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VENEZUELA AND ABC'S JANUARY TO MARCH 2007

Social events New Year's Eve. Having not stayed up until midnight for many years we decided to make a special effort by going to bed in the afternoon! The party was held at the marina restaurant with Lomito (barbecued beef sirloin) as the main course and champagne at midnight. It was a good fun night with silly hats, the Venezuelan equivalent of confetti and great music. We spent much of the time with David and Sue from the UK flagged Barnstormer, who we had met briefly in Antigua last year and had just returned from the UK. On January 8th we went into Puerto la Cruz with (the Americans) Mike and Barbara from Evening Star, Tom from Unplugged and Jan and Jim from JJ plus their two children who were over for a holiday. We had a fine Chinese meal followed by a promenade down the seafront, where the Venzuelans come to people-watch every night. January 10th was minimart-Anne's birthday, so it was another great party at an apartment her visiting (grown up) children were renting, which has a big balcony and a fantastic view of the marina. Yacht boarding Around 01.00, one night in January, the yacht Lady Diane was boarded by three youths. At the time it was parked just down the quay from us, but at the end. There were two ladies aboard, Diane and Dorothy, who were woken up by the intruders - a major fight broke out. One of the ladies managed to make a VHF radio call to the main security post but was dragged from the radio pulling the microphone out of the radio. In the meantime Dorothy had part of her ear bitten off. She said later that "I wasn't surprised that the intruder bit me because at the time I was trying to bite his hand off". She added "it didn't go quite as the self-defence classes say it should". I'm sure the ladies won't mind me saying this but they are not exactly young and both are quite slight - but they saw the low-lifes off and one of them was captured by the guards after a long chase. He was tried and imprisoned the following week. The unfortunate thing about the affair is that the ladies hadn't locked the boat up. The marina were great handling the affair, they paid all medical and transport costs for Dorothy to have plastic surgery on her ear. We were very impressed by their efforts and presented the ladies with a bottle of champagne. The marina also promised to improve security by building two new guard posts along the seawall. Now, I guess an incident like this can cause a degree of despair or depression, but we're talking cruisers here. The solution is to have a major party - in this instance to celebrate the opening of the first new guardhouse. Mini-mart Anne approached us with the idea of 'the Queen' officially opening the guardhouse and we got to work organising things: an official plaque; suitable apparel for the Queen; a ribbon to cut and the associated be-ribboned scissors; a sword (to knight the marina manager, Carlos) and a cushion to kneel on; a young lady to present a bouquet; a two gun salute (bangers); and of course a speech that Mike drafted and Anne refined. Mike did all the "My lords, ladies and gentlemen" introductions and on both occasions turned to me and said "and now we'll have that in Spanish". Great. Thus there was already a lot of laughing even before the Queen started her speech, which is best not repeated here. Anne delivered the speech brilliantly and to say it brought the house down would be an understatement - even the Americans were falling about. In fact the whole evening was so well received people were talking about it and asking us about it for days afterwards. People had turned up with popcorn, the marina supplied several cases of beer and some of the ladies were even wearing hats! Most importantly Diane and Dorothy loved it and Carlos now wants a Lordship - which means another party...oh well, if we must. Preparing to leave Bahia Redonda After my operation I wasn't allowed to lift things, swim or do anything that strained my stomach muscles for four weeks. Thus on Tuesday 9th of January I got into the pool for the first time and started my return to full fitness - we had decided that we weren't going to leave until both of us were absolutely certain that I was ready. The delay wasn't a burden because Bahia Redonda is a nice place and one couldn't ask for a nicer pool - large and surrounded with palm trees! The delay was also somewhat fortuitous because for much of January we had very strong winds and big seas which wouldn't have been any fun anyway. We used the time to prepare the boat, from restowing to make space for provisions to checking all systems, lights etc. Our plan was to go to the ABC islands via the uninhabited Venezuelan out-islands, thus we needed to provision