Finally we finished removing the remaining fuel from the tank. Rick then had to begin the fun job of cleaning the inside of the tank. I thought it would take a lot longer than it would. He had the tank polished to a shine before lunchtime and was ready to start replacing the fuel. Meanwhile I had to do something to make myself useful while he was working so I went through all of our deep storage. These were the items like warm clothing and blankets that we have been carrying around now for a few years. It was time to donate a lot of them to charity. I sorted and reduced the volume by more than half. This means that whenever we do head north we will have to purchase a few items but there just isn’t enough storage space on a boat to carry unused items indefinitely.
We were finished our chores by pool time. The Aleluya girls joined Ti Amo and us until their dad came by and told them off for missing their windsurfing lesson. The girls are always very busy with their home schooling, music, sailing lessons, diving and windsurfing. They seem to enjoy all of it but today they were having fun in the pool and just forgot. Yesterday I had to help judge their Halloween compositions they wrote for English. There is no way I could write as well as they do, even Isabel, the youngest, did an amazing job. I think they must be related to Stephen King in some way.
After dinner Rick and I were sitting around watching TV when we heard a knock on the boat. It was dark and it’s very unusual to have a visitor after dark. I went into the cockpit and looked out. Isabel and MacKenzie were standing there holding a plate for us. MacKenzie had cut up their Halloween Jack-o-Lantern and baked a couple of pumpkin pies on board. They had brought 4 huge pieces of pie for us. We each ate one piece right away and saved the other to have with dinner tomorrow night. It was extremely good pie. Good pastry is very difficult to make here because of the heat yet Mackenzie’s pastry was very light and flaky.
The sky was very dark and cloudy in the morning but Rick wanted to go to town and I wanted to go to the Super Store. So we walked out of the marina and went our separate ways. He turned right and I turned left. Sally came with me and Jerry said he would meet Rick in town a little later. I bought a new set of sheets for our aft cabin and Rick bought some new spare parts for the engine. It rained at the marina while Sally and I were in the store but it had stopped and started to dry by the time we had finished our shopping.
Since the engine now had nice clean fuel, Rick decided to change the oil as well. It was again pouring rain outside so I curled up on the settee and watched TV while he changed the oil. When that was finished we started the engine and ran it for a good half-hour.
With the mechanical work just about complete it was time to tidy and clean. It didn’t take long to put things back in order. The sun was beginning to shine so I also put some laundry in the tub to soak.
We went to the pool in the afternoon but because we have had so little sun and so much rain lately the water felt cool. At first, while getting into the water we all complained, but in truth it was quite refreshing.
In the evening I watched the results of the U.S. Presidential election until I could stay awake no longer. Rick had dozed off a couple of hours earlier.
We awoke to another rainy morning but it again cleared by lunchtime. I did some more laundry and Rick checked the batteries. We are ready to head out again but there is no weather window this week so we will just relax and wait.
I washed the floor before going to the pool in the afternoon. In the evening we went out for dinner with Sally and Jerry to Mona Lisa. They went by dinghy and we walked into town. Rick still doesn’t want to put his nice clean dinghy in the harbour water. Jerry offered us a ride in their dinghy but it was a nice evening with a cool breeze so chose to walk. Dinner was wonderful. Rick and I shared a marinated scallop salad as an appetiser. Rick and Jerry had pork schnitzel for their entrée while Sally and I both had red snapper.
I had planned to bake a cake today in celebration of both Mary’s and Sarah’s birthday. It was much too rainy in the morning so the ports and hatches were all closed and it was too hot in the afternoon so I’ll try again tomorrow.
I did some laundry and worked on creating a new address book on the computer. When the rain finally stopped Rick washed the cockpit. We took it nice and easy today and just relaxed. /p>
The water in the pool was still quite cool but the afternoon sun was very warm so it shouldn’t take too long before the pool becomes a hot tub again.
RRick and I talked about moving back out to the moorings tomorrow but we both decided to stay in the marina for another couple of days and hopefully in that time the weather will improve.
It was a perfect baking day. There was no rain and a very strong wind kept the galley reasonably comfortable even while using the oven to make a big chocolate cake.
Rick used his chisels in the morning and put some new hinges on the cockpit table. He had put them on temporarily a few weeks ago but they didn’t fit quite right. They do now. /p>
Our afternoon as usual was spent in the pool. The water was much warmer today even with the wind.
AAt dinner we shared our cake with Aleluya and Ti Amo so that everyone could celebrate Mary and Sarah’s birthday.
We left the marina at 8AM and walked with Jerry and Sally (Ti Amo) to the Warehouse grocery store. The forecast was beginning to look good for next week so we wanted to re-provision and be ready to go as soon as the weather looks good. Since it was Saturday we planned to call a taxi for our trip back to the marina. I didn’t think the store delivered on the weekends. When we asked the cashier to call the taxi for us she instead called one of the workers who brought the van around for us. The driver wouldn’t even take a tip. He said it was a service that the store likes to provide. We were back at the marina by 10AM. I put things away and Rick started to prepare the cockpit table for a coat of Cetol.
After lunch there was just enough time for a short siesta before pool time.
We walked to the Sand Dollar where we tried to accomplish a few things on a Sunday morning. Rick tried to send a fax of many pages. Only the first page was accepted. I tried to email some pictures. The computer came to a standstill. I sent a file and it went much quicker than I expected. I learned later that it didn’t go through at all.
We had an ice cream and gave up./p>
We returned to the marina where Rick applied another coat of Cetol and I watched TV until it was time to make lunch.
TThe afternoon was spent in the pool until 4:30PM. Rick had offered to help Bob (Aleluya) with his SSB and they agreed to meet before dinner.
