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Larry's LogOnce anchored, we did some straightening up, I made coffee and Diane went to bed. I don't often sleep during the day so I stayed up, wiped off the deck from the dirt of Margarita, now that it was mixed with seawater (we had taken some spray when waves crashed into the side of the boat) and wrote some in my log. A little later, after we got the boat setup from after our passage, Diane took a nap and I put some more stuff away. We didn't launch the dinghy and generally just took it easy. The wind stayed light until about 4, when it picked up and shifted to the northeast. At least the wind generator was doing something now. During the evening, the wind increased even more and the wind generator, normally very quiet, started to sound like a helicopter. Then it started freewheeling as the internal parts started to heat up. At that point, I can't even turn it off since it uses an electrical brake to stop and that isn't powerful enough to stop the blades at this wind velocity. I was also worried that the unit might be overcharging the batteries but when I checked, they were fine. Eventually, I just turned it off and went to sleep since there was nothing else to do. The little cord attached the wind gen's tail had broken so I couldn't feather the blades - I would have to try to replace it tomorrow. Friday we woke up late and almost missed the morning nets but got to talk to Mima, still in PLC. We then heard the nets and then Diane went back to bed. I had already made coffee so I just stayed up. After breakfast, we got the dinghy down and put the engine on and I got everything else ready so we could go to the beach later. The wind had calmed down around 3am but had started to pick up again in the late morning - since we were getting lots of electricity from the wind generator and the solar panels, we ran the watermaker for three hours, this time into the port tank so I didn't have to carry 6 gallon jerry jugs and empty them into the starboard tank. I also setup the tackle to hoist the dinghy out of the water. We hadn't done that in La Blanquilla but La Tortuga was closer to the mainland and visited more frequently so we felt it was a wise precaution. We did though see that the other cruising boats didn't raise their dinghies. I also attached a line to the vane of the wind generator to be able to feather it away from the wind, to either slow it down it allow it to stop altogether. After we finished with the watermaker, we finally went to the beach. Playa Caldera is huge, about a mile long crescent around a shallow bay and very pretty. The beach isn't very wide but the sand is very fine and a nice golden color. We walked around, found the small airstrip just behind the beach (we had seen several small planes take off or land already) and we went over to the windward side of Punta Delgada (you could see the other side of the spit of land from the boat). It was very pretty and very shallow, surrounded by some small islands with mangroves on them. We walked around there and then went back to the beach. We met some local people who had come in a small powerboat from PLC and we talked with them for a while, one woman spoke English very well. We then took a swim and went back to the boat. The wind was up already by the time we got back, about 5:30, and it was difficult to get the dinghy raised in the wind and since the boat was now also rolling pretty well. We managed but the dinghy did "get away" once and the outboard hit the hull a couple of times. I don't think there was any damage but I'll have to check tomorrow. Anyway, we got the dinghy hoisted and I tied it both by the painter forward and attached another line from a handhold at the stern, to make sure it couldn't go anywhere in the wind. I also kept a close eye on it during the rest of the daylight hours - it seemed fine. The wind wasn't quite as strong as it was last night, maybe to 20-25 knots from the northeast, but I still had to feather the wind generator to both allow it to keep generating and to cut down on the noise. It worked well and we continued to get around 6 amps and up to 12 in the gusts. Last night, it was just freewheeling and produced nothing. The next day, Saturday, was just a pleasant one spent on shore and relaxing. After breakfast we went to the beach and walked quite a bit. We had taken our beach shoes and walked to the end of Punta Delgada. It wasn't particularly pretty but interesting though, and not helped by the hazy overcast. We then walked back to the windward side and I took some pictures of the small islands there, the beautiful water and the little shacks setup to sell services to the Venezuelans who came by plane to the island. We had seen several planes land and take off that day already and there were 3 small planes and a helicopter near the