July 1, 2005, Puerto La Cruz, VenezuelaWe awoke to an overcast sky and had a thunderstorm before 8AM. It's not supposed to rain in the mornings only in the afternoons. It was the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone), causing the weather not a tropical wave. A tropical wave would pass by and be gone within a couple of hours but the ITCZ will sit until it decides to move south again.
Rick went to get our fresh baguette from the mini mart and while he was there Karen asked if he would help her with a pump problem she was having with one of the boats she was looking after.
I wanted to make some potato salad and hamburgers for the Canada Day barbecue
party so having the morning to do this was perfect. In the afternoon as the rain
continued we received an announcement that the barbecue was cancelled and the
party would take place in the restaurant.
I had told Marie Elena that I would make hamburgers for her family as well so we went downstairs and asked if she would like us to bring the burgers and salad to the restaurant to cook. Sure enough, the cooks took everything and put it together so that it looked very professional.
Marie Elena had her desert lady make a lovely large cake decorated as a Canadian Flag which she served to everyone for desert.
Oh sure, today we awoke to a beautiful sunny sky. Rick pumped the rain water out of the dinghy and borrowed a life jacket from Steve (Nonesuch) so that he could dinghy over to Aqua-Vi and pick up our life jackets from the boat. He was surprised to find that another coat of primer had been applied before all the rain yesterday. It was the weekend so regardless of all the sun, nothing more would be done on the boat until Monday.
It was 2:30PM when Rick returned. He had charged the batteries and serviced some of the seacocks. Our seacocks have a nipple on them. Rick uses a grease gun to insert a little grease once a year to keep them lubricated so they open and close easily.
It was a little too late (for us) to go anywhere else so we got changed and went to the pool. We joined Lorne and Wendy (Kamytoo) who were already there.
I cooked dinner in the apartment (I started to type "onboard" again). We had some of the chicken I had purchased and frozen from La Cava. It's a good thing that I bought a lot when we were last there because the government has closed them and Catalana (another butcher in Lecheria) for a week due to over charging. Beef is extremely inexpensive in Venezuela as the rates are set and controlled by the government.
There was no rush to do anything this morning. We both slept late (Rick has adjusted to sleeping on land) and then had a big breakfast of bacon and eggs. There was no reason to go to the boat today but we dinghied past and had a look on our way to Plaza Mayor. It was a little crazy to go to the mall on a Sunday of a long weekend (it was packed) but we needed a few things.
In the afternoon I went down to the restaurant and helped Jeanne (Dragon Fly) and Marie Elena prepare the biggest batch of potato salad I have ever seen.
The weather forecast was not very promising for the day. There was a very
active tropical wave with a low pressure associated with it that was to pass
over us today. Meanwhile the painters were trying to get two coats of paint on
the boat today. We somehow lucked out and it didn't rain all day.
In the morning after Rick returned from the boat we went downtown to a fabric store where we bought some mosquito netting. I want to make a tent of netting for the cockpit for next time we go to Laguna Grande.
There were so many flies last time that without the netting I think I would go somewhere else.
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We spent the afternoon at the pool with Lorne and Wendy (Kamytoo). It was
just before 6PM when we arrived at the restaurant for the July 4th party. The
place was packed but we found a couple of seats with Edie and Michael (Panda).
The meal was good old fashioned North American fat hamburgers or hot dogs with
home made baked beans, potato salad, corn on the cob and all of the beer, rum
punch or fruit punch that we could drink ($8 per person). It was great. We left
at 8:45PM, just 15 minutes before the violinist and guitarist arrived but if we
had stayed longer it would have been difficult to leave until after performance
(11PM).
After listening to the weather forecast on the net this morning one would
stay inside and batten down the hatches except for the fact that the tropical
storm they were using to instill fear into everyone was more than 100 miles north
of us.
We ignored the report and went by dinghy over to Aqua-Vi where we found the workers were preparing to paint the narrow white stripe on the boat.
We watched them finish the taping and then spray the one side before we left. While watching, one of the other workers picked some mangos off a tree in the yard and offered me a few. I accepted one and joined them in eating a sweet small mango.
When we returned to the marina we found that some of the locals were setting up tables and balloons around the pool for a birthday party.
Mobs of children had already arrived and were splashing around in the pool.
They had even hired a hot dog vender who had set up his cart in the pool area
for the party. Rick and I decided to relax in the apartment rather than the pool
today.
It was after 5:30PM when we changed for dinner and went to the security gate to wait for Wendy and Lorne (Kamytoo). It was their 36th wedding anniversary and they had invited us to join them for dinner. We went to DaGiorgio's Restaurant where they were not disappointed. I had been raving about this restaurant and that's why they chose it for their special celebration. A table nearby us was having some sort of a party as well. Two of the men there played their guitars and sang great Spanish songs all evening. Everyone in the restaurant enjoyed listening to them. The meal was excellent and the service more than perfect. We had a wonderful special evening with Wendy and Lorne.
We awoke to a rainy morning again. This time it was a feeder band to Tropical Storm Dennis causing the rain. Since we couldn't do anything at the boat again, we went to the dentist. A rainy day check-up and cleaning was on the to-do list. When we arrived at the dental office, (Dr. Suaraz) we found a few people already there. Later we learned that they were waiting for one of the other dentists. Dr. Suaraz had decided that there probably wouldn't be any patients today because of the heavy rain so he stayed home. The receptionist called him when we arrived and he hurried to the office for us. We were in and out in less than a couple of hours. Just down the road from the dentist is the hearing clinic. I haven't had my hearing tested for years and since it was still raining and we had nothing else to do, we went to have my hearing tested. I passed the test with flying colours.
It was lunch time and we had to walk past Pollo El Ray (our favourite chicken place) so we had to stop for lunch. The chicken was so good that we decided to have chicken again for dinner so we took chicken, yucca and coleslaw home for dinner.
When we awoke after a short siesta we found the rain had stopped but the sky was still overcast. Karen from the mini mart called to ask if she could have Rick help her so that solved our issue of what to do next.
