|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Diane's DiaryOct 26 Sat This morning, the resort has a por puesto bus going in to do some food shopping at the market. This gives the local bus driver a chance to make some money. The fair was about $3USD roundtrip- a little high but it took us about 45 minutes to drive to Cariaco so it was pretty far. Also, the road was not in good shape with lots of potholes in it so it took a long time. I bought some more flour, melons, cucumbers, & lettuce. I also found a place to buy the local food Arepas- corn pancakes but much thicker than a pancake. They cut it in half & put a filling inside it. They were OK hot but when I got back to the boat they weren't so good cold & we both didn't like them so I threw them away. Luckily, they were very cheap. Anyway, we also stopped at an Internet place, which we all used. In all, the trip really wasn't worth it. I probably could have made it back to Porlamar with the provisions we had but it was interesting to see the little town. Larry had stayed back at the boat. I got back to the boat around 12:15 & Larry was quite upset because the water maker was not working at all. We hadn't used it in about 6 months as we had not used it since before arriving in Trinidad in April. He did not want to use it in Laguna Grande as the water was silted from all the mangroves. He was quite upset & couldn't imagine what was wrong with the water maker. But we already had a lunch planned with the hotel at 1:15 so I told him we should go to the lunch because they made it just for us- there was no one else in the resort. He wanted to stay at the boat & work on it but we did go for the lunch. Besides we were getting an unusual wind - from the SW & that was making the anchorage extremely uncomfortable as the long fetch was making the waves build up across the gulf & we weren't protected at all. So, we went to a marvelous lunch- one of the best we have had in the Caribbean! We had mero, which is grouper in a wonderful bernaise sauce along with vegetables & homemade bread. Delicious! We were the only people eating there, as there was no one currently staying at the resort. We went back to the boat after lunch & Larry continued to work on the water maker while I stood by in case he needed me. No luck so we will continue tomorrow. We were going to leave with Picasso to go to the end of the Gulf but Larry wants to fix the water maker before we go anywhere. Oct 27 Sun Well, we were up early this morning- by 6am! I made bacon & eggs for breakfast, as I knew Larry was all upset with the water maker. We are very unhappy with this particular brand- Village Marine as it's supposed to put out 8 gallons of fresh water but we have NEVER gotten that much out of it. The best we have ever done is 6 gallons. It is apparent from talking with all the other cruisers that have the same model that it NEVER puts out 8 gallons so the company is lying about their output. Plus, when we installed it, they put together the watermaker incorrectly so we are not very happy with this company. It also uses about 17 amps to make 4.5 gallons & this is far to many amps for this! We would strongly encourage other cruisers to buy a Spectra water maker instead. It's more expensive but uses fewer amps & makes more gallons per hour than Village marine. Anyway, Larry started working on the water maker about 8am. I really couldn't help him so I just did emails- 16 of them! Finally, he found the problem- it was a huge air pocket in one of the hoses. Also, then we couldn't get the water maker to make water for about a half hour than it suddenly started working for some unknown reason. We were just glad it was all fixed. I updated my logs in the afternoon. We also went into the resort to have a drink, take showers & pay our bill. Our resort bill was about $19USD - not bad for 11 drinks (small beers), 1 lunch & 10% service charge. We enjoyed the place & would definitely recommend it to other cruisers. We also would definitely come back here again. Oct 28 Mon Well, we were up early again today- before 6:30am. We have only a 2-hour motor sail to the end of the Gulf so we are not in a rush- just as long as we get there before the wind picks up. Though at the end of the Gulf the wind is not as strong & doesn't blow as hard as the western portion. We left at 8:15 & arrived 2 hours later. It was definitely very hot here as the wind is not as strong. We saw Picasso - they had left their dinghy at the dock & went to the caves for the day. Anyway, we saw kids playing in their dinghy so Larry chased them away. Later, we saw Picasso rowing back to the boat. Larry went with the dinghy to tow them. They probably could have made it rowing but the wind was a little strong. It seems the kids had pushed in the kill switch & that's why it wouldn't start. I don't think the kids would have stolen it- I think they would have just taken it joyriding. Anyway, I made some turkey enchiladas for dinner. I make a big batch since it's a lot of work so we can have it for several dinners. Anyway, we were low on dinghy gas- our new engine uses about triple the amount of our previous one. Picasso said I would be safe walking through the village & no one would bother me. Since they had the problems with the kids playing with the dinghy, we were reluctant to leave the dinghy at the dock so I went to the gas station & Larry stayed with the boat. I had no problem whatsoever. I said hello & good day to everyone in Spanish & everyone said hello back. They stared at me - but only because they were curious not because of anything else. It was a very positive experience & I'm actually glad I went. I also bought some eggs & bread at the little small store. The town was not much but it was quite apparent the villagers appreciated my speaking to them in Spanish. The kids all wanted to talk to me. At 4:30, we left to go see the scarlet ibis. We went down as far as the river but this was definitely the wrong spot so it was late before we finally found them & it was too late to take pictures as the sun had already set. The correct spot is after the stakes on the port side of the gulf, where the trees are still high & before the trees get lower. It was fantastic though & we both really enjoyed it. We have decided to stay tomorrow to dinghy up the river in the morning & see the birds again before we leave. Oct 29 Tues We were up early again- by 4am. We are definitely back to our cruising mode of getting up early & going to bed around 9pm. Anyway, the sounds from