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Tuesday, February 19, 2002 Hello everybody, We are starting our first passage of the New Year after a nice break in Grenada for the holidays. This e-mail will get us from Grenada to Panama. The trip has proved to have some pleasant surprises, mainly the islands off of Venezuela. We hadn't researched them in great detail, and were pleased to find such lovely island hopping. This trip we had Steve, Dick, Karen and Ron joining us. This newsletter is taken from some correspondence that Steve and Dick wrote daily to friends. with additions of highlights from the crew. Yesterday, we left Grenada at 3pm and sailed downwind arriving in Los Testigos at 11 am. It was a beautiful star light passage under sail till the wee hours when the wind died and Mr. Bedford took over. We all stood 3 hour watches while the rest of the crew slept. We always had two folks on watch, one experienced crew and one rookie. The night sail was beautiful, dark on the water with spots of phosphorescence, more stars than anyone could count, and a strong breeze with reasonable constant direction. Made for a good introduction for us rookies but we know there is much more to come. It is quite a wonderful and unusual experience for all of us. We check with the Venezuelan Coast Guard on one of the islands and got permission to stay for up to three days after which we will go to Isla de Marguerita to properly check in. We will stay tonight in a lovely cove with a horseshoe beach with a few palms. A panga with four fishermen came by and gave us a fish and four lobster. Yes, they gave us the lobster. Dinner is pesto pasta with this seafood. We had a nice excursion on the beach this pm and took a hike to check out the view. It was spectacular with two opposing coves with a sand spit in between. The only problem was the cacti--but we survived their repeated attacks. Los Testigos is a group of four islands inhabited by fishermen, very well off fishermen. They are after ocean going fish, small fish and lobster. They have lovely wooden fish boats, proud bows and full covers for the sun. The small ones they make on the island and the bigger ones were made on the mainland. They had one on the beach that they were working on rebuilding. Bridget adds a little about Los Testigos: We anchored for a while off the leeward side of a deserted arm of island and were lured ashore by steep dunes. Alyce, Darby, Karen, Steve, Dick, and I went ashore and climbed up the steep incline of narrow dune, lined on either side with cacti and trees. We were met at the crest by a face-full of wind roaring up the windward dunes. The entire windward side of this arm was covered in moon snail shells, from dime-sized to the size of two fists together. Some big storms had carried the shells far up the dunes. At the time, with no serious weather about, we were still enjoying powerful surf and a fresh breeze. The girls and I played on the boogie boards and Karen found us the best shelling areas. On the way back, we stood high above Alcyone, looking down a narrow strip of leeward dune. We decided to use the boogie boards as sleds and slide down. Others have told me how fun this can be, but I was always skeptical that sand would create too much friction. This sand was perfect. It was so fine that it stacked up very steeply and the boogie boards, with combinations of us on our butts and bellies, sped down uncontrollably. Only bailing off just before the cacti saving ourselves from getting full of prickers. It was some of the best sledding I've ever done, complete with the arduous hike back up to the top. We spent our days exploring, diving, fishing and relaxing. The hunter/gatherers (Leslie's name for those whose adventures include foraging) were busy trying to provide for us. They enjoyed beautiful diving, but the lobster stayed illusive and small. Later, we went ashore and the hunter-gatherers were finally successful when Sugar located the lobstermen returning in their boat. He dinghied out to buy, but was initially was rebuffed when the locals said, "Lobster is very expensive." So they gave him four, again. Since he wanted more, he said would you sell me whatever this $20 will buy. He received 5 more for a total or ten. What a feast! Today, Jan 13th, is Captain Sugar's 43 birthday. This morning brought a continuation of the good weather, in spite of the forecast of rain. We departed at 7:45am under main, course and raffee and averaged about 7 knots for the 49-mile trip to Isla de Margarita. About 10 miles from Los Testigos we had a strike on one of our two dragged fishing lines. Pulled in a 35 pound wahoo which was rapidly dispatched, filleted, cut into huge steaks, and into the frig. One large fillet was commandeered by Chris, cut into very thin strips and then put into a "Chris" marinade prior to being dried in the sun. We saw a very surprising apparition. From 20 miles offshore we could see a large island ahead, our destination Isla de Margarita. The deceiving thing was very large rectangles rising from the horizon