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Diane's DiarySeptember 24 Friday The swell is still up here in Cayo De Agua but it's much better than yesterday. We have an E-SE wind about 15 knots so we are still able to run the watermaker. I did some more laundry so know we have everything washed. Who knows how long we will continue to have lots of wind so we want to keep everything as full as we can. I did some emails this morning, revised my Polar Beer tour story which we'll send to the Compass, and updated my logs. In the pm, we decided to try to snorkel- we were still getting a surge but it was much better than before. However, the seas were still churned up and the water is cloudy so the snorkeling wasn't great. I'm reading a very good book Cliff on Skylark gave me called "The Emperor's General" about Douglas MacArthur. Anyway, we were going to go to shore but thought the waves were still crashing on the beach to much to try and get the dinghy up there. Hope the snorkeling gets better tomorrow! September 25 Saturday The other 2 sailboats left so we are the only sailboat here. I large powerboat came in yesterday but he's really not anchored close to us. Good for skinny-dipping later! We are running the watermaker as usual this morning. Seems like it's better to run it in the morning because after it's off the sun and wind are still high enough to replace the lost amps. Anyway, I made bacon and eggs this morning, did some sewing, updated my logs and did some emails. We'll try snorkeling this afternoon but I don't think it's going to be so good as I think the sea is still churned up. Otherwise, we hope to get a walk on the beach in. September 26 Sunday S/V Skylark came in today from Carenero. The wind was still up this morning so we are able to run our watermaker. It seems like the wind is up in the AM and than decreases by 3pm just as one of the local sailing boats told us it would. It takes as much as 3 hours to run the watermaker on a daily basis to fill the tanks so this is our priority on a daily basis. We took a dinghy ride to the end of Cayo de Agua- "our" island this morning. Unfortunately, almost to the minute we landed, a tour boat also came in depositing lots of tourists - UGH! We would not have come knowing they were here as they definitely spoiled the serenity of the whole place. But there was nothing we could do so we continued our hike around part of the island followed by a nice swim. It's definitely one of the best places we have been too. I am definitely going to have a hard time getting Larry to leave here - it's that gorgeous. But we do like the Aves and Bonaire just as well. Anyway, in the PM the winds died down allowing us to snorkel the reef we loved so much last year so off we went. We snorkeled for about 2 hours and than went over to Skylark for drinks. What a busy day! We got back shortly after 7pm and had a light dinner since we already had snacks on Skylark. September 27 Monday We were running the watermaker again this morning as the wind is still up. I hope it continues this way as the wind is up in the AM but decreases in the PM enough for us to go snorkeling. At 10:30 after the water tanks were all full, we dinghied over to West Cay along with Skylark. We even had to shut the wind generator off as we had so much wind we were afraid we would overcharge the batteries! We had a nice walk up to the lighthouse and around the island, followed by a long swim in crystal clear waters. The tour boats came in again directly across from where we were- they definitely spoil the whole place but I guess that's tourism! After lunch at 2:15pm, we went to the "big" reef down the NE side of "Our" island. It has been too rough to snorkel it up till now but we were finally able to do it today. It still was a little rough the further out we went but we were at the point when we turned around as the waves were just crashing over my head! Plus, the water is still a little churned up so it's all murky. We got back to the boat around 4:30pm, just relaxed and read. This is definitely paradise! September 28 Tuesday I woke up at 6am with a pounding headache. There was also zero wind and I saw huge storm clouds headed in our direction. It did rain for a few minutes and the wind picked up with it but our weather reports indicate it will be light wind around 10 knots until at least Sunday. This is exactly what happened to us here last year- not enough wind! But, I guess it's better than too much wind! Skylark left this morning- they are on a faster pace than us. We enjoyed their company and hope to meet up with them again- hopefully in Bonaire but they may have already left by then. We were the lone boat in the anchorage- Yea! Larry went to take pictures while I made a big tray of baked ziti, which will last us for at least 3 meals. I used a lot of water up with all the dishes I had. We are getting very little wind and I ran the watermaker for 3 hours and the tanks still were not full. When the voltage is low, the water maker doesn't make as much water. Looks like we're going to have to run the engine. Anyway, we were not alone in our spot for very long as 2 other boats - German and French came in. We snorkeled the reef right near our boat in the pm. We saw a school of 11 midnight blue parrotfish- just fantastic! It's a wonderful reef as it has both shallow and deep spots so you get a good variety of snorkeling. I think we're going to leave here Thursday and head for the Aves. September 29 Wednesday I woke up at 6am this morning with another headache- don't know why. I couldn't get back to sleep. We spoke to Mima on the SSB this morning - they went with Survival to Trinidad but separated in route and were now awaiting Survival's arrival. Judy had someone helping her but it looks like they may have had engine trouble and turned back to Margarita. They were worried that Survival had not arrived yet. So we helped calling them on the SSB. We have very little wind this morning so are running the engine and watermaker. We'll do some more snorkeling today and leave for Las Aves tomorrow. We are going to have light air until Sunday so it will probably be a motor sail tomorrow. We will get the boat ready tonight, haul the dinghy up on deck and leave between 7-8am tomorrow. Oh, sv Dolphin Street- French boaters from the African country Ivory Coast invited us over for dinner. We didn't even know them but had a wonderful time. They even picked us up as we had put our dinghy on deck to get ready to move tomorrow. September 30 Thursday We had the anchor up by 7:40am and it took us about 25 minutes to clear the islands and get away from the reef. I stood on the bow keeping a good eye out for any reefs. I did manage to get on the SSB as we get on about 8am daily and it's a good thing I did. Mima called and said Survival