While Rick was helping Karen I went down to the restaurant to check for email.
When we looked out the glass sliding doors in the morning, the sky looked very promising. We had breakfast, listened to the net and then headed over to Aqua-Vi in the dinghy. When we arrived we found Lawrence (Meander) in the haul out slip. We met Lawrence a couple of years ago in Carriacou.
The workers were taping the stencil of our name on the boat. Most of the brown paper had been removed and the stripe looked great. Since we were able to get aboard again we both started into our chores. Armando, the stainless steel guy came by to take a few more measurements. Rick scraped the dynaplates and cleaned a few of the thru hulls. I was able to get 4 more winches serviced which left me only 3 more to do. At lunch time, Rick walked out of the resort with the workers and picked up lunch. This time it was chicken, pasta, salad and plantain.
Just after lunch we had the normal afternoon rainstorm. As soon as it cleared, we returned to our apartment at Bahia Redonda. I though Marie Elena was going to make chicken casserole (beer basted roasted chicken) for dinner tonight so I hadn't taken anything out of the freezer. We met her and Roberto at the dinghy dock when we arrived and they were leaving to purchase new large screen for showing movies in the restaurant. She was going to serve the chicken dinner tomorrow night.
I finally got around to cutting out the fabric for our noodle seats. It is easy to sew onboard the boat but it's very difficult to find enough room to lay out the fabric to pin and cut a pattern. I thought it would be wise to take advantage of all the counter space in the apartment.
The laundry lady was extremely backed up so instead of leaving our laundry with her I washed some of it by hand and hung it on a small clothes dryer that sits inconspicuously on the balcony.
We had leftovers for dinner and spent the evening in the apartment.
It looked like another promising day. We left for Aqua-Vi right after
breakfast. The painters had covered the Wind-Borne III stencil with plastic
yesterday to protect it from the rain. This morning they were ready to spray
paint the name back onto the boat. The other workers were finishing off
polishing the topsides.
I spent the morning servicing the last 3 winches for a total of 10. It was a good feeling to be finished with that job. It will probably take a while for the toxins from the diesel fuel (that I used to clean the winches) to get out of my system. Rick spent most of the morning ensuring that the dynaplates were scraped. Since he had the time, he wanted them to be spotlessly clean.
The workers started applying the antifouling paint before lunch.
Normally I apply the four inches of hard paint around the waterline and have them apply the ablative paint below that. They said they didn't mind applying both. I think I would have slowed them down because they taped and applied the hard paint as well as the ablative up to the tape.
They said that they will have everything finished and be ready to launch us this Monday.
We walked across the yard and found that Armando (the stainless man) had finished welding the steel bars for our butterfly hatch and would be over to the boat tomorrow. We then walked over to Orient Canvas. They had a few more small items of canvas ready for us but I had asked them to hold them for us until we could get back on the boat. Now I just wanted to find out how much I owed them. They made us 4 new jerry can covers, a mast boot, 4 winch covers and a cover for our GPS antenna. We have had a cover on the radar unit for a couple of years and it has protected it well from the sun without affecting the performance of the unit so Rick decided to cover the little GPS antenna as well.
We had brought some chicken salad sandwiches to the boat for lunch and after eating them, Rick and I both settled down for a short siesta. The workers all do the same but they each have either a piece of a cardboard box or a small piece of foam for their head that they lay on the gravel in the shadow of the boats throughout the yard. We made ourselves a little more comfortable by having our siesta in the cabin. At 2 PM everyone awoke and got back to work, including us.
When we returned to the apartment, we showered and changed before going to the restaurant for dinner. Marie Elena made roasted chicken with a citrus sauce for the dinner special and we didn't want to miss it (especially since we had requested it).
As usual, we made our way over to Aqua-Vi in the morning. The yard was unusually quiet. Victor (the manager) had forgotten to tell us that he had given everyone the day off. They normally only work a half day on Saturdays so it was not a big deal. When I mentioned to Victor that we still had another gallon of antifouling for them to apply he assured us that they would take care of it on Monday and we could launch on Tuesday. I paid our bill with Aqua-Vi while I was there and learned that Victor really hadn't charged us for yard time. I told him that I would check with him for any amount owning on Tuesday when we launch but he assured me that there wouldn't be any additional charges. If we had chosen to do all of the work ourselves I'm sure that the yard time would have been charged but since we were paying labour, Victor gave us a deal.
I didn't have a lot to do at the boat so while Rick was greasing the last of the thru-hulls, I walked over to Orient Canvas and picked up a few of the small items they had made for us. When Rick was finished with the thru-hulls he moved out to the cockpit to paint the wind generator while I put the boat interior back together.
After we left Aqua-Vi, we dinghied over to Plaza Mayor to pick up a few groceries before returning to the apartment.
It was after lunchtime when we returned to Bahia Redonda. Jeannie (Dragonfly) was on deck as we were passing so we stopped to discuss peanut butter. Jeannie has half a dozen jars of Jiffy peanut butter which she doesn't like. Initially, Rick was going to hold out until he could find some Skippy peanut butter but it's been weeks and he hasn't been able to locate any brand of peanut butter. I think he's relaxed his standards a little and is starting to believe that any peanut butter is better than none. He agreed to buy 1 jar from Jeannie for a taste test.
As we were carrying our groceries up to the apartment, we walked by the restaurant and found our friends Bill and Sharon (Makai) had returned.
We stopped for a hug and promised to return and join them for a drink as soon as the groceries were put away.
After our visit with Sharon and Bill we had to go see Lynn and Mike (Wombat of Sydney). Lynn bought a new washing machine and she wanted me to see it. It was almost perfect. It was a single drum and very compact compared to the double drum washers that most cruisers use. It had different water levels and automatic settings. The only negative was that the drum was stainless steel instead of plastic so it will eventually rust. We took the measurements just in case we can find room onboard Wind-Borne III (16 inches wide and 161/2 inches deep). We were both starving so returned to the apartment again, this time for (a late) lunch.
