Dog Fights & Dispair

Tuesday 30^th November

The weather continues to be truly miserable, this morning we have heavy dark gray skies, with not a threat but a promise of heavy rain, poor Bob has to get the windless motor back into the chain locker on deck today which isn’t going to be easy in the rain.  We have used up all our days, and have no choice but to leave in the morning.  I’m just praying the rigger arrives today, we have to get the sails up, and the dodger.

I finished all the work on the dinghy, but as the fork lift tried to put it back in the water we noticed that the steering had seized, OH another job. 

Louie brought the windless motor back this morning but I still have to get the epoxy on it, and that needs hours to dry before Bob can put it back in.

The Internet at the boat yard is still not working, this is 4 days now, the marina in Aruba are expecting us today, I really need to let them know I have to change our reservation again! I have only changed the reservation three times already, if we can leave in the morning we will only be a day late, I hope they will be forgiving.

The rigger arrived and left again, the splicer still couldn’t be found so we had to get a brand new outhaul line.

He returned mid afternoon and he, Bob, Cecil and I managed to get all three sails up and in 18 knots of wind.

We started to put the generator covers back together, the boatyard spray-painted the final coat for us, and they look almost new.  I still have to cut and fit the insulation foam.

My arms and legs are totally covered with mosquito bites, I ran out of refills for my protection device, and can’t find any here. The bites are making me miserable, I scratched them in my sleep and some of them are bleeding, so they don’t only feel nasty, they look nasty…

The boatyard has quite a few large guard dogs, they are a type of Pitbull mix, and they roam the yard day and night.  I love them, and have made friends with them all, but today two of them got into a really serious fight, Gyest (the boatyard owner) had to jump in and tear them apart before they killed one another, it was bad, she was bleeding from her chest, and had large tears and gashes all over her body, she had trouble standing on one of her front legs, and was obviously in a great deal of pain, it was horrible to see.  The poor thing looked so helpless, Gyest immediately called the vet out, and then came back out to the dog to comfort it, and the dog wagged its tail, that made me cry.  All the pain the poor creature was in, and yet she could still display happiness when Gyest comforted her.

The vet took her away, and late afternoon I was there when Gyest brought her back, she was stitched up and on pain medication but looking much happier.

Well its now 7:30pm and Bob still has to drive over to Louie’s to collect the wires for the windless, fit the windless motor (about a 2 hour job), repair the dinghy, bring it around to the boat and get it up on the davits. Cut and glue the insulation to the generator panels, put all the tools away, and return the rental car, and those are only the jobs I can remember, I know there are more.

We also should have re-fueled, but we haven’t.

9pm, Well the dinghy appears to be well and truly “broken” the steering is totally seized up and the engine won’t start, Bob worked on it for over an hour without any success.

I am absolutely exhausted, filthy dirty, my back aches, my ankle is swollen again, and the mosquito bites are driving me nuts! I really would love an early night but that’s not going to happen. It’s like taking 3 steps forward and two back with every job we undertake, I am so dejected, and beaten, I’m about ready to give up

This has been two of the most grueling weeks of my life.

Hopefully my next post will be from Aruba, but that looks to be probably Thursday now…

Sinking Boat

Sunday 28^th November

While I was washing the decks this morning, John from the sailboat Entrada, walked down the dock and stopped alongside Batavia the boat on the T-Dock in front of us.  I carried on with what I was doing, but John stood there for quite a while, eventually he looked up and said “Good Morning”, I smiled and replied, then he said “this boat’s sinking”.  I looked across at Bataviaa and couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed she was going down.  I jumped off Daisy and went over to where John was standing, and sure enough she was slowly sinking, the cockpit was almost full of water.

There was nobody on the boat, it has apparently been left there for some time, no one remembered seeing the owners.  I said we should do something, so John went across to Pier’s boat.  Pier is one of the owners of the boatyard. Bob came over and climbed into Batavia’s cockpit, he peered through the window, and saw that the cabin was completely full of water.

A few minutes later Pier came over and brought a pump, he broke the lock off the door to access the inside of Batavia, and started pumping out the water.  It took over an hour to empty all the water.  Pier left a pump aboard that would automatically switch on should more water get into the cabin.

It scared me to see how fast she was sinking, if John hadn’t spotted it when he did, I am sure she would be on the ocean bed right now…

Boat Thieves in Caya de Agua

A friend recently regaled me with his experience of a piracy attack, I do not like to refer to these people as pirates, that would give them some sort of romantic dignity, these people were quite obviously nothing more than common thieves.