HAD NOT arrived in Trini and they were very worried about them - as were we. She asked if we could call S/V Miss Gayle in Porlamar to see if they had gone back there. Propagation in Trini is very bad so she couldn't hear anyone in Porlamar. I did and they did not see Survival there. Suzie from Ariyl was also on the frequency and we discussed putting a boat watch out for them and decided we should. So I called it into the Security Net at 8:15am. In the meantime, the boat was rolling horribly to about 30 degrees. For you landlubbers reading this, this means a LOT! So, it was hard for me to be on the SSB with all that rolling. Plus, it was making me sick being down below- it's hot and the rolling didn't do anything good for my stomach! Larry put out the jib but it didn't seem to help much and kept flogging around. So we just continued to motor sail. The wind was E-SE about 10-12 knots but right on our ass- this means dead downwind so it wasn't very comfortable. The seas were about 3-5 feet. I didn't get seasick but wasn't feeling all that great either. We arrived at the lighthouse at Las Aves about 1:30pm. We tried to fish with our new reel but didn't catch anything. We got back into our safe spot as last year right in front of the bird island. The watercolors are just amazing- I never knew there could be so many different shades of blue! We were both a little tired from the trip and getting up early so we just relaxed, had drinks, put up the canvas and did nothing. We'll take the dinghy down tomorrow. I think we are both glad to be back here! Oh, the German boat that cut in front of us at Cayo de Agua nearly running over our anchor also sailed here today. They came into our bay also and we thought they were going to anchor near us but thankfully, they anchored about 300 yards away. There is only 1 other boat in this anchorage besides the Germans and us and they were far away also. October 1 Friday We got an email from Mima last night and again this morning. Survival had arrived but the trip took them 50 hours as compared to 24 for Mima. They didn't send any other details other than they had to be towed in by a fleet of dinghies for the last 8 miles! I had eggs that had to be used up as they were going bad so I made bacon and eggs for breakfast, a quiche and focaccia bread. Unfortunately, the bread was too well done- the recipe for cooking it is definitely wrong. We ran the water maker this morning and seem to have enough wind to run the water maker and not the engine also. The wind is E- SE about 8-10. We heard on the net this morning that a cruiser we knew, Don from Odetta, died this morning. We didn't know him too well but what I did know was that he was a nice guy. I felt badly for him and his family. He was a single hander also. We went out snorkeling in the afternoon and got 2 conch. Oh boy, conch fritters again! We'll bring them to shore and cut them up tomorrow. October 2 Saturday We had to go burn the garbage today and clean the conch so it was off to the little island near us. There is a nice fire pit another cruiser made so it's very convenient to burn the garbage here. We had 2 big garbage bags- one which was just plastic bottles. We throw all the cans and bottles over board only when we are in deep water. Anyway, another boat, Avatar, is out on the reef and would like us to join them so we'll go tomorrow. They have been coming to the Aves for like 10 years and know the area very well. So, it will be good to hear from them where all the good snorkeling spots are. We came back from the island around 11am and had to run the water maker. We decided to go back to visit the birds this afternoon since we are going to join Avatar on the reef tomorrow. So, since it was hot out, we just sat and read for a while and had lunch. We went out to see the birds around 3pm when it was cooler out. There definitely are not as many birds as last year and we don't know if it's because Ivan blew them away. But we still took a nice walk on the island and did get to see some. We also went on the water with the dinghy to look at them so Larry could take pictures. We got back to the boat around 5pm, took showers, had drinks, dinner and then more reading. I finished my book "Separation Of Power" by Vince Flynn. I had read this author before and definitely like his books. I enjoyed this book also. I think this is the third book I have read out here so far. Glad we have enough books so we won't run out! October 3 Sunday We are going to go out on the reef this morning when Avatar gets to the spot they were telling us about. They went to another spot this morning and they'll call us when they arrive at the "blue hole" so we can join them. So, I made a loaf of bread this morning, did some emails and my logs. The bread came out OK but not terrific- I'm going to have to keep working on it. I'm glad I bought lots of flour though as we are really using it up! We got lots of wind for a short time period but just a little rain- enough to close the hatches while the bread was baking and the boat was baking too since it got hot down below from the oven and no wind! The sky is overcast so we'll have to see if it clears up to get the boat out of here. If we don't have good light we are not going to move. Around 10am, Larry was outside and noticed a big dark cloud coming so we knew we were going to get hit with something although we didn't know what. Sure enough, we were getting a Tropical Wave. It lasted almost the entire day but actually wasn't too bad. Avatar called us when they got out to the "blue hole" and wanted us to come out in between breaks in the rain. I wasn't to keen on this, as when the sun goes behind the clouds you can't make out the reefs. We actually didn't get to much rain but got wind up to around 25 knots at times. I made some conch steak for lunch that came out really good. Hope we can find some more conch now! I did some emails and updated my logs while we decided if we should stay. For me, we didn't HAVE to go so I felt why should we risk it? Plus, we were safe where we were as the anchor was dug in deep. We didn't even know Avatar and while I would have liked to meet them, it wasn't necessary to go today. We know they are leaving on Tuesday but if we go out tomorrow, we'll have one day with them. Anyway, I tried to take a nap in the PM but couldn't get to sleep. I made 2 big trays of turkey enchiladas in the PM. We are doing OK with our food so far - we still have a freezer full of meat and shrimp - about 2 weeks worth so I'm trying to stretch it with using the canned meat, pizza and pasta. We also have about 6 packages of hot dogs. So, I hope we don't have to buy too much in Bonaire this time other than some meat. Fruit and vegetables are very expensive so I'll try to minimize buying them- we have lots of canned goods. |