The Adventures of Silver Heels: Ch 66

Chapter 66: An entire day lost crossing the international date line, swimming with humpbacks, New Zealand bound armed with rum and duty free beer! Life is good.

August – September 2001: Kingdom of Tonga: Niuatoputapu, Tafahi to Vava’u

See Tafahi in relation to Niuato putapu

We armed ourselves with duty free beer and rum to see us through to New Zealand, visited the market for last minute fruit and veggies, and hit the train again, this time heading for Niuatoputapu, which belongs to the Kingdom of Tonga, arriving there after a bumpy ride and confused seas. En route we crossed the international dateline, and Sunday disappeared without a trace. We’d left Apia at 06h30 am on 25^th August, sailed all day, all night and dropped anchor at 15h15 pm the next day, which should have been Sunday 26^th August but was in fact Monday 27^th!

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We lost an entire day!

Niuatoputapu is an island protected by an extensive reef. There’s no electricity on the island, and the 1200 or so people living in the three small villages are very poor. The houses are mostly palm fronded huts in bad condition. Head lice are common, and plenty of scratching goes on. The kids all called out “palangi, palangi” (foreigner) as we passed, and asked for lollies, soon losing interest in us when we didn’t produce any. We don’t believe in handouts as this soon turns people into beggars. We traded t-shirts, coffee and other odds and ends for paw-paws and bananas.

We negotiated a price for seven of us to go across in a local fishing boat to Tafahi, a small island that rises 1800 feet into the sky. En route, we came across several humpbacked whales which surfaced very close to us. They come to the waters around Tonga to calve, and as the King has banned all whaling, they are safe here.

Tafahi is inhabited by 30 families who produce kava on the slopes of the mountain. Some of the kids here had never seen a palangi before, and gaped at us in amazement.

We paid a young man to guide us up the mountain as there is no clear path. He was armed with a machete and apart from clearing away vines, he supplied us with fresh coconut juice when we started dragging our feet. The climb was steep and strenuous, but the reward was great. We finally gazed down on Niuatoputapu, 4 miles away, and could see the whales in the sea, the beaches and reefs clearly showed up, the blues in the sea turning from pale to turquoise, to almost black, depending on the depth. It was an aerial view that wouldn’t have been better from a chopper. As the island is only accessibly at high tide, we’d had to arrive there very early to get in safely, and had to wait for the next high tide to leave. It was pretty late when we arrived back at the yachts, and after a welcome bath in the sea, we eased our aching muscles with cold beer, dinner and bed.

Tafahi

We were truly privileged to be able to swim with the humpbacked whales one day when we dinghied out over the reef. We’d been hearing them communicating when we’d been snorkeling on the outer reef, and had seen them blowing, but always too far out to safely try to reach them. “Bow Bells” and ourelves went out in the dinghy with John and Janet from “Bagan”, as they have a 25hp motor (ours is a 3.3 and John’s is a 2.5hp). We all took our snorkeling equipment and managed to get very close to the whales. We crept along very slowly, approaching from the aft quarter, as we’d read that you should never approach from directly in front or behind. You’re also supposed to make sure they know you’re there, and let them come to you instead of going after them. Three of them gradually moved towards us, and when they got really close Andy went in and had a wonderful view of them. They dived just as they reached the dinghy, and resurfaced some distance away. Once again we crept up, and this time I went overboard with Andy and when I looked at them from under the water, couldn’t believe their size! We took it in turns to go overboard as someone always had to be in control of the dinghy. There were several groups of two or three whales. We stayed out there until the light started fading and we were cold. The experience still seems like a dream, and I wonder if we’ll ever be that lucky again.

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Swimming with GIANTS! Unforgettable and such a privilege.

Our trip from Niuatoputapu to Vava’u group in Tonga was rough. We were beating, with 25 – 30 knots all the way and plenty of water coming over the boat. The resulting soggy forepeak plus wet lockers in the aft cabin demanded attention once we’d anchored, and we spent the better part of a day sorting out the mess. I’d stowed our books in the cupboards and had to dry them out while Andy attempted to seal every possible problem area, as we couldn’t trace the exact spots where water had come in.

We’ve been in Vava’u for more than a week now, but I’ll save this area for the next newsletter, which I’ll do when we reach New Zealand.

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been. Travelers don’t know where they’re going.” (I read this somewhere, but can’t remember who said it.)

Lots of love from Joan, Andy and “Silver Heels”

The Adventures of Silver Heels. Ch 62

Chapter 62: Spectacular sunrise over Tahiti, snorkeling with Moray Eels, Black Tipped Sharks and Andy has a narrow escape from a Scorpion Fish!

May – June 2001: Tahiti, Moorea and Tahaa – written in Vavaú Group Tonga on 20 September

24^th May ’01. Here we are again, this time under sail for the Society Islands. Still no genoa available, so staysail and full main were set and we had a fast sail averaging about 7 knots. We approached Tahiti, the largest of the Society Islands just as the sun was rising. What a sight! Spectacular mountains soar upwards, the highest peak being 7321 feet. With an area of 400 square miles, this island has been the setting for many novels and films. Artist Paul Gaugain painted the scenes and people of Tahiti, but is buried on Hiva Oa in the Marquises. The interior of the island consists of jagged volcanic peaks, so habitation is limited to homes along the cost. The city of Papeete is the central distribution point for the Society Islands and inter island freighters ply their trade to all the populated islands in the group.

Beautiful Tahiti

We entered the encircling reef and motored to the furthest anchorage, passing the international airport where we had to ask permission to cross the runway at both ends as we had to round the spit of land on which the airport is built, with planes landing and taking off at sea level.

Planes landing at almost sea level.

Our first priority was to repair the roller furler, and this was quite easily achieved to our surprise. US$800 and a couple of hours’ work, and we were back in business. This freed us to explore the city, catch “le truck”, the local transport, to within walking distance of three waterfalls and a blowhole, and to do some wonderful snorkeling. In spite of the large population and many boats, there are plenty of places on the reefs where the coral is undamaged and fish life abounds. Tahiti is magnificent!

On 9^th June we sailed to Moorea and anchored directly behind at the reef at Cook’s Bay in shimmering water. We renewed our acquaintance with black tipped sharks and discovered many species of fish we hadn’t seen before. This has been the norm in the Pacific and even snorkeling on the same reefs invariably brings to light strange new creatures. We met “Mayling” and played dominoes and Rummikub in the evenings, with rum flowing freely and much merriment. We had strong winds for a couple of days followed by torrential rain just when we needed it most as our tanks were almost empty. We filled the tanks, did all the laundry, and when the weather cleared we did a walk in excess of 20km to the Agricultural Farm, historic Archery Platforms, and the viewpoint that overlooks both Cook’s and Opunohu Bays.

By this time “Bow Bells” had arrived. Together we did a trip halfway around Moorea. Confusing “le truck” times led to waits of up to 1.5 hours, depending on ferry arrivals from Tahiti. We thought we were catching le truck back to the anchorage but it stopped at the bottom of the bay, so we walked the 5km back to the boats – good exercise and an excuse to stop for an ice-cream.

A welcome ice cream treat.

Our next excursion was to the Juice Factory – the brochures read, “see how the juice is made and sample the wares”. We dinghied across the bay then walked up to the factory. Moorea has vast pineapple plantations, and we could smell the factory long before we got there. The gift kioks contained plenty of items, all made in Indonesia, and the tasting was a sherry-sized glass for PF100, almost US$1, so we went thirsty.

