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Larry's LogSaturday morning the wind came down considerably so we went snorkeling earlier. We went out about 10:30 and went to the far end of the reef near the blue hole we saw 2 days ago, and the snorkeling was outstanding. I saw some new species and one, the Fairy Basslet, was particularly beautiful - bright purple on the front half and golden yellow on the back (they're also called Royal Grammas). The water clarity was excellent and we saw lots of fish, including another Rock Beauty and a large French Angelfish. We went back to the boat around 12:30 and decided we would go back out later. After lunch, we went back to the reef in a different spot and it was excellent. Another new species for our list and we saw fish again that we had only seen once or twice before. When we got back to the boat, we noticed that it was getting crowded - another 2 boats had come in; the closest must have been at least 1/2 mile away. This is a great place. We were still getting about 10-12 knots of breeze letting the wind generator still give us between 5 and 7 amps, so I was happy with that. The next day the breeze continued light but it was also uncharacteristically cloudy this morning so we didn't go snorkeling but Diane did some hand laundry. I worked on the PC a bit and rigged the clothesline but other than that, just lounged. We ate an early lunch and went out to the reef we had been to yesterday. It started off very good. We saw the Fairy Basslets again in the same spot (they're territorial) and the same Barracuda as well. The water clarity wasn't quite as good as yesterday but still OK. Then we moved and went to a shallow place near the reef. I snorkeled up to the back of the barrier reef and it was rougher than yesterday; I think the tide must have been lower. I came back and stood up on some shallow sand to clear my mask and the strap broke. I tried holding on to it but couldn't see well and ran into some shallow patch reefs. Then I lost the snorkel. About that time, Diane came over and said I was on a reef. I told her I knew it and that the strap to the mask had broken and I'd lost the snorkel. She came over and luckily found the snorkel. I then held the mask to my face with my hand and stuck the snorkel in my mouth and made it back to the dinghy. Not much fun snorkeling today. We got back to the boat and I got out my spare strap and fixed the mask but we just relaxed the rest of the day. We actually got some rain that evening, enough to wet down the salt encrustation but I don't know if it was enough to really wash the boat off. We had seen clouds earlier in the day and then in the late afternoon, but we had avoided most of them (or they had avoided us - we were stationary). Monday was pretty uneventful. I noticed a boat move from one place to another and we went snorkeling in both the morning and the afternoon. The wind was pretty light and we had to run the engine a little in the early evening to charge the batteries. The snorkeling in the morning was good - we went far down the reef and got up pretty close to the barrier reef and saw some large parrotfish, both Blue and Rainbow, and one Midnight. We also saw lots of smaller fish and a yellow color variation of the Coney, a fish we have seen many times but never that color. Diane also picked up a conch that she wanted to have for lunch at some point. Back at the boat, I tried to get the animal out if its shell and again, I practically had to destroy the entire shell to get him out. I started out using the same method as before that worked well but this time it didn't and it made a real mess of the boat before I could extract it and give it to Diane to prepare and 'tenderize.' The afternoon's expedition took us to just in front of the boat. We hadn't been to the patch reefs there and it was close so we figured why not. The spot turned out to be excellent and we saw an octopus for the first time. A fairly big one, it was about 3 feet in diameter. He was on the sand and coral rubble bottom and was fully extended to make himself as big as possible to frighten us 'predators' off. I got some good pictures and after watching him for a while (he showed no inclination to swim off although he did move to a slightly more secure patch of coral) we left him in peace. That was one of the best things we've seen so far. We also saw a large school of Blue Parrotfish and, as usual lately, a big (5') Barracuda, who followed me around like a dog waiting for a treat. He never got one. Diane made a dinner of Chicken Picatta that evening, very nice. Snorkeling the next morning was pretty good but the water clarity was suffering from the very light wind, only about 5 knots during the night and this morning. It seems that when the wind calms down, the current slows and allows algae to grow, turning the water greenish and somewhat murky. We could see it happening - one spot was clear blue and the other greenish. We could still see fish though and we saw a large Tiger Grouper, large enough for dinner if we had a spear gun and could dive deep enough; but since we don't own one and can't dive that deep, we contented ourselves with seeing him at about 25 feet down. We also saw one of the smallest new species on our list, a Goldspot Goby, about 2 inches long, sitting on the bottom in 4 feet. I went snorkeling again after lunch while Diane stayed on the boat. I just went to the patch reefs in front of the boat again but it was pretty good, although the water was getting murkier and it was cloudy as well. I did see some nice fish though and I think a new species but I can't identify it - very small and brownish with white pectoral fins. Maybe I'll figure it out. Anyway, it was pretty good. I got back to the boat and after relaxing a little, we got the dinghy up on deck in preparation for moving to Las Aves de Sotavento tomorrow. I considered towing it again but figured it was better to have it on deck. So Diane and I got everything off, put the outboard on the stern and hoisted the dinghy on deck. We scrubbed it a little since there was some growth starting on the bottom (we hadn't been as diligent at getting it out of the water as we should have been in Los Roques) and then I picked up the bow with a halyard so we would get some breeze below that night. All I would have to do tomorrow is tie the dinghy to the deck and straighten out some things and put the dinghy gear away. I had rinsed it with fresh