Diving, landsailing and a surprise visit

I don’t know where to start, so many things have been going on, and I don’t think we’ve ever been so busy doing this and that in any place before. Let me give you a little history on Bonaire which is part of the Netherlands Antilles with its sister islands of Curacao and Aruba, both a little to the west. Other Antilles Islands include Saint Marteen, Saba and Statia, all located in the Windward Islands. Bonaire’s main industry is tourism especially for the diving. The other industry is salt production which is sold world wide for industrial use (pools, icy roads etc.). Bonaire is also well know for great wind surfing as the wind always blows usually right around 20 knots and bird watching with over 200 species including the Lora a small green parrot and the pink flamingo.

Bonaire is a wild dry island covered with cactus, scrub, gumbo limbo trees and lots of corals which at one time lay under the sea level. The highest elevation is just a little over 800 feet which is in the northern part of the island. This region reminds me of a wild-west desert landscape. The southern part is flat with mainly mangroves and a huge area of salt flats, where you will find the most flamingos. The water surrounding the whole island is a national park and anchoring is not allowed, unless is a brick on a rope which all the locals use when fishing. Some 40 moorings are available for cruisers at the cost of 10 dollars per day and you have to purchase a park pass to snorkel or dive which is 25 dollars per person. The moorings are huge cement blocks with each two floats to tie up. There is only a small shelf of shallow sandy bottom before it plummets from 40 in a sharp angle to over 80 feet of depth. The bow is in about 20 feet of water while the stern is just at the 40 foot mark where it drops with a drastic change of color from light to dark blue. Best is you can dive right of your boat. Our neighbors Phil and Nell onboard Moon Dancer, we had met in Trinidad, ran into them in Grenada and now here, invited us to dive with them as they have three rigs and lots of tanks. So all we had to do is rent one BC, regulator and belt. While Sid joined the “old farts club” on Wednesday Phil took me for a dive. It was incredible to float underwater next to this hill of nothing but different types of coral, sponges and thousands of colorful reef fish. I was

in ah and really enjoyed my first dive after some 8 years. A few days later Sid went diving, I wasn’t feeling too well so decided it was not safe to join them. He had a blast as well. Then the third dive all four of us went. This time we went to the “Something Special” dive buoy which a couple hundred yards next to the Village Marina entrance. The special thing about this dive is there is an underwater web cam mounted in about 45 feet at the midsection of the reef: http://www.breathebonaire.com/

This was an incredible dive, first thing I saw was what I thought could be a shark, but as the fish slowly turned and revealed his side I recognized it as really, really big tarpon of about 6 feet long. After about 150 yards we found the camera and of course all posed hoping our friends at home would watch as we had arranged a time for this event. Unfortunately the camera is damaged and had filled up half with water. After our camera poses we followed the reef. It’s just amazing how many different species of coral and sponges there are, there is so much to see you don’t know where to look. One coral head especially impressed me and as I got closer I noticed a tail fin of a very, very big fish. The fish had nestled himself into the coral so all that was sticking out was its huge fin on one side and a set of large teeth surrounded by big lips. It was a pargo of at least 30 pounds, wow. I was glad to be able to get the attention of my diving buddies to see this huge fish as well. This was indeed one of the best dives we’ve ever done. Thanks Phil and Nell. Next dive planned is a night dive.

In the mean time we also did an island tour with Randy and Lourae with Clayton and Fiona onboard Argo. All six squeezed comfortably into their car with a beer and champagne filled ice jest in the back and off we went. First they drove us along the road hugging the coral cliffs of the north western side of Bonaire heading north. We stopped at a place with caves and Indian paintings. The drive then took us inland to Rincon the first settlement in Bonaire from there to the East coast where Blokarts awaited us. A Blokart looks like a three wheeled lounge chair with a bicycle handle and a sail. You lie in the seat buckled in and with one hand steering while with the other hand controls the sheet for the sail that makes the three wheeled lounge chair move and so you land sail around a race track. What a hoot, we all had a blast blasting around the track and passing each other over and over. My favorite was passing other Blokarts on the inside in the turns. If you’re not careful or push the limit chances are the wind will topple your cart and you lay sideways on the track. Lourae and Clayton managed to do that. This was really a blast land sailing and we all laughed so hard we could not whip of the shitty grins on our faces for days. We haven’t done anything this fun ever, what an experience. After the excitement we had lunch in Rincon then followed our tour to Seru Largo with an incredible view over Kralendijk and half of the island. From there we followed the road, which by the way here are so narrow that two cars can not pass so one always pulls over to let the oncoming car pass. This area has a rocky shore to one side and the salt flats on the other. We saw many pink flamingoes wow. The southern most part is where the salt is harvested and we also stopped at the old slave quarters. We had a fun day, no we had many fun days and dedicated Saturday after the camera dive as a rest and only rest day.

Have you ever had one of these WOW days where you can’t stop saying wow? As we were resting in the cockpit around 4 PM I noticed a young women approach the dock near us, her eyes fixed on our boat as she came out to the end of the dock. I was just going to mention this to Sid as she called “Paradise”. Then “Manuela it’s me, Donna”. I jumped into the dinghy and headed over to the dock and couldn’t believe my eyes to see Donna with a huge grin standing there. For all of you who have followed us ever since we left for cruising may recall this story. Two years prior to cruising we went for a 6 week camping trip to Bahia de los Muertos on the almost south tip of Baja de Calofonia where we met Alan and Donna with then one year old son John. They were living in the woods in Durango collection wood and making furniture then selling them and with the money they camped in Muertos for the winters. When they found out about us living on a boat and going cruising they squeezed everything out of us about boat life and cruising. Two years later after a fun summer in the Sea of Cortez passing by Puerto Escondido on our way back to La Paz a boat named MacNab hailed us on VHF. She overheard us calling one of our buddy boats. I had no idea who MacNab was until she brought up our history having met in Muertos. A couple of months later MacNab pulled into La Cruz in PV and dropped anchor next to us. That was the first time we saw them since Muertos, now they also had a little daughter Anna. It was a great reunion seeing them cruising and finding out that we had put the cruising bug into their heads and one year after Muertos they started their journey on a small 28 foot Bristol Cutter. We parted ways and now and then we received greetings from friends who just ran into them. Years later as Sid was assistant dock master at the Sheraton Marina in New Bern MacNab, not knowing we were there anchored in front of the marina. I was in Switzerland at the time so I missed meeting them. By now they had another son, three kids on a small sailboat. Then we lost contact again. A couple of years later as we headed up the St. Johns River to Jacksonville a Bristol Cutter was heading south passing us and it was MacNab again. On the drive by they told us that they were underway to St. Augustine. As we were settled into the marina we rented a car drove to St. Augustine and met up with them. We had a wonderful day in the park, the kids were just amazing as instead playing with the swings they were climbing the tall trees like little monkeys. For a few years we staid in contact with them via email but then my emails were returned as unknown. So we once more lost contact with them but we were sure someday to run into them again. Once day came Donna was standing right in front of me on the dock some 8 years later. She shared the sad story of Alan’s passing as she was pregnant with her 4^th child. She was then and still is living in Deltaville in the Chesapeake Bay and in the mean time has found a wonderful boyfriend Leroy who also has 4 kids. Donna’s mother takes the kids once a year so that the two can escape on a vacation and they chose Bonaire. We sat in the cockpit of Paradise until late at night and had one story after another. Leroy truly enjoyed himself listening too all our adventures we shared with Donna. Ever since they left all we say every few minutes is wow, wow, wow…… They are here until next Saturday so we will have many more times to get together. Wow what a story, this time Leroy promised he’ll make sure that we will not loose contact again. Wow, wow, wow….

