We didn’t have time to listen to the weather this morning as Rick’s doctor’s appointment was at 7:30 AM. We spent a good portion of the morning in the doctor’s office and as soon as we were able to leave Rick wanted food. We stopped first for some toast but quickly moved on to ice cream. By the time we made it back to the Yacht Club, he wanted beer so I knew he was feeling fine. It looks like it will be a couple more weeks before we can leave as the biopsy is done in Barbados and takes that long to get back. So twist our arms, but it looks like we’ll have to be here for Carnival.
We returned to the boat, had a siesta, and then listened to the weather. It appears that another Tropical Wave that was about to turn into a depression east of us had dissipated during the day. Rick decided he wanted to cook a big load of pasta for dinner. I just sat back and enjoyed it. We had just finished eating when Joan and Bob (Viking Rose) stopped by to say hello. They are leaving for Venezuela this week.
We awoke at 5AM to the sound of a squall with thunder and lightening. The winds were quite strong (gusts of 39 knots) so I thought I would look around outside for draggers. Sure enough, only two boats came in yesterday and the one on our starboard bow was dragging down on the boat anchored beside us. We wouldn’t have much excitement if no one dragged and the skipper of this boat had it totally under control. He was at the helm (under the bimini) while his wife was being completely drenched with the downpour as she brought up the anchor standing at the bow. The squalls continued all day. We sometimes had almost an hour between them. Evidently, we had another complex TUT (Tropical Upper Trough) which is a non-tropical system, meaning it won’t develop into a Tropical Storm. This TUT got mixed up with a Tropical Wave that was supposed to have dissipated. We certainly didn’t have to put on the sunscreen today. In fact, we spent most of the day inside. I went through our library and donated a lot of our books to the Yacht Club. Then Rick and I clean some storage areas.
The weather improved considerably today. It began with rain but from about 10:30AM through the evening all we had was sunshine and a nice breeze. Rick had wanted to change the oil yesterday but with the strong gusts we had, he didn’t want the engine out of commission, just in case. So today, we had Diesel Engines 101. Would you believe I changed the engine oil and filter. It was so much simpler than I expected that I was gung ho to continue. Next, I changed the primary fuel filter (racor), which was even easier then the oil filter. I decided to let Rick have a turn after he showed me where I could lay across the engine and change the transmission oil. I assisted but didn’t find the top of the engine that comfortable that I wanted to do the whole job.
After lunch, we had a very short siesta and then I prepared a turkey for dinner. Rick has really gotten into Sunday dinners lately and when I said I couldn’t handle another port roast, he opted for turkey.
It was another holiday in Grenada. I think they have at least 2 official holidays each month and sometimes more. Our plan “A” was to dinghy over to Grand Anse Beach for an all day Soca Competition. First thing in the morning, Rick noticed a little mildew forming on the teak bulkhead in the main salon. No problem, right! The events at the beach don’t start until 10AM which on Island Time means that if we arrive by noon we’ll be early. I removed books from bookshelves emptied more cupboards and started washing all the main salon walls and interior cupboards with bleach. The boat smelled like it had been disinfected. When I was just about finished, I noticed a small watermark inside one of the cupboards. I called Rick and told him I thought one of the chain plates had started to leak. Sure enough, we were then into plan “B”. Rick wanted to clean out the old caulking and recaulk the chain plates before we went anywhere. By the end of the day, the main salon was definitely clean and all mildew had been eliminated. Bookshelves and cupboards had been reorganized. Chain plates on the port side of the boat wouldn’t dare leak again if they wanted to. It was dinnertime and although the Soca Competition was still going on it was a little too late for us.
I thought I would continue with cleaning in the morning while it was reasonably cool (83F at 6:30AM) and we would go to the beach in the afternoon. The forecast was for fair weather throughout the island chain. So much for that, it rained all day. I did clean all around and under the Nav Station but that was enough. The temperature was in the mid 90’s. The humidity was at least 85% and there was not even a breath of a breeze. My wonderful squall proof hatch cover/wind scoops kept the rain out nicely but there has to be a little bit of wind for them to work as a wind scoop. When we sat down to read my glasses fogged up until I realized I had forgotten to turn on the fan that was above me. We just took things very slow and easy today.
Finally a nice day. It’s not that it didn’t rain at all, it did, but just short little showers a few times throughout the day.
We went to the market in the morning and bought tickets for “Panorama” which is the Carnival steel band competition at the stadium this Saturday. We then took a local bus to St. Paul’s where Rick had another follow-up doctor’s appointment. On our way back from St. Paul’s we stopped at the Venezuelan Embassy with our passports and two passport pictures. They had to keep our passports overnight but said we could have a one year visa and it would be ready in the morning. We left there in lots of time to return to the Carenage for a little Internet surfing in a Café before lunch.