It was a nice day but being a weekend, the pool was a little crowded so we remained inside (air conditioned) and watched TV until dinner time.
Dinner was a vegetable stir fry, rice and lomito (filet of beef).
It was Sunday and an excellent day to relax. Rick went to the boat and applied a last coat of paint on the wind generator. That was about it for the day we just hung around and enjoyed the condo.
We went to Aqua-Vi and arrived before any of the workers. Rick put out the last gallon of antifouling paint for them. He polished the stainless steel under the bowsprit which is much easier to do with the scaffolding available in the yard than trying to balance in the dinghy when we are afloat.
While Rick was working on the boat, I did a couple of loads of laundry in the Aqua-Vi Laundromat.
I only resorted to this extreme measure because the laundry lady at Bahia Redonda was totally backed up. I was the first person there so the heat from the driers had not made the room unbearable yet. When the laundry was finished I returned to the boat but there wasn't really much for me to do there so I took a taxi and the laundry back to the apartment.
Initially I thought the time alone in the condo would give me some time to prepare a pot luck dish for the barbecue in the evening. After a glance at the sky to the east I could tell that the barbecue would be rained out this evening. I turned on the handheld VHF in case Rick should try to call me from the boat. Almost immediately I had a call from Karen in the MiniMart. She had been trying to reach us all morning.
Rick had evidently told her that we would return the keys to the apartment to her this morning. This was a shock to me as I understood that we had the apartment for a few more days. There was someone else that had rented the apartment as of today. The penthouse was available for one night so she decided to use that for the other person until we could get our things packed etc.
I quickly grabbed another taxi and returned to Aqua-Vi to inform Rick that I could use his help. He returned to the apartment with me but by then it was almost dinner time. We had a light dinner and as soon as we were finished I began packing. The number of things we had acquired during the last 2 weeks was unbelievable. It was going to be difficult for anyone to clean the apartment for the next person since we hadn't left them any time. So after Rick went to bed, I started cleaning the kitchen and living room area. It was almost midnight when I finished washing the tile floors.
We were both up at 6AM. After a quick breakfast I cleaned the bedroom and Rick tackled the bathrooms. We packed the items from the refrigerator in the cooler bag to take with us to the boat but everything else we left in a cart that we would wheel down to the boat later in the morning. The apartment was spotless. The only thing left for Karen to do was to place a chocolate on the pillows.
We took a taxi to Aqua-Vi to prepare the boat for launch. As soon as the workers saw us arriving they started the travel lift. We stayed on board while they lifted the boat and gently launched us into the water. There was a half hour wait while we waited for the paint to dry a little on the bottom of the keel where the blocks had been.
We were back in our slip and had the cart full of our belonging back on board before noon. It took awhile to put everything away but it felt good to be floating again.
It was Edie's birthday (Panda) and she and Michael invited Sharon, Bill (Makai) and us to celebrate with them by having dinner at Da Giorgio's Restaurant. It was a great dinner and a fun evening. When we returned to the marina, the violinist and guitarist were already performing at the restaurant so we all went and listened for a while.
July 13, 2005, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela Happy Birthday Rick!!!Since it was Rick's birthday today I asked him what he would like for breakfast. He could have chosen anything at all but he asked for poached eggs. I don't make poached eggs, that's one of his specialties. He didn't care, so poached eggs it was with bacon and toast cooked by the birthday boy himself.
It was my responsibility to keep him from hearing the net. Lois (Calico Clam) announced that Marie Elena had baked a large cake for Rick and everyone was invited to share it with him this evening.
The Venezuelan government issued a storm warning for the north coast of Venezuela because of Hurricane Emily. The Port Captain announced that he was restricting vessels from leaving Puerto La Cruz. The restriction was really intended for all of the huge fuel tankers but it caused a few people to panic thinking that the hurricane may be closer than it should be.
Rick spent the morning topping up the jerry cans and gas tank on the dinghy. Finally I told him he was not allowed to do any more work on his birthday. We went for a walk, had lunch, a short siesta and spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool.
Dinner was at the Ancla Restaurant where I had ordered Paella for 2 people in
advance. Sharon and Bill (Makai) changed my order to Paella for 4 people and
joined us. Everyone had been wishing Rick Happy Birthday all day and while we
were in the restaurant many people came and joined us. The waiters had to keep
pulling over additional tables as more and more people joined the party. The
cake that Marie Elena provided had a great picture of Rick on it. It was
amazing.
It was a great day. We finished breakfast and welcomed a lady whose name I can't pronounce or remember even though she told me at least three times. I had originally hired this lady to clean the apartment but since the apartment is now history I thought I would let her instead clean the boat. She has been working inside and outside on Cool Running for almost a month. She works non stop regardless of the heat. I gave her all of the cleaning supplies and asked her to wash walls, louver doors and floors. Rick and I then left with Arnoldo who we had hired as a taxi for the morning. We first stopped at Aqua-Vi to talk to Armando about the status of our steel bars. He was in Barcelona so we said we would call him tomorrow. We stopped next at Makro which is a Venezuelan style Costco. There we started to provision for a few months away from major stores. We purchased all we could there and the stopped at an automotive store and liquor store for a few necessities on Rick's list.
When we returned to the boat, the interior was spotless and our cleaning lady had already started washing the deck. She helped us lug all of the supplies on board and then we invited her to join us at the restaurant for lunch. It was almost a repeat of last night. More and more people arrived and we joined many tables together creating an afternoon party.
Tom and Paula (Miss P) arrived from St. Croix. They had passed just in front of the hurricane and after a few days at sea were pleased to be back in Puerto La Cruz.
After lunch, our cleaning lady helped Rick clean all of the ring coral off of the outboard motor and dinghy. It was unbelievable how much coral had grown on both during the 2 weeks (while on the hard) that we had left the dinghy in the water. While they scraped and scrubbed, I put away all of the groceries. Although it was only 3:30PM I felt we had all worked long enough and hard enough today. We thanked and paid the cleaning lady who charges $12 a day then Rick and I hit the pool.
