Log 44M - New Bimini & Medical problems in Bahia Redonda Marina

Written at: Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela

Oct. 20, 2007

Hi Folks,

We hoped to be able to shove off today, but Murphy's Law prevailed and when we went to check out with the officials yesterday (Friday) afternoon, we were informed that the ship's papers had to be sent out in the morning to be returned in the afternoon. Now they won't be sent out until Monday morning to be returned to us that afternoon. Two days lost! I had hoped to stop at Cubagua to tour the small isolated island, but it will have to wait until next year. Instead, we will do an overnight passage Monday night, 80 miles direct to Porlamar.

I had a few concerns for health problems develop while here as I describe in the log. I am OK, but need a check up when we return to Canada next April. In this log I describe the new hard bimini we made for the cockpit cover. We're quite happy with it, and I have included pictures showing its details.

We had a fascinating three days on a trip down to Angel Falls, the highest in the world at 983 metres, which I will describe and send pictures of with the next log.

All the best,

Aubrey

 

Log 44M - New Bimini & Medical problems in Bahia Redonda Marina

It is comfortable to be in a full service marina, even though we don't have the isolation, or the ability to jump overboard for a swim. Water and electricity, as well as a 24 hour WiFi connection, make staying in a marina a simple luxury. We don't have to worry about water usage, or the batteries being depleted by having the refrigerator/freezer on all the time. The WiFi gives us the world on internet so I get my daily news fix from the Globe and Mail, the Washington Post, the London Times, and even the Turkish Daily News as well as Al Jazeera or other print publications. We can access, in real time, radio broadcasts from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

We access our E-mail several times a day, and I am getting caught up on a bit of personal correspondence and have sent off the first few chapters of my book to Tony Cook, the webmaster of Searoom, to consider putting it into E-book formats, section by section.

We can offload garbage whenever we want to nearby containers, take showers at a washroom facility down the dock, use the luxurious swimming pool, have snacks or meals in the marina restaurant/bar, and get a few grocery supplies at the marina minimart. A ten minute dinghy ride takes us into the intricate channels of the inner lagoon fringed by other marinas, condominiums and million dollar homes, down to a large modern grocery store in a gigantic mall called Plaza Mayor. All this for less than $10.00 a day.

A VHF cruisers' net in English is on at 0745 six days a week, with Judy giving the weather forecast on it. Each Monday is a pot luck supper, which is where I feared I got my stomach problems. Many people including Judy and me donated time and items for needy families helped by Fundamigos, a medical service that comes once a year with volunteer doctors to operate on children with cleft palates and other facial, maxillary problems. We hope to be here earlier next year so we can volunteer to help at the hospital during the procedures. There are several local taxis that service the marina, whose drivers speak English as well as Spanish, and can be contacted on VHF radio or by phone. They only charge 20,000 to 25,000 Bolivars ($4.00 to $5.00) an hour for their services. We have taken a bus into town a few times at 900 Bolivars (about 25 cents). We are never sure where to catch them or where they go, but we are learning. We have been to a couple of modest chandleries and a large EPA store, similar to a Home Depot, for the supplies to build our hard bimini.


The New Hard Bimini


The hard bimini is completed and mounted over the cockpit. We assembled it from three 4x8 foot, 3/8 inch (9cm), plywood sheets joined with 1½ x ½ inch stringers, and put a strip of fibreglass cloth along the upper seams, and 1 inch L-shaped pieces along the edges to retain water so it will serve as a rain catcher. We then put two coats of epoxy resin on both sides, and two coats of white exterior paint, again on both sides. We drilled two holes in the forward corners and glassed in PVC fittings to channel the water into hoses for downspouts, to which we will later attach hoses to the deck fittings for our water tanks. We thought we would have to arrange for the fabrication of a couple of stainless steel supports to mount it, but we were able to adapt the existing stainless steel frames that held up our canvas bimini and dodger to support the hard bimini. In fact, we have one stainless steel arch left over for which we have no use. Another interesting modification we made to the existing frame was to mount an arch above the bimini to serve as a boom crutch, so that if the boom is accidentally lowered too far, it will rest on this arch, rather than damaging the bimini.

We drilled a hole in the middle after part to allow our back stay to go though, and have glued a leatherette sleeve to the upper surface at the hole to prevent leakage. We had several antennas and a stern light mounted on a plywood bar on the old bimini, and were able to just bolt the bar and its attachments to the after end of the hard bimini. To secure the unit to the stainless steel arches, we screwed in a couple of brass eyes on the stringers on either side of the arch, and lashed them together around the arch. To provide forward and aft stabilization for the stainless steel structure, Judy secured each forward post (they have a slight forward cant to them) with an aft lashing, and the middle posts with both forward and aft lashings. We then secured the remains of our old dodger to the forward edging of the bimini, tacked down to the original twist fittings just aft of the traveler, thus providing forward shelter and the original opening forward vinyl window.
 

The bimini is slightly lower forward to allow rain water to drain through the openings in the two forward corners. With hose clamps, we have attached hoses about three feet in length to the fittings to drain onto the coach roof so there will not be spillage over the top of the bimini when it rains. If we expect a good amount of rainfall, we attach the two ends to a Tee hose, the longer centre hose leading into one or other of our water tank deck fillers. We purchased a long roll of plastic sun shade screening. Judy made seven sections tacked to the underside of the bimini, to roll down for sunshades all around the cockpit. A length of doweling was tacked to the bottom of each section, allowing the shade to be neatly rolled up and secured with straps at the top when not in use.

We plan to have a new dodger made professionally for forward protection and visibility, at a later date.

We have spent less than $400.00 for all the materials, paints, screening and hardware. If doing it again, I would probably use particle board or more expensive marine grade plywood, and would put on three or four coats of epoxy and three or four coats of white paint. Because the top edges extend over the cockpit coaming, getting into and out of the cockpit is a bit more difficult. There are a few adjustments yet to be made, but we are quite happy with this large waterproof hard top bimini.

Medical Problems

Judy did most of the assembly as I was sick for several days, with what I thought at first was an upset stomach; after a few days I had discomfort when urinating and, assuming it was a urinary tract infection, went on an antibiotic regime with medication we had on board. When I noticed blood in my urine I knew I had a more serious problem, and should see a doctor. We had Andreas, a bilingual taxi driver, take us to a private hospital for a meeting with a urologist. Andreas served as interpreter with the doctor. I was afraid of prostate cancer, as my PSA has been quite high for several years. However the diagnosis was an infection and benign hyperplastic (expanded) prostate, readily treatable with antibiotics and a medication regime for three months. The visit cost only about $15.00, and all the medications for three months were about $250.00, much more economical than in Canada or the U.S. He also gave me a lab order for a full blood workup, and asked me to come back in two weeks. The blood work was done a few days later at the economical cost of about $35.00. I phoned my family doctor back in Toronto and told him of the diagnosis, the medications prescribed, and the results of my blood work. He felt the medications were quite suitable to the diagnosis and said the Venezuelan urologist "knew his stuff". Most of the readings of the blood work were in acceptable ranges, except for a low haemoglobin, and my family doctor was concerned at my reduced iron in the blood and suggested I have the urologist check this further when I meet with him (tomorrow).

I will complete this medical summary after meeting with the urologist.

(Next Day) No real problems, but the doctor suggested when I go back to Toronto next April to consider a colonoscopy and biopsy be done (ouch!). 



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