We are ready and the weather is almost ready for us to try and leave Bonaire again. It would be very easy to just stay as it’s a very nice island but we’ve got too many other places to visit.
We walked into town again today. Rick was determined to keep the dinghy bottom clean so for almost 2 weeks it has remained in the davits. In town, I went to the internet café while Rick stopped at Customs and then Immigration to check us out. We both finished about the same time and walked first to Cultimara and then The Tropical Flamingo to pick up some last minute groceries. Our walk back to the marina was a very hot one because it was noon. We had arranged to meet at Jerry and Sally (Ti Amo) at the Bistro de Paris, which is a couple of blocks from the marina. We had a wonderful lunch of French Onion soup in a bread bowl and panini (grilled sandwich on a baguette) of roasted red peppers, egg plant and melted brie.
When we returned to the boat I loaded a patch for my CD burner that I had downloaded at the internet café. The burner has not been working well lately and after the patch was loaded there was no improvement. It was time to give up and go to the pool.
DiDinner was non-existent, as neither Rick nor I were the least bit hungry after our huge lunch. The girls on Aleluya were supposed to recite a poem for us yesterday and it appeared as if they were avoiding the issue today. We were going to move the boat to another spot in the marina to get ready for departure in the morning so they agreed to do it after dinner. Mackenzie and Allison each recited “The Charge of the Light Brigade” while Isabel recited a poem about “Sunflakes”. They all did a great job of memorising and reciting. Afterwards, Isabel came back to our boat to watch the Disney channel while her sisters watched one of our DVD’s onboard their boat. Isabel and I made popcorn and watched TV while Rick disappeared into the forward cabin to read.
This was the day I had originally wanted to leave but Rick preferred Wednesday as it would give him time to get a few things ready without rushing. We left the dock about 10AM and went to the fuel dock to get a full tank of diesel $$. It took quite awhile because we needed almost 200 litres and it all had to be filtered through the baha filter. It was almost lunchtime when we left the fuel dock and tied up along the wall. We had asked if we could dock along the wall so that it would be easy for us to leave early in the morning. Before going to town I hung some laundry out to dry. The sky didn’t look promising but the worst that could happen is that our clothes would have an extra fresh water rinse if it rained. Rain it did. We walked into town and when we were almost at City Café we could see a wall of water coming towards the town so Rick suggested we stop for lunch until it passed. We took a seat away from the outside wall just in case it became a driving rain, which it did. Our inside seat wasn’t good enough, everything in the restaurant went flying. The waiters, bartenders, managers and everyone that could, scrambled to secure objects before they became flying missiles. The driving rain totally soaked the inside of the restaurant so badly that they had to stop serving. We watched the storm for quite a while. It was amazing! Although the waves had not built to a dangerous size yet it was definitely a west wind or better known as a dreaded ‘wind reversal’ in Bonaire. Really it was a very strong tropical wave. We have seen this type of wave in the Eastern Caribbean but not here in Bonaire. It was very unusual. Eventually when the rain subsided enough we ran around and did our few chores.
We picked up pizza for dinner so that we could have leftovers underway tomorrow.p>
When we returned to the marina we called Ti Amo and Jerry answered. I asked if his answering the radio meant that pool time had been cancelled. He explained that it was a little chilly and that there was a possibly of ice forming in the pool (still well above 80 degrees) but if we were going, he and Sally would meet us there. First I had to pick up almost all our clean laundry off the deck and hang it to dry again.
WhWhen we got to the pool, the girls on Aleluya gave us a going away gift of sun/snowflakes they had made and lots of little love notes. We had our last dip in the pool and then heard that all of the boats on the moorings were all pulling into the marina. The swell and waves from the west had finally arrived and it had become a bit uncomfortable on the moorings. Poor Carlos and Alfonso had been working since before 8AM and it was well after 8PM when the last boat finally pulled into the marina. We went to bed early with all intentions of leaving early but only if things settle down overnight.
I was quite apprehensive about leaving today, especially after being awakened by thunder and lightening rather than our alarm clock at 3AM. I quickly removed my laundry that was still wet and put it in the bathtub. It was 4:15AM when we quietly pulled away from the dock. There was no moon or stars because of the heavy cloud layer so as soon as we were around the corner from town we were sailing (really motoring) into blackness. There was no way to differentiate between sky, water or land or stray boats without lights on the water. I don’t like travelling into nothingness however we do have the radar and GPS. We were following our waypoints, which we used before so it really was very safe.
Eventually the daylight arrived and the sun came up. It was a huge red ball and we all know that a red sun in the morning is not a good sign. We continued on and the sky didn’t change very much it remained very overcast and rainy all day. The good news was that there was no wind at all and we had never seen the sea as flat as it was this day. Since we were heading directing into the prevailing winds and current this was the best we could have hoped for. The rain and clouds kept us from baking which we would have done on a normal day. We were making pretty good time so we decided to go all the way to Aves de rlovento (almost 58 miles).
We had said goodbye to all our new friends in Bonaire as well as Donkeys and Flamingos, which were very unique to the island. We have already heard from old friends who are waiting for us in Los Roques and the boobies and dolphins were out to greet us before we were even halfway to Las Aves. It’s sometimes hard to leave a place but it’s always great to arrive at a new or different place.
ItIt was 3:30PM when we dropped anchor. I immediately re-hung my laundry. Rick tidied the deck and we sat in the cockpit for a well-deserved sundowner. Last time we were here there were no other boats at all. This time we counted well over a dozen boats scattered among the reefs. We watched a Venezuelan fishing boat arrive in our anchorage and although there were a couple of other boats it headed directly for us. He had 2 Kilo lobster for sale, which of course we bought. While Rick was getting the money (they asked for Bolivars), one of the fishermen showed me a lump on his knee and asked if we had any ice. After the ice another needed some chapstick which of course we had. The third fisherman had a toothache so we pulled out our toothache remedy. The only other thing they were in need of was some Pepsi or coke but we only shared one can. After all the trading was complete they pulled their boat away for a few minutes and filleted some really nice looking fish, which they gave to us. It’s our first night out, the freezer is overflowing and we had fresh lobster for dinner. What took us so long to get back out here?