Our second 20km walk was done with “Bow Bells” and “Swara 2”, repeating our original route, this time taking lunch and lots of water. Our reward was a snorkel and then relaxing over beers in the cockpit at the end of the day.

We left Moorea for Huahine late on the 26^th of June and spent the night trying to slow down until we had furled the genoa away, 2 reefs in the main and the main not trimmed properly. We still had to hang off for a while and entered the reef at 09h00 then struggled for three hours to find an anchorage that wasn’t in coral or 70 feet deep. Eventually we edged out of the marked channel on the reef side and found excellent holding in sand in about 6 metres. Couldn’t have been better, as it was off the beaten track and “Silver Heels” and “Bow Bells” had the pick of the snorkeling on the unspoiled reef.

We couldn’t spend much time in Huahine and four days later sailed across to Tahaa. The snorkeling was great right under the boat, but Andy almost put his hand on a Scorpion Fish. From my vantage point it looked as though he’d actually touched it, but he got off lucky, feeling the swish of water as the fish dashed away. They are very difficult to see and change their colouring to match the environment. We never touch live coral as this kills it, and Andy wanted to hold onto a rock so that he could peer under the coral.

Scorpion Fish – masters of disguise!!

Not a good idea. We snorkeled outside the reef then drift snorkeled back through the pass, heading towards the bank that bristled with fish traps set on the edge of a very steep and deep drop-off. We started spotting huge Moray Eels, and once we focused properly, discovered that we were seeing 4 or 5 in each crevice. They were up to 6 feet long and very thick with huge heads. Morays open and close their mouths to circulate oxygenized water, and people think that they’re being aggressive. This isn’t the case, and in all the years we’ve snorkeled with Morays, we’ve never had a moment’s doubt about their dispositions. We lost count when we got to 100, and to this day can’t believe what we saw. We’ll never see such a sight again.

Moray Eels just look aggressive but are just curious spectators.

The Adventures of Silver Heels. Ch 55

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 55: Hauling Silver Heels out for repairs, another tricky rescue, and sailing by a hankerchief.

July 2000: Trinidad, Margarita, Tortuga, Written in Las Perlas Islands,  Panama on 4^th Feb. ‘01

Our 5^th visit to Trinidad consisted of uninterrupted boat work. We installed two new 12 volt fridge systems and redid the insulation in the boxes. We fitted 5 large solar panels as our generator is no longer reliable and to repair it would probably have cost almost as much as the panels.  They’ve worked out very well, and we’re thrilled with the results.  We hauled the boat onto the hard to scrape and anti-foul the bottom and discovered that our prop-shaft was bent.  This was a real pain as Andy had to cut the flexible coupling off with an angle grinder in order to get the shaft out for straightening.  The new cutlass bearing we bought was the wrong size so Andy had to painstakingly file it down to fit in the stern-tube. After a week of working in the blistering heat we were safely splashed back into Chaguaramas Bay only to find that the water filter above the new batteries was leaking.

Island Time in action!

We had a never ending supply of hassles. We love our lifestyle, but it isn’t always a bed of roses. The next snag was that the engineer who came to realign our main engine discovered that our front engine mountings were cracked.  It took a week to get this job done as everything works on “island time”. We eventually managed to get out to Scotland Bay in time to watch the boats come through that were competing in the Trinidad to Tobago race. These are very fast racers, gaudily painted, with two to three crew manning the controls. They are capable of incredible speed, and we wondered what sort of battering the crew’s kidneys took slamming over the chop near the Boca de Mona, and how they coped with the stress of concentrating all the way to Tobago in the open sea.

Pics off the net of Trini to Tobago race.

Scotland Bay is a pretty alternative to Chaguaramas, with towering cliffs covered in rich greenery.  Howler monkeys abound, and although they’re difficult to see, their presence is advertised by their cries which sound like a pride of lions snarling and half roaring.     Green parrots flit happily from tree to tree with a distinctive flight that looks a bit unaerodynamic. It was peaceful in spite of being somewhat crowded, and gave us a chance to catch our breath before motor-sailing on smooth water and in very light wind to Porlamar, Margarita.

Howler monkeys & green parrots.

This is the largest of the Venezuelan islands with a warm, dry climate and pretty beaches, and is a major holiday destination for wealthy Venezuelans who flock there to buy duty-free jewelry, electronics, and chic clothing.  The smart stores rub shoulders with street vendor stalls selling anything from ballpoint pens and shoelaces to freshwater pearls, t-shirts, shells, freshly squeezed orange juice and delicious fast food prepared on small barrows.  For $2 you can get a satisfying meal and fresh fruit juice.   We soon got back into the swing of being in a Spanish speaking island, and managed to stretch my Spanish to the limit by buying a new large frame alternator and the correct capacitor. We stocked up on beer, wine, rum and  plenty of fresh fruit and veggies before turning our bow towards Tortuga.

Porlamar, Margarita – Venuzuela

While motor-sailing (again!!) we spotted something small in the water.  As we passed it, we saw that it was a small bird. We turned back and had a hell of a time trying to locate it again. Andy eventually spotted it, and brought “Silver Heels” to a stop very close to the little fellow. I jumped into the sea and picked it up, then rinsed it in fresh water and settled it in the galley sink on a soft towel to try and absorb some of the water from it’s soggy feathers. In a couple of hours it recovered enough to disappear from the sink, and we had a major search on hand to find it before it got sat on or squashed under foot.  We found him behind the stove, and I put him into my laundry basin on the bed and covered the whole thing with a light wrap as we needed to know where he was through the night.

Our rescue bird in the laundry basket.

The wind picked up and we had a wonderful sail, sliding along over a smooth sea and under a full moon. We entered the bay at Playa Caldera at 11.30 p.m., eyeballing our way in and making use of the radar and GPS and with help from Norm on Walkabout who also talked us in. We’d been there before, or would not have attempted a night entry.   Early the next morning we took the bird ashore and he flew happily away .

Tortuga is a low, arid island with many beautiful anchorages, stunning white beaches and superb snorkeling. From Playa Caldera, where there’s a tiny airstrip used for flying in weekend visitors from Caracas, we moved to Herradura, our favorite Tortugan anchorage. We delivered the veggies we’d brought for our friends on “Gilana” then on the evening of the 21^st September, after five glorious days we left for Los Rocques. The great sailing petered out when the wind died at 4 a.m. and we alternated between motor- sailing and sailing until we dropped anchor behind the reef at 9 a.m. We didn’t linger there as we’d been there before and weren’t prepared to pay the hefty Park charge, so after a very rolly sail to Barlovento, anchored in one of our best loved spots.

Best I could find on the net of Tortuga to give you an idea as to where it is.

At this point, hurricane “Joyce” reared her head, and had everyone in the Southern Caribbean listening anxiously to weather reports. Joyce didn’t turn North as expected, and became a direct threat to us. We didn’t want to be trapped behind the reef as the sea and wind picked up, so decided to run for Morrocoy, a National Park on the Venezuelan mainland. This was a great sail, averaging 7 knots, with the boat upright and “in the groove”. There was no moon and not a cloud in sight, so we could see every star, and their brilliance illuminated the sea. We tucked ourselves into a bay surrounded by Mangroves and settled down to see what would happen next. To everyone’s great joy Joyce was downgraded to a Tropical Depression, and the danger was over.

