December 1st is one of my most favourite days of the year. I personally would like to play Christmas Carols all year long. Rick is not all that enthusiastic about my preference in music so as a compromise I don’t play or sing Christmas Carols until December 1st each year. Then I play nothing but Carols until January 1st. It works for us.
We left Borracha at 8:30AM and arrived in Puerto La Cruz at 10:30AM. We called Arnoldo (the dockmaster) just as we were approaching the breakwall. A few other people heard us on the radio so we had a mini party to help us tie up at the dock when we arrived. We saw many of our old friends. While Rick was connecting and tidying things I was sitting on the bow socialising. Eventually we all agreed to meet at the pool for drinks at 2:30PM. This gave us time to take care of things that had to be done.
I brought some balls of Gouda cheese from Bonaire (really from Holland) for quite a few of our friends here so I spent some time delivering those. I also brought a case of cranberries for Mary Elena who will hopefully cook our Christmas and New Years dinner. Eventually I took our boat papers and passports to Carlos (Charlie Alpha) who looks after the check in with Customs and Immigration for us. Next I went up to the marina office and picked up keys and wireless internet information.
Currently the wireless internet access is free for boats in the marina along with our electricity, water and cable TV. Our laptop is reasonably new so I wasn’t sure if I needed a wireless card or whether it was built into the laptop. I need a card, which will have to wait until tomorrow.
We met Makai and Mainly at the pool in the afternoon for drinks. All the women went in for a swim but because the sky was a little cloudy, the water felt a little cool. All of the guys wimped out and just sat under the umbrella talking.
When we returned to the boat, Rick barbecued dinner while I pickled the watermaker.
This morning we both worked on deck. Rick scrubbed the stainless steel while I scrubbed the deck. Bill and Sharon came over and helped me get the wireless internet connection working. They even loaned us a spare wireless card that they had, to get us up and running.
After lunch we met Ralph and Karen (KaraDream) at the pool for afternoon drinks. The sun was out and water was much warmer than yesterday but the days and nights are getting cooler.
It was movie night and we arranged a large table at the Ancla Restaurant for KaraDream, Mainly, Makai and us. We planned to have dinner then watch the movie that we thought was a comedy. It was puppets in Team America and it certainly wasn’t funny so after eating, we all left and returned to our boats.
I then spent the evening surfing the net for as long as I wanted and at no cost. It was such a treat. I had a whole list of sites I wanted to visit and it was 9:30PM before I turned off the computer.
We have a to-do list that is about 2 pages long. Our commitment is that we will try to do at least one item each day on the list. This morning we continued washing salt from jackets, life jackets, jack lines, dodger parts and any other things we could put our hands on. Rick cleaned and replaced all of the watermaker filters and strainers.
We heard poor Bob (Happy Ours) on the radio trying to get a new pump for his Raritan head. Last time when we had the same problem we ordered a spare pump. I called Bob and let him know that he could have our spare and replace it later when he is able to have a new one shipped in.
In the afternoon Rick and I took a taxi to the computer store to purchase our own wireless card for the laptop. It store was right across the street from EPA (Home Depot, Puerto La Cruz style) so we took our list of hardware items to be purchased. We were able to find everything we needed. We hailed another taxi to take us back to the marina. The whole shopping trip took us only 1½ hours so although it was a little late we still had time for a dip in the pool. Marla (Apsara) joined us and later Dan and Joan (Mainly) arrived as well.
Rick made a nice vegetarian sauce and we had pasta for dinner.
Although our boat chores were not finished we were talked into going to water aerobics in the pool this morning. Bill and Sharon agreed to come Carol singing with us tomorrow night if we would join them for the morning exercise in the pool today. Since this was the first Saturday in the month it was also the swap meet in front of the mini mart. So after the 7:45AM Cruisers net we went to the swap meet then directly to the pool for aerobics. Before returning to the boat to start into our chores we went to the Ancla Restaurant for a cappuccino.
We had dinner on board and went to bed early.
wind
so we raised the main sail and the staysail and hosed them off with fresh water.
They dried very quickly in the hot sun.
I removed and washed the mattress cover. It is big and awkward but was
another job ticked off of the to-do list.
We did have a quick
lunch at the Ancla Restaurant and finished early in the afternoon. Rick finally
put the dinghy in the water so that we could get to Mare Mares through the canal
for the Carol singing in the evening but in the end, rain continued to threaten
so we taxied is instead. It was a tremendous success. Everyone had a wonderful
time and is starting to get into the Christmas spirit. When we left Mare Mares a
gang of us
walked
out to the pizza restaurant (L’Ancora) by the Caribbean Mall.
It was an overcast
day that looked like we were going have a downpour at any moment. It never
happened, the clouds came and went all day. We continued with our boat chores.