I was up frequently during the night as the wind went through 360 degree changes. The forecast had indicated that it would go from ENE, SSE, NW, WNW and finally W by morning. It did exactly that. At the same time there was thunder and lightening everywhere. I had to check our direction once in a while because I couldn’t remember how much room we left between the reefs on either side of us. As the wind changed each time I would just check the depth beneath our keel which was dumb because if there wasn’t enough water I would certainly have known before checking the depth sounder.
We had originally planned to leave at 6:30AM but the rumble of thunder and flash of lightening could still be heard in the distance when I awoke with the alarm at 5:30AM. I quickly reset it and changed our departure time. When we awoke the second time, the sky seemed to be clearing. We had a quick breakfast, raised the sail and hoisted anchor and made our way back out through the reefs. We had just cleared the reefs and were in open water when I looked behind us and saw some nasty looking squall lines. Rick checked the radar and found that they were 8 miles away. He assured me that they would pass on our stern. They did and then continued to travel parallel to us on the port side. A while later they circled right around and came back on us. They were very dark clouds with a lot of rain but not much wind.p>
WhWhen the sky cleared, the sea had subsided a bit and we were having a comfortable passage. One of the largest pods of dolphins (30 to 50) swam along side us for a good distance. There were also a lot of young Boobies doing “touch and goes” on the wave tops. We were making good time considering that we were travelling against the current. We were finally about 7 miles from our destination and I called Joan & Dan (Mainly) to let them know we were coming in. There was another vicious looking bunch of clouds behind us but again the radar indicated that they should pass to our stern. I watched the clouds for quite a while and I was sure that I was watching a new tropical storm form right around us. There even appeared to be some circulation to it. I suggested to Rick that we try to out run it since it was again coming back on us. He revved the engine but I knew it was probably too late. Thunder and lightening where striking all around us. Then Rick noticed an electrical burning smell. I thought a lightening strike was imminent! It was just the alternator, which had overheated. This was not good news though and I already started to envision how in the midst of this deluge we would sail between the reefs to a safe anchorage. It wasn’t necessary because as soon as Rick lowered the RPMs, the alternator was fine. The storm however was now gaining on us and we were getting to close to the islands and reefs. As visibility turned to nil, we turned back out to sea and followed our track back. There were some pretty strong winds with this storm so we were not going too far to fast. Eventually the sky cleared and to look at it you would think that there hadn’t been anything but sunshine for days. We made our way into the anchorage where the only other vessel was a large powerboat anchored and tied to shore. Distant Drummer and Mainly may join us here tomorrow. We had fresh fish for dinner and a good night’s sleep.
We had a wonderful night sleep but our friends on Mainly and Distant Drummer were rocking and rolling all night at the anchorage they were in. I spoke to Joan (Mainly) on the VHF in the morning and there were pulling out and heading to our anchorage as soon as they had enough sun to see the reefs. We also spoke with Cop Out and Promesa on the SSB. Cop Out is in Cartagena and Promesa is underway and almost there. Promesa had some very nasty weather but the seas had calmed and they were a little more comfortable.
We relaxed and had a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs. Rick had the alternator changed before 10:30AM. I ran the termaker and I still wasn’t pleased with the pressure, which is running much higher than it should. We examined everything and now think that the brine hose should be increased in size. That’s something we’ll do in the next harbour.
We had just finished lunch when KaraDream (Karen & Ralph) pulled into the anchorage. We dinghied over to say hello and then returned to our boat for a swim and shower. Karen invited us over for early sundowners. The mosquitoes were extremely bad in daylight hours so we knew that they would be vicious by the evening.
WeWe went over to KaraDream about 3PM and stayed well past dinnertime. It was a wonderful evening hearing about their trip back to British Columbia and talking about our time in Bonaire.
There are very bad northern swells affecting all anchorages except ours.
We were very protected in Isla Carenaro. The only problem is that because
it is a mangrove island the mosquitoes were terrible. Joan (Mainly) called
and asked if we wanted to escape from inside the boat where we had all been
hiding from the mosquitoes and dinghy across the reef to shore. Everyone
agreed to meet at noon. KaraDream, Distant Drummer, Mainly and we went by
dinghy to shore. We followed the shore quite a way and because of the high
surf we couldn’t beach it until we were near a fishing hut. We hadn’t been
ashore very long when a fisherman (Ezequiel) walked out to meet us. We
were all invited back to visit his fishing hut, which is quite famous there were
pictures of it in an Italian travel magazine. He asked if we had any wire
that he could have to connect an additional light inside his fishing hut.
None of us thought we had enough but together we might be able to join enough
lengths to make it work. Meanwhile the Ezequiel took us into his hut and
gave us a tour. He also showed us a drawing of his home on Margarita which
was very nice. He turned on some nice loud salsa music and before leaving
we had a lot of fun with rope games that he let us play with for ages before
teaching us the solution. We all returned to our boats for a swim.
Our outboard was making funny noises on the way back but we’ll investigate the
problem tomorrow or another day.
