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Larry's LogSunday we continued our preparations to leave. Diane continued with the laundry using the borrowed washing machine and I put more things away- stuff that I missed or overlooked, although I finally found a place for the pump Thermos bottle that was out of the way. This was fairly large and we almost never used it but neither of us wated to get rid of it. I also did some work on the engine, flushing it with fresh water and then changing the zinc inside the heat exchanger. This is not a big deal except for the fact that I have to cut the zinc down to a size where it will fit inside the narrow diameter compartment. I used a hacksaw holding everything over the garbage bin. While putting up the laundry to dry, Diane discovered a bird had started making its nest in the radar support bracket - I had noticed some dried grass on the foredeck but didn't think much of it. I dislodged the nest (there were no eggs yet) and the bird was pretty pissed but he would have been even more if we had left with his family. I also checked the outside lights once it started getting dark; the running lights, tricolor, steaming and foredeck lights were OK but the anchor light didn't work - something I'll address tomorrow. It was now Monday, August 1. I had to move things around to get out the gear to go up the mast so I did some more rearranging of stowage. I managed to get a little more under the v berth by moving the bosun's seat, safety harness and stuff I use to go up the mast out of there - its better off in a more accessible place anyway. Diane, in the meantime, continued doing laundry. Before going up the mast, I checked the wiring in the electrical panel and the switch/breaker for the anchor light but that wasn't the problem so a trip up the mast was necessary. After eating lunch, I got everything ready and figured out a way to use the windlass to hoist me up the mast, using the spare jib halyard. In the past, we needed someone else to help winch me up since Diane just wasn't strong enough, even using the size 65 primary jib winch. I got everything out on deck and Diane helped me. Of course, since we hadn't done it this way before, we had some difficulties, particularly going down. On the way up, I cleaned off the foredeck light from some corrosion and then continued to the top. I got the masthead light off with no problem but couldn't figure out how to get at the bulb so I just put it in the bag I had brought up with me and came down. There were some problems coming down but we managed (I was stuck at the top for a few minutes). Once down, I used a little WD40 and a small screwdriver to loosen up the two parts of the masthead light and it finally unscrewed with no problem. The bulbs looked fine and there was no corrosion at all. I went below to test the anchor light with my meter and, sure enough, even though it looked OK, there was no continuity so I got out the spare bulb and then tested the light again. This time everything was good. I put the light back together and before going back up the mast, I told Diane I would stand on the second spreaders while she unwrapped the halyard off the windlass drum and used the mast winch (with 3 wraps around it) to lower me - that would prevent any more problems. So, I went up, replaced the light and came down - very simple. Tuesday morning, after doing the net and weather again (for the last time), I helped Diane with the laundry so she could return the borrowed machine. She'd finally finished with it - she must have done at least 12 small loads - and we returned it to Karen, just next to us on Nirvana. We had planned to go to Plaza Mayor but Alexis came by at 11 to clean the bottom and remove the plastic bag we had him put over the prop after we got back from AquaVi. We had asked that he come earlier but … It rained most of the afternoon so I didn't do much else. Wednesday we had a busy day - first we went to the fuel dock to get gasoline, filling the 4 large jerry jugs we have. Once I had the gas back at the boat, I mixed it all with outboard oil (its less combustible that way and I don't have to worry about mixing it later). By that time it was almost 1pm but we went to Plaza Mayor for lunch, taking Terry, from Twilight, with us. She went off shopping and we had lunch at MacDonalds (our last time for a few months). After lunch, we ran some errands and had ice cream at our favorite place (they had tiramisu flavor - excellent!). Then some grocery shopping and back to the boat. By then, it was almost 4 and as soon as we got back it started to rain again. Diane went to make some phone calls and I got on the Internet (it was working well again). I calculated (again) how far it was to Los Roques, direct - about 150 miles. We wanted to go there with no stops and I figured it would take a little over 24 hours, assuming we went between 5.5 and 6 knots, a good assumption since we should have a broad reach there and the current will also be with us. Thursday Diane went to do some more shopping and I went with Geoffrey to EPA - I wanted to get some more spare light bulbs and some lacquer thinner. I wound up getting more than I thought but it was stuff I could