For info on Landsailing go to www.landsailingbonaire.com

Fun in Bonaire

Just before we moved into the marina the Bonaire Coast Guard boarded us to check out paper work. They were very nice and the end Sid exchanged LAPD patches with them and one officer took his patch right off his sleeve and handed it to Sid. Now whenever they are in the harbor and drive by Paradise they wave to us.

Paradise needed a bath really bad we were amazed how much dirt we hosed off the boat and sails. The Harbor Village Marina is small and very quite but at night the mosquitoes rule and we got tired of donating blood. Randy and Lourae knowing how hot and mosquito infested this marina is offered us to stay at their house while at the marina. We could not say no to this incredible offer so every evening around five we were picked up, driven to their home where cocktails and infinity pool awaited us. Then we had a sundowner on deck with some spectacular sunsets and wonderful home cooked meals either by Lourae or Manuela or joint efforts and interesting talks until the pillows called us to bed. Early the next morning we were driven back to the marina and work continued. It felt like going to work. The days were hot in the marina so by 2 PM we were beat and needed a break. We could not wait until we were picked up again, driven to Villa Blue having a cold cocktail in the pool the rest you know. Randy and Lourae thank you sooooo much for the good time, you spoiled us rotten. The house is really amazing, our bedroom had 8 corners the ceiling is 18 feet high and the breeze that came in through the three giant windows made for a cool night sleep. It was fun watching bats sweep down on the pool to drink water at night and in the morning to wake up to the chatter of parrots and wild cry of donkeys, little different than the rooster. On Lourae’s Birthday we went to Richard’s on the water front which by request places a table under the palm palapa on the end of the dock, where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at sunset celebrating her birthday. After a little over one week we moved back on Paradise and left the marina. We picked up a mooring to find out that we are in front of one of the 6 Bonaire Webcams, how kewl is that: http://www.bonairewebcams.com/YellowSubPierCamLarge.php

While in the marina Sid changed the membrane on the water maker and two elbows for the high pressure side broke off due to corrosion. A local plumber who had closed his store many years ago managed to find two of the elbows in his left over stuff, water make works fine now but Sid ordered extras for the future so we are waiting for our mail to arrive in some 10 days plus from now. We learned that shipping to Bonaire not to write Netherland Antilles on the address rather Caribbean Islands otherwise the package will go to Holland first. Blake on Slow Mocean waited over one month for his mail which did in deed go via Holland.

The fridge took a dive as well, not sure yet what’s wrong with it as the tech support for Glacier Bay could not give Sid and answer yet. At least it still working just have to turn it off and on manually.

It’s time to play now, on Sunday Lourae and Randy picked us up and took us for a fun sail on their 24 foot Corsair a trimaran. We had a blast that thing goes so fast you can feel the acceleration each time a puff of wind hit. We sailed as fast as 12.5 knots, had lunch at Klein Bonaire with a cool snorkel, saw a seas snake amongst a lot of reef fish. Wednesday Manuela is going diving with our neighbors Phill and Nell aboard Moondancer, Sid is meeting Randy and the boys at the It’s Raining Fishes restaurant for the weekly Wednesday morning get together to safe the world. Thursday we’ll do an island tour with Randy and Lourae, Time for some fun!

By the way I added the latest Turtle Express of the outer islands of Venezuela if you like to see the photo stories click on following link and scroll to the end:

http://turtle-express34.blogspot.com/

Photos of the Venezuelan outer islands

We moved into the Harbor Village Marina to clean Paradise inside out, she really needs a bath bad so do we. The days are hot and humid and the nights filled with hungry mosquitoes, we really hate to donate blood. Between all the work we'll try to have some fun as well. It'll be a week or so before I'll post anything else, so for now here are a few photos and a photo story of the outer islands of Venezuela





For photo story click on arrow bottom left:

Bonaire

We left Aves de Sotavento at 10 in the morning, the wind was blowing about 12 to 15 knots and the swells were quite a bit down but had these confusing square waves pop up here and there, just very unsettled. We motor sailed with jib out at first but the side ways roll from the choppy swells was so uncomfortable we pulled the main up to stabilize the motion and it helped. Sid had one fishing pool set up and was just letting the other one out when we had a bite already, the hook wasn't even in the water for one minute. It was a small black fin tuna but really to small so we let him go. Half way to Bonaire a beautiful Tropic Bird tried unsuccessfully to land on Paradise and a few minutes later I saw a man of war jelly fish float next to the boat. They have this moon shaped body which looks like a blown up balloon which floats sticking out of the water. It's really pretty looking with the purple body surrounded with a bright pink rim. Sid said that's the way they move around sailing on top of the water, really cool. 10 miles off Bonaire some big bottle nose dolphins joined us for a while playing at the bow of Paradise. Two huge cruise ships passed us when we approached the southern tip of Bonaire. Here is where the fun began, the swells subsided as we headed into the lee of the island, the wind was a steady 10-12 knots and filled the spinnaker up nicely, and we sailed around the southern coast and half way up to Kralendjik and finished the last leg in 15 knots with jib and main. The trip was 42 miles and we arrived just before sunset. As we approached the moorings a dinghy headed our way and I recognized the grin immediately. Blake on Slow Mocean had been following our Blog and new that we were coming. He then helped us to get on the mooring, what a nice guy, thanks Blake. After we had settled in we called Randy and Lourae AKA Pizazz. We had met them some 8 years ago in the San Blas Islands and were headed for the South Pacific. We talked them into going up to the Seas of Cortez before heading west, which they did. They then came back to Bonaire built a house and sold Pizazz.. After the call we lowered the dinghy and went ashore to check in. First we had to go to Customs where a very friendly guy greeted us. He was very polite and wished as a wonderful stay while pointing out where our next stop was the police station. Since Immigration was closed the police station will check us in for them. We came prepared with some LAPD stick pins and patches and the two guys working there were very happy to receive them. We talked to one of them for at least an hour and he promised to come and visit us. Then we headed to the dock bar we had our dinghy tide to and enjoyed an ice cold beer and some munchies. At nine the next morning Lourae picked me up and took me shopping, yeah groceries here I come. I was really curious to find out what European goodies I could find here and was not disappointed especially when I found my favorite seasoning Aromat I ran out a long time ago and can only buy in Switzerland and found many other things it was like having Xmas. I think Lourae had more fun watching me finding all the goodies than me finding them. That same evening we had dinner at their house "Villa Blue". Wow, what a house! They designed it themselves with a computer program and really did a heck of a job. It just takes your breath away when you walk through the tall entrance door into the spacey living room with an 18 foot tall wooden ceiling, being able to see every single room as those doors are wide and open and then the wide open sliding door to the patio with infinity pool and a magnificent view over the island. After a tour of the new house we enjoyed a wonderful stuffed salmon dinner and talked up a storm until almost two in the morning. It was really great to finally catch up with the two. The following two days Sid cleaned boat and I did laundry. Ouch and double ouch!!! The first day I had 6 loads of laundry and used 3 driers and the bill came to 50 US dollars, yikes and I had still three more loads to do. Now I think I understand why so many boaters run around naked on their boats! I did some more shopping during laundry and found that the shopping here is a hit or a miss. As everything has to be shipped to the island it's for once a bit more expensive and if you see something you might need better buy it or you will never see it again. I'm still l looking for Ziploc bags as I'm all out, but it is wonderful to have nice and soft toilette paper again LOL. Meat and produce is great, but also when you see it buy it, the dry goods is a bit of a disappointment as many shelves are empty. But I'm sure we'll be here long enough that I be able to find this or that eventually. Been cleaning the boat ever since we arrived but do find time to play as well. Our social life got busy the minute we occupied the mooring almost a culture shock after three months in lonely anchorages but a lot of fun to catch up with everybody. We'll be having a good time here that's for sure.

