Aves de Sotavento,

Venezuela
12.01.230N
67.41.031W

The problem for me when I read, is putting the book down when it’s good story. Last night, I read until 3am to finish what I had started earlier in the day. Considering that the swell we first noticed coming in rocked the boat most of the night and the fact that there was no wind which made it too hot to sleep, it ended up being time well spent.

Late morning, we dinked in to a small sandy beach to go snorkeling with Gerry & Nicky. We walked around to the eastern side of the small island and found mountains of conch shells. No wonder we haven’t seen very many on our trip; they’ve all been eaten. We donned our gear and swam the nearby reef. Again, it was amazing. Clear water, abundant coral and great fish. This time we saw larger specimens of reef fish.

We saw several huge midnight parrotfish and large blue parrotfish, as well as the normal assortment of fish in the coral heads.

We were nearing the end of our snorkel when a large Venezuelan power boat came in and anchored outside of our beached dinghies. This, in and of itself, didn’t cause any concern but when they set up their beach umbrella 2 feet from our dinghies, we decided to call it a day.

Recent rumors abound that Chavez has shut down fuel to any foreign flagged vessels. We’d heard this before regarding the mainland but learned that some of the outlying islands still had fuel for purchase, you just couldn’t pull up to the dock to get it (jerry can only). We purposely made the decision not to refuel in Venezuela but we know there are those who wait to fill up on the cheap fuel that can be found there. Since you never know what the Venezuelan people think themselves and their president have likened Americans to cockroaches, we’ve decided to keep a low profile while in their waters.

By mid-day there were 3 power boats in the same little anchorage, blaring their music for all to enjoy. I did a little salsa in the galley while I made some banana nut bread and then started a pork tenderloin for dinner.

Tomorrow we’ll leave for Bonaire. The outlying islands of Venezuela have beautiful crystal clear water and a bountiful array of coral and sea life. I hope the next time we’re this down this way, tensions will have eased and we will feel more comfortable about lingering a while and enjoying the views. There is so much to enjoy here.

Aves de Sotavento

Venezuela
12.01.230N
67.41.031W

20.6 NM
5.2 Avg
7.4 Max
3.56 Hrs.

We lifted anchors at 10 am and ever so slowly made a downwind sail to Aves de Sotavento. We read books the whole way but occasionally looked up to make sure that we weren’t running into anyone or getting into anyone else’s way.

The highlight of the trip was when Orpailleur caught and landed their first fish. They radioed their success and then proceeded to describe the fish to Dale in an attempt to ascertain whether it was edible or not. As close as he could figure without seeing it, it sounded like a Wahoo! Excellent for the dinner table.

They secured their fish to the side of the boat and then motored up to us. Yep! It was a wahoo. Now for the fun part; learning how to get it from the hook to the pot.

We rounded the northern side of the group of islands known as the Aves de Sotavento and then down the western edge of the bank to a group of 3 small islands. Gerry spotted a slow moving swell and selected the south western side of the middle island and tucked between it and the farthest island in hopes of protection from it.

We anchored in about 14’ of crystal clear water and the anchors set in deep sand on the first try. Both Dale and Gerry jumped in to make sure everything looked good and then swam back to the boats. Gerry said that there was a barracuda as big as he was keeping close to his anchor. Dale spotted a King Helmet that we took several pictures of before returning it to its resting spot beneath our boat.

We lowered the dink, grabbed our books and cheat sheets on identifying fish and the various methods of processing the fish in preparation for the frying pan. Gerry was adamant about the fillet and release method, as he didn’t want anything to do with gutting the fish. I grabbed my camera and off we went.

As it turns out, Nicky is the one credited for catching the fish and they both participated in the cleaning process. Although he didn’t look too good when he first started, Gerry stuck to it and filleted the fish without passing out. I stayed upwind and noticed that it didn’t smell as bad as our tuna had. Maybe fish smell more if you gut them.

Skinning it took a bit of trial and error. Dale started it, but then Gerry took over and finished one side and Nicky did the other. They sliced it into giant steaks and bagged up most of it. They gave us a couple of steaks for our freezer, brought some over to put on the grill for dinner and still have several meals in their freezer.

Now that they are seasoned fishermen, we know that they’ll be eating well on their Pacific crossing. All they need are just a few more lures.

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.

Aves De Barlavento,

Venezuela
11.56.777N
67.25.919W

38.1 miles
5.6 Avg.
7.3 Max

We lifted anchors at 8 am, exited our anchorage behind Isla Carenero, turned into the wind and unfurled the main sail. We steered the Palace onto our course toward Aves de Barlavento and discovered that what winds we had (blowing 12-15 kts) were directly behind us. Once they died below 10 kts, Dale conceded and we dug into the big red bag that has been stuffed in the forward head since Puerto Rico and pulled the cruising chute out through the forward hatch. You may recall that the last time we flew our chute, it landed in the drink when the halyard severed.

It takes some time to rig the chute but with the Palace on an even keel in light winds, Dale had all of the lines run back and forth along the decks and around the rolled genoa in no time. Once he gave the signal, I hoisted the snuffed chute until Dale have the sign to stop. He tugged on the ropes that slipped the sock skyward and the giant sail billowed out with a big whomp.

Sailing just slightly off wind would raise our speed to over 7 kts but as we were going almost dead downwind, we had to be content with a more conservative 4.5-5 kts. The winds continued to moderate and a couple of hours later, we were doing no more than 3.5-4 kts. Not enough to make our anchorage with the sun high enough to dodge coral heads clearly.

We doused the chute, coiled the sheets, and dropped the whole apparatus back down the hatch and into the big red bag again. As we secured the halyard, we noticed that once again, the line had been chafed severely. We are baffled as to what is causing the chafing and certainly the line needs to be respliced before another use.

We turned on the “iron wind” and made the southern tip of the Aves de Sotavento by 2:30pm; we rounded into our anchorage by 3 and dropped the hook.

Moon Goddess, Excalabar, and Island Dreaming, boats we had met previously in our journeys were already here and had, in fact, moved from the next island over from us in Los Roques to here the day before. Joe & Diane from Moon Goddess were just coming in from snorkeling on the reef and dropped by to say hi. They told us about the garbage burn later in the evening and said that everyone was meeting there to leave behind a decorated stone with our boat names on them. They pointed out the reefs they had already explored and suggested mangrove routes that provided good views of the nesting birds. We promised to meet up with everyone later on the beach.

Once settled, we lowered the dinks and took off to explore a little. We ended up at the designated mangrove route that led to a tiny landing spot and walked the rest of the way to the beach.

We introduced Gerry & Nicky to everyone and joined the gathering on the beach to burn garbage. We’d thrown ours out on the garbage scowl the day before but tagged along to decorate the stones.

I am no artist but I left my childish drawing of a sailboat with our names and the date on a smooth stone with the others piled by the pit where the trash was burned.