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VENEZUELA SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2006

Job list These are just some of the jobs we've done in Venezuela. Where materials or spare parts were needed we brought most of them with us, the chandlery stores are not well stocked in Venezuela and delivery from the USA can take up to six weeks. - replace fuel filter - replace fresh water filter - service toilet and replace pump - make new fender pockets - make fender covers - climb masts to check rigging and fittings - derust and paint watermaker, anchor winch, scuppers, prop shaft connection to engine etc - replace stopcock on sink through-hull fitting - replace watermaker fresh water hose - regalvanise storm anchor and main anchor chain - strip down clean and re-grease seven winches - make harness for lifting the dinghy out of the water - glue back rubbing strake on dinghy (again!) - repair mainsail foot rope - grease steering - repair caulking on teak deck - paint ship's registration number on dinghy - change grease packs in engine room greasers - 'pickle' watermaker to protect membrane when not in use - make dinghy floor cover - fit new dinghy floor - fill, sand and paint dinghy oars with two-part expoxy - Check emergency grab bag: service hand watermaker, recharge satphone, check GPS batteries One truism about maintenance is that if you pay for work to be done you will either have to make good the work, or repair something the contractor broke. When we hauled out to antifoul we didn't have the tools to remove the seacock under our sink and paid to have it removed and a new one fitted. Mike then had to spend a morning repairing the sinks' plumbing fittings that had been disturbed to such an extent that there were four significant leaks...and people wonder what we do all day. Seven days later we had a further problem that was potetially serious. I hadn't been feeling well and got up twice in the night. On the second occasion, about 3am, I heard a strange hissing noise but couldn't locate the source. I woke Mike and we finally found that the rubber hose attached to the seacock (inside the boat but below the waterline) had split. Water was pouring in. We turned off the seacock and replaced the hose the next day (after a dash round chandlers to get what is an unusually large hose for which we had no spares). The only good thing about it was whilst the timing was about right (everything bad happens in the early hours) these dramas normally happen at sea in a near gale. British and Spanish (Venezuelan) practices Temporarily deleted until we leave Venezuela. Fundamigos One of the things cruisers get involved with here is raising money and giving time at the hospital for Fundamigos - a charity that operates free on kids and young adults with cleft palates, cleft lips and facial cancer. Unfortunately we were hauled out while the operations were being done so we couldn't commit to giving time at the hospital - others helped in the operating theatre, recovery room, kitchen, transport etc. There are now eighty nine more smiling faces in Venezuela than before the operations and fortunately we weren't needed, there were too many volunteers. However there are other ways to help and, since cruisers love parties, there was a fund raising party which was probably the best attended and most fun of the parties so far. The event kicked off with a Gaelic band (we couldn't work it out either), followed by a rock band, then Spanish bagpipes. Maria Elena (who runs the restaurant) was first up dancing on the tables again and it was all downhill from there. Combined with other events including a cake sale, trivia quiz night (we lost) and blood pressure testing, over five million Bolivars (about £1250) were raised by cruisers - a sum that goes a long way here and it's good that everybody is putting something back into the community. In addition, the cruisers spent numerous mornings rolling bandages for the surgery. Thousands of them. Apparently the hospital was a bit of a wreck - lights not properly attached, water systems not working, door knobs missing etc etc. Since cruisers are good at fixing just about anything the idea was floated that all the cruisers descend on the hospital for a week and fix everything. Unfortunately it will never happen, I don't want to explain why while we are in Venezuela, but I'll try to remember to come back to it later. OK, own up... ...who stole our hurricanes? 2005 broke just about every record in the book: for number of hurricanes/named storms (twenty seven); highest number of hurricanes (fifteen); highest number of Category 5 hurricanes (four); latest storm (Dec 30 to Jan 6) etc. We nearly got pasted by Evil Emily in 2005 and the 2006 forecast was for only slightly fewer. However, this year we've had only four named storms and four hurricanes and none even hit the Caribbean island chain, let alone coming close down here. We're not complaining and it will be interesting to see how the global-warming climate-doom-mongers get out of that one. Anyway, if you do have them please hang onto them, it meant we've had mainly sunny weather and the odd heavy shower in what is supposed to be rainy season. Trip back to UK I flew back on September 19th, via Caracas and Madrid. The trip was a real whirlwind three weeks. I managed a brief reunion with Dan and the LateSail team at the Southampton Boat Show, the day after I arrived, which was great. A new accountant was found for Mike and me, and I briefed him and went through a year's