PIRIAPOLIS, URUGUAY - Matte, Engines and New Friends

Being in Piriapolis
We are taking advantage of the fact that we are sitting here waiting for the engine and Andrew has been re-fibreglassing the dinghy, touching up the jelcoat, and getting our broken water tanks repaired - which is another story!! It seems like they actually broke 4 days out of Cape Town! Unbelievable, and it has taken this long to actually get to the root of the problem. The engine is still in the workshop after 4 weeks, but there is progress and we should get it back on Monday, so we will be happy if that is sometime next week! The engine has been completely overhauled and when we go to look at it in the Mitsubishi workshop (which is incidentally the cleanest workshop I have seen in a while, which bodes well) it is looking good as it has been sandblasted, though I sure hope they know how to put it all back together! It has had a complete overhaul, so we are hoping for the best! It certainly seems to me that engines run for a long time in this country, by the age of the general car hereabouts, so we hope that is something to go on.

Boat goings on
As we have the opportunity to I have been trying to unmold the boat, as now that we are from the most humid and wet areas, it is a good opportunity to take everything out of damp lockers, and wash and dry things and repack. The problem with this is that there is a huge amount of stuff that is now out of it's storage place in the boat and taking up more space elsewhere. It feels like a never ending game of chess but with too many pieces on the board. You are always looking for somewhere to put things down, and there just really isn't anywhere. Any place that is made vacant or cleared up, turns into a magnetised dumping ground. As those of you with babies now, there is always baby stuff all over the place, so from fruit bowls, to baby toys, bottles, dummies, clothes, bibs and finger snacks of apple and pear along with other such delicacies, we play a constant game of clean up and reshuffle. We have tried to work out a formula for how long a boat based task takes, opposed to the same land based task with relevant tools (i.e. space, dishwasher, washing machine, high chair). We think it is about 3:1, so something that takes you 20 minutes on land is likely to take about 1 hour on the boat.

Coffee run
I will run you through the act of making coffee in the morning - which Mum The Star normally makes: Mum, "Anybody want coffee?"
Everybody," Yes please!!"
Mum, "Ok, GASON please" - which means can somebody nip outside to the gas bottle and turn it on.
Somebody, "OK" - and nips out to the cockpit to turn the gas on.
Mum gets the kettle, which is normally on the floor in her cabin, as it cannot live on the stove, as Lucy might pull the gimballed (which means it is on a swing hinge mechanism that moves with the movement of the boat so you can cook when the boat is sailing) stove (when it is off) and the kettle may fall on her head, so instead it mostly lives on the floor in Granny's cabin. One has to be careful that it is empty though otherwise dear, sweet Lucy plays 'pour the kettle onto the cabin floor and into the locker under the floorboards!' Best nothing goes in the locker that matters if it gets wet. Ah yes, back to the coffee... After retrieving the kettle, Mum fills it with water - but, for the last couple of weeks, we have not had any water from the tanks, as we are sorting out the water tank problem, so water comes from a 12.5 litre drum. Oh dear, it is empty....
Mum, "Please can someone get me some water?"
Andrew, Yes, sure" - nips outside to the tap and fills up the drum, and helps to pour it into the kettle. However, only one of the 12.5 litre drums (we have 2) pours without leaking, so it is likely at this point, that some water will end up on the floor, which will envoke one or two choice words from Andrew - if everything stands as usual, and then of course the spilt water needs to be cleared up.
Ok, so now the water is in the kettle.
Mum then opens the gas tap in the cupboard in her cabin, and then turns the ring on at the stove, and lights it, the water is now successfully in the kettle, and has a flame burning underneath it! Progress..
So now we have filled up the kettle and switched it on, which has probably taken around 10 minutes, a land based activity of about 30 seconds. Ok, so it is not always that we have no water on the boat, but currently this is it.
Then Mum clears the decks and lines up the filter and coffee, - we do, of course, only drink fresh coffee - and the coffee cups, takes out the sugar,
Mum, " GASOFF"
Somebody, "OK" and nips back outside to the cockpit to turn the gasoff.
Mum turns off the gas tap in her cupboard after all the gas in the pipe has been used, and turns the ring off at the stove.
and then
Mum, " Oh drat, the milk is in the fridge" - which is of course underneath the coffee cups and sugar.... So they all need to be moved, hhmmn, technical hitch here, there is no other free surface.
Eventually, Mum manages to make the coffee. Which is incidentally always very good, and is enjoyed with a delicious selection of pastries from the local baker, and a home made Spanish lesson. It is now about 10 o'clock. Yes - a good thing we are not in a rush! Almost time for lunch!