crude airstrip when we walked around. As we went back to the leeward side, we saw the other 2 cruising boats leave, probably going to Cayo Herradura, where we planned to go next. We were now the only cruising boat there, except there were some small powerboats, one local sailboat and one large yacht (about 90 feet) anchored in the bay, as well as some fishermen. The wind hadn't started up yet and it was very pleasant walking around although the light wasn't the best for pictures. As we were going back to the dinghy though, the sun came out and I went back to take some pictures while Diane went for a swim. I went back also after some nice shots and we both were in the water for a while. Finally we went back to the boat and had lunch. We just stayed on the boat the rest of the day and I hoisted the dinghy before the wind piped up, around 3pm. Of course, we ran the watermaker again but other than that, we just read and relaxed. We heard the planes start to leave around 5 and one of them buzzed the anchorage, taking off and circling around and then flying about 4-5 feet off the water toward the beach and climbing as he got over the beach. The rest left without that much fanfare. Although the wind shifted direction again to northeast from east-southeast around 4 as it had done the last two afternoons and picked up, it didn't reach the velocity of the last 2 days, just getting to about 15 to 20 knots, although we still rolled in the swell. We decided to leave for Cayo Herradura tomorrow, perhaps after going to the beach one last time. Diane was getting tired of holding on below while cooking - I guess I couldn't blame her. The next morning we left for Cayo Herradura first thing. We were going to leave Playa Caldera in the early afternoon but it was so rolly that we decided to leave without going to the beach again. We were going to tow the dinghy as it was only 8 miles to Cayo Herradura but I wanted to take the engine and other stuff off so it took a while to get ready, especially with the boat rolling through 40 degrees. We finally got underway at about 10 and motored to Cayo Herradura, arriving at about noon. We could have sailed easily but I wanted to charge the batteries fully and run the watermaker. We anchored in 12 feet of beautiful water with 3 other cruising boats (the 2 from Playa Caldera and 1 other), several local powerboats and several large fishing boats. It was a very pretty place with a small island and a spit of sand protecting a small bay from the easterly and northern swells. We were rolling a little but not nearly as much as off Playa Caldera. After lunch, we got the outboard back on and went to shore for a walk and a swim. We walked to the windward side of the sand spit and were very glad we were on the leeward side - the waves breaking on the beach there were pretty impressive. We walked down the beach and as we went toward the south side, I was "attacked" by a tern that probably had a nest nearby. He probably came within 3 or 4 feet of my head - we just left the area and he left me alone. Several of the local powerboats left (they come here for the weekends only) as we were on the leeward beach and after our swim we just went back to the boat for our evening sundowner. A little while after we got back, a small boat came by with a medium sized snapper (a Dog Snapper I think); Diane had agreed earlier to get one tomorrow but they came back with it that evening so we traded some sodas for it. Of course, then I had to fillet the fish. Fortunately, after my recent practice, that didn't take too long and so we had lunch for tomorrow in the refrigerator. Some time after that, another boat came by wanting to trade for some rum in exchange for lobster - Diane said we didn't need anything but to come back tomorrow. Well, they came back about 10 minutes later with several small lobsters but Diane told them that we had a fish already. They seemed to say they wanted to get some rum anyway - they would be 'cold' that evening, and we could put the lobsters in a bag suspended in the water. Well, we still didn't make the trade that day but I think we told them that we would stop by tomorrow to see what they had then. Monday was a nice slow day. We didn't do much in the morning except some little things and in the afternoon we went to the beach and walked around. I took the camera this time and got some nice shots of this little island. The wind was down so everything was pretty calm although the waves still broke heavily on the windward side, but not nearly as much as the day before. We walked past one of the fishing camps and the fishermen were doing something with their nets and asked if we would take their picture. I did of course, but they asked if we could give them a copy of the picture - something we unfortunately couldn't do. They were fine with that though and they waved