In the afternoon we dinghied over to Grand Anse Beach for a wonderful swim. While there, we met Mary and Gary who were on a three-day visit to Grenada from New Orleans.
When we returned to the boat, Jason (Endurance) stopped by to ask Rick’s advice on fixing a problem on his autohelm. While he and Rick were still discussing the problem, John and Jan (Jabiroo) dinghied over to say hello. They have tickets for Panorama as well so we’ll probably go together.
In between rain showers Rick left the boat and went into town with a list of chores. His first task was to go to the bank with the deposit slips provided by the Venezuelan Embassy and deposit the correct amount for our visas into their account. He then had to take his receipt of the deposit back to the Embassy and pick up our passports and visas. His major tasks completed, he stopped at the grocery store on his way back to the boat and picked up a nice selection of cheeses. Meanwhile, back at the boat, I continued cleaning. When Rick arrived, he vacuumed the floor and cleaned the head. We both had a siesta in the afternoon, it was very still and hot. At 5PM John and Jan (Jabiroo) came and joined us for Happy Hour aboard Wind-Borne III. They just left to return to their boat and the rain clouds returned.
It was a perfect day in Paradise (finally). We had beautiful sunshine and a light breeze all day. First thing in the morning, we dropped off our laundry at the Yacht Club. While there, we used the Club phone to check in with Rick’s doctor. The doctor had received a verbal report back from the lab in Barbados and everything tested was benign. As soon as we can get a copy of the paper report after Carnival, we’ll be on the look out for a weather window and be on our way to Venezuela.
We left the club, stopped at Island Water World, and picked up a few things as their container arrived yesterday and the shelves were full. Most stores will all be closed from tomorrow (Saturday) until next Wednesday so we also stopped to pick up a few fresh fruits and vegetables.
After returning to the boat for a quick lunch, we dinghied over to Grand Anse Beach for a swim. We only stayed about an hour or so because I wanted to get back to the boat and wash curtains while we had sunshine in which to dry them. It was perfect timing, the curtains were washed and just barely dry enough to hang back on the ports before we had to change and go to the club for Happy Hour. We had arranged to meet Jonathan and his wife Phen from Island Water World at about 6:30PM. It was a nice evening and we were back at the boat preparing dinner by 8:30PM.
After breakfast this morning Rick got out the new parts he had picked up from Island Water World and started to play. When we were in Tyrrel he had some stainless steel bars shaped or bent to replace the straps that hold down the back of our bimini but the connectors to attach them had been on order until now. He finished that job quickly so next was one that I wanted done. During my thorough cleaning that I’ve worked on lately, I found a couple of toe rail screws that had tiny watermarks below them. These needed to be reseated which was a two-man job so we both got that one done.
Our clean laundry was late arriving back at the Yacht Club probably because everyone had their laundry done yesterday. All businesses are closed for Carnival now until Wednesday. Rick went ashore and picked it up at 2:30PM. The plan then was to have a siesta but for me it just didn’t happen. Before we realized it, it was time to get showered and dressed for Panorama.
I had to delay a little to watch a building that was on fire just across the
street from the Club House. We were expecting the roof to go up in flames
at any moment when we realized that steel roofs don’t do that. It was a
two-alarm fire but I don’t think they have three trucks on the island so that’s
the best they can do. Although there was a lot of smoke the firemen got
things under control very quickly. It’s a very pretty building and the
damage isn’t visible form the outside so they did a great job.
Then, after meeting up with Jan and John (Jabiroo) when we went to leave for the Panorama the road was still blocked and we had to walk to the next round-about to get a bus. It was chaos as a large ship had just arrived from Trinidad with a lot of people going to Panorama and they were in the middle of two road blocks. The road on the other side of the Carenage was closed for traffic during Panorama. We got a bus to take us to the market and we walked to the stadium from there. When we arrived, we knew that we had goofed. Our tickets said that it was to begin at 7PM so we left the Yacht Club at 6PM because we certainly didn’t want to be there too early. True to island custom when we asked at the gate the man told us that probably they would start letting people in at about 8PM.