It’s unbelievable how many things can be found to launder. I think the reason
everything needs to be washed is that the water here is free and good. Rick
continued cleaning outside the boat while I worked inside. Rene (Atrea) came by
in the morning and we joined him for a cappuccino at the Ancla Restaurant.
Rick went for a power walk this morning with Ralph (KaraDream) while I did some more laundry. He returned to the boat and we had breakfast before I left and for the water aerobics. When we finished with our exercising we had a cappuccino before Sharon (Makai) and I took a taxi to Plaza Mayor. The grocery store (Unicasa) was fully stocked with some nice fresh produce and lots of dried fruits, nuts and candies and cheese for Christmas.
We returned to the marina where I found Rick with everything pulled out of the cockpit locker while he did his monthly water check of the batteries. We had a quick lunch before I headed out again, this time with Joan (Mainly) and Karen (KaraDream). We went shopping downtown for fabric. It was an extremely successful shopping trip. I returned with some nice percale for new sheets and cotton to make some new settee covers. While I was gone, Rick went with Raphael to take our outboard motor to be serviced and he was back before us.
We had an extended happy hour that started by the pool with Scrammin, Tundra and their friends who were visiting from Sarnia. Afterwards we moved into the Ancla Restaurant where we found another Happy Hour group that we joined.
I needed a day of rest. Rick puttered with the little 2 hp outboard we have. It wouldn’t start and after taking it totally apart and cleaning it he found a stripped bolt that might be causing a compression problem. It would be nice if we could get at least one of the outboards working.
I read, slept and watched Rick work on the outboard. We joined Lila and Rick (Second Lady) onboard Makai for happy hour. It was a very enjoyable evening and when we finally returned to the boat it was 9:30PM.
I made up for doing nothing yesterday by working hard today. Right after breakfast I started sewing and made a new set of sheets and pillowcases for the aft cabin. I only stopped to make lunch. Rick scrubbed the cockpit so clean that it almost sparkled.
At the Ancla restaurant, prior to the regular Thursday night movie, someone brought a home video to show that was taken in Grenada before, during and after Hurricane Ivan. I have never seen such a large crowd on movie night. Everyone wanted to see the home video including us. It was overwhelming to watch places that we knew so well as they were being totally ripped apart. We were sitting with Wayne and Loretta (Conch Daddy) whose boat was in Grenada at the time and visible during shots of the Lagoon. Their boat was one of very few that survived Ivan in the Lagoon.
It was a wild morning. Our boat seemed to have been converted to Central Station. Everyone was stopping by to discuss one thing or another and as one person left another arrived. Needless to say we didn’t accomplish much in the morning.
The city of Puerto La Cruz is cleaning the water system pipes. So as of today the water has been turned off for 4 days. Luckily boats have their own water tanks that hold a good amount of fresh water and the marina also has it’s own storage tanks and they announced that they would turn on the water from the storage tanks for an hour, a few times each day at specific times until the city water was restored.
I cooked a nice rolled turkey breast in the afternoon. This was supposed to be dinner the night before last but we were nibbling at Makai until quite late. Then I was going to cook it last night but we got caught up in the movie at the Ancla and had dinner there. We are going out with Mainly, KaraDream, Distant Drummer and Papillon for dinner tonight so I thought it best to at least cook it for sandwiches rather than let it go bad.
Dinner was supposed to be at Pollo del Ray (a chicken place) in Lecheria. When we got to the gate of the marina and ordered a taxi the guard informed us that Lecheria (a suburb of Puerto La Cruz) was closed for a fiesta and taxis could not get in or out of there. Since there were 9 of us, all hungry we made a group decision to go somewhere in Puerto La Cruz. El Emir Palace (a Chawarmas restaurant) was chosen. We had a nice dinner and since it was Friday night we walked along Paseo Colon after dinner. Friday and Saturday night on Paseo Colon many of the local vendors and craftsmen set up tables along the street and hundreds of locals come and walk the street and enjoy the beautiful scenery and pleasant ambiance.
Rick returned from his power walk with Ralph and after having a quick breakfast we started to decorate the boat for Christmas. The decorations had all been dug out of storage. We had to check the lights before putting them up. The first string was not bad. There were a few light bulbs burnt out but we had spares. We continued checking each string of lights until we reached the forth and last. These strings of lights are 55 feet long and have 100 bulbs so it takes a while. The last one had the first 50 lights shining and the last 50 doing nothing at all. We spent the whole morning trying to find the problem. It took us hours and we totally destroyed that string. It was a contact on one of the light bulbs. As long as there was a bulb in each socket the whole string would work it didn’t matter whether or not the bulb was burnt out. In this case however the missing contact (wire) was the same as no bulb at all.