paperwork for tax returns. The majority of the time was spent helping my mother move house - the packing up beforehand in two stages, as only some of her belongings went straight to the new house, the rest awaiting the completion of some decorating and building works before delivery. In the four day gap between houses we (Mum, Simon and I) managed a trip to Essex and had a good day meeting up with some of my aunts, uncles and cousins. Also I managed a brief visit to Mike's parents, where I also saw his sister, Angela, and we quickly swapped news. To all in London - the nearest I got was the M25 - hopefully I will manage to see some of you next time. Medical issues We were intending to leave Puerto La Cruz around the end of October/early November, but we got tangled up with medical issues. Mike needed to visit the dentist seven times and now holds the record for the number of injections in a treatment period - thirty!! I went to a doctor at the Womwn's Clinic for a check up and they found two lumps. However, before they could make a decision about surgery they wanted a lot of test information (as the surgeon said, "I don't want any surprises"). The hospitals out here are not like the UK in that many tests are carried out by specialists who are spread out around the city - necessitating endless taxi rides. The good news though is that because the specialists are competitive the best of them have state of the art kit (this applies to dental X-rays too). I started the testing but was then held up for over three weeks when I picked up an infection that we initially treated ourselves with antibiotics. However it was so virulent, it got a bit better, then flared up even worse and I eventually went to the doctor to sort it out (for one thing my temperature was causing us concern). We did in fact have the antibiotic that the doctor prescribed but he also gave me some other drugs to reduce my temperature and settle my stomach. Although they seemed to be working my white blood cell count was off the scale and I was then prescribed nuke-level antibiotic injections which Grace, from the US flagged Andrea Lee, gave me - she's a qualified paramedic with the fire service. Then Grace got a bug and Denise (a nurse), from the US flagged South of Reality, took over. Both, I have to say were brilliant at giving painfree jabs and I was glad to be able to repay at least Grace's kindness and skill by accompanying her to hospital to translate for her when her bug bacame very painful. Mike repaid South of Reality by helping them with some computer problems. By November 11th I was feeling a bit better, having been to the doctor or for tests on twelve separate occasions. In fact my temperature dropped below normal and Mike reckoned that if it kept going down at the same rate I would become a lizard. When I pointed out that I would have long claws and sticky-pad feet he thought this was good because I'd be able to free-climb the masts to check the rigging! I had also lost a lot of weight and he got the magnifying glass out to remind himself what I used to look like - he was trying to cheer me up apparently! It was during that period that we took a day-trip by boat to Chimana Secunda, a small island a few miles north east of Puerto La Cruz. Although I wasn't feeling brilliant we did it to take my mind off what was happening. The highlight was snorkelling and finding a baby octopus. The octopus had found a depression in the coral with a raised back and was sitting in it, protected at the front by pebbles it had drawn in. You could only see the top of it's head and eyes, it was very sweet. We also saw a profusion of red, yellow and blue coral 'flowers' which were all around the bay and quite spectacular. On Thursday November 16th I was finally told the infection had cleared and I could continue with the pre-op tests - which were completed on the 21st. I was due to go for surgery late Novenmber but my temperature went up again. The date was refixed for December 11th but the surgeon had to attend to a legal problem in Caracas which precluded him being around for the full ten days after my op that he wanted to be, and a new surgeon was appointed (only with my permission and a surgeon I had already met and had confidence in). The operation was successful and the tumours were benign - phew. Now you might be thinking...major surgery...second/third world country...are you mad? What follows might surprise you. Cruisers are a endless source of information and before committing to surgery in Venezuela we asked around. What we discovered amazed us - the USA sends doctors to Venezuela for specialist training; it is believed (by the American cruisers) that only the top US teaching hospitals (probably the best hospitals in the world) have the same skills and facilities as the top Venezuelan private hospitals; every cruiser who has had an operation here was full of praise for the hospital and surgeons, including a lady who had the same operation as me. Having had a very similar operation at one of the UK's top private women's hospitals, the Portland, I'm probably in a good position to compare the UK with Venezuela. There were a few small but important differences in Venezuela: they encourage your partner to stay with you in your room (there is a small secondary bed), which is an excellent idea; the nursing care was more consistent; I was released after two nights rather than five and got more mobile faster; it's difficult to describe but the doctors and surgeons seem more caring (the day after my op I