The Panorama finally started at 9PM. First, they had the competition for just the Rhythm sections so by the time that finished it was after 10PM when the full steel bands started. They were huge. One band had over 180 members and instruments another had 150 while most others were a little smaller. CHIN radio was there from Canada and mentioned by the announcer a few times so we cheered. It was well after midnight when the third band finished and although it was wonderful, we just couldn’t stay awake any longer. When we left, we noticed a lot of other yachties leaving at the same time but the locals had their towels in hand and were getting ready for a jump up. We walked back to the Yacht Club and on the way we passed an ice cream store that was still open (after 1AM) so had to stop and get a cone. It was about 1:30AM by the time our heads hit the pillows. There is a web site for Carnival. We haven’t checked it out yet but it’s WWW.Spicemas.com
It was 8AM before I rolled out of bed. Rick had the coffee ready and was already on the computer writing a few emails. After breakfast, he decided to service the windvane. I think he’s hoping to use it for our sail to Venezuela. It will be the first downwind sail we’ve ever had in the Caribbean so it will be interesting to see how it works with the wind behind us. While Rick was working on the windvane I wrote a few emails as well but was interrupted by a floatplane going into the Carenage. Then we heard on the VHF that Jimmy Buffet had arrived. The last time he was around was just before the Carnival in Trinidad. He obviously likes to go to all of them.
It was just before noon when Rick announced he was finished but would have had to stop anyway, his tools had gotten too hot to handle in the sun.
WWe read and rested most of the afternoon in preparation for a J’ouvert Fete at the Yacht Club in the evening. Our friend Fitzroy came from Carriacou with his cousin Patricia and their friends Joseph and Sherwin. We met them early in the evening and they talked us into going to J’ouvert after the party at the club. It was 1AM when we met at the Yacht Club where the music was so loud that it vibrated the new concrete parking area so that you could feel it right through your body. The party was well underway and we had a fun time until just before 4AM when it was time to leave the club and join in with J’ouvert. Wearing old clothes and with my whistle to blow, we walked around the lagoon and waited for a J’ouvert truck. You could identify the trucks by the huge speakers and loud music playing. While we waited Fitzroy bought some purple paint and we covered ourselves with it. He more than us, but we wore enough. Some people used old engine oil rather than paint and it smelled terrible. When you danced with people you picked up whatever colour of paint they were wearing and you shared some of your colour. I didn’t dance with any of the oil people and most were pretty good when you backed away from them they went for someone else. At 4AM the trucks start to move and as the music was blaring we danced along behind it as it wound its way around the lagoon and into the Carenage. Rick and I aborted when we got as far as the Yacht Club. It was after 5AM and we had company arriving at noon. We washed up at the club before returning to the boat for a little more sleep.
It was after 8AM when Rick woke me for breakfast. The J’ouvert trucks and people were still going. If there had been a seismograph on the island, some one would have thought there was an all night tremor with all the shaking going on.
It took me a while to get going in the morning but eventually I cooked up a load of Spicy Nutmeg Chicken Wings. Rick scrubbed the barnacles off the anchor chain while I was down below cooking. Just after noon Mary and George (Avalon V) called to let us know that they were walking from the Carenage and would be at the dinghy dock soon. We packed the chicken, put on our bathing suits and went to pick them up in the dinghy. We all went over to Grand Anse Beach and sat under a nice ripe Sea Grape Tree to eat the wings and have a couple of drinks. The afternoon flew by. Mary gave us a gift of a beautifully crocheted tablecloth custom made to fit our cockpit table. I had admired hers when we were aboard Avalon V. It was almost 6PM by the time we returned to the Lagoon, dropped them off and returned to the boat.
I didn’t want to say anything about the weather until Carnival was over in
case I jinxed it. Well Carnival is over and although the forecast called
for a Tropical Wave with a lot of rain to pass through in the afternoon, it
didn’t happen. A gang of yachties from Mt. Hartman and Prickly Bay sat in
the outdoor restaurant of the Tropicana Hotel, which the parade route. We
set up our chairs and mats
under a tree across the street from them and quite a few couples from Hog Island
joined us. It was a perfect spot right across the street from the judging
stand. The costumes were wonderful but there were not a lot of steel bands
in the parade so I’m glad we went to Panorama the other night. We all
brought rum punch but there were stands set up everywhere with drinks, barbecued
corn on the cob, chicken and even hand cut french fries. After
the parade
we moved down the road a little further and eight of us had some chicken and
fries for dinner. The thing we notice in Grenada unlike at home when there
is a special event, the food and drink prices don’t change. It was still
$5EC ($2:50CAD) for a huge chicken leg and thigh.
It’s nice to have the stores open for business again. Rick went to get propane while I went to the post office. I also had time to stop at the Internet Café, bank and Nutmeg Restaurant before he caught up to me. We had a quick bite to eat and went downstairs to the grocery store to start provisioning for a couple of weeks. While there, we met Marta (our Cuban Lucy) from Sirena. We arranged to meet for lunch on Saturday to discuss departure dates. She would like us to wait a couple of weeks so we can travel together. They’ve just returned from the States and since then a week in Tobago Cays with their nieces. She needs a little vacation before moving on.