Although there was the Tropical Strom warming in effect we had a lovely sunny day with no rain. Dinner was on board and Rick fell asleep on the settee before I even had a chance to finish washing the dishes.
The rigger was to arrive on our boat at 10AM. We had asked him to help us tune the rigging before we leave. I pulled out the sewing machine and made a huge mosquito netting to cover the cockpit over top of the dodger and bimini. We saw another boat with this set up when we were in Laguna Grande where the flies were unbearable. We want to return there but this time we'll be prepared. I also sewed one of the noodle seats so that we could give it a trial run in the pool during the afternoon.
The rigger never did arrive; he got tied up with another boat. In the afternoon, just as we finished lunch, the mechanics from Aqua-Vi arrived. We were having a difficult conversation. Rick had asked them if they could find a carburetor for our little 2 HP outboard. I gather they hadn't found one so they wanted to clean the carburetor but Rick had already done that. Then we got into a conversation of whether we had a seal kit for it. I think that question took the longest to sort out.
While the mechanics were at the boat, Jack (Mystic Adventure) came by. He has been taking Spanish lessons but had difficulty as well. Eventually we let the mechanics take the engine with an agreement that what ever they were going to do with it, would cost us Bs 30,000 ($12).
When they left, Rick went with Jack to his boat to try and help him with a refrigeration problem and a VHF radio problem. While he was gone, Armando, the stainless steel guy came by to take a few more measurements. Evidently, Victor the manager at Aqua-Vi had told him that we were waiting for the stainless work to be finished so we could leave.
When everyone was gone it was too late for a siesta so we took the noodle and seat to the pool. The seat was a good fit so I'll make a couple more.
We had dinner at the Ancla restaurant with Britt (Sea Otter). It was Friday night but only half the band arrived. We remained in the restaurant after eating while a strong thunderstorm went through. It was about 8:30PM when we returned to the boat.
Well, this morning we thought that Armando was coming back with our new security bars. He didn’t, but I was able to finish all my sewing and mending. Rick took the laundry in for me and picked up a fresh chicken from the fruit stand down the road. He also put a new gasket on one of the small ports which leaked a little. It wasn’t a bad leak but it was from the port right above my head over the bed. This was the (touch wood) last little leak we had on board. With all of the heavy rain there has not been a drop inside the boat.
Just before lunch I checked email and found some news from our friends in Carriacou. Hurricane Emily hit Carriacou much harder than Ivan had last year. Although many of the mountain roads were blocked, our friends Roy and Susan and their house were fine. They sent us news of a good friend Howard (Serendipity) who was aboard his boat in the bay rather than in the mangroves and was washed out to sea along with one of Jerry’s tug boats. Howard is handicapped having had polio when he was younger and he was alone on his trawler. He called for help but there were no boats in the water and the winds were over 100 mph. Later, Roy and Susan rented a boat and went out looking for him but found nothing at his last known location. The good news was that after 18 hours, he was found in his dinghy by a freighter on it’s way to Trinidad.
Although the boat was lost, Howard was safe and his wife Marsha who was in the U.S. at the time flew to Trinidad to be with him.
The sky was quite overcast when we awoke. It was the perfect day for Rick to wash the rigging (his idea). We had a quick breakfast and then got started. I don’t know anyone else that scrubs all of their stays and mast from top to bottom. In fact, I explained to Rick that the thin coating of dirt probably provides a protective coating on the metal. He wouldn’t go for it. So as he swung like a monkey from the mast out to the shrouds with the scrubber and hose, I stood on deck to raise or lower the halyard holding him, as I talked to passer-by’s who were all in awe that he would think to do such a thing.
It was noon when our rig stood sparkling in the sun and we went below for lunch and a siesta.
In the afternoon, I made some chilli con queso to take with us to a Mexican night. We had been invited aboard Miss P by Tom and Paula who returned a couple of days ago from St.Croix, crossing just ahead of Hurricane Emily. It was a fun evening. Paula had spent the day preparing not just some Mexican appetisers but dinner as well. Jeannie, Andy (Dragonfly), Lani, Peter (Marnel IV), Lois, Gary (Calico Clam) and ourselves had a wonderful time with our hosts Tom and Paula. It was after 10PM when the party broke up.
July 18, 2005, Puerto La Cruz, VenezuelaThe Rigger arrived as promised, first thing this morning. He checked the stays, looked up the mast and said that the rig was pretty well tuned.
If anything we could tighten the backstay just a few more turns. While he was still onboard, Armando and his assistant arrived with our stainless steel security bars. It took the two of them most of the morning to install the bars but the job was finished when they left and we were pleased.
Dinner was lomito (filet of beef) that we were originally going to take to
the potluck but it was a little to wet for that. Rick decided to barbecue on
board and became a little upset when
the regulator for the barbecue was not
working again. We have gone through enough regulators on our Magma barbecue that
we could have purchased a couple of complete new barbecues with the money we
have spent on regulators. We take extremely good care of the regulators keeping
them indoors and double bagged in a Ziploc but still we can not get more than a
few months of use out of them. It was good that we had one last unopened
regulator left or I think the barbecue may have ended up overboard. In the end
we had a nice dinner and the meat was barbecued perfectly.
Since the boat was ready to go it was time to get serious about leaving
Puerto La Cruz. We cashed our last cheque knowing that this was the final time
we would be millionaires for a long time. Currently the exchange rate is only Bs
2400 per $1 U.S. This is
the worst it has been since we’ve been in Venezuela but
we still get to handle millions of Bs each month.
We first helped Sharon and Bill (Makai) change slips. They were previously located way around on the wall near the fuel dock. They are now on the floating dock just a few slips from us. As soon as their boat was secure we left and took a taxi to CM (a grocery store down town).
