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Diane's DiaryNov 15 Fri I was up at 2am & couldn't sleep any more. The 2 French boats in front of us had left around 8pm last night. Two other boats came in but they weren't as close to us. I don't know if I was just nervous about the long passage or anxious we were to be boarded as I heard splashes in the water that woke me up. I'm pretty sure all I heard were fish jumping. Anyway, Larry was up also so we decided to leave. It would be a little tricky in the dark- not that the anchorage was difficult but because they were lots of fisherman around. Some of them had 1 light on but we knew a lot didn't have any lights at all. We had the anchor up, sails set & were underway by 3:30am. I took 2 Sturgeon but they definitely were making me groggy. We both kept watch until the sun rose for fisherman. We saw lots of their lights but fortunately none came near us. The danger for us is getting their nets caught in our prop. The winds were from the ESE 10-15 knots with 5-7 foot seas. We motored for 4 hours to charge the battery & run the watermaker. The swells were coming from 2 directions- E & NE so it made the seas confused & very lumpy. We sailed from 7:30 till we arrived at 12:30pm. I was very tired as the Sturgeon makes me very sleepy but I wasn't seasick in the least. We anchored near the other boats on this beautiful white sandy beach with perfectly blue water. Looks like a terrific spot. We put the canvas up, had lunch & I took a nap from 3-5pm. Later, we had my birthday champagne & the chicken cutlet Parmesan I had previously made. We were so tired; we went to bed at 9pm & were out like a light. Nov 16 Sat We were both really tired the entire day. The wind is really blowing up to around 25 knots so we are really rocking & rolling in the anchorage. It was just too windy to snorkel & we know we will be here for a while so we are in no rush. We managed to get the dinghy down in all that wind which was pretty difficult to do. We were invited to cocktails & appetizers on the beach at 5pm. Larry didn't want to go but I convinced him & we had a great time. We didn't get back to the boat until 8:30! The anchorage seems very nice with no security concerns at all. You don't need to lock the boat or the dinghy. We only locked the dinghy at night in case the painter breaks the dinghy will not go drifting away. It's nice to let down our guard watching the boat so much. This is the first time we didn't have to lock the boat in our entire time in the Caribbean. Nov 17 Sun I definitely had a hangover from the party last night & was very tired the entire day. So, we just lazed around the boat reading & all. S/V Nausica with Jose & Marina stopped by to say hello- they are from Spain. Marina is the same age, 11, as my nephew Mathew. Cruising kids are definitely a lot more mature than any kids I know back home - they tend to grow up very fast. They came over around 1:30 & stayed until 5:30. Afterwards, we went to the beach with the dinghy & took showers & went swimming. The water is crystal clear blue. We are really enjoying it here. There is nothing to do & nothing on the island. It's just great. This is what you picture the Caribbean to be like when we started on this trip. It truly is just like Gilligan's Island - the old TV show- out here. No stores, phones, electricity, no people except a few fishermen. We know the Guardia Costa is here but so far we haven't seen them- just a nice beautiful peaceful anchorage. Larry likes it because there is no place for me to spend money! Nov 18 Mon We cleaned the waterline on the boat today. We had hired a diver to do it in PLC because the water was so foul & it has not been done since. The water was extremely murky in the Gulf so we didn't have good visibility to clean it there. We both worked on it for about 1.5 hours & still didn't finish it. We were both exhausted working on it- it's a lot of work. I also made some more biscuit mix, cut the fat off all the prosciutto & fried it up with garlic & onions- we will have penne a la vodka with it. I also worked on updating my logs. In the afternoon we went snorkeling on the reef right near our boat- fantastic! We saw even better fish than we had in the Tobago Cays! We like this place even better as the reef is within snorkeling distance from our boat & there are no charter boats here. We only have about 15 boats spread out in the anchorage & everyone is a cruising boat. The snorkeling was just fantastic. The only downside is that our underwater camera broke- we found water in the battery compartment. We have had this camera for about 15 years & really liked having it. We are talking about buying another one as a Christmas gift to each other. It seems a shame to come all this way & not be able to take pictures of the beautiful fish. Larry has logged all the different species we are seeing so see his logs for a complete listing. Anyway, we got back to the boat & I started to go down the companionway when I saw something on the rug. I was annoyed as I had just swept the floors that morning & couldn't imagine what it was. Well, it was a hummingbird! I think it has a broken wing but it's on our boat now. I don't know what we will do with him but we will try to nurse him back to health. I gave him a bowl