next to the island. Our context, of course was the tiny remote islands we had been visiting. As we got closer we began to understand that Parlomar was a Miami like town and we were looking at high rises on the coast. We anchored at 4pm, put the boat away, bathed and got ready for the Wahoo birthday dinner. Sugar went ashore and got some needed beverages and ice, called on nearby yachts to learn the local situation and was back for drinks. Oh well! Just for fun grab and atlas and see if you can find Isla de Margarita. Neither of us ever knew it even existed! Today, Sugar turned over the 10 passports to an agent, who, for $100, cleared us into the country. We took a taxi into town, changed money, walked in and out of stores and had a very good seafood lunch on the beach. While the town sparkled last night in the dark, it did not sparkle close up. The buildings are all tired and in need of paint and more. Most taxis are old full sized American cars. The few new ones are very small Korean models. Many buildings are vacant. There is a very large hotel that once thrived and is now closed. There are skeletons of new high rises that are no longer under construction. Apparently, a new area opened up and put the older area out of business. Many telephones don't work. You can get a line, but you cannot complete a call as one or more of the buttons are not functioning. The main reason for coming here was for Sugar and Leslie to reprovision the boat. They spent over $500 US doing so and filled a taxi to the max. Many dinghy loads back to Alcyone. We also took on diesel fuel, which was delivered to the boat and then siphoned and filtered aboard. So why here, the answer is simple. Everything here is really cheap! A fifth of the best rum is $2-4; Johnny Walker Red label is only $10. Also, food is plentiful and fresh and once again, cheap. Even the diesel fuel was only $.50/gallon and back home the best that I can do is $1.25/gallon, so all in all, worth the trip. We even got someone to do some of the laundry like towels, bed sheets and the like; again, very reasonable. We are still looking for drinkable water; no luck so far but there is still tomorrow. Before departing, Steve and Dick made a pilgrimage to the liquor store. Purchased 10 bottles of Chilean wine, white and red, 2 bottles of Anejo Bacardi Rum, and some cookies for the kids. We really worked at it but could only pay about $31 US for the lot. All donated to the boat. Isla Margarita market (by, Darby) We bought a green Hello Kitty shopping bag in Venezuela, at the market. It has a picture of Hello Kitty and has her name written under the zipper. Bridget, Alyce, Ma, Karen, and I went to the market by taxi. It was an immense market with chicken, vegetables, fruit, and all sorts of things. In a big building nearby (really, a maze-like hallway covered by a tarp) there were clothes, toys, towels, shoes, lighters, radios, televisions, books, and all sorts of things. The food market was a little bit stinky inside. There were flies around the fruit that made me itchy. We bought pineapple, watermelon (VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY good watermelon) and potatoes. We ate a weird thing with chicken inside it then we got a fresh orange juice and a fresh punch. We left Parlomar at 3pm, an hour after our plan. With wonderful wind and sun we sailed down wind at up to 10.3 kts arriving at Cubagua a small island off the eastern end of Margarita. Discovered by Columbus on his first trip, it became a major pearl production center contributing to Spain at its peak almost as much as the Inca gold. Destroyed by a tidal wave in 1541, it is substantially uninhabited today. It is nice to be back in the undeveloped islands with their quiet and beauty. I think this is what the Spanish mean by "duende." It is yet another beautiful day with only a few cumulus clouds. Most everyone went ashore to walk the beach and meet the people working at the research station. Karen gave some clothes to them. Nobody elected to snorkel or swim as Sugar came in with lots of jellyfish stings last night when he dove on the anchor. Although originally planning to leave after lunch, the morning maintenance project took longer than anticipated. Never heard of that before. Our schedule is always subject to review. While we know that the next island you all can find on a map is Curacao, the intermediate stops planned can be changed more than once in a day. We were to go to Tortuga tonight, but after review of the depths for anchoring and the similarity to Cubagua, we will instead leave tomorrow for an all day and overnight sail to Aves de Barlovento. As we said yesterday plans change. We were underway at 7am with a plan to travel 202 miles in a day and a half. Winds were very light and we dropped from 5kts to 3 plus in the first two hours. Mr. Bedford was called upon to help and we motor sailed until 3pm when we were finally able to sail at 7 plus kts. As a result of our slow start, we have decided to anchor at Tortuga this afternoon, which we can reach in daylight. Tomorrow