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Travalog
Ten After the grueling 400 mile trip from Cartagena, Aruba was a welcome rest stop. Once part of the Dutch Antilles, Aruba is now independent, and has become quite the tourist destination for Americans, Europeans and Latin Americans alike. The big attraction is mile long sand beaches, crystal clear water and gambling, which has been legalized. With all the new casinos, it has become the "Las Vegas" of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, it is also quite expensive, if you are on a cruising budget. Clearing in was quite informal, but the anchorage area just south of Oranjestad was less than stellar. It is located directly under the landing flight path of their new international airport, with dozens of planes landing day and night. Although protected from wave action, it was quite windy while we were there, so every dinghy ride to town became a wet, wild experience. As you emerged from the little marina, you are completely surrounded by the very glitzy shopping malls and duty-free boutiques, usually with casinos attached. Most of the hotels are on a beautiful stretch of beach on the northwest end of the island. Provisioning was a little inconvenient, but there were three very modern supermarkets to choose from. After Colombia, everything seemed expensive, but it was probably consistent with stateside resort prices. After a week and a half of just loafing, minor maintenance and provisioning, it was off for the 75 mile trip to Curacao. Of course with the easterly tradewinds, it was on the nose all the way. Fortunately the winds lightened up for most of our passage. Curacao is still part of the Dutch West Indies, and the capital of Willemstad is a popular stop for cruise ships on their way to Panama. However, the popular anchorage for cruising boats is Spanish Waters, about 6 miles to the southeast. This is a very protected bay, with many beautiful homes on the water, reminiscent of Newport Beach. The entrance to the bay is quite narrow without any buoys or navigational aids, but once inside, there is a very nice anchorage area. There was a small marina, which handled most of the boaters needs, such as dinghy dock, laundry, water, small marine store, phone/FAX, bar and restaurant. They even arranged a shuttle bus service daily to the three local markets. Shopping was always an interesting experience, with many of brands being Dutch, but the quality of food was always excellent. The greatest inconvenience was the limited transportation to Willemstad. A local bus ran on the hour, but only until 6:00PM. Taxis were quite expensive, so you had to make the last bus run of the day or pay the consequences. Willemstad is quite colorful with all of the Dutch influence, but is really geared to the cruise ship crowd. Spanish Waters offered some great dinghy exploring and some beautiful beaches, but after a week, we were ready to move onto Bonaire, the last of the ABC Islands. Bonaire turned out to be our favorite of the three islands, and the most laid back. The crystal clear waters surrounding the island are a national park, with no anchoring allowed. A series of substantial moorings have been placed for about a mile along the city front, between the little marina and downtown Kralendijk; and are available for about $5.50 a day. The water is incredibly clear, and it was like being anchored in your own tropical aquarium. Snorkeling off the boat was as good as any designated dive site. Bonaire is a world class dive site, and similar buoys and moorings have been installed and allocated exclusively for dinghies or dive boats. The water was quite calm, winds moderate, and it was only a short dinghy ride to downtown Kralendijk. In fact, the waters on that side of the island were so calm; it was possible to dinghy almost anywhere. Once again, it was back to stateside prices, but we did find a few excellent restaurants to break the daily routine of happy hour with BBQs on the boat, accompanied by a beautiful tropical sunset! All of these islands were quite dry, with a minimum of rainfall; and although mid day ashore could get quite warm, it was always beautiful on the boat. It's not hard getting used to a constant air and water temperature of 75° - 85°! Our next destination was a series of islands off the coast of Venezuela. Really nothing more that low lying sand spits surrounded by coral reefs, they again offered the beautifully clear, protected waters. However, these islands are uninhabited, except for a few fish camps, so in turn offer a much more remote, desolate and pristine spot to anchor for snorkeling, diving or just kicking back. Our first stop was at the Aves, the first group of island about 35 miles east of Bonaire. The islands are so low, you really don't see them until a couple of miles out. We arrived just at dusk, which is not the best conditions for reef laden anchorages, but we dropped our hook just as the sun was setting. There were only two other boats in the area, and you are immediately aware of your desolate surroundings. Once again, it was the crystal clear water and white sand beaches, with nothing ashore. We spent two or three days moving from anchorage to anchorage and spent one day anchored off a mangrove covered island. A bad choice due to murky water and an abundance of mosquitoes. When will we ever learn? Mangroves = mosquitoes! On the morning of our fourth day we had a visit from the local Coast Guard contingency. The radio waves had been buzzing for the past three days about a tropical wave east of Grenada, which had turned into Hurricane Joyce, and