We truly found Paradise

Bird population here is about 12 if not counting the 20 flamingos. So far we've seen 1 heron, 1 king fisher, 2 turns, 2 osprey, 3 pelicans and 3 frigate birds all attacking one single Booby. There are a few turtles hanging around the boat and now and then popping their heads out of the water. After seeing the flamingos I was determent to find out where they are as they flew to the eastern end of the mangrove island. The following day we hopped into the dinghy and explored the island. Almost towards the end of the island we found a small sandy beach and went ashore. About a 3 minute walk brought us to the edge of a big stinky lagoon, just the kind flamingos like. Unfortunately we did not encounter any and there was no way to walk around as it was slippery and overgrown with mangroves. We headed back to the dinghy and ventured out to the end of the island where the reef starts and went for a hike along the reef. We found beautiful pools and an area where the reef gave way to the sea like flat tables with cut outs. All Tables were overgrown with a mossy looking sea plant. The gaps between the tables filled and emptied again and occasionally the waves flooded over the top. It was breath taking. Not just that but we found lots of snails again and finally figured out where the big ones hide, now that is our secret. We came home with a huge back full. The biggest snails I prepped like Abalone, pounded, breaded and pan fried. Ahhhhh they were good.
Our provisions are getting really low now. We have 1 carrot, 1 onion, 2 cloves garlic, very low on coffee and power milk, few canned goods, no more pasta, little rice, no wine, beer and are on our last roll of toilette paper. The stores in Bonaire are going to love us! Oh we're almost out of rum, we had one bottle with about 2 inches of rum left when I found the bottle on its side and the lid not screwed on tide and some rum spilled. Luckily there was a plastic bag that caught the spill. Both of us reacted immediately by closing in on the spill on hands and knees, assessing the situation then grabbing the bag on four sides, gingerly lifting it up and even more so carefully moving it over a ready wide mouth glass and finally saving the rum in the glass, it was about 1 ½ shots of rum. Then we realized what we just had done, we laughed our butts off, it was too comical, well you had to be there.
We're still waiting for the squally weather to pass so what all can you do. Sid climbed the mast twice and fixed the wind instrument. The wind from that squall was so strong, Sid figured over 50 to be able to seize the instrument. Then for two days he cleaned stainless, while I combat mildew. Of course we had fun too. I became a huge fan of mangrove fishing and being surrounded by it again you couldn't keep the two of us away from it. We followed the mangroves along our anchorage and at the southwest corner little bay opened to the south, we followed it and half way in we positioned the dinghy close enough to the mangroves and started throwing the lure and bingo a huge, huge snapper bit my lure. Wow, what a fight. We couldn't believe our eyes when we landed the fish in the dinghy, it must have been 10 to 12 pound and barely fit in the bucket except the tail was sticking out. At the end of this little bite of a bay the mangrove gave way to a narrow canal and opened up to a lagoon all surrounded by mangroves. As we headed through that cut another mangrove snapper hit my lure. Inside the mangrove we tried to catch fish at any odd places but nothing. Through the very dark colored water we did see some rays we scared of with the motor and many barracudas. Sid saw one that was about 5 feet long. At the very end of the lagoon are some taller mangroves and you can drive right under them, we thought for sure we'll catch some more snappers here and what a surprise to get hit right away. Then we realized they were tarpons. We had about 20 around the dinghy and no matter where you tossed the lure they got it. Amazing how high they jump out of the water. By the way, we did have to put bug spray on as the no-see-ums were very thick and Sid brought up the fact of the low bird population might be cause due to them. Back at the boat Sid cleaned the fish, there was enough meat for 4 dinners for us with just half of the fish. The second fish we caught we brought over to our neighbors we haven't met yet, but saw them in the same anchorage in Barlovento. We chat for a bit about this and that and provisions what we had left, especially the one roll of TP. About an hour later a knock on the boat and a roll of TP came flying into the cockpit, I would say that was a good trade LOL.
Sid fixed up some poles for the tarpons and the following day we headed back into the mangrove. Unfortunately the tarpons were not as playful as the previous day but Sid managed to hook one. Amazing how high they jump out of the water to shake loose the lure. By the way they are pretty difficult to hook as their mouth is hard but have no teeth and their gills are dangerously sharp so you have to grab them by the lips to take the lure out before releasing them back into the water. I definitely got hooked on mangrove fishing, it's very exciting and I did catch another one nice size mangrove snapper not quite as big as the last one but bigger then the ones before. Sid is getting tired of cleaning fish, but he said he likes to be the bait and cleaning guy LOL.
It's been a very enjoyable stay here, especially the fishing. But sitting on deck a couple of hours before sunset to the many turtles popping up their heads all around us and the very few birds feeding and along the mangroves fish feeding while wispy clouds pass over us makes us realize we did find another Paradise. This has been truly a wonderful and enjoyable trip we'll always treasure. Weather has finally cleared and it's time to go on to find new adventure. This is a final goodbye to Venezuela.

After being awaken by the morning star
The anchor is pulled and out at sea again we are
With a fresh cup of coffee in our hand
We are leaving another beautiful land
As the island is slowly fading
Some yet new ones are waiting
For our anchor gently settle in the sand
And our bare feet touching another new land
While our minds are wondering how it will be
Mother Nature is cradling Paradise across the sea
What a beautiful life we have and what bliss
Something we definitely don't want to miss

Manuela Olshefski 03/17/2010

IF IT HAPPENS IT HAPPENS OUT THERE

"IF IT HAPPENS IT'S GONNA HAPPEN OUT THERE!" our favorite speech of Captain Ron. By the way if you haven't seen Captain Ron yet I suggest you get a copy and watch it, its funnier then heck, no it's hilarious and you'll enjoy it even more so if you are a boater. We lost count how many times we've watched it so far, but it's over ten times. According to our experience it's also "IF IT HAPPENS IT'S GONNA HAPPEN AT NIGHT!" We were anchored just off the island of Curricai along with 3 other sailboats, enduring a 2 to 4 foot swell rolling through the anchorage, sometimes worse then others. Wind hasn't been too bad right around 15 knots and the sky turned cloudy and stayed cloudy three days, maybe a chance for rain we've been hoping for. Several occasions it tried to sprinkle as squall after squall passed but it never turned into any rain. If it happens it's gonna happen at night and sure enough the third night around 2.30 am all hell broke loose. Heavy rain was pounding on the deck and the wind was howling up a storm, it sounded almost like a freight train. We brought everything in that could get wet and Sid turned the radar on to assess how big the squall was. It was enormous a whole 16 miles across and our guess is with winds over 40 knots. Turned the wind indicator on but all that showed up on the screen was a quick flash then nothing then just zeros while the wind was still howling. It blew so hard it must have burned it our or blown away, no telling until the following morning. Turned out the anemometer froze. The weather was coming out of the south instead of the NE, so we staid up for a while keeping an eye on the situation. I eventually went back to sleep while Sid staid up keeping an eye on things.
Late afternoon before the squall one yachty knocking on the boat brought a message from the Guardia for each boat to call them on VHF 16 to tell them who we were and that their motor was broken down so they could not come out. We all did as they asked and the Guardia offered then to call them on channel 16 in emergency. Good one!!! How are they coming to help us with a broken outboard.
One squall after another was passing by but none as furious as the one in the middle of the night. In the morning we waited for two squalls to pass, pulled anchor and headed to Isla Larga the biggest island of Sotavento and anchored two bays passed the Guardia in a perfect little protected and calm spot in the cut between Isla Larga and a small mangrove island. Isla Larga is about 2 miles long and nothing but mangroves, yeah, more fishing. Best yet, Sid excitedly called me outside and pointed at a flock of about 20 flamingos flying by, wow how kewl is that!