for four weeks - the same daunting amount of supplies required for a trans-atlantic passage. We had also made a mistake before leaving Trinidad in not checking absolutely everything (you may recall the anchor winch didn't work). This time we found that the dinghy outboard engine would idle but die if throttle was applied. Mike diagnosed dirt somewhere in the fuel system and stripped down the fuel lines, fuel pump and carburettor. He couldn't get the jet out of the carburettor and asked David from Barnstormer to help. They soon had it apart and found the problem, a small speck of dirt. On the move again - Venezuelan out islands and the ABC's One key reason for coming to Venezuela was to visit the out-islands. The pilot book describes them as "a cruiser's dream - remote, low lying islands surrounded by coral with perfect cyan and turquoise water and spectacular beaches. They don't offer many facilities and for most of them you will have to take everything you need with you". The island groups are a mix of a large island and small offshore cays and small groups of islands in a near circular shape with coral connecting them and a reef entrance to the inner lagoon. Care needs to be taken because the charts are out by half a mile and on every windward reef you see wrecks including yachts, fishing boats and freighters. We left PLC on February 8th having rushed around in the morning getting fresh goods, including eggs. We motored upwind for around ten miles and stopped in El Faro bay on Chimana Segunda for two nights. Since we were heading out into the wilds we wanted to double check all our systems and recommission the watermaker. All was well. Venezuelan out islands We left at midnight on the Friday 9th to sail sixty five miles to the island of Tortuga where we anchored off a crescent shaped sand island off Tortuga's north west coast - Cayo Herradura. Leaving El Faro at night was interesting because there was no moon and we had to negotiate a passage between two islands that had a rock in the channel. The wind was less than forecast and we had to use a bit of engine to keep our speed up - arrival time in all the islands is critical, it's best to arrive around midday with the sun overhead so that you can see the reefs. We arrived around 13.00 and saw very little on the passage and this was to become the norm for sailing in this area. Mike asked me to mention that our Simrad autopilot self destructed again. However he cheered up a bit when he caught a small mackerel that he filleted for lunch. Also, once we arrived our Inmarsat C satcomm system failed. We stayed parked by Cayo Herradura for four days and I won't describe the place because the pictures describe it better than I can. We bought fish from the fisherman, also we bought two lobsters that were sufficient for dinner and lunch, walked on the beach and visited the lighthouse - which worked the day we arrived and then didn't work thereafter (must have been built by Simrad). At the east end of the Cayo is a sand spit where opposing swells collide with lots of white water. Needless to say Mike felt it necessary to walk out on the spit amongst the waves - he said it wasn't as bad as it looked. While we were there we met a number of boats who were travelling the same way on much the same timeframe and we were to bump into them over the next three weeks, they were: Vonnie and Ray on Wishbone (Canada); Tony and Stacy on Welsh Rover (USA); Joe and Diane on Scirocco (USA); Thierry, Patricia and Marvin on New Life (Switzerland); Greg, Barbara and Randy on C Toy (USA); Laurent, Marilyn and Florent on Lauflomer (Belgian flagged but French crew). We made an interesting mix of vessels. Two steel boats, two cat rigged boats (one sloop, one schooner), three ketches - and ranging in size from 30 feet to over 50. We left Cayo Herradura at 18.00 on Wednesday 14th of February for a night sail to Los Roques, the largest group of out-islands at a distance of about eighty miles. We had 20 knots of wind and some good (but uncomfortable) sailing in a nasty cross swell. Unfortunately we were going too fast and sighted land at dawn. The reef entry we were planning was downwind with a big following sea and the light was bad - we turned away and headed north. This added at least another fifteen miles to round Gran Roque at the northern end of the island group. On the way we caught a Barracuda but since we don't eat Barracuda we put it back. The timing was right this time and we passed through the reefs going upwind to the island of Francisquis around 12.30. It was one of those passages where we get the rum out after we've put the boat to bed! Gran Roque is the only inhabited island in Los Roques and they cater for a small number of (mainly Italian) tourists. Some of the tourists are shipped