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Diane's DiaryOctober 3 Friday It is very hot and quiet out as there is absolutely no wind. The boat is extremely hot. We went snorkeling up to the northern reef and it was OK but again the water visibility was very poor and the water was green! Another boat came into the anchorage while we were gone snorkeling but he only stayed a few hours. Looks like he was a single-handed so Larry thinks he came in for a few hours just to get some sleep and than push on. We took it easy after snorkeling, as it was just too hot to do anything. The interior of the boat is actually cooler than outside. We went nude swimming again off the beach in the afternoon and it was great just to cool down, as we were both pretty hot. Hope we get some wind soon as we are going through a lot of diesel. It's a good thing we got that extra diesel in Gran Roque. October 4 Saturday We are still the only other boat here and we still have zero wind. The batteries are low so we'll have to run the engine again. Who would have believed we came here to Los Roques and there is no wind? We know the wind is really supposed to be fierce out here from what we have read. We expected there to be lots of wind and to hardly run the engine at all. But this is hurricane season and there are 2 hurricanes up there presently. We had heard that hurricanes suck up the air from down here and create low wind conditions so I guess that's what's happening right now. Sure makes things a lot hotter though! We definitely could use just a little bit of wind. We left around 9:30 and took the dinghy down towards the fisherman's shack on Carenero and had a nice long walk along the beach. It was very beautiful but there was zero shade and with the low wind, it really was quite hot. We got back around 12 and I was really nauseous. I think it probably was from the heat. Larry cleaned the waterline of the boat around 2. I was lying down as I wasn't feeling well and I am sure it was from the heat and no wind. After I rested for a while, I made some more biscuit mix and the ingredients for corn butter sticks for breakfast. As usual, we did our afternoon nude swim and shower on the beach. I definitely like it here and think I like it even better than Sarqui. You get the feeling of being very protected by the mangroves. If the wind were really blowing, this would be the best anchorage to be in for protection from the wind. It's definitely far enough from Gran Roque that not many day tourists come here. October 5 Sunday Still no wind and we need to run the engine to charge the batteries so we have decided to leave and go to Cayo de Agua. We need to get there after 12 in order to see the reefs in good light as it is an east approach directly into the sun and wind so we will leave around 11am. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a fisherman came over to us. He wanted help with his motor but unfortunately we couldn't help him with the problem although we tried. He came on the boat and we offered him something to drink. He wanted a coke but we only have diet coke so we gave him some water. They all seem to want coke - I think it's a big treat out here. Anyway, I think he was very lonely as he was by himself. He asked us our names and told us his and we realized he was the fisherman that Chicho and Tati had told us about! What a small world! He didn't speak English at all so it was a little hard to communicate but we had a nice conversation anyway. When he left we gave him a can of regular coke to take with him as a gift. I am sure he would have brought us some fish but we told him we were leaving shortly to go to Cayo de Agua. What a nice encounter we had with him. Anyway, we pulled up anchor at 12:20pm just as another local sailboat came into the anchorage. Since we weren't going to be by ourselves anymore it's a good thing we were leaving! We arrived at the approach to Cayo de Agua around 1pm and went slowly into the anchorage and arrived about 2pm. We had to be very careful about reefs and there were a lot of dark patches where it was difficult to determine if it was reef or grass. However, it's not as bad as it looks when approaching. There were no other boats in the anchorage but when I turned around there was another sailboat behind us coming in. Since we knew he had not come from Los Roques he must have come in from Las Aves. Anyway, we are anchored in about 10 feet of water right behind a reef in a very beautiful spot. We had lunch and then snorkeled the reef right in front of us - it was just fantastic and the best snorkeling we have done to date. Huge midnight and Blue parrotfish and some of the largest Rainbow Parrotfish we have ever seen- about 4 feet long. Since the wind is so low, it makes snorkeling very easy. We think we are going to like it here! October 6 Monday Another shitty day in paradise!!! What a gorgeous spot- this is definitely the best spot in all the Roques. However, if the wind was blowing it probably would not be good as it's a large open anchorage with little protection. We are just fortunate to be here when the winds are light