we can leave at a comfortable time and sail overnight and reach Aves in daylight, which is essential considering its complex reef environment. Today's excitement was being greeted by at least twenty dolphins that appeared suddenly, played for ten minutes at our bow and left for parts unknown. We also spent an hour or so working on the gas powered water pump just to give us all practice in case it might be needed in some sort of emergency. Sugar and the crew are very safety conscious and man overboard drills are part of the program. Also, we all are required to wear harnesses and to have them attached to the lifelines when on deck in the evening or the dark. Seems like a really good idea. Shipboard life continues as we spend the days reading, doing laundry, cleaning the decks, doing dishes, and/or polishing the ships brass. Tortuga anchorage was very shallow, considering our 10ft draft. We were unable to tuck in far enough behind the lee of the sand spit. Result, we rolled all night and listened to the noises of a rolling boat-lots of them. We walked the beautiful deserted horseshoe beach this morning and explored a wreck of a 50 plus foot fiberglass sailboat. It had been stripped of every last piece of metal. Nothing of value was anywhere around. At 11am we departed for our 145-mile passage to Aves de Barlovento, our last island before Curacao. Steve went up the ratlines on the foremast to get the course halyards. The boat was rolling like crazy as we had not yet raised any sails. It is a lot easier in a bosun's chair in the harbor. Yesterday/last night was a lesson in planning and sail changes. We had delayed our departure until 11am because we wanted to arrive with a high sun to see the reefs at Aves de Barlovento. We assumed a 6 kt. average (which we had not achieved the previous attempt, which had resulted in our stopping at Tortuga). Almost all of our sailing has been down wind using the main sail plus the course and raffee. These are rigged below and above the yard, respectively. This sail plan is good up to 90 degrees off the wind and no closer. We started this trip configured in this usual way, but we were making 7-8 kts. There also was some concern that we might need the ability to sail closer to the wind. At 4pm we made the boat a schooner by striking the sails off the yard and raising the foresail, staysail and jib. The later two are two of the three triangular sails rigged before the forward mast. We also put one reef in the main to slow us down. At 7pm we were still going too fast and the jib was taken down. At 9 a second reef was put in the main. At 10 we were still doing better than 8.5 kts. A half hour later we went back to a brig-the foresail was dropped, and the triangular sails in front of the first mast were taken down. Just the course was rigged from the yard. With this low to the water sail plan with only a double reefed main and course we were still doing 7's and 8's and the seas were 5-6 feet and occasionally higher. At 3am, we were doing mid 10's and the course was struck and the jib was put up to balance the main. With all these changes, the wind built continuously and we arrived at 8:15. We temporarily anchored and snorkeled/fished and waited for the sun to get higher. At 1:30pm, with someone up in the rigging with polarized lenses and another calling depths from the navigational station, we motored to a better location. Note: It took the amateurs 45 minutes to take down the awning, take a reef in the main, with Sugar's and Chris's help and convert to a schooner. At night, the 4 pros took 20 minutes to convert back, requiring Bridget to climb the ratlines, but not reinstalling the sun- shade.During the night, a squall came up and dumped on us, although briefly. This is not uncommon. We have only had one morning with rain and the rest has been this nighttime squalls. Yesterday afternoon, we took a dory and the dingy to explore the mangroves that are filled with birds including many nesting boobies. Steve and Bridget attempted windsurfing. We had a wonderful non-rolling evening. Today has been a lazy day at anchor. Sugar, Chris and Leslie sanded, puttied and painted a section of the port topsides that could not be reached when the boat was hauled in Grenada. Ron swam ashore and walked the island. Sugar and Dick went off in the dingy to explore another possible anchorage. They asked some fisherman about the fishing and lobstering and were given 5 reef fish. Fish tacos for lunch. The girls took a trapeze lesson off the starboard yard and did their regular school work. This afternoon included windsurfing by Sugar, Leslie and Steve; Bridget birding in the mangroves and most everyone snorkeling. Another piece of nautical equipment was rigged, a Mexican string hammock to facilitate reading in the shade. The colors here are beautiful with the shallow areas the bright aqua reminiscent of Tobago Cays, Windward Islands. Occasionally, a cloud will have a rainbow painted over it. Last evening we invited a French couple and their 15-year-old son over for cocktails, which