New Friends
Since arriving in Piriapolis, we really have been fortunate to meet some great people. Alessandro (Alex) who we were introduced to by Martin has just been incredible. He has gone out of his way to assist us with everything, from helping us find the right (reasonable price, reliable, good - though no guarantee about speed!) engine mechanic, which could be more than a small challenge in a small, South American town in Uruguay, where you don't know anyone, and do not speak the language. In fact, it could turn into an epic really, It is challenging enough getting a sail repaired, let alone getting an engine completely overhauled! Although one thing is for sure, I have never been in a place where I have seen so many old cars still on the road. And when I say old, I don't mean like old Toyota Corollas and Ford Escorts - I mean old like a very ancient Morris van circa 1950's, various old trucks, some really old ancient Dodge pickups, Fiat 500s, Beetles galore, and old Volksie busses, some in immaculate condition, though a lot in not so immaculate condition. The import tax on cars in Uruguay is astronomical, 100% if you can believe it.

Alex is married to the lovely Rita, who Lucy thinks is the bee's knees, and they have 2 boys - Diego and Gabriel. Alex and Rita have been more hospitable than you can believe, they have welcomed us into their home, gone out of the way to assist us in countless situations - from driving Andrew to the airport to check in to Uruguay when the customs official was off duty at the port and helping with the engine - actually hauling it out of the boat with his truck - to welcoming us into their house for fantastic cooking by the gorgeous Rita, and offering us their house on the farm for a week while the varnish in the boat sets! And these are only a few of the things these kind, generous new friends of ours have done for us - WOW is all that we can say. This is absolutely why we travel!

We then met a great Irish guy by the name of Laurence, who is a boat builder, acutally a naval architect, to be technically correct. You may well ask what he is doing in Uruguay, well he is building a pilot boat for the Uruguayan navy. Quite an undertaking when Spanish is not your home language! His wife Pip had left here a few days ago to sail their boat single handed across to the UK in preparation for the Ostar. I am in awe - crazy woman! As I write this, she arrived safe and sound in England, having loved the sail over, and is now getting the boat ready. The race she is preparing for is a single handed race from Plymouth to Rhode Island. He has been super and has shown us around town, he has also helped with heaps of advice on all sorts of things boat and Ururguay. He has given us lifts all over the place, and has helped us take out the water tank, popped it in his car, and shipped (well not quite) it off to Monte Video to be repaired and improved.

Our new friend Laurence dragged us of for a run up the local version of Sugar Loaf Mountain - Pan de Azucar. It is tiny compared to the real Sugar Loaf, but quite spectacular none the less. It was a lovely run, though it was more a stiff walk than a run, as it was straight up the side of the mountain! So there were only a few places to really run. On the top of the mountain is a huge cross that has a stairwell inside that climbs up to the arms of the cross. Amazing views of the surrounds from inside this graffitti covered concrete monument. It was a great morning and Andrew and Laurence managed to race each other both up and down the mountain, and they did run! At the bottom of the mountain is a zoo, as well as a playground and restaurant. We ran through the zoo on the way down, and there were some fascinating looking birds - we will definately have to come back to the zoo with Lucy and Granny.

Meeting Obelix and Asterix, possibly going river rafting -
A boat came into the port today, an old boat, narrow and wooden with teak decks. Andrew helped the crew to moor up alongside us and got chatting to them. We have named them Obelix and Asterix, as the one is absolutely huge (tall with massive broasd shoulders), and the other one is not. They are both Uruguayan, from Monte Video, weekend sailing, their names are really Alessandro (yes, another one) and Eduardo. They came over for supper and we had a great time chatting to them about the life in Uruguay in general. They speak enough English, together with our broken Spanish to have a healthy conversation. The boat they are sailing was built in 1937, and is a real antique - well almost if you want to get technical. They are very into their river canoeing and have offered to take us on a river trip when when we get to Monte Video - apparently this is very leisurely sport in Uruguay, because of the mostly flat landscape, the rivers meander rather than run, so it would be safe even for Lucy. I think they use canoes that are more like barges by the sounds of things - time will tell! Another adventure to look forward to.

