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Larry's LogI worked on the new computer specifications most of the next day, determining what I wanted and how much we would have to pay. Diane was busy making calls (we would be able to use the computer to make internet calls soon but not quite yet) and also coordinating the purchase of the paint we wanted to buy to paint the bottom. This turned out to be a little problematic but we got it worked out - it seemed that one of the local chandleries became a dealer for the paint after we made the deal with the company's local representative. It took some haggling but we managed to get the price we spoke about (without the bulk discount for getting 6 boxes) and the paint would be delivered to the marina. Later, we went to a little party that Bob and Norma were giving since their boat, Happy Ours, was on the hard and they had rented an apartment in the marina complex for the week - it was the 'penthouse' and although the rooms were small the balcony was large and the view terrific. After we got back from the party, I got online and ordered the new computer; the Internet is a wonderful thing. Thursday, Diane went into town to pay for the paint order and she also got some nice pastries from an Arabic bakery (very similar to Greek and Turkish ones). We didn't do much else that day. We went to Plaza Mayor the next morning to get some things like a headset to use with our new Internet phone and I also had a lucky find of an USB extension cable. We had lunch there and then came back to the marina. Once back, I hooked up this cable and moved the wireless antenna around (now that there was sufficient length) and managed to find a spot where the signal was somewhat stronger. We made some calls in the evening and it seemed to be OK - the quality was fine but the signal would decrease sometimes and that made you think that the person on the other end had been lost. So far, the calls haven't been dropped at all so we're happy with it and the price is certainly right, free between computer users and 3 cents per minute for calls to any phone in the US. Saturday morning we went to the monthly swap meet and actually sold some things this time. There were lots of people but we didn't buy anything although I was tempted. Sunday, while Diane played dominoes I just 'played' on the computer, having fun surfing the web. Monday was also pretty easy. The next morning, I changed the charcoal filter for the fresh water flush and then flushed the watermaker. I hadn't pickled it since it was easier to just keep flushing it with fresh water. That afternoon, I put the tape around the handrails in preparation for applying another 2 coats of Cetol. It hadn't been renewed in a few years and I didn't want to have to strip the wood and reapply everything, so I did it before there were any problems. Unfortunately, I found a small problem with one on the starboard side. There was a bubble in the film so I pulled off that small section to examine the wood underneath. There wasn't any darkening so it must have happened recently. I figures that I would just reapply some of the normal Cetol in that spot and then do 2 or 3 complete coats of the gloss. Wednesday was pretty slow except I went to the storage unit and got the acrylic fabric and Cetol out. In the afternoon, I helped Ron, on Jacobite, setup his new internet card, which had been mine. That was pretty easy and then we had dinner with David in the evening. He was still by himself on Sylvester, since Terri was still in the States. On Thursday, I sanded the handrails to give the next coat of Cetol a better grip and sanded the problem spot a little more. The next time I do handrails, I think I'll use real varnish - its more abrasion resistant and if you cover it (like we do with the handrails) it will last at least as long as Cetol. Cetol is easier to apply but doesn't look as good and doing varnish once a year isn't really too bad. The next morning, I finally put a coat of Cetol on the bare wood where the problem was and a coat of clear gloss on the aft handrail on the starboard side. The sun was out and it was too hot to do the port side. In the afternoon, I workd on the web site and then we had dinner at the marina restaurant that evening. Early Saturday, I did the port side handrails with a coat of Cetol gloss and put another coat on the problem spot on the starboard forward handrail. After lunch, I went to Sylvester to see some products that David had gotten together as 'pirate repellent', a cattle fence, stun gun and pepper spray. He didn't demonstrate the pepper spray but it was meant to repel bears so it was stronger than the 'normal' stuff. The cattle fence was a nice idea but required some careful wiring and the stun gun would work but you would need to get close for it to be effective. I'm not sure what the best way to protect yourself is - locks will only work for a limited time and they are