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Larry's LogSome days later, Benny from Tween, came by to pick up the 5 hp outboard we had sold to Tom. He and his father were going to replace the float pin in the carburetor so the engine would work correctly. They would also bring it to him when they went to La Blanquilla in a week or so. Well, one more thing off the boat - thank goodness. I really hadn't intended to even sell it but when Diane spoke to Tom about it and he said he wanted it - that made the decision for me. Benny gave me the money for it so that was it. Diane had wanted to go shopping that morning so I put the dinghy in the water but she never made it. There were too many calls to make and she never got to it. We had gotten a notice from the Embassy that the new US Ambassador to Venezuela was having a 'town hall' meeting in Barcelona, a town nearby and she wanted to go. To go there however, she had to make arrangements for a taxi to take us there and back - some doing since most of the taxis drivers we knew were busy (some cruisers were taking tango lessons!) Anyway, she found someone and made the arrangements. We also got a call that our bottom paint had finally arrived so Diane called to provide some more information and make arrangements for delivery. By that time we ate lunch and then Diane went up to pay our marina bill - she had already spoken to Carlos, the marina manager, about the bill and got some compensation for my falling through the dock. I wanted to make an order for some blank DVD media and some other small items but the Internet was up and down during the day, as was the power. Oh well, its Venezuela. Saturday I helped Jack on Mystic Adventure in the afternoon to connect his GPS to the new SSB he bought. I found the wire from the GPS spliced to the one for the computer to use for electronic charting, using a standard DB9 connector (although it only used 2 wires). We took that off and put on a mini-audio plug, which is what the SSB needed, but it didn't work. Jack will have to email the GPS vendor to see what they suggest. I put the DB9 connector back and made sure that worked properly before leaving - just like a doctor, 'first, do no harm.' A few days later (no much interesting going on), on Tuesday, I finally got around to starting up the handrails again in the morning. After I did the net, I cleaned off the fiberglass around the handrails and applied some more blue tape to mask off the gelcoat. It was pretty hot already so by the time I finished doing the port side, I went below to cool off. While below, I finished the 'receipt' for the Yamaha outboard. We had a copy of the receipt for the dinghy that we carried around in the dinghy to prove we owned it, but we had no such copy for the engine since we had bought it about 3 years ago in Martinique. The Guardia National sometimes stops dinghies in the canal system around PLC and asks that you 'prove' that the dinghy and engine are yours. They also ask for a lifejacket for each person aboard. We had everything except the engine receipt. We didn't want any trouble if the Guardia decided to talk to us. After lunch, I was planning to start putting a coat of Cetol on the handrails but we had a knock on the hull and we met David and Liz, the owners of another Nordic 44 (Diane had seen the boat before they bought it). Its new name was now Allaban and they had been across the Atlantic with it and back since they left in late 2001. We talked with them for a few hours - the boat was in Cumana and they were thinking of coming to PLC but just for a short time since they had company coming to Bonaire in 3 weeks. We brought them up to see Kayla at the local travel agency here and said to please call if they came to PLC. They had heard us over the SSB Safety and Security Net and when they came into the marina, they saw our stern and then recognized the boat. It was very nice to talk to someone who had the same boat as Destiny and hear about what they did to it and the problems they had and how they solved them. The next day, Diane went shopping this morning with the new weekly group sponsored by the marina and "Venezuela Travel" (aka Jaime). They were going to Makro. The power was off again in the marina so the boat started to get a little hot even by 9am. Thursday, Diane went with some local friends she had made out on a large powerboat in the late morning while I stayed on the boat doing some things on the PC. I did go and get our renewed passports though. Later that afternoon, I got a call on the VHF radio from Allaban - David and Liz, who we had met just a couple of days before. They were coming into Bahia Redonda now on their Nordic 44. I went out to meet them and help with the lines but I thought that they would go on one of the floating docks and instead, Edgar put them on the seawall out by the fuel dock. I walked over and they were already set but they invited me on board and we talked for a while. It was very interesting seeing another Nordic and how slightly different they were. I got back to Destiny about 5:30 and Diane came back just after. We then called Allaban back on asked if they would like to go to dinner in the marina restaurant so we met them a little later and enjoyed the evening. The next day we didn't do much but go over and talk to Dave and Liz again. They showed me some more of the boat and we just relaxed a little. They were going to do some inland travel and I said I would watch the boat for them. Saturday morning started off a little cloudy, so I started doing the coat of Cetol on the handrails. Unfortunately, it got sunny again but I finished anyway; once the rainy season starts it will be impossible to get a day when its cloudy without rain so I hoped that the Cetol would be OK. I emptied what was left in the can into a plastic container since it was starting to get hard already. I'll put it in a glass jar once I'm done to try to save it from just hardening completely. Easter Sunday was nice since Diane arranged a potluck get together with some people we knew. It wasn't too crowded and everyone brought good food - we had a very nice time. Monday was a very good day - our friend Giulio called to say that the order we had placed for marina supplies it had left Caracas and would probably arrive tomorrow. The shipper we used, recommended by Giulio, had called him saying it arrived in Caracas so he assumed it would be a day before it left there. We were very happy it was finally coming as we now had just about everything for our planned haulout. Diane also made some appointments for the dermatologist and dentist - necessary evils. So, Tuesday was a busy day. First in the morning, I finished up the last coat of Cetol on the handrails and then took a shower to get ready to go to the doctor. We took a cab with David and Liz to Xanadu Marine and then walked to the doctor. We waited a while, saw the doctor but he said to come