Satellite images of Hurricane Joyce

With relief in our hearts we picked our way out of the mangroves and with 20 – 25 knots on the beam, had an exciting 8-knot sail to Curacao. We were going to arrive much too early and furled more and more of the sail until we had just a handkerchief sized piece left. We were still doing 8 knots, so eventually hove to about three miles off and waited until dawn to enter the harbour at Spanish Waters. The anchorage was packed with boats which had come in from Las Aves and Bonaire to take shelter from Joyce, and we came across many boats we’d met all over the Caribbean.

 

The Adventures of Silver Heels. Ch 51

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 51: South African flags and yachts abound, and the tide conducts the tricky “Chaguaramas Waltz”.

Nov ’99 to Feb 2000: Las Roques, Tortuga, Isla de Margarita, Grenada, Hog Island and Trinidad, of course.

On 1^st November, we tore ourselves away from Barlovento and crossed the 32 nautical miles to Los Roques where we spent only one night as our plan was to make for Isla La Tortuga. This was an overnight motor sail as the wind was from the East, and by 10am we were anchored in Herradura Bay, Tortuga. Unfortunately, the wind was very strong by then and snorkeling on the windward side of the little island was out of the question. We tackled the job of updating our stowage list instead, so we know where everything is again. In spite of trying to keep track, and marking things off the list, we find that after a few months some things aren’t where we thought they were. We completely redo the list about once a year. It’s quite tedious, but sometimes yields treasures.

Eureka! Look what I found!

After three days in Tortuga we moved on to Isla de Margarita. The wind picked up to a steady 20 to 22 knots which came around onto the nose (as usual) and our speed over the ground dropped to two or three knots. After an overnight sail, we arrived in Margarita by lunch time and had a reunion with Mike and Gwen on Lorelye. We hadn’t seen them since Tobago in 1996, so had lots to talk about. We did a few trips to the big supermarkets in Porlamar, and were on our way sailing north east to Grenada by the 17^th November.

Hurricane Lenny was on the rampage further north and we encountered huge swells, but to our great delight the normally contrary current was in our favour and because we didn’t stop at Los Testigos because the anchorage was dangerous, we arrived off Grenada in the middle of the night and had to heave to until morning. We had been boarded by the U.S. Coast Guard on this leg and the big coast guard cutter sent an inflatable with about 8 men (all bristling with guns) alongside. Four of them came aboard, and after checking our papers, our safety equipment etc, they checked for narcotics. This involved wiping special swabs over various surfaces, which are then put under some photometer type machine on the mother boat, and any trace of drugs will fluoresce. It was an interesting experience, especially as they boarded us while we were under full sail in 12 foot swells. They were courteous and did everything with military precision.

Impressively boarded by US Coast Guard while under full sail.

We encountered many ships on this route, and twice had to change course to avoid being run down. We had tried calling the offending ships on the radio, but it seems that people don’t keep a radio watch anymore. At one stage while I was on watch, I had to keep an eye on six ships at the same time. With the big swells making it difficult to see, and my stomach lurching, it wasn’t a fun time. It’s always difficult to work out who’s who at night, and using binoculars when I’m feeling sick is awful.

Dodging giant ships. They don’t bother to answer their radios.

Once checked in at Prickly Bay, Grenada, we moved around to Hog Island where we were amazed to find something like sixteen South African boats at anchor. Many were waiting for conditions to improve to move north, and it was fun meeting lots of new people. “Walkabout” soon joined us, and together we moved into Calivigny Bay, which was deserted until the next day when two German boats came in. We ended up having Christmas on the beach, with all of us contributing food and good cheer. It was very peaceful and we all had a lovely day.

New Year was spent quietly on our boat with Norm and Ellie from “Walkabout” and David from “Ty Dewie” at Hog Island, where we’d returned a day or two previously. When the expected party didn’t materialise, we did our own thing. This is a late “Happy 2000” wish for all who haven’t heard from us recently.

Durbanites will remember Tony and Terry on “Radiant Spirit” (Tony owned “Bullion” until she was lost a few years ago when they were run down by a tanker crossing the Atlantic). They were in Grenada and we visited them in Prickly Bay and caught up on all the news.

Thoughts turn to when Bullion was run down by a tanker.

We’re now in Trinidad where we can get our hands on various boat parts, and might stay for Carnival next week. We’ve done a lot of socializing here as we know many of the boats presently in Trinidad. Other South Africans who are here are Jean and Lawrie on “Seatjalm” and Mandy Martin, Tommy’s widow, on “Rich Reward”. Roger and Frankie on “Infinity” are here, and we recently met Mike and Lorna on “Gilana”. Fred and Carol on “Marionette” have shown up and there are others in the anchorage at TTYA we’ve yet to meet.

It sounds as though Trini is full of South Africans, but in fact the French and Scandanavians are thick on the ground as well. There are more Australian boats than usual, and of course, lots of Americans. We’ve spent time with Tom and Dawn on “Time Passages” who we last saw in California when they were in the States for a year. Apart from all the old friends, we’ve made several new friends, so life in the Caribbean is always interesting.

The anchorage in Chaguaramas Bay is crowded and there’s all sorts of drama when the tide turns and the currents cause the “Chaguaramas Waltz”.  Instead of all swinging together, the boats turn all over the place, and people who have anchored too close to other boats end up bumping and grinding. You can imagine the tempers flaring and the frantic messages on the VHF radio. People are streaming into Trinidad for the Carnival and the hotels, rental cars etc. are all about double the price at this time. Boats are arriving thick and fast and we’re hoping it doesn’t get much worse in the anchorage.

I hope to have another newsletter out around July. We hope to hear from all of you and eagerly await your news.

FLOATING WORLD by Ed Teja

The world tumbles down in far-off places

Where land-locked people squabble

Over concerns and realities

I can no longer imagine

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The world falls apart in far-off places

Where claims and counter-claims of truth

Reach a crazed and insensible pitch

*

The world is calm and peaceful on my boat

Where I relax in a floating world and wonder

Whether I should swim today or read.

***

Lots of love from Joan, Andy & “Silver Heels”

 

 

 

The Adventures of Silver Heels. Ch 49

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 49: A barracuda as supervisor and staving off that sinking feeling!

June ’99: Las Aves, Bonaire

Not easy to find decent looking maps of Bonaire on the net.

Monday the 7^th June found us sailing towards Las Aves off the coast of Venezuela. We either had good wind, or no wind. A real “feast or famine” situation, and sailed and motorsailed for 3 days, cheered on by our friends Gil and Ellen on “Freedom” who faithfully kept in radio contact with us every day. We arrived when it was still dark, in spite of slowing the boat down as much as we could, so anchored at first light off Long Island, and waited for Gil and Ellen to come out in their dinghy and show us how to get into the Southern section of the reef. We enjoyed their company for 2 days before they left for Bonaire, Curacao, and a visit home to the States (by air).

Las Aves is a huge horseshoe reef with a couple of small islands in the mouth of the horseshoe.   There is a further dividing reef running from West to East, so you have to decide whether you want to anchor in the Northern or Southern section. You can cross the dividing reef in a dinghy if you want to snorkel on the other side, and you can even get out across the main horseshoe in certain places, and snorkel in the open sea. This can only be done on very calm days as the gaps are small, the coral is extremely sharp, and you have to keep an eye on the wind. As the wind picks up, the size of the waves quickly increases and you could find yourself in the dangerous situation of not being able to get back through the gap to the safety of the inner calm water. We were fortunate enough to be led out by Steve on “Hotel California Too” who has been visiting Sotovento for years.   He set up buoys and we lined up our anchored dinghies so that we could locate the gap from the open sea.  We went out twice, and had a new snorkeling experience each time.

