I think Rick is hoping to stay a little longer in this bay. Before breakfast he was on deck putting up the sun awning. I made this a major laundry day and strip the bed and gathered absolutely everything except our bathing suits which we were wearing. The first load of laundry was dry by early afternoon. The next was almost dry by dinner time and with no rain in sight, I left it on the line under the sun awning.
We thought we were a baby boat at anchor here with all of the 45+ foot boats. Today an 85+ and 60+ arrived and anchored making us feel like a newborn.
I am having absolutely no say in the menu lately. It is being determined for me by the speed in which the fruit and vegetables are ripening. We had watermelon for a snack, avocado as an appetiser and almost some sweet plantains with dinner but they had gone a little too far. I'm not sure why everything is ripening so quickly but in Mochima we will have the ability to replace some of our fresh produce before leaving.
Rick must have been dreaming refrigeration last night. He woke up a couple of times and then sat and watched the thermostat on the refrigeration. When I asked him what the problem was he said that the compressor had been on more than it had been off and that there was no frost on the evaporator plate. He wanted to shut the fridge off until morning (this was 4AM) which I said was fine as long as we could go back to sleep.
In the morning everything was still nicely frozen so he got out the gauges to check the Freon level (R-134A). The high pressure hose was missing it's "O" ring so he couldn't attach it. We looked everywhere but it didn't show up. The last boat he worked on with the hoses was Makai, so Bill will probably find a little "O" ring sitting near his compressor. Rick attached the hose and gauge to the low pressure side of the compressor and I turned the fridge back on. It booted up nicely and the frost immediately rose to the top of the evaporator plate. We decided that the Freon was not the problem and we would just keep an eye on it for a while. We regularly turn the fridge off and on when using the SSB. I was sure that it just became confused at times otherwise hopefully it was just a captains nightmare and there wasn't really a problem.
We didn't have to watch for long, the black box started giving us an error message of low batteries. Rick also heard the relay switch turning on and off when it shouldn't so figured that the relay was the problem.
We just happened to have a couple of spare relays so it should have been a quick swap. Not so! Nothing on a boat is a quick swap. It was difficult to get at the relay and while trying to install the new one, Rick accidentally broke the wire on the fan that cools the evaporator, now he was into having to solder some wires. Eventually, when everything was back together and the fridge turned back on he was getting the same error and the frost level was getting low again. Out came the meter and sure enough, the batteries were a little low so he ran the engine for a while. The error message disappeared and the frost level on the freezer was good.
This process took most of the day and in between all of the work, we had breakfast and lunch. A tropical wave passed by and we collected a couple of pails of rain water that I thought we could use later for our showers.
After sitting in the cockpit locker most of the day Rick was exhausted, sweaty and ready for a swim. We both jumped in and swam around the boat for quite a while. Afterwards the pails of water provided a nice "amp free" shower. We didn't have to use the water maker, it was free.
We had our sundowners and discussed the battery situation. Our house batteries are Surrette and should have lasted 7 years. They are currently into the sixth year and we have used them 24 hours a day with high loads placed on them. When fully charged, they use to give us about
3 days worth of amps. Since we still have had no wind for the wind generator and the solar panels only function for about half the day in rainy season we have to run the engine every day. They have been good but we both think it's time to buy some new ones. The starter battery is a Trojan that was purchased new in Bonaire a year ago and has never been great. It doesn't seem strong enough on it's own to turn over the engine like our old AC Delco so we end up having to use the combiner switch.
Although we really wanted to gunk hole around here for a while, we both feel that we should start heading towards Trinidad where we can get some fresh AMP power. We're not going to rush but probably the day after tomorrow we'll start to take down the sun awning and prepare to leave for Margarita Island enroute to Trinidad.
When we awoke, the evaporator plate was still frosted, so all was well in paradise. We each chose to do whatever we wanted today. No big projects were allowed. Rick decided to strip and Cetol the wood around the combings in the cockpit. I decided to bake some raisin bran muffins.
We no longer played music, or used the computer unnecessarily (short emails) DVD's were definitely out. Lights were turned off when not in use. We are conserving AMPs.
By lunch time, Rick had finished sanding applied the first coat of Cetol. I had cleaned up from my baking and washed the towels. Towels are the most difficult item to wash by hand. They are heavy and use a lot of water to rinse properly. I think in order to save water and therefore AMPs we'll try using our small micro-fibre towels.
We had a short siesta after lunch giving Rick time to run the engine and apply another coat of Cetol. All is fair with regard to AMPs while the engine is running. I used the computer and caught up on some emails while I ran the water maker.
Neither of us felt like having a swim so we went straight to sundowners in the cockpit followed by pizza for dinner.
Well the fridge kept us up, off and on all night again. It appeared as though it was cycling on and off every minute. In the morning we learned that really only the pump and fan had been cycling. The compressor had rarely kicked in accounting for the loss of frost again. First thing in the morning Rick changed the black box (electronic control unit). It seemed to fix the problem we'll just keep an eye on it again.
We heard the wind generator start up before lunch and couldn't believe our ears. Really we could, the forecast was for increased wind and seas today that's why we chose not to leave quite yet. We had off and on sun and wind most of the day. The fridge was behaving so well I even put an ice cube tray in the freezer. We had to run the engine to boost the batteries again but as long as we could get the engine to start, running it was not an issue.
A siesta was definitely in order as we both needed to catch up on missed zzzz's from last night.
It was a good plan but didn't happen. As soon as we closed our eyes it started to rain so we ran around and closed hatches and ports and watched the best winds we've had since we left dock.
I made a meat and tomato base sauce in the afternoon using 2/3 ground beef and 1/3 TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) Granules. I had never used this before or even considered using it, but our friend Marci
(Windmiller) made us some spaghetti sauce one night using only TVP (no ground beef) and it was really good. When they flew home one of the things she gave us was the remaining TVP they had on board. I put it away until we were out at anchor thinking that it would be a great way to stretch the ground beef. It certainly is. You could not tell by taste that there was anything other than ground beef in the sauce. I made a lot of the base sauce and then separated it into different containers. I added mushrooms and Italian spices for spaghetti sauce and lasagne to a portion of it, the rest I froze to use as a base to make some chilli. It was a good afternoon.
There was a lot of rain in the afternoon. We watched as the nice blue water around the town of Mochima turned brown with the run off from the hills. There was a definite brown line in the water that expanded out away from the town and eventually made its way toward where we were anchored. It will settle down before tomorrow. I put a couple of pails out again to see how much rain water I could catch. The water tanks were full but this was getting to be fun. There was enough for both Rick and I to have a shower but since it was dark by then the water was cool, so some one other than myself wimped out. He used the fresh water deck wash instead which ended up being just as cool anyway.
We've had weeks of flat seas and no wind and now that we are discussing moving on, the wind has picked up, the seas are lumpy and Tropical Depression 9 has just been reported. We're sitting in a nice little hurricane hole so we'll wait and make sure that this storm turns north before we head out to sea.
The good news we received first thing in the morning was that Tropical Depression 9 had already turned North West and may miss the island chain completely. The no so good news was that a TUT (Tropical Upper level Trough) had formed just off the Caribbean. This I believe is the first TUT this year and they can be a pain by hanging around for a long time.
This one seems to be drifting North as the forecast is for everything to die down after the weekend. Meanwhile the TUT can bring strong gusty winds and microbursts.
Since we have the time, we'll wait until after the weekend before moving.
After the weather (6:30AM) and breakfast Rick continued on with cetolling the wood. I made some English muffins for breakfast tomorrow morning. Although, we had to at least try them for lunch today.