We jumped into the water and swam over to Mainly. Irene (Distant
Drummer) joined us and while we all floated around on noodles, Dan served us a
beer
At 3PM, Joan, Dan (Mainly), Irene, Frank (Distant Drummer), Karen and Ralph (KaraDream) joined us on Wind-Borne III for sundowners. We started the afternoon in the cockpit but someone onboard attracted the mosquitoes. They came by the thousands so we retreated below. It was warm below but it was fun. We talked of sailing friends in common and sailing stories. The funny thing was that we all learned that each of us had grounded and laid our boat on its side at one time or another. It was 7PM when everyone returned to their boats after a fun afternoon and evening.
There was no wind at all last night but we slept very well. We have been burning a mosquito coil overnight by the companionway and it seems to keep the boat reasonably bug free. We still apply “Eau de Off” just in case we have a few intruders.
We have got back into listening to the regular SSB and HAM nets in the morning. We listened to Eric at 6:30AM then Lou/John at 7AM before tuning to the calling frequency to talk to friends throughout the Caribbean. 8:15AM we finally listened to the Safety and Security net before turning off the radio.p>
We had finished breakfast and our friend Ezequiel the fisherman came by. He brought some lobsters, which we purchased from him. I think because there are so many boats in the islands at this time of year all of the fishermen are selling rather than trading the lobsters now. The price is still very good and we know that when we return to the mainland there are no lobsters available. While here we will eat our fill again.
Ralph (KaraDream) came over later in the morning so that Rick could show him how to clean a spiny lobster. Just so that Ralph could practice what he had learned, Rick let him clean ours as well.
Lunch should have been lobster however I thawed some chicken 2 days ago and there has been just so much socialising I haven’t had time to cook a proper meal. So lunch today was chicken. The lobster will have to wait.
The mosquitoes were so bad that Frank (Distant Drummer) didn’t want to venture out in the afternoon. The rest of us all went for a snorkel but the large swells and west winds had stirred the bottom up so much that the water wasn’t very clear. We saw a good variety of fish but I think we were spoiled with the snorkelling in Bonaire, which was extraordinarily good. After snorkelling we returned to the boats and floated around with our noodles and beer for about an hour.
FrFrank and Irene came by dinghy to our boat later in the afternoon. Frank had so many mosquitoes around him that I’m sure that if they had been Canadian mosquitoes they would have been able to carry him off. He said he had applied insect repellent but that it doesn’t seem to work for him. I gave him some allergy medication (Benadryl) to ease the symptoms of all the bites. He called on the VHF later to claim it was a miracle drug and that he felt much better.
The mosquitoes were bothering everyone and the northern swells had diminished
significantly so we all decided to move to another island today. KaraDream
and we chose to move to Crasqui while Distant Drummer went to Gran Roque and
Mainly tried an Island named Noronsquis. Noronsquis is very close to
Crasqui so when we called shortly after lunch and told Mainly that ours seemed
like a comfortable anchorage they changed their mind and joined us.
Noronsquis had terrible rollers. We had a little roll, no mosquitoes and a
lovely long white sand beach. It seems that the Pasadas on Gran Roque
bring their guests (tourists) to visit this little island during the day.
There are even a couple of small restaurants in structures that look like
fishing huts. At night however it is ours alone.
We had a late lunch of barbecued lobster, coleslaw and macaroni salad with a
bottle of wine. It was nice to be able to eat in the cockpit again.
If we had tried this in the other anchorage, the mosquitoes would have had more
to eat than us. After lunch was cleaned up we ran the watermaker and had a
siesta. It was 3:30PM when we jumped into the water for our afternoon
swim. There are only the three of us anchored at this island so the boats
are quite a distance apart. We can see each other but it’s a little too
far to swim. Karen and Ralph came over to our boat with their dinghy and
then jumped into the water. Joan and Dan took the afternoon off. I
think they slept during swim time since they didn’t show up.
We had a surprisingly good night sleep. It had appeared as though we might have an uncomfortable roll when we went to bed but things settled down nicely. There was still no wind but there were also no mosquitoes.
Rick asked me to make him some fresh baked scones for breakfast so we weren’t too speedy getting things done in the morning. Both Rick and Ralph (raDream) ran the engines to charge the batteries most of the morning. No wind and an overcast sky had resulted in no amps. Mainly left and went to Gran Roque to help Distant Drummer. Irene had gone ashore yesterday to the small town on Gran Roque to purchase a few supplies. Frank was still not feeling well so he stayed aboard. The surf was a little rough and Irene felt she couldn’t beach the dinghy by herself so she took it to the dinghy dock. One of the huge waves slammed the dinghy under the dock and ripped a large gash in one of the tubes. It was an extremely large rip but Dan (Mainly) felt he had enough patch material and glue to be able to repair it.
In the afternoon WindSwept, a boat we hadn’t seen since Blanquilla arrived in the anchorage. We stopped by to say hello on our way ashore with Ralph and Karen. The early afternoon was spent walking along the soft white sand on shore where we were able to find a few shells. When we walked back to the area of the beach near where our boats were anchored we stopped in a small local restaurant for a nice cold beer. Then we returned to the boats for our afternoon drink and noodle float. Everyone was getting a little chilly by 4:30PM and the sky had become very overcast so we all returned to our boats.
WeWe had just finished a light dinner when the wind really picked up. The sun had almost set but there was still enough light to see that KaraDream had really dragged. Ralph and Karen were both on deck trying to get the anchor up. When they were just about settled into a new spot, the wind picked up stronger still. We were anchored in almost 30 feet of water so both Rick and I felt that with the wind this strong we needed to put out more scope if either of us wanted to sleep tonight. With that done we settled in for a quiet night of reading.
