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Larry's LogThe next day was also busy - in the morning I went with Denny to downtown PLC and he showed me some interesting stores with lots of different stuff; stores that specialized in plastic bags and related items (more interesting than you might think) and the like. We had lunch and I finally got to go into the Arabic bakery nearby - excellent desserts and I brought some back for Diane. Back at the marina, Denny went back to Maremares and I put up the new sheets of closed cell foam I got to direct the cool air from the a/c down into the boat. The old stuff was falling apart. It worked very well and it seemed like the boat got much cooler using it. That evening we went to the Maremares weekly party which was nice but it rained while we were there so although we didn't get rained on, we got 'damp' from sitting in the dinghy coming back. Diane made some phone calls the next morning to try to make arrangements to get some things shipped into Venezuela. We needed to haul the boat and had to buy bottom paint but it was very expensive here and not the type that was on the boat. We could get it shipped, and if we were going to do that, we would also get some other things we wanted, like the fabric protectant and some other small items. It seemed like my friend would be delayed in coming to visit so we wanted to make some other plans. We found out some things about the paint though. Diane spoke to the Carolyn and Rick on Windborne III and they had been in the same position we are in now - using exactly the same type of antifouling paint we have used. They used some paint recommended by Leo on Promesa (he had also spoken to us about it when we saw them in Bonaire) and were very happy with it so far. We'll have to look into it some more. That afternoon I tackled the autopilot and removed the hydraulic ram from the mount and the rudder shaft arm, took off the clamping bracket and tried using it just in my hand. It seemed to work fine and I didn't see any leaks. I cleaned it up and pushed the piston by hand and it seemed OK. Of course, there wasn't any load on it. I spoke to John on Nirvana (the boat is right next to us and he happened to be sitting in the cockpit) about it and he said that it was possible that a small piece of dirt caught in the seal, causing the leak. He suggested filling the reservoir and working out all the air bubbles and trying it again with some load on it. That sounded like the simplest thing and so I figured I would try it tomorrow. He also offered to come over and help with it - very nice. Friday, Diane and I went to Plaza Mayor early and walked to the lab to have my test done, which they finally did. We went to see the doctor but he wasn't there yet so we just made an appointment for Monday and walked back to Plaza Mayor where I looked up the antifouling paint that Windborne had mentioned on the Internet and it seemed to be OK, used by the US Navy and many other large vessels. I think it just hasn't been marketed to the yachting community. Anyway, we had lunch, did some shopping and went back to the boat. We saw Hernan, one of the owners from Orient Canvas as we came into the marina and called him over (it was often difficult to get him or his brother) and described some projects we wanted done; hatch covers and some repairs on the dinghy cover. He took measurements and said he would give us a price quote on Monday. Diane then went to make some phone calls again and contacted the representative in PLC about the bottom paint; he gave us a higher price than Leo or Carolyn had mentioned but it was still one-quarter of the price of the US brands. For the price of one gallon of, for example, Seahawk or Petit antifouling, we could get 4 gallons of Ameron (not Imron which is different) and put on 2 full coats of paint that should last at least 12 to 16 months. We hadn't painted the bottom since we were in Trinidad last so the boat was in dire need although the growth wasn't really too bad (the fish in Bonaire did their job well). Diane also called the computer place about the wireless cards they said they were getting - not in yet, try Tuesday… I spent the entire day Saturday working on the autopilot while Diane did some baking and PC work. I had already removed the arm so I took the pump off its mount so I could open the oil reservoir. I couldn't take everything out of the locker since the pump's electrical connections were in the locker just forward of that and I wanted to be able to use the pilot once it was bled and full (I also didn't want to remove everything from the starboard locker, including anchors, spare hose, lines, etc. to be able to get inside the locker and then reach the power control box for the autopilot). Fortunately, I could maneuver the pump and the arm enough to work on it. I dug out the hydraulic oil container from the bilge and used a large syringe as a funnel to make sure the cylinder, hoses and reservoir were full; luckily I had the manual that described the procedure. I bled the system once in the morning but could still hear some air bubbles going through the hose when I moved the piston back and forth by hand. That was a good point to stop though and eat but after lunch I figured a way to hold the pump even higher and get the arm lower to allow the remaining air to rise into the reservoir easily and therefore leave the system. It wasn't easy to move the piston back and forth through it full range to get the air out since I had to reach down into the locker while on my knees in the cockpit. Well, I finally got almost all the air out and since the piston moved very smoothly as stated in the manual and I figured that was good. I then hooked everything up temporarily and tried using the pilot - it seemed to work. I applied the wheel brake a bit to simulate some water resistance and the pilot moved the rudder with no problem and I didn't see any leaks. It looked OK and although I needed to really test it underway, I took it apart again to grease the moving parts. By the time I finished that, it was 4pm so I just moved the tools inside and closed the locker so it wouldn't get wet if it rained. I took a shower and just tried to get my legs and back to stop aching for the rest of the evening. Diane worked on the PC Sunday morning and I finished up on the autopilot, putting back the wire ties and holders on the hoses and wires I had to remove to work on it. I also put some of the stuff back in the lazarette to get the clutter out of the cockpit. Diane went to play dominoes at 1 and I worked on the PC a bit. Later that afternoon, we went to see Roland and Lorraine on Pisces III. They had invited