In the afternoon we went for a nice swim and snorkel returning to the boat just in time to see the large black clouds coming over the hills.
We showered and then sat in the cockpit with our sundowners waiting for the down pour. Rick was ecstatic that he was finally able to use homemade ice cubes again. The rain never came but we did get some nice strong winds.
Finally I made dinner (Lasagne) which we ate in the cockpit.
We had "Eggs Mc Muffins" or in our case it was probably "Los huevos Wind-Muffins". I was able to serve them with some nice back bacon (Lomo) that I still had in the freezer.
Rick finished the cetol on the cockpit table in the morning. I just tidied and read. Right after breakfast (nothing to do with the muffins) the captain complained of an upset stomach so we didn't do much for the rest of the day. He was served chicken noodle soup for lunch, pasta with milk and butter for dinner and not allowed any beer or rum. He claimed to be totally cured by happy hour however the onboard doctor (me) was not willing to accept that.
It was a beautiful day and Rick was feeling much better. Right after breakfast he lowered the dinghy and we took the garbage to town and picked up a loaf of bread. When he was lowering the dingy, Gregory made an appearance. He had been sleeping in the coiled rope for the davits.
Rick gently placed him the combing and told him we wouldn't be gone long. Before returning to the boat we went for a dinghy tour of another part of the bay. Again we found bays within the bay. There were a lot of mangrove areas but as well there were a few white sand beaches. We both agreed that the bay of Mochima reminds us of Percy Lake in Haliburton.
Granted there are reeds rather than mangroves in Haliburton and we certainly won't find loons down here but there are other birds to look at and listen to but the other difference is that water here is nice and warm.
When we returned to our boat we found that most of the other boats had left. There was a small French flagged boat and ourselves still anchored in a small bay off the town.
After lunch and a siesta a few more boats arrived. We were the still the only Canadian boat, the others that arrived were French and Swiss.
We ran the engine for a while and then sat in the cockpit for happy hour. While we were watching the sun get lower in the sky, I guess we were really having sundowners, Gregory wandered out of the combing and headed back towards the stern of the boat to look for some small flying bugs (mosquitoes). Rick suggested we get a picture of him but he's so fast and gets into the most awkward places that a picture will be a challenge that I will have to work on.
We had an international dinner, with memories of the old Fran's Restaurant in Toronto. Hot roast beef sandwich using Libby's canned beef from Brazil but purchased in Bonaire was excellent, the seasoned peas by Del Monte were imported from Columbia or Ecuador, the seasoning we used was Salsa Inglesa (also known as Worcestershire sauce) made in Venezuela by Heinz, the bread, Bimbo, was also made in Venezuela, last but not least, the tropical fruit salad for dessert was canned by Del Monte but from Thailand.
This was to be our get ready to leave day . Rick had already top up the diesel tank using the jerry cans. We had cleaned the filters and strainers on the water maker, which were terrible. The water here is a lovely clear turquoise colour but its still mangrove water and this was very obvious when we were cleaning the strainers.
We had just finished lunch when all of a sudden our plans changed.
Torrential rain arrived with no warning at all. The sun awning that had been good and dry for packing away was still up and becoming totally soaked. The dinghy was in its davits waiting to be lowered so we could remove the outboard in preparation for our departure.
The deluge lasted all afternoon. The brown runoff water from the hills surrounded our boat and the others in no time. We curled up with our book and read for the rest of the afternoon. The weather report looked better for Wednesday so we'll hang in here another day.
When the rain finally let up there was a gorgeous red sunset. I ran to get the camera and rushed to the cockpit to capture the picture.
Wouldn't you know it, the camera decided to act up. I have no picture of the sunset and no working camera onboard now. The camera display identified the problem as a memory card error so I replaced the card with another that we have never used. I read the manual, tried reformatting the card and everything else I could think of, the camera is dead. It will have to make a trip back to Canada and meanwhile I'll have to pick up a small spare in (duty free) Margarita Island while we're there. There is now way that I can travel without a camera. My pictures are my memories because my memory is so short.
We weren't going to take any chances today. The forecast was for a beautiful day, probably a little too nice. The sky was clear, the seas were flat and there was almost no wind at all. As soon as the sun dried off the awning and the deck Rick was out removing and folding it and it wasn't quite 10AM. Down below, I was busy baking a carrot cake to nibble on tomorrow while we are underway. It got a little warm with the awning gone and the oven on but I knew it would be easier to baking in the morning than it would be during the afternoon heat.
Just before lunch, Rick lowered the dinghy and I helped him remove the outboard and hoist it onto the motor mount. He put the dinghy back in the davits and secured it for our trip tomorrow. We as usual, ran the engine but now it's necessary to combine our starter battery and all of the house banks to get it started.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing and reading.
The alarm went off at 5AM. Rick got up and made the coffee while I went back to bed. I thought that a departure time of 6AM was unnecessarily early for a 35 mile trip. Rick relented and we changed our departure time to 7AM which also allowed us to listen to Eric's weather report on SSB before leaving. This was interesting because according to Eric, there was to be no weather; no wind, no waves and almost no swell. When heading east (which we were) no wind is better than anything because the normal trade winds are from the east.
Rick went out to remove the snubber from the anchor line which usually takes him less than 5 minutes. He was almost ½ hour removing it. Our snubber is attached to the bottom of the bobstay with a clevis. This allows us to eliminate the distance from the waterline to the deck when calculating the amount of rode required for the anchor line. The snubber is then totally below water. We were anchored in 30 feet of water for about 2 weeks and during that time we must have turned 360 degrees on our anchor many times. The snubber was totally twisted around the anchor line and Rick was trying to untwist it. That was what was taking him so long. Once that problem was finally resolved we started to raise the anchor. This was taking forever as well, for some reason the anchor wouldn't break loose. Finally I drove forward over it. Even after that it seemed to take Rick for ever to get it up. Later he told me that the problem was that the anchor windlass that normally requires no servicing at all needs a bit of oil as it is almost seized.
Finally, a little after 8AM we made our way out of Mochima Bay. The sea was totally flat and there wasn't even a hint of wind in the air. We motored along with the mainsail up watching the multitudes of young boobies going through training sessions. There were many very young ones with just the edges of their wings and their tail that was dark, the rest of their body was still fluffy white. These were the youngest and they appeared to be practicing touch and go landings. When it wasn't their turn to fly they seemed to just float on the water and watch the white breasted (a little older) boobies practice dive bombing the fish.
There were so many dive bombings going on at the same time we couldn't believe that there weren't casualties. There were hundreds of them all diving at the same time in the same spot. There were a few totally dark boobies (the old professors) who seemed to give instructions and kept an eye on the younger ones.
We had dolphins in every direction all day long but one particular huge pod of 20 of more dolphins with young ones came and played by the boat.
The water was so clear that we could see them dive way down deep at the bow and rush up quickly again to jump and cross over side to side. There were so many of them you would think that they would bump into each other but it appeared to be well orchestrated.
We meandered on this way for quite a while heading almost directly north. Gradually we noticed that there seemed to be a westerly swell building. It got to about 3 to 6 feet on our beam with only a couple of seconds between each swell. We were definitely wallowing. Finally a bit of a breeze came up and filled the sail just enough to reduce the wallow. We only had about 6 more miles to go and we would clear the shallows and could change course and head east. As soon as we turned the corner it was lovely. We had a following sea and a light breeze to keep us comfortable. Gradually the swells diminished and we were left with the breeze off our stern. Rick and I both went up and sat on the bow admiring the extremely steep mountains of Margarita. All morning, we had watched the tall cumulous clouds build higher and higher over the mountains. Now that it was almost noon, we could see some higher winds breaking the clouds apart. Gradually there was only a low level stretch of clouds over the mountains. We were getting close to our destination, the island of Cubagua and could see inside the bay where there were boats already anchored. The swell was now from the northwest and was rolling right in through the anchorage putting the boats in there on a lee shore. I could see Rick's brain working, it was after 1:30PM we could anchor in there and roll until the swell and wind changed or we could keep on going another 25 miles to Porlamar. It would be close making it before dark but we both decided that conditions were so perfect we had to give it a try. Even if we had to go into Porlamar in the dark we knew it well enough that it wouldn't have been a problem.