Oh well, we were down to 3 strings of light but we could work with that. The plan was to wrap at least a couple of strings around and around the mast. This would match what the gardeners had done to all of the palm trees right beside the boat using the same colour (white) and type of lights. We wanted to then string the other lights in the shape of a tree from the top of the mast. Well, the plan was wonderful. Rick got into his bosun’s chair and started string around and around going up the mast. He got above the spreaders and all of a sudden I was starting to see light sockets and wires hanging from the lights. I left him hanging up the mast while I went below to get tape and an extension cord. Before going any further we wanted to recheck that the lights were working. I plugged them in and not one stupid light worked. The strings of lights were falling apart as we tried to put them up.
We went to plan “B”. No lights today and we’ll think about it on Monday
when we might be able to buy some more. Oops, Rick just vetoed that
statement. I don’t think he wants to buy any more lights this year.
By this time it was after lunch and we were due to attend a first communion party for Luis. Luis is the son of Mary Elena and Roberto who own the restaurant at Bahia Redonda. We were very honoured to be invited as most of the guests were friends and family but 3 other boats had been included as guests as well. There was a little English being spoken so and if we missed a joke some one translated for us. We spent most of the party talking with Charlie who is Mary Elena’s father. He is a dentist who has partially retired by seeing patients only in the mornings. His practice is in Caracas but he wants to move to Puerto La Cruz. I kidded Mary Elena who baked a wonderful cake for desert that she was trying to create new patients with cracked teeth for her dad in Puerto La Cruz.
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She had decorated the cake with hard pearl like beads that looked beautiful
but had to be swallowed whole or just left on the side of the plate. Lunch
included two types of pasta that were so good I wish they were offered on the
menu. When the party broke up we returned to the boat.
There was just enough time to create a Birthday card for the next party at 6PM. This party was impromptu on board Second Lady. Lila invited a good size gang to help celebrate her husband Rick’s birthday. It’s a good thing they have a large boat there were 12 of us in the cockpit. In addition to them and us there was Makai, KaraDream, Tundra and Tundra’s friends from Sarnia. As always the food brought by everyone was wonderful and plentiful. No one had to make dinner that evening as we satisfied ourselves on snacks.
Today Rick continued cleaning the exterior while I sat below and caught up on all of our email. I had a real backlog and it took me most of the day to get through them.
Tony and Benta (Side By Side) put together a very professional home video of their trip to Peru that they showed at the Ancla Restaurant in the evening. The restaurant was packed. It appears that the home videos are a bigger hit than the movies.
Rick and I both needed a haircut. We returned to the same salon that we went to before leaving Puerto La Cruz. We were both pleased with our cuts and the total bill for a wash cut and blow dry for two of us was less than $10. It was lunchtime when we finished in the salon so we grabbed a quick bite to eat before going grocery shopping. Our grocery cart was overflowing when we got to the check out. By the time we returned to the boat and put everything away it was time to prepare for the Monday night barbecue. I marinated some chicken and made a bean salad to take with us. It was a beautiful night and we sat with Susan and Bob (Sunrise) and had a very enjoyable evening.
The pace is picking up this week. Christmas events have begun.
This morning Ann with her son Simon and Granddaughter Megan had a turn out of
almost 30 people to make Hallacas (a wonderful thick stew wrapped and cooked in
banana leaves). This year some of the men came along. Each person
who attended prepared a Hallaca (see the Recipe section) to take home with them.
Last year there were complaints when the husbands ate the one and only Hallaca
on board so this year they were invited to come and make their own.
Hallaca making is a Christmas family tradition in Venezuela.
When the Hallacas were all prepared, Joan (Mainly), Karen (KaraDream)
and I
took a taxi first to Plaza Mayor where we did a little shopping and had lunch.
We grabbed another taxi and went to Makro (a Venezuelan style Costco) where
everyone picked up a few more things.
We returned to the boat with an hour to spare before happy hour. Rick
and I had happy hour in the Ancla Restaurant which then lead into dinnertime.
Mary Elena had prepared her beer-basted chicken as the special this evening and
it was such a hit that before the evening was over they ran out and had to come
up with a substitute. Everyone finished eating just in time for the Trivia
contest. Jeffery on Panache was the MC for the Trivia contest. The
Mini Mart team won and holds the trophy for the second season. The
Canadian
team, which has grown to a humungous size and is really half American
now, didn’t come in first but we didn’t come in last either. Team Texas
which has grown significantly as well, initially came on strong with their
“Don’t mess with Texas” slogan, but they weren’t in the winning line up either.
The cruisers at Mare Mares came over by dinghy and quietly took over a large
table. They left almost just as quietly. The East Enders (I have no
idea where their name came from) was the runner up team. Both the Hallaca
making and the Trivia contest were held to raise funds to provide a nice
Christmas meal and decorations for a local senior citizens home. I had
helped Jeffery with promoting the Trivia and some of the preparations.
Tomorrow afternoon I’m going with Ann to purchase the Christmas decorations.