To protect the privacy of the person involved, I have changed both the name of the person and the boat.

While sailing through the islands of Los Roques, off the coast of Venezuela, in his sail boat Whisper, Charlie had dropped anchor for an evening in the beautiful bay off Caya de Agua, there were no other boats within sight when he arrived.

Caya de Agua is a small isolated island, the furthest island west of the Los Roques chain. 

Bob and I have visited this island several times with both Daniela and Edward.  It is remote, but it’s far enough away from the Venezuelan coast that one feels safe, at least we did, but having heard this story I would think twice about going there again without at least one other boat to accompany us.

Edi walking between the two islands of Caya de Agua

Charlie was relaxing on board, when he spotted a small fishing boat with two men coming in his direction, they pulled alongside Whisper and the man at the front held up his bow line and spoke to Charlie in Spanish, it was a dialect Charlie was unfamiliar with and couldn’t understand what the man wanted.  Before he could do anything to stop him the man leapt up onto the deck and pushed past Charlie, the other man also leapt out of the fishing boat up onto Whisper’s deck and pushed roughly past Charlie almost knocking him over.  The second man disappeared below decks and came back a moment later carrying a television.  Within minutes another couple of fishing boats appeared, each with three or four men aboard.  They all came alongside and boarded Whisper, Charlie helpless to stop them and in fear for his own safety abandoned Whisper and motored across to the island in his dinghy.

Powerless to do anything to stop them he could only watch as they ransacked his boat taking everything they could carry.

Charlie stayed on the island until he eventually spotted another sail boat approaching, he waved frantically at them from the shore.  The people on the sailboat were kind enough to pick Charlie up and take him to Grand Roques where he reported the incident to the imparques and the local coast guard who said there was nothing they could do. 

Whisper was no longer at Caya de Agua, she had vanished from sight.  Charlie flew home and a few days later received a call from a friend to say that he though he had seen Whisper abandoned at Grand Roques.

Charlie immediately flew back to the island, not an easy trip involving many flights and lay-over’s, he arrived back at Los Roques two days later.

He was so excited to see Whisper, although she was in a sorry state, she had been totally stripped bare, nothing was left except the shell.

Unfortunately the Coast Guard could not release the boat to Charlie without him first seeing a person of authority (who shall remain nameless), they combed every bar on the island before they eventually found him, Charlie showed his ships papers proving ownership, and the person said he would release Whisper if Charlie would pay for their out of pocket expenses.  Naturally Charlie agreed, but it really stung when they demanded $50,000.  If he wanted Whisper back he had no choice, so he arranged payment and immediately set about getting Whisper ready to leave.  The sooner he was away from there the better.

A year later and Charlie is still working on the refit of Whisper, but at least he and the boat are now in a safe location.

I was so shocked to hear this story, both Bob and I felt Los Roques was a safe anchorage, it just goes to show, thieves can attack anywhere anytime.  What would you do in that situation, when you’re outnumbered, and approached at anchor?  It scares me to think just how vulnerable you are when alone on a boat.  I suppose the lesson is to always try and sail with another boat, and not anchor where you are alone.  Otherwise it’s all in the hands of the God’s.

Mundo Bizarro

Saturday 27^th November

So, last night we went out to dinner, how wonderful after 2 weeks of non-stop work from dawn to midnight and beyond, it was such a treat.  Bob had arranged to meet Louie and Cecil at a bar in town at 7:30, but because it’s us, obviously we were late.  We didn’t even leave the boatyard until 7:40, but this is Curacao, so a few minutes shouldn’t matter, However while it doesn’t worry Bob, I absolutely hate to be late, and was ready to leave at 6:50, Bob always works until the very last second, squeezing every possible ounce of work out of the day, but because of all the stress we have both been under recently with all the work we’ve been doing I didn’t make a fuss, it wouldn’t have speeded up the leaving process anyway.

Cecil was waiting for us when we arrived. The bar was called “Mundo Bizarro” it was quirky and quaint, my best description of it would say Baroque meets the Adams Family.  I loved it, three huge doors opened onto the street, and another large side door leading to a small courtyard with tables and chairs.  The doorframes resembled large ornate old master picture frames. The floors were patterned tile, and the walls were painted in delicate faux terracotta shade, reminiscent of a makeshift repair of an old ruin.  A large wall painting of a black woman smoking a cigar was painted over the fireplace, and hung on the wall behind my sofa was a Rembrandt style old master painting.

The bar had groups of sofas and comfy chairs around coffee tables, sort of a Starbucks in Louisiana meets grand old English country house. 