I punched the new route into the GPS, Ray continued on and we headed of Porlamar. Normally, the wind is honking through this passage from the east. The waves are not normally high but when trying to head east they can be uncomfortable yet here we were, a bit of a swell on our stern, the breeze behind us and the sun shining to beat the band. At times we were making close to 7 knots but it didn't last forever. As we reached the Island of Coche, the winds did a sudden change and were back to their normal easterly direction. This slowed us down to about 5 knots and we still had 12 miles to go. Eventually we rounded the corner and we could see hundreds of masts along the shore of Porlamar (Venezuela is certainly the place to be this year). We worked our way to the back of the pack found what looked like a good spot and dropped the anchor just as the sky was turning pink. The breeze was picking up and it seemed like it would be a perfect sleeping night. It was my duty to pour the drinks as Rick neatly flaked the main sail. We decided that since it was unlikely we would have rain tonight, the main sail cover could wait until tomorrow to be put on.
We sat in the cockpit for a while and reminisced. We could see the large clouds over the mainland of Venezuela and the lightening show was just beginning. We use to watch this happen when we were in Margarita at this time a couple of years ago and it always amazed us how they got so much rain on the mainland and we got so little. We had a snack for dinner as we were both more tired than we were hungry. We were just closing up the boat when the storm closed in on us. The wind changed direction again, the rain started and for effect there was a little thunder and lightening thrown in. Since we had no idea how long the boats in front of us had been anchored there we weren't sure if they might drag. So I sat in the cockpit for a while and watched. Porlamar is referred to as Rollamar by most cruisers and this was a perfect night for the name.
We had anchored well both in holding and positioning. There were no boats close enough that we had to worry. The bucking bronco ride began.
It only lasted about ¾ hour and then we switched to the corkscrew. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open when finally the rocking and rolling had settled enough that I wouldn't be thrown out of bed so we locked up and hit the sack.
We awoke to a beautiful day. After listening to the local cruisers net we called Chuck and Elaine (Manana) and arranged to meet them at Jak's restaurant in the afternoon. We went ashore with plans to check in, but Juan (Juan's Marina) asked us to bring the boat papers in tomorrow for check-in. We went to Vemasca and found our new starter battery. They put it on a nice slow charge and we agreed to return to pick it up at 5PM.
Meanwhile because we still had our boat papers with us we didn't want to roam around downtown so we returned to the anchorage.
On our way back to the boat we stopped by Meander to say hello to Lawrence. We ended up talking for quite a while eventually returning to our own boat while the anchorage was reasonably flat. It was a good time to remove the mast light to see why it isn't working. Rick climbed and I manned the safety line. When he brought down the light we found some water had leaked into it. He just opened it and laid it on the deck to dry. Meanwhile, next on the to-do list was the watermaker. It was still not producing enough water and both the pressure and amp draw was low.
Rick pulled out one of the feed pumps, removed the head and found it nice and clean. Next he removed not only the initial strainer but the attachment hose and found it needed a little cleaning. Each time we started up the watermaker we still had the same problem. We had to leave the additional trouble shooting for tomorrow because it was just about 3PM when we had agreed to meet with Chuck and Elaine. We did a quick clean up and headed to shore again. We had a nice couple of hours with them and then had to go to Vemasca to pick up the battery. We had a taxi take us there and wait for us so we were back in no time. Rick put the battery in the dinghy and we returned to the restaurant where we had dinner with Janet and Weedy (Plenum), who had just arrived. We also ran into Edgar who was our favourite dock boy two years ago. We were really surprised to see him because we knew he had moved to the U.S. He told us that he returned 3 months ago and was driving taxi for here awhile but that he would return to the U.S. again in a few months.
We were both tired when we returned to the boat for the night. There was suppose to be a meteor shower at about 3AM but Rick said not to set the alarm, if we get up okay if not there will be others.
He's faster than a speeding bullet and stands on his head regularly. He must be the captain of Wind-Borne III! While I was having my first coffee of the morning Rick was already checking out the now dry, masthead light. It worked fine and he found a washer that might not have been seated properly. Once it was put back together this time however he applied a small bead of silicone, just in case. The minute we finished breakfast and before I even had a chance to start washing the dishes he was onto the next job. He pulled apart the aft cabin to get to the battery bank under the bunk and installed the new starter battery.
There was a bit of customizing needed to be done on the battery box but a rasp file did the job. While everything was all pulled apart he checked and topped up the water in the house batteries. With the new battery installed he was anxious to start the engine but first checked the oil and coolant. The big test went perfectly. The engine starts like it's old self again. Rick was still on the run. As I was putting the aft cabin back together he was pulling everything out of the cockpit locker so that he could check the water level in the other battery banks. Next I found him waving down the fuel boat. He made arrangements with them to come back early tomorrow morning by which time he would have emptied the jerry cans and need them refilled. It was now 9:30AM, and we had to take the boat papers into Juan so that we could be officially checked-in with customs. This sounds strange because we are still in Venezuela but because Margarita Island is duty free, it's necessary to check in and out between here and the mainland. It was low tide and tricky getting to and up on the dinghy dock so Rick drove me ashore and stayed with the dinghy while I ran the papers into Juan. Back at the boat he was onto the next project. Resolve the watermaker problem. We knew it wasn't a problem with the watermaker we just weren't getting a good flow of water. Rick had already checked the strainer thoroughly so now he used a coat hanger and checked the short piece of hose between the thru-hull and the strainer. Sure enough, he found it partially blocked. When everything was back together we tried the water maker using only one pump. Oh, Oh, another problem. The fan that cools the pump wasn't running. It was time to pull the mattress out of the forward cabin now so that he could do his headstands in there. The fan was removed and tested; everything was fine so he suggested that it might have been a loose wire. Everything reinstalled and I turn the water maker on again. Oh, oh, the fan still wasn't running. Wouldn't you know it, we hadn't discussed which pump we would use. Either he was checking the wrong pump or I turned the wrong one on. Either way we were both working with different pumps. Once we coordinated our efforts everything was fine.
The water maker was running as it should and another problem was resolved.
We had a quick lunch and went ashore for a flea market. We had a few things to get rid of and I was hoping that Edgar would be there to take us to get some cash. Edgar didn't show up all afternoon and we ended up giving our things away at the flea market just to get rid of them. It was dinner time when we returned to the boat and Rick still had to empty the jerry cans as the fuel boat was to arrive at 7:30AM tomorrow morning. I promised that I would put the ice cubes in the ice bucket and prepare the sundowners while he did the fuel. We ended up having lovely calm evening with lots of stars and even the odd meteorite or falling star according to Rick. It was well after dark when we finally had a light dinner of crackers, cheese and pate before going to bed.
