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VENEZUELA cont'd, APRIL 2 -
MAY 2005:
Previously, pages 12 and 13 have
focused on our experiences in
mainland Venezuela and our travels
inland. This page focuses on
travels taking us in a northwesterly
direction towards Houston.
Unfortunately, we have to take ARGO
back to the factory for some
interior cosmetic warranty work.
As hurricane season officially
starts June 1, our goal is to be
back in Houston by then.
Therefore, we have only 2 months in
which to make this 2,300 nautical
mile (2,650 statute miles) trip
back. It's a real shame to
have to hurry this part of our trip,
as we could easily have spent a
month in some of these places.
In general, our return journey takes
us to Venezuela's offshore islands
that lie northwest of Puerto La
Cruz, then to Bonaire (ABC islands),
continuing on a northwest course to
Jamaica, Cayman Islands,
Yucatan/Mexico, and finally Gulf of
Mexico ending in Houston.
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After
topping off our fuel tanks with 10
cents/gallon diesel, we left Puerto La
Cruz, Venezuela on April 2 to first explore areas
east of us that we missed
previously. This is the dry
season, and we're on the north
coast, so things are more a desert-scape
than lush rainforests, albeit a
sight to behold - red-red and white rock
spotted with greenery.
First stop Mochima National Park - 4
miles deep with numerous "fjords" -
we anchor off Mochima town with
scenic lone resort/restaurant/bar
for local Venezolanos. We had
been advised that winds howl through
this region starting mid morning and get up to 35 knots routinely,
so we left early for Golfo de
Cariaco - a bay that is 35 miles
long (east to west) and no more than
8 miles wide. The north coast
of the Golfo is pretty well
uninhabited with the exception of
fishing camps scattered about, thus
safety issues are not a concern in
this out-of-the-way area.
By late morning winds
are already 25 knots as we approach Puerto
Real, an anchorage we figure is big
enough for high-wind maneuvering.
We have the anchorage to ourselves,
although a small fishing camp is
located on one shore. We leave
early morning for another
on-the-nose motoring trip east to Medregal Village, known among
cruisers as the "Oasis". In
the middle of nowhere, Jean-Marc (a
Frenchman, in case you couldn't
tell) has built a small "resort"
area with "hotel" rooms, good
restaurant, and for cruisers free
use of the pleasant pool and cabana
area, honor-system open bar, and
very nice hot & cold shower
facilities. He is currently
building an impressively organized
haul out facility for 70 boats and a
marina for about 20 boats. If
he can get internet access, we
suspect this could be a popular
place for cruisers to go, especially
during hurricane season. While
here, Deborah broke [another] tooth,
fearing we may have to go back to
Puerto La Cruz. But, a 2-hour
bumpy-dusty ride in the back of a
covered pickup truck put us in Carupano and a modern female dentist
fixed her right up for a few bucks.
Three other cruisers kept us company
for the ride, lunch and grocery shopping.
This certainly is a unique, but
enjoyable place, as we meet the 7
other boats, mostly European, here.
An early morning
westward jaunt downwind (finally) puts us at
the do-not-miss Laguna Grande, a
mini Grand Canyon. This is
about a 3-mile deep area with about
8 "fjords", red hills all around,
greenery scattered about - an
incredibly
picturesque desert-scape. We
have the entire place to ourselves,
although a few small fishing boats
come in to net bait fish. Even
though we're behind big hills, the
winds whip through here but the seas
stay flat. We could have
stayed here a month. Upon
leaving, many dolphins escort us out
of the Golfo.
After an overnight
staging stop on Isla Caracas de
Este, we leave in the dark
(using waypoints we had marked the
day before upon arrival) and head to
Venezuela's Offshore Islands.
Typical (large) fishing
village along relatively uninhabited north coast
Laguna Grande,
Venezuela
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Puerto Real:
fishing camp
Medregal Village:
Oasis in the desert
Laguna Grande:
only boat there; ARGO's mast barely
visible
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TORTUGA
Cayo Herradura:
just us and some fisherman, a fine
spot
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LAS AVES de
BARLOVENTO
Red-footed
booby and white fluffy booby babies
abundant in the mangroves
Rum & coke got
us 2 large lobsters for dinner
Leaving our
"mark" |
Venezuela's OFFSHORE ISLANDS are very
remote, and except for one island
with a small village for holidayers,
are virtually uninhabited except for
small fishing camps here and there.
We always thought Tobago Cays was
remote - think again!
Venezuela's Offshore Islands consist
of Blanquilla (which we did not go
to), Tortuga, Los Roques and Las
Aves. (Heading west from
there, are the ABC islands of, in
order, Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba,
all part of the Netherlands Antilles
(Dutch)). These islands are a
favorite of cruisers as they are
truly i solated,
with lots and lots of gorgeous pure
white beaches and clear shallow
waters perfect for snorkeling.
They are typically low and dry, many
with only a single
palm tree on it (a popular
decorating scheme with Mother
Nature). They remind us
of the Bahamas but much more remote
- and no charter boats!
