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Larry's LogThe next morning, Diane went to the fresh food market early to buy some shrimp - she was told they were really big and very fresh but a little more expensive than usual - 20,000Bs per kilo or about $3.35 per pound. (She calls the woman who sells them beforehand to make sure she has them.) In the meantime, I was busy still getting the boat ready. In the morning, I worked on a different way to support the solar panel on the port side since I used the toe rail padeye for the new way to run the furling line with a larger block at the bow. I finally moved the panel back a foot and attached a clamp-on bimini mount to the bottom of the stanchion and then modified the brace to be able put a pin through the end of it and the new mount. Once that was done, I removed the bolt holding the rudder shaft support that was showing some rust stains. It came out with some 'tapping' but looked fine once it was out. I cleaned up the rust stained area with some FSR and scrubbed the gelcoat with a toothbrush and then a scrubby pad. The stain finally disappeared and so I cleaned the area again with plain water and let it dry. Using some polysulphide, I rebedded the bolt, letting the caulk set before tightening it completely. As I finished, Diane came back and the shrimp and they were really very large. A little later in the morning, a local we hired came over to clean the hull - he did the waterline, throughhulls and also the lines that held us to the mooring buoys aft. While Diane was busy cleaning the shrimp, I went on a mission around PLC and Lecheria (the other town near here) trying to find a replacement cap for the gasoline jerry jug I bought here last year. Diane had called a cab for me earlier and although the driver didn't speak English, I managed to be understood. He helped a lot and we went to about 6 different stores, finally going to the place I bought it initially, Auto-Boat Center. They still had the same type of jugs but didn't sell the caps separately. We ultimately went to EPA where I was going to buy a new jerry jug but Carlos, the driver, saw some tubing and caps that had the same threads as my cap. So, I got that, paying almost nothing for it. Thursday was a lot of fun as we went on a tour of the Polar Beer plant here in PLC. We've been waiting for this to happen since January, as Carlos, from Charlie Alpha, had been promising to organize it since December. Interestingly, it was Roberto, who owned the marina restaurant that organized this tour. Diane had heard the announcement yesterday on the radio and ran up to the restaurant to sign up. About 13 cruisers left at 8am and after some initial confusion as to where the factory was, we arrived and had a very good time. We really got close to the various vats and such and also the machinery in the bottling plant - the manager showed us how the equipment rejects partially filled bottles or cases that don't have the full number of bottles. I was amazed at the degree of automation. Everything was very modern and clean. After the tour, we went to the visitors' area and, of course, had free beer. We were told before coming that we would be able to have lunch and visit the gift shop but the brew master, who spoke excellent English, said that they weren't informed we were coming until early that morning and so they didn't have any lunch for us and the girl who runs the gift shop was in Caracas. They did give us each a very nice hat though and of course we had all the beer we wanted but without eating, Diane and I didn't want to drink too much. It started to rain about 12:30 so we just stayed and the group of cruisers had a good time with the general manager and brew master from the Polar factory. We finally left about 2 and when we finally got back to the boat, we ate a quick lunch and just relaxed the rest of the day. We even got to see some of the Olympics broadcast on a Venezuelan channel. That evening I finally got a chance to work on the web site - I really want to update it soon. Friday morning was a busy one for both of us. While Diane went shopping (naturally), I equalized the batteries, changed the sink and watermaker filters, and finally did a freshwater flush on the watermaker. I also organized the storage in the forward head - I was pretty pleased, I had a fair amount of room since I re-organized it. The afternoon was very similar. After we went to pick up the laundry, Diane went shopping (at Plaza Mayor this time) while I organized the deck. After I filled the water tanks, I put the removable inner forestay on in a different way so it wouldn't be in the way and also put the spinnaker halyard and spare jib halyard in their proper spot. Once that was done and it started to rain, I worked on the web site again. The next day was another busy one getting ready to leave here, hopefully on Monday. The morning was occupied with some small things and late in the morning I went to get some fishing line and more outboard oil. After coming back, Diane and I got the dinghy up. (Now we were serious!) We had done this drill many times but we hadn't done it in awhile - still there were no problems. First the engine went on the stern rail; I got everything else off like the oars, security cable, gas tank, etc. and then we hoisted the dinghy on deck, washing the inside a little as it came alongside the deck. We washed it some more after it was on deck and then cleaned the bottom with a scrub pad and Simple Green from the oil and scum that had accumulated. That was tough since some of the stains were pretty bad - there had been periodic small oil spills during our stay and although we had raised the dinghy every night since we were here, there were still problems, just no marine growth. After finishing that, I tied down the remainder of the jerry jugs and put some more things away. By then it was time to get ready to go out to dinner with Suzie and David. We had made plans to go to a nice restaurant but we had to change them a bit since there was a big celebration over Chavez' victory in PLC, with the Governor of the state of Anzoategui (where we were) coming in to preside. So we went closer to home to an Italian place we had heard was good. The food was OK but we went to another bakery in the same mall for dessert, and that was excellent. We had a really nice time with them - its too bad they can't come to the islands with us. Sunday we continued getting ready to leave, but decided in the afternoon that we weren't quite ready for tomorrow so we'll leave on Tuesday, assuming the weather cooperates. Diane was busy doing a load of hand laundry and I tuned the rigging and put away more things that were in the cockpit. By the end of the morning, the lifelines were full of clothes but the cockpit was almost empty. Suzie came by around 3 and gave me a haircut again - I was surprised how fast it grew, what little I have left. We then went back on the boat and