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Diane's DiaryJanuary 9 Friday, 2004 We were in Chichiriviche, Venezuela after transiting from Bonaire yesterday. We got up about 8:15am after going to bed at 8pm last night. We slept really well after having missed sleep the night before due to our transit. At 10:30am we left by dinghy to go see the Indian caves. It was actually quite hard to find the entrance and we missed it all together the first time. We only saw the entrance since we saw the tour boats pulling out from the dock. The caves were just OK. I definitely would not make a special visit to see them though. The caves were supposed to be thousands of years old but who really knows? Anyway, the trick to finding the caves is to look for the small shrines on the port side as you head upstream. Once you see the shrines, which are very easy to spot, slow down and look for a pier under all the tree growth. If you go more than 5 minutes by dinghy past the shrine, you probably missed it. Anyway, we got back to the boat around 12:30pm. We had lunch and than were visited by the Guardia Costa. They said they had been trying to call us by radio but we had turned it off and didn't answer. They did NOT have their own boat and had to come out on a pirogue. When they finished, they called the pirogue to come pick them up. Thank goodness we had the VE courtesy flag and the US flag up as they definitely looked for that. Anyway, it was just a routine safety check and they wanted to see our boat papers. They were not concerned at all that we hadn't checked into the country yet. After they left, we took our dinghy up on deck as we are going to leave for Ensa Cata at daybreak. We want to make sure we have good light to exit the reefs. I made a spaghetti carbonara for dinner and it came out great. We definitely like this recipe I got from Eric and Debbie. The anchorage was definitely very noisy all day long with all the Venezuelans running back and forth in their pirogue. I will not miss this this place at all and am very glad to leave. January 10 Saturday We left the anchorage at 6:45am this morning. We were actually ready to leave about an hour before we actually left but since it's the winter, the sun rises later and we didn't have good visibility till around 6:30. We wanted to make sure we could see the reefs well on our way out! There were heavy rain clouds on the horizon so this delayed our departure until we could get good light. Anyway, we did not put up the mainsail until we were way clear of the anchorage and were out into the seas. I felt this was an error as it was difficult to put the sail up in those heaving seas. But Larry managed to get it up. The winds were out of the east about 10-12, and increased to about 15 knots before they completely died. The swell was out of the NE about 4-6 feet and subsided when the winds died. Fortunately, the swells were on our quarter so they were not too bad. I did not get seasick at all thank God! We arrived at Ensa Cata about 2:30pm. The anchorage is a bit rolly but tolerable. Unfortunately, there are lots of people on the beach so it's pretty busy with pirogues zipping back and forth. However, the anchorage is not as bad with the pirogues as Chichiriviche. We are the only other cruising boat anchored here. However, around 6pm, a local fishing boat came in and anchored behind us. Hope we don't hit him when we try to exit tonight. We have some fishing nets near us so we need to be careful when we leave. By 6pm, all the locals were gone and we had a nice peaceful anchorage. We will leave in the early AM for Caraballeda. January 11 Sunday Happy Birthday Aunt Mary! The wind died in the night and since we could only open up the forward hatch a crack since the dinghy was on top of it, it got very hot in the boat. We went to bed around 8am since we knew we would have to be up early. Around 11:30am we were both woken up when the wind shifted and we heard the anchor chain dragging around some coral. The boat was not dragging but the chain must be near some coral. Anyway, we were both up anyway so we decided to just leave. We had heard from other cruisers that is was best to transit this coast at night because the wind dies at night and it makes the passage more comfortable. We got underway with the sail up around 1am. The wind really was down - about 10 knots. The NE seas were about 5-7 feet and than subsided to 4-6 feet. Again, this meant the seas were on our quarter so it didn't feel to bad. It was actually not a bad motor sail EXCEPT the autopilot died! This was not good as we had to hand steer, which is very tiring. Hopefully, it's just something quick Larry will be able to fix. Otherwise, it will mean some long hours at the helm as we still have about 200 miles until we reach PLC. We reached Caraballeda around 10:30am and anchored outside the breakwater. Unfortunately, the gas station was closed since it was Sunday. It was a very small anchorage and was extremely noisy with lots of jet skis and banana boats buzzing around. We both wanted to rest but it was impossible with all that activity near us. There was only 1 other boat - a French single-hander in the anchorage with us. We would have continued onto Carenero but it was another 10-hour motor sail, we were both tired, the autopilot wasn't working, and we would have arrived at night. So, we just decided to stay where we were. January 12 Monday We left the anchorage around 2:45am with the sails up. There was no wind at all