The fuel boat was a little late, it didn't arrive until 8AM. We had finished breakfast and I was doing the dishes when it came by. Once that job was done, Rick and I met on the bow to tackle the manual windlass problem. It needed some oil or grease but the bolt on the access hole on top of the unit was seized. The only other way to get to the gears was through another access hole under the unit. The task now was to try and remove the whole windlass from the deck. It was definitely a two person job and we were successful. I was keenly interested in keeping an eye on this job because the last time (back in Toronto) that Rick serviced the windlass he removed the two bolts at the same time and all of the gears fell every which way. Since I am the winch wench it fell into my realm of responsibilities to figure out where each of the gears fit, in order to put it back together. I was trying to avoid the same thing from happening again. We worked on it together in the cockpit by just spraying oil in through the bottom access hole. This windlass does not normally require oil or grease but the salt is really hard on everything so we thought we'd try a bit of oil. When it was reinstalled on the bow and Rick was able to give it a few cranks it seemed much better but the true test will come when we put it under load to lift the anchor.
In the afternoon we met with Weedy, Janet (Plenum), Chuck and Elaine (Manana) to go to a German Restaurant in Pampatar. We had been there before with Chuck and had an amazing German meal. When we arrived this time, the place looked the same with all of the signage in still in German but the menu was all Italian. The German lady (The Grandmother who the Restaurant is named for) was away for a few weeks. We had a few beers and everyone agreed to try our favourite restaurant in downtown Porlamar. We asked the waiter to call a couple of taxis for us and when we went to leave he walked outside to hail them for us. Well in a town the size of Pampatar, if there was a taxi going by it had people in it.
We finally decided to take a bus back to town. While walking to the bus stop one of the large old taxis came by and we waved it down. Since they were so scarce here we decided to all climb in. This was not an easy task because we were 6 and none of us were small. We wedged ourselves in and we were thankful that the car had good suspension. When we arrived at the Mediteranneo Restaurant we learned that it didn't open until 7PM for dinner. It was only 5PM and we were all getting hungry. There was a wood oven pizza restaurant right across the street so we decided that that was where we would eat. After dinner we walked down the street to the 4D Ice Cream place for coffee and dessert.
It was 7PM when we arrived back at the marina and we had just enough light to return to the boat without a flashlight which none of us had. The flashlight is required to be visible to other dinghies or small boats not in order to find our boats as we all know where we left them.
Rick went up the mast this morning while the sea was reasonably flat and returned our mast head lights. With all projects completed we talked about doing a little shopping on Monday and Tuesday and maybe leaving on Wednesday. Rick said there was just one more job he had to do and that was to change the oil which he would do today.
It had to be, things were just going too smoothly. When Rick removed the oil dipstick which he had done only a couple of days ago, he found water on it mixed with the oil. This was not good and our plans were immediately changed as we discussed our options. It was my first choice not to leave and go adrift somewhere between here and Trinidad. Second choice was to go to the marina at the Hilton Hotel where we could be at dock with electricity and not have to run the engine for power while we had a new oil cooler shipped in. By the way, the house batteries seem to be performing well now as long as the wind generator is running which it wasn't as there still was no wind (typical hurricane season weather).
Third choice was to go to Chacachacari where there is a haul out yard but we didn't really want to haul out again. Rick went ahead and completed the oil change and then we took a taxi over to the Hilton Hotel to see if there was a slip available. Since it was Sunday afternoon there was only the security guard on duty. He gave us the dock master's name, Senor Cruz, and suggested that we call him tomorrow. We left the marina and since we couldn't do anything else we went looking for a new camera.
Our friends Janet and Weedy (Plenum) had already searched for a new camera and found the best prices were at the downtown Rattan store.
That's where we went and there had been a big sale but most of the really inexpensive ones were already sold out. We decided to buy another Canon. This one is not as good as our original but it will be a good back up.
We returned to the boat and found that the wind had picked up a bit. We really needed all the AMPs the wind generator would give us. I didn't use the computer, we didn't turn on the SSB to listen to the weather. It was a good night to sit and read. Rick offered to make pasta for dinner but as he was draining it, the tail pipe on the sink drain started to leak. Some days we both question how much fun we're really having out here. It wasn't a big deal we had spares. The only tail pipes we have found in Venezuela are aluminium and because we sit so low in the water (a true cruising boat), the salt water is often sitting in or splashing up into the tail pipe and it eventually disintegrates. We found a plastic one somewhere so we'll give it a try tomorrow. Meanwhile I sat in the cockpit and washed the dishes in a pail. It was almost like camping.
As the wind got stronger we started to have mixed feelings about it. Yes we wanted the AMPs but it was getting to the point that if it lasted much longer we would be in for a rolly night. It did and we rocked and rolled all night.
When I awoke in the morning, my coffee was ready and waiting but when I tried to turn on the SSB Rick quickly said no AMPs. No problem, we could hear the weather on the local net on VHF at 8AM. Meanwhile I turned the fridge off for an hour. It worked great, as soon as the sun came up and the solar panels were hard at work I turned the fridge back on and we were back up to 12.5 AMPs within a couple of hours.
Meanwhile we left the boat and hired a taxi for an hour. Our first stop was to see Senor Cruz at the marina. That went well. He had a spot for us with electricity. We left there and stopped at the grocery store where we bought large jugs of water, lots of paper towel and garbage bags. All of this was required for multiple oil changes. Our next stop was at Vemasca where we placed a special order for a new oil cooler. If the dealer (in Florida) has it in stock it could be here (not through customs) by Wednesday. If it is not in stock, it won't arrive until the following Wednesday at the earliest.
We were back to the anchorage within the hour. The first thing we did was put our secondary anchor (Fortress) on the pushput (stern of the boat), with the chain in a pail in the cockpit and the line flaked on deck.
We had a quick lunch of leftover pizza that we had brought back from the restaurant on Saturday.
It wasn't far to the Hilton Marina so we towed the dinghy and motored around. Once inside the marina, I put out the fenders then took the helm. As we got just about to where we were going to dock, Rick dropped and set the stern anchor. We did a quick roll change, he took the helm while I passed the bow lines to Senor Cruz and a couple of other boaters who had come to assist. It went so smoothly you would think that we dock this way all the time (we don't).
Senor Cruz, checked our hydro connection and went to get a connector to match ours. He took the boat information, sent the water truck and made sure that we had everything we needed.
Rick gave the engine a freshwater rinse while I backwashed the watermaker. Next, he fixed the sink drain while I started to catch up with email.
We had sundowners and dinner in the cockpit then relaxed for the rest of the evening.
There wasn't a lot we had to do today so we took it slow and easy. Rick put up the sun awning and changed the oil again. The oil looked good but he said that maybe that was because when he ran the engine. Coming over here he kept the RPM's to 1500 to keep the oil pressure down. What do I know?
In the afternoon, we hadn't been able to raise Vemasca on the radio so Rick went via taxi to check things out. Everything was under control.
The new oil cooler should be here either this Friday or soon after.
I changed the bedding and gathered laundry but never got any further than that. We sat in the cockpit and watched for some excitement but things seem to be a little dull here. Or they were until we went to bed.
Since we are now in a very touristy area of Porlamar there are some night clubs that boom the music until all of hours of the morning. The music plus the krill chomping at the hull which we haven't heard in a long time kept me awake most of the night. The music ended at 4:30AM. It will take time to get used to the new sounds!
Today was the complete opposite of yesterday. We took a taxi with our laundry to a nearby plaza and left it with the lady for a wash and fold service. Before leaving the plaza we stopped at an internet café as I have been having difficulty sending and receiving email using the HAM radio while in the marina. This is normal because of all the RF interference.
We took a bus from the plaza and went downtown to get some cash and to send our broken camera home using a courier service. The first thing we did was hit a bank and this was our excitement for the day.