The storm lasted all night but we were able to get a lot more sleep than I
originally thought we would. At 10PM the winds were howling. They
shifted a little more to the east rather than the northeast, which meant that
the waves did not build too much in our anchorage. Although we refer to
the “islands” of Los Roques, most of the small land parcels are really just
reefs. So we are anchored behind a long reef which doesn’t really offer a
lot of protection from wind or waves. The wind generator was finally
earning its dues and the amps were whipping in. We both fell asleep and
awoke to heavy rain at 2AM. The rain helped flatten the water even more.
So we were then able to sleep soundly until 4AM when the elements all got
together for a finale. We had strong wind, heavy rain with thunder and
lightening that lasted until daylight. Even at daylight the sky was black
with storm clouds. The thunderstorms subsided but the rain continued.
There was enough water in the dinghy to use it as a hot tub.
It was a good morning to do some baking so I mixed some dough for English muffins and read a book while it was rising. In the afternoon I curled up under a comforter (the squall proof wind scoop was providing amazing ventilation) and continued reading. We even watched videos later in the afternoon since the wind was providing us with amps to spare. Everyone was boat bound.p>
RiRick put our electronic weather station outside to check the temperature. It was 27°C or 81°F. It sounds warm but we have become accustomed to temperatures 10 degrees warmer and with the wind chill factor it felt very cold. The weather did not let up all day. The rain came continually in buckets, the wind howled at 25 to 30 knots and the sky was so dark all day long that Rick had a real problem determining when it was time to mix the sundowners. He had to go out in the rain and bail the dinghy twice and each time the water was well above his ankles.
The sky was almost as dark when we awoke today as it was yesterday. There was still wall after wall of continuous rain. There wasn’t as much thunder and lightening around so we were hopeful that the weather might begin to clear. Our main weather forecaster George, who broadcasts from St. John has been at a conference in St. Thomas so unavailable. We and even the net controller in St. Croix couldn’t hear Mike who is filling in for George. Eric who is pretty accurate and broadcasts out of Trinidad can’t be heard here lately because of all the storms floating around between us. We have been relying upon our email weather forecasts, which are good but for such a large area they provide only very general reports.
We spoke with Joan (Mainly) anchored at Gran que. They had a bit of excitement last night when a very large catamaran started dragging in the strong winds and snagged the anchor from another boat. They both started to get a little close to Distant Drummer but help arrived before anything happened. Although we’re anchored in about 30 feet of water here at Crasqui, it appears to be better holding than at Gran Roque in 10 feet of water.
The weather remained the same all day. If the mainland is getting the same amount of rain that we have received then I’m sure they are having a major problem with flooding. The animals are lined up along the shoreline here 2 by 2. I’m not sure if they are trying to tell us something.
WeWe spent the day reading and watching videos. I defrosted some of the nice fish fillets that we got from the fishermen in Las Aves and we had fish for lunch. Just before sundown there was a small break in the clouds. Rick rushed to make sundowners and KaraDream went ashore for a walk while it wasn’t raining. It was 7PM when we looked up and found there was a large enough gap in the overcast sky to see the moon.
Unbelievable! We had thunder, lightening, driving rain and strong winds again
all night. When we awoke Rick called me out to the cockpit to have a look
at the sunrise. The sun itself was only visible for about 10 minutes so we
had to look fast before it disappeared behind the clouds. The sky did look
better today than it had the last couple of days.
KaraDream and we raised anchor and motored over to Gran Roque where we joined Mainly and Distant Drummer. It took us 2 ½ hours to go 7 miles. The winds were 15 to 20 knots on our nose. The swells were large but the waves weren’t bad. We were able to travel the complete distance without rain and of course Ray steered most of the way. It was noon when we arrived so we all agreed to go into town after siesta time (2PM).
Gran
Roque truly is an island. The hills on Gran Roque that are 380
feet high look like mountains compared to the low lying land all around.
This is the only island with a village and it even has a small airport.
There are no cars and the streets are sand. The Venezuelans originally
built most of the houses as holiday homes. They are well maintained and
quite nice looking. Some of the large places have been converted to
Pasadas so the tourists fly in on a small plane to Los Roques from Caracas.
As we climbed into our dinghy to go into town we found that two of the
fishermen on a large fishing boat anchored next to us needed a lift
ashore.
No problemo! They were nice guys but didn’t speak much other than to say
gracious. We all (Mainly, KaraDream, Distant Drummer) met on the beach.
Ashore we found 3 small supermarkets. They get supplied from the mainland once a
week (tomorrow) so fresh produce was very limited. We followed our noses
to the small local bakery. It was late in the day but the baker had just
taken some fruit buns and coconut buns out of the oven. There were no
loaves of bread but most Venezuelans prefer the long baguettes of which there
were many and they were still warm. It was impossible to leave without
some fresh baked goods. We made our way from one end of town to the other.
If we hadn’t stopped in each of the stores the walk would have taken us between
5 and 10 minutes. The guys found the local beer store and they all bought
at least one case and then we headed back to the dinghies. The guys took
the groceries back to the boats while we talked to some of the local
fishermen.
There was a small palm leaf covered stand where we had beached the dinghies and
this was where the fishermen brought their catch. Joan and Karen each
bought a nice looking hogfish and had one of the fishermen fillet it. When
the dinghies returned we walked along the beach to a nice bar/pizza place for a
few beers. The owner Peter spoke perfect English. His home (wife and
family) was in Caracas but he owned this restaurant on Gran Roque.
When we returned to the boat we reflected on how nice a day it had been. The weather had finally cleared, it was fun to be with some of our friends again and Gran Roque was one of the nicest little colonial towns we had seen in quite a while.
We had a wonderful night sleep. All of the ports and hatches were left
open. There was absolutely no rain and yet there was a strong enough wind
to provide a gentle rocking (not rolling) motion to the boat.