It was another great day in paradise. Normally when we are waiting for a weather window what we are actually doing is waiting for the winds to ease a bit. This time we’re just plain waiting for wind. There hasn’t been any worth mentioning in a couple of weeks and we really don’t want to motor the 80 miles to Venezuela so we’ll wait for at least 15 knots of wind.
Meanwhile we went to get a hair cut today. I was pleased with the cut I
got last month from Christian so we went to his salon again. When he
finished cutting my hair, it was Rick’s turn. Rick told him to go ahead
and shave his head. Christian didn’t quite believe him at first.
Gradually we convinced him that the
number 1 attachment for clippers were perfect. I think his new cut looks
neat. Rick likes it as well but now wants new hats. He is
complaining that his old ones are too big. All the years I told his
hairdresser Alana in Toronto “Not too short!” She won’t believe it when
she sees a picture of his white scalp.
When we finished all our chores, we stopped at the beach for a swim before returning to the boat. Rick made sure he put lots of sun protector on the top of his head. The swim washed all of the little hair cuttings away and then we had to have a shower to wash all the salt off.
During the afternoon we made some water ran the engine and had a siesta. We don’t always remember to turn on “CBC at Six” a short-wave radio program that is broadcast from Toronto. Tonight we remembered. We were in awe listening to the report on a blackout that covered the Northeastern States as far south as Connecticut and as far north in Canada as Sudbury. We thought of our family and friends back home and how they would be coping and then discussed how self sufficient we were on the boat with regard to power, water and communications.
Rick went ashore and picked up a few things in the morning while I did some more cleaning in the boat. By the amount of cleaning I do you would think we have a 3000 sq. ft. boat. It would be nice but although the boat is just a baby boat, it seems to collect enough dust and sand from the Sahara desert to fill a larger boat. In fact, I’m not even sure that it’s necessary to go to the beach for sand, we could swim off the boat and pretend. All that said, we did go to the beach in the afternoon for a swim. There were a lot of clouds making the air feel cool for a change (although the temperature was well in the 90F).
We had a quiet little Happy Hour in the cockpit with just the two of us.
There was a beautiful sunset. We listened to CBC again to see if the power
problem had been resolved and then tuned in Eric for our regular weather report.
The dinghy was raised onto the davits before dark.
I can’t believe I slept until almost 8:30AM. When I looked outside, I found it was a perfect day to have slept late. The sky was very overcast and it was obvious that we were in for an all day rain. In between downpours we went to Foodland and stocked up with a few staples like flour and eggs that are in short supply on Margarita Island. We met Bob and Marta (Sirena) at the Choo Light Restaurant for lunch to plan our departure. Bob and Marta have given up on Leaky Louie (their dinghy). They can’t add anymore patches and it’s leaking like a sieve. They are going to stop in Trinidad and buy a new one so we’ve decided to meet later in Venezuela since we don’t want to go to Trinidad at this time. It was a good lunch and fun being together again.
We parted at about 2:30PM and by the time we got to the Excel Plaza it was 2:55PM. The movies started at 3PM. Since it was still overcast and raining, we figured, why not. We weren’t sure about anything that was showing and we opted for “What a girl wants”. It was a good choice, a fun movie (chic flick) providing a lot of laughs. After the movie, we stopped in next door at TCBY for a Hot Fudge Sundae. We had a few laughs as well as the sundaes. Ann Marie from New York was there. Ann Marie was a lady we met when we went to see Panorama. She is a Grenadian who lives in New York and was back in Grenada on vacation. That night she told us exactly where to sit for the best view of the Steel Bands. The next time we met was at the Yacht Club party the night of J’ouvert. At that time, we thought it was funny that we had run into each other again. On Tuesday when we were watching the parade who should come dancing by but Miss New York, Ann Marie again. So today when we saw her at TCBY we all started laughing again and she told me to stop calling her Mary Ann.
We made it back to the boat without having to open the umbrellas and tucked in for the evening.
The morning began with an overcast sky and a bit of rain. Before we finished breakfast we had a full blown squall that lasted almost 15 minutes and then the skies cleared. We topped up with diesel and lifted anchor just after lunch. It wasn’t really a lift of the anchor it was an out right tug. That thing was buried so beautifully it was a shame to disturb it. We moved just outside of the lagoon. We’re now anchored between the Carenage/Lagoon and Grand Anse Beach. We moved here so that we could check the hull before moving on. One would not want to swim in the muddy waters of the lagoon but outside where we are it’s clear and blue. We normally don’t like to anchor in this area because it’s very difficult to get the anchor to set well. The bottom is a thin layer of sand over coral in many spots. We didn’t have too much difficulty this time and it appears to be well set.
