouldn't recognize it. I went and got the new card and tried it. I finally got the card installed (although the machine didn't wanted to see this one either) but the signal where the boat is located was so weak I couldn't get connected. I even tried outside in the cockpit, but it was still too weak. Friday morning I finally got the second chainplate installed. The actual mounting takes only a couple of hours or so - it's just everything leading up to it that takes so much time. I tried the wireless Internet again after lunch - still no luck. I saw Carlos, the marina manager, who asked about it and I told him that the signal just wasn't strong enough where we are on the seawall. |