us over for drinks and we had a very nice time with them. We talked about our trip back from Bonaire and lots of other things - interestingly, we had several common friends even though they had only been cruising for about 6 months. The next morning we went to Makro, the large warehouse store. We split a taxi with some other cruisers and stayed for a few hours, buying some things but not really too much. I went looking for some 'hardware' type items but didn't find anything. We got back to the boat around 11:30 and while Diane made some phone calls, I just relaxed before we went for my doctor's visit. We picked up the test results and went to the doctor. Based on the new results though, he recommended doing another test, a biopsy, suggesting we do it tomorrow. I wasn't happy about it since the procedure was a little invasive but I trusted his judgment and suppose it's necessary. He gave me some prescriptions to fill, which we did and then went back to the boat. I did the net again the next morning and afterward spoke to Cliff on Skylark (who had just come back from Canada) about doing the daily weather report for the first half of the week. Since Bob on Pipe Dream had left, Roger (on Infinity) was doing it every day. Cliff agreed to do the first half of the week. Diane was busy in the morning making phone calls and running errands around the marina but I just relaxed until we left for the doctor's office that afternoon. We got there about 3, as he had suggested but there was another patient scheduled for something at 3 so we waited until a little after 4. We saw the 2 other doctors arrive, an assistant (an MD also however) and an anesthesiologist. The procedure was relatively quick and even though I had anesthesia, was uncomfortable. We left the office about 5:30 and got back to the boat and fortunately I was able to get on with no problem. David from Sylvester had offered to let me stay on his boat, tied side-to and therefore easier to board (thanks again David) but I managed. The next day, Diane ran some errands and made phone calls but I really just relaxed. The only time I even got off the boat was to take a shower. Thursday, Diane was pretty busy with phone calls and errands again and she also worked on the cockpit, washing it and then starting to wax it. I still wasn't feeling too well so I just relaxed, watched TV and worked out an order for West Marine that we were thinking about doing and having shipped in. We didn't do much in the next morning except Diane went to get my lab results in downtown PLC. We then went to the doctor (via dinghy to Plaza Mayor and then walked) around 3 and he put me on some different medication and said to come back in 3 months. Since the results were pretty good, we went out to dinner, getting back to the boat about 7. While Diane made some more phone calls the next morning and arranged to see Giulio next week, I looked at the hot water heater. It stopped heating the water with the immersion heater using shore power. Everything seemed OK except for some corrosion around what appeared to be the poles for the heating element. I cleaned those off, checked the power supply and then tried it again. It still didn't work so I'll have to contact the manufacturer. Later in the evening, David, now by himself on Sylvester since Terri was visiting the States, came over for dinner. Diane made a nice dinner and a homemade cake so we had a good meal and a nice time. Diane went to play dominoes on Sunday and I wasn't feeling too well again so I just stayed on the boat. I did, though, complete the list of things we wanted to order from the States from West Marine - some spare parts and stuff we just can't get or is too expensive here. For the next few days, Diane ran some more errands and did some shopping, but I was still feeling the effects of the procedure and mostly relaxed and worked on the West Marine order. We also postponed our trip to Caracas since I wasn't feeling 100% yet. Finally, on Friday I borrowed the wireless network adaptor from Key Lara, who was next to us and the adaptor worked fine - it was the slightly older model of the one I had. They let me use it that afternoon and night so I got to download the things I had been planning and even 'surfed' a little. Jim tried to use my card on his machine (once I got it back from Jacobite) but had mixed results so I'm not sure he'll want to swap cards. I had asked if he would do that if my card worked on his machine and he said he would try it. I gave the adaptor back Saturday morning while Diane went to the market again. I really haven't done much of anything except watch TV and do some things on the PC for quite a few days. I got some responses from the US distributor for the water heater and he gave me some things to try to test the heating element but I think I will need to replace it. That afternoon I went over to Key Lara and helped him with setting up the control function from Airmail to his radio. He had used Sailmail before but couldn't get the remote function to work. I didn't have too much luck either but I think its something simple that we're just overlooking. Sunday was just relaxing - Diane played dominoes and I didn't do much. I borrowed Geoffrey's wireless card on Monday but it was the same one that I had tried when the LAN was first introduced last year and, of course, wouldn't work. Diane had gone shopping and suggested that I try it in the old computer but when I tried it, the computer stopped working altogether when I loaded the CD to install the card drivers - I hate computers. After I did the net Tuesday morning, Jack, from Stormbird, called and said he had the wireless adaptor for me that he had bought in the UK. I was thrilled to hear he had gotten it (I emailed him while he was there) and he brought it over while he was walking his dog. I installed it immediately and it seemed to work fine but I couldn't find the marina's internet server to register the card which meant I still couldn't access the internet. I tried most of the morning and finally went to the marina office and confirmed that their server was down. The only way to register was by using the server so I had to wait (again) until it was running. After lunch, Diane went up to make some phone calls and stopped in the office and the server was back up so I registered and she paid the fee for the month's usage and I finally had access to the Internet from the boat! Needless to say, that's all I did the rest of the afternoon. Diane and I had talked about buying a new computer so I did a lot of research on that and also looked at the various airline schedules for my friend Heidi who said she wanted to come and visit. |