over to Francisquis every day and to our surprise there was a small lunchtime-only Italian restaurant on the beach in front of the boat. We made the most of it, knowing that it was the only opportunity to eat off the boat before we got to the ABC'c. The food was so good Mike had the same dish three days running. For the first few days we walked on the beach, went snorkeling and explored the area in the dinghy. We were thinking about moving on but the forecast was bad - squalls with gusts to thirty five knots - so we stayed put. One night I stood watch from 02.00 to 04.00 and Mike did 04.00 to daylight at 06.30. We hadn't seen rain for months and we were desperate for it because while we could clean the boat in PLC the masts, standing and running rigging were filthy with dust. It was during the squally period (on the 20th) that I went into Gran Roque by dinghy, with Vonnie from Wishbone, to check in with the authorities. It is a really pretty little place but we were told we could only stay in the Roques for two days (we had already been there for five!) and if that was bad enough we got totally soaked in the dinghy on the way back to the boat. Thinking it would be a good idea to get away from where the authorities were based we sailed about fifteen miles to Carenero. Carenero is a really beautiful anchorage between two small islands with a larger island stretching away to the north west - everywhere you look is pale blue water. We stayed in Carenero for seven days and went exploring and snorkeling, traded rum and cigarettes for fish (everyone is advised to take a supply of these and batteries for this very reason), and went crabbing. We failed with the crabbing because the crabs we had seen the day before had disappeared. Mike was fishing off the boat using whelks for bait and caught a big Trunk fish - he put it back. The highlight of the stay was the drinks ashore in the evening - we had fallen in with a great bunch of people. Every night Ray and Vonnie would blow conch shells as the sun went down. Some of us had a try - it was very difficult and most of us ended up just producing a strange spluttering sound. We left the Roques at 07.00 on the 28th heading to The Aves, thirty five miles away. Again we had great sailing in twenty knots but the cross swell was still with us. Aves is Spanish for 'birds' and the first island group we stopped at was Aves de Barlovento. It's a tricky reef entry that we did in good light and the anchorage was well protected. In front of us were mangroves that were full of birds, mainly Brown Boobies. We noticed that there appeared to be a couple of narrow channels into the mangroves and when we took the dinghy in we were staggered to find a big lagoon with thousands of birds, some of which were nesting. The second time we went into the lagoon we found a Booby in the water with a broken wing. The next day we saw how it might have happened. A Frigate bird was harassing a Booby in flight, trying to get it to regurgitate food. The Frigate bird caught the Booby's wing in its beak and was flying around with the Booby hanging down. Eventually it dropped it and the Booby flew off, given how delicate wing bones are maybe the other one we saw wasn't so lucky. We traded more cigarettes and rum for a big Red Snapper (and got a tour of a fishing boat) and went snorkeling a couple of times with Wishbone - Mike saw his first Queen Angelfish, probably the prettiest of all fish. Then things rather ground to a halt because of the wind. The area is famed for being windy in the winter and it regularly blows twenty to twenty five knots - the rigging starts howling and snorkeling becomes unpleasant in the waves. Around this time (March 1st) we were beginning to run out of fresh food, of the fruit we bought we only had some apples left. Also, I had been picking mould out of the bread for a few days so it was time to make bread and start eating tinned meals. On March 3rd there was a total eclipse of the moon. Since we were at a low latitude (twelve degrees, where the moon is bigger and brighter) with cloudless skies, we had the perfect view. Around 19.00 the moon began to come out of the shadow of the earth, as it did so it was the most amazing pink colour changing to salmon. To the naked eye it was amazing, through binoculars it was truly spectacular. We watched for about an hour, mainly going 'wow'. We left Aves Barlovento on Monday 5th March and headed to Aves de Sotovento about fiteen miles away. The wind was still howling and we took the dinghy to a beach near the anchorage and traded cigarettes with fishermen for three Slipper lobsters and that was about it. We just sat tight. Bonaire Since the anchorage was rolly we only stayed two nights and then set off for Bonaire (on the 7th) about forty five miles