In the morning we watched the supply boats and fuel ship arrive. It’s unbelievable how much the small boats can actually carry. They appear to be just Venezuelan mother ships. All of the local boats were along side offloading and transporting goods to the dock all day long. Once the goods reached the dock they were off loaded again and then transported to the stores in town by means of a couple of large two wheel wagons. One man pulled or steered while about four other men pushed the wagon through the sandy streets. It sure looked like hard work in the hot sun
Rick spent the rest of the morning working on some round-to-it jobs while I
made some stew and did a few small jobs as well.
After lunch and siesta we went to the grocery stores looking for fresh produce. It was in and looked good so we purchased what we needed for the next couple of weeks.
It was time for an early sundowner when we returned to the boat.
The sky cleared nicely in the morning so we all decided to move from Gran
Roque to Isla Vapor which is just inside the eastern reef of Los
Roques.
We left at 11:30AM with KaraDream in the lead. Ralph and Karen had already
been to this anchorage with Allie Cat earlier in the season, so they knew the
way. The charts for the Los Roques are all offset significantly so it’s
tricky not being able to trust the charts and having to wind our way around many
coral heads and reefs. KaraDream did a great job of leading the pack.
We followed them, Mainly followed us and Distant Drummer brought up the rear.
It was 1PM by the time all four boats had set their anchors in our new
anchorage.
We had lunch and then dinghied over to the reef separating us from the sea.
We snorkelled for a while and
saw a lot of fish but almost all of the coral was
dead. When we had enough snorkelling we went over to a sand bar and walked
around it looking for shells. There was a pretty good selection.
Finally it was time to return to the boats. Joan and I did a noodle drift
with our drinks while Rick and Dan had theirs sitting in the dinghies.
Dinner was barbecued pork tenderloin with baked potato, sour cream and a side dish of grilled onions, zucchini, eggplant, fresh tomatoes and onions.
We awoke to find that the trough that had given us such nasty weather last week was still with us. The weather reports indicated that it had moved northeast of us a few days ago which might have been true but it certainly seemed to be right over us again today.
We heard from David and Lenora (Midnight) who we haven’t seen in almost 2 years. Midnight survived Hurricane Ivan while on the hard in St. Davids, Grenada. David and Lenora left Bequia Friday morning and sailed directly to Los Roques. They arrived this morning and after we spoke on the radio they continued on to an anchorage near Boca del Medio where we planned to meet. They arrived and were anchored by 11AM. Meanwhile we couldn’t move due to the overcast sky. It was really a lot more than overcast but either way we couldn’t see the coral heads and reefs to make our way around inside the eastern barrier reef. They were able to reach the anchorage by coming down the outside of the reef.
KaraDream called and invited everyone in the anchorage (that’s only our little flotilla) to their boat in the afternoon for a game of dominoes.
Everyone was anxious to get off the boat so we agreed to be there at 2PM. Just before 2PM the squall lines started rolling in again so everyone decided to play it safe and remain with our boats until the weather cleared. Well, at 4:30PM the storms were still with us so Rick prepared the sundowners (without the sun) and hoped that the clouds would part long enough for us to see the sun go down.
We awoke to a sky that looked just as dark as it did yesterday. It’s called “another sh*##y day in paradise”. George, one of our favourite weather forecasters said that although this trough was supposed to have dissipated or moved off, it hasn’t. In fact, he now thinks it will probably be with us for at least another 72 hours.
Since we were boat-bound I needed some indoor things to do. Defrost the fridge was first on the list and while that was underway I prepared some dough to start rising for some nice fresh bread. I’m not sure if I mentioned the fact that we got rid of our breadmaker. We gave it away in Bonaire because we found that we were eating way too much bread with it on board. Now it takes a little more effort to make bread so we hopefully will eat a little less.
We talked about trying to get together for dominoes in afternoon but just like yesterday it wouldn’t happen.
We thought the winds were still extremely strong and there was no way any of us would venture anywhere. Then we looked out and saw a large catamaran moving. At first I thought the captain must be crazy but Karen (KaraDream) informed me that it was a catamaran from one of the Posadas (small hotel) on Gran Roque. They bring their guests over and set them up on a sand bar with beach umbrellas and drinks. The guests then swim, snorkel and sunbathe until the catamaran returns for them. They were close enough that we could see that they did go in for a swim but that was it. They and the boat then disappeared in the rain. I think they refused to let the boat leave without them. I would too. I guess that as a tourist if they are only here for a week or so they have to ignore the bad weather.
As the tourist boat disappeared behind another wall of water, the winds really piped up. The winds were stronger today than we could have imagined since the only thing around creating weather was the trough. We all rushed out and turned on the engines, just in case. It wasn’t long and Distant Drummer started to drag. With reefs all around us we can only be thankful that this wind came up in the daylight and not at night. It has been very windy at night but nothing like this. Distant Drummer was able to get the boat under control and put down a second anchor. The winds remained constant for at least an hour and when it was all over I called Midnight in the other anchorage to see how they managed. There was no answer so I waited about 15 minutes and called again. There was still no answer. Finally after another 15 minutes David answered and said he would call me back, they were working on their anchor. Poor Midnight, the winds hit so hard that the boat turned sideways and the pressure of anchor chain on the bow roller bent or separated the metal holding bow roller. They had to switch their primary anchor over to their secondary anchor position. Midnight is a Gozzard 44 and therefore a very heavy boat that normally swings well at anchor. We estimated that winds remained at 35 to 40 knots for about an hour. When they finally diminished back down to about 20 knots the rain continued to fall heavily for the rest of the afternoon.
The refrigerator is nice and clean and the bread turned out great.
Dinner was curried chicken with rice.
The wind and rain continued all night but we awoke in the morning to blue sky
and sunshine. It was a nice surprise. Rick right away said he wanted
to take our beach umbrella over and sit on the sandbar with the tourists.
