We awoke early to the sound of songbirds. We had no idea what types of
songbirds but there were many and they sang beautifully. This was
something we hadn’t heard for a long time.
We lifted both anchors and we were ready to leave by 9AM. It was less
than 5 miles to Puerto La Cruz. The water was flat and there wasn’t any
breeze. When we arrived at the breakwall we called Arnoldo, the dock master
of Bahia Redonda marina where we had reservations. Arnoldo met us in his
dinghy and led the way to our slip. On our way through the marina we
passed many boats we recognized. They all waved hello. The tropical
landscaping of the marina was beautiful and more like a resort. They do in
fact have a hotel/condo for guests or anyone wanting time off their boat.
Our slip is beside the pool and a few steps from the restaurant. Blanca
and I took a quick tour of the grounds while the guys dug out the power cords
etc. Water, electricity, cable TV, the pool, showers and washrooms are all
included for (our exchange rate) price of $8 US a day.
We went to the restaurant with Promesa for a snack. It was a nice treat when we connected the cable for the TV and found a few English channels. I even got to watch CNN.
There was a potluck BBQ at 5PM. The marina supplied the charcoal and ice. This happens every Monday night. I’m not sure of the other scheduled events yet but I know there will be others.
It was another beautiful day but I didn’t make it to the pool. In the morning, Rick checked and serviced the batteries. He had to replace a couple of terminals. I cleaned and pickled the watermaker. I also went through my clothes cupboard and came up with another good size pile of clothes to give away.
We joined Promesa and Allie Cat for lunch after which I went to the Internet café to see if I had received an email regarding my computer. No such luck! I called Sven in Margarita and he said the Motherboard hadn’t arrived yet.
When I returned to the boat we removed our main anchor chain that is being picked up tomorrow to be regalvanized. We had a local come by and give us an estimate on the cost of refinishing our woodwork on the exterior of the boat. Since we’re in the first slip on the dock we seem to spend a lot of time talking to everyone as they walk by. Before we knew it, it was time for Happy Hour. We found Allie Cat and Promesa already at the restaurant again.
We’re settling in nicely. I watched the last half of yoga exercises that started at 6AM. I then joined in the water aerobic exercise classes that takes place everyday at 6:30AM in the pool. It was 7:30AM when I returned to the boat just in time to make bacon and eggs for breakfast. The cruisers net began at 7:45AM. I’m not sure I can keep up this pace so early in the morning. George the galvanizing man stopped by for us to sign the contract and picked up our chain. He charged $1.50 US a foot. When he left, Blanca and Leo came over. Leo wanted to see our watermaker. While the guys were standing on their heads checking the plumbing, Ernesto came by. Ernesto was one of the guys we were interviewing to refinish our woodwork. Blanca helped as translator and we hired him to start next week. He charges $15 US a day and comes highly recommended.
When everyone left, I pulled everything out of the forward portion of the boat and Rick helped me clean. We mixed bleach and Pinesol in water and went at everything with a scrub brush. Mildew does not seem to be a problem in Puerto La Cruz like it was in Porlamar so hopefully I won’t have to do this again for a while.
At 2PM, Promesa, Allie Cat and Wind-Borne III went for a dinghy ride through the canals to a plaza. The canals and houses remind us a little of Fort Lauderdale Florida. It took us over an hour to get to the plaza due to all of the rubber necking we were doing.
We had lunch at an Italian restaurant, checked out the plaza and grocery store before heading back to the boat. We motored a little faster on our return because we could see rain coming towards us from the mountains. We got a little wet (it’s warm water). Back at the boat we both read for a while before going to bed.
Rick joined us in the pool for exercises this morning at 6:30AM. When we returned to the boat, we tackled cleaning the midship area of the boat. That meant we had to empty the hanging locker where all of Rick’s tools and spare parts are stored. In addition we emptied all of the cupboards and drawers in the head. When finished we could hardly walk through the boat. All of the scrubbing was completed a little after noon.