turned into dinner. Leslie and Sugar had met them at the grocery store in Isla de Margerita. They are headed to Cuba. Three hours of speaking French was a work out for many of us. It was unusual that six of the eight adults on Alcyone had some French ability. This morning's forecast, which we receive daily over the single sideband radio, called for increasing winds and seas for the next 6 days. We left the largest island of Ave de Barlovento and motored to Isla Oeste of the same group, about 4 miles away. This will allow us to leave this evening without needing to see the bottom. We will leave about 8-9pm with very little sail area raised and overnight the 85 miles to Curacao. Isla Oeste is a delight. It is about 2 miles around the horseshoe beach and from 30 feet to one mile wide. The whole bay is light aqua with dark coral patches for contrast. The tallest vegetation on the island is comprised of a few mangrove trees. Most of the island is only a few feet high and is covered with a type of ice plant at beach edge. Twenty feet in is a plant that looks like a pine tree but is only 6-8 inches high, like a grass. There are also shrubs that look like manzanita but the leaf and bark are different. But, most interesting were the thousands of masked boobies nesting on the ground, all facing into the wind. Most had two eggs. They did not seem disturbed by our presence even if we were just feet away. Los Aves (by, Alyce) In Los Aves we had hermit crab races. There were lots of crabs and we got around thirty of them! Darby would watch them and Bridget and I would collect more. I had a crab that won three races before he retired (escaped.) I had a lot of fun in Los Aves. The shelling in all of the offshore island has been great. Darby and I are collecting small ones to make Sailor's Valentines with. We left at 7pm and arrived just after 8am in Spanish Waters (Spaansche Bi in Dutch), Curacao. Thankfully, the forecast was not accurate. We set the course (the trapezoidal sail below the yard) and a storm trysail from the main mast. This sail is laced or stitched onto the mast and loose footed to the sheets. We sailed at between five and eight kts in what turned out to be a very pleasant sail with seas never exceeding 6 feet. Although the sailing was delightful, the sleeping was not. With an almost straight downwind point of sail, the boat rolls a lot with the larger seas. Spanish Waters is an interesting harbor. It has a very narrow entrance from the Caribbean that opens into a small bay with many fingers. It is strictly for pleasure boats, both sail and power. There are four yacht clubs within the harbor. A few miles away is the main commercial port and city of Willemstad, the capital of the five islands that comprise the Netherland Antilles. Sugar spent the whole day dealing with clearing in and out of this country. Everyone else stayed on the boat or, at least, in the harbor. In late afternoon the teenagers of the area came out on their sailboards. It was quite a show with one boy jumping his board into the air and rotating the board while airborne so that when he landed he was going in the opposite direction. Today, most of us went to Willemstad. It is quite a nice town with Cape Dutch architecture. There is a channel that provides ocean going vessels access to the harbor and divides the town. To go from one part of town to the other, there is a floating bridge, which is swung 90 degrees out of the way for ship traffic. When not usable there is a free ferry service. The town is a very reasonable combination of tourist town and real commercial center. Although there were two monster cruise ships in, the town did not seem overwhelmed. There is also a very fine museum of natural history and anthropology, although it is billed as a museum of the history of slave trading. I went Windsurfing this morning at 7 and it started to feel like the old days, but that may have been because the wind was lighter than usual. At 9am, a local dive operator picked me up. I did a wall dive from the shore. It was quite nice, but not unusual. This afternoon the harbor looks like a playground. The kids, mostly 13-16 years old, come home from school and go for their wind surfing boards. They race back and forth doing flips turns and jumps. Alcyone is perfectly anchored for the best front row seats. There is a small fleet of sunfish with rainbow sails coming out now. We listen to weather forecasts daily in the morning at 9 and again, but from a different forecaster, in the afternoon at 5:30. During the past couple of days they have predicted increasing winds and seas for the next 5-7 days. Alcyone is a very heavy well built and maintained boat and can certainly handle what is predicted for winds. However, the big seas, were they to materialize, would certainly be uncomfortable. We are listening to plan our departure, as it is 600 miles or about 4 days from Curacao to the San Blas. At noon we had sailed for 24 hours covering 179 miles. The conditions were not as bad as predicted. The winds have been in the 20s with seas mostly in