Our excitement and optimism didn’t last long. Before noon it was overcast,
windy and raining again.
Midnight (David and Lenora) had enough time to leave their anchorage and
travel to ours. Rick went to meet them in our dinghy and guide them in
through the reefs. They set their anchor just before the first squall went
through. Everyone stayed on their boat again for the rest of the day.
Rick and I were invited to dinner onboard Midnight. I was pleased that
they had anchored reasonably close to us because we didn’t get drenched
travelling between boats.
David barbecued some wonderful steaks and vegetables for dinner. The steaks were purchased in St. Vincent but they sure tasted like North American beef. It was one of the most pleasant evenings we’ve had. We caught up on what everyone including some of our friends had been doing over the last couple of years. It was so enjoyable that it was only when we returned to our own boat that I realised it was after 10PM.
Since we missed our own Thanksgiving I brought the makings for a Thanksgiving
today. I hadn’t really planned on there being ten of us for dinner but it
didn’t really matter too much about the food we all just enjoyed the
celebration.
David offered their cockpit as the gathering place since they have the largest boat and therefore the most room. I gave him our Turkey burgee to raise on his halyard so the Turkey boat could be officially recognised. He announced on the VHF that the official Turkey raising ceremony would be held at 10AM. At that time we all went on deck and blew our horns, Lenora raised the Turkey and David gave a 4-gun salute with a miniature cannon he had on board.
The sun had been shining since we awoke and it continued throughout the day
with only one shower in the early afternoon.
Dinner was at 2:30PM. I made the turkey, dressing, yams and carrots and supplied the cranberries. Joan baked a pumpkin pie. Irene made mashed potatoes and a leek casserole. Karen made appetisers and the turkey gravy. Lenora prepared appetisers and a fresh spinach salad and a chocolate mousse. The only thing missing was the colonial costumes and the Mayflower! We all took our own dishes, glasses and cutlery so there was no big mess for any one person to clean up.
It was a strange night. The sky was clear and full of stars but the wind blew in gusts of 25 to 30 knots all night long. When we awoke the winds steadied to a nice 15 to 20 knots.
After breakfast I made some more bread since Rick had been whining about the fact that I used his fresh bread to make turkey stuffing yesterday. He certainly ate enough of it. I was able to get the dough into the second rising before we raised anchor and moved to our next anchorage
We said our goodbyes to Midnight as they continued on to the west while we are all heading east.
We travelled down the eastern side of Los Roques between the reefs. This time Mainly led the way since they had travelled this route previously.
While underway I put the bread in the oven and it was wonderful to have the smell of bread baking, sunshine and turquoise waters all around us and a strong but steady wind.
It was only 10 miles to our new anchorage, which was located behind the reefs and some mangroves. It is called Buchiyaco and will be our jumping off point for Tortuga hopefully tomorrow.
WeWe just relaxed and read during the afternoon. Dinner was baked macaroni and cheese.
We spent the morning preparing for our passage to Tortuga. While I prepared some meals and snacks for our time underway, Rick raised the dinghy, prepared things on deck. The forecast was better than we could have hoped for. The winds would be northeast 15 to 20 knots and the seas 4 to 6 feet. Not much of a swell was forecast but if there was one, it should be out of the northeast as well. West winds would have been nice but we were extremely fortunate to have them all the way from Bonaire to Los Roques so northeast rather than the normal east at this time of year is pretty good.
Mike and Lynn (Wombat of Sydney) arrived in Buchiyaco at 10AM after a wonderful passage from Tortuga. They said the sky was so clear and the full moon so bright that it was like a daytime sail. The winds were nice but died off to a millpond part way here.
We left from Boco de Sebastopol (southeast entrance to Los Roques) at 1PM only three hours after Wombat of Sydney’s arrival. It was exactly as Mike had described, flat seas, clear sky and light wind. This lasted 15 miles.
I mentioned to Rick that a line of clouds ahead appeared to have some nasty
weather with them. “Not to worry” he said, “there were no nasties in the
forecast”. Little were we to know that this was the beginning of worse
things to come. Our total passage was almost 90 miles and the next 75
miles were not the nicest. The first line of clouds was a squall which is
not a problem but as we passed out of it we entered another. This went on
again and again and each time we would expect to find a nice clear sky on the
other side. It never happened. The seas built from the comfortable 4
to 6 feet to monsters of 10 feet that would through the boat hard over.
The rain came again and again so much and so often that it was hard to imagine
there could be that much water in the sky. The wind howled and whistled.
Eventually, poor Rick was hanging over the rail feeding the fish. He fed
them continually for almost the whole 75 miles. In the midst of one of the
squalls when I had gone below, a wave tossed us hard to the side and the bilge
alarm and pump went off. It continued to go off without even stopping for
a second. Since I was down below I checked some obvious places but
everything appear dry. I went above and Rick came below to check in the
engine area. This is his least favourite place when he is seasick.
Still he found everything was totally dry. We relaxed for a while until
the next large wave threw us and the alarm went off again. This time
before running around, we tried the manual Henderson Bilge pump in the cockpit.
Nothing! At least we weren’t sinking. We turned the automatic bilge
pump and alarm off and to give us peace of mind Rick would check using the
manual pump every so often. Mainly, Distant Drummer and KaraDream sailed
the complete trip. I with the help of Ray, motor sailed with a reefed mail
and staysail. The need to reduce sail was too frequent for me to attempt
sailing with Rick under the weather.