We met Promesa to go downtown to the EPA hardware, which is like a Home Depot store. We purchased all of our sandpaper, some new clothes pegs and hoses etc. After a light lunch at the snack bar we returned to the boat. I checked my email at the Internet café and learned that my new motherboard had arrived on Margarita Island. Hopefully I will soon have my computer back. We had dinner at El Ancla Restaurant in the marina and captured perfect seats for the movie (A Beautiful Mind) they were showing tonight on the big screen TV. We had seen it before but enjoyed watching it again.
I went for exercises in the pool again but Rick didn’t want to try 2 days in a row.
After breakfast I started to empty the aft cabin. It was scheduled for cleaning today. This room didn’t take long in comparison to the midship area. We took the mattress from the aft cabin to the upholsterer (who is right on site) to have the foam replaced with something not quite so firm. Too many guests have complained.
We had lunch at the restaurant with Promesa and then went for a swim. Afterward we returned to the boat and changed before going to the Ancla Restaurant at 5:30PM. There was a cocktail party. Free beer, mixed drinks and appetisers for everyone. They also had a live African/Venezuelan drum band with dancers providing great entertainment.
I slept late (6:30AM) and missed the morning exercise class. After breakfast we got our treasures together for a swap meet at 9AM. It was held in front of the mini mart. We sold almost everything and gave away a few remaining items. When we returned to the boat I sprayed the oven with cleaner before heading off for lunch with Leo. We think that poor Blanca might have Dengue Fever. She was still able to eat so Leo ordered her some lunch to take back to the boat. After lunch I finished cleaning the oven and then defrosted and cleaned the fridge. Rick meanwhile was cutting out some old wires. There was a little oops when he discovered that he cut one that hadn’t been replaced.
We had just settled into the cockpit when the upholsterer came by to see if we were aboard. The mattress was ready and he wanted to return it and the old foam.
Rick and I both went for the exercises in the pool. After our shower (outdoors at the pool) we started to empty the cupboards and clean in the main salon. It was early afternoon when we finished so neither of us felt like playing dominoes at 1PM.
Leo had taken Blanca to a clinic today and the good news was she had a bacterial infection caused by eating unwashed lettuce. She received the results of her tests taken at the clinic within an hour. Although she was very ill and was given a bunch of prescriptions, it was a much better diagnoses than Dengue Fever.
Leo joined us for sundowners while Blanca was napping.
We all got to see a huge flock of pink flamingo’s fly by overhead while we sat in the cockpit.
Ernesto who is refinishing our woodwork arrived about 8:15AM to start work. At 8:45 I took our dirty laundry to the laundry lady. Blanca, who was looking and feeling a lot better, came over at 9AM to translate for us with the refrigeration man who hadn’t arrived yet. We sat and had a café con leché while we waited for him. He arrived and apologized for being late, checked our system and said he would go and buy some new caps for the schroader valves and be back about 2PM. When he returned and finished, the total price for parts and labour was less than $15 US.
Meanwhile, we learned that when you have workers like Ernesto who spend the whole day working for us we should supply lunch or provide him with $2 to buy his lunch. Since I was unaware of this I just gave him the money for his lunch. I made some Chicken stew for Blanca but it wasn’t ready in time for Ernesto’s lunch. About 6PM I checked with the laundry lady who said my laundry would not be ready until tomorrow morning.
Rick, Leo and Marcel went to the Marine store and Ernesto left to pick up some supplies for us at the hardware store. With all of the men gone and the boat to myself it was a perfect opportunity to finish my hand laundry. All of the curtains, shower curtain and hats were washed and outside drying before Rick returned. We went to Happy Hour with Alley Cat and Promesa including Blanca who was feeling better.