On one of our “outside visits” Steve shot a Cero Mackerel for his dinner, and the fish pulled off the spear. Before Steve could retrieve it, two barracuda had gobbled it up!   We saw plenty of very large barracuda while snorkeling, and had a resident ‘cuda who always came and checked out what we were doing if we dropped the dinghy into the water or were bathing or swimming off the boat. Andy cleaned the hull and had the pleasure of his company. Although they are curious and approach very closely, we’ve never had an incident. We nevertheless always keep an eye on them. I still rate them very high on my list of favourite “water people” and feel disappointed if we don’t see them.

Andy’s new cuda friend keeping him company while he scrapes the hull.

We spent 3 lazy weeks in Sotovento (Las Aves). We had been on the move for nearly two years as we’d had to get up to the States via the Island chain, Virgins and Bahamas, then tried to see as much of America as we could before beating the hurricane season deadline back, so settled down to relax for a while. We snorkeled, read lots of books, and finally felt able to face doing some of the boat chores that pile up all the time. Andy installed new waterproof speakers in the cockpit, then removed all the teak from our swimming platform and scraped off the old paint on the support brackets. This was a big job, but once he’d repainted it, the result was a sparkling joy to behold! Next, we tackled the ugly tannin stain which we’d picked up in the Waterway. We’d bought a dilute mixture of hydrochloric and oxalic acid, and this removed the “waterway smile” rewarding us with a hull that looked as good as new. All the work on the hull was supervised by our barracuda.

Turns out the cuda’s supervision paid off! Another job well done.

At this stage there were only 3 boats in Sotovento, all anchored about a mile apart, so life was pretty peaceful. We didn’t wear clothes at all so that cut down on the laundry, and we could decide to do something or nothing, depending on the mood. We eventually ran out of fresh fruit and veggies, so tore ourselves away and did an overnight wing-on-wing sail to Bonaire, where we are tied to a mooring buoy as you aren’t allowed to anchor here. The waters surrounding Bonaire were declared a marine park in 1979 and they are trying to protect the coral from the ravages of carelessly anchored boats. No spear fishing, shell collecting etc. is allowed, so there is plenty to be seen here.

Bonaire is the Eastern most Caribbean island in the A.B.C. group made up of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.  Located in the Netherland Antilles and 40 miles off the Venezuelan coast, it covers 112 sq. miles, is 24 miles long and 3 to 7 miles across. It was discovered in 1499 by the Spanish at which time it was inhabited by the Caiquetio Indians.  Bonaire was governed by the Spanish for 140 years. In 1636 it came under Dutch rule and they established Kralendijk, the capital. In the early 1800’s it briefly fell under the control of the English, and in 1816 became a Dutch Government Plantation.   The native language is a mixture of many different languages called “Papiemento”.  The present population is less than 14000 people, 5000 Flamingos and 90 species of tropical birds, 80 of which are indigenous to Bonaire. There are 200 species of fish and 30 species of coral, and Bonaire is a world renown dive destination. There are no wild animals, but a herd of about 600 feral donkeys roam around happily. The island is extremely arid, the vegetation being mostly cactus and thorn trees. Iguanas abound, as this is their ideal habitat.

Another vague pic of Bonaire off the net.

Tourism is the pillar of the economy, as the only industry on the Island is a salt mine.   Kralendijk is pretty, with distinctive roofs, some gabled. You hear Dutch, Spanish, English and Papiemento as you wander through the narrow streets, and there are many attractive (expensive) tourist type boutiques selling brightly coloured shorts, t-shirts, caps and wraps. Small bars and restaurants line the streets and there is a good supermarket which sells foodstuff imported from Holland and the States. They sell a varied selection of wine, and we bought a South African red that slid down our throats like velvet. Some of the veggies are brought in from Venezuela and sold on the wharf.

We’ve been here a month now and have crossed several projects of our never ending maintenance list. We made fitted mosquito screens which are hinged, and look very good. They replace our old system of using velcro to hold netting in place (effective, but untidy). As the frames had to be varnished, we got into “varnish mode” and also varnished our new bookcase (made from our ex-bed in the van), plus the companionway, and cave lockers. Five coats of varnish later, all these bits are gleaming. Naturally this shows up all the bits we didn’t varnish, so more stuff has been added to the list.

Andy installed an electric salt water pump in the galley, and this will enable us to rinse the dishes with sea water when we’re in a clean anchorage. We’re having to buy water as it seldom rains in this area (which includes Las Aves), so we try not to use it unnecessarily. We always bath in the sea, then rinse off with our newly installed fresh water system which enables us to stand on the swimming platform and get all the salt rinsed off before we go below.

That sinking feeling … bit of a nasty shock finding water beneath the floorboards!

A few days after installing the salt water pump, we noticed that our automatic bilge pump was coming on every 15 minutes. This made us mighty nervous, and we set about trying to find where we were taking on water. All the sea cocks were dry, so Andy lifted a floorboard to check the through hull fittings where our depth sounder and log are located. Big fright!!! The water was lapping just under the floorboards. We tasted it, and it was salty, so that ruled out a burst water tank. We removed all the floorboards and couldn’t find any problems. Andy then rechecked the newly installed pump and found that it had split. It didn’t leak all the time, only when the boat rolled and the gap opened, so he hadn’t spotted it when he’d done his initial check. We’d paid $50 for the pump, and have had to dump it, still in virgin condition as we don’t wash dishes with sea water when there are so many boats around. To cut a long story short, he adapted a spare bilge pump and solved the problem. We put the floorboards back and heaved a sigh of relief.  The next day Andy was looking for our big torch (the one you gave us, Chris) and it was nowhere to be found. We eventually worked out that the last time he’d used it was when the floorboards were up. You’ve guessed it – the torch was under the floor, and up came the boards again. Thank goodness he didn’t have to remove all of them, as that was a real hassle! The torch is very happy to be safely back where it always lives.

Favourite torch retrieved!

We’ll soon be stocking up on fresh food again and will leave Bonaire in the next 10 days.  We’ll go back to Las Aves and visit both Sotovento and Barlovento. From there, who knows?  We’ll be out of touch for several weeks once we leave here, so e-mail contact will be delayed. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t keep writing – we’ll download again as soon as we can. We love hearing from all of you, but must remind you that we’re no longer able to access the internet easily, and it’s expensive to do so.

Lots of love from Joan, Andy & “Silver Heels”

“He that leaveth nothing to chance will do few things ill, but he will do very few things!” Marquis of Halifax – George Savile

“When you look up, the sun will always be in your eyes!” Andy Gillett

 

The Adventures of Silver Heels. Ch 48

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 48: A wild dolphin escort, shark music plays and a Commandante in stripey underpants.

May ’99: Georgetown, Great Exuma, Mayaguana, Luperon, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cajo de la Muertas.

