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Porlamar – Day #1

We arrived at the airport at about 1000 and Bartolo was there to meet us. He took us to the local University where they have been doing their buoy assemblies. They have switch to here from Cumana because the Quiguarie has had crane problems and is not useable at the moment. Apparently the vessel here is smaller, but has more deck space.

We inspected the vandalized WatchKeeper buoy and I pointed out that there were some broken welds that needed repair if the buoy was to be used again.

We unpacked all the parts for the 3m buoy and inspected the damages dome to the old 3m buoy.

We installed the two tower sections ok the new hull. By 1430, we were ready to call it a day…having started at 0600.

Out for dinner to the food court at the mall. Big mall. Bad chicken burger.

Day #2

Breakfast in the hotel. Usual Venezuelan fare.

Back to the buoys and got the 3m up and running. It sounds like I might be here a couple of days longer as they want to get their smaller WatchKeeper buoy repaired while I’m here.

Will wire the current meter tomorrow.

Left Victoria @ 0615 for the direct Toronto flight. There has been quite a bit of fog in Vancouver over the last little while, so it was better to cool my heels in Toronto waiting for the Caracas flight than worry about a tight connection.

So I spent the afternoon in the AC lounge at YYZ.

The flight left almost half an hour late, so it wasn’t looking good for getting a good night’s sleep on arrival. Had the upgrade on both legs and managed to catch an hour or so nap on each. Watched the second half of “Get Smart” that I missed out of Victoria.

Arrived in Caracas at 2340 local, but they couldn’t move the ramp. “Every one sit back down, please.” After midnight before we were collecting bags. Nemer had arranged for a taxi to take me to the hotel. He was waiting with a sign, so that was easy.

Got to his car – it wasn’t a taxi so much as a car service – and after we stopped to pay for the parking, the car wouldn’t move. It was an automatic, but it was acting like a standard with a slipping clutch. I got out and pushed it away from the booth as there where cars behind that couldn’t move past.

We found that if he shut off the motor and restarted, we could go for 20 or 30 seconds at a time. He got pretty good at shifting into neutral (while still moving), stopping and starting the engine then shifting into gear…for 20 seconds.

I don’t think this is a new problem for him.

The hotel wasn’t far from the airport and I was on bed by 0115 or so.

Up at 0530 for a 0600 pickup by Nemer, and we were back to the airport. Check in at the Domestic Terminal for a 0800 flight to Porlamar on the Island of Margarita.

Flight final took off at 0925.

I got to be surrogate dad for my cousin’s kids on the weekend.

He spends a lot of time away from and with 9 year old triplets (one with special needs) and a 18 month old, I was happy to help out however I could. Whether it was holding the baby while Athena shopped for paint or cutting out cardboard for school projects, I had a good time.

Friday night, Izzy had a soccer practise, so Mac and I played catch, Collin had a therapy session, and Teddy stayed with the Nanny. She’s teach him Thai. And he loves her cooking.

Saturday was a busy day. Two soccer games, more therapy and some report writting.

Sunday was much quieter. Two of the kids had book reports that needed cardboard covers. We also went shopping for paint for the living room and I wanted to load up on Airbourne. CVS makes their own brand, too. $2 cheaper.

It was a very early morning Monday. Didn’t sleep well and up at 0500. Taxi picked me up at 6 and had no trouble with traffic. Breezed through checkin and Security. Could have slept for another half hour at least.

Long day…stopped in Toronto for 6 hours for meetings and finally got home after 10pm PDT.