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Diane's DiaryAugust 26 Friday The boat was rocking and rolling all night long so we both didn't get a good nights sleep and are tired. The wind is supposed to decrease today to around 10 knots so I sure hope it does. We spent another day snorkeling and reading. It's just so pleasant and quiet with just a few local boats now- don't know why there is so few now but the season is definitely drawing to a close. I'm not sure if either here or Carenero is my favorite anchorage- they are both so completely different but you definitely feel more protected in Carenero plus the one snorkeling spot with all the canyons is pretty cool. However, I do like the little reef here in front of Destiny- we always see this huge school of midnight and rainbow parrotfish, which I just love. We had Whitecap over for dinner at 6pm and we had the leftover baked ziti I made. We went below on Destiny and I am sure Destiny must have seemed like a palace to them as it's much larger than their boat. S/V Ellida came in while we were snorkeling out on our favorite reef this morning. This is the couple we met up in Merida and now we see them out here! We would have had them over for drinks but we had already invited Whitecap over for dinner and I didn't have enough space of food to serve 6 people. August 27 Saturday With only 2 other cruising boats and only one other local powerboat, the anchorage is definitely much quieter than it was and it's nice to have peace and quiet again. There were some clouds in the am so we waited until the pm to snorkel so we would than hopefully have some good sun. I worked on my logs and did some emails in the morning. S/V Whitecap stopped by- they lost a whole tank of water when they discovered a hole in one of the tanks. We had already filled 3 two liter coke bottles and some other bottles to give them as a surprise before we heard about their problem but we said we would try to give them whatever water we can. The problem for us is we need to run the water maker 2-3 hours per day just to meet our needs without having to run the engine just to charge the batteries. Larry doesn't want to run the engine just to charge the batteries so I can't blame him. We will give Whitecap whatever we can - they really are in an emergency situation. They were able to get some water from the big local powerboat here also. They were going to go all across the bay to ask another powerboat there for water also but we keep 11 gallons in 2 separate jerry jugs as a reserve so we gave them one of those and said we would try to make more. We went snorkeling with them on the outer reef at 2pm and after Larry and I went to the beach for a swim and shower. We got back to Destiny around 4:30 and spent a quiet evening. I made 'bistec' with brandy cream sauce and some cucumbers with Italian dressing- wonderful! I read last years logbooks on the Aves and Roques at night. August 28 Sunday The wind was up all night. The batteries were 90% last night but when we woke up this morning they were full and the high voltage alarm was going off so we started running the water maker and had it going into the tanks before 8am (you need to give it about 10 minutes to get the salt water out before you can start putting it into the tanks). We ran the water maker for 2 hours and the tanks were full so we will start working on the jerry jug for Whitecap when we return from snorkeling. We are going to leave tomorrow for Las Aves along with Whitecap. We had a last snorkel at our favorite spot in front of Destiny. It was very good - we saw the hugest scrawled filefish we have ever seen along with 3 big grouper and of course my favorites - the large school of midnight and rainbow parrotfish- just wonderful! I will definitely miss this wonderful reef. We got back around 12:30am and started running the water maker again- we went over later and gave Whitecap another 6.5 gallons of water. We saw another boat coming in also heading straight for the reefs and called them - it was Kindred Spirit, a boat we also know slightly from PLC. Anyway, we guided them in and later they showed us the Imray chart that they were following and it's definitely wrong- it shows them going straight into the reefs so I guess since the chart is wrong and it explains why everyone heads that way into the anchorage. We usually ask other cruisers for cruising hints about places before we go to places we have never been to before as we know guidebooks can be wrong - especially Don Street's as he probably hasn't been here in 20 years and the chart is probably much older! Anyway, Kindred Spirit kept thanking us for the help and offered us beer, wine, anything as a thank you but we said no. We stopped very quickly to see them about 3pm on our way to deliver water to Whitecap and go to the beach to take a swim and shower. When we got back to Destiny, we took the engine off the dinghy to hoist it and took everything else off also in case the dinghy capsizes, and