1 October 1995 Chaguaramas, Trinidad
I got up early and took the new carpet ashore to cut it up. I made the pieces about 1” larger than the original bits, which I used as a pattern. I just finished before it threw it down. Trinidad is a miserable place to do work – it’s rained every day since we’ve been here. We had to shelter for an hour until it stopped raining enough for us to get the carpet back to the boat. I spent the rest of the day fitting the carpet. It’s very harsh carpet and the backing is very stiff hessian. We hope that it will last longer than the previous one, but the edges are so stiff that it has scratched all the varnish – we can’t win!
2 October 1995 Chaguaramas
I went into town in the morning, picked up the repaired printer, Craig’s glasses and other bits. I got back and found Glenys and the boys in the Lifeline Bar. It was raining and miserable again with a big swell making life on Glencora horrible. We had lunch and a couple of beers. Glenys settled down in the bar with a good book and I braved the swell to go back to Glencora to play my clarinet. We had dinner at the bar again.
3 October 1995 Chaguaramas
I checked the domestic batteries and the three that I bought in St Martin are crap so I’m going to bite the bullet and buy three new ones. I ordered the three batteries from Peakes and finished off laying the carpet. Glenys did the washing at the launderette again! It’s so humid here that we are going through two sets of clothes per day. We went to “Marina Em” for a gin and tonic and to watch a video of news extracts of the effects of hurricane Luis on St Martin. Lots of boats piled on top of each other!
4 October 1995 Chaguaramas
I picked up and installed three new batteries (£280!) I installed the new Adverc regulator, which has a modification which apparently gets rid of the very annoying flickering ammeter syndrome. Adverc says it’s not their fault and not a problem, but I reckon that they have a feedback problem. Anyway, it’s sorted out now. I fitted a new DC-DC converter for the VHF radio, so we can now listen for more than 10 minutes without the power cutting out!
I ran the engine for an hour and the batteries are nicely topped up – I hope that is all our charging problems behind us. We’ve been turning the fridge off at night and still having to run the engine for an hour a day. We went out to the bar to see some home video from St Martin but it was crap. I put 50 litres of fuel in the tank from jerry cans.
5 October 1995 Chaguaramas
We got up this morning with big plans to clear out tomorrow and go to Venezuela. I got a satellite weather map and listened to “Mistine” – there’s a tropical depression (No. 18) at 9.3°N 35.6°W which is expected to turn into a tropical storm today and will pass over the Leeward Islands on Monday. There’s also a tropical wave at 42°W which will give us 2 days of nice weather and then crap for 3 days!
We discussed staying in Trinidad until Monday (9th) but that’s too depressing for words. We decided that we’ll go up to Grenada, anchor in Hog Island and do school work in the rain! Venezuela is exposed to northerly seas and we don’t want to go somewhere strange with bad weather approaching. We’ve turned into cowards about visiting strange places – it’s a year since we went anywhere new!
I spent the day tidying up while Glenys took the boys to the Medical Centre at Carenage to get their yellow fever jabs (mine still has 2 years to run). I picked up my steel tank which has been tumbled and partly filled it. The outboard failed as Glenys was coming back in the evening. There’s no cooling water. We went for dinner on “Rawa” with Roger and Pat – they had to come and pick us up because I didn’t have time to look at the outboard.
6 October 1995 Chaguaramas to Mount Harman Bay, Grenada (Day 1)
Tropical storm Pablo is now at 11.8°N 42.9°W. It is moving 285° with winds of 50-60 knots. There is also a strong wave at 55°W. We decided to go to Grenada anyway.
I went over to “Night Music” to borrow Joe’s 3hp outboard, but instead he very kindly lent me his dinghy with a 15hp Yamaha on it. Glenys nipped to the Health Centre to pick up the yellow fever certificates while I cleared out. I then found out that the outboard impellor had zero vanes left on it! I’ve been trying to get a spare one since we had problems in Antigua in May – no-one stocks parts for such small engines. I left the outboard in pieces and we sailed around to Scotland Bay.