the 4-6 foot range although we have seen 10 footers occasionally. We just changed heading from 300 degrees to 250 as we can now head more southerly as we have passed the most northerly peninsula of Venezuela. That may provide us with some lee from these winds and seas. We have mostly been sailing with the course and storm trysail. While we averaged about 7.5, we are currently doing in the mid 9s and did hit 10.5. The boat has a clinometer, an instrument that tells the angle of heel. We are typically rolling plus and minus 10-15 degrees. However, sometimes we really get rolling and it has exceeded 35 degrees in one direction, alone. We usually troll during daylight. Today, a wahoo played with our lure for ten minutes and was heard to say," I have no fear, Dick is not here." A half hour later we caught and released a 6 ft. 100 pound shark. Then we caught a beautiful female Dorado (Dolphin fish) about 3.5 ft and 35 plus pounds. Chris filleted it and the menu has changed. Yes, we are further south but the winds did not moderate. We did 172 miles noon to noon on the second day. Now, at 2pm, we have wind in the 30s and the seas are frequently 10-12 feet. The sky is clear and there is a lot of white on the waves but not blowing off the tops. Frequently, water comes on deck and we have just had to cover all hatches, as we had taken water below. There is not a lot new. We did 176 miles on the third day noon to noon. The winds finally moderated this morning but the seas did not. They are nice long rolling waves up to about 15 feet in height. Awesome! Occasionally, one comes from a different direction and we roll dramatically. It is pleasant on deck both night and day. We have had nearly full or full moons each night, no rain and few clouds. The water is warm when it sweeps across the deck. Below it is very hot and stuffy during the day, as we have had to keep the boat closed up to keep the rare breaking wave outside. We arrived at Porvenir, the entry point for the San Blas, at noon today. The weather forecasters had been saying that if we could get south of 10N, the wind would decrease. We chose a course to get us south as fast as possible and then turned right for Panama. It worked. Last night, when we turned, the winds were light and we again went from brig to schooner setting the foresail, jib and fly-jib. The storm trisail was left up. Today was cruise ship day at Porvenir. With a scheduled visit by many hundreds of out of condition passengers, large dugout canoes converged on this tiny island. There were typically 10-15 ladies dressed in colorful dresses with leg bandings and gold in one nostril in these canoes, covered in plastic to keep the spray off and sitting on plastic tubs which carried their inventory of molas. The Kuna ladies drove sticks into the ground and tied string across to display their wares. It was a colorful display. The island also had an airstrip, which went from one end to the other and could handle short take off and landing craft. Molas (by, Leslie) What are molas anyway? They are rectangular pieces of material art that make up part of the smock that the Kuna Indian women wear. Traditionally they involve reverse appliqué, layers of different material that one cuts back down to and hems under with hundreds of tiny stitches to make a pattern. Then they are enhanced with embroidery and appliqué. I had been thru the San Blas island in the late 70's when it was still possible to trade with the ladies, who were sailing up in their dug out canoes, for there molas. There mode of transportation hasn't changed much, though now some of them have outboards, but now they know the value of the dollar and molas are bought. They have schools now in the bigger islands that teach mola making; it has developed into a good business for the Kuna women and some men now. Chris was heard to say "it is a good thing we want to buy molas, it makes the visit more fun". I never seem to have too many. Small round patches cost 50 cents, small 5x5 inch squares are $1, and the big molas can coast from $4-hundreds. The kids make the small ones to practice. I can't imagine doing even a small in less than a day or two if at all. I hope that I get back to visit again someday. Later, we dinghied over to one of the nearby islands, which is densely inhabited by the Kuna, to explore and do some shopping. Their houses have bamboo walls with either thatched roofs or corrugated metal roofs. Interspersed with their houses are stores that look like their houses, each selling a different variety of items. We looked for chicken at one, bananas at another and a razor at a third, an exercise that caused us to walk the length of the island twice. It did not take long as the island is less than 100 yards long. The people are friendly and speak their own Kuna language. Some have learned Spanish and a very few, English. It was a very nice experience. Another great day in paradise! We went back to the tiny residential island across from Porvenir and had a very pleasant time talking with the people. Chris was along and he