We were being pushed by the fact that the hurricane season was looming and we needed to get below 12 degrees North to comply with the terms of our insurance policy. We couldn’t spend too long in the Exumas, so made our way quickly down the chain to Georgetown, Great Exuma, where we had a wonderful experience swimming with a dolphin. We’d been out in the dinghy and were returning to our boat when we noticed that people on the boat next to us were looking at something in the water.  It was a large dolphin who was circling their boat. We quickly donned our masks and fins and swam across. The dolphin continued circling their boat, and each time it passed us it came closer. He seemed to be having such fun as he would roll onto his back, then flip over again, and flick his tail. This carried on for ages and Andy eventually got cold and swam back to ”Silver Heels”. I stayed in the water until I was frozen then swam toward our boat. The dolphin swam alongside me, and escorted me all the way. When I climbed out of the water, he moved away to look for someone else to play with. What a fabulous feeling it was to have this big friendly mammal apparently enjoying our company!!

Enormous dolphin for company!

We moved from Georgetown to Conception Island where we explored a lovely reef about 3 miles off shore. Andy had plotted the reef’s position on our hand held G.P.S and we dinghied out (having told our friends on Colomba what we intended to do, and asked them to monitor the V.H.F radio in case we had a problem with our dinghy motor and couldn’t get back. We obviously took our hand held radio along.)

We saw our first shark on this reef – we’d seen a few sharks from the boat while sailing, but never before while we were in the water. It was very pretty, and moved so smoothly through the water. Unfortunately it didn’t stay close to us so we had to watch it disappearing into the gloom before we’d satisfied our curiosity.  I might add that it was a small shark so didn’t make me nervous – I don’t know how happy I’d be if I was snorkeling and a real biggie came our way. I know that people have shark encounters all the time and don’t seem too concerned, but I still think it would take some getting used to.

Accompanied by a little shark.

On 21^st May we made our next concentrated push Southward and left for Mayaguana just before sunset. We ended up anchoring once again at Rum Cay where we spent 3 nights. By late afternoon on the 24^th May we set out hoping to reach Mayaguana. All went well until lunchtime the next day when we were opposite the N.E. point of Acklins Island and a very strong squall hit us.  We changed course and ran for shelter at W. Plana Cay.  Once anchored in the lee of the island we had a good night’s sleep and had terrific sailing the next morning. We were making good time and passed Mayaguana, having decided to keep going while we had favourable wind. We didn’t stop at the Caicos Islands although we sailed past very close – a pity, but time was marching on and we still had a long way to go. We arrived at Luperon in the Dominican Republic on the 28^th May and managed to buy a disappointingly small amount of fresh veggies after checking in.  In Luperon the officials come out to the boat, so we had 4 different officials climbing on board with heavy muddy boots. The check-in cost $30 and the receipt was for $10, so figure that out for yourselves.

When you want to check out of the D.R. you go to the office, and have to cross a stream of dubious content by way of a girder – there should be a footbridge but only the girders remain, so you have to balance like a tightrope walker to get to the other side. One look at the filthy water below gives you plenty of incentive not to miss your footing. We explained to the young official that we were planning on leaving, and he scuttled off across the “bridge” and after a long time the Commandante came ambling up the hill.   He was dressed in civvies (no longer in his khaki uniform), and disappeared into a back room. The young soldier then spent about 30 minutes trying to get the carbon paper between two forms, inserting this lot into a typewriter so old that I’m surprised it worked at all, and then between watching the TV, huge yawns and sighing loudly, he eventually managed to type a few words. He then went into the back room and was gone for a while. When he re-appeared he was followed by the Commandante now dressed in only a shirt and his underwear. We gaped in amazement as this was the guy in charge of everything, standing there signing our papers in rather attractive striped under-rods!   The best part is that there was no need for him to come out of the back room in the first place, as our papers had been dutifully carried in to him. Life is full of entertaining surprises!

The inconvenience is often outweighed by the entertainment! These are the moments to truly write home about.

We lifted our anchor and left Luperon, heading now for the Mona Passage which is  the 60 mile wide dividing channel between the D.R. and Puerto Rico. You can either have a really bad crossing, or a really good one.  As we had waited for the weather window, we had a crossing so smooth that it was a real pleasure. We had a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter circle us a few times in the middle of the Mona, as they keep a keen eye out for people crossing from the D.R. and Haiti. Puerto Rico has thousands of illegal immigrants who come across in small boats, on rafts, and are smuggled in by professional “people smugglers” at great expense.  Once safely in Puerto Rico they blend in with the masses and are seldom caught. The D.R and Haiti are impoverished countries so Puerto Rico seems like the promised land to them.

We approached the Puerto Rican coastline having spent 3 days at sea, and just as the safe anchorage at Boqueron was within reach a tremendous squall enveloped us. We did a one-eighty degree turn and headed away from the reef to wait for the squall to pass. The rain was so heavy that we couldn’t see much past the front of the boat. In less than half an hour the squall had passed and we motored through the gap between the land and the reef and anchored in good sand.

Our relaxation was short lived as we had to press on, so as soon as we could see the reef the next morning, we were on our way again, and picked our way along the Southern coastline until we reached Ponce where we checked into Puerto Rico. Our next stop was at Cajo de la Muertas (coffin island) where we spent one night before the final push to Salinas. Salinas has a good supermarket a 30 minute walk from the anchorage, so we provisioned the boat, bought as much fresh fruit and veggies as we could manage to fit in the fridge, sent a batch of e-mails, had a couple of delicious ice creams and 3 days later were on our way again.

The Adventures of Silver Heels. Ch 37

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 37:  A Rottweiler’s chain as an anchor rope, a blood red sunrise and Mexico, Louisiana and Texas on fire.

May ’98: Bahamas, USA

Our last stop in the Exumas was at Allen’s Cay, home of a species of Iguana specific to that island.   With “Bedouin” leading the way in (again) we found that our alleged 7m deep channel didn’t exist.   We anchored temporarily and Chris and Andy set off in our newly patched dinghy and went to check it out.  No chance of getting through there!  We had to go around and enter from the Western side.  This was disappointing as there were several boats already in the anchorage and it looked crowded.  We went out again and anchored on the Western side (unusual, as this is usually the windward side).   We were soon settled in and dinghied through the entrance again to look at the iguanas.   There must have been 75 on the beach.  They’re large and very prehistoric looking.  There are notices warning you not to feed them as they can nip.  I find this hard to believe.

Just my kinda pet!

We then did a snorkel on the Eastern side and found all sorts of brilliantly coloured corals and sea fans.  Lots of fish as well.   We decided to drift snorkel back to the yachts, and this was great fun as the current swept us swiftly through the gap, where we noticed a yacht sitting on the reef.  We went across to them and asked if they were O.K.   “Yes, thanks, we’re fine” was the answer.  “You don’t look fine to us” we said.  They were hard on the reef, doing nothing about it, and apparently didn’t even understand the problem.

Inexperienced crew unaware of their predicament!

They’d crossed the Bahama Banks from Nassau, knowing that they had no engine – it was due to be fixed the next week.  They’d chosen a spot to enter, where there wasn’t a spot to enter, had run aground and that was that.    Meanwhile, they were on what’s usually the windward side of the island, the light was fading and the tide was due to turn and push them further onto the reef.   Chris and Andy suggested kedging them off and asked for their anchor and rode.  They produced the smallest anchor we’d ever seen, complete with a piece of chain no thicker or longer than you’d use as a choke collar on a Rottweiler, and yards and yards of really thin rope.  Andy and Chris set this little anchor, and told them to start winching.  We put all our weight on one side of the yacht, and managed to get them off the reef.  They then anchored, jumped into their dinghy and disappeared around the island.  I don’t know what time they returned to their boat, but it was long after we’d gone to bed.  They’d left no anchor light on, so I don’t know how they even found the boat.   The crew consisted of 2 young ladies and one young man who had never sailed before, and one young man who must have sailed before, but was totally clueless.   Amazing!