Once we had anchored, I cleaned the hull, took down the dinghy and got ready for sea. It was a bit worrying waiting to go because we knew that there was a tropical wave nearby but all we could see from Scotland Bay was the grey clouds scudding overhead. After a quick dinner of pasta, we lifted the anchor and apprehensively motored into the channel.
We had fifteen minutes of confused seas and overfalls and then settled down to a 15-20 knot wind from the NE so we were close hauled on starboard tack. I had two reasons to be nervous during the night – would we have squalls? And worse was that this would be our first starboard tack beat since I fibreglassed the chain plates – would we survive?
7 October 1995 Chaguaramas to Mount Harman Bay, Grenada (Day 2)
We did our normal 8-11, 11-2, 2-5, 5-8 watches, but I had difficulty sleeping. The motion was OK but it was noisy down below and the wind would drop to 15 knots and then pick up to 20 knots. Each time it picked up, I woke up thinking it was a squall. On my 11-2 watch I was so tired that I kept nodding off – I had to set the countdown timer on my wrist watch to go off every 15 minutes, so that I would wake up.
In fact, we had an uneventful passage and arrived in Prickly Bay safely. I then had to pay £10 overtime charges to customs because it was a Saturday. Tropical storm Pablo is now at 12.5°N 51.2°W moving 270° (heading for Carriacou) with winds of 45-55 knots, so it seems to have diminished a bit. The projections are for it to move a bit north and hit St Lucia in 2 days – we decided to wait until tomorrow before panicking.
We motored around to Mount Hartman where I managed to buy an impellor for the outboard from Moorings for £11 – a rip off but at least I’ve got one. I put up the dinghy and had an afternoon nap. In the evening, we went out with Gary and Ros to an Italian Restaurant and had a nice meal. They insisted on paying for it – they must think that we are stony broke!
8 October 1995 Mount Harman Bay to Hog Island
Tropical storm Pablo is now at 12.5°N 56.5°W moving 285° with winds of 45-55 knots. It is forecast to hit St Vincent but I didn’t believe it. It was at 12.5°N yesterday and there was no reason to think that it would turn north. I thought that it would hit Grenada, which is at 12.0°N. We went around to Hog Island and anchored in the east corner of the anchorage. In an unprecedented move, I put out two anchors and buoyed both so that we would see their positions (and be able to recover them if we had to cut them loose!)
By midday, Pablo had been downgraded to a tropical depression and Grenada went onto storm watch. By three o’clock, they said that it was no longer a tropical depression and we should “thank the Lord for saving Grenada from bad weather this time”. We left the anchors in place just in case.
9 October 1995 Hog Island
Nothing much happened during the night – we just got a few squalls in the morning. Tropical wave Pablo is over the island but after it goes through we should get a few nice days before the next wave shows up. We did school work in the morning – horrible chore.
We spent the day on the boat messing about. I filled 6 tanks. Glenys made two loaves of bread which were the best she’s ever done. It’s only taken her three years to manage to make real bread. The boys demolished three quarters of one of them in about 10 minutes – “Mum, can I have a bit more?”
We’re going through a bit of a crisis with Brett because he totally ignores what we tell him to do. We nagged him so much this evening that he went into a sulk. I spent five minutes explaining that we love him but he’s driving us mad because he doesn’t listen. While I was talking to him he was fiddling with a bit of Blue Tac – his only comment after a five minute monologue was “that’s a nice elf ear!” – I despair!
10 October 1995 Hog Island to Mount Harman Bay
The remnants of Pablo are still over us and we had a couple of squalls overnight. The next wave is at 40°W, so we will get three days of nice weather. There is a new hurricane, Roxanne, which is in the NW Caribbean with winds of 90-105 knots, 24 foot seas and is due to hit the Yucatan Peninsula within the next 24 hours.