all susceptible to prolonged attack. We have just used locks and sometimes a motion detector when we're anchored in 'questionable' areas but I wonder what we would do if the alarm actually went off. Sunday, I put another coat of normal Cetol on the problem spot and then worked on the web site. The next morning, I did the weather on the net to cover for Cliff who went out sailing to the nearby islands for a week and then went to EPA to get some things and stopped at the Auto-Boat Center to get something for Aryil. I also picked up a rose for Diane since it was Valentine's Day. When I got back to the marina, some people joked that I was making them look bad since I had the rose in my hand. (But later, I saw the same guys walking with their wives who had roses also). Later, I put another coat of Cetol on the handrails but before I could finish, Orient Canvas came by to get the dinghy cover to do some repairs. I had to stop the handrails and take the cover off, which meant taking off the fenders, rope mats and untying the lines that held it all on. By that time, it was too hot to continue the rails so I stopped for the day. That evening, we went to dinner at the marina restaurant since they were having a Valentine's Day special and a band. The 'band' was a harpist and a guy playing the saxophone or the flute (he was much better on the flute). The restaurant was quite crowded and we had a good time. Tuesday morning I started to get the dinghy ready to hoist so we could put it on deck and clean it and put the protectant on it. Once the cover was off, we could see it needed it badly. While I did that, Diane made some calls to see if we could get to Caracas later in the week to see Giulio, pick up the new computer and renew my passport. The computer had been sent to Miami and the shipper I used to ship the windlass last year was sending it by plane to Caracas where his son would pick it up and then bring it to us. The only glitch was that hotel we had used before said they were full but to call back in the afternoon. I also found out that the picture I got to renew my passport was the wrong size - I just trimmed it and I hope that it will be OK. Wednesday we were very busy getting ready to leave for Caracas tomorrow. I got everything out that we needed and cleaned up on deck. In the morning, Diane went shopping and got the bus tickets for 7am tomorrow. Before she left, we flipped the dinghy around so I could clean the top half. I used the Simple Green first and then the Roll Off, which is a mild acid solution. Almost all the stains came off but there were some stubborn ones that were impossible. After that, I used the 303 Fabric Protectant on the dinghy fabric itself - its great stuff and is sunscreen for the fabric and also restores the plasticizers that keep the material pliable. I finished the dinghy and then the vinyl on the mainsail cover. In the afternoon, after Diane got back, we packed and I finished putting things away from on deck. I also showed David, from Sylvester, around the boat and how to record the TV shows that we watch (and record for him). Since the bus leaves at 7 am and we had to be ready by 6:15, we went to bed early. We got to the bus station early the next day and discovered that the bus had been cancelled; there was another at 11:30 but it would get to Caracas until 8pm. We found out that there was another bridge that failed on the road to Caracas and that was why there was a problem. We decided to cancel the trip for the weekend but now we had to figure out how to get my passport renewed. We didn't do much for the next few days except talk to Lawence, a single hander aboard Meander, about his trip to Merida and the side excursion he made with a group called Andes Tropicales. We looked at their web site and it seemed very interesting. We also had Bob and Norma over for dinner since they were leaving soon to head west and we might not see them again. I had an interesting experience on Monday - I fell through the dock. I had gone down the dock where Destiny is to talk to another cruiser about bringing a part to Margarita for Suzi and David on Ariyl. I was just standing there and suddenly my left foot just broke through the board (a 1x4) it was on. My right foot was on another board and luckily I got myself out with no trouble. I wasn't walking or jumping, just standing there. My leg was a little scraped and cut but nothing serious. I went over to Arnaldo, the dockmaster, to report it and he said to also go to the marina office. I went there a little later after cleaning the bruises a little. Carlos, the marina manager was upset and apologized. He also said they would start replacing the boards (which they did, starting the next day). They replaced the broken one that afternoon. Wednesday morning I went with Geoffrey to help him pick up a dinghy near Plaza Mayor that he had repaired, a little Boston Whaler. We went first to the photo store at Plaza Mayor