There were some very good things about this trip that I don’t want to forget. We made an easterly passage in northeasterly winds and it took us about 19 hours. If we had to beat our way into the normal east or southeast winds it would have taken a lot longer and been a lot more uncomfortable. This time when Rick experienced his “Mal de Mer” I had Ray de Pilot not only to keep me company but to steer through some waves and seas that I would not have been able to handle. The best things about the passage were the rainbows. While it was still daylight we saw many huge rainbows from end to end with colours so vibrant it appeared to be painted on the sky. We motor sailed right under the arches of one of them. Something I could never have imagined, were night-time rainbows. The moon was still almost full and so bright (when it was visible) that it gave off enough light to create rainbows in the dark. There were no visible colours in the rainbow but they were certainly discernible.
It was somewhere around 8:30AM when we arrived in our anchorage. The last 5
miles had been directly into the wind and it was a slow slog. We dropped
the anchor and did a few necessary cleanup things before getting ready for a
sleep. Neither one of us had slept at all last night. I needed a
quick shower to remove the layer of salt spray. Rick couldn’t even wait
for that, he took a pillow and laid down in the cockpit. We both woke at
noon and had one of the supposedly “meals for underway” that we hadn’t eaten
yesterday. I thought I heard some voices outside and sure enough, it was
the fishermen trying to rouse everyone in the other boats. I went on deck
and waved to them. They yelled “mis amigos” and quickly came to our boat.
The five of them all climbed aboard and I had pictures to show them from when we
were here last. They didn’t know any of the fishermen in the picture,
which was strange, but then they told me that it was Las Aves where we had met
not here. They were the ones that brought us lobster and fish everyday
while we were there. They traded lobster for cigarettes with us but when I
tried to get some lobster for Dan and Joan, they wanted “dinero” (money) for
theirs. At this time of the year most fishermen are asking for money
because there are so many cruisers passing by. They invited Rick and I to
their Ranchero (fishing hut) for something to eat later. I would have
loved to have gone but we’re not going to drop the dinghy here as we’re
contemplating leaving tomorrow.
Rick cleaned the lobster and I froze it. We will have this one when we’re in Puerto La Cruz where lobsters aren’t available.
We had a wonderful nights sleep. The wind was strong and gusty but we were anchored in about 8 feet of water with deep sand. Rick put out about 100 feet of 3/8 BBB chain so we certainly weren’t concerned about dragging. There was no roll only a gentle rocking motion.
In the morning we spoke to Mike (Wombat of Sydney) on the SSB. The
squalls that we had travelled through on our way to Tortuga continued to make
their way to Los ques and hit in the anchorage from where we had left.
Mike said they were very strong and produced at least 3 waterspouts that he saw.
One of the waterspouts hit a boat anchored nearby them. It spun the boat
45 degrees and at the same time heeled it over 20 degrees. Needless to say
they were a little concerned about us being underway. I’m sort of glad
that we were underway and not sitting in that anchorage.
Rick resolved the bilge pump problem. It was just a dirty strainer that needed cleaning. Neither KaraDream nor we wanted to lower our dinghies and we decided that it would be wise to stock up on lobster while we were here. Dan (Mainly) came to the rescue and volunteered to chauffeur all of the women ashore to the fishing camp to buy more lobster. I purchased a couple more 2 kilo lobsters so all together we now have 6 kilos in the freezer. We then went over to one of the fishing boats to get some fresh fish as well. The fish we will eat either tonight or tomorrow.
Later my fishermen friends from Las Aves came by. Although I didn’t
want anything I gave them the last of the cigarettes I had on board. They
gave me a nice big eye, red snapper whether I wanted it or not. Rick has
become really good at cleaning the fish and lobsters. He doesn’t even
flinch anymore. The fishermen will always fillet the fish if we ask but we
prefer to take them whole.
The winds were strong all day but started to diminish around 4PM. We had a couple of group conference calls on the VHF. Mainly, KaraDream and us plan to leave at midnight and go along the west end of Tortuga on our way to Isla La Borracha. Cheers, Distant Drummer and Allie Cat who are all at an anchorage on the east end of Tortuga plan to leave at 4AM and head for Margarita Island.
We all had a bite to eat and rested until midnight.
The anchor was raised just a little before midnight. Rick and I were leading the other boats on the way out between the islands in the dark. We had our electronic track from 6 months ago when we first visited Tortuga. The passage is wide and has no hazards but it was still nice to know that we were following a path we had previously travelled.
Once out in the open water we had one of the nicest passages any of us could remember. The moon was still quite full and bright. Orion with all his regalia was directly above us. The sky remained clear and full of stars all night. The waves were about 4 to 6 feet and the winds 15 to 20 knots. We as usual motor sailed with a reefed main and the full headsail.p>
Rick saw a shooting star. We started to have a discussion that we’ve had many times before as to whether it was a falling star or a meteor. I don’t know any songs about meteors so we both agreed that it was a falling star. This provided me with the opportunity to hum not one song all night but two, “Catch a falling star” and “By the light of the silvery moon”. Every boat needs entertainment of some type.
When the sun came up, the hills of Venezuela around the Puerto La Cruz area and all of the out islands that comprise Mochima Park were clearly visible, dead ahead. This was strange for us after being gone for 6 months. When travelling in Tortuga, Los Roques, Los Aves and even the southern end of Bonaire land cannot be seen from even 5 miles away because it is so low and flat.
We arrived at Isla La Borracha at 10:30AM. We set the anchor and had a short siesta. KaraDream arrived and anchored next to us. It is a very small anchorage. Mainly arrived about 12:30PM and tried but couldn’t get their anchor to set. They decided to continue on to Puerto La Cruz, which was only 8 miles from here. We stayed with KaraDream.
I I had a wonderful shower, manicure, pedicure etc. and prepared to meet and mix with civilization again. We barbecued the fresh fish we received from the fishermen for dinner and then went to bed early.