back tomorrow after we had cleaned the areas with Betadine first. We then went to a restaurant for chawarma (like a Greek gyro but Arabic) and they were excellent. We also had some of the nice pastries and brought some home. Back to the boat and I continued finding stuff to scan (miscellaneous papers, instruction manuals, product information, etc.) while I had the scanner from David on Sylvester. I dug out the box of miscellaneous instructions and such from under the v berth and went through them. That afternoon, the shipment we were expecting from the States came - the Bahia Redonda office called us to say it arrived. I picked it up and everything was there except the depth transducer - it had arrived after Rolando (the name of the shipper) sent the other stuff. It was West Marine's fault - the part had been cancelled so they sent the instrument without the transducer but never bothered to tell us. I only figured it out when they faxed us the packing slips and I then had to try to find the part in other stores - luckily I did and it was being sent to Rolando. So, that would have to be sent separately. I had also ordered the Dell Tools/Applications CD (missing from my PC shipment) and Dianes's parents were sending that. Diane called them and they said the CD had arrived that day. I could install the transducer in the water if necessary since it didn't require a through-hull. I was busy doing some more scanning before dinner and then for a while after. David came by to drop off the dinghy keys and the combination to Allaban since I was looking after the boat while they were on their trip (to the Orinoco delta for 2 days). Wednesday we went to the dermatologist again at about 5pm but had dentist appointments first at 3. Diane went first and had a slight problem and then I went in for just a cleaning. Then Diane went in to the dermatologist (they shared a common waiting room) and then I went in about 45 minutes later. There were a number of small things he and his wife (also a doctor) removed so it took until almost 7:30 until we left. I felt like I had been beaten up, there were so many small bandages on my neck, shoulders, and chest, and I still had some more to go! There was a cute incident while I waiting though; a family came into the waiting room and the little girl (about 4) kept looking at me. Eventually I heard her ask her mother if I was Santa Claus!! I didn't understand all of it but her mother told her to ask me. I didn't get a chance to answer because I was laughing so hard and Diane had just come out and I went in; it was a very funny incident. Once we got back to the boat, it was late so we ate in the restaurant I did the weather on the net again the next morning and then took off the blue tape from the handrails. We both hadn't slept well from the small bandages so we figured we would just take it easy. The next few days were very busy although not with boat work. I was copying DVDs and making scans of all the magazine articles and parts manuals. The scans will let me get rid of a lot of paper, reducing weight and clutter. The DVDs are so we can watch the movies at a later time. It takes a lot of time for each so I've been doing that for almost 3 days. Our friends on Allaban, Dave and Liz, came back from their trip to the Orinoco and have left and although they're in Los Roques, we've been unable to get them on the SSB. We'll try email I suppose. Diane went to see someone she met at the Ambassador's meeting last month (the wife of an oil company worker) while I stayed on the boat and did some more scanning. I need to give the scanner back to David on Sylvester soon (I've had it almost a week). We decided to try to keep at least one of the water tanks filled since the water was out for 36 hours a couple of days ago. We still haven't heard when our second shipment of supplies is coming in so we can't make a reservation about hauling the boat. With some other cruisers, we also made another order for blank DVDs since they are almost impossible to find here, and when you do, it's typically a no-name brand. So we ordered some good ones (Verbatim) and hope not to run out. Monday, April 11 our friends Tom and Steph on Mima came in during the morning. We hadn't seen them since last year when we were all in Laguna Grande together for Hurricane Ivan so it was really great to see them again. They were supposed to come in about 3 but they left Laguna Grande early yesterday and made it to Chimana Grande by yesterday afternoon so they came in this morning. We visited with them most of the morning and then had them over for dinner in the evening. They came into PLC to do some work on the deck (reapply some non-skid paint) and then meet a friend who was coming in later in the month. We were all glad to see each other. Tuesday, Diane and Steph went shopping in the morning while I did some things on the Internet. Tom and I went to lunch at the marina restaurant and also had a visit with Lanie from Marnel 4 and Norm from Pawnee. We had a 'decent' lunch and then we went back to our boats after Steph stopped by. I had just turned on the computer when Giulio called us (via Skype) and told us that our supplies from the States had finally made into Caracas and out of Customs and was on its way via a local courier. Hurray! Diane went up to the office to leave them with the 131,000Bs (the cost for the local carrier, about $48) so it would be left there. Now, of course, we had to make the final arrangement to go on the hard and get ourselves ready. There was a lot of hard work coming up!! I planned to do the following:
We got the supplies late in the day and everything came and only one light bulb had broken - not too bad I suppose. The next day we needed to make the haulout arrangements and get a little more prepared. We also found out that Arnaldo, the dockmaster here at Bahia Redonda, was leaving on May 6. There had been an incident a few days ago with a French cruiser, not even staying at Bahia Redonda, and the Port Captain had gotten involved. Although we (and all the cruisers) felt Arnaldo was leaving under poor circumstances, he would still be around as a taxi driver, which is what he did before working for the marina. Still, he will be missed in that function. We needed to prepare to go on the hard and I started figuring out exactly what needed to be done. We were going to haul the dinghy on deck since we didn't want to leave it in the water (the bottom would be disgusting in a matter of days) so we needed to get the engine up on the stern and haul out the inflatable. We could start some other things now that we got the supplies, like cleaning and waterproofing the bimini, dodger, handrail covers, hatch covers, etc. I could also fix the water heater since we got the replacement element. Too much fun to even think about! I was also busy copying DVDs so we would be able to watch TV when we were hauled out (no cable in the yard). |