Rick went for a swim, checked the hull and cleaned the prop. So much for the prop paint we used there were barnacles on it already. There was no wind so the boats were rocking and rolling. It was quite a change after being anchored in the lagoon for so long with out even a ripple of a wave. We watched a wonderful sunset and then saw the stars come out in abundance, clear and bright for a change.
It was about 2AM when we finally got a little wind and rain, which ended the rocking and rolling for the night. In the morning, we did all of our last minute things. We dropped the laundry off at the yacht club, went to Island Water World to say goodbye to Jonathan. We stopped at Outfitters to see if a package had arrived and it had. We dinghied over to the Carenage to have a last visit at the Internet Café and then stopped at Food Fair to pick up some bread and orange juice. That was it, there was nothing left to do. I made an early dinner and we went into the yacht club for our last Latin dance lesson for a while. We got lots of hugs and kisses goodbye when we left.
Considering we spent the last few days getting ready to leave I can’t believe how busy we were today. It was extremely hot with very little wind. Rick went into town and to the yacht club to buy some ginger ale and coke, pick up the laundry and to check out with customs. Meanwhile back at the boat, I made a big pot of beef stew, ran the engine to charge the batteries and made water enough water to fill the tank. I was able to get a little more cleaning done before Rick returned with the laundry. Once the laundry was put away we both had a little siesta. All rested and raring to go, we raised the dinghy, Rick put the jack lines on deck, radar plugged in, way points loaded, harnesses out and just enough time to relax and cool down before raising the sails and lifting anchor. We wanted to listen to the weather one more time before leaving but Eric took a night off so we left hoping that there would be no surprises. Just as the sun set the lightening show started. Rick didn’t think it would last long so we continued on our way.
We gave up on the idea of sailing and continued to motor sail in comfortable seas and no wind. We were only underway a few hours when my captain while wearing a patch got seasick even in calm seas. He napped for a couple of hours and then awoke feeling much better. He had put the patch on after lunch and maybe should have put it on earlier. The moon didn’t rise until after midnight so until then we were sailing into complete darkness with no visible horizon. I think that when Rick has a horizon to watch his seasickness is not as bad. At 1:45AM I awoke from a nap and wished Rick a Happy Anniversary (of course he forgot). Meanwhile all night long the lightening continued to dance all around us from sunset yesterday until sunrise this morning. We were very lucky however because we would watch all of the weather cells on the radar and they were continually about 5 or 6 miles to our starboard, following along with us. We didn’t actually get any rain until just before 4AM. During a really good downpour I took my normally dry position below and watched from the companionway while Rick got a little wet. Even with the rain it was so warm that he only asked for a hat (his scalp is still a little sensitive). We saw only 2 freighters overnight and no other boats until daylight. As soon as the sun rose the thunder and lightening dissipated and the wind picked up. We turned off the engine and had a wonderful sail for about 1 ½ hours then the wind dropped to nothing again. On went the iron lung and it wasn’t long before we could see Los Testigos (The Witnesses).
When we were a little less than half a mile from the islands, we were inundated with beautiful large pale yellow butterflies. Their wings appeared to be outlined in a shade of brown. Along with them, there were thousands of brown boobies. As we got a little closer a huge fish jumped about 4 to 6 feet straight out of the water. A few minutes later another did the same. They were after the butterflies. I asked Rick what kind of fish they were and he said “big fish”. Later he said he thought they were barracuda.
It was actually noon by the time we finally were ready to drop anchor. Just as we did, a squall came along and turned all of the boats in the wrong direction. It’s not wise to anchor in the non-prevailing wind direction so we went looking for another spot. We ended up back near the little village on Isla Iguana.
We had some lunch a quick nap and then went in to see the coast guard.
We lowered the dinghy into the water and while Rick was trying to put the
outboard engine on, an old pelican came swimming up to the dinghy. He
showed Rick his wing was injured and then waved his beak up and down. By
now, Rick has named him Pedro the Pelican. Well Pedro was hungry and I
quickly gave Rick some crackers but they were not to Pedro’s liking and he was
beginning to get upset. Had I known, I certainly could have fished on our
way here but I didn’t. I thought Pedro was about to bite Rick but he just
wanted to tap his long beak on Rick’s hat to tell him off for being so
inconsiderate. We will definitely have to buy some fish from the
fishermen.
There are no customs or immigration in Los Testigos so the “Guardacosta” decides how long each person can stay before they have to leave and check in officially somewhere else in Venezuela. The Coast Guard officer we met was wonderful young man who spoke English perfectly and said we could stay as long as we wanted. We decided that Friday and Saturday would probably be long enough but if we changed our mind, he would let us extend.
Back at the boat, it’s time for some serious sleeping. Tomorrow we’ll explore. There are only 160 inhabitants on the group of islands and they live by fishing. There are no airports or ferries so the Yachties are among the very few visitors to the islands. There are some great looking beaches, sand dunes and deserted islands to check out. The islands appear very arid with almost no trees just a lot of cacti and shrubs.
