SOCIALIST SUPERMARKET

Within the past year the Venezuelan government has taken over many businesses, like banks, manufacturers and food companies. We have been shopping at a supermarket that used to belong to a French company but is now government owned and operated. The new store is called Bicentenario, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Venezuela's independence. It is advertised as a "people's store" with lower prices although we haven't seen much difference in the cost of items. One real change has been in the deli area where customers can buy a type of sandwich called an arepa, a popular local specialty.


However in this store the price for an arepa is about one third of what you would pay elsewhere. These tasty concoctions of cornmeal, pork, beans, cheese or beef mixtures are called socialist arepas, to emphasize the lack of capitalist profit that yields a lower price. For an added bit of political education, the receipt you receive when you buy one of these has a quote from Karl Marx printed on it.

About 6 lines from the bottom of our receipt that we photographed(above) you'll see a sentence in Spanish which translates as, "To each according to his needs, from each according to his ability." We've never noticed anyone else actually reading or discussing this famous Marxist slogan while standing in line waiting for their food, but I suppose it's the thought that counts.

We had a great trip to Gran Sabana in south eastern Venezuela. We went by bus, first to Ciudad Bolivar, and then to Santa Elena, near the border with Brazil.
Our first waterfall we had to take a twenty minute boat ride and a short hike to see. It was one of the more spectacular falls. There are hundreds of waterfalls off the tepuis in Canaima National Park.


Larry is talking to our guide, Ramzi Zahalan, in front of a staircase waterfall. Each site was reachable only by an off-road drive in a 4x4 vehicle. After a rainfall, these "roads" looked impassable - but Ramzi was able to negotiate all of them.




Standing by the Toyota in front of the site for filming "Jurassic Park"....

Here at Bahia Redonda we still have the weekly Bar-B-Que to look forward to. Last week we had mostly clear skies and a spectacular sunset. There are fewer cruisers here, and there are great deals on dockage, so we are taking our time here in Puerto La Cruz.
At the BBQ










One of the Bahia cats (which someone called the Bahia Royalty) also came to join us by the rooftop. Garfield played the ham and posed for us.

In three weeks in the boatyard at Navimca, in Cumana, Venezuela, we ac- complished many jobs. The biggest ones were with the prop shaft and engine. We had a new dripless shaft seal installed, cleaned, painted, and machined the transmission coupling, new cutless bearing. The engine got new motor mounts, a new thermostat and coolant, a new shut off switch, new transmission oil. We used Cesar the diesel mechanic in Cumana and were very satisfied with his work, and he was great to have around.

Here we are in a boatyard again. This haul out is at Navimca, in Cumana, Venezuela. Our last haul out was in March, 2008 at Bobby's Boatyard in St. Martin. We have a list of projects that we need to complete at this haul out, as always. We have a new propeller shaft seal, and new motor mounts, for the big projects. Once our mechanic pulled the shaft, he strongly advised us to also replace the cutless bearing. Fortunately he was able to find one at a local marine store here in Cumana.




Our new home for a couple of weeks. The boatyard only has a couple of other live aboards here.


Trying to fish a necessary part out of the filthy bilge. We had to go at it from aft, where Larry was pushing sludge up to me, and I was mopping it out.

Just a few words about the Marina Cumana- goto, which is the only game in town if you want to stay in Cumana. There is no anchorage, either. All of the facilities are in terrible shape. The docks are falling apart, the electrical connections are nonexistent or questionable, the water pressure is bad. The showers are in the mall itself, so you get to share the space with everyone using the mall. The saving grace of the marina is the staff, who are personable, friendly, and helpful to a fault. We especially like the managers, Ruben and Gaston. The dockhands and guards are great too. The rates are almost 50% more than Bahia Redonda in Puerto La Cruz, where the facilities are so superior it's like a different world. But if you want to see Cumana, or need a mechanic, you will need to go to Cumanagoto.
Here's Larry in front of a neighboring boat, which seems to have been abandoned here, and left for the cormorants that splat on the deck all day long. Larry wanted to have someone over to the boat and stop here, telling them that we need to have a bit of work done.

We have a PYI Packless Shaft Seal, or "dripless" shaft seal, which has been great for many years. What we have found out, however, is that when it goes, it really creates a flood into the boat. The word in Spanish for flood is "inundacion" and that's what we had a couple of weeks ago. We found out about it 15 minutes away from the dock, thank goodness - because our automatic float switch for the bilge pump also decided to give way at that point too. We have an Ultimate Pump Switch, which has given great service for many years, but is now also kaput. After much footwork and investigation we have figured out how to get spares for both, and are having them shipped. Our simple haulout has turned into more of a project, with a shaft seal to replace, and also our engine motor mounts, which the mechanic strongly recommended.

In between things breaking on the boat, we are actually fixing some of them. Our latest project (which we haven't tested for water tightness yet) is a new kitchen sink drain. Here's Debby washing dishes out in the cockpit. We've been using a bucket for our sink for months now.
Here's the new sink drain. We couldn't find a drain to fit the holes for the sink; it's too small for standard kitchen drains, and too large for bathroom drains. So we found some plastic drains and had to cut some washers using a hole saw out of plastic plates. Everything is bedded with silicon.
Underneath the sink, here's the new fixtures. We are hoping for the best with this. It will be nice to have a working galley sink again.

In Cumana, close to the marina on the waterfront, is a small amusement park which reminds us of the 1960s rides we went on in Excelsior in Minnesota. They were from the same vintage, probably sold when they were decommissioned in the States. Just like the fleet of 1970s and 80s American muscle cars we see on the street.
This car, we think a 1959 Chevrolet Impala with the big fins, we found downtown Cumana. It was a real beauty, and still running.

Being in Venezuela is somewhat like an archeological expedition - what are we going to find that is 30, 40, 50 years old, what was built 40 years ago, and what was it when it was built?
We bought some yellowfin tuna steaks ("si hay atun aleta amarilla") from these guys, who set up shop every morning with a generator to run a jigsaw, all mounted on a modified bicycle. I don't think they see too many gringos, as we drew a lot of attention. The steaks were lovely, and cost about $2 a pound. Local fisherman pulled them out of the gulf right here.

We have been in Cumana, Venezuela for a month now. We like Cumana, and have been doing things like taking care of dental visits for both of us, and having the engine cooling system looked at. We tried to leave last week and overheated. It turned out to be a faulty thermostat, but of course we can`t buy one here. So we just took it out and will get one when we get to Curacao.

We did some of the touristy stuff and went to the fort on the hill here.

We also found a great wall with Venezuela`s motto on it here in Cumana.