Wow what a trip we have had. We feel so grateful and blessed, sharing our adventures, and to relive them with you ... such fun. We hope that you enjoy reading this latest blog, even if it is a little long, and that the pictures give an idea of what we have experienced.
We left St. Martin at 2pm on Sunday, 6 July for our first leg down to The Saintes. It was a bumpy lumpy trip, with the wind NE most of the time at 20 + knots. We did well for the first 100 odd miles, although we had 1 knot of current against us, averaging approx. 7 knots. Then the wind started to drop, apart from rain gusts, and eventually we had to put on the motor to make enough way to get to our favorite anchorage off Isle Cabrit before nightfall. The highlight of the journey was when we put the fishing line out just North of the Saintes. We caught a large dolphin fish (not a dolphin, but a beautiful green/blue fish with a big fin); it was amazing to bring in, jumping out of the water with several of its friends swimming close by giving moral support. We got it beside the boat, but with no grappling hook and a net not large enough, we were unable to bring it onboard - it was about 3.5/4 feet. Maybe if we had had more time, but we were running out of light, so nearly breaking our new net it got away. It was a wonderful end to our first leg though; we anchored just as the sun was setting, in time for our ritual sundowner.
We spent the next day in the anchorage and were the only boat, not like the last time we were there. Then moved to Pointe a Pitre in Guadeloupe to shop for the last items on our list. We hired a car, and stayed at the marina that only charged us only 82 euro for three nights (they wanted $100 for one night in Antigua) so we had some dock time, making for a change. We enjoyed the island and got a lot done before we popped back down to the Saintes.
We decided to go to Bonaire via Los Roques and set off at 10am on Monday, 14 July. The wind started E, but turned SE (not what we needed) and was anything from 3-22 knots, yet again we had the tide against us! It became a long journey taking us over 48 hours and was made even longer as the auto helm (which had been giving us trouble since we left St. Martin) decided to totally malfunction on us, we found hand steering, hour after hour, hard work. Thank goodness for a glorious full moon and some great tunes on our ipod. In the end we decided to head to Blanquilla, which is East of Los Roques, and at that stage an easier sail. Yet again we decided to fish just as we were getting to the island and were rewarded with a lovely Bonita, which gave us two yummy fresh dinners.
On our arrival we met up with our dear friends from Kiana, ending up having them on board for sundowners with their guests. It was a lively party that went on all evening, can't believe we had the energy, but you know us - never ones to miss a good time. They were leaving the next day for Los Roques and we were going to go in convoy, however when we heard the weather the next day we decided to let them go on ahead of us. We needed a day of rest, did not have guests who had flights to catch, wanted to sort out the auto helm, and so said we would meet them in Los Roques. Sadly the weather forced them to miss Los Roques and carry on, so it was lucky we did go to Blanquilla as we do not know when we will see them again. That is the hard part about cruising, we meet some great people and then have to say "goodbye" never knowing when, where or if we will see them again.
The trip to Los Roques, still without the auto helm (we think the computer has packed up), was another challenging leg. We were supposed to have SE winds at 15-20, but we had them straight behind us; with big seas we decided to do two tacks increasing the distance, but we felt safer. However, we arrived at the Southern end of Los Roques much later than planned, not the best, as there is a channel between the reefs to navigate for the last 10 miles. Luckily the light was good and with all the sails down we motored up, very carefully, with fingers crossed and eyes peeled. The GPS was no help whatsoever, putting us on land most of the way!! It has been that way for a while, as the waters are not well charted West of the Caribbean. The channel was beautiful, the water every colour imaginable, and birds everywhere. We at last anchored, greatly relieved, at a small island just opposite Gran Roques at 5pm and enjoyed another much-earned sundowner with the sun setting.
We had planned to stay in Los Roques for a while, we had been told that all we had to do was go through a lengthy process to get a visitors permit (it is a National Marine Park and they limit you to a stay of only two weeks), however we soon found out that they would only allow us a day in transit!! Only other option would be to go down to Puerto La Cruz (150 miles away) clear into Venezuela, back to Los Roques (another 150 miles) then do the same thing again to clear out. We enjoy sailing, but hey .... we ain't daft. The officials we met were delightful, must have seen at least six different ones, but they had to follow the book. (Probably had six pages). In the end they gave us two more days and helped us to make temporary repairs to our radio antenna. We had a technician go up the mast, then an official who duct taped the thing and when we asked them how much for the couple of hours of time they said it was from their heart - incredible. In the end we managed to get the technician to take $20 and they accepted a six-pack of beer!!
Los Roques is paradise, an unbelievable cruising area of about 14 by 25 miles with protected reef-studded water dotted with pretty little islands. Apparently there are some 80 species of birds and the reefs are fantastic to snorkel on. We loved watching the pelicans dive bombing for fish, when they came back up with beaks full there were white and black birds immediately on top of their heads trying to get a free feed!! The birds are very tame and we enjoyed them all apart from the ones who got a bit aggressive when we got a tad too close to their nest areas on our way back down from a walk to the old light house - somewhat like the film birds ... scary. El Gran Roque stands out like a beacon across the other flat islands and is the only island with a village. It also has the main airport. There are two supermarkets, both closed as we visited on Sunday, but choice is very limited. We had provisioned well in Guadeloupe, knowing that apart from catching fresh fish we would not be shopping until Bonaire.
We had a magic time, staying a few extra days well away from Gran Roque, and certainly did not want to leave, most of the time we had the place to ourselves. While snorkeling one day we came across a large barracuda who circled us for a while, bit of a worry as we were naked and it was eyeing Russell's manhood!! It had big eyes. We swam in waters so full of fish, we could hardly see anything else, large ones, small ones, every colour - lovely.
Next stop was Islas Aves about a half-day sail away. What a lovely sail although our fishing was not so great. We caught a Bonita, but only the head survived, as well as a bird. Luckily we were able to save the bird. Must admit we had hundreds of birds around the boat when we were saving him and then got the most incredible escort into the anchorage (think they were thanking us). We stayed two nights in Aves, a lovely area (not sure if we were illegal) before having another wonderful sail to Bonaire. We have found that the boat does well with just the genie out, in light winds with not too much sea, with the wind up the freckle.
We are now in Bonaire and plan to be here for approximately two months. It is known world wide for its diving and snorkeling, and the weather is perfect with a cool breeze, warm and sunny. So far we love the island, will update blog again soon. Please do add comments we so enjoy receiving them.