I couldn't believe what I did and I realized it immediately. I went to an ATM to get some more cash. I didn't see a Cirrus or Plus sign so I wasn't going to bother when a guy waiting for the machine said that this bank works for international visas. I went in and there were two things at the machine to put your card in. I was ignoring the one when the guy beside me said that for international cards you had to use the swiper first. He was so insistent that I swiped my card. As soon as I did it I knew that I shouldn't have. I have read about these scams where they have a reader that captures all of your card information. I reached and pulled it off the machine and sure enough, the swiper was very official looking but it was only held on with double sided tape. The guy beside me looked shocked. He said that it belonged to the bank. I should have walked off with it but instead I told him that they were banditos and left. We went to another bank to get some cash but we walked back to the original bank and sure enough the swiper and the men were gone. I went into the bank and explained what happened and told them I wanted to cancel my card. They were very helpful but they were sitting on hold with Caracas forever. I said that I would go to a cafe and call Canada rather than Caracas (they could not call outside of Venezuela) to cancel it. I went to an internet café and made a call to Visa Canada to have the card cancelled.
After that bit of excitement we walked to DHL and sent our camera home.
A quick stop to pick up some bread at the grocery store and we were back on a bus heading for the marina. It was almost time for a sundowner, so we sat in the cockpit of the boat and enjoyed the lack of events in the marina.
We're now into a waiting game with nothing actually planned. Rick spent a couple of hours in the morning and polished some stainless steel.
We then left and headed downtown where we came across a nice local restaurant at lunch time. The daily special was pargo (red snapper) which we both ordered.
We took the bus back to the marina and had an afternoon siesta. It was a little after 5PM when we walked back out to the bus stop and went to the plaza to retrieve the clean laundry.
We were back on the boat in time for sundowners but dinner was cancelled due to lack of interest. Lunch had been large and filling so we each had an apple instead of dinner.
This morning we took a taxi to a refrigeration supply store and Rick was able to buy the washer he is missing for the refrigeration gauges. While we were there we picked up a bottle of 134a (Freon) since we're not sure if we can purchase it in some of the other islands. We let the taxi go once we knew we could get what we needed. We walked from the supply store to the pedestrian mall which was only a couple of blocks away. Rick desperately needed some new light weight cotton shirts which we found for a good price in a discount store. They are knock offs of a designer brand and were less than $10 each.
When we finished shopping we took a bus back to the marina and had lunch on board. My plan was to spend the afternoon at the beach. We have access to the Hilton Hotel beach just on the other side of the marina and it looks inviting. Rick suggested it was too hot at this time of the day (noon) and that we should have a siesta and go a little later. We did just that, but then it would have interfered with happy hour so he didn't want to go then. We now have an agreement that we will spend tomorrow morning at the beach.
As we sat in the cockpit looking around for some excitement we noticed a very large storm cell approaching. So large that I wanted the windward bow line doubled up. Sure enough, it was packing some very strong winds.
Not much rain but forked lightening that was spectacular. This is when it is nice to be tucked into a marina. I knew that the boats in the anchorage would be rocking and rolling. It didn't take long and we started to hear the conversations on the radio that a boat was dragging through the anchorage.
When the excitement died down, I went below to make dinner. I made cottage pie for dinner which I used to call shepherds pie until one of our Brit friends asked me when I last saw a shepherd watching a flock of cows. If it's made with beef it is cottage pie and only when lamb is used can it be called shepherds pie.
Today was our wedding anniversary and I only just realized that I have been married to Rick for more than half of my life. He can't make that claim yet because he's a little older. We both agreed that we would try to make it a special day.
We began with bacon and eggs for breakfast, served in the cockpit. The entertainment was provided by the Guardia Nacional. They normally dock two of their ships here in the marina. We watched the large one (with the machine guns mounted at the bow and stern) come in followed by a Venezuelan mothership (large fishing boat) and crew. The fishing boat rafted and tied off of the Guardia Nacional boat. Within minutes the police cars started arriving. I think just about every police car within a five mile range of Porlamar was in the marina parking. The Guardia Nacional was swarming over the fishing boat as the crew were all sitting together side by side along the rail. Eventually 3 paddy wagons arrived and they took the crew away. We were pretty sure that it was a drug bust but we both wondered what happened to all of the nice fresh fish onboard.
When our interest in watching the drug bust diminished we donned our bathing suits and went to the beach. It was early morning so there were very few people there. One lady who must have been an actress was walking along the waters edge reading and practicing her lines. The only other people there other than us, were a middle aged European couple who appeared to be on their honeymoon. We think they were European because she was walking along the beach topless. The Venezuelan ladies wear very skimpy bathing suits but they would never go topless. Rick now calls this the white nipple beach. After a refreshing swim and walk along the beach (fully covered) we returned to the boat and got ready to go to town.
We took the bus into town and went to our favourite restaurant, Mediterraneo. This was to be our anniversary dinner even though it was lunch time. We decided to come for lunch so that we could go to a cruisers jam session at Jak's restaurant in the evening. We began our lunch with some nice Italian bread served with a homemade mushroom paté.
We ordered a large jug of sangria that I thought would be a little much for just the two of us but before leaving we had finished it and another half jug. Our appetizer was large shrimps served with a sauce of fresh ginger, orange and soya sauce with a heart shaped little mound of cous cous. It was extremely refreshing and I would have enjoyed that as an entrée. We both ordered a pasta dish for our entrée because the pasta is homemade. Rick had a spinach and mushroom ravioli in a cream sauce. I had linguini with shrimps and calamari in a cherry tomato sauce. We spent most of the afternoon in the restaurant and in true Venezuelan style you take as long as you wish over a meal. One is never rushed in a Venezuelan restaurant.
Although we could hardly walk after such a large meal we made our way back to the main street and went into Rattan (department/grocery store) where we bought ourselves an anniversary gift of a new electric kettle.
When we left Rattan we continued along the street stopping at various vendor stands. It was too early to go to Jak's restaurant and I knew that if we returned to the boat we probably would not go out in the evening. Finally we decided we both needed to return to the boat for a short siesta. Sure enough, when we awoke, neither of us felt like going out again. Surprising as well, Rick didn't even suggest happy hour or dinner. Instead, I made popcorn and we watched a DVD (Mr and Mrs Smith) that I bought months ago and have just not have had the inclination, amps or time to watch until now.
Neither of us got off the boat today. It was a nice quiet Sunday in the marina after having to listen to the thumping of the bass from one of the night clubs all night until 8AM we enjoyed the silence.
I made arepas con jamon y queso (arepas with ham and cheese) for breakfast. Even Rick is requesting my arepas now. They have certainly improved from my first attempt long ago.
Rick made a new cord for our little Honda generator. Hopefully we now can use the generator to assist the solars and wind generator in charging the batteries. I backwashed the watermaker, defrosted and cleaned the refrigerator and washed the carpets. We both had a siesta in the afternoon.
Rick has been quite concerned about Gregory since we've been at dock. I think he's a little worried that Gregory might jump ship. He has looked for him in quite a few places during the last couple of days to no avail. Just before sundown, I was walking up the stairs in the companionway, to the cockpit with a couple of plates when I knocked over an empty drinking glass onto the floor. Who should jump out from under the floor mat in the cockpit but Gregory. I assured Rick that it was definitely Gregory and he was looking quite well. Rick has been leaving a bowl of water out for him and now wants to collect dead flies that he swats and leave them out for him as well. I explained that Gregory must earn his keep if he wants to stay on board and the flies are his to kill. Rick instead wants to teach this (now 3 inch) gecko how to bark so that he can be our guard gecko since he is not allowed to have a dog on board.