Chandeliers hung from the ceilings, and amusingly a stuffed parrot in a cage.  Wall sconce lights provided a lovely saffron glow, and tiffany style jar lamps adorned all the tables.  Huge gates of wrought iron separated the bar from the lounge area, creating the feel of being in a garden.  The paintwork throughout was cleverly done to look old and peeling.  The high ceiling was incredibly beautiful made of wood.  The interior designer who put this place together obviously had a great sense of humor, and a lot of talent.

We went upstairs to their restaurant to eat.  I wished I had taken my camera, because the restaurant was another mix of styles similar to the bar, but much more elegant and ornate. 

The food was absolutely spectacular, and I don’t say that lightly, I am rarely impressed when I eat out, but this was truly fine dining quality. I ordered a risotto which was a risk because I rarely find anyone can make it properly, but I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be every bit as good as the wonderful risotto I had in Tuscany in September. 

Bob had lamb, and Louie and Cecil had filet mignon, all of which was superbly plated and apparently delicious.  Bob and Cecil had a trio of crème brulee for desert, which they both said was truly delicious.

This restaurant has a very accomplished chef, and anyone reading this who is likely to visit Curacao should definitely not miss a chance to eat in this fabulous restaurant.

OH HELP ME !

Smiling for the camera,

but not happy, tired, sweaty, exhausted and frustrated.... so many, many things going wrong, boat in turmoil, a million jobs on the go nothing going right,

Last night I slept with the engine room door!  not the most exciting night of my life...

Today we have had really heavy rain (AGAIN) all day, and tomorrow apparently its going to be worse, how is that possible?????

This is probably the only time I'm happy to be on a boat, the island may actually get washed away...

 The only splicer on the island has disapeared off the face of the planet, and we really need a splicing job ARGHHHHHHHHH

When will all this end?  #@#$%^&*()_)(*&^%&^%&**()(*&^%$#@#$%^&*()_&^%$#

Return of the Incredible Hulk!

So today was all about putting the last coat of undercoat on the generator covers, messy, smelly job fortunately the mosquitoes seem to hate the smell almost as much as I do.  There are five panels and by the time I got to the last one my hand cramped up and I dropped the tin of paint which exploded and sprayed me liberally in bright pea green paint! Lovely.
I took the can of lacquer thinners to the bathroom with me and attempted to remove the paint from my skin,  before showering.  Thankfully I got most of it off, now I am just a pale suggestion of green, and have a delicate "eau de thinners" scent !

We also manage to secure a place on the T-Dock today, which means less mosquitoes, much more breeze and we don't have to keep moving Daisy up and down the dock to make way for boats coming in and out of the water.

No rain today, and not too much heat either.  Good working conditions.

We still plan to leave here on Tuesday for Aruba, but there are many jobs to finish, Bob was working until 2am this morning.  Our engine room flooded because of the problem with the galley sink, I still have to bale all that out, although Bob managed to fix the sink for me, saving me having to climb into the engine room.
We have a problem with the refrigeration, the rigger still hasn't returned and as its already Friday I'm getting a little panicky...

But I'm trying to be positive.  We are determined so fingers crossed.

Thank you to the readers that sent me such lovely comments, they are very much appreciated.

Signing off for now, green but happy!

Bubble of Protection ☺

Thursday 25^th November

No turkey for me today!  My Thanksgiving was spent removing glue from insulation panels, then cleaning and spray-painting them.  OH my life is filled with such endless fun.

But as my readers have really increased in the last couple of weeks you all obviously enjoy reading about all my trials and tribulations.

The weather continues to be stormy, but the good side of that is it keeps it cooler for working, although I have to say I feel very sorry for people who have come out here on vacation and spent the entire time under gray skies and heavy rain.  Apparently the weather will remain this way until next Thursday, I’m hoping we will be done with all this work long before then. 

We still have to finish the rigging, and get the sails up.  The refrigeration needs attention, the covers for the generator have to be top coated and relined with insulation.  All the satellite systems need installing, and we still have to repair the anchor mechanism.  Not forgetting my jobs, the boat needs cleaning inside and out, and polishing, fiberglass, stainless, windows, seating cushions washed and put back, the dodger needs to be fitted, I need to plan the menus for the next month and provision, and we have to get to Aruba by next Thursday.

It will be so nice to be able to walk about the boat without all the floor panels up, and have a table to eat at that is not covered in stuff, mainly the dodger cover. 

I dropped the car keys into the bilge today, right into the oily pool at the bottom, but at least I didn’t drop them overboard.