I went for the 6:30 exercises. After breakfast Ernesto arrived to start work at 8:30 and we were ready to leave for a special bus for a trip downtown by 9AM. We hadn’t turned our radio off after listening to the morning net so we heard the announcement that our trip was cancelled because a demonstration was blocking the roads between the marina and downtown. We never really learned the true reason for the demonstration. Three locals each gave us a different reason and I’m sure if we had asked three more people we would have been given three more totally different reasons. Blanca, Leo, Rick and I grabbed a taxi around 10:30AM and took a chance that he would get us where we wanted to go. It took almost an hour because of the traffic but we made our way to a marine store and then a grocery store. When we returned, to the marina I picked up the clean laundry. We sat on the boat and relaxed for a while before going for dinner at El Ancla.
Ernesto arrived at 8:30AM. He applied Cetol to the bowsprit today (our normal way to get on and off the boat). He was working on the underside of the bowsprit from the dinghy (the dinghy is our other means of getting on the boat). We decided to stay out of his way by sitting at the pool for the rest of the day.
At times it can be very frustrating being in countries other than our own. Today was one of those times. We have to send our water maker pump back to California to be rebuilt. We asked the customs representative here if there was a form that had to be filled out ahead of time so that we wouldn’t have to pay duty as if it were a new pump when it was returned. We were assured that it wasn’t necessary until we had boxed the pump and arrived at the Fedex office. The Fedex person checked and informed us that a form was required. We would have to take the pump first to the customs office in Barcelona. Manana!
After telephoning and checking email twice a day for the last couple of weeks I finally received an update on my computer repairs. The new motherboard had been installed however it still wasn’t working. Now they determined that the processor and cooling fan also needed to be replaced. I said STOP!! I could buy a new computer for less than it would cost me to have this one repaired. So the motherboard was returned and I could pick up my laptop when convenient. I contacted Kelly who will be arriving in just over a week and asked her to bring us a new computer. Most things are cheaper to buy in Venezuela but not laptop computers.
In the afternoon Celine and Marcel (Allie Cat) went to the Caribbean Mall with us. We were going just to look around because we had heard it was a good mall. It was ok but we like the Plaza Mayor shopping centre better.
Back at the marina, it was movie night. They were showing Lord of the Rings, Twin Towers. We joined Chesire Cat and Manana who had both just arrived from Margarita. Arnoldo, the dockmaster sat with us as well.
Rick and I both went for the morning exercises in the pool. We had booked a taxi (the laundry lady) for the morning ($2 US an hour). She drove us (with Blanca) to customs in Barcelona and waited while we went in. This was the beginning of our second attempt to send our water maker pump to California for repairs. We learned that the government building that we were in was not the right one. We needed to go to the customs building in Bahia Guanta which was a town on the opposite side of Puerto La Cruz from where we were. It was also recommended that since we were already in Barcelona that we should try the customs office at the airport. So off we went to the airport! Nothing was accomplished there so we were then on our way to Guanta. It’s a good thing we had Blanca with us to translate otherwise we’d still be driving around to all of the wrong places. The lady we spoke to at the customs office in Guanta, read the rulebook to Blanca, which said that we could only get the form that we required from the office in Caracas. Caracas is a 5 hour drive from here. At this point we gave up and decided to hire a freight company that takes care of all the paperwork.
We returned to the marina for lunch and afterward Rick used the internet café to contact Panalpina for a cost estimate of shipping our pump.
I think Rick is starting to enjoy the morning exercise class because he joined me again today. That was 2 days in a row.
At 9AM we met Celine and Marcel (Allie Cat) who led us to the market and downtown on a local bus. The market was huge and had everything from fruit, vegetables, meats, fish, cheese to clothes and shoes. We roamed around downtown and finished our tour by having lunch in a piano bar that was part of a casino on Paseo Colon.
We eventually returned to the marina and spent the afternoon in the pool.
Before dinner we received a response from Panalpina that our pump is too small for their minimum shipment cost. It would be cheaper to buy a new pump.
That evening Blanca and Leo joined us on Wind-Borne III for Happy Hour.
