Bahia Redonda, Venezuela

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Hola everyone, we are here in Bahia Redonda Marina in Venezuela.

We have been doing projects on the boat and getting ready for our company coming to visit. Kristopher, Kim's son, is coming to visit August 18th and he will be here until the end of August. Then Linda and Tom, Kim's sister and her husband are coming to visit the last two weeks in September. We are going to go to Los Tortugas, an island about 62 miles off the coast of Venezuela, with both of them so we can share some photos of that island and the visit. We are very excited to get out and sail, we are missing the traveling life :)

For now we thought we would show you some pictures of the Marina and the area we are in, Bahia Redonda Marina. There are several Marinas in the area, Bahia Redonda is the first one, right on the other side of the breakwater. It's the largest facility and has a capacity for 150 boats up to 100 ft. long. We have a swimming pool, a restaurant and bar, a little store, a laundry, marine stores and sail makers all on-site. Just outside the gate are local eating places where you can get fish and chicken.

The canals were man made and are lined with big houses and townhome complexes. We take the dinghy through these canals to get to the mall and grocery store.

The bad news here, is that we are not able to buy fuel for 25 cents a gallon. In order for us to get fuel we have to use american dollars and pay about $1.90 dollar a gallon and drive the boat to Puerto La Cruz. This is crazy because we have a fuel dock about 200 yards from the boat. This is supposedly because big foreign flagged ships were coming in and filling up with fuel then leaving and selling it. Somehow the little pleasure cruisers are getting caught up in it. We're not sure though, someone is making money on the american dollar. Anyway, we have managed to get some fuel through a different source ...it's all about bribery in this country, from the Policia, National Guardia and well, everybody!!

Better news - Kristopher has arrived. Here is a picture of him at the airport with our taxi driver Raul. He will be here for a couple weeks. We are heading out tomorrow night to Los Tortugas where will spend some time snorkeling and exploring the different anchorages. The beaches are supposed to be white sand and really beautiful. The only people living there are seasonal fisherman, we will get fish from them if we don't catch any on our own.

Here's a picture of Kristopher with his girlfriend Amber and her dog Pu Pu.




Ciao, Mike and Kim