was visited by the doctor who gave me the medical in the first place, the surgeon who was initially meant to operate, as well as the one that did) and they even give you their private mobile telephone numbers, encouraging you to call with any questions or problems. In the Clinic waiting rooms you are served sweetened, hot camomile tea and shortbread mid morning (always welcome given the level the air conditioning is set at!) and in my hospital room was a box of expensive chocolates, a thermometer and a plastic cup and jug as presents. I'm afraid Mike ate all the chocs, we kept the thermometer, but the cup and jug were yet more to store on the boat - so were left behind. At the present time I don't want to see another doctor, a pill or piece of medical equipment ever again, however if I had to be anywhere I'm glad it was here. On balance then I'd put the ladies hospital in Barcelona, Venezuela ten per cent or more ahead of the Portland, UK. If that's a surprise then you should see the prices!! I had a colonoscopy and the test where they put a camera down your throat and into your stomach (I only know the Spanish name for it) for fourteen per cent of the cost of just a colonoscopy in the UK Overall medical prices are very signicantly less than half UK prices. After I was released from hospital we stayed for a week in a small apartment overlooking the marina - there was no way I could have got on the boat. Our cruising friends were fantastic. Barbara and Mike on Evening Star provided us with our first night's meal, a delicious cottage pie followed by homemade rum cake, Colleen and Tom from Unplugged catered the second night with yummy barbecued pork tenderloin, rice and salad followed by caramelised bananas. Barbara brought us some oleander flowers to brighten up the appartment, plus more rum cake and Jan from JJ arrived with a poinsettia. They were all so generous and kind and helped us enormously. I must also mention Mike's role in all of this. He came with me for all the tests, stayed with me in hospital and did all the cooking, shopping etc when we came out. He was cheerful throughout, always trying to keep my spirits up, and totally uncomplaining - even when I woke him up five times one night in hospital, needing help to get out of bed. I have already mentioned a couple of things he said but his classic line was probably "do you realise your operation cost less than our engine rebuild, you're quite good value really". More parties On December 21st we attended Marie Elena's surprise birthday party - if you've been paying attention you'll know that Marie Elena runs the marina restaurant here and she was first up dancing on the tables again. In addition to some great music (including Grease and Saturday Night Fever) two bands showed up that she wasn't expecting. The first was a Mexican Mariachi band. We hadn't seen one live before and it was like reliving all the cowboy films you've seen - with trumpet, accordian, lead and bass acoustic guitars. The bass guitar was fascinating and almost the size of a cello. The second band was a Samba band but we didn't stay to watch because it was getting a bit late. On the 24th Mike went to Steffan's birthday breakfast party, on the Danish yacht Cat Coquette. The party has some history because the Danes celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve, thus Steffan never had a birthday party until he started organising one each year at breakfast time. The parties were men only because the ladies were busy preparing Christmas lunch (there's a surprise). Now, the Scandinavians do like a drink and Lone, Steffan's wife, told us that the other wives weren't too happy when their husbands staggered home and it was amazing how many couples seemed to be spending the following Christmas in the far corners of Denmark! Not to be discouraged, Steffan decided that he would resurrect his party with a few cruisers. Suffice to say Mike staggered back at midday after consuming Bloody Marys, numerous glasses of unknown Danish firewater (tasting like a mixture of kerosene and pure alcohol) and beer. Apparently there was good food too. Christmas Day. Over thirty years ago a small British yacht ran up on a reef at night, in the Venezuelan out islands. The crew, Anne and Chris, survived but the boat and all their possessions were lost. They made their way to the Venezuelan mainland, found jobs, had two kids (who were educated in Venezuela to university level, then moved to England). Anne now runs the mini-mart at the marina. The kids are now adults and they returned to Venezuela this Christmas for a family reunion and Christmas dinner - to which we were invited!! Needless to say Anne is a great character with a real sense of fun and we also discovered she is a fantastic cook. Twelve people attended including relatives and three other cruisers and it was turkey with all the trimmings, including bread sauce (that we haven't seen for years) and Christmas pudding. We had a fantastic time and staggered back to the boat around 23.00, after an 18.00 start. Before the dinner we had a very strange day, listening to Classic FM's top thirty carols via their Web site and at 11am (local time) the Queen's speech, all while the temperature was over 90C with clear blue skies. We've now spent six Christmases in the sun but it still seems slightly odd. Politics Temporarily deleted until we leave Venezuela. Odds and ends Animal tales. We mentioned in the previous report that there are lots of iguanas in the marina - funniest sighting was a big iguana