water once it was off the dinghy. We found out from one of the SSB nets the next morning that yesterday had the second largest solar flare ever recorded. We could tell something was going on since radio contact was severely impaired. I did email with no problem, though. However, we were underway at 9:45 to Las Aves de Sotavento. We had to play "dodge the reef" while in the large lagoon of Barlovento but had no problems getting through. The trip was very uneventful and the winds were light to almost non-existent. Of course, we motored the entire way but did find a favorable current that helped by almost a knot. Strangely, we lost it for an hour and then found it again. About an hour from Sotavento, we did get a fish on the line. (Diane had convinced me to try it.) Unfortunately, when I got the fish close to the boat, it was a small Barracuda. I know many people will eat these, especially in the smaller sizes (this one was about 2 ½ feet) but we decided not to chance getting ciguatera, which these fish are known to have sometimes. While I was trying to figure out how to get him off the line, he broke (cut) the line and so I lost the lure. Oh well, I didn't want to deal with those large teeth anyway. We got into Las Aves de Sotavento at about 2:30 in almost no wind. We had gone around the northern side and decided to anchor near the island with the lighthouse on it, assuming there weren't too many boats. There were 3 there but we found a spot between them, not too close, and anchored in 16 feet of beautiful clear water (coming in, you could see the bottom in 80 feet!). Unfortunately, this anchorage was mostly coral and although I tried to find a sandy patch, when I went snorkeling on the anchor later I saw it was caught on some coral and not dug in at all. Although the wind was so light I didn't think we would drag at all, we re-anchored. As I had seen to other cruisers, when I brought the anchor up, the large piece of coral came with it. Luckily it came off when I lowered the anchor to the bottom again.) We anchored again in a different spot but I could feel it dragging on the coral rubble below so we looked around for another one and found a nice sandy area just a little further from the beach, in 20 feet. The anchor grabbed well and held and when I snorkeled on it again, was fine. Of course, there was some 'discussion' about where we should have anchored to begin with, but since Diane can't see the water from the helm and I do see it from the bow from where I'm getting ready to drop the hook, I need to be able to tell her where to go and when to stop - sometimes this doesn't go over too well. In a CD we bought from Eileen Quinn, another cruiser, she wrote and sings a song called "The Anchoring Dance", and indeed it is a dance sometimes. We were finally anchored well at 3:30. We didn't bother launching the dinghy that afternoon. I did raise it so we could get some air below but launching it would keep for tomorrow. After our anchoring 'dance', I was tired. The next morning was busy. First, Diane and I launched the dinghy and got the engine on and then I finished putting everything together (putting the fuel filter on, oars, etc.) and then while Diane did some things in the galley, I put up the large awning. It was pretty hot and although the breeze was up to about 5 to 10 knots, we knew it would be cooler in the boat without the sun beating down on the deck. So I dug it out of the aft cabin and slowly got it unrolled, put the aft pole in and got it in position. As I mentioned, the wind was light so it didn't blow around much and I could do it all myself. If its windy, I need Diane to hold it down while I tie everything on. After that, I got the bimini back together and then got the idea to use my small boathook as a strut to support the port side of the awning. I usually use a pole lashed to the stern to support the aft, port corner of the awning but I ties the rope to the flagpole and elevated the corner with the boathook that I then lashed to the side of the stern rail. This stabilized the corner of the awning better and elevated it more so it wouldn't chafe against the bimini. The only thing I'll change when I can is get a dedicated pole (a long dowel), notch the top for the awning rope and then I can lash it to the toerail rather than use the small boathook lashed a foot up on the rail. That afternoon we went to the little island with the lighthouse we were near, called Saki Saki. We went around the reefs and pulled the dinghy up on the beach of soft, powdery sand. I was going to anchor it rather than pull it up on the beach but the surf was a little too strong. We walked around the island, taking pictures, in about 45 minutes (it wasn't very big). After we finished our walk, we took a swim in the beautiful water and got back to the boat around 4, just in time for Happy Hour. The wind continued very light and we had to run the engine for about 90 minutes to get the batteries charged. We certainly didn't expect to have to do that in Las Aves - the place has the reputation for being very breezy. Friday morning the wind was very light again after a brief shower at 5am. Of course, we got up to close the hatches and then it stopped after 10 minutes. We went back to sleep but got up in time for the daily SSB nets. Snorkeling this morning was OK but not great. The water clarity was very good but the fish just weren't there although we did see 2 Midnight Parrotfish and 1 small Rainbow Parrotfish. There were fish of course, but seemingly only the more common ones - Stoplight Parrotfish (which we see everywhere) Blue Tangs, Bluehead Wrasses, Yellowtail Damselfsh, and others. We would have to try other spots; there are probably hundreds to choose from. The afternoon wasn't too productive, but then again, we don't have to be productive, we're cruisers. Actually we went to the island again and opened a conch Diane had collected. Instead of pulling the dinghy up on the very soft sand, we anchored from the stern and tied the bow to a post that had been driven into the beach for that purpose. I brought the tools with me and for some reason the method that's described in the book I have and that worked twice just didn't work again. I had to crack the shell practically in half to extract the animal. At least doing it on the beach didn't make a mess of the boat. After that, I cleaned the tools, we went for a swim and went back to the boat and relaxed the remainder of the day. |