Matte - the National Sport
In Brazil, we noticed many of the locals drinking a tea called matte. Generally this consists of a gourd, which is the cup or container, made of various materials, but the most common is one with a leather covering, with a silver straw. On the end of the silver straw, there is a mini tea strainer. So the straw is inserted into the gourd, which is filled with matte leaves. This is then continuously refilled from the ever present thermos which is tucked under one arm. When we arrived in Uruguay, we started to notice a lot more of these matte drinkers around. In fact, it seemed that there were not very many non-matte drinkers living in Piriapolis. Uruguayans spend a lot of time socialising on the street. This can be any street/street corner/street bench/beach/corner shop/palisade, every where you look, you will find a matte drinker, or more often than not, a pair of matte drinkers, equipped with matte kit, a pair of deck chairs and possibly a dog.

Gambo
Parked on the dock next to us, is a boat called Gambo, who belongs to a geography professor who studies glaciers. it is the process of a refit to in readiness for a trip Greenland. There are two crew members, Steve (crew) from England and Noelwin (skipper) from France, hard at work to get her back in the water as soon as possible. A week ago the owner, Alan, arrived from the UK to check up on progress, he described Gambo as a rusty, floating climbers hut. That probably sums her up. Noelwin and Steve are good neighbours, and we often share a beer and a chat when Noelwin has finally decided they have finished slogging for the day. Noelwin is only 21, so is very young for a skipper, but he has lived on a boat since the age of 12 with his parents and 4 siblings, wow, brave parents!! Another crew member arrived for a short while - another Lawerence (from New Zealand), who was going to assist to sail her up into Brazil, but his timelines did not quite work out, so he just did some work on the boat here, before heading off to Sweden to visit his girlfriend. One of his jobs was to to pop over to Buenos Aires to pick up a heads (that is toilet in boat lingo), while on his way back on the ferry, with a toilet under one arm, he bumped into 2 New Zealanders - Kate & Ewan. They hit it off really well, and ended up coming to stay on Gambo for a few nights instead of a hostel. We instantly hit it off and really enjoyed their company. Kate and Ewan had been backpacking for 9 months and are away for a year in total. They had taken time out of high powered corporate jobs, and were going to reevaluate their vocations on returning to New Zealand. The day after Kate and Ewan arriving, there was a torrential rain storm. So we battened down the hatches, brewed some coffee, bought out the panaderia (pastry shop), and invited the crew of Gambo over for coffee, pastry and general chitchat. We ended up spending until 3 in the afternoon talking, getting to know each other and playing cards while the heavens poured. The only thing about meeting such good people is that you only get such a short time with them, and you are never sure if you will ever see them again. Though I guess the alternate of not meeting them at all is far worse!

The Saffers
A South African boat arrived just before we were expecting a small storm. There were 6 on board, a wonderful couple by the name of Niekie and Renee Rust from Grabouw, John and Sue, who we did not get a chance to chat to much, and a couple of Zimbabweans - Drew and Fergus. Their boat, La Rose, is a lovely big cruiser, they have been cruising every year for 3 months at a time for the last 12 years (well I think it was 12 - I stand corrected). Niekie is an apple farmer and Renee is a Doctor of Archeology. They were delivering La Rose to Piriapolis to put her on the hard for the next 9 months before their trip to Antarctica later this year - big stuff they are planning. It is quite a performance to pack up a boat to be on the hard with all your cruising belongings in it for 9 months, and battening down the hatches so things don't leak, go rusty, get blown away, unravelled, etc etc!! We spent a lovely few hours discussing life in general, and yes of course, South Africa which was really good fun and good for the soul to chat to a couple of people from back home.

Baby boks in Maldonado
When we were in the bakery for coffee this morning, there was a guy with rugby togs who came in, of course we accosted him and asked him what his rugby connection was. He was involved with coaching some young Uruguayan rugby players, and told us that the same evening, there was a rugby match between Uruguay Under 21's and South Africa Under 21's! Brilliant, well that is today taken care of, we definately have to go watch that. So off to Maldonado in the bus. There were about 500 people in the stadium, not a bad showing for an Under 21 game. We dragged along a few people from the port, so the general crew consisted of us South Africans, 1 Kiwi, 1 Pom and 1 Irishman - who just happened to be sitting next to the beer tent. They succeeded in drinking the beer tent dry, as we assume - the rest of the stadium was drinking matte. The score was about 61-7, well about that, we were not quite sure, but we do know it was SA who won!