When both the morning exercises and breakfast were over, I went back to bed for a while. When I did get up it seemed like a good day to replace the dinghy zipper. The one I had put in last spring had a metal pull that rusted. I worked until noon at which time we had to get ready to play dominoes at 1PM. We had 5 tables of 6 players. It was 4 pm when we returned to the boat for Happy Hour and dinner.
The pool is closed on Mondays for maintenance and cleaning so we were a little slow in getting moving this morning. Eventually I did a little more work on the zipper I’m installing in the dinghy. Rick worked on some wiring and Ernesto continued with the woodwork. Potter who is one of the regular taxi drivers at the marina picked us up at 2PM and drove us to DHL.
It was unbelievable! The lady there filled out all of the paperwork and the water maker pump was on it’s way to California (finally). We returned to the marina and had a celebratory drink with Blanca and Leo.
I phoned Juan at Juan’s marina in Margarita and he informed me that Sven left my computer and refund with him ready to be picked up any time. We were told that the high speed ferry to Margarita was not running today. Hopefully it was a one day maintenance thing.
Mainly and Dream Weaver arrived at the marina today from Margarita.
We decided to skip the Monday night barbecue and had dinner at the restaurant with Promesa. After dinner however we went to the barbecue area and sang Christmas Carols with everyone else.
Rick and I skipped exercises this morning. We wanted to take down the
stay sail before Ernesto arrived. We had noticed a little spot near the
tack that needed restitching. Our sails were made by North Sails and there
is a North Sail loft above the restaurant which we thought was very convenient
until Blanca told us to forget it. She offered to restitch it using her
"Sail-rite" sewing machine. Her price was better (free) so we took her up
on the offer.
At 9AM Blanca and I went to Hallaca (pronounced ai-ak-a) making lessons.
Hallacas are a traditional Christmas tradition in Venezuela. Family and
friends gather together and prepare from 50 to 300 Hallacas. They make
very nice small gifts for friends and
family. The Hallaca is made by
preparing a stew like filling of beef pork and chicken. A corn dough (masa)
is pressed onto an oiled banana leaf. The stew and toppings of olives,
peppers, capers, and raisins are placed on the dough. Using the banana
leaf, the dough is folded around the filling. The little rectangle of
dough is then wrapped in the same banana leaf and tied like a small parcel.
The little parcels are then boiled for 20 minutes. (If anyone is
interested in trying to make a Hallaca I will make sure the recipe is in the
Recipe section of the web site before next Christmas.)
After lunch, Potter (our taxi) was to pick us up at 2:30. By 3PM he hadn’t arrived so we took another taxi to the Ferry Terminal. I wanted to buy a ticket on the express to Magarita to pick up my computer tomorrow. After waiting in line for almost an hour we learned from a lady who spoke English that the ferry schedule had been changed for this week and there wasn’t time between arriving and departing in Margarita to make it all the way to Porlamar and back. We left the terminal knowing we’d have to come up with another solution. We took another taxi downtown to a marine store where we picked up a few things. We then took another taxi to Exito (a Walmart type of store). I bought some Christmas gifts for Ernesto’s children and some new pillows for us.
When we returned to the marina we joined Blanca and Leo for dinner. Marta, Bob and their daughter Vivian arrived from the States just after dinner. We had a drink with them and when I told Marta my tale of woe regarding the computer, she suggested that Tom and Carol (Moonrise) were on their way back to Venezuela and would be here by the 21st of December. Maybe they could pick up and bring the computer with them.
Blanca was unable to stitch the sail with her machine so we took it to North
Sails.
I then called Juan in Margarita to let him know that I would not be there today but that Moonrise would be arriving soon. I asked him to give them my computer to bring to Puerto La Cruz with them. He said that they had just checked in with him and he was to return their passports and ships papers to them at 5PM. He would give them my computer at the same time. Problem solved!!
