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Larry's LogIt was July 01, and it rained almost all day, unusual even for the rainy season, so we couldn't do much. Diane and I both worked on the computer. It let up for only about 15 minutes and I took advantage of that to fill the water tanks. Not very exciting. Since the next morning was the first Saturday of the month, we went to the monthly mini-mart boat 'jumble', as the Brits call it and met Reid, from Lorelei there. He and I discussed his job on a Navy (actually, Military Sealift Command) research ship, which is 4 months on and 4 months off. He got licensed as a Radio Officer and we talked about what that entailed and how I might also get similarly trained and licensed. Since Diane was talking about going back to work for a few years before heading out again, I thought this might be a more interesting way to make some money and still spend some time on the boat. Reed said he would send me some Internet sites via email to do some more research. In the afternoon, I started working on installing the new depth sounder again. I had picked the location, under the cabin sole in the companionway, and now I needed to prepare the area so I got out some scrapers and sandpaper and went to work. I had to measure the angle of the hull (called the deadrise angle) in that location so the transducer head would be parallel to the water's surface. The angle wasn't much but I got out my bubble level and small T square. I got all the length measurements and realized that what I was measuring was a right triangle but couldn't remember the formula to get the angle based on the length of the sides. So I got on the web again and searched for a 'right triangle calculator' and sure enough, I found one and got an angle of 4 degrees. The Internet certainly has its uses. The next day we didn't do much - Diane sprayed the canvas again since the fabric guard didn't seem to be working yet and then played dominoes in the afternoon. I did some more preparation work on the depth sounder and the area for the transducer was ready. Mostly I worked on the web site though. Monday and Happy 4th of July! Diane sprayed the fabric guard on the sun canvas again this morning and then went shopping. I waited until she left and then got everything out to attach the bracket/holder for the depth transducer to the hull. I cleaned everything with alcohol, put the guide line back on and then opened the tube of caulk I had, called Lifeseal. This was one of the types recommended in the instructions. The tube was pretty old and the stuff inside was OK but starting to get a little hard. I decided to open a new tube of 3M 4200, which is the other brand and type mentioned, only to find that it had solidified completely. I checked another tube I had of 4200 and found the same thing - I was pissed. These were not brand new but still unopened and probably cost $8-9 when I bought them about a year ago in the States. I decided to use the old Lifeseal and hopefully that will be OK. It seemed to stick fine so I'll see what happens when it cures. Diane came back after lunch and after helping bring in the groceries, I continued working on the web site. In the evening, the marina restaurant was offering "real American" hotdogs and hamburgers, along with all the beer you wanted, in honor of the 4th of July. I didn't think they would really be "American" but it seems that another cruiser had instructed them on what they should be like, and Diane convinced me to go. There were over 120 people there and, sure enough, the food was better than I thought it would be - real baked beans and potato salad and corn on the cob (although it wasn't 'sweet corn'), along with a hamburger or hotdog. Maria Elena, one of the restaurant owners and the chef, had also made a beautiful sheet cake decorated as an American flag - very pretty. Anyway, we sat with Suzie and David and had a very nice time. After the food was done, we waited for the violin player to arrive. I wasn't sure I really wanted to wait but he finally got there a little after 9pm and had a guitarist as accompaniment. He had played at the restaurant before and a lot of people had raved how good he was, and he certainly was! He was pretty young but played first violin in the State of Anzoategui (the state that PLC is in) Symphony. There were some classical selections by Vivaldi but mostly he and the guitarist (who was also excellent) played modern pieces and some well known songs by Venezuelan composers. We stayed listening until almost 11, and I could have stayed longer but Diane was getting tired. It wasn't fireworks but we enjoyed it. For the next few days, I mostly worked on the web site, getting all my logs done as well as about 50 more pictures ready. I had tested the caulk on the transducer mount the next day but it wasn't cured yet so I let it sit a few more days - I hope I don't have to scrape it off and start with different stuff; I wasn't sure