climbing the outside wall of a block of condos, quicker than using the lift I suppose. We also have twenty one marina cats that are fed small amounts by the cruisers with food paid for by the marina. Each cat has its own raised platform feeding station, spaced around the marina. The cats' primary function is catching rats. Our rat-cat is called Moustachio (he has a little black moustache) but he's not too effective, we had to chase a rat off the boat one night and found you know what on the deck another night. We also had a spate of shoe thefts. Nobody wears shoes on their boats, many are left on the dockside and it was these that went missing. The culprit was finally discovered - a puppy from one of the boats. Finally we have a marina dog called Chico, since Chico is a sweetie but doesn't understand English Mike has learnt 'bueno perro' (good dog). Armed guards. When Mike sees armed guards/police he invariably wonders what training they have had. His fears about training were confirmed when there was a gunshot in our marina, early one morning. A guard shot himself in the calf! Calling Mike O'Keefe. Mike, if you are reading this please could you use the Contact Us page to send us your email address - the one we have bounced. Thanks. Birthdays. Long term readers of this site may recall that I spent my first birthday aboard in the middle of the Atlantic and last year's on passage up wind to St Lucia on a journey best forgotten about. I was hoping that this year would be different(yeah right). An innocent foray into the bilges to stow some things revealed a large amount of oily water which had soaked into some of the items stored there, in what we thought would be dry conditions. The morning of my birthday was therefore spent cleaning up and drying things while Mike mopped up the water and tried to find where it was coming from. Then one of us, who shall be nameless, left the fridge on and the through-hull shut when we left the boat for a while - result very hot fridge mechanism and no functioning fridge. Then the screen on the laptop went black - no TV, DVD's, Internet or PC. The day was saved by Colleen on Unplugged who had baked me a birthday cake and she and her husband Tom invited us for rum and cake, which was a fine mixture! Luckily the fridge was fine the next day, having cooled down, we've decided the water was left from our undersink pipe leak mentioned earlier and the laptop screen has now been fixed (we think). I couldn't help but point out to Mike how we've spent the three birthdays he's had on board - the Coto Donana in Spain, the Angostura Bitters distillery in Trinidad and Angel Falls in Venezuela! Roll on next year. Christmas Customs. The Venezuelans certainly celebrate Christmas and the New Year. Christmas decorations appeared early in November and proliferated with every week. There were Santas, snowmen, reindeer and huge Nativity scenes all over the place. Some of the Santas were dressed traditionally but some were dressed in swimming trunks lying on hammocks! Apparently there are two popular customs at this time of year. In December people paint their houses - in or out or both, it doesn't matter. The other is to buy new clothes for Christmas and New Year celebrations (couldn't be a custom encouraged by clothes retailers by any chance?). The main celebrations take place on Christmas Eve, with food and presents. One of the specialities to eat is 'hallacas' and there was a lesson in how to make them held here by Anne (mini-mart) and her family. A hallaca is made by taking a palm leaf, oiling it and then placing corn dough in a flat shape on the leaf. Then you put a cooked mixture of meat (beef, pork or chicken - whatever you prefer or some of each) and spices on the corn dough. Add raisins, olives and capers to your taste. Fold dough into neat rectangular or square parcel enclosing all the goodies, with palm leaf. Wrap another leaf round and a 'girdle' piece of leaf, then tie with string. These hallacas are then dropped into boiling water to cook for 20 minutes or so. Apparently every family has their own recipe variations and often families will get together to form an assembly line to make sufficient for their Christmas needs. A bunch of us went for a lesson and made contributions to Fundamigos. Caribbean cruising article. We find it difficult to describe what the cruising life is like and somebody has now done it for us. John King of the S/Y Woodfield II (who we know) wrote an article on the subject for Caribbean Compass, the local yachting newspaper. We think it's quite entertaining (and informative) and have reproduced the article - please click here if you wish to read it. Where next In this section of the last log I ended by saying - "As usual all plans are written in the sand at low tide". Little was I to know just how prophetic that was to become. On that basis it's probably not even worth writing this section but if you like fiction we intend to head west down the Venezuelan out islands to Bonaire and Curacao - probably. They are Dutch owned islands and we fancy a change in culture for a while. However, first I've got to get fit. The doctor said I can start swimming after four weeks and then I've got to get boat fit e.g. able to help lift the dinghy on deck. That may take a few more weeks so perhaps we'll leave here around the end of January. Or not. One point to note is that the Venezuelan out islands have almost no habitation and certainly no communications facilities - so when we go we shall be out of touch for around one month.