Larry had to wash it all down before it was stowed as it has salt water on it. Since the wind is going to be low tomorrow- only around 10-15 knots we have decided to tow the dinghy. Anyway, Larry worked on the dinghy and washing and storing everything below, while I made a tray of cheese enchiladas for dinner so we could have dinner for tonight and tomorrow also. I made another loaf of bread today also so I could make sandwiches under passage and it came out great- I really got the hang of it now! August 29 Monday The alarm was set for 6am so we could get an early start leaving for Las Aves but Larry woke up at 5:30am and woke me up also. We left the anchorage at 7:25am - we were waiting for a little more sunlight so we could clearly see the reefs before we left. At that time the sun was a little too low in the sky for good visibility so we were very careful leaving. We have been in and out of this anchorage many times so we knew where the reefs were. The wind was east - dead downwind again! Larry was the net controller on the Caribbean Safety and Security net today- the first time he was ever the controller. The regular controller for the past 5 years - Melodye Pompa, on Second Millennium - is on the hard with the mast down so can't transmit. We have been acting as the relay contacts for the net for the past 5 years so Melodye was familiar with us and knew we were responsible and reliable and would be there on the net every day. She had another boat do it for around 2 weeks but he than went to Trinidad so couldn't transmit anymore so asked Larry to take over until Melodye returns. We have been told we have a very loud signal over the SSB and many people tell us they hear us when they can't even hear Melodye. Anyway, the wind was already up in the am and the high voltage alarm went off so we turned on the water maker - that's certainly a good way to eat up amps! We only ran the water maker for 1 hour until we got out of the anchorage and turned the engine off. S/V Whitecap had left just a few minutes in front of us. The boat was rocking and rolling as we only had East winds about 10-12 knots with 2-4 foot, very confused seas. The boat was rolling about 20 degrees so it definitely was not a comfortable passage. I didn't get seasick but I certainly didn't feel great. We had the jib up only. We were only going around 4 knots but needed to go the 30 miles and arrive in good light to see the reefs. So, at 10:40am, we turned on the engine to get the boat moving faster, get us there sooner, run the water maker and have a smoother ride. We arrived at the Las Aves lighthouse around 2pm, which was a perfect time to clearly see the reefs as the sun was behind us. Anyway, we were anchored in the second bay by 2:45pm. We anchored close to shore near the reefs in 22' of water. Last year the water was a crystal blue in here but today it's green and we don't know why. The big powerboat that had anchored too close to S/V Sangria in Carenero was here in the third bay so we were glad he wasn't in the bay with us. We ran the watermaker on the trip, filled our tanks and also filled a 5-gallon for Whitecap. We were tired from the trip and getting up early so we just read and relaxed the rest of the day. Hurricane Katrina hit near New Orleans today and the city is under 6-12 feet of water as a levee collapsed and the pumps failed. They said it would take 3 months just to get the water out of the city - unbelievable! We got this news from 2 other cruisers that listen to the BBC out here - we usually don't. We do pay strict attention to the weather though and knew about this hurricane when it first formed. I finished book #8 out here - Jack Higgins- A Game for Heroes. I always enjoy his books and they are fast reading. Whitecap lent me a book called Gods and Generals about the Civil War. We have the DVD so it was nice to read the book. I need to give it back to him though so I hope I can finish reading it before they leave- it's about 500 pages and is not an easy read. I like the book though and think it's well written. August 30 Tuesday The birds woke me up about 6am with all their chattering but I finally got back to sleep. The winds are from the East around 10 knots so it's great for the wind gen and we have good sun also - love to get those good amps! Larry was the net controller on the security net today. I made some corn muffins and they came out very good. After breakfast I made some creamy Italian dressing and some oat muffin mix. Larry was busy putting the dinghy together - putting the engine back on, oars, etc. We went snorkeling at 2pm at the little reef right near our boat. However, the water was green and visibility was not very good until we snorkeled east till the reef way in front of our boat, then the water cleared up and went back to blue again with great visibility. We had a long swim back to the boat but thankfully it was down current so wasn't too bad. I got my first conch of the year so will open it tomorrow on the