Moving Again

We finally have left Trinidad as the threat of hurricanes has now diminished. Although the insurance company wanted us to stay until November 1, we left a couple of weeks early. The entire crew was tired of the dirty water around Trindad and were anxious to swim in clean water again.

Our first stop was Los Testigos. The trip took longer than would be expected because we had to travel due north for almost 30 miles before turning west. We did this based on pirate reports on the north coast of Paria. There had been reports of trouble and this crew wants no part of any trouble.

Los Testigos is part of Venezuela and is mainly occupied by fishermen and their families. We saw several rugged fishing boats and a few cruisers and we enjoyed a few days walking the beach and snorkeling before moving on.

From there we headed southwest to Isla Margarita to top off the tanks with more cheap Venezuelan fuel. We did not care much for the island other than the cheap fuel. We took on about 400 gallons at 78 cents US per gallon and we were only 80 gallons from completely full. We wanted to get those last few drops aboard, but ran into the “no fuel today…maybe manana” Venezuelan two-step and decided to move on. The captain took a bus into the city to get Bolivar fuertes at the black market rate of 5 to 1 and the whole process made me feel dirty. The official government rate is about 2 to 1, but with inflation here at greater than 20%, every one except Chavez and the banks believe it.

The water was clean enough to swim in and make RO water, but was still slightly tannin from the Orinoco Delta outflow. They had a nice cruiser interface with a good book swap and free busses into the city 3 times per week. However, after 6 days here, we were ready to move on.

The boat has been running good. I’ve got one troubling issue where the laptop computer won’t consistently drive the autopilot. Since our other GPS chartplotter will, it has not been a serious problem, and the third backup plan is (heaven forbid) we could hand steer the boat. I suspect it may just be that the oldest (about 5 years old) laptop is just too slow now to keep up and I will switch it out when we get a chance.

We are now underway (another night passage) due west to Isla Tortuga. This should be our first clear clean blue water since Grenada and will be welcomed by the entire crew. It is nice to have the wind, currents and seas mostly on our stern. Tonight the seas are less than 1 meter and the stabilizers are switched off since they are not needed. The moon is nearly full, the stars fill the night sky and all is well as our home glides west. In 5 hours, Emily will awaken with the sunrise as we slip into the anchorage and drop the hook. Another island to explore and enjoy.

Tom