Aves de Sotavento

The mangroves fishing was so much fun we had to go back and to do some more casting practice to get the lures as close under the mangroves without snagging on the roots or leaves. When done so bingo another nice snapper was landed. We caught 4 more mangrove snappers. The hour we thought we were fishing turned into 3 hours and just before sunset we returned to Paradise, but not before heading to our neighbor boat we haven't met yet. Thought it would be nice to meet them this way and bring them a fresh fish. We also explored the nearby white sandy beach and watched many turtles pop up their heads to get fresh air just about 20 to 30 feet from where we were standing. The following morning we put our snorkel and fins on and joined the turtles. Unfortunately it was too murky, never got to see one turtle and the current took us swiftly out to sea so for safety reasons we swam back ashore and headed back to the boat. Mid afternoon we met our neighbor on the beach and burned some trash and enjoyed an ice cold beer he brought along, what a treat we haven't had in a while. The poor stranded fishermen joined us for a short chat when I found out that all they had left was corn flour for Arepas they were living on. Back on the boat I went through my inventory and made a bag full of rations which should get them by for a few days, and it made our day to see their happy faces. Weather had calmed down significantly and it was time to leave this unspoiled Paradise. After the fishermen had picked up their cell phone and Sid had presented them with a Easter present, a bottle of Rum, their faces really lit up. The rum will definitively keep their spirit up, or at least for one evening. The motor sail across to Aves Sotavento was uneventful, 12 knots of wind about 4 foot swells and no tuna or dorado was interested in the lures we had out, except for one booby who kept trying for about 10 minute to land a plastic fish.
Aves de Sotavento lie about ten miles WNW of Barlovento with a few pretty islands with white powdery sand beaches and all protected by the reef. We first anchored between Isla Palmeras and smaller unnamed island and had a very spectacular view through the window of the islands to a deep pool of water which gave way to the inner waters of the reef. The snorkeling on the south side of the smaller island was full with the most colorful tropical fish including huge black parrot fish with cobalt blue heads. Normally parrot fish are very skittish and shy away but not here, some came so close I could have reached my hand out and touched them. One of my favorites are the box fish, not just do they have the cutest faces, the coloring is incredible and they are so curious they come right up to you and follow you wherever you go. A bit later while Sid relaxed and I prepped dinner a northerly swell started rolling in so we put the flopper stoppers out. Over the next few hours the roll got worse and early the next morning we pulled anchor and headed one island up, Curricai, where we set the hook in 10 feet of water of the whitest beach. The beach looks very inviting. We'll be staying a few days here before finally heading to Bonaire.

Octopus, fish and lobster

The eventual squall that were predicted finally arrived and we were ready for it but all we received was about 100 drops in 30 seconds while all the other clouds parted in front us and left us between them watching them empty out over the ocean, bummer. Our daily visitor was a Turtle now and then popping up just a few feet next to the boat to get some fresh air before disappearing again under or around the boat. What beautiful creatures. The wind has been blowing above 25 knots for a while now and since we needed to clean bottom and propeller we moved back to our old spot in the second anchorage. We were surprised to find 2 boats there plus a 4th one arrived later that day. We also found a weird algae bloom which under water looked like a light green cloud of gas and over the day it spread out even more. It did not look appealing to go swim in this but we did clean the bottom. We took the dinghy to the first anchorage where a big mangrove gave way to a channel. We followed it in and were amazed how the mangroves opened up to big lagoon. The booby nests with the white fluffy little birds were abundant here and totally protected from the wind. We trolled a lure along the mangroves and bingo a big mangrove snapper followed it with his lip pierced by the hook and before we knew it we had 3 more good size mangrove snappers wanting to get the same lip piercing, we found us a fine spot for fishing and found a good place for some of the fish in our freezer. After a wonderful fish dinner and another night of the wind howling through the rigging we decided we had enough of this. The rattling of the rigging and the screaming of Maxine our wind generator for almost 3 weeks now, not being able to sleep a night through; started to get to us so we fled this anchorage and dropped the hook in the first anchorage. Wow, what a difference! Protected behind the mangroves the wind dropped down to a pleasant 10 to 15 knots instead of the 20 to 25 knots and instead of a wind chop the water was flat calm, Ahhhhhhhhhh life is good again. The fisherman after two week finally came by again, they were laid up by the wind as well and talking to them I found out that their boat to release them here was overdue since two weeks. We gave them some weather update and they are realizing that they may be stuck here over ester instead of spending it with their family home in Isla Margarita. It's funny though how cruising has changed as these five guys brought a cell phone over to be charged. We boaters are now officially cell phone battery loading stations, CPBLS LOL. They also asked for some onions, flour and onoto (food coloring) which I just so happen to have. I asked them about the lobster and just a couple of hours later we bought 8 nice lobsters for 50 bucks. Sid also helped them fix their spear gun, I had made them a bread gave them ice cold water and found out about their families at home. What a nice bunch of guys, all were in the 29 year range with 1 to 3 kids all between 8 and 19 years old. They also gave us a present: an octopus! What am I going to do with an octopus, never cleaned or cooked one before. They laughed but showed me how to clean the pulpo and then hammered it to a pulp. They told me then to boil it in water for 40 minutes and make salad out of it. I cut some pieces aside and marinated them Hawaiian style with sesame oil and hot peppers, that was tasty but octopus after all is very tough. The rest of it I cooked in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes, cut it in pieces and made a marinade (red wine, vinegar, anchovy past, garlic, hot peppers, bay leave, capers) and marinated it. It actually came out very tasty. The heads of the lobster I baked in the oven first then made stock out of it and it so happened that they fishermen came by and I gave them half of the salad and soup. Can't wait to see them today to return the bowl and to find out how they like my first pulpo salad. For dinner we enjoyed cracking he lobster legs and antennas which were dipped in butter and garlic. This feels like good old time in the Sea of Cortez when we never knew what dinner was until we just came out of the water from snorkeling. Sid can't wipe the shitty grin of his face, life is good. OH Sid just announced that we did have some rain earlier, 30 Drops!!!

