Happy Birthday Sabrina

Most of the Rocques are virtually uninhabited because the killer black mosquitoes are such a menacing force. You can feel their blood seeking bayonets sinking in deep when they attack!! Our strategy with the enemy was to avoid mangroves, low wind areas, and being close to shore thus minimizing: land to sea attacks, air strike damages (bites) and making refueling difficult. In reserves were the no see ums that further dissuaded us from stepping on shore in many areas. Dos Tortugas was particularly menacing, day or night, it didn’t matter. It was a government funded turtle research and hatching center in the middles of nowhere with a couple of people acting as blood donors, researchers, and turtle ranchers. Razing baby turtles in captivity increased their chance of survival by almost 50X! It works because they have no parents, only instincts to guide them to the sea. The scenery was as close to postcard perfect island paradise as one could imagine. ‘Tis true nothing in life is perfect or without some flaw. Sabina celectrated her ninth birthday with a family party, horse cake and a homemade present from each of us. The malls in Margarita also provided a horse calendar and horse Barbie for our equestrian daughter.

Gran Roque, the jewel of Venezuela

While the rest of the Los Roques is of coral origin, El Grand Roque (The Grand Rock) juts 280’out of the ocean from tectonic plates buckling. El Grand Roque is one of the coolest places on earth with its sand streets and well-maintained. brightly painted stucco structures. Unlike the rest of VZ we had seen, the iron bars and barb wire were less excessive, the streets were litter free, and the hombres wore shorts vs. long pants. The mujeres, as in most of VZ, could arouse the dead with their attire. Small charming posadas lined the beach and other streets were interspersed with restaurants and small scale shopping. Basic provisioning was possible and the people were very friendly. At one shop I found a lone pair of size 13 Crocs for only $20 since no Venezuelan has feet muy, muy grande. Sabrina and Parker negotiated for their trinkets letting them know it was their earned money. All in all it was one of our favorite places.

Los Roques

Los Roques, the jewel archipelago of VZ, was another overnight sail. Upon entering we hit a school of tuna. Angie did circles after 2 hits were had.. bang, bang. That was a first for us, prolonging a sail to try to catch fish. Standing taller than all the islands, except Gran Rocque, is a massive freighter washed up on the barrier reef. Though we tried, the current and crashing waves kept us from snorkeling around it. Sandy bottoms and clear blue coral studded waters is something we hadn’t seen since the Tobago Cays or the Bahamas and just felt right. The kids were excited to find a bat fish.. a rare find indeed.

The Little Known Out Islands

Sailing again! A 24+ hour passage and we arrived in the nearly untouched island of Tortuga. Wind swept beaches stretched for miles with an impenetrable scrub interior. At Punta Delgado o del Este lied a dirt air strip and a surfer posada. We stayed a few days enjoying the gentle surf and rustic beauty.

A few miles further we came upon Cayo Herraduro, a classic coral reef island with waves breaking over reef on the windward side. The interior was blanketed in sea grapes and scrub bushes while the lee shore had a perfect crescent sand beach. Some VZ fishermen make this island their home for 3-6 months out of the year. Their “beach casas” are fabricated from whatever wood has washed up on the beach. Every3-6 weeks a supply boat picks up their lobsters and salted fish and drops off some water, rice and beans, and maybe a cabbage and some potatoes. Paradise and prison both come to mind when I look at their lifestyle. A bottle of rum always gets you a lobster and a smile! On the north end of the island stands a lighthouse. Along the coast visitors have stacked rocks into towers and pyramids for amusement. Along the paths we passed a dozen grave sights of fishermen who had perished in this harsh environment. A simple wooden cross and a pile of conch shells over the body is all there is.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, though an American holiday, gathered no interest by fellow American cruisers in Porlamar when we inquired on the net. The only other kid boat in the anchorage was Dafney, a South African family, so we invited them to dinner. Actually they were ecstatic as they had heard of our Thanksgiving traditions in America. Our family prepared all the traditional trimmings and foods for our Thanksgiving boat guests. We talked, we ate, we laughed, we ate, we joked around, and we ate and shared stories into the evening. A thousand thanks were bestowed upon us for including them in our Thanksgiving celebration. The funniest memory of the day was the “stuff”ing. We couldn’t believe it when we found a frozen turkey, already stuffed, in the market. As it turned out, the stuffing was a mixture of non-poultry based meat parts and products bound together with some flour, vegetable, lard mix. After 5 days of “stuff’ing leftovers I, the human garbage pit, started to gag on it before dumping it overboard.

Juan, the Revolutionary Freedom Fighter look alike, had our papers completed and gave us the spiel about how we have to go straight to Bonaire. Yeah right, we’ll be lucky if we get through the VZ out islands by Christmas. We said our goodbyes, just missed Crystal but not the temper tantrum Sabrina threw knowing they were just arriving as we were just leaving. Our cockpit and interior cushions were tailored and terrific! Minus the fabric, all the zippers, snaps, materials and labor costs just $300! Thank you Zoila; we appreciate the work. Thank goodness we told Trinidad to take a hike at almost ten times that amount. Our boat looks more elegant and nicer than ever.

Our need for speed

With bigger kids and the desire to try wake boarding, we needed a bigger engine to get our dingy on plane. Imagine always driving your car with a governor on it, that is what driving a non-planing dingy is like. For 3x less than the rate in the U.S., (thanks to Chavez), we paid in advance for a new outboard that we were hoping to someday see. What was to be 4 days had already become 14 days and we were itchin’ to leave. Finally it arrived, but the delivery had to be paid for. Prices change often in Venezuela but they are still cheap. Back at the marina, we waxed up our now one year old 9.9HP ultraclean burning, fuel efficient, environmentally friendly Tohatsu and moved it onto Masterpeace’s boat. Then we strapped on the 2 stroke, gas guzzling, global warming, smog spreading 18HP Tohatsu screamer onto the dinghy in our need for speed. IF there were 4 strokes available we certainly would have chosen one but its 3^rd world and 2 cycle engines still are king.

Sadly, a fellow boater stopped to chat on his bike on the dock. As he went to leave, his foot caught on a cleat and he fell into the water, bike and all. His shoulder impacted hard on our back steps. He was panicking and in pain, so Marc pulled him out of the water but used his hurt shoulder. He was thankful but their boating plans were shorten due to his serious injury. It was a good lesson for our kids… no bikes on the dock. Finally we were off to Margarita to get our cushions. Sadly, we had to say, “sea you later” to “Sea U Manana” with Josh and Mathius.

Rats

Meanwhile back at the camp a fabulous meal was prepped for our large appetites. The aroma was more than the giant rats (capybara) could endure. Around the village. a mother capybara and her ½ size offspring had taken up residence taking to begging like a dog for table scraps rather than forage in the jungle like the rest of the species. So here we are eating in the dimly lit hut when all of sudden Angie feels this wiry haired animal nuzzle up her leg looking for handouts. Just scratch them behind the ears and they flop over as if to say “tickle my tummy” and grunt. Though we chased them out several times they came back late in the night and defecated a 5# pile of poop in the corner of the hut. Nice! The toucans were a more welcome addition to the dining room. The kids enjoyed feeding a wild toucan who would take bits of food from their hand.