21 October 1995 Los Testigos
There is another tropical storm, Sebastian, which is at 16.5°N 55.5°W but is moving NNW and shouldn’t be a problem to us. We did school work in the morning.
After lunch, we went for another walk on the island and met the “Proprietario” of Testigos Pequeno, we had a quick chat but politely refused a half pint mug of Venezuelan rum. “Muy Bien”. We then went snorkelling and I found an octopus which was clutching a goat’s foot complete with skin and hoof. The octopus was very indignant when I tried to pull the goat’s foot off it – great fun.
Brett’s snorkelling is very good, but Craig seems to have trouble spotting things. He can’t clear his ears yet, so he can’t dive very deep. I tried to show him but he insisted on blowing on the way up! I’ll have to take him down with a scuba tank and teach him properly. We’ve enjoyed staying in Los Testigos – it’s good to visit new places because it gets us off the boat and doing things together.
I’ve been very insular over the past six months preferring to stay on board, playing the clarinet or playing on my computer rather than going to see places that I’ve seen already. Consequently, the children have been left to their own devices. I think that they enjoy going out and doing things together as much as I do (now). Brett has settled down again, after our trauma 2 weeks ago. We’ve noticed that he becomes wild when he’s with other children and it takes a while to calm down.
22 October 1995 Los Testigos to Polarmar, Margarita
We got up at half past six and started to get ready to go to Margarita. I was pottering around and thought I’d just check that it’s only forty miles. Gasp, shock and horror it’s more like fifty miles. Don’t panic, if we leave now we’ll easily make it before dark. I interrupted Glenys, who was leisurely drying the dishes, “I’m pulling up the anchor now” – it took her half an hour to recover her karma!
We started motor sailing with very little wind and, apart from a couple of hours at 3½ knots, we motored most of the way. We caught two 5½lb Dorado and a small tuna. We had a quick look at Pampatar and decided to go on to Polamar. We anchored amongst about fifty yachts off the beach by the Concorde Hotel – now closed down. We chatted to “Petit Boneur” who gave us a few pointers about where to go for what. We went ashore for a quick walk, bought a case of “Polar” beer and went to the beach for a beer or two.
23 October 1995 Polarmar, Margarita
I went to “Vemesca” a local chandler who does the clearance for yacht people. I had to dinghy into the mangroves to get there. I locked the dinghy up to a mangrove tree, but when I came back someone had nicked our paddles – welcome to Venezuela!
We all went to Polarmar main town on the bus and trudged around the shops – a typical tourist town with a mixture of flashy, expensive shops and run down, cheap shops. We had lunch in a café and came back to the boat to recover. I went to have a chat with John of “Honey Jar” about the trials and tribulations of building a steel “Callisto 38”.
24 October 1995 Polarmar, Margarita
I went and picked up our documents and paid £15 for the privilege of entering the country, making the total £95 to date. I then went into town and bought a couple of 5 gallon jerry cans for water and some things for Christmas. Glenys did school work in the morning and then went to the beach in the afternoon.
I filled 2 tanks for a Swiss boat “Mafalda” who we met in Trinidad – he had two 15 litre tanks which took ages to fill, so I think I lost money on the deal! I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with “Powertraks Pro” trying to sequence a song called “Shivers” by Benny Goodman. I should have been investigating the ominous clunk from the rudder quadrant, but I couldn’t summon up the energy.
25 October 1995 Polarmar, Margarita
We all caught a bus to the Proveduria Super Mercado to have a look around. They lay on a courtesy bus and I don’t blame them with fifteen people spending like crazy. We were very restrained and just bought two cases of beer ($5/case) and 1 case of wine ($25/case).
After we had unloaded our booty onto Glencora, we went to the “Restaurant Pescadore” where we had a filling lunch with about 6 beers each for $12. The “Restaurant” is actually a beach café with rough wooden tables and stools hammered together with 4” nails, but the food is very good and it’s a great location under a canopy of palm trees.
We had a quiet, dozy afternoon on the boat, while the boys went to the beach. At seven o’clock, a wind and swell started coming from the south, causing us to pitch and roll unpleasantly.