My poor little foot swelled up again this afternoon, because if felt so much better this morning I have been running around on it all day, and I think it was too much too soon, trouble is I don’t have time to be injured right now (sigh).

My galley sink is not draining properly, and the bilge is full of bubbles, probably means something is stuck in the pump, which means I have to maneuver myself back inside the engine room to dismantle the bloody thing and fix it.  I had to do this a couple of years ago; it’s a horrible job, hot, uncomfortable and difficult …

On the bright side:

I worked on another new recipe last night which was really delicious, another for the book; I’m almost done with all the recipes now, I just need Nicolette’s illustrations.

Also…

The little gadget I carry around to keep the mosquitoes away really works, they still fly around me but I’m no longer getting bitten, as long as I keep it turned on, the minute the batteries die or I forget to clip it to my belt and go out without it they attack immediately.  

I imagine them hovering in great numbers, expectantly outside my invisible bubble of protection, just waiting for the batteries to die, then like a well-organized stealth operation they attack! Arghhhhh

       "Dreaming of the day we'll be tidy again"

Time for a cup of tea 

Healing :-)

Wednesday 24^th November

Having strapped up my ankle last night I woke this morning feeling a little better, the swelling had really gone down, confirming that there was no break.

I kept the bandage on for most of the day, and as the day went on so my foot got better.  By evening I was almost walking normally. 

While Bob went to the hospital I stayed and worked on cleaning and repainting parts of the generator.  It was hot uncomfortable work but at least I could do it sitting, or rather laying on the floor. 

You can probably imagine my delight at some of the fun jobs I get to do while living on board.

Bob finished sanding and rust treating the generator covers; he was working on them until midnight.

I worked all evening on the final recipes for my book, and the other illustrations I need Nicolette to do.  I hope to be ready to publish in the Spring.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, not that, that means anything to us Brits, but I will be thinking of my children back in the States who will be celebrating the holiday with friends.  Danni and Edi are taking part in a run with Ed’s friends family, I hope the weather stays good for them.

I don’t know what Nic’s doing, but pretty sure she won’t be taking part in a marathon! Have a great day Nic x

Thanksgiving day for me will involve spray painting all the generator covers, OH Joy!

Happy Thanksgiving J

OH Dear

Tuesday 23^rd November

My foot and ankle hurt so bad during the night I couldn’t sleep, and this morning it was swollen.  Bob wanted to take me to the hospital, but I know he has a lot still to do, and alone now I’m laid up, so I said no, I’ll rest it today and see how it is tomorrow.  Bob has to go to the hospital tomorrow for his tests anyway, so if my ankle isn’t better by then I’ll just go with him and get them to look at it.  It’s a damn nuisance, as we still have so much to do we’re running short on time and now I’m useless…  The last thing I need is to be laid up while Bob works on alone.  Hopefully my ankle will be better tomorrow.

I sat around most of the day with my leg up, it wasn’t that painful as long as I didn’t touch it or try to stand on it.  I did manage a small job of relining the insulation on the generator cover, but other than that I did nothing but work on my book all day.  Bob worked on getting the manifold back in, it does look great now we have cleaned it up and painted it with epoxy, but it took him all day, it’s almost midnight now and he’s still working on it.  Louie came over late morning, he was due to come today and see to our refrigeration, but all these bad storms we’ve been having almost sunk his boat and now he has to spend time rescuing that.  We’re not exactly sure when he can come and work now, he’s not having much luck lately, poor guy.

The rigger called to say he had forgotten to bring what he needed so he will try and come back later today.

It rained again for most of the day today, so we had to keep the boat shut up, it was quite hot and uncomfortable.  Ariel, our Italian friend came over late afternoon with his charts to show us his planned route to Colombia. We would like to travel with him if possible, I always feel there is safety in numbers, and he has done the trip before, he takes about a week, traveling from Aruba, and then doing day sails along the Colombian coast, which sounds much more appealing to me than doing 3 + days at sea, although we have heard that the coastal route can be very choppy! He couldn’t stay long because he and Bob were up on deck (nowhere to sit down below, I had the only free seat) and the mosquitoes were moving in on them, big time.

Anyway, tonight my foot has blown up like a balloon, so I guess I’ll be off to the hospital with Bob tomorrow, I just hope I haven’t broken my bloody ankle!

And then I fell down !

Monday 22^nd November

So today was really busy again with both of us working flat out to get all the jobs done.  The guys in the boat yard were not happy with me for using one of their workshops over the weekend and getting flaked paint and rust dust all over the floor.  I asked for a sweeping brush so I could clean up when I finished, but as they don’t speak much English they thought I was asking them to clean it up, it didn’t make me too popular, this is from guys who carelessly throw all their tools loose in a box when they finish work, whatever!