We did school work and then moved around to Mount Hartman Bay. I rang Bequia and found out that they still have a 24V bilge pump – so I asked them to put it to one side for me, we’ll go up there on Friday. We found out that Gareth is in St Maarten and Fi is still in England. We had a quiet afternoon and evening.
11 October 1995 Mount Harman Bay to St Georges Lagoon
We sailed around to St Georges Lagoon. We went to the bank and got some money out, had lunch in the Nutmeg and bought some food. We had a two hour rest (I mustn’t drink beer at lunch time!) and then met Gary at the Yacht Club bar.
We got collared by two drunken Glaswegians who retired here 5 years ago. They must be desperate for company because they invited us up to their house. Gary came for dinner and we didn’t bother to say goodbye again!
12 October 1995 St Georges Lagoon to Tyrell Bay, Carriacou
There’s a wave at about 55°W, but no convection activity so we decided to go up to Bequia. It was a pretty miserable day with rain showers. We spent some of the journey hiding under the spray hood. I’m getting sick of getting wet – on our next boat we are going to have a hard roof and windscreen on our cockpit so that we can sit in comfort in bad weather.
We decided not to stop at Ile De Ronde and continued straight to Tyrell Bay, where we spotted “Tekaroa”. We caught up on all the news since we last saw Kirsty and Pete in St Maarten last April.
13 October 1995 Tyrell Bay
We decided to stay here for a couple of days to spend time with “Tekaroa”. Glenys did school work while I sorted out the stern gland leak and checked the sea cocks – we’ve been taking on quite a bit of water over the past week and I think that it was the stern gland. I went snorkelling with Pete in the afternoon and we went to “Tekaroa” for dinner.
14 October 1995 Tyrell Bay
Nursing hangovers - will we ever learn? We did school work in the morning. After lunch we went for a snorkel on the wreck in the bay. Brett speared his first fish - a tiny three inch long, black bar soldier fish. We had a fairly quiet afternoon - I played the clarinet and then cleaned it. After this abuse, the middle B & C seem to be harder to get. I’ll have to investigate when we get to Bequia.
I only had to do 50 pumps on the bilge pump, as opposed to 250 yesterday, so I seem to have sorted out the stern gland. We had a quiet night in with a nice bottle of red wine that we bought from the Tyrell Bay smugglers.
15 October 1995 Tyrell Bay to Admiralty Bay, Bequia
We said goodbye to “Tekaroa” and had a very pleasant sail past the west coast of Union Island. We caught a 2 lb Dorado and caught the sun. At about three o’clock, a squall hit us with 35 knot gusts and torrential rain. We then had two hours of squall after squall. When we were about ½ mile from the islands at the SW tip of Bequia, we had such heavy rain that visibility dropped to about 100 metres and I had to turn North West because I couldn’t see the island! Finally, wet through, we made it into Admiralty Bay and anchored off St Margaret’s beach.
16 October 1995 Admiralty Bay, Bequia
We filled up with water and diesel from Daffodil. I went into town and cleared in and out at the same time which still cost me £5! I picked up the new bilge pump, but couldn’t get the correct inlet and outlet pipe fittings.
My karma was very low today and nothing went well – I scuffed my knuckles, I locked the dinghy to the dock in town and didn’t have any keys. When I stuck a screw driver through my finger, I decided not to do any more important jobs. I cleared the cockpit drains of a super ball, a Lego man, a marble, a Carib beer top and lots and lots of hairs and sand. It’s no wonder no water was escaping!
I keep trying to think of reasons to not go to Venezuela tomorrow but I can’t come up with any good ones, I suppose that we’ll have to go to that strange, foreign land!
