Denali
Rose Ships Log 24 January 2008 Hello from Venezuela's
outer islands! After waiting in Trinidad for a good weather forecast, we sailed
(about 100 miles at about 7 miles-per-hour) overnight to Los Testigos, our first
stop in Venezuelan waters. We had sailed with our cruising buddies, Don and Dianne,
on the sailboat, "Cloud 9" and Julia and Paul on the motor yacht, "Coral
Bay" and we kept in touch at regular intervals all night long. Since "Coral
Bay" is a much faster boat and they were going to a different anchorage,
we two sailboats said farewell to them early in the trip. We hope to join up with
them in a week or two.
Instead of sailing directly west from Trinidad,
we heeded the advice of seasoned cruisers and took a route north for 30 miles
before turning west. This kept us out of the sight of pirates from the Venezuela
coast. We sailed all night long without any lights. Jack took the first shift
and I took over at 1:00 a.m. and only had to wake him once when a fishing boat
came a bit too close. We had a short shower or two but the sky cleared up and
we were treated to a view of a million stars, including the Milky Way.
We
(Cloud 9 and Denali Rose) arrived in Los Testigos after daybreak, dropped our
anchors and took a long nap. As captains of our boats, Jack and Don took our passports
and boat papers to the Venezuelan Coast Guard station to clear into the country.
The young men in the office gave us permission to stay until Monday. The Testigos
islands have a population of about 130 people, mostly fishermen and their families
who have goats and pet dogs. There are no grocery stores, restaurants or bars.
We had been advised to stock up on food and drinks in Trinidad before leaving,
so we were fine.
We moved our boats to another anchorage called Playa
Real (in English this translates to Royal Beach). It lived up to its name since
the sand was pristine and the water was a clear blue green that dropped off to
a deep aqua blue. The last day we went to another anchorage and Jack wandered
up the sand dunes that covered the hillside. Beautiful dunes that went right up
the mountain and down the other side. Of course lots of darned plastic from the
coffers of the world.
We left there Monday and headed to the large island
of Isla Margarita where we checked in at Porlamar. There is a local Venezuelan
businessman called "Marina Juan" who handles the visiting boaters' government
customs and immigration needs (for a fee, of course). He has a nice long dock
for dinghies and a convenience store. It sells important staples, like fresh eggs,
canned goods, soft drinks and cold beer. There are a few small restaurants within
walking distance. We paid a taxi fare of about $2.00 to visit a nice large grocery
store the first day and also took a day-long tour around the island. Isla Margarita,
with a population of about 300,000, is the vacation spot for mainland Venezuelans.
Our tour guide avoided the downtown saying there was no place to park and he took
us to some ancient Spanish forts and smaller villages instead. We started the
trip by stopping for a typical breakfast. Jack and I had grilled tortillas with
a filling of shredded beef, black beans, a local mild white cheese and a cilantro
dressing. We had a lovely lunch at a beachfront restaurant. Dianne and I had fresh
lobsters and Jack picked grouper filet. We finished the trip with a trip to another
fort at sunset.
Porlamar's anchorage is relatively shallow and we have
had brisk breezes of between 10 and 18 mph all day and night. We had installed
a wind generator before leaving Trinidad and Jack has been happy with the amount
of charging amps we are getting from it. At 10 mph we get 4 amps and at 15 mph
we get 9 amps and at 20 mph we get 18 amps. So, if the wind blows at 15 mph for
24 hours, we put 200 amp hours into the batteries, which handles all of our energy
needs for the day.
Each morning there is a cruisers' net on the radio
on VHF #72, just like in Trinidad, which provides a safety and security section,
weather report and forum for finding boat parts and services, plus local cultural
events. Unfortunately, during the Saturday night before we arrived, three armed
men boarded a boat and robbed the captain at gunpoint. The captain and his girlfriend
had gone to sleep and they left their companionway (door) sitting wide open, so
the men were able to enter the boat without any problems. The couple was shaken
by the incident but luckily they were unharmed, albeit they lost all the money
on board. Thankfully, no other incidents have been reported since then. On today's
report, word was that the local police have a boat but no battery and no personnel
to staff it at night!
Jack and I take security seriously. We raise our dinghy
onto its davits each night and lock it to the boat with chain. Then we lock ourselves
inside the boat. We had security grates made and installed on our hatches as additional
safeguards. Before leaving Trinidad, we installed a security camera over the dinghy
that we can monitor from below and we are traveling with a buddy boat. Here in
Porlamar, we keep the radio turned on all night to the designated channel in case
anyone calls for help. Funny that everyone here thinks Trinidad is very dangerous
and everyone in Trinidad thinks Porlamar is very dangerous???? In the eyes of
the beholder!
We are enjoying meeting many of the cruisers who have been
here for years and who give us advice on good places to visit as we head west.
They also gave me the name of an eye doctor because I needed to have my eye checked
yesterday. We were pleased with the doctors and have a follow-up appointment this
coming week. Update of Thursday, 24 January 2008: good news!
The top eye doctor gave us good news and I can start scuba diving in about a month,
which is when we hope to head to Bonaire. Bad news is that the winds still blowing
hard so we are waiting till the weekend to head out. The doctors here are very
professional and have all the latest equipment. You just have to listen carefully
to the English and Spanish. Learning fast!!
We plan to leave here for
the remote islands in the next week or so.
Hope to hear from you anytime, even
if it is just to say Hello!
Ciao from Venezuela! Oops Fred still using Italian,
actually it is Hasta Luego!
Fred
and Jack
PS: plans to go to North of island this
weekend, then to Blanquia island, then to Tortuga island, then Roques and Aves
islands and then to be in Bonaire early March. On to Curcaou with Dunny Dunham
on 1 Apr and haul the boat the end of Apr in Curcaou. Next year it is back to
the boat in Dec/Jan and on to Cartahegna sp? late in the season, Mayish, then
San Blas and on to Panama to haul out again for the next year. enough planning
for now. |