26 October 1995 Polarmar, Margarita
It was still pitching and rolling in the morning, so we all went into town. There are lots of men who call “cambio” as we pass them. They take you into a local shop where we can get 250 bolivars per $1US. The official rate is about 220 Bs/$1US. There are notices in the official cambios, warning of severe penalties for hawkers and tourists if caught dealing on the black market, but it is so common that I can’t believe that the authorities would prosecute.
We trudged around town all day and had a nice lunch out (fish again!) Glenys bought Christmas things and food while I bought three months supply of Duracell batteries and two more jerry cans for water. I also bought four new CDs - three of my hero Benny Goodman and the other is Acker Bilk which is pretty awful, but has a version of “Stranger on the Shore”. By the time we got back to the boat the horrible swell had died down.
27 October 1995 Polarmar, Margarita
It’s a Friday, so we decided to clear out today hoping to leave tomorrow. Glenys dropped off some laundry, changed some cash and we met her on the bus to the Proveduria Super Mercado. We bought another 8 cases of ber, 2 cases of wine and 5 cases of soft drinks. We then spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging the boat so that we could store it all!
We cleared out to go to Los Roques and then found out that it is going to cost us $65 US to visit the “National Park” – I’m so bloody mad about all the charges that I’ve decided that we’re going to miss out Los Roques and go straight to Los Aves.
28 October 1995 Polarmar to Isla Cubagua, Venezuela
We got up early and went to the fuel dock. The approach is a bit fraught because it is very shallow, but we didn’t have any problems anchoring bows to the fuel dock. Filling up with diesel took about 5 minutes, but the water took 2 hours! I wish we had bigger fuel tanks – diesel is only 5p/litre! It cost me £2.75 to fill up with diesel and petrol and I think that the pump attendant ripped me off! I ended up standing on the fuel dock filling our water jerry cans from another tap because the water was coming through the hosepipe into the tanks in such a dribble.
We motored over to Isla Cubagua and anchored in a lovely spot. The island is very low and barren and so the wind whistles across the anchorage – luxury. There is a wreck of a car ferry which caught fire in the late 70’s. The captain beached it on a sand bar so it is half submerged. We went for a snorkel around it and then Glenys and I went for a dive. It’s so nice to be back cruising after a week of shopping. Glenys still can’t believe that we won’t see a shop for 3 weeks and keeps worrying about running short of food. “Don’t use so much butter, Brett”. Fortunately, I speared a couple of fish, so we’ve got tomorrow’s dinner.
29 October 1995 Isla Cubagua, Venezuela
There’s another tropical storm (Tanya) to the east of Bermuda, expected to be a hurricane tomorrow. Waves at 61°W and 48°W. We did school work in the morning. I checked the rudder quadrants. They seem OK and I tightened them and separated the two parts a little so that they don’t rub if one moves.
I went snorkelling on the wreck and speared 3 small fish. I was swimming into the hold and trying to get a big snapper when I noticed another exit. I went around on the surface and ended up being reckless and swimming through - it was a long way...
30 October 1995 Isla Cubagua, Venezuela
School work in the morning. After egg on toast for lunch, we walked across the island to the ruins of Nueva Cadiz. The island was a major pearl fishing centre for Spain in the 1500s. On Christmas Day, 1541, an earthquake and a tidal wave destroyed the town of Nueva Cadiz. There’s not much left apart from two foot high walls, but the town must have been quite large.
The ground is covered with thousands and thousands of pearl oyster fragments which gleamed in the sun like broken glass. Pearl fishing is prohibited now but we came across one huge pile of shells so someone must gather them. We passed a few fishing camps on the way with huge piles of beautiful shells such as small conch, murex, scallops and tulips. We picked up a bag full.
31 October 1995 Isla Cubagua, Venezuela
School work in the morning. After school, I went snorkelling on the wreck to try to get some dinner, but only got 3 small fish. We had a few squalls go through during the afternoon, so we decided not to sail tonight, Manãna rules!
It’s Halloween, so the boys made a pumpkin lantern and dressed up as witches. We invited Marcus and Verena from a Swiss boat over for a beer. Marcus made his money training people to hang- glide and later parapente, so we had a lot in common. They’re going in the same direction with the same timescales so we should see them along the way.
- << Prev
- Next