The Zoo
So as promised we got ourselves in a taxi and headed back to the zoo, we were presently suprised by what we found. We saw all sorts of South American specialities - koatees, various miniature mountain cats - black, spotted and striped, a jaguar, capybaras, pecori's, rheas, some type of south american reindeer, coypus - which is a sort of giant water rat with webbed feet, all sorts of things that I have never seen before and a vast selection of birds, big and small which was brilliant, as generally one has not even set eyes on those on tv before, so it just made the senses sing to see these wonderful new creatures. We were also relatively impressed with the general condition of the animals and their facilites, which was a relief, as one is never one hundred percent sure what you are going to find when going to a zoo in a foreign country.

The Farm
We are currently staying on Alex's farm which is a couple of kilometres outside the centre of Piriapolis. It is a 5.5 hectare property, with a wooden cottage with 3 bedrooms. It is really green and lush, and the bird life is just phenomenal. I think we have seen more new birds here in one day than anywhere else on our travels yet. Just briefly, the most enormous white heron - certainly bigger than our grey heron, 2 different types of woodpeckers - and we have seen them in flocks, which is definite first for me, 2 different types of kingfishers, a different type of weaver, a chicken like road runner type bird, the falling over birds - who run along and when they stop, they use their tales like an air brake - which sends them over the vertical and almost landing on their beaks, another heron type bird, something that looks halfway between an ibis and a heron, a little grey bird that looks like a large wagtail, which we have nicknames the hop skipp, jumpy bird, a huge black eagle, and I know I have left some out, and we are already starting to get blase when we have a new spot - very spoilt I think! I do wish I had a really good camera to be taking some pictures of them, as I know I am not going to remember what they all look like. Hopefully we will have that bird book in the next month or so, and we can at least identify some of them properly. It is such a treat to see them, and Mom has bought a fantastic pair of binocs, which makes bird spotting incomparable to what I used to think it was all about! The binoculars are so good that I keep wanting to turn them off after I have used them, as you think it is something electronic you have just used if that makes any sense.

There are some woodcutters at work on the farm at the moment, and the one woodcutter has a bird that he carries in a cage, apparently so this bird calls his mate and he then catches the mate too. The bird we think was a cardinal, pure white with red head and crest and some grey. Apparently this is a hobby of his, and he has about 10 pairs of exotic birds at home that he has captured.

It is now the 11 March, I cannot believe we have been in Uruguay for 24 days already, it is unbelievable - longer than we were in Rio Grande. Today I went for a run into town from Alex's farm where we are staying, I ran into some of the urban/rural areas here, which I guess is similar to what you might call a low income area (yes, I asked wether or not this is safe) . It was extraordinary, quite unlike anything that I have ever experienced before. There was a complete mix of houses, some wooden shacks, other bricks and mortar, mostly basic, though a few not so basic, and some looking like they had landed from a housing estate in Sandton. Just about every house had a dog or two, a cat or six, and a farm animal of some sort, be it a sheep, cow, goat or horse - tethered on the pavement, looking fat and not unhappy. The other thing notable was that most patches of grass, including those with shacks on, were all well tended, with many having the most beautiful gardens, brimming with, albeit sometimes a little rough on the landscaping front, a really beautiful garden, filled with the most colourful flower, bushes and shrubs you can imagine. Talking about the vegetation, one can understand why people garden ferociously here, the soil is like molasses it is so dark, and as rich as molasses is sweet. It is absolutely fantastic. It just makes you want to bury your hands in it and garden! That might sound a bit loopy, but I love my gardening, and coming from a sandy garden in Marina da Gama, to a boat, where the greenest thing that we have on board is a palm named Marcos (a gift from his namesake in Rio Grande), I think it is reasonably understandable. While running I saw another brilliant Kodak moment, though I had no Kodak with me to capture it with - I ran past a yellow house with an archway entrance hall enclosing a small stoep area, on this were 2 armchairs, upon which sat 2 of the most enormous mastiffs I have seen in a long time. Each sitting bolt upright, they looked an absolute picture, I am sure that any crime they might have in that area, would not be visiting there!