I took our dirty clothes to the laundry lady to be cleaned. Every
Wednesday, Mare Mares, one of the other marinas/ resorts in the area,
puts on a
free cocktail party. We wouldn’t be true cruisers if we missed free food
and booze. Today was the Carol Sing as well so we had to go. We
arrived at 6PM by dinghy and the party was already in full swing. They
served lovely appetizers and mixed drinks and beer. We moved from the pool
area to the docks when it was time to start singing. It was a lot of fun.
We went boat to boat just as Carollers back home would go house to house.
Whenever we came to a Venezuelan boat we would sing Feliz Navidad. One of
the Venezuelan boat owners brought out and opened a bottle of Champagne for us.
We gradually moved from the docks to the hotel lobby where we were accompanied
by a grand piano. There were some locals sitting in the lobby with young
children who seemed to thoroughly enjoy the singing. A gang of us walked
to an Italian restaurant
afterwards for Pizza. The dinghy trip back to the
boat through the canals was lovely as many of the houses were nicely decorated
for Christmas.
We exercised in the pool and then went for breakfast in the restaurant. After breakfast we picked up our repaired sail.
I sat with Vivian (Marta and Bob’s daughter) and drank Café con Leché while Rick was in the Internet café. In the afternoon we picked up the clean laundry before going for a siesta (We were up late last night).
I supplied the DVD "Captain Ron" for movie night at the restaurant. We had a lot of laughs and found out that this movie is considered a classic among cruisers.
We skipped exercises this morning. The stay sail had to be put back up before we could string our Christmas lights on the boat. Both of these jobs had to be finished before Ernesto arrived and started the application of Cetol. When we finished decorating, I wrapped some Christmas gifts.
In the afternoon, Rick and I took a taxi to Plaza Mayor. Normally we would have gone by dinghy but Ernesto was using the dinghy while working on the rub rails. We both had our hair cut and then picked up some fresh fruit at Unicasa before returning to the boat. Marta invited me over for a drink and Rick tagged along. Soon Bob and Vivian returned so we had a great Happy Hour. While sitting on their boat we watched Michael (Wind-Witch) play Santa at the marina employees children’s party. Santa arrived and left by dinghy.
Eventually Rick and I left and went for dinner at the restaurant. Later in the evening Karen and Ralph (KaraDream) joined us. It seems that whenever we’re out with Karen and Ralph we stay up well past our bedtime. It was 10PM when we finally returned to the boat.
After morning exercises and breakfast, Ernesto arrived. We hired him to clean
and wax the hull when he’s finished with the woodwork. Carol and Tom
(Moonrise) arrived today from Margarita. They had our computer (not
repaired) and refund
with them. Moonrise joined Sirena and Wind-Borne III
for lunch at The Garden Chinese Restaurant. The food there was great and
afterward we all roamed the Fiorca Mall to see what other stores were there.
I found it interesting that the Venezuelan shopping centres have been decorated
for Christmas since early October but there is never Christmas music playing.
In this mall there were young girls dressed as Santa’s Helpers on roller blades,
skating along handing out stickers and candies etc.
When we returned to the boat we had a short siesta before Latin Dancing lessons. Joanna who works at the Mini Mart for Karen (a Canadian) also teaches dancing. She taught us some salsa but she also put us through an aerobic exercise class. We danced to everything from Elvis to eventually a Conga line.
It was an easy day today. We tidied and cleaned the boat. I worked inside while Rick washed the cockpit. In the afternoon we joined the gang and played dominoes. We actually had dinner on board for a change.
Ernesto arrived before 8:30AM and between then and 11:30AM we just killed
time talking with other cruisers. At 11:30AM Potter taxi picked us up to take us
to the airport to meet Kelly our daughter and web master who was coming to spend
the holidays with us. At the airport Potter was very surprised when her
flight arrived on time and she was on it. Many people coming for the
holidays were missing connections because of the chaos in the airports. He
said that the flight Kelly arrived on is almost never on time but it was today.