Today is the first day since we got back that it hasn’t rained, but its as humid as hell, I’m sweating for England, and no one here is in a great mood, although the mosquitoes are happy they're busy breeding faster than rabbits. The boatyard wants us to move Daisy, but we still have not repaired the windless, so we can’t drop anchor, and there are no available slips for us.

The floor is still up in the saloon, and we are climbing over toolboxes, generator casings, and baskets of stuff.  The lady arrived with our dodger and seat cushions that she had replaced the zippers on, along with the bill for $527… Wow, I really should have been a seamstress!  We dumped the dodger inside on the salon table, yet more stuff to cover the  only remaining uncovered surface left in the boat!

The rigger came today, but didn’t finish so he’s coming back tomorrow after he finishes up another job on another boat.  We invited him to stay for a beer before he left, and then we sat on deck drinking beer and chatting.  I went below to get some antiseptic cream because another bite on my leg had started bleeding; it was totally dark inside now and I'd forgotten the generator cover was off and the floorboards were up, and as I stepped onto the bottom step that wasn't there, I fell hard, I heard a crack and my right foot went limp like a rag doll, not good.  It hurt like hell and I was sure I had broken my ankle.  Bob wanted to take me to the hospital, but the thought of hours and hours sitting in the emergency room wasn't very appealing so I said "no, lets wait and see how it looks in the morning.

Rain, work, rain & *##**

Sunday 21^st November

So what can I write about today, unfortunately nothing anyone is going to want to read about.  However, if you enjoy misery, read on…

We worked from sun up to late in the evening, we ran out of water today (drinking water) but we still have some club soda. No fresh food left on board, and no time to shop.

We had to get the boat ready to move because another boat that was in trouble was on its way into the yard and we were in the way, but when we started the engine it cut out, after about an hour of frustration Bob discovered someone (probably the guys who came to clean the diesel tanks) had turned off the diesel to the engine! “cuss, mutter, swear, cuss!!! We moved the boat down the dock just making enough room for the other boat to come in, and all in the pouring rain.

Bob worked all day on the engine and generator, I worked on cleaning the oven, then wire brushing and sanding the generator covers all the time getting bitten to death by mosquitoes. 

It rained really hard all day I had to keep changing clothes because I was soaked.

At 5 O’Clock I stopped work, I hadn’t finished, the paint still had to go on, but I didn’t care, my back hurt, I was covered from head to toe in brown rust from the sanding, I itched from all the bites and was in a really foul mood.

Bob continued to work on, after he finished working on the generator he then set about finished my work.  

I struggled to find food for dinner, all we have is canned food, pasta and rice, and Bob won’t eat pasta or rice, so it’s probably going to be a can of tomato soup for dinner, just what we need after a hard days work.

OH the joys of boat life are endless…

The Launch

work, work, work...

Friday 19^th November

I discovered today my cut off point, a time out, enough’s enough, an everything stops here… a place where I am no longer able to tolerate anything and react with a degree of dignity.

My day started before dawn, my choice I would hasten to add.  I like to get up early it enables me to write without interruption, writing is a passion, for whatever reason it’s what I enjoy doing.  I really don’t care if anyone reads what I write.  I also know I’ll never be a literary genius, I just really enjoy writing, putting my thoughts and experiences out there for anyone who cares to be interested to read, or not, “whatever floats your boat” as they say!

But today! today really tested me… We had to get the boat back into the water, absolutely had to, because if we didn’t, the world as we know it would end IMMEDIATELY!  Really it would…

We still had a hundred jobs to finish while Daisy was out of the water, and everything had to get done so we could get launched. When Bob decides something has to be done he’s like a dog with a bone he never lets go, he has never and will never leave a job unfinished, it doesn’t matter how long it takes, or what the personal cost, unfortunately I am the other end of that, and unfortunately I do not have the same work ethic as Bob, I work very hard, harder than just about anyone else I know, but when I am tired I stop, or at least I will stop prior to collapse. Not Bob, he will work himself to dropping point. Obviously this is nothing new I have lived with it for 32 years now, but living on a boat brings a whole new meaning to tolerance. 

Once you stop work here there are no cool air conditioned rooms with comfy couches to flop into with a drink and relax, the condition our boat is in right now, there’s not even a bed that’s not covered in stuff.

