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Diane's DiaryDec 15 Sunday Day 14 of strike Mima came in at 6am this morning but said they were leaving for Grenada that day. Wish they would stay longer but they think the weather window is good now so want to leave. They are also with another boat that also wants to leave. I guess we waited for them for nothing. Next time we will leave on our schedule and no one else's. Anyway, I had already arranged to go shopping with Sojourner and crew from another boat so that's what I did. I bought 4 more cases of rum- the cheap local one we like- less than $2USD for 750ml. No more local beer- only Brahma from Brazil, which we don't like so much. The store was a zoo! You would think they were giving away food! But I guess everyone is stocking up. We were able to use our credit cards but later Mima told us they and the other boat were not allowed to use it in a different supermarket. Glad I got all my supplies! After I came back from shopping, I put away all the groceries- had to make room for an additional 48 bottles of rum! We went over to see Mima when they returned from shopping around 3pm. We saw them for around 2 hours so we were very disappointed. They must have been very tried as they did an all-nighter from Margarita, shopped all day and then planned to go another 20 hours at Grenada. Both Larry and I thought it was the wrong move but they left anyway. We heard from them the following day in Los Testigos; the weather was not good and they got beat up and must have been very tired. Dec 16 Monday Day 15 of strike We are going to leave in the Am. Fortunately, another boater we knew, Maja 3 heard us talking to another boat and told us they are going tomorrow with another 2 boats and we are welcome to come with them. That was nice, as we were not looking forward to doing the passage by ourselves. There have been some security problems transiting along the north coast so most boaters like to go with others. We were just going to go nonstop about 24 hours if we had been by ourselves so we were glad he asked us to join them. We'll leave at first light tomorrow. The rest of the day was preparing to leave VZ. We did not clear out of VZ. With the strike going on, and the agent having problems with his license, we were reluctant to give anyone our passports in fear we would not get them back in time to leave. We were prepared for Trinidad to fine us or ask us to leave but given the circumstances; we didn't think they would do that. We sold some Bolivar's to another cruiser. We still had some left so we went out to eat at Jak's and have a beer. We stopped by Motu but she had just come into Margarita and didn't want to leave until she went shopping. We had to get back to the boat before dark so we could hoist the dinghy and engine out of the water. Also, we wanted to get a good night sleep and go to bed early. We still have about 10,000 B's left- about $7 so we'll just keep them. Anyway, turns out we were up all night anyway - a big disco was going on shore and still was going when we left at 6am! We could hear the loud music way out in the anchorage and sounded like it was right near us! How these people party till all hours of the morning I will never know! I also made a few dinners, chili and beef burgundy, so I wouldn't have to cook under way. Dec 17 Tuesday Day 16 of strike We left the anchorage with sails up around 6am bound for Ensenada Medina along with S/V Maja 3, Pamela (singlehander), and Gonzo 2. We had a pretty good passage but had to motor the entire way - winds out of the east (the direction we needed to go) mostly around 10 knots but up to 15 for a very short time, seas 3-4 ft at the most. We arrived at Ensenada Medina around 4:30pm - tired but glad to have arrived. We all decided since the winds were going to be light for the next few days to spend tomorrow here since it is so beautiful. We are rolling a little but not too much. Thankfully, the winds are very low due to a huge storm off the east coast of the US, which is causing a reduction in the pressure gradient. For a landlubber, that means the winds were going to be light for us. We were all tired anyway from getting ready to leave and staying up all night from the disco onshore and really weren't looking forward to leaving at 2am. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Dec 18 Wednesday Day 17 of the strike Gonzo 2 took their dinghy down from davits and we went to shore with them. Sure wish we had davits- it makes things a lot easier. We almost never take the dinghy down for just 1 night, as it's too much work. The beach was just gorgeous with huge palm trees. Some locals were on the beach and wanted to sell us things but we really had no problems. I went swimming and the water was really cold- about 75! It felt good though. After, we went over to Gonzo 2 and then Maja III as Pamela was already over there to have a meeting as to when we wanted to leave tomorrow. We had a full moon that definitely made things easier as there are a lot of unlit fishing boats around at night that are difficult to see. Anyway, Maja 3 had made this passage before and said the currents seem to be greater now - maybe due to the full moon. Anyway, he wanted to leave at 2am since the passage would take at least 12 hours and he was concerned we would all go slower with the adverse current we seemed to be having. He is only a 34' boat so goes slower than us. He wanted to get in to our next anchorage of Cabo San Francisco before dark. Even though we could have gone much later since we are faster, we felt