use. I checked the weather forecast several times and the forecast was saying that there was about 20 knots with seas 5 to 8 feet so we may wait to leave or maybe stay at one of the nearby islands before actually going to Los Roques. Diane doesn't do well in seas up to 8 feet. In the evening, we went up to eat at the marina restaurant and they showed a new movie called 'Sahara' - not bad. The next day, we made the decision to leave on Monday since the winds will be down to 10 to 15 knots and the seas 4 to 6 feet. We could leave earlier but Diane still gets seasick, especially after we've been in a marina so long so it's better to wait. I also still had things to do to get ready. I put some more little things away and then worked on changing the sink drains and hoses in the galley. That took most of the day since I had a really struggle to get the old hose off and then the new hose cut and installed. It needed to be done since one of the drains (it's a double sink) always leaked just a little since the hose was attached to a very smooth bore pipe that came down from the drain. Also, the drain was starting to fall apart (it was 20 years old) and the locking ring actually did fall apart once I tried to remove it. Fortunately, I had planned to do this at some point and had the 2 replacements, fittings and hose already. Of course, I had to empty the locker under the sink and remove the doors first. Once that was done, I could close the seacock and then empty the remaining water from the hoses. I had out my heat gun to soften the hose a little (just to make it pliable) and a hack saw to cut it evenly (a knife will cut the hose but its difficult to make the cut straight). I finally finished by about 4pm - I had started at 9:30am. Saturday morning was the monthly swap meet in front of the mini-mart, so we went up right after the net. There wasn't much but I did find a spare bulb for the one I had used to replace the anchor light. A local guy was selling it and several other marine parts - the bulb was new so I'm not sure where it came from but I think he was from the now defunct marine store in the marina complex. It was a good find although I don't think I will need it anytime soon. Geoffrey also gave me a nice fishing lure that he promised would catch a dorado - very nice. I told him if it performed, I would buy him a case of beer. When we got back to the boat, Diane did a last load of laundry in Karen's washing machine (onboard Nirvana) and I installed 2 sets of padeyes in front of the shower stall. We always keep stuff in there (I don't remember when we used it last as a shower) so I put the padeyes on to make sure stuff wouldn't fall out, especially since I wanted to keep the scuba tanks in there. That afternoon, we both just did some work on the PC. I wanted to tune the rig but couldn't since Diane had me put up a clothes line for the laundry. She was planning to go to Plaza mayor tomorrow for the last time so I would do it then. Sunday we were very busy getting ready to leave tomorrow. In the morning, I got the big genoa out of the storage locker and put it below in the aft cabin. I then got the dinghy down so Diane could do the last of her shopping. When she left, I cleaned the foredeck, filled the starboard water tank and 2 jerry jugs, cleaned out the anchor locker and put some more stuff away. I then put the things that were in the forward cabin away in the aft cabin since we use the v berth to sleep in when we're without the air conditioner (it has the large hatch right over our heads). After Diane got back from her last shopping trip, and put the stuff below, we had a quick lunch. After eating, it was time to get the dinghy ready. While Diane finished putting the groceries away, I got the stuff out of the dinghy (oars, gas tank, etc.) and managed to get the engine on the stern rail myself. Then we hoisted the dinghy on deck, cleaned it and applied the 303 Protectant to the hypalon fabric. By the time that was all done, it was almost 5pm and I still hadn't taken down the awning or tuned the rig. There was also more stuff to put away and the boat was still dirty. So, we decided to put off leaving until Tuesday to finish everything; we were also very tired from all the work out in the sun. Monday we continued getting ready to leave (sounds monotonous, right?). I actually managed to throw some things out (always gratifying) and did some little things like tying the outboard so it won't swing around when the boat heels or rolls and sent messages to our US senators about opposing a bill to restrict access to NOAA/NWS weather products. The American public paid for the development and distribution of these vital pieces of weather information and now there was a bill proposing that this data be accessible only to third party, private weather companies, except under special conditions. In order to get weather information, all mariners (or anyone interested) would have to pay (again) to another weather data provider. It rained most of the afternoon but I got some things done - put more stuff away and tuned the rig. Later in the afternoon, we went to Aryil for dinner. Suzi had invited us for our last night in the marina and she had made