in the anchorage so Larry was able to put the sail up even before we hoisted the anchor. That is something we rarely can do. The autopilot is acting up again. Sometimes it works and than it just stops and goes crazy. So, we had to mostly hand steer and this we very tiring on both of us. What this means is: You can't leave the cockpit for anything unless someone is there to relieve you at the helm. So, if you need to go to the bathroom on a night passage where you are the only person on watch, you just gotta hold it or go in the cockpit! The wind was around 10 knots in the early AM hours and than picked up to around 15 knots. We had swells from the NE and than they switched to the East directly on our nose. Fortunately, we didn't have the swells with us for very long as we changed course and headed south into Carenero. We arrived at Bahia La Buche around 11:30am. However, the depth sounder was acting up and I couldn't get a reading going into the anchorage. The water was cloudy but fortunately, we were able to clearly see the reefs. Still, we had no depth sounder while anchoring and this is something we don't like to do. The hydraulic boom vang is leaking oil so Larry is not happy about that at all. Also, the alternator is acting up so Larry is not a happy camper at his moment. I hurt my hand by sleeping on it at an awkward angle. Than hand is all swollen and very difficult to bend. Glad we are staying here for a few days to just relax. It's very hot out with little wind and lots of flies so we didn't get any sleep when we arrived. January 13 Tuesday We had off and on rain the whole night so that meant we were up and down closing the hatches. There was no wind at all and lots of mosquitoes. We are the only cruising sailboat that stayed overnight here. My hand really hurts a lot, is swollen and I had to take some Aleve to reduce the pain and swelling. I made some nice cheese omelets for breakfast. We took the dinghy down but it was very difficult for me with my hand all swollen. It's a good thing we are here for a few days so I can rest it. My fingers hurt also and they are difficult to bend. We didn't do too much as I wasn't feeling well and wanted to rest. But we did take a nice dinghy ride through the mangroves. There are supposed to be a lot of birds here but we didn't see many. Maybe due to all the rain- we know the birds are easier to see in dry season. Anyway, we had a nice fried calamari lunch ashore. The locals told us we were safe here but if we went into Carenero anchor as far away from the mangroves as possible and as close as possible to the yacht club. January 14 Wednesday We had on and off again rain the entire night. Visibility was so bad due to all the clouds and no sun that we couldn't leave the anchorage until 10:30am so we could clearly see the reefs upon leaving. We motored into Canerno itself and managed to arrive just before the rain started again. It rained on and off again the entire day so we just stayed on the boat, rested and read. My hand is still swollen so I rested it as much as possible. I still don't have much dexterity in the hand. I did make chicken Parmesan for dinner. We wanted to go see the birds but didn't due to the rain. We had lots of mosquitoes and flies on the boat. So, we'll stay here tomorrow also so we can see the birds- you need to see them at sunrise or sunset. January 15 Thursday I got a really bad night's sleep as we had lots of mosquitoes, lots of rain and no wind. My hand feels a lot better and the swelling is definitely going down. We went to the fuel dock with our jerry jugs to fill up with gas and diesel. Nice to be in the land of cheap gas and diesel prices again!! We got about 45 gallons of diesel and 5 gallons of gas for about $5 USD! I figured it out - gas is about .12 gallon and diesel about .13! Compare that to $4 gallon for gas and $2 gallon for diesel in Bonaire and you know why all the cruisers love Ve! Anyway, now the windlass isn't working either! So, Larry is busy working on it. Boy, we are having a lot of boat problems on this trip and this is something we rarely have since Larry is always doing so much boat maintenance. Anyway, I did a bunch of emails. Around 3pm we went for a walk into town. Larry brought the digital camera in to take some pictures. I didn't think it was a good idea since the town is so poor I was afraid it would get stolen but nothing happened. The town was extremely poor and had nothing going for it at all. It wasn't worth it even to walk around. We were out of beer so managed to get a 12 pack of beer, some bananas and bread for about .60USD. Oh, it's great to have such wonderful cheap prices again after paying the outrageous prices in Bonaire. A 12 pack of beer there in a grocery store was about $10USD! Anyway, we left the dinghy at the Carenero YC and walked around it when we came back form town. It was very nice and upscale- definitely for the rich. We went for a dinghy ride at 5pm to see the birds. We did see some parrots and scarlet ibis but none roosted in the mangroves where our cruising guide said they would be. I really think it was due to rainy season. Anyway, since we are not seeing many birds we are going to leave tomorrow. Oh, I should mention for security, we raise and lock the dinghy every night, put the boat alarm on in the cockpit and lock ourselves into the boat. We haven't felt any threat at all here but rather it's just a precaution. The people here are very poor and we must seem like millionaires to them. |