While we’ve been working to raise money for the seniors, Donna and Michael (Wind Witch) have been fundraising to provide a Christmas party and gifts for many of the barrio children. They did the same last year and it was wonderful. We were all able to raise enough money to be able to make Christmas a little special for some young and elderly people in our area which then also makes Christmas in Venezuela special for us.
In the morning I tidied the boat, Rick vacuumed, we took laundry to the laundry lady, and we both sorted through books that we wanted to leave in the lending library.
The afternoon was a little more hectic. Rick changed the engine oil and helped Ralph clean the carburetor in his outboard engine.
I took off with Karen (KaraDream) and Ann our Landlubber friend. We
went to buy decorations for the senior’s home (Residzncias Geriaticos de Reposa).
We started our shopping spree in a large department store downtown. All of
the Christmas items were marked down 20%. We bought a lot of nice things
that they’ll be able to reuse for many years. Our next stop was an area
near the market where there are a lot of Chinese import stores. We were
able to purchase an inexpensive Christmas Tree, lights and tree decorations.
By the time we finished, it was rush hour and we got caught in the traffic
between Puerto La Cruz and Barcelona.
Eventually we made our way to the senior’s home. It was exactly as Ann had described, very, very basic but clean. We received a very nice reception. The nurse and the administrator who met with us were more than grateful for the Christmas items. There was a little tear in the administrator’s eye as she explained that the elderly people there, were in her heart, her grandparents. This would be a special Christmas for them. They agreed to decorate the lobby and we agreed to return in a couple of days to take care of the cost of their Christmas dinner and to take some pictures. They wanted us to come and have dinner with them but we declined. It was a super feeling when we left and made our way back to the marina in heavy traffic.
It’s fun travelling with Ann. Although she is not Venezuelan she has lived here for 31 years so understands the language and customs. I had commented that everyone in the barrio area seemed to be fixing up their small houses. The whole little community seemed to be involved in improving the appearance of the neighbourhood. Ann explained that it is a Venezuelan tradition for everyone to paint their homes just before Christmas. It might be related to the fact that most the people receive a small Christmas bonus at this time of year. She explained that another Christmas tradition is that everyone wears new clothes on Christmas day.
If they didn’t have new clothes to wear, then they were having some really tough times. Lastly we learned that eating grapes on Christmas Eve is a Venezuelan tradition. Everyone eats 1 grape for each month of the year and that (almost) guarantees that they will have a good New Year.
I have so many announcements to make on the cruisers net in the mornings now that I have to write them all down. There are Christmas events planned for almost every day next week.
In the morning, Rick applied some Cetol on the walls of the guestroom. We are getting ready for company. I ran around to a few boats and to the restaurant clarifying more announcements that I am to make in the morning.
In the afternoon, Rick and I went to Plaza Mayor and Exito. Sharon (Makai) joined us as Bill was busy. Their boat went on the hard yesterday and Bill wants to have the bottom paint finished by the end of the week before the yard closes for Christmas. We didn’t buy a lot of things but I did get a new microwave. Our old one had not been working since we were in Bonaire. Most appliances in Bonaire were 220 volts instead of 110 volts. The selection and the prices were a lot better here as well. So, I’m again able to have the use a microwave.
We didn’t go to movie night but instead stayed on board and had a late dinner. We defrosted a good size lomito (filet of beef from Bonaire), and I served it with super fresh cauliflower covered with a nice Gouda cheese sauce and potatoes.
We had just barely finished breakfast when Ann stopped by the boat to see if I was able to go with her to the senior’s home. I had totally forgotten that I was to take pictures there today. I apologised and loaned her my camera. Jeffrey (Panache) went along and kept her company.
Rick finished applying the last of the Cetol in the aft cabin while I cleaned out the Nav and tossed a lot of papers we haven’t looked at in years. It was only 1:30PM and we weren’t due at the pool until 2:30PM so I suggested that we just remove the old microwave and install the new one. Although it should have been a 5 minute job I should have known better, there is no such thing as a 5 minute job on a boat. It was 2:45PM when we called it quits and decided to leave it partially installed until tomorrow. Although there was only a ¼ inch difference in size from the old 1985 microwave, all of the supports that keep it from moving as well as the trim on the outside needed to be adjusted.
We joined Sharon and Bill at the pool and a while later Ralph (KaraDream) joined all of us. While we were at the pool our rebuilt outboard motor was delivered right to our boat. We were docked almost right beside the pool so we saw it arrive.
Everyone decided to eat dinner at the Ancla. Ralph who has had his engine lifted to fix an oil leak has it still sitting in his main salon. They may not be able to get the parts needed to repair it until the New Year. He said he might put a sheet of glass on top, set the Christmas tree on the glass and call it metal art. Bill (Makai) has their boat on the hard for a scheduled 2 days. They are now into three days and counting. One of the workers must have wiped the fibreglass with a rough rag because there are fine little scratches all over the hull. They have promised to buff them out but it will take another couple of days. As the workers are painting the antifouling Bill has the inside of the boat pulled apart installing an SSB radio. Meanwhile we have the interior all pulled apart initially while Cetoling but now we’ve created another mess with the microwave installation. So we all sat together at dinner and talked about anything other than boat maintenance.