TORTUGA (14
miles wide) is our first stop (Playa
Caldera), spending 3 nights in
different anchorages. A real
gem was a tiny island off called Cayo Herradura,
where we were surrounded by light
jade water and 270 degrees of pure
white beaches. The only other
boat there (we knew them from
Tobago) had been there for 2 months
- their 2 sons were learning to
kite-board here. We would
highly recommend this place for an
extended stay!
A rolly overnight
passage downwind with sails only
(finally), takes us to LOS ROQUES,
an area about 25 x 14 miles made up
of many small islands and lots of
reefs. Rounding the north end
of the main island, as we start the
motor in order to take the sail down
and enter the anchorage, we hear a
loud grinding noise similar to
transmission dysfunction (we had to
replace our transmission in Trinidad
4 months earlier). After
hearing the noise several more
times, AND not being able to sail in
18 knot winds (weird) we kept
looking over the side of the boat
thinking we must have picked up a
fish trap or net, but couldn't see
anything. We limped into El Gran Roque (the only village in
these islands) and went through
their official 4-step check-in procedure
(reminded us of a scavenger hunt).
Although we were a yacht in transit
and limited to 2 days in Los Roques,
the Guarda Coasta (Coast Guard) was
very nice and understanding and said
we had as much time as needed.
Four of them came on board to
"verify" the problem, which
consisted only of a lot of paperwork
amounting to nothing. However,
we have not been able to duplicate
the problem and are cautiously
optimistic that it was a fluke thing
(like net caught on prop then fell
off).
 The village of El Gran Roque
(the only town in these
offshore islands) is very charming
with neat, brightly painted posadas galore,
sand streets and no cars. This
is clearly a remote get-away for the
affluent Venezolano who wants to
rough it. There is an airport
for small aircraft from the
mainland, and
day boat trips to neighboring islands for
water activities. We then made our way westward to a
few other anchorages (Cayo Namusqui
and Cayo de Agua). Cruisers
rave about this cruising ground, and
we only saw a speck of it. A
pity.
A day hop puts us
in LAS AVES, which are two
separate little island archipelagos
about 10 miles apart. We were
first at
Aves de Barlovento (Eastern
Aves) on Isla Sur for a few nights.
"Aves" means birds and is derived
from the fact that a large number of
birds live here in the dense
mangrove forests. The majority
are various species of white and
brown booby with their red-webbed
feet and blue-pink beaks. The
white fluffy babies are adorable.
Coming around the corner it smells
like a zoo, but the anchorages are
off-wind so not a problem but you
can see them and still hear their
loud chatter. This was another
spot we could have easily stayed a
month. Surrounded by birds on
one side and light blue waters/reefs
on the other. We bought (for a
bottle of cheap rum, Coke and a few
Bs) 2 large lobsters from fisherman.
After much mess of getting every
scrap of meat, we had 2 huge tails
and wonderfully rich lobster bisque
for dinner, with leftovers for lunch
the next day.
We then moved over
to the western Aves, Aves de
Sotovento. About 10 boats
we knew from Puerto La Cruz were
scattered around here. We
anchored in the dead coral-rich
environment (not good for
anchoring!) of Long Island, awaiting
better light the next day. As
Steve strolled along the beach a
fisherman approached him with an
empty bottle of outboard motor oil
and 2 lobsters - voila', we have
dinner and all it cost was 3/4 qt.
of oil! Although a bit scary
looking from the charts, with good
light and waypoints from another
cruiser, we ventured into and behind
the reef, which is 7 miles long.
It was a piece of cake.
Anchoring, however, was not.
This was probably our worst
anchoring experience in that it took
us 2 hours to finally hook the
anchor, as the sea floor was a lot of
marl (coral covered with a bit of
sand). Nobody else seemed to
have a problem, funny how that goes.
Anyway, that evening's happy hour
was delayed but well deserved.
It was pretty incredible out there,
calm as a pool, able to see 40 ft.
down, surrounded by numerous reefs
loaded with fish and some with good
coral, many within close swimming
distance of the boat, others only a
dinghy ride away. A couple
of the other cruisers were
successful in spearfishing dinner. Again, not enough time spent here.
We stage outside at Long (Curricai) Island for
an early morning departure day trip
to Bonaire.
Staged for early morning departure
(not ARGO)
A day passage
takes us out of Venezuelan waters
(after 5 months) and away from
the cheap cost of living that we
have become so accustomed to. With
it so affordable, and offering such
a large and varied cruising ground,
it's easy to see why so many
cruisers get "stuck" in Venezuela
for years. We have done a lot
here, met a whole lot of new
cruisers, renewed friendships with
old cruising friends and will miss
all of this.
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LOS ROQUES
El Gran Roque
island
Neat, colorful
town of El Gran Roque, only town in
offshore islands; local cuttin' the
cheese
Deb's bird
deterrent system - it really works
Cayo de Agua
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LAS AVES de
SOTOVENTO
Easy to navigate the
shallows / reefs as long as there is
good light
Anchored
in/behind the huge 7 mile reef with
friends
Long Island &
fishing hut: quart of outboard motor
oil got us 2 more lobsters
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