It was just after sunset when we went to bed last night and wouldn’t you know
it the lightening started again just as it had the night before. I forgot
to mention that our track on the electronic chart coming here looked like the
dotted lines on a road. It was composed of dashes because I unplugged the
computer so many times to put it and the hand held GPS in the oven when the
lightening was all around us. We decided that if we wanted to sleep
soundly we might as well put it away for the night again while the lightening
bounced around.
The winds picked up by morning and there was quite a chop everywhere even in
the anchorage. I wanted to see the sand dunes on Testigos Grande
today so
we dinghied across the bay and I’m glad we were wearing bathing suits because it
was a wet ride. The guidebooks said there was a path we could follow to
get to the dunes, it didn’t say that the path was actually up and across the
dunes. It was a tough climb in deep sand. I was lucky to find a
walking stick that had been used for the same purpose in the past. During
the climb up, Rick kept repeating that he was sure glad this had been my idea
and not his. I couldn’t comment on his comments because I was busy huffing
and puffing while trying to breathe. When we arrived at the beach on the
other side of the dunes (Playa Gozman) we walked around for a while and found
some nice shells. There were no other footprints in the sand but
there were sure a lot of iguana tracks. We had planned to go for a
swim
but the surf was so strong it wouldn’t have been a wise thing to do.
Although it was still morning it was extremely hot and there was nowhere to get
out of the sun. We stopped for a drink of water before tackling the hills
on our way back. When we returned to the dinghy the chop in the bay was
worse. We didn’t even go for a swim off the boat it was so rough.
Some boats moved from anchorage to anchorage in an attempt to get a more
comfortable spot.
After lunch, Pedro came visiting again. I quickly opened a can of tuna
for him so as not to upset him with an offering of crackers. Rick did a
death-defying leap into the dinghy (the boat was really rocking and
rolling) so
that he could offer Pedro the tuna. It worked Pedro was not nearly as
aggressive or angry as yesterday. He wasn’t thrilled with the tuna but
either were we that is why he got it. They didn’t sell solid white tuna in
Grenada.
An afternoon siesta was in order because we were unable to sit or stand as the boat was both rolling and hobby horsing. Eventually the winds and waves settled down and we had a lovely sunset dinner in the cockpit. When we listened to Eric’s weather report tonight, we learned that another Tropical Depression (#9) had formed in the Caribbean, this one well to the north west of us. There are two more Tropical Waves with low-pressure centres associated with them, to the east of the island chain.
It was a little after 2AM when the wind picked up and changed direction.
It wasn’t necessarily all that strong but it sure caused some good rolling in
our anchorage. After breakfast we lifted the anchor and moved to the beach
at the break between Testigos Grande and Testigos Pequeno. There were
about 20 other cruisers already anchored there. It’s a beautiful sandy
beach but at this time of the year, the water takes on a light green colour.
We went ashore and had a swim, walked the beach and eventually returned to the
boat. We found it interesting how the air feels so cool here when we’re
out of the sun. In reality, the temperature is higher because we are so
close to the equator. The difference is the lack of humidity.
Later,
I jumped off the boat for another swim but the visibility was so poor it wasn’t
long and I was back sitting in the cockpit reading another book.
Just before dinner, fishing boats from Margarita Island started to arrive. It’s Friday night and I guess this is where the locals come to get away for the weekend.
It was another beautiful night. We had a short rain shower about 4:30AM but other than that it was cool and breezy for sleeping.
We were sitting in the cockpit eating a pancake breakfast and we had a butterfly sitting on our doorstep while another flew in and hit Rick in the back of his head. We’ll probably have to do something with his dome so that the insects can recognize it as a head.
Most of the fishing boats pulled out very early in this morning so we must have been mistaken about them taking the weekend off.
We were out of fresh bread and since we had no plans to leave the boat today,
we decided to try Rick’s 10 Grain Bread Recipe that he likes so much. We
only used 2 ½ cups of the 10 Grain Flour and the for the remainder used all
purpose flour. He was so pleased with the results he wanted me to take a
picture of his two loaves (I didn’t).
Later I made a couple of pizzas. One for dinner and the other in case we get hungry on our way to Margarita Island. We ate dinner in the cockpit and watched the sunset. According to Rick, there was a green flash but I missed it. The alarm was set for 2:30AM when we went to bed.