At six O’clock I stopped work, the boat was in the water, but we had no power, all the power supplies on the dock were different to the cables we had, so Bob had to re-wire everything, in the dark with just his head-lamp.  I went up to the shower block and took a long hot shower, I ached from head to toe, and my hands were so sore from using heavy power tools, and lifting the anchor chain, which weighs about 1,000 lbs.  I hadn’t stopped to eat since 7am and I was feeling pretty miserable. 

Daisy all re painted and polished, on her way back to the water...

We had planned on going out to dinner, but I fell asleep waiting for Bob and ended up going to bed without anything.  My daughter Niki would say “look on the bright side Mum, just think about all the weight you’ll lose”I guess I do need to lose a pound or maybe 50.  

There is a local guy who works in the yard here, I give him bottles of water and he always rushes to help if he sees me struggling to carry something heavy, anyway, this morning he called me over to see a photograph of his Mother, and with the brightest smile told me “you are just like her, she too is short and round”! 

Daisy, back alongside.

Cleaning the Diesel Tanks

Thursday 18^th November

Just for a change today it rained! I really don’t remember the last time I saw so much of it.  I can only imagine it was while I lived in Wales, because my memory of Wales, beautiful as the country is, is of gray cloudy days and rain.  This is not what I expect in Curacao.

On the bright side, there are no mosquitoes around when it is raining, and it keeps things cooler for working.  As most of our jobs are inside the boat, what the weather is doing really doesn’t matter anyway.

 Daisy out on the hard, at Curacao marine boatyard

The guys turned up at 10am to clean out the diesel tanks, not exactly “first thing” but at least they arrived.

Last night Louie stopped by for a beer, and I had whipped up a batch of prawn crackers for a snack, which filled the entire boat with a nasty greasy fat odor, a little like the local fish and chip shop.  So this morning I decided to bake a cake to hopefully make the boat smell more appealing, why did I waste my time, about 10 minutes after the guys arrived the entire boat was filled with diesel fumes…

Cleaning the diesel tanks! 

I found it impossible to do anything inside the boat, the saloon was cleared of everything to enable the men to access the diesel tanks under the floor, the galley and all the bedrooms were so full of stuff piled up on every surface so I decided to go and mark the anchor chain.

Our anchor and chain are currently resting on a pallet outside the boat, waiting for inspection, a perfect opportunity to place the markers. I spent the morning laying the chain out and fixing the markers every 20 feet.  We have tried several methods of marking the chain, and none of them have been very successful, hopefully these colored plastic pieces fitted inside the links will work.  I have worked out a colored system that will enable me to know exactly how much chain is out.

Cleaning out the diesel tanks, and filtering the cleaned diesel back into the tanks took all day, the guys didn’t finish until 10 past 5, although they had managed to take a 2 hour lunch.

I’m so excited that we can get the salon back together and start making some sense of the interior.  We hope to get launched tomorrow and we still have a number of jobs that must get done while the boat it out of the water…

Who works in the islands?

Wednesday 17th November

         The inside deconstructed, notice the bottle of rum, it won't be full for long!


The rain stopped, the sun came out and I got to work wire brushing the strainers, "wow does that sound weird", I was doing really well restoring the original look of Brass from under all the green oxidization when I dropped the bloody thing.  Thankfully it didn't land on my foot, but one of the long metal pipes broke off...
Another repair job, OH well what can you do, boat life is all about jobs. Thankfully Bob wasn't mad, he said it shouldn't have broken so easily, so it probably needed fixing anyway.

Inside Daisy we have all the seating removed, stacked in all three bedrooms (leaving no where to sit or sleep) the table deconstructed and spread about in various locations throughout the boat, all the floor boards up.  The galley counters are covered with the contents from under the seats, all in order to clear space for the people coming this morning to clean out our diesel tanks.

 "Don't worry" Bob said, noticing my dismay at all the chaos "once they have finished we can put it all back, and we'll have seating and beds again".  Yeah right, this is the islands who does he think he is kidding, no one ever turns up on time, or does what they say they are going to do.

I almost thought I was wrong when at 3 this afternoon they turned up,  to tell us it was too late in the day and they will be back in the morning AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Rain, Rain, Rain & Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip...

Tuesday 17^th November

Removing the strainer from under the floor was really difficult, it was heavy and covered in nasty green oxidization.  While lifting it up onto the deck a black oily liquid spilled out and ran down my back, lovely!

Bob drove it to the steel fabricators to have some new pipes welded, while I went to the local supermarket. 

The shopping here in Curacao really is quite good, and the prices are not as high as many of the islands.  I was excited to be able to shop so we could have something other than canned food on board.  The fridge and freezer are still turned off because we are out of the water, but we have the table fridge working up on deck, its normally used for drinks, but makes a great standby fridge for times like this.