Strong Wind

The weather prediction had 30 plus knots of wind for the weekend and since John had a time schedule he decided to leave and sail straight to Curacao to miss the weather. It was great to catch up with him although only for a short time but we made the best out of it. He had up to 25 knots of wind but made it safe to Curacao, secured the boat there and is back in Florida on his tug boat working. We staid alone in this beautiful anchorage and the wind over the next 3 days kept getting stronger and blew 32 knots with gusts up to 37. We were nicely protected by the many reefs which break down the wind chop. Not much for snorkeling during the blows but we did venture ashore to explore the island and found the cruiser shrine, walked along the path which brought us to a window of an opening to the next anchorage ahead of us. The water was ankle deep for about 40 feet, then the shallow shelf dropped to an immediate 30/40 feet and the drastic color change of the water took our breath. Fairly close to the shelf was one of the four other anchored boats; a picture perfect scene. We then hiked back to the dinghy which by the way was tucked under the mangrove trees like in a cave open to both sides of the island. Above the mangrove boobies are taking care of their fluffy white babies. They are so cute especially when curiosity gets them to stand up on their wobbly and skinny legs and look at us with a goofy looking stare. The local fishermen came by offering two good size spotted grouper they revere as Mero and also to ask for some water. We couldn't say no to the nice grouper and also gave them several gallons of fresh water and put an order in for lobster, smaller lobster, the once they showed us were just way too big. Since we have some Bolivares left, one month worth of park fee for the Roques, we thought to support the local fishermen here and stock our freezer up with fish and lobster for rainy days.
The weekend was over, the wind still howling and the future prognoses didn't look much different and since it was too windy to even take the dinghy out Sid hid behind a good book or two while I battled some more mildew and got creative in the galley. Making fresh Yoghurt out of powder milk is easy and for the first time I placed the yoghurt in a cheese cloth and let it drain over night, result a very smooth and wonderful tasting cream cheese that was delicious with a few herbs, seasonings and garlic added, with the home baked Sourdough Rye bread. When the fridge gets empty and the fresh produce is disappearing I get really creative in the galley. With no cheese on board I was thinking about how to cook the cheese tortellini and going through my dry goods cabinet I found a package of blue cheese dressing, not seeing any vinegar in the ingredients I cooked up a Béchamel sauce and added the poweder of the Blue Cheese dressing and it made the most wonderful blue cheese sauce for the pasta. Next time I'll try it with potato Gnocchi.
Next to relaxing we've been watching the boobies playfully flying around Paradise, one especially kept picking up a floating mangrove seed and tossing and twirling it up into the air and trying to catch it at flight. When it would fall into the water he'd go back and pick it up again and kept practicing it over and over. To our dismay the much bigger frigate birds who by the way are thieves and bullies attack the poor boobies as soon as they catch a fish, the frigates then fly above them pick the booby behind the neck and toss them up into the air, trying to get them landing in the water on their backs. They do that over an over again until he Booby either looses it's pray, throws it back up or reaches the safety of the mangroves. I tell you they frigates are so mean.
Bill and Soon on Gaia found a little weather window to leave the Roques and rendezvous with us. We pulled anchor and joined them in the anchorage closest to the reef. To get there we had to maneuver Paradise through two narrow passages which wind around the two anchorages up from the one we were in. From here we could see the waves crashing on the other side of the island. Yet the same island yet again a total different and spectacular view. Together with Gaia we collected shells on the beach, did wonderful snorkeling on some of the abundant reefs, collected sea snails for dinners, burned trash on the beach, exchanged movies (we have so many we turned them into movie monsters as they watched about 3 to 4 per day), went through our book I keep with all the boat carts cruisers hand out and discovered how many they know as well and just had a wonderful time.
The wind finally died down a bit (17-20) for one day then it will be back to 25 plus so Gaia took the opportunity and got underway towards Bonaire. We love it so much here we decided to stay a bit longer and enjoy this Paradise some more with booby watching and snorkeling. The reefs are healthy looking, the fish plentiful, including some lonely turtles and the water is absolutely clear and the visibility amazing. Besides we still are looking for some lobsters. Other thing on the agenda is cleaning boat and hull including stainless steel and if we're lucky enough we should get some rain squalls the next couple days. Paradise is in desperate need of a good cleansing, even though we're in a clean environment you have no idea how much dust and salt gets stuck on everything.

The Remedy to cure Hiccups:
I know you probably think that this is just another one that will not work as I'm sure you've tried sipping water through a napkin or standing on your head while sipping water, holding your breath for several seconds and on and on to find out it does not work. Well, I tell you this one works, ready:

Eat 1 Teaspoon of Peanut Butter

Adios Roques and hallo Aves!!

Cayo de Agua is part of a little archipelago consisting of four islands along with many reefs, beautiful beaches, great snorkeling and excellent fishing. It is a delightful island with tall sand dunes, a palm grove, mangrove trees, lagoons and water holes. Walking along the mile long beach was beautiful and hiking up the dune trail to a lonely palm tree very painful as under the sand lots of burrs were hidden and buried them selves into our feet. Further down the beach we ventured inland this time with our crocks on and did find all the holes dug into the ground where the Amerindians got their fresh water. Still some of the holes bring up fresh water to this day. A bit further along the beach a sand spit connects Cayo Agua with West Cay which has one of the prettiest beaches I've ever seen including a lighthouse. You cant' take your eyes away from the contrast of the white sand and turquoise color of the water. In the afternoon we ventured out to the near by reef to snorkel and as we were getting ready in the dingy we noticed lots of black and blue tails surfacing on top of the reef, same as we saw in Tortuga island. As soon as we were in the water we snorkeled towards that part of the reef and were amazed to encounter about 30 parrot fish, most of them were black with cobalt blue heads but the amazing thing was their size, we have never seen parrot fish so huge 20 to 30 pounds and where is the camera when you need it. We had a great time. Since bad weather was on its way, 25 to 30 knots of wind we departed Los Roques with a bit of disappointment that we were not able to stay longer. The sail was lumpy bumpy to Aves de Barlavento but luckily only 30 miles. The wind blew anywhere from 12 to gusting 20 knots but the waves were what made it so uncomfortable. There is no swell action here just unorganized waves that pop up like wild peaks everywhere and mostly only 5 feet apart. They were up to 8 feet in heights. The waves turned us in any which way and the jib even managed to get wrapped around the stay. Took us a while to get it unfurled, pulled in and the staysail let out. The sky was overcast and we were worried not to be able to see the many reefs to get into the anchorage. But imagine that just as we arrived at the southern tip of the island the sun burned off all the clouds and all the blue colors of the water began to sparkle. When we rounded the corner to the Leeward side the water changed to an incredible cobalt blue and we followed the darker shades to our anchorage which was around 40 to 50 feet and winding its way through many very shallow reefs. We dropped anchor in front of the middle anchorage where high mangroves tower along the island where red footed boobies nest. The view is spectacular seeing the green mangroves, the light turquoise green water around our boat and about 100 yards in front of us just beyond a shallow reef a huge pond of cobalt blue water reaching to the outer reef. Isla de Aves are two separate little island archipelagos, separated by about 10 miles of deep water. The name was given due to the large number of birds that make them their home. The birds live in the dense mangroves on the larger island we are anchored in front. Barlavento has a horseshoe reef protecting the two islands and snorkeling and fishing we heard is excellent here. According to the weather we'll be here for a while.

Leaving the Roques

Its' been over two years since we met Irene und Otto on Ottifant and for the two days in Casqui we spent a lot of time catching up with them and met their friends Ines and Peppi on Captain Morgan, she's from Brazil and he's from Spain so between the six of us we spoke pretty much anything from Spanish, Portuguese, German, Swiss German and English, it was fun. We had a wonderful rack of lamb dinner on Ottifant, met on the beach for cocktails while cooling off in the water on noodles with a floating bar with champagne and beer and went for long walks along the beach. Sid and I had the feeling that we should move from Crasqui on the weekend but since we waited along with Ottifant for the fuel guy to arrive from Caracas we staid. Should have listened to our inner voices as the authorities check the islands around Grand Roque for new arrivals on Weekends and knocked on our boat to tell us to check in the following day. So early the next morning we pulled anchor and hoisted the sails and instead of sailing west to meet John we had to first sail to Grand Roques about 7 miles away. Check in procedure took about two hours as we had to walk to the very end of town to the Port Captain, he told us that we are a vessel in transit and can not stay in the Roques, power boats get one day and sail boats two. I guess they changed the law as the last boat we knew to be here left 3 weeks ago and were able to staid one month. It was a huge disappointment that we shared with a captain of a much bigger boat with 12 guests onboard who just arrived from along trip from Grenada to enjoy the Roques, they were also given one day. There were 3 more places to check in before we had to go back to him again and leave the paperwork with him. Then we rushed through the town to find a store for some fruits and veggies which we did. The produce was a bit on the wilted side but they did have flour and eggs which in PLC I could not find regularly. Then we hit the only Internet here which was very new but the connection very slow, it took me 46 minutes to open 3 of 136 emails. (With that all of you who are sending us forwarding emails and jokes, pleeeease hold them until we have Internet again, only 5 of the 136 emails were not jokes or forwarding things).
With the thought of visiting Grand Roque last I didn't bring my camera, should have listened to my inner voice again. This place is really cute, very clean with narrow paths of sandy ground, just charming. After we got all done we races back to the boat, pulled anchor and hoisted sails again and headed towards the west side of the Roques. We arrived mid afternoon in Cayo de Agua one of the two most SW island in the Roques where John on Tazzady arrived one hour prior to us. Another good reunion and Paradise is stocked up again with lots of fruits and vegetables including more Rum for Sid. Gustav unfortunately couldn't make it but he sent us lots of papayas and limes from his garden and some wonderful German sausages, thank you Gustav. Jim on Three Keys sent along a good bottle of Casique for Sid as well, thank you Jim.
So here we are in Cayo de Agua for one day before we will leave the Roques for the Aves.
Anybody who is thinking to coming to the Roques should have a National Zarpe from the Port Captain from wherever they leave, but you cannot check out of Venezuela from the Roques so you have to go back to check out.