has excellent Spanish. At noon, we left the anchorage intending to motor-sail with Mr. Bedford and the foresail. About half way to our destination, Mr. Bedford decided that he would go on strike. Quickly, "raise the main, staysail and jib." Sugar and Chris went to work on the engine while alternative destinations were evaluated. We decided that Mr. Bedford need more time for analysis, so we sailed into anchor among the coral reefs and tiny palm covered islands. A local cayuco paddled out to show us the way. Chris speeded about in the dinghy with a lead line. We eventually, with only the smallest of bump bumps, anchored and put the boat to bed. We rigged air scoops and fans while Chris and Sugar went below and eventually found the failure, the Murphy switch. Can you believe that?! If it's not the Peter Principle, its the Murphy switch. We are now resting among a bunch of very small islands where the locals grow coconuts for trade with Columbia, which they have done since before they became a separate country. After anchoring yesterday, we were approached by several cayucos, the local canoes, with Kunas wishing to sell their molas. We told them to come back in 2 hours, as we needed to fix the barco. Later, they returned and we made the women in three cayucos happy. This morning all but Chris rowed in three dories to one of the islands from which these people came. We visited with them, walked the coconut grove, gave their children small gifts, and bought a few molas. We invited the teenage boys back to the boat at 3pm to fly from the Tarzan rope, which comes down from the starboard end of the yard, and jump in the water. At 3:15, a medium sized cayuco arrived with 5 women paddling and 4 ninos. They had come to visit and see the boat. They were given a tour and shown some pictures and given cookies and juice. Then 3 teenage males arrived in a different cayuco to play with our crew and the kids. The women left in about 2 hours after trying to trade some molas for either the outboard or the binoculars with built in compass. As a point of reference, they have been selling molas for $1-15, depending on size and complexity. The boys left at 6:30 after swinging and leaping for hours. One even began to learn to windsurf under Bridget's tutelage. Finally, we are alone, just the eight of us, to dine and contemplate what life will offer us tomorrow. This morning we went ashore to a different island adjacent to our anchorage and one of the islands where our recent Kuna friends live. This is an island, which has been inhabited for six years, and the height of the palms reflects this. Yesterday's island is visited for 15 days every 3 months. During this time they tend their coconut farm, fish, etc. But, today's island is considered permanent. The homes on both are the same: dirt floors, bamboo walls, palm frond thatched roofs and oval in shape. We socialized for a half hour, exchanged gifts, bought molas and left. We weighed anchor at 11:30 and sailed a few hours to Green Island. This island is much larger and like all the San Blas islands is only a few feet above sea level and is covered with coconuts. We did not go ashore this afternoon, but instead went snorkeling for shells and conch. This island offers such good protection from the weather that there is not enough wind to board sail. (Yesterday I sailed three different times and several others aboard also went out.) Deja vu (Chris) The most interesting part of this last leg for me was a feeling more than a location, though I suppose one begot the other. Panama marks the only place, save the barn run up the straights to Port Townsend, which we'll see twice on the trip. As such, it provides a point of relativity to the sometimes-surreal passing of time, which we otherwise lack, or at the very least struggle to give form to. In Balboa, I found myself sitting at the same table, in the same restaurant, overlooking the same anchorage, wherein the same beautiful white schooner swung to her mooring, one year older and at the doorstep once again of another ocean. I opened my journal to the date 12/1/01, the day prior to our west-east transit, and found an entry filled with the excitement of what I felt to be "the real stepping off point of this undertaking." I noted too, and not without surprised amusement, the subtle differences in the tone of my writing. Nothing overt, but a certain nuance of color that bespoke a set of eyes a little wider than I know them now to be. Time. However deftly we manage to elude the myriad trappings and routines that mark its passage ashore, however deeply we entrench ourselves in the company of an ocean whose face has remained unchanged since its infancy, however hypnotized we become by the indistinct surrender of one day for the next on a long passage, it's still dead astern at a steady force 5. And so here we are, having left you all only yesterday, and with a mere six months to go. See you soon! Now, we are off and sailing in the Pacific. The Panama Canal transit will be the start of our next installment! Our best to you all, |