Ignorance is bliss!

We left Allan’s Cay early the next morning and motored across the Banks in 5 meters of water.  The sea was mirror smooth.   We could see every shell and weed on the bottom and the coral heads loomed as black patches, clearly visible.  This was like a verse out of the “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”.  It was hot and hazy and if we hadn’t had a motor we’d have been there forever.   We eventually arrived at New Providence and anchored in the lee of Athol Island, just outside Nassau (the capital of the Bahamas).

For many days we’d had blood red sunrises and sunsets with gloomy hazy days.  We couldn’t understand this until we heard about the devastating bush fires in Mexico.    Apparently the nearby states of Texas and Louisiana were badly affected by the pollution and people were warned to wear masks outside and to use filtered air inside.  Florida is also having terrible fires at the moment, so there’s plenty of ash in the air.

Blood red sun and smoggy sky as a result of terrible bush fires!

Nassau is very clean and attractive, but expensive.   We paid $16.50 (approx. R100) for a 10-line fax to let the family know where we were!   We didn’t linger there, and on l6th May sailed to Chubb Cay, our jumping off spot for the crossing of the Great Bahama Banks to North Bimini, the Gulf stream, and our first U.S. landfall at West Palm Beach.    We had our anchor up by 4.30 a.m. and motor sailed across the Banks with 1 to 2.5 meters under our keel all the way.   Some of the lights and other markers were missing, but we passed North Bimini safely just as the light was fading.   A few miles from Bimini we’d seen a whole bunch of people in the water, all wearing life jackets and snorkeling gear.  We were puzzled until we saw a large number of dolphins heading our way.   We felt really bad because when we focused the binoculars on the accompanying boat, we realized that these were tourists who had paid to see the dolphins, and we’d come along like the Pied Piper and lured them away.  Dolphins love to swim in a nice big bow wave, so chose to follow us rather than the much smaller dive boat, who then made a real effort to get the dolphins’ attention again by circling around at high speed.  No luck.   The last we saw was a forlorn bunch of people in the fading daylight, while all around us the dolphins played!   Their loss was our gain, and we enjoyed every moment of their company.

Silver Heels’ bow wave is more attractive to the dolphins than the tourist boats.

We motor-sailed across the Gulf Stream overnight and, once in the current, got a good strong push towards our destination.   “Bedouin” is much faster than we are, and they had already anchored at West Palm Beach by the time we showed up.   It was still pitch dark, so Chris talked us in and made the final leg of this part of our journey really easy.  Thanks again Chris!!!   We’d done a total of 155 miles in 25 ½ hours and were FINALLY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

The Adventures of Silver Heels – Ch 30

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 30: “Bateleur” finds a watery grave, the ocean becomes a giant mirror and we make more mariner friends along our merry way!

6 January 1998: Trinidad and The Island Chain, St Maarten, Netherlands Antilles

We hope you all had a super Christmas and wish you good health and lots of happiness for 1998.  Our last letter ended when we were preparing to leave Puerta La Cruz in mid October and I’ll carry on from there:-

We set off for Garrapata in Mochima on the 15th of October and had to motor sail – it took 6 hours to get there and we were pleased to anchor and dive into clean water again.  We also enjoyed our same snorkeling spots and saw our old friends on the various reefs. Our day’s record for scorpion fish now stands at fourteen!  We were joined in the anchorage by “Just Now”, a South African Dean 400 Catamaran, and shortly thereafter by “Rozanna” – also from South Africa.  We had great braais (barbeques) with lots of rum and Coke and wine, not to mention the good company, and although we’d been looking forward to our next leg of the journey, were sorry to leave Mochima and our friends.

We’d waited 4 days for the wind to arrive to take us back to Isla Margarita, but there was no sign of it, so at first light on the 19th of October, we lifted our anchor and motored for 9 hours before anchoring at Porlamar. We’d had absolutely flat sea the whole way. I can’t describe to you what this looked like. The pictures on chocolate boxes that show reflected trees etc on a smooth lake with not a ripple always seemed a bit far-fetched, but in fact, that’s exactly what we saw. As we approached Margarita, every tree, rock, cloud, etc, was perfectly reflected on what should have been the sea, but had become a mirror. We had several pods of dolphins playing around our bow, and they stayed with us for ages. Two or three days later, “Just Now” made the same trip but had a different tale to tell. They encountered really strong winds and rough sea!

The fascinating phenomenon of the sea turning into a giant mirror!

We bought cheap beer and rum and waited for the wind to turn north east.  On the 23rd the wind turned and we set out for Trinidad.  All was great for a few hours, then the wind came around more and more until we were beating into huge swells and strong wind. We had to tack up and down and were making very little progress towards our destination, so on one of the longer tacks we came within 16 nautical miles of “Los Testigos” and decided to carry on towards shelter, and rest until things improved. We anchored in the lee of one of the islands early on the 24th, then had to explain in Spanish why our papers showed that we’d officially left Venezuela and should be in Trinidad. The coastguard was understanding and agreed that we could stay until the “contra viento” became favourable. We found “Irish Mist” and “La Ruche” in the same anchorage, so South African accents were the order of the day again!

That night we had 35 knots most of the night and were glad of the good sand holding.  For the next 5 days we had strong east to south easterly squalls, so did a lot of reading and a few small jobs on the boat. Eventually, on the 30th we managed to leave and headed for San Francisco Bay, which is the last Venezuelan anchorage before going through the Boca Grande into the Gulf of Paria and the anchorage at Chaguaramas, Trinidad.

Frans and Michelle on “Bateleur” were waiting for us at San Francisco Bay, as they were heading west and we were going east.  We had dinner together and said goodbye, fully expecting to meet up again in the States before the start of the next hurricane season.  “Bateleur” hit something just before Christmas and was lost. Frans was picked up by a Venezuelan naval ship and taken to the mainland.  Michelle had flown home to spend Christmas with her family, so wasn’t on the yacht when she sank. Everyone in the Caribbean who knew “Bateleur” is shocked and saddened. It brings home to you that things can go wrong very quickly, even in paradise.

Bateleur finds a watery grave.

Our 3rd arrival in Trinidad on 31st October was uneventful.  There was a 3 knot current against us in the Boca, so pushing our way through was slow. We had plenty of time, so there was no problem and we didn’t have to worry about trying to anchor in the dark.  Our first port of call was the boatyard where Julie had sent our post, and we were thrilled to get a nice bundle of mail.  We received letters or emails from our parents, kids, other family and friends, so thank you all very much.  We cracked out a bottle of wine and settled down to enjoy our news.  Our postal drops have been erratic for months as we hadn’t been able to give Julie a definite time and place to post to.  The next batch was sent to St. Maarten.  Thanks everyone!

Always exciting to receive our mail and enjoy your news! Thanks so much!

