Los Roques

Hello all, we are still here in Bonaire and finally getting a chance to update the website. Our first stop after leaving Venezuela was the Tortugas. We only stayed a few nights, once in the first anchorage and two nights in the last anchorage Los Tortuguillas. We had to stay an extra night there as our windlass solenoid had a malfunction and we had to connect it directly. We now have to operate the windlass from down below until we can get the problem solved.

Los Roques is made of about 14 by 25 miles of protected, reef-studded water with lots of little islands. The area is very poorly charted so our navigation was mainly by eyeball. The holding was good, the water was beautiful and the anchorages were very secluded for the most part. Los Roques is supposed to have the best bone fishing in the world! There were many fisherman and we managed to trade for some lobster.

We entered Los Roques through the southeast entrance, Boca De Sebastopol. It was pretty nerve wracking trying to enter through a small clearing, as I said before the charts are very bad and we had to do eyeball navigation. The depth at the entrance is 20 feet, then it shoals to about 16 feet (eeeeek) then you are in deep blue water 30-60 feet deep. There is a path of this deep water with reefs on either side. Our first stop when we got into Los Roques was Buchiyaco. It is a very small islands just inside the reef. We stayed here overnight and then headed out. We went for the deep water channel, put the genoa up and had a beautiful, slow sail up through the channel with beautiful reefs and tiny islands surrounding us.

Our next stop was Crasqui. This little island had the best beach, it was very long, powdery white and hot! There had been a resort on the island, but the Inparques (National Park Personnel) closed it in an effort to preserve the natural state of the island. The island is also very popular with Venezuelans who come over in power boats on the weekend. There were some Venezuelan children here the weekend we arrived and they made this great sandcastle. By Monday we nearly had the anchorage to ourselves. We stayed here about a week and most of the time we were the only boat in the anchorage. There was not much snorkeling here, but we explored the whole island and actually went around the entire island in our dinghy. We really enjoyed this solitude after being in Venezuela for so many months. We finally felt like we were cruising again. The waters were crystal clear and just a little chill to cool you down. There were lots of pelicans in this anchorage, and everywhere in Los Roques, but in Crasqui we got daily shows of the pelicans flying and catching there food. It was a great sight and we sat for hours on the shoreline watching. This beach was also a great beach for Bocci Ball, you could go on forever. We stayed here about a week, then headed over to Sarqui.

Sarqui is a small anchorage that can fit a few boats. When we arrived there were 6 boats!! We came to this anchorage because we had heard that there was some great snorkeling here and our friends who had traveled here before us said that they had caught some Lobster. The anchorage was surrounded by reefs and the holding was very poor and it was crowded so we only stayed the night. We ran in to our old friends Tom and Colleen on Unplugged and had a game of Bocci Ball and a Happy Hour that night - then headed out the next morning.

We headed for a little archipelago that consists of four islands, Elbert Cay, Bequeve, West Cay and Cayo de Agua (and a LOT of reefs). Our first anchorage was at Bequeve which is joined to Elbert Cay by a sand dune. We anchored right were this two islands join. It was picture perfect. We did have to wind our way through the coral reefs and our hearts were thumping as we watched to water and the depth guage. Kim stood guard on the pulpit and Captain Mike did a EXCELLENT job of navigating us in safely. Ashore there were miles of sand beach to explore and the snorkeling was not soo bad. There were also lots of birds there.

We stayed there a few days then headed across the bay, through another maze of coral reefs to the anchorage called Cayo De Agua. It had sand dunes, palm groves, mangrove trees, lagoons and water holes. They say you can get dig to get fresh water here. Cayo De Agua got its name because there is lots of fresh water a few fet down and it was an invaluable supply to the Amerindians, fisherman and the occasional desperate cruiser. The snorkeling and exploring here was great. There is a sand bar that connects Cayo De Agua with West Cay and you can cross it a low tide. We did that to visit the lighthouse. There were lots of fish here and beautiful beaches.

Bye for now Mike and Kim on Ka'imi

Bonaire

Bon Bini (hello), from Bonaire. We arrived December 6th and are very happy to be hear. We had our first dive this morning, the diving here is GREAT!!!!! We will update soon with pictures of the Venezuela out islands, Los Rosques and the Aves. We had a wonderful time with anchorages all to ourselves for weeks!!!!! We are glad to be here -- the provisions were running low.

More later, Mike and Kim

Leaving Venezuela

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Hola! We're are finally ready to leave Venezuela. We're heading out Monday night, or rather early Tuesday morning. We'll cruise for awhile in the out islands of Venezuela stopping at Los Tortugas first to rest, then on to Los Roques and Los Aves.

We did get alot of work done on Ka'imi while we were here. We got our stanchions fixed. The ones we replaced are now solid stainless steel, so they won't break or rust out again. We also got our pulpit repaired - we had a pretty big crack where the navigation light sits. We've also sealed windows, new bearings in the windlass, rebuilt toilets, repaired bilge pumps, painted the decks, split the chain locker, replaced the fresh water pump, repaired the fridge, new halyard lines, repaired our whisker (spinnaker) pole...the list goes on and on. A major repair was a surprise to us as we were preparing to leave earlier. We found water in our oil and determined we had a blown head gasket and had to have it repaired. Luckily we had a spare gasket, cause you can't get them in Venezuela. We had more problems after that was fixed, the motor seemed to be heating up so we changed the saltwater pumps impellor, cleaned out the aftercooler, and made sure the fresh water pump was working. We finally found that the exhaust manifold had a clog and that solved the problem :)))))))). It was a bit scary for awhile.