We decided that we could start re-provisioning as the oil cooler should arrive any day now. There isn't a lot that we need but we can't leave Margarita without stocking our liquor cabinet. We went to Sigo which is a large grocery store in a mall. It has been fun taking the local buses everywhere so we thought we would go by bus and return by taxi. This particular bus route is not one I would want to take regularly. The bus goes right through the centre of town along 4th de Mayo and it does a milk run on the way. It then goes along the street that crosses the pedestrian mall and Plaza Bolivar. I think if we had walked along side of the bus we would have arrived at the store at least a half hour before it did. We had nothing else we had to do this day so we sat back, perspired and enjoyed the ride. In Sigo, I found the wine that we like but Rick was disappointed that they only had his rum in .75 litre bottles rather than the full litre. The price per bottle was Bs 2900 which is about $1.18. He was concerned that he would have less on board until I gave the ok to store these bottles first and if we still had more storage room he could buy an extra case which seemed to appease him.
We returned to the marina by taxi and found that we were at high tide.
We get on the boat over the bow which is against a fixed concrete dock.
We're used to getting on and off this way but at Bahia Redonda we had a floating dock. Rick drops and secures the delta anchor which provides a little step for us to use when getting on or off the boat. Well the little step wasn't enough for him to get on this time so he used a pail that we had at the bow for me to use at times like this. He barely made it on with his long legs and turned to encourage me to do the same. I told him to forget it. It was totally impossible and I would wait for the tide to drop. He put the booze down below and called our friend Chuck (Manana), who we had said we might visit with in the afternoon.
Chuck was boat bound in the anchorage with an outboard motor that wasn't working so he couldn't get ashore. It was extremely hot sitting in the sun waiting for the tide when I remembered that we had a much larger pail that I had been using to store root vegetables. I asked Rick if he would empty the vegetables and bring the pail forward for me to try.
This pail was much taller and although the anchor step was level with my armpits, when I stood on the pail I was able to get my foot on the anchor. As I pulled myself up the pail which had a string on it went flying into the water but I was aboard. I told Rick that I would time my departures and arrivals from the boat according to the tide. It was just after I said that when we heard Charlie from Vemasca calling us on the radio. Rick answered and Charlie responded with "Merry Christmas, your package is here". I should have been pleased but it meant that I had to get off the boat again. Since we cancelled Rick's visa card he needed me to use my card to pay for the new oil cooler. It wasn't as difficult getting off and when we returned I was well practiced for the climb up.
It was time for sundowners and we relaxed in the cockpit with a little breeze and watched the sky turn a nice pink as the sun went down.
This was the day. The new oil cooler was on board. Rick said it was not necessarily an easy job to replace the old one but that he could do it without standing on his head. We took our time after breakfast and did everything else we wanted to do before beginning this job.
Although Rick said that he wouldn't have to stand on his head, the only part of him that I saw for the rest of the day was his behind and the soles of his feet. There wasn't much I could do to help as he performed micro type surgery on the engine so I just tried to stay out of his way.
The odd time he would ask me for a particular wrench or socket. I was very impressed and chuckling to myself because I could see at times he was becoming very frustrated but he was trying extremely hard to control both his temper and his language. He knows that I get very upset if he starts swearing when working on something like this. He worked none stop from about 9AM to almost 4PM when he called it quits. He was totally drenched with perspiration and covered in grease and oil but the job was done with no parts left over. He would add the oil and test it tomorrow.
He washed while I prepared the sundowners and since we hadn't had lunch I cut up some apples and cheese for an appetizer to hold him over until dinner was ready. A comfort meal was required after a day like this so we had potatoes with chicken and squash cooked in the oven.
It wasn't long after dinner that he was sound asleep.
When breakfast was finished Rick waved down the water truck while I did the dishes. When it was time to start on the engine again, I went to the other end of the boat (bow) to wash walls in the forward sleeping area and head again. It's very sandy and dusty here because of the beaches being so close.
Rick added the fresh oil, ran the engine for a little while using fresh water instead of salt water just in case there was a leak, he didn't want salt water spraying all over the engine. It was a wise move because sure enough he had to redo one of the hose clamps on the water side of the cooler. That only took a minute and he let the engine run for a few minutes and then changed the oil again. This time he ran the engine at high RPMs and in gear and then rechecked the oil. Each time the oil appeared clear with no water. Next he changed the fuel filter and started the engine again. It appears as though the boat is ready to go now but we and the weather are not quite ready.
The winds and seas are up and we can see the waves breaking with white caps just outside the marina entrance. The forecast is that the winds should settle down again next week which will give us time to leave with clean laundry and fresh fruit and vegetables. When in a marina or near civilization, we go through so many outfits in a day, it ridiculous.
What we wear working on the boat can't be worn into town. Once an outfit is worn we just hang it to dry (perspiration) before putting it in the dirty clothes bag again. We can each go through 3 outfits a day. The laundry builds quickly. At anchor with no one around we can wear very little and just wash and rinse the wrap or bathing suit and wear it again the next day. Who's to know.
The plan was to go buy some more socks (for the rum and wine bottles) and another case of rum. After which we were going to go for a celebratory dinner at a local fish restaurant. It was after 3PM and when I asked Rick if he really wanted to get ready to go to town again, he admitted that he would much prefer to eat on board tonight and we could celebrate another day. I quickly thawed my chilli base that I had been saving for just such an occasion. It didn't take much to add the chillies and beans and dinner was ready.
There was one last thing Rick wanted to do before claiming that his work was complete on the engine and that was to change the transmission fluid. It didn't take him long and while he was doing that, I gathered laundry again.
We took a taxi to CM where we dropped the laundry off at the Laundromat.
It would not be ready until Saturday at 4PM which was fine with us. We spent some time at the internet café surfing weather and deep cycle batteries.
The last thing we did before leaving CM was to buy a couple of dozen pairs of socks (booze protectors). We took another taxi to Marina Juan and checked with Juan as to how long he needed to process our checkout papers, where there is a good butcher and where can we find fresh, not frozen chicken. The only recommendation of his that I didn't really like was that for fresh chicken we would have to go to the rabbit market, pick out the chickens we wanted and they would kill them for us. No thanks. I'll eat beef.
We had a celebratory lunch this time at the Pescador de la Marina (fishermen's restaurant). Again we had to sample the sangria and I chose my favourite red snapper while Rick opted for chicken.
We left by taxi and headed back to the boat stopping at Vemasca to pick up some spare transmission fluid and engine oil.
Sundowners were postponed while Rick ran the engine for a couple of hours (in reverse at 1500 RPMs) just to make double sure that all was well. By the time sundowners were served the sun had gone down but we enjoyed sitting in the dark watching the 2 stars that were already shining brightly.
We listened to the weather this morning and I checked weather reports that we receive by email. We had talked about leaving next Tuesday but for some reason the long range forecast is indicating that the wind and seas will build on Wednesday. Since it will take us more than 24 hours to get from here to Trinidad, Tuesday no longer looks good. Currently there is a low pressure system between us and a high pressure system located near the Azores which is blocking the winds. After a short discussion we decided to leave (tentatively) on Sunday while we still have the calm seas.
Our first task since it is Friday is to take our cruising permit and passports to Juan (Marina Juan) and have him check out with customs and immigration for us. This is a Monday to Friday thing in Venezuela so even though we don't plan to leave until Sunday we will be officially checked out of Venezuela as of today.
The next important item on our to-do list was to go get our hair cut. We went downtown for this and had a particular hair salon in mind when we left but the stylist still hadn't arrived by 11AM so we left and found another place. We were both pleased with the cuts and will probably reuse this salon again.
