5/4/15 - Spoke with Parker on SSB. Winds will be up due to high pressure ridge at 35*N and Columbian low well E. Probably 10 days 'till we can move to Curacao. We'll have to wait and see. Got generator started (dead battery) by jumping it with the port engine start battery thru the hatch! Cleaned and stretched isinglass. Fixed latch on locker on port side. Found second leak in port pontoon of dingy. Must buy flexible epoxy to patch as patching material on board doesn't last. Changed water maker filters and made water.
5/5/15 - 1500 moved in 25+ kn winds into Renaissance Marina where we med. moored with help of Saunders. X-J signed us in. Signed up for a month as the winds are not expected to abate soon and we plan to go to FL for Kyler's HS graduation. Went to dinner at Iguana Joe's. Had Bon Bon shrimp and Iguana nachos. Great!
5/9/15 - Daily winds are still 20-25 kn with gusts above 30 kn. Weather reports show these conditions out thru next weekend. African/Sahara Dust gets all the way here leaving a haze obscuring the sun. Not as bad as smog in LA, but... We've decided to go back to FL on the 17th in HOPES of going to Kyler's graduation, or at least wait out the wind/weather in happy surroundings.
Steve and I have completed a bunch of projects/repairs: re-wired the generator to the house as its battery is dead; patched the dingy with G-Flex; fixed the strbd. Engine's starter disconnect (I was having to jiggle the solenoid starter connection to get engine started); tightened the strbd. engine fan belt (locking bolt was over tightened!); and stabilized the aft antenna mounting bar. Still to go is re-stitch bridle thimble and replace main halyard (cover rotted off presumably from the Columbian dirt/mud/organic material).
5/11/15 - Went up mast at 0630 before Aruban wind came back up to normal 20-25 kn. Used old main halyard and boson's chair with spinnaker halyard as safety back-up. Linda was on the electric winch and Steve was belaying the spinnaker halyard. Lorry stood by in reserve. We communicated with our "marriage savers" (Wilkie-talkies). Mast is 58' tall from deck base and 67' from the water. Main halyard is 200' long. It is covered in Colombian mud which I neglected to wipe off. Will order new Dyneema halyard with thimble spliced in. Also will order new generator battery (36 amp hours).
5/17/15 - Went to FL for Kyler's H.S. graduation at the Amway Center. HE MADE IT!
Steve and Lorry flew home.
5/25/15 - Steve returned one day before us so he could sail to PP, DR, ?
5/26/15 - Reassembled the dingy seat after attempting to fix leaks: only partially successful. Will have to look at it again when we get to PR. We will put the dingy sans motor on the davits at the fuel dock. Can't get off Kuhela with it hanging across the stern. Bought groceries for trip. We will refuel after we get off the ball ( Med-moor) to include the bladder at about 1300. This should give us over 200 gallons: 90 in the tanks; 35 in the yellow diesel cans; 30 in the "salad oil" cans; and 48 in the bladder. Have modified the bladder's fueling/re-fueling system so we can pump the fuel into the tanks. Just had to reverse the hookups on the pump to make the change happen.
Bright, sunny day with winds for the most part under 20 kn. 82*F, 73% humidity. Winds are predicted anywhere from 14 kn to 35 kn from mostly E. with small craft warnings over next several days. Seas predicted at around 5-6' with 6 sec. interval from ENE. We hope to sail out into calmer waters 100 or so nm NE of here.
We cleared out at Barcadera. Had to tie up along side a Venezuelan steel boat in order to get ashore. No problem and they were friendly and helpful. Got the bum's rush after telling Customs we were leaving right away. We had a steering hydraulic problem fixed with more oil and re-aligning the rudders that kept us dockside longer than they wanted. Finally got off about 1845 in 20 knot winds and 3' seas. Averaging 7.2 knots for first hour and a half. Wind and seas increased as we passed the western tip of the island. Winds back to 20-25 knots, seas to 5'. New main halyard (dyneema) too thin to be held by clutches. Main slipped. Used corks to jam it. Night passage quite rough. Couldn't hold course fit Culebra or even PR. By morning we were 15 nm off course to the W. About mid-morning the jib heads gave way followed shortly by the entire sail. We bundled it up and changed course to Curacao 200 miles away where we hope to make repairs. Seas all broken up at around 4'. Winds 18-25 knots. Very uncomfortable. Afterward taking down the main we refueled with relative ease underway using the Dehaan pump so both tanks are full. Had to swop in line for out. Autopilot also went out so we are hand steering to Curacao, too.
5/25/15 - "O" Dark Thirty: Last but not least main boom line parted freeing the boom. Climbed up up tie it down. Tie down also parted in middle of the night. Made two lateral tie downs at top of boom vang after light and before breakfast tying them to the mid cleats thus temporally securing the boom. Will re-weave the main block in Curacao probably at Curacao Marine. By the way, steering with defective hydraulics in 1.5-2 hour shifts all night in an itchbay! Can't let it go for a second: constant reading the GPS heading and adjusting the bearing. With our speed under 4.5 knots this went on seemingly forever.
Got to Curacao around 1400. Checked in with Customs after coming alongside next to the bridge at Willemstad. Next we went across the inlet with permission of the Willemstad Port Authority, tied up and went to Immigration and then Digicel. From there we called Curacao Marine (I now understand they don't monitor the VHF or even have one) and lined up a slip from where we hope to get everything fixed. Pulled into a slip with help from various cruisers already here: very friendly and helpful bunch.
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