had taken a turn to the South and West. Everybody was quite alarmed, since hurricanes aren't supposed to hit this far South. Although, not a particularly strong system, it was heading directly for the offshore Venezuelan island, where we were anchored, and was due to arrive in the next 36 to 48 hours. The Coast Guard crew suggested we leave as soon as possible, back to the Venezuelan mainland, some 75 miles to the South. It didn't take much convincing, and the next morning we were off to Morrocoy National Park, our first unplanned stop on the mainland coast. Well, the sail down turned out to be a treat, a beam reach all the way, our first in many months! Morrocoy was also quite a surprise, consisting of some calm yet breezy anchorages. The entire park covers about 25 square miles and consists mainly of mangrove covered islands, with miles of twisty channels between them opening out into hidden lagoons. There are no homes allowed in the area and the bird life abundant. Lots of pelicans, herons, egrets, cormorants, hawks and the truly spectacular scarlet ibis. When these bright red birds land en masse at the end of the day, it is much like viewing a Christmas tree covered with ornaments. At "happy hour" we would take the dinghy to one of the isolate nesting islands, kill the engine and just hover while thousands of these colorful birds would approach after a day of foraging, and land within a few yards of the boat. Quite spectacular! The anchorage in the lagoon was well protected, but since we arrived on a weekend, the locals were out in their speed boats and jet skis. With the price of gasoline at $.31 a gallon and diesel at $.37, it's easy to see why power boats are so popular, particularly the go-fast types. In a day or so, Hurricane Joyce, since downgraded to tropical storm, had turned a bit north, and passed the ABC islands with no major problems other than a good rain storm. We decided to travel along the mainland coast eastward, and our next stop was the pretty little bay of Carenero. This 140-mile passage took about a day and a half, and paralleled the coast which is quite mountainous, and was so devastated in last years floods. Thousands were killed or missing when whole villages washed away. There were numerous towns and marinas along the route, but with the flood damage, we were warned away. Carenero was also a well protected harbor with many anchorages and mangrove-lined channels. We anchored in the lagoon off the fairly swanky Club Bahia de Los Piratas, complete with fuel dock, swimming pools, apartments and restaurants. Since we still hadn't cleared into Venezuela, we were keeping a low profile. The nearby town of Higuerote was the spot for provisioning, and was accessible by bus or a 3-mile dinghy ride down through a bird inhabited lagoon, which turned into a beautiful channel, lined with waterfront homes. Higuerote was a bustling town, and the only problem came with trying to change some money. It appeared that changing dollars in a bank required someone local to write a check, guaranteeing the validity of the dollars. After waiting in a crowded local bank for half an hour, we were approached by Freddy, a young local Venezuelan, who after learning our problem, offered to write the necessary check. After getting our Bolivars, he recommended and then drove us to a great seafood restaurant. An hour later, he reappeared and drove us back to the canal, where we had stashed our dinghy. Freddy turned out to be a great public relations agent for the area, as he was full of recommendations for other restaurants and shops. A pleasant surprise. On our final day in Carinero, we were treated to a local hydroplane race around the lagoon and VIVA became the first turning mark for their warm-up runs! After four days in this pleasant spot, we decided to head offshore again 50 miles to the island of Tortuga. Since we had been shooed away in a hurry, we had missed the chance to visit the other Aves islands and the Roques. However, the anchorages off Isla la Tortuga were equally spectacular. Our first night was spent at two little islands on the northwest corner, and the next day it was off to Cayo Herradura, 3 miles away and the most popular of all the anchorages. Unbeknownst to us, we had arrived on Colombus Day, a local holiday, and the normally isolated anchorage was filled with over 40 powerboats, with accompanying dinghies, jet skis, etc. Just like the Isthmus on Labor Day! These anchorages are surrounded on three sides with the low-lying island and reefs, which made for incredibly calm nights. The bays are quite shallow for a long distance offshore, and it was a little unnerving to be in 15 feet of water over a mile from land. We usually anchored in less than 10 feet of water! The bottom and adjoining beaches were a powder-fine white sand, which made for great holding and marvelous beachcombing. After five days of this decadence, it was off to Puerto La Cruz on the mainland, the yachting capital of Venezuela. We arrived after a beautiful 9-hour motor sail from Tortuga, with an average speed of 6.25 kts, our fastest trip since the Panama Canal! After anchoring in the roadstead off town, we were treated to a good tropical rainstorm, just enough to wash the boat down, and also a first in many weeks. The next day we moved to the beautiful Marina Bahia Redonda for a two week stay for some much needed boat maintenance and a little R & R. Since we are now caught up on travelogs, we will tell you more about Puerto La Cruz later. As always, we enjoy hearing from you. Drop us a line. Best
wishes,
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