away. We decided to leave very early in the morning as no-one is allowed to anchor anywhere, anytime, in Bonaire and boats have to pick up specially laid moorings. We had heard that there were very few moorings available so we wanted to get there in good time in case we had to find a space on a dock or marina wall to tie up to. As we got ready to leave in the dark (at 04.00) Mike reported that the deck mizzen light didn't work, the GPS cockpit repeater didn't work and the main fluxgate steering compass didn't work! Oh and it was blowing a hooley. However he did point out that the wind was in the east, Bonaire was due west and if we simply sailed downwind we'd find Bonaire, we didn't need a compass (or indeed anything else). So off we went in six to eight foot seas (some were nearer ten feet) and had a brilliant sail, a pod of dolphins also came to play and stayed on the bow wave for fifteen minutes. In fact we didn't sail directly down wind. To get the highest speed we sailed with the wind about twenty degrees off the stern and gybed the boat four times to get back on track. As a heavy diplacement boat we don't surf but we came very close on a couple of occasions when big waves came through and we stayed on the top of them for a couple of seconds with white water all round the boat - quite spectacular. When we rounded the south end of Bonaire we got in to flat water and with the wind still blowing we had a fantastic sail up to the capital Kralendijk. On the way ten pink flamingos crossed close low by our bow and then turned alongside. In the sunlight they had a magnificent fluorescent pink colour. The following morning the generator cut out. I checked the instruments and the temperature gauge was off the scale - obviously a cooling problem. We checked the salt water inlet was clear, the filter clean and the coolant header tank full. Then we opened up the generator box and the problem was obvious. Somebody had changed the raw water hoses before we bought the generator and had fitted the wrong type of hose - the hoses do some tight turns and they had collapsed. We spent the rest of the day trying to get wire reinforced hose and/or some one inch hose connecting elbows to take the turns out. We failed. The next day I went ashore and walked for miles round all the chandlers and hardware stores, eventually I found some wire reinforced exhaust hose in the first place we visited (they had said they didn't have any!!). In the meantime Mike was trying to renew the raw water pump impeller that had burnt out. First you have to find the bits of the broken impeller, which meant opening the heat exchanger. Then it involved laying on top the generator, wearing a head torch, looking back towards his stomach and taking six small screws out to get the pump cover off. It was then we found that the spare impellers we had bought (Westerbeke original equipment) had the wrong type of gasket and the bolt through the impeller was too big. Mike was spitting blood by now and since the temperature was over ninety F in the engine room he was pretty sweaty too. Going through our spares he found a gasket that fitted from an old pump and he used the screw from the old impeller. We finally got the generator fixed about lunchtime. A week later the generator would turn over but not start - a new battery was required. Also, we had to take the floor up to cure two watermaker leaks. Mike was planning how to kill marine equipment manufacturers and a certain Westerbeke (generator) dealer. Fortunately he has calmed down a bit - now it will only be severe maiming. On Saturday 17th March we were invited by Lauflomer and C Toy to accompany them on a day trip round the island. We basically did a figure of eight round the island, except the far north which is national park, although we did visit the park museum. Heading south we saw huge salt piles (and the associated lakes), salt being a major Bonaire export. On the shore were different coloured obelisks that guided the sailing ships to the correct loading point in years gone by. Close by were the slave quarters that look like large dolls' houses. On around the south coast we saw the lighthouse and a lot of driftwood-art on the shore. On the east side of the island the waves crash against the shore in spectacular fashion and there is a reef enclosed lagoon which is the major windsurfing area, where we stopped for lunch. Then it was up to the north west coast to see some eroded cliffs. Crossing back in land we stopped at lake Gotomeer, then the park museum. At the entrance to the museum is a Bryde's whale skeleton, about eleven metres long - apparently it arrived in Bonaire in 2000 impaled on the bows of a cruise ship! Then it was on to the north east coast for more cliffs where there are petroglyphs and a bat