In the supermarket I was really delighted to find “Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip” manufactured by Robert Rothschild Farm, in Ohio. www.RobertRothschild.com  or call 1 800-356-8933. I highly recommend that you try it, its scrumptiously delicious especially with cheese, or in fact anything you care to put it on, chicken, pork, salad or sandwiches.

I bought 2 jars, but may go back for more while they’re still in stock.

It rained again on and off all day, I worked in the rain scrubbing the decks and washing the fiberglass, which was caked in black sticky dust from the boatyard, the rain helped wash off the soap suds and kept me cool while I was working. Not much chance of getting sun burnt here so far, Curacao is having more rain than Wales.

Bob’s friend Louie, very kindly filled one of our gas tanks for us, while we gave the other one to Budget Marine to fill, they usually take a couple of days, so I was very happy, I can have a cup of tea and cook now…

Bob’s still having problems with the battery charger, hopefully they will be resolved before too long.

Copy of an e-mail to my children

Tuesday 16th November

Curacao is currently having the heaviest rainfall in its entire history, we may not need to be moved by boat lifting machine to be put back in the water, Mother Nature may just do it for us.

We arrived back at the boat to discover that the boatyard had not done what Dad had paid them to do;  ie charge the batteries weekly, so we were greeted with totally dead batteries, no electricity, no water, no refrigeration etc etc etc…

An entire day was spent getting the boatyard to replace the batteries for us, which they did eventually but that was not without its problems, stress, stress and yet more stress!!!

The boatyard forgot to give me the key to the ladies bathroom, so last night while sweaty, exhausted, covered in mosquito bites (yes there are MILLIONS of them here) and bursting to go to the loo, I had nowhere to go, the men’s (my only other option) was busy and I really didn’t feel like using the facilities with them so I had to wait, ooohhhhh painfull!

In desperation and fighting back the urge to pee in the bushes I went back up to the bathrooms and waited for a woman to arrive and open the door for me, I had to wait 20 minutes, by which time I was almost peeing my pants.  As you can imagine I was not a happy bunny.

We opened a tin of tuna and corn for dinner last night, OH such gormet delight's we enjoy on Crazy Daisy, this morning we had water and a nutrigrain bar, yummy! No tea, no coffee no hot food because we also have no gas.  We need to find somewhere to fill the bottles and quickly, I’m needing some luck with that…

This morning Dad is working with the battery charger which is malfunctioning, yes more problems, I have lost all my ability to keep cheerful under these continuous problems.   I keep dreaming of the house in North Carolina next year and that thought alone is keeping me sane right now.

Just helped Dad remove the strainer from under the floor,  and managed to ruin a lovely pale blue t-shirt when a load of oil  spilled out all over me as I lifted it up on deck.

We have 15 days to get everything done and get to Aruba for Edi on 2^nd December, but we are 2 days already here and have not really even started all the jobs we should be doing.

I hope to be able to write with more cheerful news soon.

Back to Curacao

Sunday 14^th November 2010

We left Columbus at 7:30, and enjoyed a trouble free flight to Miami, where we walked straight to our next gate and got the 10:45 flight to Curacao. We were upgraded to first class, OH what a luxury, comfortable seats, a decent (for airline food) meal, a couple of gin and tonic’s and I slept peacefully for most of the flight.

I really have to applaud American Airlines, the flights were enjoyable and on time, the food was good and they didn’t lose my bags, which is more than I can say for Delta, I can’t remember the last time I had a trouble free flight with them, one of the reasons we changed to American Airlines.

Curacao was quite overcast when we arrived.  The island had some bad storms over the last few days, with very heavy rain, leaving the roads flooded in places. The area immediately around the airport is very poor and run down, it’s not the best introduction to the island.

At the boat yard, Daisy was sitting out on the hard with her newly painted bottom (hull).  I didn’t stay out of the car for very long as there were millions of mosquitoes “OH joy”.

We then drove out to Louie’s house where we were staying for the night.  Louie’s beautiful house is high on the hill overlooking Spanish Waters.  We ate at Mei Mei’s restaurant, before returning to Louie’s for an early night.

On to Lucca & Pisa

Following a truly delicious breakfast of wonderful home made breads, flavorful cheese's, home made jams and chutneys, meats, sausages, fresh fruit, yogurts and of course fabulous Italian coffee, I ate much more than I should have done.  All too quickly we were ready to get on the road again, but not before buying a couple of bottles of Alexandra's Olive Oil, made from the olive groves at Tenute Le Viste. I feel sad leaving here, and wish we had a couple of extra days to just stay and indulge, I will absolutely be back...