Without buying any meats or fresh produce we still left CM with an
overflowing cart. We returned to the marina in time to get everything onboard
before the rain started. Although everything was unpacked, we left stowing it
until we returned from our next shopping spree. Unicasa in Plaza Mayor almost
completed the dry goods list but not quite. It was a learning experience when we
returned back to the boat. Rick had locked up using our new security bars but
had forgotten to take the keys. It took a while, but since he was around during
the installation and could borrow tools from
Bill (Makai) we eventually were
able to get into the boat. I don’t think he’ll do that again.
It was 6:30PM by the time the last bag was onboard. It was then that the real work began. Everything had to be stored in an organized manner. I didn’t create an inventory this time as we have been keeping everything in basically the same place for almost 4 years. Hopefully we’ll remember where when we need something. By 8:30 PM everything was stowed and we were totally exhausted. Neither of us wanted anything for dinner so I turned on the TV and promptly fell asleep for a couple of hours. Rick did the same.
We had quite a few small stops to make today so we hired Roger, one of the taxi drivers, for a couple of hours. It took us less than 2 hours and we were able to pick up most things that we went for, by lunch time.
In the afternoon we went out shopping again. This was an adventure. We went out after the regular afternoon rain storm but while it was still drizzling. The roads were unbelievable. The first few streets we drove along were backlogged with vehicles and the water on the roads was above the hubcaps of the cars. On the last street, only the 4x4’s were travelling without trouble. The normal Toyotas and small cars like we were travelling in had a few waves washing up over the hood.
We slowly but surely made our way to Exito, another large grocery store.
There were only a couple of dozen people shopping in the whole store.
With no line up at the cash registers we were out in no time. Thinking it would be doubtful that any taxi would want to take us back through the oceans of water, we stood and wondered as we waited, what route he would take.
It was a short wait and the taxi took us back the very same route we had come but to our amazement, there was no water on the road. We realized afterwards that it was all the rain water running down the hills and mountains into the town that caused the flooding. Since Puerto La Cruz sits right on the ocean drainage was not a problem. It was interesting and easy to see how some towns can easily experience flash flooding.
We’re starting to pick up the pace in order to be ready to leave this weekend. In the morning, I went to the grocery store at the Fiorca plaza to pick up some ground beef. I prefer the ground beef from this store.
They took a nice cut of beef (I have no idea what cut) and trimmed most of the fat off before grinding it for me. The ground beef here seems to have more flavour than the same thing purchased at La Cava (a butcher) where it is so lean it’s almost tasteless and a little dry. While I was shopping, Rick went to help Jack (Mystic Adventure) with his refrigeration problems again.
We had a quick lunch at the restaurant and then left with Arnaldo (the taxi driver) who we had booked for the afternoon. We first stopped at the Japanese Bazaar to pick up some new galley scissors. I’m not sure what Rick used our old ones for but they broke. Next stop was the dried fruit and nut store where I purchased a few kilos of different dried fruits to stash on board as snacks. We had to make a short stop at CM (another grocery store) to pick up some more Gouda cheese. None of the stores that sometimes carry Irish cheddar had any in stock so we’ll just substitute Gouda for cheddar. CM carry’s a midsize waxed wheel of the type of a local Gouda that we like. Our last stop was La Cava where I bought a little too much meat. Rick had to give up the space of both his ice cube trays in the freezer and there is no room left for the shrimps and fish I was going to buy at the fish market. Hopefully we’ll meet some fishermen when we’re out there. If worst comes to worst we can always drop a hook in the water for fish it’s just the shrimps we might not be able to get.
When everything was put away we both just wanted a snack and sleep.
Since we didn’t have to go to the fish market this morning we took a taxi and went straight to the central public market for fresh produce. I commented to Rick that it is such a colourful and large market and yet we haven’t taken any pictures of it. The reason, of course is, that although the market is very safe it is also very crowded and pick pockets can often be a problem. I didn’t want to risk losing our camera so we’ve never taken it with us. The other problem is that our hands are loaded down with heavy bags so it would be difficult to take pictures.
There are boys and men with wheel barrels that you can hire to cart your produce around as you buy it but we prefer to take our time and lug our own bags.
It was 11AM when we returned to the boat. I started the process of washing all the produce with water and a little bleach then setting it all out to dry before stowing. While I was doing that, Rick went to get a chit to buy gasoline. The amount of gasoline you can purchase for a boat is controlled to prevent people from buying the gas and diesel here at a few cents a gallon then selling it at a much higher price elsewhere. I think that boats are only allowed to buy about 1000 gallons every three months. Whatever the amount is we don’t worry about it since it’s much more than we would ever need.
Lunch was at the Ancla Restaurant again where we had arranged to get together with Gloria and Brad (Kindred Spirit). They are heading out to sail in and around Venezuela and wanted to know where to go and where not to go. So we went over their cruising book and charts with them.
At 2PM Rick and I went to get our “going away” hair cuts. I also had my last professional manicure and pedicure for at least a few months.
We were back in time to pick up our checkout papers and go to a birthday party for AJ (Windsong) who turned 4 years old today. All of the cruising kids had great fun batting a piñata tied to a branch of the calabash tree near the pool. The cake made by Marie Elena was wonderful.
The icing included a picture of Elmo and his arm around a picture of AJ.
Sharon and Bill (Makai) took us out for dinner to Rick’s favourite Chinese restaurant where Sharon proceeded to order Peking duck. We ordered a few other dishes to go with the duck and we shouldn’t have.
There was way too much food for the 4 of us. I am totally hooked on Peking duck now. I had never tried it before and my favourite part is the crepes that the crispy skin is wrapped in. It probably wasn’t the healthiest meal but it certainly was extremely tasty and we all enjoyed it.
This was our last day in the marina. I did some hand laundry to avoid having to make extra water on our first few days out. All of the laundry was hung out to dry by 9:30AM. It was overcast and humid so I had my doubts as to whether it would dry before the afternoon rain arrived. Rick finally had a chance to fill the empty jerry cans with gasoline. He strapped the dinghy into the davits and prepared the decks for departure.