We stopped for a quick lunch at a local chicken place before picking up a few groceries (and more rum) at Rattan. A quick taxi ride back to the boat where we stored most things and then went to see Sr. Cruz to pay our marina bill. Sr.Cruz had originally told us he would accept payment by cheque but when we went to pay him we learned that he meant a cheque in Bolivars. He had problems knowing what rate to convert the Bolivars to U.S. dollars so we told him no problem we would get some cash and pay him that way instead but tomorrow. We took another quick taxi ride downtown, picked up some cash and then headed to Marina Juan. The flea market started at 3PM and our checkout papers (Zarpe) would be available by 5PM. We didn't want to purchase anything but it was a fun time to meet with the other cruisers. Most came ashore for this because during the flea market Juan provided beer at 20 cents a bottle to make it a happy market instead of a flea market. We ran into Duane (Tortilla Flats) who we haven't seen since Bequia a couple of years ago. Duane was attacked by banditos while in Laguna Grande when we were in Mochima. He was in pretty bad shape when the other cruisers rushed him by boat to the hospital in Cumana. He looks good now and his stitches have healed very well. He showed us the machete scars all over his arms, back and head. He was very lucky to have survived as he was unconscious when his friends pulled him out of the water.
We eventually said our goodbyes to everyone and with our Zarpe in hand, shared a taxi back to Marina Hilton with our boat neighbour Julia (Nomad).
We had dinner on board and discussed our upcoming passage.
In the morning, Rick got everything ready on deck for an early morning departure. He then went and paid our marina bill and had them top up our water tanks. The dinghy was raised and secured while the awning was removed and stored.
Down below, I gave the watermaker another fresh water rinse, made a nice beef stew to eat while we are underway. I put together some sandwiches in case we didn't feel like a heavy meal (which is usually the case), made some jello which is sometimes refreshing if the sun is very hot.
In the late afternoon we went the plaza to pick up our laundry and a few last items. The timing was amazing. We were pushing our buggy down the aisle and who did we bump into but our friends Chris and Carl (Sea Jays) who just arrived back from England yesterday. When we said that we were leaving early tomorrow morning they insisted that we come to their place this evening. We were anxious to see their penthouse condo that they purchased last year after selling their boat.
We picked up one of the cooked whole chickens and some coleslaw so that we could have a quick dinner before visiting Chris and Carl. It was almost 7PM when we got to their place which was a beautiful apartment with most stunning view of the whole east end of Margarita. We looked down at the anchorage and could see almost 150 boats off Marina Juan's.
As we were sitting on the balcony which was not only huge but really was the main room (open air) of the condo we could see a fireworks display underway. It was a wonderful evening and 11PM by the time we finally returned to the boat. Chris and Carl had just suffered through 36 hours of travel to fly back here and we needed a good night sleep for our passage in the morning.
The alarm was set for 5:30AM and the plan was to leave at 8AM for a 45 mile passage to Los Testigos. Little things happened in the morning that should have deterred us from leaving but they didn't. The bilge alarm went off a couple of times but no water was coming out. Rick had dumped buckets of fresh water in the bilge yesterday to give it a good cleaning (while we had extra fresh water). At 7:15AM he was head down in the bilge investigating and found that the pump had lost its prime. When that was fixed we then proceeded to tip a large plant over and had soil all over the floor.
Finally 8AM arrived and as we were backing out of the slip Rick was pulling up (by hand) the stern anchor. Meanwhile, the boat Nomad, which was beside us had so many anchors down (when Hurricane Emily was in the vicinity) we got caught on one. It was a gentle catch and I had put the engine in neutral so we gradually became uncaught. At the same time Rick needed help with the anchor line he was lifting so things got a little chaotic as he didn't even realize we had got caught on the other line.
Eventually we were able to hang off our anchor and get other things ready. The fenders were put away, the dock lines stored, the sail was raised and then we were ready to continue with the anchor. Now it was back through the anchor roller on the bow where it belonged. The muddy mess it had made all over the decks made us very pleased that we hadn't washed the decks as planned before leaving. Rick spent quite a while with bucket and mop getting rid of the mess as I took us out of the marina.
It was a little rolly when we started out but we were in shallow water so we knew it would be short lived. What we were not prepared for was the current that we would encounter on our way to Los Testigos. The wind was about 10 knots, maybe 15 at times. The waves were 4 to 5 feet. It was a perfectly beautiful sunny day for leaving but by now it was almost 9AM and we were just starting out. It didn't take us long to recognise that I had totally miscalculated the effect of the current. We were going nowhere fast. The engine was running at 2200 RPMs and the mainsail was up but everything was on the nose so we definitely weren't sailing.
We discussed turning back but Rick said that we were going to have to crawl through this eventually and although we weren't making much headway, we were very comfortable. The problem however was that we would arrive well after dark at Los Testigos which is not a wise place to do such a thing. We decided to chance it. We had been there before so we had our previous track that the autopilot could follow it in, we had the radar and depth sounder so we figured we could do it. A moon would have been nice but since that wasn't available we instead had a sky full of stars that shone almost all the way down to the horizon all around us.
Even so as we got closer to the islands we both became quite nervous. As a wave stalled the boat we were both looking over the port side when all of a sudden right beside us, a huge dolphin jumped in the dark, way above our life lines and crashed down into the water with a large splash. Since dolphins are a good omen we both relaxed a little. The plan now was that if Rick didn't feel comfortable navigating into the anchorage, we would just keep going and head for Trinidad. It was getting very late and although Rick had napped in the afternoon I hadn't been able to sleep. We nibbled on plantain chips and sandwiches and but neither of us was very hungry. We slowly made our way into the anchorage. Rick remembered where the rock outcroppings were even though we couldn't see them in the dark. It was not easy but we finally found a spot in 30 feet of water and room all around us so we dropped the anchor. It was 11:30PM and we were both too tired for dinner. We noticed that when we turned the cockpit light on, Gregory came out of hiding and climbed up the back stay to have a good look around. He hasn't grown much more, he's still only about 3 inches. By the time Rick put the snubber on the anchor and I put the cockpit things away we both had a drink and hit the sack. It was 1PM. It had taken us 14 ½ hours to go 45 miles which means we were averaging about 3 knots. There were times when the knot meter was reading less than 2 knots. If I could have walked on water I would have been here a lot sooner.
Today was a rest day however we were up in time to listen to Eric’s weather report on the Ham radio at 6:30AM. After which I asked Rick if he wanted to go back to bed before or after breakfast. He chose after, so we ended up having the radio on at 8AM when everyone calls everyone else. I spoke with our friend Susan in Carriacou, Grenada, who is still getting things back together after Hurricane Emily caused some damage on the island. I also spoke with Wendy (Kamytoo). She and Lorne are spending some time at Medregal Village in the Golf of Cariaco, Venezuela.
We had our morning nap and then did a few chores. Rick topped up the fuel tank using the jerry cans. I made some more sandwiches. Otherwise we just enjoyed the view. Los Testigos is a beautiful small island that has a tiny village and a fishing camp. There are no facilities and therefore no tourists, the only way to get here is by private boat. The beach is beautiful white sand with a few palm trees. There is a reef that separates or joins the island (depending how you look at it), which has great snorkelling and other than mountain high sand dunes, there isn’t much here.
We love it but we’re not staying long this time because weather is good for moving on.
We went to bed with the sun so we could be ready for an early morning departure.
The alarm went off at 5:45AM. After a quick coffee and breakfast we reviewed and discussed the route plans. Although I had created a route that was to take us directly south east towards Trinidad, I gave the captain the choice of heading anywhere between east and south east. The only stipulation was that he must not head south. A southern route would take us to the Paria Coast of Venezuela. The reason we had traveled to Margarita and Los Testigos (other than to pick up duty free rum) was to stay far away from the Paria Coast. It is the most dangerous area for pirates along the South American Coast.