Diane and she talked about some recipes and we all talked about some things concerning Los Roques and Las Aves. They planned to go there eventually and we gave her, and David when he came by at 5, some hints and such about where we had been. Monday was another very busy day getting ready - the morning was again busy with putting things away and organizing storage, its amazing how much stuff just gets 'spread out'. I also put some more things into the storage room. The weather wasn't getting better but still wasn't too bad so I think we'll be OK to leave tomorrow. We're planning to go to Chimana Segunda for the first night - its very close so we don't have to leave very early and we'll have time to take down the awning, put the a/c into the storage room and take showers before we leave. After the 5-mile trip to Chimana Segunda tomorrow, we'll try to make Cubagua on Wednesday, about 45 miles away, but maybe go all the way to Porlamar if possible. The afternoon was fully occupied with washing the cockpit cushions and the boat itself. It was amazing how dirty the cushions were considering they were under the awning the entire time. The boat was equally dirty but at least I could expect that. Suzie and David came by around 4 and David brought me in their dinghy to our stern lines that were in the water so I could clean them again from the growth. The guy who did the waterline a few days ago had cleaned them also but they were already getting bad. After they left, I finished washing down the boat and finally got a shower around 6. Diane had been busy as well but below, where it was cool. Oh well, at least she went to grill our hamburgers at the potluck in the evening. Tuesday, August 24 and we finally left PLC today! It had been over 7 months. In the morning, I took down the awning and folded it with Diane's help, got the air conditioner off the boat with the help of another cruiser, washed down the boat a little where the a/c was, tied down the dinghy and put some more stuff away. I also used the wireless Internet for the last time, checking email and downloading some financial statements. Then we took a final unlimited water shower. Diane order pizza from Dominoes for lunch and got the free medium one so we would have something easy for dinner. She also went to the marina office and got a letter stating when we left since we had some prepaid days still on the books. We could use them when we got back, sometime on December. Of course, it started to rain a little but fortunately, it stopped around 4 and that's when we left. Edgar, the assistant dockmaster, got our stern lines and another cruiser got our bowlines. We left a little after 4pm. We were going to stop at Chimana Segunda, in a little bay called El Faro but when we got out there, it was so pleasant that I suggested we continue and Diane thought about it and agreed. So I plotted a course directly to Margarita. The autopilot seemed to be working fine so that was a good sign. We had a fairly easy trip, considering we were going east against the wind and current. At one point though, the boat was pitching very violently in the short 3 to 4 foot chop that built up just before the Araya Peninsula, and I later saw that the dinghy had shifted but had no damage. I had been running the engine at 2000 RPM, but we slowed down to 2 knots so we eventually picked it up to 2250 and we maintained at least 3.5 knots the rest of the way. Actually, it calmed down considerably after we got past the western tip of the Araya Peninsula and we picked up enough speed to make it into Porlamar at about 9:30. Anchoring in Porlamar was the first time using the new windlass, and except for the fact that the chain was twisted and there wasn't much space to step inside the anchor well anymore, it worked fine, at least in the down direction. It will take some getting used to but I think it's a good machine. We anchored near our good friends Tom and Steph on Mima and Steph came over as soon as the anchor was down to welcome us. Tom was still running their generator but they both came over 15 minutes later. It was great to see them again. They stayed for a couple of hours and then went back so we could get some rest. We had been up for 28 hours and underway for almost 18. After resting a little, we invited Tom, Steph and Judy, from Survival, over for dinner. We had a very good time seeing them all again. Judy had made an Italian dessert like a flattened ice cream cone, only very delicate. They were excellent. Thursday we got up pretty late since we were so tired from the trip yesterday. It was also very hot sleeping in the aft cabin since there's only a small hatch and opening port so we'll have to move the things from the v berth into the aft cabin so we an sleep there again. First on the agenda this morning though was getting the dinghy launched. After that was done, Diane went with Steph to a store and I went over to Mima to visit with Tom. It was the first day in a long time that I just (mostly) relaxed and it felt good, especially seeing Tom again. We talked about lots of things, politics, both in the US and here in Venezuela, and lots of others. We both enjoyed it. When Diane and Steph got back, I went back to Destiny and moved the stuff from the forward cabin to the aft one so we could sleep under the big hatch there. We asked Tom and Steph if they wanted to go to Jak's Restaurant (the local cruiser hangout here and pretty good food) for dinner. They passed so we went in around 5 after a shower and enjoyed the fried calamari (my favorite there) very much, although the French fries were just fried, sliced potatoes. Diane likes the 'traditional' type. We saw some other people we knew, said hello briefly, and then headed back to the boat. We stopped at Mima just to say hi but they invited us on board so we stayed for an hour or so. We were both glad we came to Margarita. It rained a little during the night, forcing us to get up to close the hatches; at least it washed off more of the salt from the passage here. Sleeping in the forward cabin was much better though with the large hatch right over us to let in the breeze. I went over to Mima in the morning while Diane stayed aboard. I brought my SWR meter to help Tom figure out what was wrong with his VHF radio since they were unable to get any appreciable distance from it. We worked on it for several hours, taking several breaks but even after changing the cable we thought 'might' be bad, it didn't help. It was a real puzzle. Tom had changed the connectors, doing a good job soldering them but it didn't help. The SWR meter still gave a reading of 5:1 with the cable that was there, but when we bypassed it and took a long jumper from radio to the mast connection, read 1.2:1, a good reading. About 4, we just quit for the day and had a drink before dinner - Steph brought Diane and Judy over and we had dinner aboard Mima. Judy made some Italian wedding cookies that were outstanding. |