the dogs barking & roosters crowing woke us up so early. I definitely did not get a good night's sleep. Picasso left so now we are the only cruising boat left. This is a little nerve wracking, as I am definitely nervous about being here by ourselves. Anyway, after the nets were all over on the SSB, we left to take a dinghy cruise up the river. Since Picasso left, if we have any problems it's up to us to fix it so that definitely gave me some anxiety. If the engine quits, it's a long row back to the boat. Anyway, we had to use the engine in the river as we were going upstream with a 2-knot current against us so it would have been hard to row. The birds were definitely afraid of the engine & most flew off before we went by. But we did see some birds & the trip was very enjoyable. It reminded us both of going to the Caroni Swamp but this time we didn't have to pay anything! We did drift down the river so we didn't have to scare the birds & could hear the sounds but the birds were mostly all gone. It was definitely very hot in the river as there was no breeze at all. We got back to the boat around 11am. I finished my book. I also made bread pudding- my first experiment at that but it turned out just OK. I think I just need to use another recipe. At 3pm, I walked to get some more gas. I can only carry our small 2.5 gallon container- the big one at 5 gallons is just to heavy for me to carry 2 miles roundtrip. I brought some Hershey's kisses chocolate I had on the boat for the kids & they all really enjoyed it. It was a very positive experience. We went to see the scarlet ibis' again & 4:30 & this time had the correct spot. They came in around 5:30- literally hundreds of them- probably around 400-500. It was just great. We didn't want to anchor too close because we didn't want to scare them. It was just fantastic & we felt we could have stayed there longer to see them. However, our friends on S/V Kristali were going to Margarita & are leaving the Caribbean so we wanted to see them & say goodbye so we would have to leave tomorrow if we wanted to see them. Oct 30 Wed Well, the sounds of the dogs & roosters woke us up early again today. We listened to the weather & the various nets in between getting the boat ready to sail again. We started pulling up the anchor around 8:30- again there was lots of mud on the anchor. Oh well, mud makes great holding. We towed the dinghy although I had wanted to haul it on the deck. I really like our new dinghy but it is 60lbs heavier than our old one & the difference is very noticeable when trying to haul the dinghy up. Anyway, we were hoping for a nice downwind sail but there's absolutely no wind so we motored. We saw beautiful skimmer birds near Puerto Nuevo- we will definitely have to come back here to see that! We motor sailed till about 12:30 & ran the water maker. We were just about near Laguna Grande when the wind suddenly picked up to about 20-25 knots from the E- NE. Thankfully, we were going downwind but it was still too much wind. We got into Los Canones around 2pm & tucked in close to the shore to get out of the wind. The anchorage was in 28' of water- not great- we usually like much shallower water but we weren't going to get it. The wind really blew the rest of the day. I wish we had put the dinghy up on the deck earlier like I wanted as it was difficult getting it up on deck with all that wind. We waited till around 5:30 when the wind usually subsided & while it did subside it was still blowing out quite a bit. But we did manage to get it up on deck. Oct 31 Thurs Halloween Well, we didn't get a chance to celebrate this at all today as we were in transit. I didn't get a good night's sleep at all. I was definitely nervous being here by ourselves. If something happened to us, like bandits, there is no one to help us & boaters are definitely more of a target for thieves when we are by ourselves. We closed ourselves into the boat & set the alarm. I kept hearing sounds but they were just fish jumping although it does sound like someone in the water. Anyway, we left the anchorage in the dark at 5:20am. We wanted to get going as early as possible before the wind comes piping down the open ocean, as we would be leaving the protection of the Gulf. First light was about 5:45 so we had to motor in the dark for about a half hour. The sun didn't actually rise until 6:15am. Remember this is the wintertime so the sun rises later & sets earlier than normal. You may not think it's to hard to motor in the dark, except there are lots of fishing boats out there & many do NOT have lights. Most of them are fishing with nets & we are definitely aware that one of these may get tangled in the prop. So we try to avoid going near the fishing boats. We would like to head for Margarita but I think we will only be able to make it to Cubagua before the wind comes up. The wind came up pretty strong once we left the protection of the Gulf so we decided to make it only until Cubagua & stop there for the night. We would have preferred going to Coche as everyone told us it was really pretty except a boater we knew, on sv Panacea was recently robbed & shot there. This is the main reason the cruisers are all paranoid now & frankly, I can't blame everyone. It's definitely scary & these incidents, along with a few others that have occurred, have scared many cruisers away. So, I hope you can understand my nervousness about being by ourselves or with only 1 other boat. Panacea was in the anchorage with only 1 other boat. Usually, all cruisers including ourselves sleep with the companionway opened at night, but now we put the alarm on & at least close the companionway up. Hopefully, if they see that closed up, they will just leave us alone. Anyway, we reached Cubagua around 12:30. We tried to sail a bit but the motion was to rough & we went to slow so we just continued to motor sail. Fortunately, as the day went on, boats kept coming into the anchorage & we finally had 9 other boats in the anchorage by nightfall. I think since everyone is avoiding Coche, they are all coming here. We were really glad other boats were already in the anchorage when we got there. I don't know if we would have stopped there if we didn't see any other boats & may have continued into Margarita. Anyway, we had lots of wind. We were able to run the water maker for 3 hours during the passage & fill the tanks. We had so much energy left over in the anchorage we were actually able to watch a video on TV. That's something we haven't been able to do in a while. |