potato pancakes, one of my favorites. Thanks Suzi. Tuesday we got up early and finished our preparations to leave. We had to be out by about 10am so that another boat could take our spot. They had to vacate their slip because it was rented to yet another boat. Well, it didn't rain last night so the awning was dry and that was the first thing we took down. After that, while Diane prepared the cabin, I got the air conditioner ready to be moved. Jan, from Vixen, helped me get it off the boat and into the room that the marina manager, Carlos, had said we could leave it. After the 2 major jobs were done, I still needed to remove the cable for the TV, the electrical cords, and finally, tie down the dinghy. Diane had filled the port water tank (I did the starboard one yesterday). She also went to take a shower while I put the cables and lines away. I then took a shower and we were set. So finally, after 8 months, we left Puerto La Cruz. Edgar, the assistant dockmaster, did a god job helping us get out and we were underway by 10:30. The wind was almost non-existent until we got almost half way to La Tortuga, about 30 miles out. The trip to Los Roques was 150 miles and I figured it would take us just about 24 hours, based on the pretty light winds. We had very light wind, and from the northwest and southwest until we passed Tortuga during the night. Then the wind clocked to the south and finally to the south-southeast. It also increased in strength to almost 18 knots by the time we actually reached Los Roques - the problem was that this was a run and the boat started rolling. Not too badly but things did manage to fly around inside the cabin. Otherwise the trip was pretty uneventful but we had needed to motor almost 18 hours of the 25 it took to get there. We entered Los Roques at Sebastopol, the southeast entrance, through the barrier reef at noon and were anchored in beautiful blue, turquoise water by 1:30. The new depth transducer worked fine and the only problem was that the anchor chain got stuck in the chainpipe of the windlass, requiring me to go below and clear it from underneath, looking upside down in the chain locker using a screwdriver to remove the jam. Luckily, that only took a few minutes and we were soon enjoying a nice breeze in clear water. The only things we did before relaxing was put up the sun canvas, eat, put the mainsail cover on and I raised the dinghy off the deck so we could get some breeze below. Thursday was our first day back at anchor was a nice one - in the morning we sailed under jib alone to an island we had been to before, Crasqui. We went a slightly different way though and that at least, made it more interesting. The new depth sounder was working well although I still had to adjust the keel offset. We made it to the new anchorage around noon and found about 10 boats there, but all seemed to be gathered on one area, so we just went a little further down the beach and were pretty much by ourselves. After lunch, we launched the dinghy and then Diane rested below while I started a new book. It was another about the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars - not as good as Patrick O'Brian but not bad. We didn't do much else besides go for a swim - the first time in about 8 months we had been in the water! Friday we woke up late - still tired from the trip here I suppose. It was a slow day although in the morning, we launched the dinghy and got the dinghy engine on and setup the little boat to use. I also used the 303 Protectant on the plastic parts of the dinghy oars and the remaining clear isinglass part of the dodger. I also finally put some 'correct' grease on the zippers to the bimini side curtains and the dodger pieces - hopefully they will work easier now. After a mostly lazy afternoon, we took the dinghy to shore and walked around a bit, up and down the beach. There were about 12 boats near Crasqui, mostly large powerboats and local sailboats used for charter, although there were some cruisers. We did see an interesting shore bird, an American Oystercatcher. We had never seen one before down here, although I had seen them in the States. Our Venezuela bird book says they winter along the coast of South America. After our walk, we had time for a swim and then back to Destiny for happy hour… After listening to the security net the next morning, we moved to a nearby island, Sarqui. Crasqui was nice but there is no snorkeling there and although the beach is very nice, we wanted to get back in the water and see some fish. It only took about 90 minutes to get to Sarqui and it was also a bit crowded but we managed to get between a large powerboat and a local charter sailboat. After relaxing a bit and lunch, we went snorkeling, for the first time in over 8 months, to the spot we went last year; we brought the dinghy to a small beach on the south part of the island and snorkeled to the south east part of the reef. It was pretty good although we didn't see any Midnight Parrotfish, as we had seen in past years. We didn't snorkel for very long - we hadn't used those muscles in quite a while and we were pretty tired after just an hour. We came back and we just read and relaxed some more. A tough life... |