One day a boat arrived and anchored near us, and it looked suspiciously like a Montevideo ’43 – same as “Silver Heels”.  They were flying a British flag, so that threw us for a while.  We dinghied across to them and found that “Shenelle” is indeed a Monte and these guys had purchased her from South Africans in Portugal 8 years ago.  We scrambled around inside and were amazed at the difference in layout. They did the same on our boat, then we had a good chat about how happy we were with our respective yachts and how safe we all feel in heavy seas. It’s so easy to make new friends when you’re cruising!

Making friends while cruising!

Our upholstery is looking very shabby now, so we bought really pretty cotton fabric in Trini.  I’m going to make slip-on covers that are easy to wash and quick to dry. Trinidad has the most amazing selection of fabrics you could ever imagine. Andy and I didn’t know what to choose and spent HOURS dithering. Anne McLeod, your family would never see you again if you were let loose here!

The fabric we eventually chose. What do you think?

We’d planned on spending no more than a week in Trini, but as usual, got sidetracked  as we had to attend to some business, which is very frustrating and time consuming from here, and naturally we had to do a bit of socializing with various friends we’d made here previously, or knew from Durban.   Fab and Katie on “Debenic” have bought a catamaran, and we did  a day-sail with them, snorkeled at a small island very close to the T.T.Y.A. anchorage, then had a tasty meal in their cockpit. We eventually managed to gather our wits and lift our anchor at noon on the 18th of November. We pushed through to Boca De Mona into very rough seas with an easterly wind helping us on our way. Unfortunately the wind turned north east before too long, so we had to beat to Grenada and arrived off Prickly Bay at 7am. We decided to press on as we’d spent nearly a month in Grenada a year ago, so our destination for that night was Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou. We had squall after squall coming through, and large swells slowing us down, but by 3pm we were through the reef at Tyrrel and safely anchored.  We had 25 knot winds all night, but were snugly tucked up.

The Adventures of Silver Heels – Ch 28

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 28: The horror of running out of beer, fairy lights in the water and barracuda circle us in the deep!

September & October 1997: Caracas Del Este, Mochima

Wednesday 19th September seemed like a good day to up anchor and head for Caracas Del Este.  This is part of the large Mochima National Park, and although we had very little wind, we managed to sail most of the way, helped by a 1.5 knot current. Nice surprise, as we’d been told that the current would be on the nose. We picked our way between small islands and anchored in a calm spot in 10 meters of clean water. We donned our snorkeling gear and hopped in. Bit of a shock to find hundreds of “warty jellyfish”surrounding us. We soldiered on and snorkeled among them as the stings were unpleasant but bearable, and the reefs were really beautiful, being covered with Christmas tree worms. Next time you’re near a bookstore, look them up. They are truly beautiful, come in all colours and look just like miniature Christmas trees. They are actually tube worms and withdraw into a narrow tube if you frighten them. They favour a particular type of coral and are often so thickly bunched on a round coral head that you imagine you’re looking at a posy of everlasting “sewe jaartjies” – I hope you all know which flowers I’m talking about.

Pic found on the net of the beautiful Sewejaartijes

Astonishing looking Christmas Tree worms

By the next morning there were wall-to-wall jellyfish, so we headed for Bahia Manare, about 2 hours away. As we approached, we saw “Sims” with Grete waving their Danish flag in greeting. This is the 3rd time we’ve come across them unexpectedly and we were pleased to see them. Bahia Manare is a large bay with a deserted fishing camp, white beach, towering cliffs surrounding it, and interesting snorkeling.  We enjoyed ourselves there for a few days until the jellyfish started arriving.  This was the first place where we’d seen lots of octopuses in holes in the sand, visible through the clear water from the deck of the boat and easily seen when snorkeling. (Not öctopae”- I looked it up). I worry about their health when they’re so exposed to prying eyes.

Grete from “Sims” waving the Danish flag

We spent a day investigating the possibilities in the actual bay of Mochima, motoring all the way down to the quaint town itself. This consists of several tiny waterfront restaurants, a research station and little else.  Lots of tourists arrive by road every day and are taken to one or two beaches (accessible only by boat) for the day.  Apart from these tourist beaches which have restaurants and other facilities, the park is uninhabited.  There are a few fishing camps which are used occasionally.  The fishermen may not build new camps but retain the right to use the old ones as they were in use before the area was declared a park.

We decided not to anchor in Mochima as the anchorages are surrounded by mangroves, which make the water murky. The bay is very deep, so good snorkeling isn’t likely, and there’s little or no wind. Venezuela is hot and you need to try and anchor where there’s a breeze. The off-lying islands were always okay as we never had less than 20 knots. The mainland is a different story. The breeze dies completely at night, and even sleeping in the cockpit is too hot. We’ve had our big cover up since we got to Puerto La Cruz and would have melted without it. We roll up the sides when we move and can sail with the genoa without any problem. The distances are short, visibility good, and there’s very little other traffic. We discovered a secluded anchorage behind a tiny island called Isla Garrapa (The Tick), and tucked ourselves in. This has a red beach and red sandstone hills surrounding it. We had the place to ourselves until we heard that “Spindrift” was in the vicinity, so we told them where we were and they joined us for a few days. When they left for Trinidad, “Whisper”arrived. We spent a total of 3 weeks in what has got to be one of my favourite places. We had a choice of many snorkeling spots and in one place had up to 20 barracuda circling us. Other places had thousands of Christmas tree worms, plenty of octopuses, brightly coloured corals, sponges and fish.

Barracuda can be a bit intimidating.

We found sand dollars for the first time and managed to collect a couple of dead ones.  They’re very fragile, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep them intact.  We also saw lots of scorpion fish – sometimes as many as 3 a day. We were in “scorpion fish mode”, and could spot them easily.  I wonder how many dozens we’ve missed in the past? We did a night snorkel with Eddie, saw a variety of nocturnal feeders and viewed the reef with new eyes.  When we splashed or moved quickly we created fairy lights in the water – there was so much phosphorescence.  Even our dinghy anchor rope glowed.  It’s hard to explain the effect – you’d really have t see it with your own eyes, so why not come cruising?

Isla Garrapata. Oct ’97 (Venezuela).   

A live Sand Dollar which we photographed and put back.

We enjoyed several braais on the beach.  There’s plenty of driftwood, so making a fire was easy.  We had the universal problem of smoke following us around no matter where we planned our site for the fire.  There must be some law of nature that governs braai fires.

Smoke following us around! (Cough! Cough!)

One day the extractor fan for the generator and engine room packed up, so Andy used the motor from our spare 12 volt van and adapted it to fit.  In the heat here, it’s essential to be able to keep the engine room (and thus the inside of the boat) reasonably cool. I had visions of getting used to the high humidity and heat, but am still finding it very uncomfortable. Being away from the pollution in the main ports is great because you can cool off in the sea. Having used the spare fan, I’m waiting for the fans that we used downstairs to pack up.

Hoping the downstairs fan won’t pack up.

“Whisper”and ourselves started running out of food and beer (the horror!) so on 2nd October started working our way back towards Puerto La Cruz. We motored via some beautiful bays and the little islands of Arapos, ending up at Chimana Segunda where we spent 2 nights. “Whisper”invited us over for supper and a guitar evening, and we had another unforgettable night. The hours flew past and it was about 1h30 am when we got back to “Silver Heels”and our cockpit bed. Eddie and Colleen have been excellent company and we’ve had several weeks of good times with them. They’re flying back to South Africa next week for 5 months, so we have to say goodbye.