and we can enjoy it. Anyway, we still have no wind and will probably have to run the engine again. The snorkeling on the reef right in front of our boat is fantastic. I got 4 conch shells with animals so we can open and eat them but Larry only let me keep 2. This was before we read in our book that it's prohibited to take conch here. Anyway, we had a wonderful snorkel, came back and had lunch and then had to open the conch. Very difficult to open them and it took Larry about an hour to get them out. Then it took us about another hour to get the skin off and prepare it to eat. Hope this is worth all the trouble it's taken us! Anyway, I made conch fritters from them and they came out very good- we really liked them. Another sailboat came into the anchorage but they are far away from us- all 3 boats are at least ¼ mile apart. At 4pm, when the sun was down a little and it was cooler out, we went for a walk up onto the sand dunes. Very pretty views from there of the anchorage! However, there were a lot of burrs so they stuck to our water shoes. Some even penetrated the shoes so that was not very comfortable as it hurt! When we got back our cockpit light didn't work. Fortunately, Larry was able to fix it as it was just corroded. October 7 Tuesday I cut up some green peepers, onions and conch in order to make more conch fritters for lunch. We went snorkeling at 10:30 on the outer reef and had the best snorkeling ever! We saw a lobster, Queen and huge French angelfish and many more. It was just wonderful. Snorkeling this reef can only be attempted if the winds are low though as we even had some rough seas in the light conditions. It was just magic and we both really enjoyed it. We had conch fritters for lunch and they were just great. After lunch, Larry went back for another walk around the sand dunes to take more pictures. I took a little nap to rest from the intense heat. I also made a dessert called English Matrimonials. I did some emails also. We had to run the engine again as there is very little wind. The solar panels are just not enough to keep up with our electrical consumption and we aren't getting enough wind for the wind generator. October 8 Wednesday Still no wind so it's very hot out and we need to run the engine to charge the batteries. The Captain is not too happy about that! I made some bacon and eggs for breakfast and also fried up some more bacon so we could have spaghetti carbonara for dinner tonight. At 10:30am, we went snorkeling again on the little reef in front of our boat. Just magnificent and we loved it! Since the wind is so low, Larry has agreed to take me back to Gran Roque to provision and get some more dinghy fuel. We'll come back here for a few more days after that. Gran Roque is about 20 miles due east of us against the wind and current. However, since the wind is so light it will hopefully be an easy trip. If the wind were blowing, we would NOT even consider going back. It was very hot in the afternoon, as we have almost no wind blowing. We took a long dinghy ride up to West Cay to see the lighthouse and walk around the island. It was one of the prettiest beaches we have ever seen- just gorgeous! But the beach was on the western side and looked too dangerous to swim in. I really enjoyed walking around though. We then went to the other side of the island, which wasn't very pretty, had lots of burrs, but did have lots of booby birds nesting on the beach! We took showers but it was sort of rough and I didn't enjoy the swim. We had zero wind during the night and got attacked by mosquitoes. Nothing seemed to work until we sprayed ourselves with bug spray and went to bed that way. I tried citronella candles and mosquito coils. It also rained for the first time in a long time so we were up and down closing all the windows so the rain didn't get in and didn't get a good night's sleep. There was a huge thunder and lightening storm. October 9 Thursday We got up late and even missed the security net. We are both tired, as we did not get a good night's sleep having to open and close all the windows every time it rained. We are even too tired to go snorkeling. There is absolutely no wind, no sun and a huge black sky. So, we are going to leave this morning and head up toward Gran Roque and probably spend the night in Crasqui as we missed that island. We left the anchorage about 10:45 and the other boat also left so now there's nobody here at all. We wanted to make sure we had good light out to read the reefs. It was a perfect day to head east as the seas were perfectly still. We went through the channel between Sarqui and Espenqui and had no problems, as this was a short cut to Crasqui. We arrived with the anchor down about 4:30pm and there was just no wind at all. We went to the beach to take a walk and it was a beautiful beach. The water was calm and shallow and was a perfect beach to walk on. I liked the beach at West Cay also but it was too rough to go swimming there. Anyway, we were so tired from last night that we went to bed at 8. We had to put the wind scoop up as we were getting such little wind and the boat was very hot. |