When the first few drops of rain started, I checked the laundry and sure enough, it was very close to being dry but not quite. Rick tied the clothes line inside the boat from side to side for me to re-hang everything. It certainly looked like a Chinese laundry.
Everything was on schedule until the afternoon when Rick needed a short siesta and also wanted to check the batteries. Instead of going to the pool at 3PM we waited until 4PM. As soon as I put my bathing suit on the thunder started to rumble. We decided to relax inside instead of swimming in the rain.
Marie Elena and Roberto had a going away party for us in the restaurant. They invited Sharon, Bill (Makai), Lois, Gary (Calico Clam) and they joined us as well. Marie Elena prepared some amazing potatoes cooked in onions, tomatoes, spices and herbs. There was a lovely fresh salad and the steaks and sausages were cooked perfectly on the barbecue by Bill and Rick. Sharon made one of her flans for dessert. A large table near ours that was having a birthday party shared their cake with us as well so we certainly had enough dessert. Wendy and Lorne (Kamytoo) joined us after dinner. It was a wonderful party and it was 10PM when we returned to the boat. I think Roberto woke most of the marina by calling us a few times on the radio to tell us he would miss us. We will definitely miss them as well.
We were both up before 6AM this morning. Potter (the dockmaster) arrived as promised at 8AM. Rick had cut the umbilical cords (unplugged the electrical cord and cable TV). Calico Clam and Makai were on the dock to help us off. In fact, Bill was in his dinghy to help give the bow a little shove when required. It was a smooth exit and we waved back to many of our friends who were standing on the dock and in their cockpit to wave us off. As our friend Mike (Wombat of Sydney) said, we have left the live-a-board life and rejoined the fulltime cruising life.
So true.
It was a great day to leave the marina. There was almost no wind at all and since we were heading east the little we did have was right on the nose. The sea was so flat we didn't even raise the mainsail. It was a very comfortable motor from Puerto La Cruz to El Oculto. When I planned the route using the electronic chart I thought we had about 38 miles to travel. One of the reasons we left at 8AM was to ensure we had enough time to arrive at our destination in daylight. We hadn't gone very far when I went below to check the route on the computer. The statistics showed that we were travelling at over 9 knots. This was not possible, the engine was running at 1800 RPMs, the wind was on our nose and there was no current pushing us along. Sure enough, I checked the program settings. When I had reloaded the program I had forgot to change the settings to nautical measurements instead of metric. Once I made the change we were travelling closer to 5 knots but the nice surprise was that we only had 20 miles to travel.
We had a couple of hitchhikers on the top of the mast. In fact, they were sitting on our wind vane. It was about half way to our destination when they flew away. We had been concerned that maybe they had started to build a nest up there. We certainly started to wonder when they returned about 20 minutes later with re-enforcements. There were now 8 of them chirping away from the top of the mast and the spreaders.
We ignored the birds for a while and watched the dolphins that came by for a quick visit. They must have been looking for breakfast because they didn't stay to play.
We arrived at our destination by 1PM. It was wonderful to be in the beautiful turquoise water again. Shortly after the anchor and the anchor alarm was set we had a tomato sandwich for lunch and a short siesta.
When we awoke the birds had gone from our mast. They really were just hitch hikers. We sat in the cockpit and commented on the other birds on shore. There were a few hawks, lots of turkey vultures and of course the pelicans and boobies which are everywhere. We could hear some other birds in the trees but not being very good birders we have no idea what type they were from their songs.
The afternoon rains arrived a little late, it was almost 4:30PM. This made it a little warm inside for preparing dinner but I knew that once the rain stopped and we opened the hatches, the boat would cool down quickly. We had some overly thick pork chops that I cooked in the oven, some nice fresh green beans and Waldorf salad for dinner.
We listened to Eric (Trinidad) give his weather forecast on the HAM radio while we sat below and ate dinner. Romantic eh!
We both slept extremely well overnight. We awoke to a beautiful day. A couple of fishermen were already in the bay emptying their fish traps.
Rick looked over the side of our boat and could not only see bottom at 20 feet but lots of good size fish as well. We want some fish but not yet, the freezer is still too full. Maybe next week we’ll get out the fishing gear.
After breakfast, Rick checked the last 2 banks of batteries and reorganized the cockpit locker placing the “at dock” items on the very bottom. When finished he ran the engine for a couple of hours to mix the battery acid with the fresh water. Since the engine was running there was no need to waste the extra amps., I started up the water maker. Our water tanks were still full but the water maker has been pickled for 7 months so I wanted to let it run for quite a while before actually making water. I let each pump run on it’s own for ¾ hour (unpressurised) then switched to both pumps for a while. Eventually I made half a tub of water and tested the quality. It was 60 parts per million (PPM). It can’t get much better than that. Rather than waste the tub of water I put some clothes into soak. Since I was into soaking, I put some mung beans to soak so we will have some nice fresh bean sprouts later this week.
Lunch was a baguette with paté (Rick doesn’t realize that paté is only available in the French islands and we really had liverwurst). One of the avocados was already ripe so we had to eat it as well. It was a small one so we just sprinkled it with a bit of fresh lime juice.
After lunch we went in the dinghy to explore the bay. There are a few small beaches around but we ended up going ashore on the beach right by our boat. There is a large building used for feeding goats during the dry season. We know this because we saw the goats being fed when we were here last March. The hills are very green at this time of the year and we haven’t seen any goats so we’re assuming that they fend for themselves during rainy season. In Venezuela there are always small shrines everywhere. This little beach was no exception. There was a small building the size of a large dog house. Inside were vases holding artificial flowers, a miniature statue of Mary with Jesus and one of the Virgin of the Valley (the Venezuelan patron saint of everyone on the sea).
There were a couple of birds on shore that we hadn’t seen before. They had a large beak with a large orange band around the beak. They look like they should be related to the macaw family. We also saw a large heron more grey than blue, and we heard a flock of the noisy small green parrots.
We returned to the boat just as the afternoon thunder began. There was very little rain and I had been hoping to catch some rain water to rinse the laundry. There was no sense in hanging the laundry at this time of the day so I left it to soak until tomorrow morning. In between the rain clouds we sat on the bow and watched the sun setting behind the clouds.
Rick was enthralled by the baby squid he noticed swimming around our anchor line. There wasn’t any wind at all so there were a few mosquitoes arriving for dinner (me). We went below and had a nice beef stir fry for dinner. After dinner we checked for email and weather on the SSB. With nothing left to be done we both opened our books and read.
I had rinsed and hung the laundry out to dry by 9AM. Meanwhile back in the cockpit we had an invasion of fruit flies. There is a small hammock at the stern of the cockpit hanging under the solar panels full of fruit and it was engulfed in fruit flies. There were a couple of pineapples, a papaya, a small watermelon, a cantaloupe, some plantains and a lot of onions. Something had to be either bruised or ripening faster than planned. Sure enough, the papaya had a small rotten spot and the pineapples were both ready for eating. Obviously I didn’t have to plan dinner. It was being planned for me. When we removed the pineapples who should we find but Gregory! (Our resident Gecko.) He was a little larger now but not much and he was doing his best to rid us of fruit flies. Rick was cute. He was so pleased that Gregory was still with us that he immediately wanted to put a bowl of water on deck for him. Recognising that it is rainy season and the deck is one big puddle every afternoon I didn’t feel the bowl was necessary. We put Gregory back in the cockpit and went on with cutting up the pineapples. The papaya we placed up on the foredeck to keep the flies out of the cockpit until we were ready to eat it. I like to eat the papaya as soon as it is cut.
We had remained in this anchorage another day so that we could swim and snorkel. Well our afternoon rain arrived at 12:30PM exactly when we were ready to snorkel. It was time to curl up and read for a while and take the opportunity for a short siesta. Finally at 4PM the rain stopped so we went for a swim with our snorkel masks. The water was wonderful but not quite as clear after the rain. We swam to the shore where we found some Christmas tree coral and feather duster worms. There were a few interesting fish and sea cucumbers.
We returned to the boat for a shower and then happy hour. When I was preparing dinner (Hawaiian Chicken and rice) I asked Rick to get an onion from the hammock for me. He did and also noted that Gregory was there hunting fruit flies again.
Rick wanted to remain another day in the seclusion of El Oculto. I on the other hand was getting a little nervous about staying longer. We hadn't heard of any boardings or pirates in El Oculto but it's only a few miles from a known problem area and I didn't think we should push our luck any longer. The captain, wanting to keep the crew happy raised the anchor shortly after breakfast and we headed to Mochima.
The town of Mochima was less than 10 miles away but a few boats anchor together near the town and it is normally a safe anchorage. Mochima is also a national park and as we zig zagged in through the bay towards the town, the view of the rolling hills and small beaches was beautiful.
There was a nice little spot just waiting for our anchor when we arrived. Three other boats were already there. One was American, another was French and the third was not flying a flag so we're not sure where it was from. It was a comfortable feeling when the anchor was set. We had mangroves behind and to the right of us, the village to our left and the bay stretched out in front of us. There was no wind at the time so we were stern to the shore. The first thing I noticed after all of the exotic birds we've seen lately, was the crow of a rooster. Things certainly do change near civilization.
There has been absolutely no wind since we left Puerto La Cruz last Sunday. The lack of wind in addition to the overcast skies that are present during the rainy season are taking their toll on the batteries.
The wind generator has not provided one single amp and the solar panels have been lacking as well. We are a high amperage boat so we're going to have to run the engine daily until the weather changes.
We had dinner in the cockpit and watched hundreds if not a thousand or more small green parrots heading to roost for the night. We heard them coming long before we saw them and there were huge flocks one after the other.
We must have the laziest rooster in the Caribbean. He didn't crow at all in the morning. It was the flocks of parrots taking off, chattering away, that woke me. We had a quick breakfast then Rick tightened the alternator belt and checked the battery connections. He was searching for every amp he could get. While checking the battery isolators he found that there was a leak on one of the isolator terminals causing a drain of amps from the starter battery. We didn't have a spare isolator but we did have another isolator on the shore side of the wiring. Since we don't intend to be plugged into shore power for a while, he decided to swap them. By this time it was 10AM and too big a job to tackle today. Rick said he would start earlier tomorrow and have it done before the day got hot and the batteries needed recharging.
We watched 3 catamarans and a sail boat arrive in the morning. Only the sailboat stayed. The others just came for a look around. We sat in the cockpit and had a game of cribbage. It's been so long since we have played that I had to read the rules.
I made some coleslaw and macaroni salad in the afternoon to put in the fridge for tomorrow. When I finished in the galley we got ready for a quick swim with happy hour. Rick mixed the drinks and I put the noodle seats on deck and we both jumped in the water. The water temperature in this anchorage was much warmer than in El Oculto. Rick didn't even wince as he got wet. We finished our drinks and returned to the cockpit for a shower before the afternoon rains. While we were sitting watching for the parrots to fly by and roost again, a tour boat came by, everyone waved and said hello as they took pictures of our boat. A little while later a local power boat arrived with a mother, father, two children and a dog. We said hello, the father spoke English and asked if it was safe to anchor here. I told him, sure, that if he were to tuck up close to us we would protect him. He did. In fact no sooner did he have his anchor down when 3 French sailboats arrived and anchored together in the corner of the bay. Our cruising population has more than doubled in the last 24 hours.
We finished dinner and finally we could see the rain coming. This time it brought some wind. I finally had a chance to not only see the amp meter needle move for the wind generator, I went outside and was able to see the little red charging light in the dark. I was just helping Rick search for the proverbial AMP.