Casqui Island

We were lucky we left Tortuga when we did as the first night the wind was blowing at least 20 all night long while we were safely tucked in behind the reef near the Boca de Sebastopol. It would have made for a very rough crossing.
A small mangrove overgrown island separated us from the reef and as far as the eye could reach there was nothing but waves breaking over the reef with a thundering roar. A wreck of a once big fishing vessel stranded on the treaturous reef added to the atmosphere. Behind the rocky reef shore the reef ebbed out to a flat sandy area with occasional coral heads the water was anywhere from ankle deep to shoulder deep and about 100 to 150 yards wide then it came to a abrupt halt and plummet down to 30 feet of water the color there was incredible as it went from a light turquoise green to a dark emerald green just like that and that color change snakes along the entire reef for miles and miles. The reef then gave way to a deep body of water anywhere from 300 to 500 yards and was interrupted by yet another narrower reef and behind yet another body of deeper water and then bigger mangrove over grown islands. Behind those island lies the flats of the Roques which is claimed to be the best bone fishing capital of the world. The ever changing watercolor keeps you in ah. The exploring of the reef was fun and at times we had to pull the dinghy as it was too shallow. Watching the sunsets while heads of turtles popped occasionally out of the water, some schools of fish gathered under the boat and the far distant roar of the waves made this such a relaxed atmosphere. We spent three days in this bliss and only saw a few small boats blasting past dropping tourists off on some of the little sandy islands on the outer reef for the day, other then that we were all alone.

We also had some repairs to do, in we I meant Sid. We lost our wind instrument on the way here so Sid had to climb up there to get it. Out of all things a long hair was wrapped around the baring and I'm telling you I never, ever climb up to the top of the mast, it's beyond me how my long hair got up there?!!! Sid had a wonderful few from up there and took some awesome photos. Later on when I looked at them I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a round Jacuzzi on our deck, wait a minute..oh.. blond moment it's the radar!

By the way the Roques is a national park and lies about 70 miles north of Caracas and are the most visited outer islands of Venezuela. From here it's only a short hop to the Aves and from there to Bonaire. It's an unbelievable cruising area of about 15 by 25 miles of protected reef with many little islands to be reached within an easy day sail.

As we headed up the reef we follow the inner reef for about 8 miles and kept an eye out for the many smaller reefs popping up anywhere. Knowing of all the hidden dangers you're at first a bit nervous but then you realize the water is very clear and the sun will reveal every little hidden rock or reef there is and they are easily detected to the changing of color. Sid stood up on the boom to see the hidden reefs better and we coasted along the reef with amazement, it was so beautiful. After the 8 miles the reef gives way to a really large body of water and about 2 miles across is the main island Grand Roques. We turned left and headed towards Crasqui Island the favorite island for Venezuelan boaters. Thought we'd head there before the weekend as it usually fills up with 3 story gin palace of power boats. We had to dodge some occasional shallow areas then followed Long Reef and finally around Isla Augustin to our anchorage in Crasqui with a spectacular beach that keeps going for miles and miles and beyond the beach you can see the hills of Grand Roques. As soon as we came around the corner of Isla Augustin we saw several boats in the anchorage and with closer inspection Sid recognized or thought he recognized a boat we knew from Maremares. As we finally headed into the anchorage it in deed was Ottiphant with Otto and Irene aboard and we had a great reunion.

PS: go to the position report and look at the Roques via Satellite photo: http://www.aprs.net/cgi-bin/winlink.cgi?KG4EZH

(no subject)

We're out of cheese, fruits, salads, coke, wine, beer and have only 4 carrots, 1 zucchini, 3 onions, 3 potatoes, one cabbage and one dozen of eggs left, freezer is still full of meat, lobster and conch and I guess our can opener will work over time in the next month or so, LOL.
Cayo Herradura is a very busy fishing island, there are about 6 camps and not one day goes by where not at least 4 pangas knock on the boat to either sell fish but mostly to ask if we had hats, sombreros, matches, sodas, epoxy, fan belts, motor oil, eye drops and mostly cigarettes or cigars.
On our walk around the island we were greeted at one of the fishing camps by a friendly older man his name is David, his weathered brown face showed the brightest smile with a few teeth missing. So we talked to him for a while and watched his fellow mates sitting in the sand fixing big fishing nets, while others hauled fresh caught fish to two guys cleaning and salting them. They wanted us to bit a lobster the size of about 8 to 10 pounds, a bit too big for our pot or liking. We like them a bit smaller they are more tender and easier to cook. The jolly old man was very happy talking to us and invited us to come back to his camp at any time. From that day on he knocked on our boat daily to bring his battery operated phone. There is no power on the island and therefore no way to load his phone. We were actually amazed that they had phone option here but my cell phone didn't show any bars. While loading the batteries around 4.30 the phone started ringing and ringing. We gave David a hard time about having too many girlfriends on the mainland. We were happy to fill the batteries for him daily, even when they started bringing a second phone to load and a third. David brought me some onions one day and the last day they took our months worth trash ashore, I would say that was a good trade.

We truly enjoyed our walk around the island, well almost around, the northwestern shore is nothing but sharp rocks the rest is surrounded by beautiful fine white sand. The beach is steep too and on the southeastern end the beach narrows and ebbs out to give away to a long reef which extends southward. Here small waves run over the side from both sides and clash together towards the middle, a fun place to walk through. On the north shore the waves were quite a bit higher and crashed towards the beach with a roaring sound, a very beautiful scene. A red and white striped light house lies on the northwest shore which adds a lot of charm to this horse show shaped island. No matter where we were the view was spectacular and Paradise was surrounded by flat and calm turquoise water. She was anchored in 8 feet of water which is a very pleasant temperature to cool off when there is no breeze blowing. The first few nights the wind was howling and we had even gusts up to 30 knots. During the day the wind would slow to maybe 5 knots and at times completely disappear. We had anything from a northerly to a light westerly and each day was just absolutely beautiful.
While at Los Palanquinos with horror we found a lot of mildew in the V-Berth. All the shopping bags I used going shopping in the dinghy were gray. The humidity had been high and it doesn't help to get an invisible spray of salt air from the waves breaking over the reefs on the other side of the island to keep everything damp and eventually it will mildew. We went through the whole boat and whipped down anything and everything. Even our upholstery showed some mildew and had to be hand washed right away. The water maker was working over time. We have never had a mildew problem before. While here in Herradura I found some more mildew this time in all the cockpit cushion covers so I did some more laundry. Never a dull moment in and on Paradise.