I had mapped out several different  route's to get to Lucca, most of them taking in other towns and villages along the way, but we decided to just get to Lucca as quickly as possible and enjoy the day there.  Lucca was another on the list of Edi's "you can't miss" places.

The road from Mosciano into Scandicci, around Florence and on to the autostrada didn't look difficult (on the map), and with the use of Lulu we thought we would have no trouble finding it... Wrong again!

In Italy, one has to drive exceptionally fast because all the drivers literally sit on your rear fender/bumper and almost push you along if you are not driving at maximum speed. I have to say it made me more than a little nervous, and was very grateful that most of the driving was in the country with little to no traffic.

The problem is, if you don't know where you're going, and you're driving like Mario Andretti trying to keep some idiot off your rear, managing the correct turnings off one road onto the next can become a real challenge.  Consequently I missed several of the turnings I should have taken, and ended up on a dual carriageway going in totally the opposite direction to our destination.

We couldn't turn around so we just kept going until we came to an exit.  We traveled seven miles in the wrong direction, fortunately we were both able to laugh about it.  We stopped and bought some water and sodas, and headed off again.  This time we managed to get on the right road, and in the right direction.
We arrived late morning at the beautiful city of Lucca.  It was a glorious day with cloudless blue sky and bright sunshine.  Luckily we managed to find a parking space right outside the entrance gates, but  this time we checked all the signposts to make sure we were allowed to park, I even asked a policeman to make absolutely sure we were legal.  We put enough money in for two hour's, and set off into the city center. As with each place we have visited so far in Tuscany, two hour's was not nearly enough.

Lucca is just another of Tuscany's delightful treasures, one of the precious few city's that is a wonderful example of an almost completely intact historic center, and circled by its Renaissance wall that stretches for 2.5 miles around the city, and is a perfect place to either walk or cycle while admiring the city within.

          A great way to see the city sights of Lucca.

Lucca's  remarkable Romanesque churches, picturesque tree shaded piazzas, and busy market stalls that stretch from the Piazza Antelminelli to Piazza San Giovanni are delightful.  Angie and I strolled among the stalls looking for gifts to take home.  I discovered a quaint book store that spilled out into the street offering both new and secondhand books for sale, I spent way too much time browsing, while Angie was off shopping, and ended up buying "A Companion to Lucca" by Andreas Prindl.

As we continued to explore the little streets, we came across the delightful Piazza Anfiteatro, built in 1830 on the site of a Roman Amphitheater. Practically non of the original amphiteatre remains today as most of the original stones were taken after the fall of Rome, and used for buildings elsewhere throughout the city.  Today the street level stands nine feet above the original arena floor.

I watched a man reaching out of his top floor window feeding the pigeons, and spotted a couple of hang gliders flying over the piazza.  The circular piazza has many little cafes, restaurants and touristy shops, it was a hive of activity this Monday afternoon in September.

        The beautiful Piazza Anfiteatro

Moving on we came to Via Sant'Andrea, at the foot of the famous Guinigi Tower, a familiar landmark of Lucca with its incredible garden of holm-oak trees growing at the top of the tower.  For about 4 euros you can climb the 227 steps to the top of the tower to see the tiny little garden, and admire the fabulous views around, I was more fascinated by the oak trees growing at the top of a tall tower, how weird is that!

Lucca is the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini, composer of some of the worlds greatest opera's.  The plaque that marks his birthplace can be seen at the casa di Puccini on the Via Di Poggio.  Unfortunately the house is closed due to a pitched battle between Puccini's grandneice, who owns the house and hopes to renovate it, and the city of Lucca, who want the house to remain in its original condition, until this battle is resolved the house will remain closed.

We briefly looked inside the Church of San Michele, and wandered through the beautiful Piazza San Michele before running back to move the car. At 2:30 we made our way to the Piazza Sant'Agostino to have another delicious Italian lunch, at the restaurant Vecchia Trattoria Buralli.

                Angie shopping at the market      



Angie and I both agreed that Lucca was one of our favorite stops on our Tuscan tour.

Unfortunately Pisa called, we had a hotel booked near the airport tonight, for our early flight back to Bristol tomorrow morning.
I'm not going to write anything about Pisa, we didn't get there until dark, and our  (so called) 4 star hotel was quite horrible, and definitely not worthy of a mention.

Otherwise my trip to Tuscany was wonderful and I can't wait to return.
"Buon Appetito"