Still in Maragarita
Panulirus
CR and KN Williams
Wed 13 Feb 2008 15:40
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10.57N 63.50W
Wed 13th Feb
Keith
All a bit boring really. Winds of up to 35knots
forecast which might settle by Sunday, the seas are 4 metres which can't be
nice. Several yanks have come in over the last day or so saying it's hell out
there. On the other hand we can't sit here forever! Good news is I'm finally
getting the upper hand on the repairs/breakages front, even the WiFi is working
(not always 'though).
Clare
Margarita is very different from the other
caribbean islands we have visited. When we crossed with the ARC only 15 out of
250 boats were smaller than us and it has felt the same until we arrived here.
There are 65 boats in the anchorage and about a third are smaller than we are.
Quite a few are long term liveaboards (3 or 4 years) who run the cruisers radio
net. In Grenada it was very cosy : talk of bring and buy sales and musical
afternoons..here it is a mix of schoolboy banter ' Can you tell me about the
shopping bus?' 'Yes it has 4 wheels and a driver' and some quite heated
arguments. Should new arrivals be told about the most recent armed robbery (last
month) or is this scaremongering ? We now lock ourselves in at night with even
the hatch covers locked!
Getting diesel (6p a litre) was interesting. It
comes in a wooden pirogue full of plastic barrels and a hand pump. Our french
neighbours tracked down 'Dieselman' who has no phone or VHF and sent him over.
They are heading for the Pacific in a Dufour 31. Nice to find someone young as
many longterm cruisers seem to be even older than us.
We managed to get a new fuel filter for the
generator at an amazing shop called 'El Rey des filtros' opposite a restaurant
called 'El Rey del cholesterol' ! We haven't fitted it as the generator seems to
be working again. Fingers crossed.
The centre of town is fun with some good shops and
restaurants so we are just chilling out and will set off for the 'idyllic'
islands at the weekend when the wind drops a bit and the chances of dragging our
anchor go down we hope.
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