Gustav was going to sail to Tortuga while we were here. His first attempt was while we were still in Caldera. Gustav encountered 40 knots of wind and had to turn back. The second attempt was while we were in Herradura, he made it halve way and lost the steering, luckily he had some wood onboard (he's boat is under construction) and rigged an emergency rudder to get back. It was a bummer as we were excited for his visit, not to mention all the provisions and beer he was going to bring. Poor guy has to drink all that beer by himself now LOL. As soon as we had word that for a second time he had to turn back we pulled anchor and took the good weather opportunity to sail to the Roques.
We left with about 15 knots of wind, which dwindled away over a few hours and left us with 5 to 6 feet rollers on the beam, not a very comfortable ride. Sid was n watch until one in the morning while I tried to sleep in the tossing waves. The wild ride finally started to calm down and Sid was able to sleep most of my 4 hour watch. By 5 am it was a fairly comfortable ride and I laid down for some sleep again and didn't wake up until 7 when I don't know what woke me up first Sid standing over me yelling "I got a fish, I got a fish" or the loud BZZZZZZZZZZZ sound of the over heating reel. In any case my adrenaline was rushing, didn't need any coffee anymore, I jumped up turned the throttle down, brought the jib in while Sid tried to crank in on the fish. At this point he didn't know yet what it was but then a blue marlin jumped a couple of times out of the water while the reel was still sizzling. It took him a while to get the fish along side the boat. Sid finally managed to get hold of his bill and counting the sweat dripping of his forehead I my guess was the fish is about 100 pounds. He managed to get the hook out of his bill and with a good luck wish he sent him back into the deep. Blue marlin is an excellent eating fish you probably are saying right now but we do believe in catch and release in bill fish, especially when one does not fit in both the fridge and freezer. It was fun and Sid finally caught his first marlin. The funny thing was Sid was just in the process to put out the reel, the lure was barley touching the water when the marline hit. He didn't attempt to catch another one but an hour later when we saw some tuna jumping we tried to catch one of those without success. By now we were only 10 miles away from the Roques but you can't see the islands until about 6 miles out. We headed for the lighthouse and about one mile out we could distinguish where the entrance was and followed the darker blue water into the sheltered bay inside the reef. There we had to follow another reef to our anchorage. It's beautiful here and our first visitor was a big school of calamari under the boat. There I said it again calamari, I meant squid. Lucky devils it's a national park here and fishing is not allowed.

Conch mystery: in Caldera one of the fishermen gave Manuela a beautiful queen conch, so how do you get the meat out and not damage the shell? We heard many stories over the years: hang the conch up in the sun and it will slowly come out (pew can't imagine the stink!). The other is to put the conch in the freezer and the other boiling. We were not sure which one we would use and talking about it with Wind Shear someone mentioned that the snail was all muscle so the idea came up giving some muscle relaxant. Sid ground up some Flexeril. Mixed it with a little water and filled the conch up with it. An hour or so later the conch started crawling out and a couple of hours later it was so relaxed Sid just pulled it out of there. So the conch mystery is solved. We definitely did NOT eat the relaxed muscle!

Drinking tip for cruisers:
When to drink your Martini on deck or in the cockpit? When you see white caps appear in your martini glass and vodka waves are sloshing up the martini glass wall like waves crashing onto a beach, it's time to retreat into the cockpit and continue enjoying your martini there!

Cayo Herradura, Isla Tortuga

We were tucked in safely behind the fairly small reef and enjoyed watching waves crash onto the reef with roaring sounds. Around cocktail time we picked up Rob and Debi, Captain Jack stayed on the boat, and went over to the reef sat or stood in waste deep of crystal clear water, watched waves crash onto the reef just feet from us but where we were the water was calm, just beautiful. The tide was on it's way out and on some corals fairly big sea urchins were halve way out of the water and a at some spots parrot fish were rolling on the surface while we sipped on some ice cold cocktails.
The next morning Captain Jack gave the crew off and we ventured over to the mile and mile long beach. It was a bit tricky to get ashore with the occasional shore breakers, but we managed without getting soaked, which was a different story when we went back. We walked a couple of miles along the pristine white sandy beach to an area with a rocky shoreline where the rocks were as flat as a table and canyons were cut out between them. They were only about 4 feet out of the water and it was spectacular when 6 foot waves rolled over them then the water cascading back into the ocean brining the rocks to view again. I could have watched this for hours. I found some good size sea escargots which made a yummy dinner. Sid found foot prints of cats with babies in the sand but never got to see the cats. He also ventured into the shrubs and found some of those bright pink pepper looking berries which grow in a cactus, yummy.
Unfortunately the following day Captain Jack decided it was time to leave for Trinidad and it was sad seeing them hoist anchor and slip out of our view as the sun was getting ready to come up. We truly had the most wonderful time with the Crew on Wind Shear in the last three months. We will miss them and hope their stay in Trinidad is short and sweet so that they can catch up with us again soon.
We pulled anchor a few hours later and motored to Cayo Herradura 3 miles further west and yet another beautiful anchorage. Cayo Herradura is the most favored of the Tortuga anchorages. The island is one mile long of mostly fine white sand. At the north end of the beach is a fishing camp and as we anchored all the pangas left and started laying nets around the island. The water here is of the an incredible turquoise blue color like somebody painted it. The contrast of the light blue water against the white sand and the dark blue ocean water behind it takes your breath away. A nice breeze is blowing keeping us cool. Oh yeah, Pizza tonight, life is good!

Isla Palanquinos

Wind Shear arrived on a weekend and so did a few more boats but coming Monday we were all alone again. Wind Shear who sat in the Redonda Marina for over six months working hard on the boat, are just as happy to be here and are finally relaxing. Captain Jack was especially excited when we finally went ashore to explore the beautiful beach. He's a pretty short guy but outran us all. The swells in the mean time have subsided and made it for a very pleasant walk, except for speedy Jack. At the end of the beach we all put our crocks back on, except for Jack, yes Jack's special, and hiked across the sharp coral rocks which are all black like the sun had burned them all. We were following the cliff and watched as the water turned from blue shades into all kind of green shades and then we noticed hundreds of big size chitons sticking to the rocks On our way back we harvested some and cocked them up as soon as we got back to the boats. The same day I noticed the local fishermen, called them over and ordered some lobster for Wind Shear. Captain Jack and especially Debi couldn't wait to get their teeth into some lobster. Two days later the boys came back with 5 lobsters of almost 8 kilos total, 5 nice red snappers, three for Wind Shear 2 for Paradise which will be fried up in butter and garlic, yummy. The crew of Wind Shear has never cleaned any lobster so I went over to their boat and taught them how. It was too funny when Debi tried first. Her arms weren't long enough to stay away from the spiny, still moving lobster and I think her screams could be heard on the other side of the island. Rob took to it like pro and Captain Jack as always let his crew do the dirty work. Most people toss the head and legs of a lobster overboard not realizing what a good meal they can make. So later on that day Captain Jack invited us over for cocktail and lobster legs Debi had prepared for us, what a treat. We were so full that our dinners were postponed for the following evening. Here is what I do with the head (by the way it works for shrimp the same): I place them on a baking sheet, bake at 400 for 40 minutes, place into a big soup pot or pressure cooker and make the most wonderful stock. The stock then can be frozen for later use. I freeze the stock in packages of 1 ½ cups each to that when I cook rice I bring broth to boil and add one cup of rice to it, cover and simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes, remove from heat and let steam for 10 minutes. Just before serving I add some fresh Parmesan to it and voila the best Risotto you have ever tasted. Captain Jack was happy I taught his crew well so now he's all set with more gourmet dinners onboard his ship, boy he sure rules his boat.