Rick got up at 2:30AM made the coffee and woke me when it was served (yes I’m
a little spoiled). As he went out to the cockpit, I asked if the sky was
full of stars. He commented that in fact there were none. Within 5
minutes, it started to rain. We decided to enjoy the coffee, make some
toast and wait for the rain to stop. It delayed our departure by half an
hour and we left at 4AM instead of 3:30AM. A few fishing boats left at the
same time. The moon had just risen and it wasn’t long before the sun came
up as well. We again had lovely flat seas but no wind. I put my
fishing line in the water for a while but got no bites. Thank heavens!
I like to fish but I no longer like to catch anything while we’re underway.
The fish are too big and make a smelly mess in the cockpit. It was about
9AM when we both felt like having some pizza and cold drinks. Since
breakfast was at 3AM it seemed like lunch time at 9AM. After lunch, we
tried sailing for a while but when we were down to 2 ½
knots, we gave up.
It was 2PM when we set the anchor in Porlamar. We found Globitou anchored
just to our starboard and Kamytoo a little ways off our port. We can’t
check in to customs until tomorrow so we’ll save our reunions until then.
It looks like there will be a lot to explore here. We haven’t seen major
highrise buildings like there are here since we left Florida. We’re
anchored off a beautiful beach by the Hotel Concorde. The water is crystal
clear with a sandy bottom so we can swim off the boat if we wish. I can’t
get over the difference in humidity between here and the Windward Islands that
are only 140 miles away. Margarita is mountainous but has such a dry
climate in comparison to the Windward Islands. I will have to check the
difference in rainfall next time I’m at an Internet Café. The lack of
humidity is refreshing. Venezuela is well out of the hurricane region and
Margarita is duty free. Things are supposed to be a lot less expensive
here than anywhere else in the Caribbean and not only that there are major
stores similar to Walmart and I believe there is even a Radio Shack here.
We’ll find out soon enough.
Today was an interesting day we first listened to the cruisers net and then went ashore to check in which was extremely easy but a little weird. We just gave all of our papers and passports to Juan of “Marina Juan” and he took care of everything for us. We picked them all up at later in the day. The weird thing is that the one year visas we paid for in Grenada from the Venezuelan Embassy are useless. Here they gave us a 90 day visa for ourselves and a 180 day cruising permit for the boat which can both be extended when necessary. Marina Juan does everything for the cruisers. He takes laundry, garbage, has a book exchange, and internet café, provides a map, references and can arrange for anything. We were finished so quickly and Juan was able to change some money for us so we decided take the free bus into the grocery store and just look around. It was such a huge store that when we walked up and down the aisles both Rick and I kept saying, “Look at this! This is amazing!” There were products, items, and choices that we had not seen for a long time. Although our intent was to just look, we did pick up a few items. We bought a loaf of bread, a ½ lb. of Mortadella meat, ¾ lb. of Havarti cheese, ½ lb. coffee and a 6 pack of beer. The bill came to $10035 Bolivars! ($4.18 US). When we checked out, they boxed everything labeled it and we didn’t see it again until the bus dropped it and us back on the dinghy dock. We roamed the rest of the mall and walked through quite a few other stores including a real Radio Shack but didn’t buy anything else.
We did have a cheese croissant and drink while waiting for the bus. The drinks were free and the croissant was 50 cents US.
We got together with Vikja, Promesa and Globitou for Happy Hour and dinner at Jak's place (next door to Marina Juan). I must mention our dinners because the prices are still blowing my mind. I had 2 freshly blended fruit drinks (orange and pineapple), a bottle of water and a glass of wine. Rick had 3 beers. I ordered a mixed grill sir fry that was huge and came with French fries. Rick had Chicken Parmesan and it came with rice and salad. Our total bill was $11.64 U.S! No wonder no one eats onboard while in Venezuela.
While we were at Jak's, Frank and Irene from Distant Drummer came in. We hadn’t seen them since Luperon D.R.
This was our second full day in Porlamar and we moved the boat and anchored a little closer to all of the others. There are about 70 boats in the anchorage and we now have a neighbourhood watch. There have been 4 dinghies and motors stolen within the last couple of weeks and a few days ago there was a boarding that resulted in an injury. So each night three boats stay up all night and watch over the anchorage. Everyone leaves their radio on and if there were a problem it would be announced on the radio and everyone would come on deck and shine their lights. It’s our turn to keep watch on Thursday night.
Rick and I went for a walk today and had a good look at all of the hotels.
They’re empty and have been for quite a while. There are some lovely condo
apartments that are occupied but then right next door to these buildings are
some very rustic hovels or slums. We could see lot of major ighrise
buildings that the construction had stopped midway so they are standing as great
big skeletons. It’s very sad because the climate is so perfect, the water
so clear and there are no tourists to enjoy it.
We had Happy Hour in the boat this evening and I enjoyed watching the pelicans. Unlike Los Testigos, there are very few boobies and frigates here but lots of pelicans. I think the pelicans are very graceful birds until they dive for a fish. I have to laugh every time because it’s always a face flop as they hit the water.