it was safer for us all to stick together so we all agreed to leave at 2am. We knew we are all safer if we stick together so it didn't really matter to us to leave early. Dec 19 Thursday Day 18 of the strike We helped out a fisherman last night just before sunset with an engine problem and after they slept in their boat around the 4 of us boats so we felt protected. Guilio said that fishermen were our friends and if we didn't see them, then we could have problems. We had no problems in the anchorage at all. We tried to sleep for a little while and were up at 1am. We were last to leave the anchorage, with sails up, around 2am. The seas were like absolute glass till about 5am when the wind picked up to less than 10 knots with mostly 1-2 feet. It was a perfect passage, but we seem to be having trouble with our VHF - we are not transmitting or receiving well so we will have to look at this in Trinidad. We have 2 handheld radios but they only transmit a short distance and we cannot leave them on for the whole passage, as the battery supply is not large. We did get a call on the SSB from Sojourner - they left the day after us to go nonstop back to Trinidad. Anyway, one of the boats they were with ran out of diesel and could we assist? None of them (but later we found out 1 boat did) have jerry jugs. We were having problems transmitting over the VHF so Pamela called the boat. Pamela had some jerry jugs and would go out and assist them. We had jerry jugs and would have given them up but we were having trouble transmitting with the VHF and were reluctant to go out of short VHF range in case we needed help. Anyway, the single hander is the one who went to assist. Pamela is a true cruiser and a nice guy. Anyway, we got into Cabo San Francisco around 2:30 - all tired but glad for an easy passage. Every one else went in the water since it was very hot with out any wind. But we have no way to get back into the boat without a boarding ladder (we are definitely going to get 1 in Trinidad) so couldn't go swimming. We just relaxed the rest of the day. The anchorage was very beautiful and we would have loved to stay another day. Unfortunately, unless we clear into Trini tomorrow we will have to pay overtime if we arrive on the weekend. So, since everyone else wanted to leave, and we didn't want to be by ourselves for security reasons, we all agreed to leave around 7am. We were all exhausted and went to bed at 8:30pm. I immediately fell into a deep sleep I was so tired. We didn't wake up till almost 6:30 so I guess we really needed the sleep. Dec 20 Friday Day 19 of the strike Gonzo 2 left before the sun was up, the others at 7 and we left around 7:30am. Larry wanted to stay later because he thought it was beautiful and I agree - it really was. I was just scared to stay there by ourselves due to the security incidents that have happened in previous years. So, even though we wanted to stay, we decided it was best to get going. We really wanted to be in VZ for Christmas and are sad we had to leave. But hopefully, the situation will allow us to return. Anyway, we had a beautiful trip- we motored part of the way and even got to sail a bit! The seas and winds were still light. We know we have been very lucky to have the weather Gods with us, many people have a very rough time on this passage but we just hit it right. (and waited for a good weather window) Anyway, we arrived around 11am at Chaguaramas. Gonzo 2 was still at the customs dock along with a VZ boat so we couldn't approach the dock yet and motored around waiting. S/V Jacobite called us and Herman Melville too - he wanted to help us with out Crews Inn reservation as he was at the front desk. He was supposed to make a reservation for us but never did. Fortunately, we had also emailed our friends Lady J at Crews Inn and they had made one for us. Anyway, we wanted to go into the marina in about a week or so- we are not in a marina mood yet. Anyway, it was good to hear from Jacobite but we needed to clear in first. The VZ boat left the dock first, followed by Gonzo 2. Maha 3 moved up forward on the dock and we pulled in after them. Then we had Pamela, the singlehander, raft up to Destiny. It was about 12 now so guess what? Customs closes for lunch for one hour! Oh, well, at least we are here. We'll just have to wait. But, in the meantime, I went to CI to see about our reservation. Then, it was time for customs to open. We were nervous they would give us a hard time about not clearing out of VZ and either fining us, or telling us to leave. But, customs did not give us any problems at all. They were very understanding about the whole thing and said they couldn't blame us for not checking out. We were astonished they were so good- usually Trini customs gives people a hard time. It was after 2 by the time we cleared in. We visited friends on Lady J. We tried to call Jacobite but they were out. It was after 4pm by the time we finally left the CI dock and we still had to motor to Scotland Bay- about an hour away, so off we went. We anchored near our friends Aryil and Sojourner. Aryil invited us over for drinks with the 2 of them, plus Texas Reb. So, we decided to go and got picked up since our dinghy wasn't in the water. We had a good time seeing everyone but were definitely tired from our passage. We were in bed by 9:30 but unfortunately, we have this obnoxious boater in the anchorage who runs his deck generator late at night (after 9pm) and then around 4am disturbing everyone in the anchorage. So, even though we were really tired, we didn't get a good night's sleep. |