We spent one more day and showed Captain Jack and Debi the mile for mile long beach with all the trash. I forgot to add that this breach is on the windward side so all the trash from Puerto La Cruz area will get stuck here. I was really amazed as I saw the 60 foot tree trunk including roots 180 degrees turned around on the beach, wow.
Rob staid behind doing some chores, Captain Jack really runs a tight ship. We ended the stay with another fun Boccha Ball game on the beach, which Rob again won then watched the sun disappear on the horizon before heading back to our boats, having dinner and settle in for the night.

At 10:30 am the anchors were lifted and Wind Shear with Paradise left Paradise for another yet even prettier one. The northern shore of Tortuga is surrounded by some rocky cliffs between pristine white beaches as we motored along the coast. It was only a little over 7 miles to Los Palanquinos which is a mile beyond Punta Ranchos an offshore reef with a few rocks sticking out. We're tucked in behind this beautiful reef which is painted with all the blue colors imaginable which reach to the fairly close white sandy beach. I'm sure we'll have some re-matches of Boccha Ball games, can't have Rob win all the time, now can we?!
Not even anchored 30 minutes a fishing boat came by an offered us lobster. Debi jumped on it like hot cakes and Rob and Captain Jack are drooling already.

Lobster and Cheese Fondue

I3 boats had anchored amongst us and everybody seemed to have a great time and so did we watching them. Amazingly for how much Venezuelans like to party with very loud music it was very quite here. Valentines Day we had an early dinner with a bottle of champagne and a Swiss Cheese Fondue, now life can't get any better. Following night we feasted on lobster so after 4 days of doing absolutely nothing we decided it was time to venture ashore to walk the good food off. By now everybody had left again and we had this Paradise to ourselves. We walked along the beautiful beach surrounding our anchorage of the finest coral sand. I thought for sure with the high waves that had crashed on shore over the weekend I would find tons of shells. All I found were little smooth clams of pure white and also some very small pieces of the most beautiful white coral which are perfect for making pendants.
The following day we headed across the isthmus to the most beautiful mile after mile long beach where the water was clear and in all shades of blue. Big rollers hit a shoal that protected the beach from the shore break that was further along.
Where the sand stopped and the flat lands of the island started was the biggest eyesore we've ever seen. We must have walked 2 miles along this gorgeous beach to realize that it was all polluted with piles and piles of trash, mainly plastic bottles. There also was a huge tree including roots that had washed ashore, would be a pisser to run into something like that at sea as it was at least 60 feet long. At this point we had seen enough trash and slowly headed back. Sid had fun, he had a goal to pick up every single flip flop he could find in the trash pile and strung them up on a long line and pulled them behind himself. You should have seen the pile he had when we got back to were we had started. The flip flop string was at least 8 feet long. Sid then assembled them above the beach and we counted 120 of them and he was very proud to have left a little flip flop memorial and I'm sure many will wonder "What the Heck"!!!
Later in the afternoon that day we took a couple of cocktails ashore and played boccha ball as the sun sank to the horizon. We plaid 3 sets and I beat Sid big time on each game, guess we have to have a rematch soon. I have to add we were very sore the next day from all the walking and exercising.
The weather has been great and the nights down right cold. After sundown we both put our sweater or jacket on and sip on hot tea, well I am, Sid thinks the rum helps too. Night temperature is around 75 and water temp is a cold 72 degrees, brrrrrrrr,
February 19th our buddies Captain Jack and his Crew Rob and Debi on Wind Shear anchored next to us and will spend the next two weeks with us before they are headed to Trinidad and us to the Roques.

Playa Caldera on Venezuuela's outer island Tortuga

Alarm was set for midnight and what a surprise to see our neighbors Debi and Rob on Wind Shear already sitting in their cockpit waiting for us to get up. They wanted to send us off. We sure had a good time with them, especially Manuela with Debi on all the shopping trips. They are planning to finish up their work and follow us in a couple of days. At 00:30 we left the dock and headed into the dark night. We had no moon but the bay was lit with the light of the city and we coasted out of the bay. As we entered the cut between Isla Boracho and Chimana Grande a current chopped up the water and after we had passed Boracho the back wash swells had left. We had about 13 to 17 knots of wind the whole trip and a 6 foot swell unfortunately on the beam and Manuela wasn't feeling to good. Sid did the first watch and never really got any sleep. It took us 10 hours to get to Isla Tortuga where we anchored in 10 feet of water in Playa Caldera on the north eastern tip of the island. Caldera is a one mile long half-moon beach with white sand and sand dunes. From the anchorage we can see the large reef across the beach where a little fishing village and airstrip which on the weekends is a busy little place bringing in tourists for the day from Caracas.
We were anchored for about one hour when a dinghy approached us. It was two Venezuelan Coast Guards and wanted to see our papers. We were surprised about that as nobody every told us there was a station here. They were very friendly and wrote up the paper work in the dinghy. Then he wanted to see if our flares were up to date. So one came aboard and followed Sid down below. After all was done they sat with us in the cockpit for a beer, invited to visit them at the station on the island and told us that we could stay one months here and also one months in the Roques, wished us a good time and left. There was only one other boat here, we had the place to ourselves. With the sunset the warmth of the day disappeared and it got down right cold that we made some hot toddies. We needed blankets for the night as it was 75 degrees, wow, we went from summer into winter LOL.
Early I woke up to what I thought was the daily power outage when the AC would turn off, but then realized with a huge grin on my face that the refrigeration pump had stopped, we were not on the dock any longer but in an most beautiful anchorage. We didn't do anything but relax all day and watched as one boat after another arrived. Venezuelans don't anchor their boats, they park them, not one boat sits the same way. It is the weekend of Valentines Day and on the 15th Carnival starts, therefore this placed will be hopping.
Planes flew in and out all day long and we had fun watching all the boats park. The good thing is they all will leave on Tuesday again. So here we are enjoying Paradise in and on Paradise and are waiting for our buddy boat Wind Shear to arrive.

Emotional Departure

Saying good-bye to all our friends was hard, especially our family Jim and Jenny on Three Keys, Darren and Rocio, and Chris and Luima.

Jenny arranged a fun get together with Jean and Xiomara, the ex-crew of Maremares. We had a blast and Xiomara brought her sister. I think she was glad she didn't meet us prior as she had a huge hangover the following day. Jim brought all his Halloween stuff out )well it's Carnival here), we had so much fun our faces hurt the next day, plus some of us had ratones in our heads (yep in Veniland you don' get hangovers, you get mice or rats in your head).













Darren and Sid helped Jim AKA "Mayor of Maremares" to get "rid" of the last evidence that the Maremares Crowed ever existed: the BBQ which got us together for so many wonderful evenings and parties. We'll dearly miss this time. It was kind of hard for us in the last few months to visit Jim and Jenny, sitting in the living room of their rental house instead of under the Tree of Knowledge where we bonded and shared our life stories. Three Keys is for sale, Jenny is leaving Venezuela for good in March and Jim will do so in May. This is the end of the Maremares Gang or the Gringo Sailing Community.















Paradise is sparkling from bottom to the top of the mast, provisioned and ready to set sail. We are showered and ready for a cocktail, then for a nap. Alarm clock is set for midnight when we'll sneak out of the harbor and set sails for new unknown adventures. This will be a very emotional departure.
PS: main Provitions: