The rest of October, 2007 - Happy Halloween already! We expect to have a couple of goblins visiting the boat tonight. The witch windsock is decorating the stern.
Traveling Around: We left Juan Griego after three weeks in the quiet, mostly unoccupied anchorage, and came back to Porlamar. Back to the big city, taxis, supermarkets, etc. Our trip back included motoring to the east from Juan Griego to the point where we made a ninety degree turn to starboard. After having the current and the wind on the nose for about 10 miles, we thought we’d get a nice beam reach when we made the turn. WRONG! The wind wasn’t quite on the nose, but close. About halfway down the windward side we finally got enough of an angle that we had an enjoyable sail for a couple of hours. Then it was back to motoring for the rest of the eight hour trip. Anyone cruising the Caribbean will tell you the wind hardly ever seems to be coming from the direction it should be.
Making Water: Another lesson learned! Don’t make water in water where you can’t see your hand in front of your face a foot down. Yes, we got some dirty water through the filters, but we also had a problem with a pressure relief valve on the water pump. After taking things apart and putting them back together again so many times that Roland could do it blindfolded or in his sleep, a.k.a. water-maker nightmares, he finally risked life and limb by adjusting a screw which the manual troubleshooting guide told us should never be touched. We weren’t about to send the water pump back to the factory to be adjusted. As it turned out it wasn’t that much of a life-threatening action as the manufacturer wanted us to believe. Now the water maker is making happy noises as it pumps a steady stream of good water into out tanks. We paid only 4,000 Bolivars for 40 gallons of water before we got the water maker working, but heck, that is less than $1.00 U.S. Water on Margarita is largely trucked around the island and dumped into tanks at each restaurant, office, etc. We believe it is actually piped over from the mainland.
Flamingo Bingo: Up at the mall there is a place called the Flamingo Bingo Hall. For $5.00 U.S. each we had a nice lunch that included soup, entree with three sides and dessert. And after dessert, we spend a little money playing the slot machines which are remarkably like those at the casinos at home - except the buttons are labeled in Spanish. When you are finished playing a machine, you have to push a button that alerts an employee to come and give you any money you have coming. Roland lost his stake, but Kathleen doubled hers. It wasn’t much when you consider the exchange rate: a whopping 5,000 B’s, a little more than a dollar!
Work: Yes, it has to be done. We’ve been shopping around Porlamar for bottom paint and hull paint to get the best prices. Plans were to haul out in Grenada to do the work, but we’ve heard that there are very reasonable prices down here. We’re considering getting visa extensions and going to the Golfo de Cariaco (not Carriacou) to a place called Medregal Village where a Frenchman named Jean-Marc has a marina with facilities to do it ourselves. We’ll let you all know how that works out.
That’s all for this month - not much else happening! No new pictures in this edition. (October 31, 2007)