as we continued on. Since we did have some wind and the sun had been out most of the day, the batteries were fully charged so we watched a video, the remake of "Ocean's 11" with George Clooney. It was pretty good even though we had seen it before (a couple of times I think). The next morning was pretty slow. We thought we would go for a walk along the north side of the island in the morning and then snorkel the southern reef in the afternoon (yes, a lot to do in one day) but Diane wasn't feeling too well in the morning so she rested while I read. Of course, the watermaker was on but that wasn't too strenuous. Around 2:30 we finally went to the beach and walked to the northern side of Cayo Herradura and saw the waves crashing on the rocky beach there. Interestingly, I saw several dead cowfish washing against the rocks and wondered what had happened; perhaps it was a cowfish related blight - I had seen one dead one on Playa Caldera as well. The lighthouse was there also and Diane noticed that there was a solar panel on top, next to the light - that was how the batteries were recharged but what happened if it was cloudy? We also saw a small shrine to the Virgin Mary and what appeared to be graves, marked with crosses. The fishermen there were friendly though and we just wandered around. As we walked along the beach, we saw lots of seabirds - the usual Laughing gulls and Pelicans but also some terns and a small flock of Black Skimmers. That was nice, they aren't very common and maybe we would eventually see them feeding, in their peculiar style. I took some pictures and then we went back to the dinghy, took a swim and went back to the boat. The wind had come up a little and when I looked at the volts on the batteries, it was very high so I turned off the wind generator. But, upon reflection, I simply turned on the wind generator again but also ran the watermaker since we had so much electricity. I never thought I would have to manage an electric and water utility company. The next day it was cloudy in the morning but started to clear up by around 10 and about that time, some fishermen came by and offered us a fish. They called it a pargo, a snapper, but it was a large Hogfish, about 15 pounds. They had caught it in their net and couldn't really sell it; it looked pretty good, although we've been having a lot of fish lately. We were told that today was the birthday for the oldest guy in the boat - he looked in his 60's but they said he was 54. They lead a hard life but seem very happy in it. We traded 2 bottles of rum for the fish and I think we both considered it a good trade (we would probably get 2 meals out if it), but first Diane asked them to clean and scale it for us since that made the most mess. After we concluded our transaction, while I now filleted the fish, Diane looked in her cookbooks for a good recipe. For anyone that has never had Hogfish, well, we haven't either but the flesh was very light and looked pretty much like snapper - we'll see how it tastes. We also saw the last of the large sportsfishing boats, probably from Puerto La Cruz, leave this morning. We were the only non-fishing boat now in Caya Herradura. We felt perfectly safe. Not long afterward though, another sailboat came in and then one of the powerboats returned. Then about sunset, a large chartered diveboat came in. Oh well, it was a fair sized anchorage. Not long after we had our future dinner, we went snorkeling on the south side of the island. We anchored the dinghy in about 4 feet of water and snorkeled around. There wasn't much reef and the rest of the bottom was sand and weed, with not many fish. I did see a large reef squid that tried to look bigger when he saw me looking at him, but he swam off after a minute of bluff and I didn't see much else of interest until we got back to the boat. I went back in the water to clean the waterline and saw a large Trunkfish swimming under the boat, along with some other non-descript silvery fish, some kind of Jack. Cleaning the waterline was quick as the bottom was still clean and only some slime had developed on the bootstripe. I did a quick check of the anchor and then came back aboard. Some fishermen came by as I was getting in the dinghy wanting to trade with some conch they had but I told Diane that we had enough seafood for one day. She said OK but asked if they could get a lobster for us. Well, they sped off and came back 40 minutes later saying they couldn't oblige today - Diane said we would be here until Sunday. We were going to go into the beach after lunch for a swim but Diane was resting and by the time she felt OK I didn't feel like going so we just stayed on the boat and read. Diane made 2 of the filets for dinner and it was surprisingly nice, a very light flavor and very white flesh. We certainly had enough for another meal; a very good trade. |