Little Swan with the Aussie Team arrived in Trinidad as planned on the 26th of April 2006.
My friends disembarked there to continue their Holidays in the USA and eventually return to Australia. (And back to work)
We had a delicious farewell dinner at the Crewsinn Restaurant and I thank Peter and Elizabeth, Anthony and Elizabeth Anne for their company and contributions on Little Swans final leg for this season.
On my own again! After 11 months no guests on board, wow!
There were many Marinas around the place to haul out and store yachts and boats over the Hurricane season. It is a very popular destination for cruisers to leave their boats there.
Apparently due to the great demand for storage the cost has skyrocketed in the last couple of years. It was far too much for my little budget.
It also has a wet climate there and most boats had a frame made up witch covered the whole boat in plastic. The Mosquito’s too are plenty full.
From other cruisers I heard of the Venezuela Marina which are cheaper and the climate is dryer.
I made a quick decision to head for Venezuela; even though I have to solo sail for 230 miles it did not bother me. Checking out and off we go.
Luck had it that the force (currents) was with me and we virtually got spat out of Trinidad into a very lumpy sea. No problem for Little Swan and we cruised through it doing 8.5 knots.
The disappointing bit however was, not a breath of wind to sail west.
The ocean now was as calm as a lake. The engine was running smoothly and we were making good time. The route I planned took me 15 miles away from the Venezuelan coast which still has a reputation of pirate attacks.
During the night there were lots of boats around, some had lights on and some others didn’t. I kept a radar watch on those until they disappeared out of range. My only defense in an attack would be rocket flares and hand flares. No match against rifles though. At dawn I was already near Isela De Margarita and closing in on the Venezuelan mainland coast. Still hardly any wind, but was motor sailing comfortably.
A possible Marina which I knew about was Navimca near Cumana was my target..
The water in the approaches was very shallow and I chickened out when I had only 2 foot under the keel. Looking trough the binoculars I had mixed feelings about it. Once again a quick decision and turned Little Swan west again heading for Puerto La Cruz.
I knew I could not make it in the remaining daylight and found myself an anchorage amongst the hilly rocky islands. It was lovely to drop the anchor in a quiet cove and finally get some sleep.
It’s been 36 hours since my last sleep. Viva Venezuela! |
Venezuela |
Its only 15 miles to Puerto La Cruz and again not a breath of wind.
There were many small fishing boats around, but they all seemed peaceful and waved a friendly good morning. Any of them all or all of them could be potential nuisances.
For a few miles Dolphins came to swim alongside Little Swan, it must have been 50 or more. The water was clear and I could see them frolicking under the bow wave.
For me this is always a good omen. |
 PLC Marina |
The high rise building emerged out of the shimmering heat. The rugged hills bare of vegetation and I now believe that this place is dry. Very dry.
Puerto La Cruz (PLC) stretches along an extensive bay. Hotels and office blocks fill the skyline.
The Marina “Centro Marino Oriente” (PMO) together with many others is behind a solid breakwater and a Venice like canal system which is a few square kilometers and has nice houses and buildings. All with waterfronts and luxury cruisers in front of them.
Soon Little Swan was berthed and do the usual checking in stuff as well as arranging with the PMO office for my stay here.
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Bad news on the cruiser net was that a yacht person has been shot not far from here and is now in Hospital. More bad news of 2 Dinghies got reported stolen in the outer islands.
Security is still a bit of a problem here.
Payments for things are also a bit unusual.
The amazing thing was that one could not pay with cards. Cash, preferably in US$ or wire transfers is the acceptable norm.
ATM’s were difficult to operate. It sort of cancelled the transaction if one was not quick enough to type in your requests, I mean it is only 2 or 3 seconds. If one manages to get to the end one is asked to type in the first 2 numbers of your ID, whatever that mend.
The maximum withdrawal was about equal to US$100
I needed several thousand US$ to pay for the Marina for the next 5 month and another couple of thousand for my airfare to Manila. Headache!
When finally I found a Bank which accepts Master card it was full of people, maybe over 100.
They had rows of seat where the Venezuelans were waiting patiently for their number to come up. All were very well behaved.
My number finally came up after 2 hours of waiting. I asked for 2 Million BV equal to US$1000.
For this I got photographed, fingerprinted, passport copied and multiple permissions from superior officers. They must have lots of cheating the system people here.
On Monday I vent back to withdraw another 6 million Bolivar’s (about US$3000).
This time I went first thing in the morning and everything was much faster, but had to use a rucksack to carry the bundles of money with me. Most of it ended up with the travel agent.
The Supermarcados were excellent and one could buy just about anything one desires.
Taxis are cheap, but some of them were old Chevrolets and in very bad condition.
The climate is really hot and inside LS it is even more so.
I am getting some quotations in to start the long and never ending list of jobs to do.
To my disappointments all jobs on a contract have to go through the Marina office and they are rudely charging USA prices.
The average Venezuelan earning are about US200 per month, but I had to pay US64/per hour for some refrigeration repairs.
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On the plus side, the security system is good by day and night.
Getting Little Swan on land was also very professionally done.
Shut down for some reason is always sad for me, and departing Little Swan even more so.
It has been a most exiting year for us and best of all I survived it all with some help of my guarding Angels, my excellent crew, companions and friends.
Thank you all.
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Haul Out
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