We don’t have many work days left before the Christmas events begin when we’ll be required to play and have fun. Rick went at the microwave installation today and completed it with flying colours. I could see he was almost finished, I removed the screws that secure the table leafs as they need to be Cetoled. I was also able to empty, clean and reorganise a hanging locker.
All in all it was a productive day. We finished and headed for the pool at 2:30PM. Karen (KaraDream) and Lila (Second Lady) were already there. Later Mainly and Distant Drummer joined us as well. We had a relaxing afternoon and returned to the boat for a dinner of fish we brought from Tortuga, rice, bean salad and the last of the cauliflower.
Sunday morning, a weekend less than one week before Christmas and I had to go shopping for a last minute gift. Karen (KaraDream) joined me and we took a taxi to Exito. Exito is like a super Walmart. The first indication of how busy it was, was the fact that there were no parking spots or carts available. Undaunted we worked our way into the store and found a cart we could share. We didn’t need much but enjoyed going up and down each aisle. It’s the only way to find things that might be an unknown necessity. We eventually made our way to a checkout counter that didn’t stretch to the back of the store and we were home by noon.
Rick meanwhile had been working like a little beaver Cetoling the undersides of the table leaf that I removed for him yesterday. He was finished when we returned and was anxious for a quick lunch so we could go play dominoes. I wanted a siesta more than dominoes so he went alone this time.
He returned just as I awoke from my nap. Since I was well rested and ready to go, I wanted to re-install table leafs. It was an awkward job but not bad. I sat under each leaf and replaced all of the screws. It was no big deal until Rick checked my work. I had put a couple of screws in on an angle (I thought they were just following the existing hole) and they came threw where they shouldn’t. Needless to say he was a little upset. I think the screwdriver has been declared off limits to me. Maybe I should be pleased about that. I’m not sure.
We started the day with a to-do list that sent us both running in different
directions. I called the dentist for an appointment but she will be on
vacation until January. I checked in with North Sails who were to
re-stitch some canvas parts for me where the thread was rotting from the sun.
The canvas was ready so I was able to pick it up and knock that item of the
list. I went to see the laundry lady to pick up my dry cleaning (my one
and only Christmas dress) but it won’t be back until Wednesday. I stopped
to see Carlos (Charlie Alpha) who was to call the butcher with a meat order for
me. He wasn’t in but I left the list with one of his assistants. I
stopped by the Ancla Restaurant and submitted my ballot for the best decorated
boat (some day soon we will get our
lights up), made reservations for Christmas
Eve and Christmas day. Rick arrived and picked up a case of red wine that
Roberto had obtained for us. While we were there lunch seemed appropriate,
so we ordered and within a few minutes Sharon and Bill (Makai) joined us.
We returned to the boat after lunch, I put some laundry to soak and had a
quick nap. At 3PM I left the boat and headed into the barrio with some
other cruisers who were attending a party for the children who live in the area.
It was wonderful. There were hundreds of children and they all mobbed me
as soon as I started taking pictures. They all love to have their picture
taken but more than that, they wait anxiously to see their image on the digital
camera viewer. There were clowns organising face painting and games.
There were also cookies and drinks and gifts for all the children. Donna
and Michael (Wind Witch) had organised the fund raising and went to purchase all
the gifts. The cruising ladies either baked or purchased cookies to
donate. It was a lot of fun but the best was the grand entrance made by
Santa. A van with balloons all over it, honking it’s horn came driving
down the street. As it went by we could see that the back door was open
and Santa and Mrs Claus (Michael and Donna) were sitting on a red skirt that
hung from the floor of the van.
As soon as the children saw this they all raced after the van which didn’t go
too much further before turning around. It returned and Santa descended
into the crowd. The teacher from the local nursery school (the van driver)
quickly had the
children organised and lined up to sit on Santa’s knee. At
this point I left and returned to the marina. In the marina I went
directly up to the office where there was a good size party already in progress
for Arnaldo. Arnaldo is our dockmaster and it was his birthday. Cake
and drinks were supplied by the marina.
Rick was already there but had to leave shortly after I arrived. He
went to check if our dinghy was ready. We had some fiberglass work done on
the floor of our dinghy that provides a wedge for holding the fuel tank in place
along with some warranty fibreglass repairs. He didn’t return which was a good
indication that he was rowing the dinghy back to the boat. It was 5PM when
I left
Arnaldo’s party and hurried to the boat to prepare broccoli and cheese
sauce as our pot luck dish for the Monday night barbecue at 5:30PM. We had
thawed a couple of our huge lobsters to make room in the freezer for our meat
run tomorrow. We had to watch the lobsters carefully on the barbecue, as
there were a lot of cruisers wanting to share them. There was a huge crowd
at the barbecue this night so some wonderful selections of vegetables were
available as well as desserts.
