We witnessed one extreme to another, from a fishing shack on Tortuga to a beautiful resort in Puerto La Cruz.

We left the empty anchoring spot in Tortuga and headed 70 miles south to the mainland, arriving in Puerto La Cruz about 11 hours later. Again, we had a quiet night on the seas, brilliant stars and no wind. We weren't sure what to expect as we had heard that cruisers were avoiding Venezuela due to the political uncertainty and this is the yacht capital of the country.

We maneuvered into a spot at the dock which was far from empty. A French Consultate has opened here at the dock and there is a 1/2 price hurricane special if you arrive with 4 boats together. Consequently, there are many French-speaking boaters at the marina and few English speaking cruisers.