Aves De Barlavento
11.56.777N
67.25.919W

I had a rough night sleeping with my internal power surges, so I went up into the cockpit for some cool air. There was quite a bit of lightening to the south but overhead it was still pretty clear.

In the morning after our chores, we lowered the dinks and joined Orpailleur exploring. We went into the next anchorage and followed a wide channel that went fairly deep across the width of the island. The mangroves trees were loaded with birds; mostly a type of red-footed booby but a few pelicans and frigate birds were also there. Although you are cautioned in the cruising guides to not get too close, a lot of nests are in branches at eye level that extend over the water. All you have to do for a photo is point and shoot.

We meandered back as far as we could go then returned the way we had come. We dinked further down the coast to look at a ruin of a building and met Bob & Jeanie and Phil & Jan who were doing the same thing. We talked briefly with them then proceeded to photograph the ruin from every angle possible and speculate as to whether the structure beside it was a grave or shrine. When our creative sides were exhausted, we walked along the beach to the end just to see what was there.

With this end of the island explored, we dinked back in the direction of our boats and then past them to the other side of the anchorage to go snorkeling. What at treat! There was good light for photographs, a good reef but not as many fish as in Los Roques. By the time the camera had acclimated to the water temp, I had passed some of the best possibilities that had small pieces of stag horn coral alive with nurseries of tiny reef fish. Some of the weensiest parrotfish and sergeant majors we’ve seen to date. Still I managed to snap away in an attempt to catch the slippery little devils and not really get anything different.

By the time my camera was signaling a low battery, Dale was getting cold, so we returned to Palace to run the genset and recharge everyone and everything.

At dinnertime on Orpailleur, we decided to keep on moving, so tomorrow we’ll head west again to the other set of islands that make up the Aves.