Karen (KaraDream) and I went to La Cava (a butcher store) in Lecheria. Rick came along as well so he could visit the liquor store down the road while we were shopping. Although I had left a meat order for Carlos to call in and order ahead of time, he never got it. So we went to the butcher prepared to shop in the same manner as the Venezuelans. Going to the butcher is almost a social event. There are always many high stools along the meat counter where you can sit and watch the meat being prepared to your specifications. Normally a drink of some type is available, espresso or a cold drink. La Cava is different than most Venezuelan butchers because they are familiar with American cuts. Not the English terms for them, but if we can come up with the Spanish words it’s possible to have a T bone steak, Prime Rib roast or steak, with or without the bone etc. so we had our printed information pages with us on Venezuelan meat. It was fun and we left with more than enough meat to fill our freezers over Christmas and New Years. We had to have the taxi stop and pick up Rick’s boxes before going to Fiorca Plaza in Puerto La Cruz. There, Karen and I got out of the taxi and let Rick return to the marina with all of the purchases so far. I didn’t really need anything when we went into the Fiorca grocery store but this is a store that carries some North American products so it’s easy to get tricked into shopping even when you don’t need anything. I was doing ok until we hit the fresh produce section. There was spinach so fresh it looked like it had been grown in the back yard of the store. Beef steak tomatoes when throughout the Caribbean and South America, plum tomatoes are what are normally available. They had almost every type of fresh spinach. So my grocery cart began to fill.
When we returned to the marina, I defrosted and cleaned the fridge. It
was a tight fit getting everything in. A few of Rick’s beers and a tray of
ice cubes had to be removed to make room. He noticed but didn’t complain.
After lunch, the dinghy engine repair man came to see Rick. Rick had called him this morning because there didn’t seem to be any water coming out of the pilot hole of the dinghy that he just repaired. Rick was concerned that he might have forgotten to connect the hose. It was just a little blockage but the dinghy man did caution Rick that we really have a new outboard again so it must be run a half throttle and with extra oil for a while.
In the afternoon I met with Donna (Wind-Witch) to plan our Christmas Carol
Sing for Thursday while Rick and Bob (Happy Hour) tried to fix our cable TV
connection. Ours hasn’t been working right and Rick tried to replace the
splitter yesterday and since then everyone on the dock has had poor reception.
They at least got it back to where it had been before Rick’s repair job.
The evening was Marie Elena’s birthday party. There was a great turn
out and everyone brought an appetiser to share. Roberto provided free ice,
wine, rum, coke etc. and had the kitchen prepare pizzas for everyone to share.
Later
in the evening an Argentinean band arrived and the party really started to
get going. We eventually returned to the boat and hit the sack.
Our outboard motor sounds great again and now we’re working at breaking it in. This could take a while so we decided to take the dinghy through the canal to Plaza Mayor. Sharon and Bill (Makai) came along in their dinghy. When we were a little more than half way to the plaza, their dinghy motor started acting up. It stalled continually. Between their outboard stalling and us only being able to run our engine at half throttle it was a slow trip. When we arrived many of the stores were already closed for siesta. Some, maybe because of Christmas were still open. We roamed through the mall looking in windows and searching for a gift that would cost 20,000 Bs (under $10) or less for the gift exchange on Christmas Eve. Sharon found the item she was looking for at one store but it was 22,000 Bs. Eventually she found the same thing for 19,900 Bs.
The item I wanted to purchase was 22, 000 Bs and when I told the owner that
it was for a gift and I wasn’t supposed to spend more than 20,000 Bs, he dropped
the price for me. We were all very pleased with our purchases. After
a drink at the fresh fruit stand we went into Unicasa for a few last minute
items before travelling by dinghy back to the marina.
We had a late lunch, early dinner on board. Rick barbecued some wonderful chicken breasts from La Cava and I cooked fresh corn on the cob. We finished off the meal with some huge local strawberries that we had picked up at Unicasa.
There was no time to wash the dishes because the ballots were being counted at the Ancla for the best decorated boat and there were free drinks and appetisers. Immediately afterwards (6:30PM) we met in our dinghies to do a flotilla up the canal looking at the Christmas lights.
We led the way in the flotilla with Marie Elena in our dinghy.
Somewhere in the midst of the flotilla was Roberto with our boat horn
permanently attached to his lips. We couldn’t see him but we could
certainly hear him. There were not a lot of Christmas lights up yet but we
still had a great time. There were at least 15 dinghies all shining a
light and some with bells and horns. People came out on their balconies
and decks to wave and take pictures. We all yelled and sometimes sang
Feliz Navidad.