how long Lifeseal normally takes to cure since I haven't used it much and I tossed the empty tube without reading it. I'll just wait 5-6 days before any drastic action. Diane started to buy provisions for leaving soon so she went through some lockers and inventoried them as well as finding a few cans (not many) that needed to be thrown out. The next Monday, I did the local net after Kayla asked me to do it for her and then after breakfast, I helped Jack on Mystic Adventure by giving him a piece of the plywood I had in the storage room. We brought it to the dock, he cut a piece and then we brought it back to storage. We also continued getting ready to leave by getting fuel; of course, there is a lot more to do. The boat's fuel tank was about half full so after getting the dinghy ready, we went to Amerigo Vespuccio Marina to get the ticket we needed to buy diesel. Buying gasoline didn't require one but for some reason, diesel did. Anyway, we filled the four 27-liter jugs and used those to fill the tank. We ate and then went back to get some more fuel. I emptied another 2 jerry jugs into the tank and then went to refill those at the fuel dock. It took almost all day to get the fuel and fill the tank. The following day, another hurricane was threatening but fortunately for us, passed well north and we didn't get anything but a little rain. I spent most of Wednesday tying things down in preparation but better to be prepared for nothing than unprepared for something. Anyway, Diane was sick so we didn't do much although I did manage to put some more things away and put on some heavy plastic sheets over the coaming boxes to prevent rain from getting in. Rainwater would get in and since the coaming drain was inboard, the boxes didn't drain well and water would just sit. Thursday we waited but nothing every came- we also heard from Mima - they ran south to Chichiriviche from Las Aves and were very safe. They planned to go to Bonaire as soon as the storm passed. Saturday, I cleaned out and inventoried the locker under the port settee and then put everything away. Sunday was much the same except I did the locker under nav seat. Diane went to dominoes and I continued installing the transducer, running the wire up to the aft cabin locker. Monday I went to store with Geoffrey to try to find a small clam shell vent to use with the transducer wire I planned to bring up through the cabin top near the companionway, but the stores didn't have one that was small enough. When I got back, I cleaned out air conditioner - it was really bad, and the insides were full of brown dust (which is everywhere) and mold from the condensation inside the unit. The next day we didn't do much in the morning since it rained most of the day but finally stopped in the evening. I wasn't going to go but Diane convinced me to go to the trivia night. We sat with people we knew from Panda, Michael and Edie, and the people who were going to sublet our slip, from Liberty. We called our team 'Damn Yankees' since Diane and I were from New York and so were Michael and Edie. We also wanted to make sure the 'Texan' team knew who we were. The night was fun and amazingly, our tem won by one question (some were pretty hard). Anyway, I think the Texan team were a bit surprised, and Diane and I were very happy. We collected our little trophy and proudly waved it around. I did the net unexpectedly Wednesday morning since nobody picked it up from Side by Side when they left. Later that morning, I finally finished the new depth sounder transducer installation. I drilled a hole through the deck and used a wire cap that Geoffrey on Panache had given to me. I just finished as it started to rain again. Thursday, I worked on the starboard cockpit locker - I was going to just put stuff in but as I was looking at the shelf under the deck, I noticed water and a small bottle of 2 cycle oil had leaked a bit. So I took everything out to find the leak and saw that it was pretty minor, just a fitting where the wire for the stern nav light goes through the deck - I can fix it with some silicone. While I had most things out though, I took everything out and inventoried it all and then put everything back in carefully. That took most of the day since it was a real chore to climb in and out of the locker. It rained throughout but just very lightly so nothing got wet under the awning. Diane had gone shopping again, trying to get ready to leave soon. The next day, while Diane went shopping again, I worked on clearing out the stern lazarette and then adjusted the autopilot. That required climbing in and out of that locker, much smaller than the others - something my knees don't appreciate. However, I hadn't done the adjustment since I had taken it apart to flush the hydraulic fluid from the arm and test it. Hopefully it will be OK. Once the autopilot was adjusted and seemed to be working, I restowed the lazarette and inventoried that as well. Things were moving along