| Travelog Thirty—Christmas, 2005
As 2005 draws to a close we begin our seventh year of cruising aboard VIVA and in case you have noticed a lack of travelogues from the cockpit of VIVA, we haven't sailed off the edge of the world yet; we just haven't been traveling.
We returned to the boat in October after a whirlwind ten weeks visit to CA where our time was spent with all the usual medical checkups, parts procurement, a few photo assignments and as much visiting with family and friends as time allowed. One highlight was the first visit to Southern CA by my daughter Ramona from Germany. After returning to Venezuela in late October, we were in for a surprise as the mechanic whom had contracted to overhaul our engine during our absence, decided to hire himself out as an engineer on an 80' yacht on the East coast, before re-installing the engine in our boat. After two and a half weeks of searching for mechanics who either weren't booked or who were willing to take the responsibility for someone else's work, we finally got the engine back in and running to a certain degree. There were a few parts missing and a couple of bolts left over, but hopefully all will be well in a few days. Next it was the yearly bottom job, change a couple of thru-hull ball valves and then back in the water. The really big maintenance decision this year has been to remove the teak decks. After 21 years they were in pretty sad shape and we have discovered for the past six years that teak decks and the tropics just don't mix. Besides the wear factor, they are hot to walk on and add at least 10-15 degrees temperature below decks. This job involved the tedious pastime of chipping the old decks off by hand with hammer and chisel, which will then be replaced with a nice light-colored gel coat and paint with non-skid. Luckily, we have found a great young Venezuelan guy to do the chiseling and chipping and after nine days the old decks were gone. Of course residing below during this process was like living inside a tree with a family of woodpeckers! For the next two weeks the grinding and sanding began and our contractor promised to be finished in 20 days. To take on this project we had to find a place in the water for VIVA since the marinas frown on this type of noise and sanding dust. Luckily, we found a slip in front of a private home in the lagoon with the owner and family away at work most of the day. The privacy and our newly acquired air conditioner made life as bearable as possible. What we hadn't counted on was a visit from the Guardia Nacional patrol boat who cited Eduardo, our landlord for the "possible pollution"of the canal (as if it could be anymore polluted). Apparently his neighbor called them and reported us for sanding and grinding on the decks. It seems that our sanding dust was more of a problem than all the oil, raw sewage, diesel, Styrofoam, plastic bottles, trash bags and dead rats. After a trip to the Guardia station and the Port Captain's office with Eduardo our landlord to explain, we were allowed to continue sanding but were not allowed to spray paint. Anyway, a day later, the neighbor blew the whistle again. Another visit by the Guardia, but this time all the work was stopped. Eduardo had obviously annoyed his neighbor recently! Fortunately, our contractor Jose Luis, found us a spot at the old marina in downtown Puerto la Cruz where we can finish all the work, so Monday morning we loaded up all the boys, their tools and materials and off we went. Adios Eduardo! This is a much nicer location and the decks are coming along nicely and should be finished in a few days. The floorboards and much of the interior have been sanded and varnished so things are looking better. We are almost ready for Christmas.
As we may have mentioned, things have changed a bit since our earlier visits to Venezuela. First of all with all the hurricane activity and damage, most yachts in this part of the world now end up in Trinidad or Venezuela for the summer months. Venezuela just hasn't caught up with their new found bonanza and all of the marinas, boatyards and service personnel are stressed to the max. As hurricane season comes to an end things are beginning to loosen up a bit with yachts departing, but it is still a frustrating wait for any type of professional services. You are probably all aware of the verbal sparring between Chavez and Bush, which can be a little unnerving, but for the most part, the local Venezuelans remain very friendly and easy to deal with. The local Guardia Nacional continue to hassle and fine cruisers about proper paperwork, speeding in dinghies, etc. but of course it is Christmas time with a need to fill those stockings! There have been a few more reported incidents of boat boardings and robberies, although most of these are in isolated anchorages. Fortunately, the dollar remains strong, particularly on the black market and there are some great bargains in the wining, dining and in travel department. Money exchanging, has always been a bit of a chore in the past but fortunately, we still have one money changer who will still take a check on a US bank. It sure beats standing in line at the bank! With a few more projects to complete, we will probably remain in this area through most of January, although we hope to make at least one more trip inland before we depart. Our future travel plans are a bit obscure but most likely we will be heading west toward Panama. There are still many anchorages in Central America and Mexico that we haven't seen, and of course we would love to re-visit Cartagena and the San Blas Islands. In any case we are looking forward once again to a calm anchorage with clear water. We hope the year end finds you in good health and we wish you all a happy and prosperous 2006. Steve & Pam aboard s/y VIVA
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