Many of us went the whole length of the canal while some turned around when we decided to continue all the way to Plaza Mayor (again) and then Mare Mares. It was 9PM when we finally arrived back at the marina and our dirty dishes.
After breakfast this morning we started our Christmas cleaning. I
washed ceilings, walls and cupboards. Rick washed the outside of the boat
and waxed the hull. It’s a tradition we have brought from home that I like
everything to be absolutely spotless when I go to bed on Christmas Eve.
It doesn’t matter if everything gets messed on Christmas Day I just like to awaken with no chores on my mind that day. Rick even had time to finally put up some Christmas lights. They were only placed in and around the cockpit. He thinks we might get a couple of years out of the new lights hanging them this way.
We finished in lots of time to be up at El Ancla Restaurant by 4:30PM.
There was an early happy hour today so that we could lubricate our voice box
before a Carol Sing. We started singing Carols in the restaurant led by
Michael (Wind Witch, AKA Santa) and then walked up and down the docks singing as
we went. One lady mentioned that we were singing one of the Carols in the
wrong key. I think that if she listened carefully she would have found
there was a choice of keys. There was certainly more than one being used.
When the Carol Sing was finished we returned to El Ancla to soothe our throat with another drink. Marie Elena served her roasted beer basted chicken as a special that night and we watched the Polar Express, which was a really nice animated movie.
Only a few last minute cleaning chores and then we hung the stockings on the
fireplace and put up the rest of the indoor decorations.
On the net this morning the laundry lady asked everyone to pick up their laundry before noon. She also said that if we brought laundry in today it wouldn’t be ready until Tuesday as they were closing for the holidays. I thought that would work out well for us because we have company arriving on Wednesday. I gathered up stacks of laundry, which even included our comforter. Rick took it in for me and when he returned he announced that it would all be ready today by 6PM. This was a nice unexpected treat. In fact it was ready at 5PM.
We joined Sharon, Bill (Makai), Steve (Nonsuch), Bob, Susan (Pipe Dream),
Jeffrey and Nancy (Panache) at a table in El Ancla Restaurant for a traditional
Christmas Eve Dinner. The menu was leg of pork, hallaca, ham, mixed
vegetable salad (Ensalada de Gallina) and bread with ham and raisins rolled in
it. Our dessert was Black Cake (fruitcake) and Quesillo (similar to Crème
de Caramel).
It was a wonderful meal and of course Roberto and Marie Elena encouraged everyone as they finished, to go into the kitchen and have the cooks give them seconds. They work very hard at making this restaurant our home away from home.
Jeffrey directed a gift exchange, which was fun for those of us that
participated. When it was your turn to get a gift you had a choice of
taking one that had already been opened from someone else (they got to choose a
new unopened one) or taking your chances with the unopened gifts. I ended
up with a Pyrex thermal bag that I can use to keep my potluck dishes warm.
We returned to the boat and went to bed Christmas Eve under beautiful clear skies and a gentle warm breeze.
We awoke to a beautiful clear and sunny day. We had a light breakfast
knowing that we were going to consume a lot of food today. Our plan was to
spend some time at the pool in the morning but we started making phone calls to
talk to family back home and before we knew it the morning was almost gone.
I cleaned and prepared cauliflower and broccoli so that later in the afternoon I would only have to cook the vegetables and make a cheese sauce.
We had two Christmas dinners to attend today. The first was at noon in
El Ancla Restaurant. Marie Elena did a wonderful job of preparing a
North
American style turkey dinner for the cruisers. When we left the restaurant
we needed a siesta before preparing for the next meal. Susan, Don and
little 15 month old Evan (land lubbers living in a condo) invited Sharon, Bill (Makai),
their friend Eric and us for Christmas dinner. Don and Eric work for one
of the oil companies. Everyone prepared a portion of the meal but Susan did a
great job of cooking a nice moist turkey for dinner. Evan entertained
everyone with his antics and new toys. Later in the evening we all waddled
back to our boats swearing off food for at least the rest of the year.
We slept a little later than normal today. Rick made us a nice breakfast of
poached eggs and bacon. He worked on replacing a couple of our screens on
the large ports while I worked on updating the links on our web site. It
took me most of the morning as there were some that were no longer working that
had to be deleted or changed and there were some new ones we wanted to add.
I think they are just about ready but we’ll wait awhile because I know others
will come to mind.
We had turkey sandwiches for lunch at El Ancla. In the afternoon we took it easy and prepared for Sharon’s birthday party. We had a pot luck appetiser birthday party at the barbecue area. Even Roberto and Marie Elena stopped by to say Happy Birthday. Although they couldn’t stay, Roberto sent a couple of pizza’s for us all to share.
The highlight of the party was when Rick presented Sharon with a “hose clamp”
ring as a gift. Sharon and Bill are not married and Sharon appreciates any
hints or encouragement we can provide to Bill.