but I still had stuff to finish before we left. Since it has been raining every day, Saturday morning Diane started washing the sail cover in the morning and sprayed the cockpit cushions with the 303 waterproofing (we put those under the awning on top of the boom to dry). I worked on the web site again and also put some stuff away in the starboard locker that I had forgotten on Thursday. Finally, I caulked the through deck wire running to the stern light so the stuff under the deck wouldn't get wet again. Things were moving along. Finally, we put away some more important stuff in preparation for leaving - the beer and soda (it had been sitting on deck since Diane bought it a few days ago). Sunday was a slow day - Diane played dominoes and did some errands in the marina and I worked on the PC getting the web site ready to be updated. Monday morning though, Diane went shopping but did some more waterproofing on the sail cover before leaving - it needed it badly. I put some more things away and Geoffrey helped me try to remove the stanchions from the bases I had gotten from Mima - unfortunately it didn't work. I had 2 cracked stanchion bases on the port side that should be replaced but so far I can get any new ones. Tuesday was another day getting ready and putting things away. I inventoried some more storage spaces and of course, Diane went shopping again. The evening was very nice though - we went to dinner with Paul and Viviane from Autumn Wind at the marina restaurant and around 7:30 the violinist and guitarist came to perform again. They were really excellent again although we didn't stay too long. The next day I put up the dodger and also the sail cover that was now clean and waterproofed again. The waterproofing doesn't last very long but it does help keeping the fabric from just disintegrating from the sun. I also put away the last of the stuff we had kept in the storage room, except for the large genoa and the piece of plywood left over from making the windlass mounting pad. Thursday was a busy day for us. Diane kept busy cleaning the boat and making some phone calls and I made a board to replace the one we used now to keep the cool air inside the boat. It was a little short so I made another (it took most of the morning) but it didn't quite cover everything - but it will be good enough once I put some foam on the edges and side that touches the companionway. I was doing that when Suzi came over to cut my hair again - it wasn't very long but they were leaving on a trip for a few days and we might be gone by the time they came back. Afterward, I was back to my almost skinhead look. After Suzi finished, I finished the board and brought everything back to the boat (I had cut the wood near the barbeque area to keep sawdust off the boat). Once that was done, it was time for lunch. After eating, I went over to return some CDs to David on Aryil and saw Mike from Wombat of Sydney. He was going to call me about playing a game of chess; he had played Paul and beaten him and Paul suggested he and I play. Mike had said he was going shopping in the morning but would call later; but I saw him as I was walking back from Aryil. He invited me on board for a game so we played one. We were pretty evenly matched and the game came down to me with a pawn and knight and him with a knight. It seemed like it would take a long time for anything so we agreed to a draw, but we both enjoyed it. By that time, it was after 5 so I went for a shower and just relaxed in the evening. Friday, Diane went shopping in the morning and I worked on the PC and did some more stuff to get ready to leave. In the afternoon, I finished the web site update but couldn't upload it because the access to the internet was down. In the evening, we went to a party for Karen who owned the minimart here at the marina. She had owned it 3 years and sold it to a friend, Anne, because she was going cruising with John from Nirvana, a very nice guy. We went over and it started to rain but stopped before we had to cancel it and everyone had a good time - Karen seemed very touched by it. The next day was busy for both of us. Karen loaned us a small washing machine and Diane spent most of the day doing laundry (she didn't like the way the laundry here did the clothes). I finally finished updating the web site and then started to clean out the shower stall. After I finished cleaning it, I realized that the space there was wasted since we never use the stall to take showers (it's always full of stuff just thrown in) so I got out 2 padeyes and attached them to the sides of the shower above the seat and stretched a bungee cord across. I then put one of the collapsible plastic crates we have on the seat. The bungee will hold the crate on the seat (hopefully) and we can now put things inside the crate. I also put some more stuff away - it's just amazing how much time it takes to stow things and how many things wind up out of place just by being here. |