Today we found out that the clocks moved back last week in Uruguay, haha, so we have been living with a different time from everyone else, which would explain why we have had a few dates that have not been quite on time! It also explains why when Andrew went to get onto the internet the other morning at the Port, there was no signal, it was because it was 7:30 not 8:30 and everyone was still in bed! It is really quite convenient, as we were just saying that we thought maybe we were getting up a little late - around 8:30am, and that we were missing too much of the day. Well tomorrrow we will be getting up at 7:30am, without changing a thing, I like it, I like it..

The Beach
Lucy has been been visiting the beach on a regular basis. She absolutely loves it. She loves swimming with her Dad the most, she is very brave and goes under the water with no problem. The beach has very gentle waves and she loves playing in the shallows. She also of course, loves eating the sand and digging like crazy. The other day she met a contemporary, Michael, on the beach who she played with for ages before rugby tackling him, hooligan style into the sand. He was about twice her width, not that you would know it. It is so great to be able to spend this time with her, she is just changing everyday, and the learning is just extraordinary.

The next few months
We have been discussing how are are going to travel over the next couple of months, and we are going to take our time around this area, and go to Monte Video next (when we finally get our motor back that is), and then head up the Rio Uruguay and then up the Rio Negro, I am really excited about the next couple of months, as what this also means is that there should not be any hectic sailing, as we should only be doing day trips and we won't have any excuses for choosing bad weather to do these trips in. The other thing is that as we are on a river, the chances of seasickness are a lot smaller, as the ocean swell and waves are not such an issue. YIPPEE! Am very excited about this! Am also REALLY looking forward to going up the river, I think that is going to be super exciting and fun. After we have done all that, we are planning to spend some time in Buenos Aires, then find a spot further up from BA to leave the boat (a smaller, cheaper yacht club), and then hopefully head overland to Pensinsula Valdes. Well that is the plan, as much of one as we have at the moment.

Foreign Languages
The challenge of another language is one that we have enjoyed in a funny sort of way. In Brazil, in the places that we visited, the people that we met, spoke pretty much no English. We got by with a phrase book, and it is quite interesting how much you can get by with a small amount of language, sign language, and writing things down (that works for numbers - so all monetary quantities and weights for food for example). By the time we left Brazil (after 3 months) we has mastered quite a lot of general vocabulary and basic phrases - certainly enough to get by, but not enough to have a conversation, or speak to the Capitanero dos Portos about the intricacies of where you can sign out of the country! Now we are in Uruguay and are going to Argentina next, we are making a concerted effort to speak Spanish , and are actively trying to learn vocabulary and grammar, which is all a bit of a shock to the system, as it is so completely different to our language. It makes you re-evaluate your own language, and realise that often you don't understand your own language that well! Andrew is doing a bit better then the rest of us, as he already speaks Italian, and the verbs work in a similar way. I am really enjoying it though, and am determined to persevere, and am really looking forward to meeting more people Spanish speakers once I am a little better at it. It really puts a different spin on things when you speak the language of the country you are visiting.

Road running
We have been looking to see what road or other running races there are in the vicinity in the next little while, and we have found a couple. So we are very excited that on the 21st and 29th of March we are off to run on eof the local 10km races. I am really looking forward to that, as I am just starting to feel a little bit fit again! Yippee! Andrew told Alex that we run a bit, and Alex was discussing that the Uruguyan road running 10km/half marathon champion lives in Piriapolis. Well today, they passed him training on the street. so stopping Alex, he flags him down and tells him Andrew wants to come and train with him! Heehee, this should be fun, Andrew has not been training much in the last 5 months, a few runs here or there, but nothing serious in the slightest. Apparently there is a group that meets at 5pm everyday - much to Andrew's relief, so at least it won't be just him and Mr RoadRunning Uruguay. I think Andrew may be in the market for a new pair of road running shoes. We will keep you posted on the training sessions! I would LOVE to go and join, but I think I am going to wait until Andrew reports back on exaclty who we are running with, as one could end up feeling a little foolish - though on the other hand, what the 'ell, maybe I will just go along, it can only be entertaining at the worst!

The Crew
As we are now only sailing for a few days every few months, our need for sailing crew has changed. Dael has gone off travelling, there is now space for visitors. our friend Rupert arrives in a few weeks for a visit, which will be fun. He has been travelling in Chile, so will now be making his way over to us for a bit.