to get my new passport pictures and then to get the dinghy. After finding the dinghy and some discussion with the guy who was holding it, we discovered that the dinghy drain plug was missing so we had to go back to Plaza Mayor to buy a new one. We returned to find that it was the wrong size so went back to get the smaller one. Finally, we left with the Whaler in tow. We went about 50 yards when the knot Geoffrey tied let go. Luckily I saw it and we went back and I tied it (mine held but I told Geoffrey his secret was safe with me - well, maybe not). Anyway, we got back and had some beers at the restaurant and I went back to the boat for lunch. Diane and I had launched the dinghy earlier, before I left with Geoff, and now we finished putting the engine back on along with the rest of the equipment. I went to pay Barry, on Witchcraft, for the water filters he left with us and saw that one of the marina cats had its kittens on Thursday morning. The mother, named Cleopatra, and her five newborn kittens were living in a cardboard box near the guard shack by the East Gate. They must have been born that morning and they were so small and cute, but of course, we didn't pick them up (bad for the kittens for the first 2-3 weeks). We had decided that we would go to Caracas tomorrow night even though the long detour was still in effect so Diane went to get the bus tickets again and we just relaxed and made some phone calls the rest of the day. We were taking the midnight bus to get into the city early in the morning (the detour would take about 10 to 12 hours). We had already packed so there wasn't much to do except clean up the boat a little. Friday we just relaxed most of the day since the bus trip that night was not going to be very relaxing and I doubted if we would sleep much. The trip was long but not as bad as we expected - about 8.5 hours. The bus had to make stops along the road for traffic, and the road was in poor shape with lots of potholes (it hardly seemed paved in places) but we got to Caracas fine. The only problem was the cold inside the bus. The air conditioning was incredibly strong - during the day when it's hot outside, its manageable but at night, it became an icebox. We knew it would be cold but even with a jacket and sweatshirt, Diane was cold and my light jacket was definitely not enough. We got to the bus terminal in Caracas at 9am Saturday and we just walked the few blocks with our bags. Luckily, the hotel let us in the room even though it wasn't cleaned yet. We left our bags and went to have breakfast at the place nearby that we had been to before. Then we went back to the room and went to sleep for a few hours before calling Giulio. We went to Giulio's apartment around 7:30 and it was really nice to see him, Giancarla, Lucas and Samantha again. Giancarla came back with Lucas (their 3-year old) a little after we got there. Samantha was still going to college (she was from Giulio's prior marriage) and was really turning into a very pretty young lady. Of course, she went out later with her friends around 9:30, about the time Diane and I would usually be going to sleep. Anyway, we had a very nice time with them. Of course, I also briefly looked at my new computer that had been there for about a week. Giulio was nice enough to hold it for me when it came in since we couldn't get to Caracas earlier. Sunday we had breakfast in the same place as yesterday and then went to buy our return bus tickets. The trip back to PLC was uneventful although long. Monday and for the next few days, all I did was work (Diane would say 'play') on my new laptop. I set it up with all the software, got the various updates over the Internet and started making copies of DVDs on the new DVD burner. I also made backups of everything. The problem was that you couldn't find good quality blank DVDs and read/write DVDs were impossible to find. We also managed to sell our old Mariner 5hp outboard engine. Diane heard Tom, on Morning Light, announce that he wanted a used 5 horsepower engine and she went to talk to him. We hadn't used the engine in several years and it was just sitting on its mount on the stern. Although I had it serviced just after we bought the new Yamaha 15, and I had flushed it with fresh water when I put it up on the stern, I wasn't sure it even ran anymore. I told Tom to try it and if it didn't work we would either take it back or work out something else. Tom picked up the engine from the back of the boat and brought it over to his friends on Tween, a Dutch family with a small catamaran. They evidently knew engines pretty well and were going to help Tom with it. I later asked about the engine and it worked although there were some small problems. Tom was going to keep it but he was leaving for a little trip in about a day. He brought the engine back and said that somebody on Tween would pick it up, give me the money for it and then bring it to him in La Blanquilla. |