cave. All around the island we saw Pink Flamingos. Other sightings included: wild pigs, goats and donkeys; Yellow Shouldered Parrots (very pretty endangered species); Black Winged Stilts; Troupial (an amazing bright orange, black and white bird); and various unusual lizards. In some ways the strangest sighting was of small flocks of House Sparrows. Apparently they were imported by Europeans as caged birds many years ago and some escaped. Given that the Yellow Shouldered Parrots are endangered partly because they are good talkers and thus in high demand as caged birds, it seems we swapped Parrots for Sparrows - a good deal really. On face value the island doesn't seem very interesting, the southern half is low and flat and would be submerged if sea levels rise four or five feet. There is lttle rain in Bonaire so there are many cacti and mangroves by the sea, the wind blows strongly and there is always dust in the air. However if you stop, sit quietly and look there are lots of interesting things to see, we were very pleasantly surprised. Overall it was a fantastic day out with great company. Speaking of wildlife, we were tied to a mooring buoy about fifty yards from the shore and right alongside the shore is the main seafront road. Some years ago Bonaire decided to protect its waters and coral, recognising their value and how important they are for attracting visitors to dive. The no-anchoring policy is just one rule they have. Hence the waters are crystal clear, with no oil or debris in, even near the main town docks. If you snorkel ten yards off the main road there is coral and a huge variety of tropical fish including French Angel fish, large Parrot fish, big squirrel fish etc etc. Other local residents included Snowy Egrets, a Great Blue Heron (height 1.3m, wingspan 1.75m), dolphins, Green turtles and an Osprey. We saw the Osprey carrying fish up to its feeding perch on a flagpole nearby and Mike was sitting in the dinghy at the dinghy dock when the Osprey flew over his head no more than twelve feet away. Later it flew right over both of us. Social events included dinner with Welsh Rover and a charity concert on the cruise ship Freewinds, owned by the Scientologists. This was performed by the ship's band (the lead guitar player was exceptional) and a lady singer from Curacao who was a cross between Maria Carey and Celine Dion, her voice was outstanding. Unfortunately nobody tried to convert us to Scientology - much to Mike's disappointment. On Friday 30th of March we hired a pick-up and went up to the national park: we saw more Troupials, Cararacara (a bird of prey possibly related to the Vulture), Tropical Mockingbirds, a Blue-tailed Emerald humming bird, Black-faced Grassquits, Yellow Oriole and Yellow Warblers. We also saw some large iguanas of a variety we haven't seen before. We travelled about 24km around the park on rough dirt roads, stopping at all the viewing points and at a natural spring. We liked Bonaire very much, it's safe, the people are friendly and you can buy most things provided you go shopping the day after the arrival of the weekly supply ship. The island is part of the Dutch Antilles and the seafront is mainly Dutch-style houses painted in pastel colours - it's very pretty and very clean. The official languages are Dutch and Papiamento, a dialect made up from seven different languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English and German. In fact most people speak English as well and if they are Papiamento speakers they can usually converse in Spanish. We planned to leave Bonaire on April 1st, heading to Curacao for a few weeks then back to Bonaire. Then it's an upwind, up-current slog back to Venezuela for hurricane season. Odds and ends Makes a chaps eyes water. If you learn Spanish one of the grammatical differences from English is that the adjective follows the noun (e.g. door green). Spanish speaking people sometimes do this when speaking English. Thus one morning on the VHF radio net an announcement was made that "Friday night at the restaurant will be film night and the 'special' will be spaghetti and ball meat". Most stupid boat name. Seen and heard on VHF radio was the yacht 'Security'. This sounds like 'Securité' which is used for navigational and other shipping warnings. Fortunately somebody has pointed this out and now the owner uses the call name 'Sailing Yacht Security'. Crime briefing. When we hired the pick-up in Bonaire we were given an unusual crime briefing. We were told not to leave anything in the pick-up and to leave it unlocked, with a window open. Apparently if the vehicle is locked the thieves think there is something of value inside and will break the window. Presumably cars are not stolen because Bonaire is a small island and there is nowhere to go.