We took Kelly back to the boat where we left her bags while we went for a light
lunch. In the evening, the restaurant was showing the movie "The Muppets
Christmas Carol". We watched a bit of it but moved away from the TV when
Blanca and Leo arrived. They had just returned from their trip to Angel
Falls. They and Allie Cat raved about how amazing the trip was but we
couldn’t convince Kelly to try it.
After dinner Kelly unpacked her bags which were really bags full of things
for us.
It was just like Christmas morning.
Rick and I went for the exercises in the pool but Kelly was glued to the new
mattress. She hadn’t budged when we returned to the boat. At 9:30,
ten of us Blanca, Leo (Promesa), Celine (Allie Cat), Marta, Bob, and their
daughters Vivian and Marta (Sirena) with Rick, Kelly and I left on a powerboat
we chartered for the day to take us to some of the out islands. The first
stop was
Chimana Segunda where we all had a nice snorkel before trying out a couple of
new floaters that Kelly brought for us. Next we moved to an anchorage
between Isla Arapos and Playa Colorada where the water was extremely clear.
There was a super abundance of Christmas tree and feather duster worms all over
the coral. They glow like precious gems and give the appearance of coral
that has been decorated especially for Christmas. There was a nice variety
of fish including puffer fish, squid and moray eels. We finished the day
on Isla Arapos where we swam and had lunch. Our return trip to the marina
took a little longer than planned because we had engine problems with one of the
twin 145HP outboard motors. We made it back with just enough time to have
a little siesta before going to a trivia pursuit tournament. We had formed
a Canadian team from three boats, Allie Cat, Promesa and Wind-Borne III.
Dream Weaver joined us late and then Kara Dream showed up. Eventually
another couple from Newfoundland joined us as well. There were 40
questions and our team almost tied for first with 2 other boats. Close
only counts in horseshoes so we didn’t win but had a lot of fun trying.
We spent the whole day lounging at the pool. El Ancla Restaurant in the
marina prepared a special traditional Venezuelan Christmas Eve dinner for the
cruisers. We had a large table with Promesa, Allie Cat, Sirena, Moonrise
and Wind-Borne III. The meal was great and the evening enjoyable.
The Canadians seem to be gaining a reputation of being a
little rowdy. It
wasn’t just our table. KaraDream, Windmiller, Dream Weaver and Cheshire
Cat shared in the reputation as well.
Our Christmas Eve Menu: Roast Pork, Hallaca, salad, Christmas bread, Wine, dessert, coffee
It was a very lazy and quiet Christmas morning. Lunch began at 1PM in
El Ancla Restaurant. The meal was amazing! We had turkey that was
extremely moist and flavourful, dressing, cranberries, gravy, potatoes and
vegetables. The most unique vegetable was the sweet potato (not yam).
They were mashed with pineapple and mandarin oranges.
I was able to obtain
the recipe from Susan on Pipe Dream. Lunch lasted until well past dinnertime
when we waddled back to the boat. In the evening I tried to get my USB
serial port adapter working. This is how I connect the GPS and Ham radio
to the computer for navigating and email. I had no luck. Although Belkin (the USB adapter) had created a new driver for Windows XP, it doesn’t
work.
Kelly Rick and I went downtown to purchase a serial port adapter that would work on Windows XP. We took along the old laptop to see if I could get my files off the hard drive. We normally say that if in a day one thing is accomplished then it was a very successful day. The very first computer store we visited was able to copy all of my files and pictures to a CD while I waited. The day was a success!!! We visited 3 stores in total and none had the adapter I needed. The last store ordered one from Caracas for us and said it should arrive next Wednesday. I won’t know until then if we were successful. We had lunch downtown. When we returned to the marina we joined the gang for a swim at the pool.