Sometime during the night the hot humid air changed to a wonderful light tropical breeze. That's what we awoke to. The breeze was cool enough that if you wanted to cover up with a sheet it would be comfortable but not necessary. There was just enough wind to bring the smell of the blossoms and flowers from the shore to the boat but not enough to turn the blades of the wind generator and make a noise. The sun was not up yet so the birds had not started their sing song or in the case of the parrots their constant yakking. This is my favourite time of the day.
We had breakfast and Rick began the chore of switching the isolators. He had to pull the back bunk into the main salon and the cockpit locker into the cockpit. It was hot work but he finished before noon.
We had lunch and before we could do much else the afternoon rain arrived. With everything back to normal and Rick pleased with the batteries we sat back and read for the afternoon. The rain lasted most of the afternoon. We eventually sat in the cockpit and watched a few more boats arrive before we started into happy hour. The rain subsided before sunset and we took our drinks up to the bow where we sat, enjoyed the breeze and discussed the beauty of Venezuela.
We decided to use up the last couple of pork chops for dinner because they were so huge with the bone in and they were taking up a lot of freezer space. Rick barbecued the meat while I prepared the vegetables down below.
We awoke to another beautiful day and with no chores planned we had time for a nice weekend style breakfast. I sautéed some green pepper and onion and with a little local Gouda cheese made some fantastic omelettes. We ate them with bacon and toast, swearing off food for the rest of the day.
Since it was Saturday we thought that the little town of Mochima might be busy and therefore a good time to visit and roam. It was extremely busy with pirogues picking up tourists and taking them to the beaches, tours or diving within the park. The first challenge was to find a spot to tie the dinghy out of the way of the pirogue traffic. There was a nice wooden dock with a couple of dinghies tied to it. You could tell that it belonged to a restaurant. We asked the owners if we could tie to the dock as well. They said no problem and then as we were walking away they asked if we would return later to eat. Of course we said yes, even though neither of us was hungry. We went from one end of town to the other and back in less than an hour. The whole town appears to cater to the local tourists. There are a few restaurants and souvenir shops, but the big business is the ferrying of tourists out to the beaches. I was able to find a couple of small stores that sold food. At one we picked up a loaf of bread and some big sesame seed hamburger buns. At the other I bought a big bag of onions. I have lots of onions still but it seems we go through so many of them and they don't go bad so it doesn't hurt to have a few spares on board.
We had found a spot where we could dispose of our garbage so Rick returned to the dinghy to get that while I picked a seat in the restaurant overlooking the bay. There were large meals on the menu but when we asked for some French fries and a few beers the owner seemed happy enough. Another dinghy arrived and we chatted with them for a while before returning to the boat. It was 12:30PM. I had put a bit of laundry to soak before we went to town so I finished it and hung everything to dry with fingers crossed. No luck, the rain came just over an hour later. A couple of things were dry but the rest was still damp.
It was Chinese laundry time again.
The afternoon rain has been very unpredictable this week. It has arrived sometimes very early in the afternoon and other times quite late in the day. The only constant thing is that it always arrives.
Rick barbecued some big homemade hamburgers and we had those with some coleslaw and macaroni salad for dinner.
It was another beautiful but very hot day. After breakfast Rick lowered the dinghy and we set off to explore the bay. It was only about 3 miles from the town where we were located to the entrance of the bay but there were small bays within the bay and we explored those. In the first small bay we found a pod of dolphins. There seemed to be quite a few very young ones so they didn't come too close to the dinghy. We turned off the outboard and sat and just watched them for a while.
We followed the pirogues that were streaming out towards the entrance. There was one after the other filled with weekenders that wanted to spend the day on a white sandy beach. There are no roads to the beaches so the only access is by boat. The small town of Mochima has a fleet of private pirogues for just this purpose. As we got closer to the entrance of the bay we stopped at one of the smaller beaches for a swim. The water here was much cooler and more refreshing than deeper in the bay by our boat. We swam around and explored a sunken barge that was very close to shore. The locals that had arrived to spend the day brought umbrellas and tents with them for protection from the sun. One of the larger beaches had umbrellas for rent. When we had had enough of a swim we climbed back in the dinghy and made our way back towards town. We noticed a fishing camp on our way and decided to try and buy some fish from the fishermen next week. We went into the mangroves close to where our boat was anchored just to see how far in we could get.
It was lunch time when we returned to the boat. After lunch we ran the engine to boost the batteries and made water at the same time. When the engine was shut down and the peaceful calm returned, it was time for sundowners in the cockpit. It was doubtful that the sun would be there to watch as large heavy dark clouds were coming our way from over the hill tops. As we were sitting there many of the pirogues came by our boat on their way back to town. This has become a regular event in the afternoon now because we always wave and yell "buenas tardes" to the occupants and they smile, wave and call back the same. This day we heard a pirogue approaching saying "Canada" as they pointed to our large flag.
They seemed pleased that we were in the cockpit and turned around and pulled up beside us. The driver asked if we spoke English as he knew a few words. We answered him in Spanish and the conversation began. I don't think he had paying customers with him. They were very young and seemed more like family. After we spoke a while he asked if the kids could see the inside of the boat which we certainly agreed to. The one teenager who was a boy and a little older than the others didn't come aboard but when the others finished the tour and returned to the pirogue I asked him if he wouldn't like to see the interior. He hesitated only for a second and then came aboard. I chuckled when he opened the door to the head and saw the mirror. He adjusted his sunglasses, pushed back his short hair and straightened his shirt. I left him there and returned to the cockpit. There I went through the same motions he had and explained to the others that he was in the banos. They all laughed.
I can't remember the drivers name but he lives in Mochima and I think we may see him again.
We find it wonderful how the Canadian flag, hats or t-shirts and even pins provide an opportunity to meet many of the locals all through the Caribbean. They think very highly of Canada and Canadians. There were many other boats anchored in the bay, American, British and French but he noticed the Canadian flag and stopped only at our boat. It makes you a little proud to be Canadian.
The dark clouds continued to move along the hills but didn't provide us with one drop of rain. It was a nice treat not having to close up the boat.