We didn't get to do any South American inland traveling here, we will try to do that when we reach Cartegna, Columbia. We are hearing reports of people being robbed outside the gates of Bahia Redonda, so we are more anxious to leave. They say as the Christmas holiday approaches that type of crime increases. We have gone outside often while we have been here. There are little beach restaurants real close that serve chicken and fish and a local fresh fruit and vegetable market every Saturday. There are always kids playing in the ocean!! With the increase in incidents we haven't ventured outside for the past week, making us feel somewhat like prisoners. You would think it was safe, the Police Officer has his house right outside the gate. Here he is bringing his propane home.


Bahia Redonda marina has sixteen stray cats that live around the marina. The marina lets them stay and buys there food in order to control the rat problem (eeeek)! The cruisers volunteer to feed the cats, once in the morning and once at night. Kim got to do the night shift and she LOVED it!!!! This picture is Mustachio, we called him Stacio - he was the one closest to our boat and he was our favorite, he would visit often looking to be fed!! Of course we always obliged, even going so far as to buy some wet cat food to share with him or even some tuna. Kim has pictures of all the cats and we'll share them some other time. We will be out of touch for awhile, until we get to Bonaire, so we will update when we can. Until then, enjoy life and take some time off work!!!!! Ciao Mike and Kim on Ka'imi

Linda and Tom in Venezuela

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Hola, Kim's sister Linda and her husband Tom made it safe and sound to Venezuela. They stopped overnight in Caracas then headed to Barcelona. When they got off the plane, they were looking a little pale....but we fixed that!! They both left tan and/or red :)

We didn't stay in the Marina long, just long enough to get provisions, then headed out to Isla Tortuga. We didn't have much wind but were able to sail part of the way. We ended up motor sailing the rest of the way. Linda and Tom were great crew and we arrived in one piece. We stopped at the first anchorage to overnight and then we planned to head out to Los Tortuguillas. The first night there, however, we had some unexpected flying guests. They covered the boat right about dinner time. Captain Mike had a hard time trying to keep them off the steaks that were barbequeing. Kim was glad to be a vegetarian that night :)

It was very hot out there this time of year and it was hard to keep Linda and Tom inside the boat. Unlike the Marina where there is air conditioning, when we are on the hook we spend most of our time in our outside living room - the cockpit.

Linda and Tom quickly adapted to boat life. Linda spent most of the time in the water, it was very HOT!! Tom on the other hand found it very relaxing and took the time to nap a bit. After breakfast we usually relaxed a bit, explored, played Bocci Ball on the beach, then finished the evening with Dominoes. Mexican Train Dominoes was our game of choice. Tom did catch a huge tuna of some sort on the way to Los Tortuguillas. It was enough for a couple of steaks and Kim had a good dinner :). He had a very rough time hauling this one in.....it took quite a bit of effort.




Los Tortuguillas was very nice and we had the anchorage to ourselves most of the time. The fisherman would come in the day then head out at night. The anchorage had many mosquitos so we ended up anchoring as far from shore as possible. We did a lot of snorkeling and Bocci Ball playing here. Tom had quite a technic and quickly dominated the game. Linda enjoyed steering the boat at anchor and Tom and Mike had far too many tequilas. We did buy a lobster tail here from one of the fishing boats and it was enough for the four of us.

We spent the majority of the time at Los Tortuguillas then headed back to the first anchorage to overnight before coming back to Bahia Redonda. As we were exploring the island we found a little posada and restaurant on the other side of the island. (Their website is www.ranchoyemaya.com). We were sooo excited to get a very cold cervaza and a fish lunch. They are located right next to the airport but we did not find this place when we were here with Kristopher. It seems that they tried to advertise once on the other side of the island where the boats are, but someone came and cut there sign down. I guess there is another place at the end of the island that has a restuarant too, and didn't like the competition. We never found that place. Anyway they don't advertise anymore, just hope for word of mouth. There are other bungaloes located in the area where people stay. We waited in the lounge while the chef Joaney, prepared a Pescado lunch. Whole red snapper, breaded and deep fried with papa fritas (french fries) and ensalada (salad). For desert we had peaches and cream and then some coffee for Tom. It was a great lunch with a great atmosphere and fantastic service and company.


It was expensive because they have to fly everything in, but it was delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cervazas were cold and the service was excellant. The manager Nelson shared much about the business and the island with us.


Captain Mike was very happy after the meal. Here is a picture of Nelson, Kim, Joaney and Linda. They had quite a few dogs and a really cute cat on the island. The dog that looks like he is growling is actually smiling. Nelson tells him to smile and he does. The dogs eat lizards and fish, and snack on dog food. The cat also eats fish and whatever else she can find on the island. They seem very happy and well cared for. Ciao, Mike and Kim on Ka'imi