The days are supposed to be getting longer however it doesn’t seem that way. The sun is barely up at 6:30 and now that winter is here both Rick and I agree that it’s too cold to jump in the pool that early. So neither of us went to exercise this morning. After a lazy breakfast we got ready and took the dinghy through the canals to Plaza Mayor. We were mainly window shopping but there were a few things I needed from the grocery store. Kelly found a dress that looks amazing on her. She said it was the perfect rumba and cha cha dress. We hadn’t brought enough money with us to buy it so we asked the lady to hold it until Monday for us. It was lunchtime when we finished roaming so we stopped at a pizza place for lunch. When we returned to the marina we spent the afternoon in the pool. We had on board movies and popcorn in the evening. Kelly brought the movie "Finding Nemo" for us and although I think it’s meant for children we thoroughly enjoyed it and will watch it again.
It was a pool day for Kelly. I joined her at the pool in the morning while Rick cleaned the dinghy. Rick and I joined everyone (except Kelly) for dominoes in the afternoon. Kelly with her book, curled up in the hammock under the awning on deck.
After dominoes, Blanca, Leo, Celine and Vivian came back to the boat with us to watch a video Kelly had brought of herself. Everyone was impressed with her dancing.
Later in the evening we had dinner at the El Ancla Restaurant.
Oh no! It’s Monday so the pool is closed. We along with the rest of the marina, dropped our dirty clothes off at the laundry. The sky was very overcast and we had a downpour first thing in the morning. When the rain let up, we went by dinghy behind Leo and Blanca to Plaza Mayor. With three of us in the dinghy, we couldn’t get up and plane as easily so Leo led the way. We picked up Kelly’s dress and some groceries for the Monday night potluck barbecue.
On our ride back to the marina we thought for sure we would be rained upon but it held off until we were aboard. There was an announcement in the afternoon that the barbecue had been postponed so we left everything in the fridge for (hopefully) tomorrow. We went to the restaurant for dinner and were joined by Allie Cat, Promesa, KaraDream and Dream Weaver. We were a little rowdy but after dinner Roberto the owner gave us each some Amaretto and Anise.
The hatches remain closed all night because the weather was so unstable, In
the morning it appeared as though we were going to have another rainy day but
the clouds cleared just after breakfast. Although it didn’t rain the
weather was still not good. The winds were strong enough to cause the port
captain to close the port. First thing in the morning he announced that no
one could leave the port because of the weather. Rick spent most of the
day cleaning the bottom of the dinghy while Kelly and I lounged at the pool but
it was cool. This was the first day in at least a year that the daytime
temperature was not in the 90’s. There was a very poor turn out at the
potluck barbecue but I don’t think it was because of the weather. Many
people thought the barbecue had been cancelled rather than postponed until
tonight. Promesa, Allie Cat, KaraDream and
ourselves were the only ones
there. It was more like a private party for the Canadians. The big
flock of pink flamingos flew by for us just before sunset. The others
hadn’t noticed them before so when Rick pointed them out there were at lot of oohs and aahs.
We didn’t do much during the day as it was a lot cooler than we have become accustomed to. We tried to have a siesta in the afternoon to prepare for the fiesta in the evening. Kelly and Rick were successful but for some reason my eyes didn’t want to close.
The party began at 7:30PM and it was great. El Ancla restaurant
provided hats,
noisemakers, streamers, confetti a wonderful meal, all you could
eat, of pork, paella, salad and desert with wine and champagne ($8 US per
person). We had just barely finished eating and people were up dancing.
Before we realized, it was midnight and everyone was toasting the in New Year.
After midnight, Promesa, Allie Cat, Cheshire Cat, Dream Weaver and Wind-Borne
III went for a polar bear dip in the pool. Kelly passed on the midnight
swim. Granted we were lacking the freezing weather and ice but it seemed
like a good type of Canadian tradition that should be maintained. After a
swim we sat around the pool and drank some more champagne while Derek (Dream
Weaver) who is from Newfoundland, told us some Newfie jokes. It was well
after 2:30 when we finally returned to the boat to begin our next year in the
Caribbean.