with some sugar water in it. I feel really bad for him. He seems frightened of us but we are picking him up to move him. I hope he doesn't die on us! Glad Mr. C, our cat at home, isn't here or I know he would have killed him. Nov 19 Tuesday Well, the wind & seas have finally calmed down so much we need to run the engine to charge the batteries. I started an excellent book called Ice Station by Mark Riley that is so good I can't put it down so I keep reading it. After lunch we went snorkeling again & it was really great since it was so calm. That night we had a bar-b-que on the beach. It seemed like all 15 boats from the anchorage came. I grilled Lipton onion burgers & they were great! We haven't had a hamburger in a while. We all had a good time & didn't get back to the boat till around 8:30. Nov 20 Wed We left the boat around 9:30 to take a dinghy ride to Americano Bay- about a 15-minute dinghy ride away. Unfortunately, the seas were really up today so it was a rough trip. I would have turned back, but Larry kept on going. Well, the bay was just gorgeous & there was nobody there except us, which was just terrific. The snorkeling was good but it was a little rough. The bay is very narrow- Larry wants to bring the boat in here but I am just afraid the anchor would drag & we would wind up on the beach! We walked around some & went up to the deserted house. We both really enjoyed it & the snorkeling was terrific. However, the dinghy ride back was even worse than the trip there - the wind had really increased & we had a tough time even in our new dinghy. If we had our old dinghy we would have had an even worse ride. I was really glad to get back to the boat. After lunch, I defrosted the freezer again- seems like I have to do it about every 2 weeks. I also made a wonderful dessert called English Matrimonials from my favorite cookbook- Of Tide & Thyme. If you don't have it, buy it; it is my favorite cookbook by far. I lay down in the afternoon for about an hour but didn't sleep as the boat was really rocking & rolling. Nov 21 Thursday About 9:30am we left for a hike. Larry wanted to move the boat to Americano Bay but I didn't want to as I felt to confined there & was afraid we would drag into the reef. So, we wound up taking a long hike instead & wound up hiking to Americano Bay. Did I tell you there were wild donkeys on the island? Well, there are - we hear them but you very rarely see them & they are very skittish. However, they have made some wonderful trails around the island that are easy to use. We wore Tevas but if I ever hiked around here again I would definitely wear sneakers instead. There were tons of cactus & it was sometimes difficult to maneuver around them. It took us about 1.5 hours to get there as we didn't quite follow the donkey trail. It was an extremely hot walk as there is absolutely no shade on the island & it's very hot out. The island is a desert as it hardly rains here so everything is very dry. We got back from our walk at 12:30 so we were hiking for about 3 hours. We went swimming just to cool off when we got back we were both so hot. We had S/V Lady M III over for cocktails around 5. We last saw them in Trini but couldn't get together with them as we were trying to leave Trini & they were just coming in. My computer is broken. Larry tried installing a Spanish CD I had but it wouldn't work. Finally, he figured out that the hard drive is broken. We are not even sure if it can be replaced as the computer is several years old but we will try. I really liked having 2 computers also so we will have to see what we can do. We are going to go back to Porlamar before we go to Tortuga as we need to resupply the boat with fresh provisions. We hardly have any fresh stuff left. Nov 22 Fri Well, this morning we motored about an hour north of Americano Bay to a bay all by ourselves. It's a little rolly but just as pretty plus we have our own private beach & reef. I don't think we have ever been in an anchorage as beautiful as this by ourselves. We even went nude swimming which is something I don't think I have ever done- it felt great. It is really nice to be just by ourselves. In the afternoon, we went snorkeling right from our boat as the reef is right near us. Wonderful! Larry also worked on my computer while I worked on the finances. Nov 23 Sat This morning we went to our own private beach. I found an out-of-the-way spot to burn the garbage that could be burned- we throw all the cans & bottles that we can overboard when we are out to sea in deep water. Larry took pictures. I am having ear problems & think I have an ear infection so I won't go under the water. I will try to keep my head out of the water for the next several days to see if it can clear up. I did go swimming up to my neck- the water is a little chilly but it feels great. In the afternoon, Larry cleaned the bottom of the boat & found that the zinc on the prop fell off again so he had to put another one on. This is harder than it sounds as you have to keep coming up for air & try to hold yourself down while trying to put 3 bolts on. I told him to use the weight belt but he didn't want too. We are enjoying sitting around in the nude- I never did this before. I typed in my logs & actually caught up! A miracle as it's easy to always get behind. |