Whisper and Time Passage leaving

On Tuesday 14th October, we’re going to a farewell party for “Time Passages”and “Whisper”, combined with a “welcome back”party for “Freedom”who are returning fro the States. We’ll leave early the next morning (if we’re in any condition to move) and sail to Isla Margarita via our favourite anchorages in the Mochima area. Once stocked with cheap rum, wine and beer, we’ll be on our way to Trinidad where we hope to receive a huge parcel of mail. We haven’t had mail since my visit home in April, so we’re starved for news. It’s difficult to find a secure mailing address, and Julie has been accumulating our post for months. The fact that we keep changing our plans also makes it difficult to give her a posting date and destination!

 

The Adventures of Silver Heels – Ch 25

Written by Joan Gillett, Julie’s mother.

Chapter 25: Pea-soup ocean water, Cinderella’s pumpkin post office and me back in wine!

June ’97: Venuzuela: Playa Tamarindo, Porlamar, Margarita

The sea has turned pea-soup green, probably a result of the river Orinoco flooding, so that puts paid to the snorkeling. It’s also been drizzly weather for a day or so, with strong winds of 20 – 25 knots, blowing constantly.  Yesterday we moved anchorage to “Playa Tamarindo” off “Testigo Grande” where it’s more sheltered.  There’s a small village (5 houses) and they’ve planted some coconut palms along the beach – the only trees on the island. A generator is started up in the evenings, and suddenly the houses have lights. It runs for a couple of hours then gets turned off, but we heard power tools being operated so they make use of the electricity when they have it.

Finding shelter in Playa Tamarindo

We’ve tackled several boat projects – Andy’s table is now finished and mounted, and every morning he gives it a coat of varnish. Five coats so far, and it’s looking terrific. I got into “cover mode” and made Hebocryl canvas bags for the genoa sheets, which are now neatly bagged and tied to the pulpit, the genoa furling line, the main-sheet and tackle, the halyards on the mast below the sail cover, and the small petrol can strapped outboard. The sun munches everything in sight, so if we can extend the life of our equipment by protecting it where possible, it’s worth the effort. I also changed our mozzie net system and the new nets fit better and look very neat.

I started making a short cover for the foredeck to run from the mast to the forward shrouds, but the strong wind made it impossible to fit it properly so the finishing off has to wait for calmer conditions. I bought a lot of Hebocryl canvas before we left, and am very glad I did. I’m sorry I didn’t bring more seatbelt webbing and 25mm webbing, not to mention another 30 meters of Velcro. I don’t know if I mentioned previously that I sew with UV protected thread obtainable from Natal Coates Thread, using No. 90 needle (buy lots as they get blunt quickly). I stand the cone behind the machine (an ordinary Elna) and thread it in the usual way.

I baked scones yesterday, and Andy is baking bread for lunch. It smells great. We’re still having problems with our oven in spite of installing a new burner, and are sorry we didn’t buy a new stove before we left.  There’s no running to the café for a loaf of bread, liter of milk etc. in these outlying islands, so we have to be totally self-sufficient. It’s very nice, really, and certainly keeps our budget under control. We can’t buy anything, so we can’t spend.

A delicious way to control our budget.

Some fishermen visited us and offered us two small red snappers as a gift, so we gave them some beers in exchange. Cleaning fish was another first for me and I scored a world record for time taken to scale, gut and clean 2 fish. Andy BBQed them for supper, basting them in garlic and herb butter, and they were delicious.

Red snappers for supper.

Sunday 8^th June, I again called the guardacosta on the radio and think I told them we were leaving for Margarita at first light on Monday, so by 5am we were on our way. We had a 15 knot easterly wind, set the pole and danced over the sea with the current helping us along. I felt 100% well and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The approach to Isla Margarita was in dense haze – we could hardly make out the shape of the island. We anchored in 4 meters, tidied the boat and felt very contented. The skyline of Porlamar, Margarita, is impressive – lots of tall buildings – and we only discovered when we went ashore that a fair percentage of them are unfinished (apparently because of a huge fraud scam that went on between government officials and banks that’s too complicated to explain but sounds very Venezuelan).

We caught the bus to Pampatar to check in. This is usually done through an agent here in Porlamar, but we thought we’d push our luck and do it ourselves, relying on our terrific command of the Spanish language! It took virtually all day as the customs officials and Immigration / Port Captain offices are miles apart, you need to buy “tax stamps” and it took us about an hour to locate the (unmarked) post office that looks like Cinderella’s pumpkin in the middle of a large square. (The people in the square couldn’t tell us where it was – might have been a slight language complication?) Anyway, by the time we bought the stamps, saw (and paid the required bribe to) the customs official, filled in numerous Spanish forms, we decided to take a taxi up the long hot hill to the Immigration / Port Captain.  The immigration was done in a flash, then the Port Captain kept us waiting for more than an hour. Another lesson learned the hard way – use the Agent !!!

Finally we found the Post Office oddly resembling Cinderella’s pumpkin.

There are lovely shops here, this being a duty-free island, and liquor is cheap, so I’m back in wine at last! The clothing is chic, there are jewelry shops, luggage shops, shoe shops and a marvelous store that sells just about anything, the most appealing being the imported delicacies. This shop is mostly out of our price range, but we wander around it on a regular basis just for the pleasure of looking at their merchandise.

Oh! For the love of Wine!!!

There’s a huge shopping complex which sends a bus to the anchorage every day, and collects and returns you free of charge, so we’re using this service to ferry provisions to last us for the next few months. For our other travels, we use the local mini-buses, which are cheap and frequent. We took a ride to the pretty fishing village “Juan Griego” on the far side of the Island last Sunday, at 200 Bolivars each (about R2). We had a tasty chicken lunch and 2 beers each at a beachfront restaurant for R35 total bill, and yesterday we had a “hamburger of note” on a street corner for R6.50 each. This consisted of a huge bun, tomato and onion on both halves, a meat patty, slice of ham, slice of cheese, fried egg, two lots of something unidentifiable, mayonnaise, mustard, and hot sauce.  Earlier we’d had a fresh fruit juice for R5. We chose “tropical” which as strawberries, pawpaw, pineapple, banana, and apple all mushed up in a liquidizer in front of our eyes, and served in a large paper cup. It was thick, delicious and very filling.

We’ll be leaving for La Blanquilla next week and thereafter Isla La Tortuga, Los Roques, and Los Aves – all islands (or groups) off the coast of Venezuela.  They are remote, and have no shops or postal services, so we’ll be out of touch for a while. We’ll be thinking of each of you on your birthdays, and wine ration permitting, we’ll share a glass with you.

Andy is wrestling with the watermaker (again) as Venezuela is pretty dry, and we’re running into a water problem. The water squalls that come through have strong wind in them and what little rain there is gets blown away. The watermaker has been a dead loss so far.

Familiar faces in far flung places. What a treat!

Two other Durban boats have arrived in Porlamar – Eddie and Colleen on “Whisper”, and John and Mary on “Spindrift”. We had a merry evening together last night and will have a repeat before we leave. It’s very nice seeing familiar faces and boats!

Julie no longer has access to a photocopier, so we have to ask you to share newsletters where possible. Please make sure she has a fat parcel of mail to send to us, as contact with our family and friends is very important. I don’t want to hear the excuse that “we don’t have anything exciting to say!”

Lots of love to everyone.

Joan, Andy and Silver Heels