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.

We made it to Isla Chimana Segunda, then El Occulto, Mochima in Mochima National Park, Laguna Grande, and then Medregal Village in the Golfo de Cariaco.
Laguna Grande is especially beautiful, a huge protected bay with hillsides that remind us a lot of the American Southwest. It is very desert-like, full of cacti and other desert plant life, with red hills. It was a beautiful vista when we hiked up to the top of the hill by our anchorage.

The most recent show- stopper for us now is the sea water cooling pump on the diesel engine. We had a friend bring some parts back from the States in October, a plate, gaskets, screws, new impeller, to try to stop a leak from the water pump. It didn't work, and we now think we need a new pump. Trying to get one delivered from the States to get us going again is proving to be a real challenge. And - making sure we have the correct pump. Yanmar original pump costs almost $500 in the US, and about $600 here (plus about 20 days to deliver it). However, another model will fit and work, we have been told by several Yanmar service department employees, and cost about half that. Now we just need to figure out how to ship it here and get it without paying an arm and a leg for customs and shipping.
Meanwhile, there are worse places to be "stuck" and the Debonair is peacefully bobbing in her slip.

We finally installed a solar vent in the galley. It is a Nicro solar vent, designed to run on solar power when the sun hits it, and a switch to use 12 Volt DC house power at other times. I think I would choose another model Nicro vent, one which has a battery to store solar power instead of switching to 12V DC, and have a simpler system. It was bedded with Dow Corning 795, which we have been using for all through-deck bedding and like very much. Here are views from the outside and inside on the galley ceiling headliner.

We are also taking some time to have fun, too, of course. In October, Andy from Oma - Opa, Peter and Sylvia from Trade Wind, and Larry had birthdays. Andy's was her 70th birthday. So we had a wonderful birthday dinner and party for all of the birthdays in Peter and Sylvia's apartment.
Last night, we went out downtown to Paseo Colon with Trade Wind and had a great time looking at the sights, buying some locally crafted jewelry, and dinner at El Sultan, a local Arabic restaurant.

Work on the PortaBote is finally complete. We drilled new holes in the bow for a new coated stainless lead for locking and a painter. The fiberglass mat and epoxy job on the seats took over a week of work, and lots of epoxy, but they are very sturdy now. I sanded and painted the seats, both for UV protection and to make them look better. We used Venezuelan epoxy and fiberglass, and marine duro paint from Venezuela, which is a two-part paint.

Meanwhile, work continues on the Debonair. Varnishing (Cetol) on some pieces, and Semco sealant on most of the exterior. Most of that work is done now. Our fresh water system pump broke. It is a Shur-Flo, and the third one since we started cruising. They only seem to last a year and a half to three years, even with being very careful with it. This time we can't get a new pump, parts are not available in Venezuela. So we had to get our hand pump working. We have a foot pump in the head. The hand pump in the galley is a Fynspray, made in New Zealand. After not being used for over 10 years, it was a job to take it apart and put in new gaskets. We had to bend it a bit, but it's a hardy piece of gear and works just fine now. We're not sure, but it seems that Shur-Flo can't make a pump that lasts very long, so we may try a new company for the replacement pump. We thought about taking out the pressure system, but we like our water filtration system, which only runs through the pressure system.