What were we "sinking" about

CRUISING IS........

Cruising is sitting in your deck chair
Resting your legs on the life lines
Looking at the reflection of the anchor lights
Above you see twinkling stars
And all you can think of is
How lucky you are

Manuela Olshefski Grenada August 06

It feels so nice to be sitting at anchor again, being awakened by the cry of roosters, when the sun comes over the mountain and lights up the bay. Skimmers are scooping up plankton of the water's top. Watching the sun disappear on the horizon leaving a trail of reddish colors in the clouds and at night the drumming of the fisherman against the hull of their fishing boats chasing their pray into the nets makes you drift into a different dream land. This is what we like best and definitely do best. We left the Redonda marina two mornings ago at 4 am, not a breath of air was present and a gentle roll guided us through the Mochima Islands. Once leaving the protection of the islands the swells increased a bit, so did the wind but it staid fairly calm. The wind of course came right on the nose again and so we motor sailed our way into the Golfo de Cariaco. Max the autopilot decided to give up and so we manually steered the boat. I sat on the bow reading a book and watching occasional dolphins play in the wake of the boat as Sid called me asking me if I heard an alarm. Sure enough an alarm sounded which we thought was the Autopilot again, but clicking the buttons didn't turn it off, so I went down below to turn the Autopilot off and the alarm still sounded. I smelled something funny, like hot rubber mixed with overheated water and wondered about that. As I got back in to the salon with horror I noticed that lots and lots of water was pushed through the crevasse between the engine cover and the cabinet, spilling onto the floor. I screamed as loud as I could for Sid to stop the engine, which he immediately did, the spray of the water stopped. While Sid hurried inside I ran for the bilge pump and opened one of the floor hatches to discover that the bilge was filled to the top of the floor. It took a while to empty the bilge meanwhile Sid was inspecting the engine but couldn't find any problem. Then Sid realized that earlier he tried to run the water maker but it didn't work, and figured that it was the valve he had opened. Sure enough the hose clamp came off the hose and by opening the valve it started filling the bilge. We tried to sink the boat, what were we "sinking about"; watch this clip, it's too funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vBn2_ia8zM&feature=related.

The rest of the trip went with no further problems and 11 hours later we anchored in beautiful Medregal. First thing in the morning I emptied the bilge (wine and rum cellar) washed off all the bottles and Sid cleaned out the bilge. Our batteries are down there as well and he was hoping that they were not harmed. We also had an old alternator in the bilge which needed to be rebuilt that was submerged in the saltwater and is a goner. Luckily our refrigerator pumps are all sealed so no harm done there. We are all cleaned up now and settled in and are enjoying this peaceful anchorage and I'm sure we'll relax for a while before thinking of heading on.

Back in PLC

We left El Ocoulto the following day and plan was to anchor the last night in El Farro. We were shocked to see at least 30 boats in there, plus three rows of moorings have been added into the cove, leaving barley room for us to anchor. One guy swam way outside the bay and a 30 foot speedboat running about 30 knots almost ran him over. At least 5 more boats came in and more were underway, so we pulled anchor and left it was getting way too crowded for us. We were so close to PLC that we decided to
head back and anchor in front of Maremares and that is what we did. Our guest went early into town to take care of their ticket problems. The travel agent refunded their money immediately and made sure they had reservations for their flight back to Caracas which they then picked up at the Acerca office themselves, glad it went that smooth. We spent one more night in front of Maremares, then moved into a slip in the Bahia Redonda Marina. We have a few more things to do, washing the boat, even hired
a guy to clean all the stainless, took him 1 1/2 days and cost us 26 bucks, not bad. Sid will install the bow protector and the welding shop is making a few more things for us, then it's off towards Trinidad. I will update the Blogg when we leave (approx 10 days)

Back in El Oculto

Unfortunately time is running away and we have only so many days left until Helene and Peter have to fly home again, so we only really had two nights and one full day to spend in Laguna Grande. We got the two up really early and send them ashore with Harry on Zydeco to hike up the steep hill to see the magnificent view from the top, where you can see almost the whole peninsula and to Isla Margarita. They had a great time while we relaxed and cleaned boat. The wind was howling all day again and the
constant whining of Maxine our wind generator was in our ears so that when it finally calmed down and was as quite as it could be our ears were ringing and we couldn't really hear the quietness. Helene and Peter had never seen the movie Captain Ron, which we think is a must movie to have on any boat. No matter how many times we've watched it already we still get a good chuckle out of it. Helene and Peter sure enjoyed it as well. Early this morning we headed out to the Golfo again and sailed all the
way back to El Oculto. We hoped being able to pull the Spinnaker up, but the wind was a bit too strong and gusty. The seas in the Golfo was about 3 feet and towards the opening rose to 5 footers but out at sea again it was a 1 to 2 foot chop. We enjoyed being able to sail for a change. Coming back into the anchorage we noticed a familiar boat, Dreamtime was anchored at the end of the bay. Poor guys lost the mast above the spreaders, a boaters nightmare. Good thing is nobody got hurt. We'll be here for tonight but will head to El Farro tomorrow for a last night out before heading back into Puerto La Cruz.

