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Larry's LogAgain, last night we had a series of thunderstorms that woke us up at 3am. They weren't too bad although we did get some heavy rain at times. Before it got bad, I took down the sun canvas and we took everything below that was dry now but would get wet, like towels and our bathing suits. I also put a safety line on the dinghy so in case the painter broke, it wouldn't go drifting away. As it turned out, although there was a good deal of thunder and lightning (some of the lightning was VERY close) the wind only got to about 20-25 and only for a few minutes at a time. Generally, it was just wet and got very warm below with the hatches closed. Diane went back to bed around 5:30 but I just stayed up. The sunrise was wonderful though. We got underway at about 11 for Isla Palmeras. For some reason, there were many small moths that decided to land on the boat and hitch a ride and they stayed with us all day. Although the island wasn't far, we had to negotiate the reef system back out and then find a place to anchor and we finally dropped the hook around 1pm. There were 4 other boats near the island and we picked a spot that was a good distance from any of them. Of course, it had to be a sandy patch as well. The first spot we chose had too much coral around it but the second was fine. We had lunch and I snorkeled over it and it wasn't dug in all the way so Diane started the engine again and put it in reverse while I watched the anchor bite deeper. It wasn't perfect, but I didn't think we would drag either. The wind was from the south-southwest but less than 5 knots. The weather report I downloaded last night said 15 knots from the east. I looked at the area where the anchor chain would be if/when the wind shifted back to the east and it seemed fine; more sand. We saw the GuardiaCosta again that afternoon - they went aboard the boats near us but when they came to us, they just talked to us a little and left - basically very nice, but they were in uniform this time and the commandant had a sidearm. We went to shore just after their visit, going to a beach that looked pretty good from the boat but as we got closer, I could see that the swell broke pretty heavily, the incline was pretty steep and the beach sand became loose stones just at the edge of the water. I decided to anchor the dinghy rather than hoist it on the beach - the incline was just too steep and the rocks too sharp. I cleaned the conch Diane had gotten the day before, we took a short swim and went back to the boat; I didn't like the surge on the beach and although I wanted to find a spot where we could land and walk around but we didn't get the chance today. I looked on the chart and it showed that the beach we were on was the only landing spot - maybe we'll try it again under better conditions. That night, it started again at 3:30 in the morning. The wind had been from the east after about 5 yesterday evening. We went to sleep and Diane said she felt the weather was going to be bad (but she says that a lot sometimes). We both woke up when the wind died and we started to see flashes of lightning. We got up as it started to rain, lightly at first, then steadily harder. Within 10 minutes, the wind was blowing hard from the southwest with driving rain. Another 10 minutes and it was from the west - another wind reversal. The wind got up to about 30 knots but that velocity only lasted about 15 minutes. Then it came down to 20 and stayed there for another 45 minutes or so. We had put the engine on (as we did the last time) but didn't motor into the wind and swell since the really hard winds didn't last too long. We turned on the anchor light so the boats near us could see where we were - their lights were also on. Diane came out into the cockpit and sat with me. We then heard something bang at the bow. While Diane held the wheel (just to keep it from spinning wildly), I crawled up to the bow with a flashlight, as it was still very dark, except for the numerous lightning flashes. Everything seemed fine - I think the snubber line had just stretched and reached the point that the strain was on the chain directly. I checked everything and then crawled back to the cockpit - at least the rain was warm. I turned the engine off after an hour since the wind was down and it was just a lot of swell and raining. The seas had come up very quickly to about 4 - 5 feet after the wind built. Once the wind veered back to the south, around 7, we started rolling badly again. Diane spoke to Allen on Honalee, now in Bonaire, over the SSB at about 8:30; he said they had gotten it there as well. Diane then asked him how often these things happen; he answered that now there had been 2 this season. Boy, are we lucky! The wind lessened and then died altogether but we kept pointing south and rolled throughout the morning and of course it kept raining until about 11. Then we started pointing southwest again - the rolling lessened since the swell was from that general direction but it was hot as there was no breeze at all. I had gotten in the dinghy to bail it out; I think there was more water in it this time than the last. Finally, a light breeze came up from the east at about 3 in the afternoon but the swell was still southwest and it took about an hour for us to swing. We finally swung around to the east (the first time we did a 360 turn at anchor since Mt. Hartman Bay in Granada), causing the stern to pound badly. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do but wait. To compound the somewhat miserable day, I had to run the engine to charge the batteries - after the morning's excitement there was very little wind and it was cloudy all day. By dinner, the swell had decreased and the stern's pounding now just a mild slap. We listened to the weather net at 4:30 and it seemed that this strange weather was due, in part, to a low-pressure system just northeast of the Virgin Islands. It was supposed to move off and hopefully it will, and soon. The weather we have had while in Las Aves de Sotavento was pretty bad so far and we planned to leave for Bonaire in the next day or two. I would like to leave with a better impression. November 13, and today is Diane's birthday and I made her breakfast of bacon and eggs - I can do domestic things sometimes!! Of course, part of her birthday present was more thunderstorms that started at 3:30 IN THE MORNING AGAIN. They weren't too bad and the wind only got to about 25 knots, from the east or southeast so we didn't have to worry about a lee shore, but