Yesterday I called and made an appointment (with help from Juan) for an eye examination. The appointment they gave me was for 11AM today but it was on a first come basis. This was not a bad system, when I arrived, the receptionist told me that the doctor would see me at 12:30PM. I could sit and wait with the others who had arrived ahead of me or I could return by 12:30. Rick and I chose to go for a walk. We made our way to the “Rattan Shop” which was amazing. It had everything from groceries to furniture. We’ve decided to spend a full day exploring the Avenida 4 de Mayo (The 4th of May Street) and the Rattan Store.
We returned to the doctors office at 12:15PM and I was called in immediately. A lot of computer technology was used and the doctor told me I had a very dense cataract in my left eye and maybe a little bit of a detached retina. Now get this, the doctor then asked me when I would like to have the surgery and I said as soon as possible. She said ok, I could have it tomorrow.
This was great news as Sirena should be arriving next week and we want to move on soon.
We returned to the anchorage in time for a cold drink before Juan’s meeting the officials. There were many representatives from the Coast Guard and Police as well as the Port Captain. Juan had arranged the meeting in an attempt to improve the security and safety in the anchorage. Although it was all in Spanish, it appears as though the officials are going to provide an armed guard with a boat effective tonight. I think this surprised many of the cruisers who didn’t expect much to come out of the meeting.
I wasn’t sure if I would be typing this journal entry or dictating it. I’m typing. Prior to my eye surgery this morning a retina specialist examined my eyes and said there was no problem with the retina. The reason they could not take an ultra sound yesterday was due to the denseness of the cataract. So I had my surgery which took less than 15 minutes and walked out with no pain and able to see again. I didn’t notice until I returned to the boat that the doctor had translated the instructions on when to apply drops and take pills but had missed translating a list of do’s and don’ts. When I used the dictionary to translate some of them, I found one I liked that said I should stay out of the heat of the kitchen for two weeks. Rick didn’t believe this so he typed everything into the computer and used a translation program that we have. It told him the same thing. Then he asked where I would like to go for dinner.
I had an early afternoon siesta and then went for dinner at Jak’s place. We like Jak’s but should try somewhere else soon.
I had to visit the eye doctor first thing this morning but we were finished there before 9:30AM so set off on a walk. We strolled along the Avenida 4 de Mayo again where I bought a few new pair of shorts. In many of the Eastern Caribbean islands, it’s almost impossible to buy shorts for women because the island ladies don’t wear them. They all wear dresses. We then headed over to a couple of streets that are for pedestrians only. It was a nice walk and there were many stores but we didn’t buy anything. We may return and make some purchases another day. We left the pedestrian streets and went back to the Avenida 4 de Mayo where we stopped and had a pizza at an Italian restaurant just across the street from the Rattan shop. After lunch we bought a loaf of bread and then took a taxi back to the boat. So far, we have used taxis rather than buses to go to and from places because they are so inexpensive. The cost to take a taxi anywhere in the city is less than $1.
As the sun was setting the clouds built up all around us and it looked like we were going to get some rain but they just kept moving and eventually we went to bed under clear skies again.
When the boat chores were done, we headed out to what we thought was just a little trip to pick up some fruits and vegetables. The instructions we gave the taxi driver took us to Pampatar looking for a shopping centre that we never did find. After driving up and down every street in the town of Pampatar we gave up and asked him instead to take us to the Sambil Shopping Centre which we had to pass on the way back into Porlamar. The whole trip cost us $1. The Sambil Shopping Centre reminded us very much of the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto. It was very large and had all the same types of stores including a food court that had a MacDonalds and a Subway along with many other fast food places.
When we returned to the anchorage we stopped by lobitou to see Ruedi and Jocelyne about the neighbourhood watch. We’re all on duty tonight.
Our conversation went on and on about everything under the sun so eventually we climbed aboard and had a drink with them. Still we talked and talked so decided to continue the conversation at Jak’s over dinner. It was dark when we returned to the boat so we got everything ready for a night watch. We’re taking turns just as though we were on an overnight passage.
It was a perfect night to be on watch. The sky was clear, there was absolutely no wind so the water was like a mirror. There was a great Latin band on shore that played until 3AM. We took turns and stood our watch until 5:30AM. After a quick nap, we went for a dinghy ride. We motored along in water 20 to 30 feet deep and it was so crystal clear that we could see the starfish and shells on the bottom. We played dominos at Jak’s in the afternoon and finished just in time to change for dinner. Globitou, Promesa and ourselves went to a seafood restaurant on the beach and ordered Paella for the six of us. It was a busy and fun day.