17 October 1995 Admiralty Bay to Los Testigos, Venezuela (Day 1)
We got up at six o’clock and received a weather fax. It looks like the whole area to the east of us is cloudy, but there are no tropical storms or bad convection activity, so we decided to set out. We started off with nil wind and then, after about an hour, picked up a 10 knot wind which pushed us along at 5 knots. I listened to “Mistine” who warned us about a wave at 61°W, which may have squalls of 35 knots in it. I’ve decided that having good weather information can be detrimental to sailing because it makes me want to stay in harbour until we get perfect conditions!
By eleven o’clock, we had to put the engine on – so much for “Mistine’s” squalls. We caught a nice 4lb Dorado. I’ve started to put a smaller double hook on the lure and also hidden the hook in the squid tentacles and it seems to have worked – we’ve caught three Dorado in three weeks. As we motored 20 miles to the West of Grenada in the afternoon, I managed to call Gary on the VHF radio to say goodbye again!
We continued motoring until dinnertime when the wind picked up to 15 knots from the NE. I poled out the genoa to starboard, prevented the main and off we went downwind into the night. We spotted our first whale. It was lying in the water 200 metres away. We could see its water spout but couldn’t identify it – I assume it was a sperm whale.
18 October 1995 Admiralty Bay to Los Testigos, Venezuela (Day 2)
By midnight, the wind had veered to the SE and I gybed the main and we slopped along at 4 or 5 knots. I sighted a cruise ship at half past one and the bastard just kept coming on the same bearing. Eventually, I had to alter course and put the radar on before he started to move from the collision course. I’ve been reading a book called “Maiden Voyage” about an 18 year old woman who did a single handed, 2½ year circumnavigation. She hit a ship and another yacht, so I’m a bit cautious at the moment.
I spotted Los Testigos at about six o’clock in the morning and by eight o’clock, we were motoring in our first strange landfall in over a year – I was quite excited! We anchored by the small village on Isla Iguana and I went through the thirty minute ritual of assembling and inflating our big 3.2metre dinghy. Glenys and I went ashore to check in with the coastguard – I needed Glenys for her linguistic ability and moral support. In the event we were done in about five minutes, including negotiating a four day stay instead of the normal two days.
We went and anchored behind a small island off Testigo Grande and went to explore the huge sand dunes. We clambered up a very steep sand slope and walked over to the windward side where we went looking for shells, but didn’t get many.
On the way back, the boys ran ahead so that they could get a few rolls down the steep slope. Five minutes later they came running back, wailing at the tops of their voices – they had rolled down, out of control and crashed right into a vicious plant that I can only describe as a super, tropical nettle. Within minutes their backs, arms, leg and bottoms were covered in huge bumps. We got them back to the boat and put on some antihistamine cream. We were quite worried about a more serious reaction, but fortunately after about half an hour, the bumps and the pain started to go. Nasty bit of plant life!
We’re finally in vampire bat country, so we made sure that all the mosquito screens were in place before we collapsed into bed at nine o’clock.
19 October 1995 Los Testigos
We were going to have a lie in, but our alarm went off at six o’clock – not switched off after our early start in Bequia. I had trouble getting back to sleep after that so, by half past seven, I was up and about! We did school work Lesson 10 (that’s ten for this month so far!). I went ashore to take a picture of the nasty tropical nettles and we went snorkelling. We stayed by the shallow reef and I found a spotted sea hare. A quick tootle and the day was gone!
20 October 1995 Los Testigos
Glenys went over to “Honey Jar” to borrow their SSB to call Gareth – yesterday we listened to him calling us for two minutes but there was no-one near with an Single Side Band radio. Today, Glenys spent thirty minutes trying to call him but no answer – typical! We did school work and then motored around to Testigo Pequeno and anchored off the beach.
Testigo Pequeno is a small island connected to Testigo Grande by a 25metre wide spit. The waves are crashing on one side and it’s very calm on our side. We went for a walk to the top of the island which was pleasant, if a bit treacherous with all the cactuses about. We then spent an hour snorkelling on the rocky reef by the side of the boat, collecting shells.
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.