Party on the Cat

I had some other cruisers over for a chicken feed and rum fest. Cruisers brought appetisers and I supplied the pollo(chicken) and the golden nectar. It was a thank you on my part for the help given me when I arrived here in Venezuela. If you have been reading the blog you know I lost my dinghy to theft and these cruisers helped me when they could.

Big Weather in the Carribean

Last night the weather experienced here was exciting. Big rain and some wind associated with the moisture Omar is pulling through the area. We are south of the "Hurricane Zone" but are still effected by the weather these systems produce. The picture is the calm before the storm at 1600 so you can see how dark it was.

Streets of Playa Concorde

This is a view of the beach area of Playa Concorde. This is the anchorage for Porlamar. The big power boat has been here for a year or so and just sits half full of water when the tide is high.

Rainbow in Porlamar

Actually, a double but hard to see! It rained here most of the day. Unusual for Porlamar as there are succulents and cactus everywhere. All the boats had a good wash and several cruisers were able to add water to their tanks.

New Cover

After buying the new dinghy and motor I felt I needed to purchase a cover. In the tropics the sun is hard on everything. Dinghys need to be protected if you want them to last. So I paid about US $300 for the cover for the gas tank motor and dinghy. Not a bad deal at all. Johnny and his helper did a fine job!

Doing the Weather

Henry on Windquest usually does the weather here in Porlamar. He went to the coast to haul out and have some work done on his boat. I volunteered as no one else was willing. It has been a great 10 days looking at the websites and gribs and predictions. Well.... I got it right this morning as a tropical wave was coming through at 0300. I forgot about the back end and had predicted 10 knots for today in the anchorage. Needless to say when the back of the wave came through it was almost 20 knots. A couple of boats dragged their anchors but no damage! Oh well live and learn!

Hubble Space Telescope

I have included a link to the HUBBLE Telescope! There are some fantastic pictures captured by this orbiting telescope. Just click on the picture and it will take you to the gallery.

Pirates of the Carribean

Yesterday a cruiser came back from the North Coast of Coche, small island 20 miles south of here. He was boarded by armed men the night before at sunset. One was armed with a hand gun!

They stole computers and dive gear then departed. No injuries to the cruisers.

The New Dinghy

Well it finally arrived and I am quite pleased with the dinghy although the unplanned for expense was a surprise. Nice to be able to get back and forth to shore under my own power. It is a 11 foot Caribe with a 15 hp Yamaha enduro.