We had a difficult time leaving the Testigos Islands as there is a 1 to 3 knot current that runs between Testigos Grande and Isla Iguana Grande.
Although we had lifted the anchor a little after 6AM it was almost 8AM when we cleared the islands. The waves were terribly confused as they hit the reefs along the shores. Considering that there is nothing to slow them down between here and Africa it’s understandable. We both felt that once we cleared the shoals things would settle down. Settle down they did, the seas were 3 to 5 feet and the wind was no more than 15 knots but we were making no more than 1.5 knots. With over a hundred miles to go we would be forever trying to get there. The charts showed the equatorial current as “generally westerly but can be variable and strong”. We tried for a few hours and there was no variance they just remained strong and directly against us.
Finally we discussed the odds of getting boarded and killed on the Paria Coast and chose to take our chances.
By heading south we were able to travel at 3 knots but hoped that once in the lee of the South American Continent we would either pick up a counter current close to shore or at least be out of the strongest of the equatorial current. Our timing would get us to the coast by dark and we would travel without lights. Little did we know that we would also travel without the help of “Ray de Pilot”. After finally making 15 miles into our passage, Ray started acting up. At one time he even told us we were in shallow water which was amazing because we don’t have a depth sounder connection on the unit. Finally the control unit just gave up the ghost.
Rick checked a few things but it all pointed to the control unit itself which was dead. Since I had already resigned myself to the fact we would be hand steering the next hundred miles (just to keep in practice) it was not an issue.
We continued on, reaching the Paria Coast but without any easing of the current. Checking the charts the current would continue strong until we got to Cabo Tres Puntas which was about another 20 miles. It didn’t sound far but at about 2 to 2 ½ knots it could be another 10 hours.
Both of us were extremely nervous by now. In fact when Rick told me to go and have a sleep, I tried but the adrenalin was flowing so strongly that there was no way I could sleep. It was so bad we put a loaded flare gun in the cockpit next to us. Its purpose was not as a flare gun but as protection. As darkness descended, we watched the large Venezuelan Mother Ships go out to their fishing grounds. They always have a white light on them and are very visible. What are not visible are the pirogues that are out there as well and take their catch to the Mother ship. Since all of the boats are wooden none of them show up on radar. Hopefully without lights we were not visible to them either. The pirates are known to use Pirogues when attacking. They usually arrive in 1 or 2 pirogues and there are normally from 3 to 5 armed men. So at dusk as we watched pirogues heading in our direction we both just watched and waited (holding our breath) until they continued past us on their way to the fishing grounds.
It was about 1AM when I went below to get us a snack and happened to notice that the AMP metre for the alternator was reading almost 100 AMPs. This was weird because I had notice hours ago that it was down below 50 AMPs meaning that the batteries were charged. I also noticed the smell that the batteries give off when we equalize them. I mentioned it to the captain who went below to check. It most probably was a regulator problem and he could replace it with a spare but we would have to stop the engine and depending upon how much damage was done to the batteries we may not be able to restart it. It was 2 AM and we are off the Paria Coast!! It was a joint decision not to stop the engine and if necessary to allow the batteries to fry.
Shortly after the regulator problem, the bilge alarm went off. In fact it went off twice. We were both ready to have a heart attack if anything else happened. There was nothing wrong with the bilge alarm, but it was hard to check with using a small flash light. After climbing under the aft bunk Rick declared that although the stuffing box was dripping it wasn’t excessive it looked about right. With the bilge checked and found empty we relaxed a little. It was only a few minutes later when the solenoid alarm for the propane went off. I should have anticipated this because of the gas the batteries were emitting and shut it off earlier.
Gradually the current eased and we were making a little over 3 knots. Rick was sleeping and it was after 5AM. I was anxiously anticipating dawn and the end to the darkness. All of a sudden out of nowhere there was a pirogue right beside the boat. I couldn’t move and just about stopped breathing. He looked at the boat and continued on. A few minutes later I saw a buddy pirogue follow after him. I was a nervous wreck and as I was trying to watch where they were headed in the still dark horizon, I heard a splash and saw a large pod of dolphins swimming all around the boat. They stayed with us quite a while and it was daylight when they finally took off. I felt like they had arrived just to ease my mind and to escort us into safe waters (or at least into daylight hours).
Since it was daylight we eased our way away from the coast and found we were still picking up speed. Unbelievable how excited we could get at seeing we were making 4 knots. It had been a beautiful clear night and the day was starting out the same. It took a long time to clear the Venezuelan coast line but we had Trinidad in sight. We passed by a Pirogue with 3 men in it. They waved and showed us the large barracuda they caught. We waved back. I think the stress was easing.
Finally as we were getting closer to Trinidad we could see the afternoon rain clouds forming. It appeared as though we just might time it right and arrive after the rain. We weren’t prepared for what was really the ITCZ and a stormy area that had been racing across the Caribbean (no weather reports for over 30 hours). It hit strong and fast. The waves which had been about 3 feet were whipped up to almost 8 feet in no time. We had the reefed main and stay sail up and in no time the knot metre was reading 12 knots. It doesn’t read any higher than that. The GPS was only reading 8 knots but we still felt as if we were flying. As we got closer to the Boca entrance to Trinidad the seas looked like someone was using an electric mixer on them.
It was just the tide and the winds conflicting a little.
It again took a while (seemed forever) but we finally arrived in the lee of Trinidad. It was a long nerve-racking 32 hours and I don’t think we’ll use that same route on a return passage. We made our way into the mooring field in Chaguaramas Bay. Every mooring we checked was taken or just plain not available. There were quite a few boats anchored around the edge of the mooring field so we thought we would do the same. The depth was 40 feet, there wasn’t a huge amount of room and we had no idea what the bottom was like but we went for it. After putting out almost 200 feet of rode we backed down and nothing held. As Rick was trying to raise the anchor I started calling marinas on the VHF. I didn’t want to be looking all over the place for somewhere to anchor after dark. The only place that answered was Crews Inn Marina, the most expensive marina in Trinidad. We were both tired and at this point just wanted to be able to shut the engine off so accepted their offer to find us a slip. The anchor had picked up something and I had to go forward and help Rick pull the rope in so that he could get the chain onto the gypsy. We have no idea what we were hooked on but it was extremely heavy. We were within spitting distance of Crews Inn so within 10 minutes after lifting the anchor we were tied up at dock.
The first thing we both did when the boat was secured was to take a quick shower. Quick because we wanted to check in with Customs and Immigration as soon as possible. It’s a challenge to avoid overtime charges with them in Trinidad. Check in with both Customs and Immigration is free if you arrive during regular working hours. Their hours are 9AM to 4PM, closed 1 hour between 12 and 1PM for lunch Monday to Friday. Since we arrived at 2 PM on a Wednesday we thought we had done it but we had to get to the office before 4PM (both are located at Crews Inn). We laughed after our rushing to learn that today was Independence Day in Trinidad and therefore overtime charges applied because it was an official holiday.
Crews Inn Marina is a resort. They deliver a newspaper to your boat every morning. We were provided with a room service menu and they will deliver meals to your boat. After checking in with the marina (done in the hotel lobby) we went to the restaurant and had a meal, our first since a sandwich yesterday. Neither of us could finish our meal we were ready for bed. We made one last stop at the internet access in the hotel lobby to send a message that we had arrived and then back to the boat and bed. Rick turned on the tank monitors to see how much water we had left in the tanks and just about chocked when he saw the fuel tank monitor. We had arrived in the marina almost on fumes. The tank was reading empty which could have provided a little more excitement to the trip. It was 6PM when we went to sleep.