Laguna Grande

The wind was blowing like snot for two days solid didn't even slow down at night, therefore we were not sure if we would be able to go to Laguna Grande. I took Peter and Helene for some awesome snorkeling around the island just outside our anchorage. Usually there are more fish abound but we did get to see the giant puffer fish in one of the crevasses. The water temperature is amazingly warm, it seems to me it was cooler when we were here last June. In the morning Sid watched turtles in the water
and in the evenings dolphins swam through the anchorage. I took Helene in the dinghy out to where the pod was and and we were surrounded dolphins, unfortunately they are pretty shy so they didn't come all too close to the dinghy. Last night the wind finally died down and we set the alarm clock for 4 am, plan was if the wind still was calm to give it a shot for Laguna Grande. Luck was on our side the wind stayed calm except for some occasional blows. At 4:30 we braved it out of the harbor and headed
the 23 miles to Laguna Grande in the Golfo de Cariaco. Just as we came around the corner the wind blew gusty at us and we had doubts wether we would make it, but the wind stayed between 12 to 15 occasional 18 knots and the wind waves were about two feet high, not too bad. At the entrance to the golf the waves grew to a 4 foot nasty chop and we had to tack a couple of times to make headway. Luckily that didn't last all too long and the rest of the trip was as smooth as it can be with 15 knots blowing
against you. To Helene and Peters enjoyment the dolphins played again alongside the boat. We arrived just on time in Laguna Grande before the wind started to pick up to 20 plus knots. Weather prognosis are for stronger winds again tomorrow, we're just glad we made it and Helene and Peter get to see some more of the beautiful Venezuelan anchorages.

Carnival

Our friends Helene and Peter made it back OK from Merida, after finding out that the flight ticket for Merida to Puerto la Cruz they had paid cash for here prior to their trip wasn't paid for and lost the flight. The travel agent who sold them the ticket then arranged a flight for the next morning at 8 and assured the ticket was paid for, but again the flight was not paid for and so they had pay again. They also found out that the flight from here to Caracas to catch their flight back to Europe is
not paid either, so we have some talking to do with this travel agency. Anyway, we moved out of the house which we truly enjoyed, it sure was a treat for a while. I felt a little uneasy leaving the two parrots as the gardener who is suppose to feed them never showed up, so I left them with lots of water and food and amazingly the gardener showed up just before we left. We moved into the anchorage in front of Maremares just on time to get ashore for the brunch potluck by the tree of knowledge. We
had a wonderful time and over 20 people showed up, the food was wonderful and so where the Bloody Mary and Mimosa. It is Carnival in Venezuela and they take it very seriously, most businesses are closed from the 1. to the 5. of February and parades are held daily. Maremares organized a good carnival party with awesome music, dancers and shows all day long which made our party even more fun. I haven't danced like this in a loooooooong time and found mussels in my legs and butt I didn't know I had.
Sid took it a bit easier and went to the local sports bar to watch Super Bowl Sunday.
We are still in the windy season meaning daily winds around 20/25 knots and finally had a day of somewhat calm so the morning after the party we pulled anchor o/dark thirty and headed out of the harbor. Big swells headed our way a sign that high winds lay ahead of us, of course we hoped to get to El Oculto before it got too bad and luck was on our side, just as we headed behind the islands of the Mochima National Park the wind started gusting up to 25 knots. We were surprised to see that the anchorage
had already 13 boats anchored, usually we are by ourselves. Helene and Peter are having a wonderful time, especially Peter who for the first time saw dolphins coming up to the bow and swim along side the boat, which he didn't believe could happen. So we're relaxing, reading, snorkeling, eating, drinking and just enjoying finally sitting in an anchorage again. Poor Sid is nursing a bad cold which I already had and Helene just got over with, watch our Peter you'll be next. The wind was howling all
night long, Peter tried to sleep on deck but said he got almost blown off the boat. Looks like we're stuck here and may not be able to head to Laguna Grande in the Golfo de Cariaco as it is a 36 miles trip right into the weather, but that's no problem as this anchorage has some of the best snorkeling and hiking, so we will not be bored.