we were getting pretty tired of the almost constant sleep interruptions. After breakfast, we decided that we would go to the island later and walk around but Diane wanted to make some things first so we didn't go until after lunch. We had some conch for lunch and it was pretty good but I'm still not sure that the effort is worth the result. Anyway, shortly after lunch, we saw some more boats come in. Two of the boats that were here had left and of the 4 that eventually came in, we knew three: Halliday Girl with Peter and Vicky; Skyus with Bruce and Suzanne; and Twelfth Night with Jim and Chris. After our walk on Isla Palmeras (we had found a better landing place) and Isla Ramon (a really small island just nearby) we stopped at all three boats to say hi. We were invited to a party on Skyus, a large catamaran, although Jim and Chris (Twelfth Night) couldn't go - they were heading on to Curacao tomorrow. The wind had been very nice although light all day (about 5 knots from the southeast) and the sky was now clear with just some high cirrus clouds. We went to Skyus around 5:30 and had a very nice time. Vicky even made Diane a birthday cake and they had small presents for her - she was thrilled. It was a small thing but they make a difference. We had some very nice snacks - Peter had caught a Mahi-Mahi and they had made it into some small bite size pieces that were delicious. Of course, the cake was excellent. We stayed until about 7:30 - we were all tired. They had been in Las Aves de Barlovento and experienced some of the same weather we had - getting up at all hours, etc. We had planned to go to Bonaire on Friday or Saturday, but we would see how preparations went. That night, for Diane's birthday, we finally got a good night's sleep - a nice breeze, with no rain, thunder or lightning. Diane made a nice breakfast of Stuffed French Toast; pretty good considering we haven't been to a market in 2 months. The morning was a busy one with me changing the fuel filter and cleaning the filter bowl and Diane doing some laundry and going to Halliday Girl to swap some books. Skyus and Halliday Girl were going to the reef this morning so we probably wouldn't see them until they got to Bonaire. I did the fuel filter here because I noticed that the fuel level when the engine was running, at any speed, was about ½ to 2/3 in the bowl and it should stay full at all times. Sure enough, when I got the filter out, it was very dirty and actually caked with black crud. I cleaned everything, put in new o-rings, replaced the filter cartridge and put everything back together. I remembered this time to match up the notches in the housing with the drain inside the bowl so there were no problems tightening it and when I ran the fuel pump to fill the bowl and get the air out of the system, it worked perfectly. I then ran the engine for about 20 minutes to make sure and there were no problems. After lunch, we took down the awning and went to the little island just south of Isla Palmeras, to a small beach there and had a quick swim. We got back to the boat and didn't do much of anything the rest of the day. Saturday morning, just after breakfast, a couple and their baby came up in their (homebuilt) aluminum dinghy to ask if we heard the weather; they wanted to leave for Bonaire tomorrow as well and couldn't get their 'meteo' very well this morning. They were French but the woman spoke a little English. We actually hadn't listened to the weather that morning, but we should have. We said that we would be listening in the afternoon and that we would call them on the radio around 5. They said 'merci', and went back to their boat. A little later, we went snorkeling on the little reef around the small island just south of Isla Palmeras. It was recommended in the guidebook and it was pretty good although there were parts where the water was murky, it cleared once we got away from the lee of the island. We went back to the boat, had lunch and went back to the little island for a swim. We then started to get the boat ready for the trip tomorrow - taking the engine off and getting the dinghy on the deck. We washed the bottom of the dinghy since it had started to get growth again, very quickly, and then I started getting more things ready and rinsing the gear while Diane started dinner. Unfortunately, while I was rinsing off the blade of the oar, it slipped over the side. I yelled for Diane, got the side-boarding ladder down and swam after it but it was gone. I thought it might have sunk but we tried the other one and it floated so the lost one must have just floated off very quickly, even in just a 10-knot breeze. I can imagine what would happen if a person fell overboard! Oh well, the chandleries in Bonaire should have a replacement. I finished rinsing everything, listened to the weather at 4:30, called our friends from this morning with the weather report (the same as today - E to ESE at 10 knots, seas 3-5 feet) and just relaxed the rest of the day; we planned to leave early in the morning. We called Halliday Girl to say goodbye and that we would see them in Bonaire soon. Sunday we got up around 5am, prepared the boat and left Las Aves, and Venezuela (we had been there for about 7 months), a little after 6am and had a pretty easy trip. It was a fairly light breeze, about 10-15 knots from the East, but of course, on a course of 280 degrees, the wind was directly behind us and we rolled. The seas weren't bad, about 3 - 5 feet but enough so that we did have to hold on at times. It took us about 9 hours from the time we had the anchor up to the time we picked up the mooring. Near the mooring, Diane drove and I handed the lines to Allen and Sherna, from Honalee, who kindly were there to help us pick up the mooring pennants. They had also put a fender on one that Allen thought was pretty good so we would have it when we got there. The mooring itself was fine and Diane checked it when she went in for a short swim although the lines were pretty short and it would have been a little tough to get them with the boathook. Once we were firmly on the mooring, we invited them on board for a drink. We talked for a while and they explained a little more about the island. They invited us to go to dinner with them but we were too tired and said definitely another time. They left and we just had some drinks and relaxed. There were other boats there we knew and would have to say hello. I had just raised the dinghy off the deck so we would get some air below - we would go in tomorrow to clear in with Customs and Immigration. |