Rick and Bill (Makai) wanted to go to a hardware store (Ferka) in Lecheria in the morning so I tagged along. We went by dinghy to Plaza Mayor and then took a taxi the rest of the way. It was a large store but more like a small Wal-Mart than a home depot. We roamed up and down the aisles and found a few things to buy. We started walking back to Plaza Mayor and found a good size department store that we will visit again another day. It was a slow dinghy ride home again since we’re still running half throttle.
We arrived back at the boat and I made up some potato salad for the potluck dinner in the evening. The barbecue area had a full house and the potluck had great selections as a lot of people brought guests.
After dinner Rick and I went up to the Restaurant to see Marie Elena as she wanted to give me information to announce on the Net about the New Years Eve party.
We sat for a while and talked with Makai, Blind Date and Marnel IV.
Finely at 8:30PM we returned to the boat. It was 9PM when we heard someone yelling “Wind-Burn III”. We recognised the voice immediately and jumped out on deck to welcome Bob, Marta and Vivian (Sirena). We met them in the restaurant a few minutes later to catch up on almost a year’s worth of news. It’s good to have them back with us again. In addition to Vivian they had 5 friends travelling with them from the States. The eight of them are all going to Angel Falls for New Years.
Wouldn’t you know it! All of our chores are done and we thought we would spend the day in the pool. Mondays (yesterday) the pool is closed for cleaning. I don’t know what they did but they certainly got the chemicals wrong. The water looked terrible. They shocked it in the morning so hopefully it will be better tomorrow. Meanwhile, we had to find another way to spend our day. Rick waxed the cockpit while I prepared the computer for it’s year-end backup, which is due soon.
We had a lazy afternoon and watched a DVD while we ate dinner onboard.
This is the day our company arrives. We haven’t seen our friend Carol
in almost a couple of years. We quickly tidied the boat and then went to
the restaurant for lunch.
While we were in the restaurant a lady (Suzanna) approached us and asked if we would be willing to let them use our boat in the making of a commercial for mineral water. The film will be shown in Austria. They would need our boat to be docked at another marina on January 7th. It sounded like fun to us so we agreed. We will have to move it there the day before and then on the 7th while they are shooting they will not only provide our meals (we’ll eat with the crew) but they’ll pay us as well. They need 2 boats so we went to see if Ralph and Karen on KaraDream wanted to join in. Ralph was a little hesitant and wanted to think about it. He’ll let us know tomorrow.
It was time to leave for the airport when we finished talking with the
Suzanne. Raphael our taxi driver was already at the gate waiting for us.
Carol’s flight arrived right on time and she was out of the plane in seconds. We returned to the marina in time for a birthday party for Jaime at the Ancla. We stayed for dinner but left while the party was still underway. We were all tired and ready for sleep.
We all slept a little later than normal. In fact I almost missed giving
the announcements on the net. We had pancakes for breakfast in the cockpit
then Carol and I went to the pool. The water in the pool was looking much
better than it had a few days ago. We sat in the shade and eventually went
in for a quick dip. Meanwhile
Rick went with Bill (Makai) to pick up a few
boat parts at the Auto Boat Centre. When he returned he was ready for
lunch. We had a quick bite at the Ancla then jumped in the dinghy.
We took another (half throttle) ride to Plaza Mayor. We didn’t stay at the
plaza very long just picked up a few things and hurried back to the boat.
I put the groceries away and then went to meet Carol and Rick who were already
at the restaurant and into happy hour. While we were there another lady
called from the Film Company. She wanted to confirm that we were still
willing to work with them and told us how much we would be paid. When I
told Ralph (KaraDream) they confirmed that they’d be willing to be involved as
well. We then joined a gang at the
restaurant for dinner and the movie but
didn’t stay for the end. The DVD was a copy and the sound wasn’t very
good. Back at the boat I called home using our Christmas present from
Kelly; a new web cam, Carol brought down with her.
We wanted to pace ourselves today in order to be able to stay up for the celebrations at midnight.
It was sunny and hot so we spent most of the day at the pool. Poor
Sharon (Makai) tried to nap by the pool in the morning but Rick continually woke
her by sprinkling water over her. It was 3PM when we returned to the boat
after lunch for our siesta. The New Years Eve party began at 7PM with
dinner served at 8PM.
Everyone danced, in fact the place was hopping with
Rock and Roll until just before midnight when the champagne was served.
Meanwhile there were more fireworks going off at midnight around Puerto La Cruz
for New years Eve than there is in Canada on July 1st. We toasted in the
New Year and then returned to the boat to change into our swimsuits. The
Canadian cruisers all met at the pool for our second annual Polar Bear Dip.
There were a lot of Venezuelans already in the pool but we just dropped in a few
ice cubes and then jumped in ourselves. We were warm until we emerged from
the water into the night air. Rick had brought along some drinks but we
changed our mind and returned to the boat again. This time to warm up and
get ready for bed.