beach. Just as we were coming back from snorkeling another boat came into our anchorage and we thought it was S/V Ellida, as they said they would be coming today. Unfortunately, it wasn't them but a French cruiser. Ellida did come in but they anchored in the bay behind us, as it was late when they arrived and they felt they didn't have good visibility to see to come into our bay. They tried calling Whitecap and us on the radio but I guess we were out snorkeling and didn't hear them. Whitecap gave us 2 small mojarra fish as they were out fishing so we'll make some ceviche out of it. We had the leftover enchiladas for dinner and I was glad they were already made, as I was too tired to cook. The water tanks were mostly full so we only had to run the water maker 1 hour today. We know it's only making about 4 gallons an hour so it's not great but at least we have one. We would never be able to stay out here in the islands for this long without a water maker. August 31 Wednesday I didn't get a good night's sleep last night- Larry woke me up when he got up and I couldn't get back to sleep. Than the high voltage alarm woke me up at 2:30am so I had to get up to shut it off. Larry never hears this alarm anymore- it's only just me. His hearing is definitely going! Larry was net controller on the security net today- looks like he'll be doing it for the next several weeks. We ran the water maker from 8:30 till around 12 so about 3.5 hours until it was full. The wind is from the East 12-15 so it's just perfect but the forecast is for it to increase tonight to 20-25 knots so we'll just stay here a few days before we move out onto the reef. We had so much wind so we could keep running the water maker that I decided to do some hand laundry today so I could keep up with it. I hand washed 2 sheets, 4 pillowcases, washcloth, kitchen towel, shorts, nightgown, T-shirt and beach shirt. I did this while Larry went out snorkeling with Whitecap. It took me almost 2 hours to do all this laundry trying to use as little water as possible. I had 2 towels to do also but they use up so much water I've decided just to wait until I get back to PLC to do them as we have lots of towels on board. Larry went snorkeling with Whitecap - they are just fishing not really snorkeling. Anyway, he got a big conch so we'll open both of them up later today. We both went out snorkeling around 2pm and then went to the beach to open up the conch. I also got a conch this afternoon so now we have 3 to open up. Larry finally figured out how to open the conch correctly without smashing the entire shell- after 5 years of living in the Caribbean! He was always putting the knife along the wrong edge so the conch would never come out of his shell and he had to hammer the shell to death to get out the conch. Actually, getting the conch out is the easy part - skinning it and pounding it out also takes a lot of work. September 1 Thursday Starting around 6pm last night the wind started to blow from the East around 20-25 knots and the wind gen started to free wheel again. It lasted almost all night so we didn't get a great night sleep. We actually had too much wind. I am starting to suspect we are having a problem with the wind gen - it seems to be freewheeling at low wind speeds - it starts around 18 knots. It seems to me it shouldn't do this until the wind gets much stronger. Anyway, Larry had to feather the wind gen last night, which meant we didn't get any extra amps in but we didn't lose any either. The wind subsided this morning and the water around Destiny is bright blue with excellent visibility again. It's now blowing around 10 knots - perfect. I made some bacon and eggs for breakfast and then worked on skinning all three conchs that took around an hour. I finished around 10:30 and after I did all the dishes and cleaned everything up, I was just too tired to go snorkeling right then so we decided to wait until after lunch. We ran the water maker for around 3 hours and also started filling a 5-gallon jerry jug for Whitecap. We went out snorkeling around 1:45pm and had a beautiful day as the sun was out and the wind was low- just perfect! However, as we were snorkeling, big storm clouds started rolling in so we came back to the boat around 3:45. We had left all the hatches open and wanted to get back to the boat in case it did rain to close them. I had made my wonderful conch steak for lunch (this is the recipe with beer in it) and it was great! It was so wonderful to have them again after almost a whole year. It doesn't get much better than this out here! It's one of my favorite lunches. I made some homemade pizza dough and we had homemade pizza for dinner. The winds picked up again around 14-16 knots from the East so even though we had clouds, the wind gen was really cranking in those amps and we were getting about 12 amps just from the wind gen alone. We hardly ever had this much wind last year out here on such a steady basis.
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