This is our excuse for a five month break in our cruising lifestyle, Evie Marie, Chapman-Mullins. We hauled in November at Medregal Village, hotel and haulout yard, then flew back to the UK where our daughter lived to help or hinder while awaiting our first grandchild’s birthday. We also took time in Spain to visit our son, then returned to UK after Christmas. Evie Marie was born on 17^th February, two weeks late, typical woman! The next weeks were to be hectic because our daughter was returning to Spain where she was dragged up. Evie Marie needed a passport, Susie and her partner Billy needed to get removals organised, finish their employment, book ferries etc, so we became quite useful.

On 25^th March everything packed in a large Ford van and the family car, we set off to Portsmouth and take the ferry to Bilbao in Northern Spain. The crossing through Biscay was perfect; unfortunately when we disembarked someone stole the bag containing my laptop amongst other things. A disaster, so many photos and writings as well as email addresses etc. They were of course all backed up on a separate hard drive, regrettably that was stolen too. Still worse things happen at sea they say, though actually worse things haven’t happened to me at sea!

It was good to be back in our home town of 15 years in Spain, but equally good to get back to Venezuela. The UK and Europe in general is suffering from a sad syndrome of propaganda and bad news. Everybody is supposed to be losing their jobs, their work, their houses, though it would appear only the banks are losing our money. This has had a knock on effect, but where I was, in Birmingham England, and the Costa Blanca, Spain nothing much had changed. People weren’t spending money, though they had it. Never mind, Yvonne and I made up for it, we spent an absolute fortune, car hire, we even bought a car to save renting. Petrol at £1.50 gallon, insurance, travel in general, shopping, things for the baby, things for the boat and it’s so expensive everywhere, despite the discounts being offered to entice people to spend. I believe we spent 2 years supply of money in those few weeks in Europe, Spain is a little less pricey, certainly less cold and the people are nice or shall I say more interesting. Maybe they don’t spend so much time watching the doom and gloom channels on TV as they do in UK. I swear I was watching the same TV shows as I was when we lived there 18 years previous!

Now though we are back home aboard Chaser2 our Hunter 44 Deck Saloon, she has a clean bottom, clean decks and stainless thanks to the workers at Medregal Haulout yard. The price for their work was very good. Chaser2 was stuffed with sails, suitcases, tools, biminis etc so we stayed a few nights in the Jean Marc’s Hotel rather than live aboard in the heat on the hard with cramped quarters, at 30US$ per night including an excellent breakfast, why not?

We prepared Chaser2 then Jean Marc and his team drove her into the sea slung under the travel lift, all was fine an excellent all round job, and the final bill was more than excellent. The haulout and in, including chocking, and power wash was 800 Bolivares around 150US$ at the current rate, how bads that.

We anchored off and prepared her sails as soon as the wind permitted, then we took a trial sail to Cumana for a few days, all went fine.

I’m sure by now many sailors are either south bound or probably arrived at their insurance companies ‘safe’ destinations for the hurricane season. Many therefore may possibly be in Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago or Venezuela.  Porlamar, on Isla Margarita is always a popular cruiser hangout, though some prefer the alleged safety of a Marina. However if you are pulling your hair out, getting bored waiting for November to arrive so you can travel back to ‘civilisation’ why not take a trip out. Leave Chaguramas, Porlamar or Puerto De La Cruz and come and see us in the Golf of Cariaco, you won’t be disappointed I’m sure.

El Golfo de Cariaco is a safe as anywhere, in fact the coastline east from Puerto De La Cruz to Cumana is generally good and without incidents, very similar  in fact to anywhere else in the Caribbean. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been muggings or attacks, because that does happen everywhere, but propaganda for Venezuela, generated in the most part by foreign press and its political advisers causes everybody, me included to get a little paranoid. After all if we avoided everywhere that had shootings, knifings and muggings, there would be few places in the world we could travel to. The Golf of Cariaco though is perhaps one of them! And, safe in a blow.

There are many beautiful anchorages north and south sides of the Golf. Laguna Grande is well known because of its desolate natural hillsides and bays that are 3 miles deep. Laguna Chica, to the west has a small fishing village where you can be in rowing distance of a good bar amongst the local fishing community. On the opposite side Mariguitar, great on Market days. On the northern end is my favourite haulout yard, Medregal village, it’s on the Guacarapo -  Cachicatos Road, don’t you just love those names! In fact if you drove to Medregal Village Hotel you are pretty much literally at the end of the road, Cachicatos is it, the end of the world there they say. No need to feel lonely around here either, there are many foreigners (Swedish, English, Belgium, French,)  many nationalities living here on this northern shore.

As you can see from some of the photos, you will be in a more undeveloped place, a kin more to the Orinoco than Puerto De La Cruz, so don’t expect MacDonald’s and shopping arcades. Jean Marc and his wife Yoleda run the complex, they both speak English, French and Spanish, where you can dine poolside in good surroundings with waiter service at a price of course, of you can join the poor people and take an evening  ‘menu of the day’ currently at around  6US$ plus drinks, beer at around 1US$ a bottle, but you are in nice surrounding with a beautiful pool and free wifi.

Further along the anchorage Sven and Eva run a pizza bar two days a week, where a pizza enough for two is between 4 and 6 US$ and beer is 3 Bolivares which is currently less than 50US cents. Rumour has it there maybe another cruisers hangout opening later in the year. So, just in this one anchorage, there is a good international community and space to anchor a hundred boats without having to watch a Frenchman urinate over his bow while breakfasting. Then further west is the village of Guacarapo,  a lovely anchorage especially if there comes a westerly blow, again it’s a safe anchorage, the village has a couple of small shops and a nice bar on the seafront with beer at 2 Bolivares, these days that just 30US cents. Don’t think I’m a Homer Simpson beer drinker, just that to me it kinda demonstrates the cost of living of an area. It’s a measuring stick; cheap beer means cheap everything else, within reason.

We sometimes sail to the Eastern end of the Golf anchoring in the centre of the channel where you can watch the stunning Scarlet Ibis and parrots come home to roost, here also you can dinghy ashore, there are many fisherman’s docks, but the one at the far eastern end is best, he doesn’t mind you tying up on the dock, then you can walk through his garden to the main road, most people give him a 5 or 10 Bolivares for the convenience. Here you can get a bus into the town of Cariaco for about 1 US$ or the opposite direction to the beautiful seaside village of San Antonio.

Don’t believe all the rumours would be my advice, check it out for yourselves; recently a friend emailed me knowing I was due to come to Venezuela, warning me that there had been a recent mugging somewhere in Venezuela, and this guy ( a good friend that meant well) had been in Trinidad for six months. Venezuela is a huge country, stretching from the Andes to the Orinico and North to the Caribbean; of course there are murders, drugs, prostitution etc. But I prefer not to go to those places; yes we can all get caught out being in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether in a local supermarket in your home village or a city bank or village post office.

So why not come up and see us all, it’s a real get away from it all place, anchor in safety, take a trip inland to the marvellous caves or chocolate factory, or further still to Angel Falls or even a air con bus ride to Brazil, it’s all possible with a little local help from here. If you come from Porlamar you’ll probably see many old friends, if you come from Puerto De La Cruz , remember to make a stop in Mochima, the deeply indented bay west of Cumana, anchor overnight right down at the head of the bay in front of the village, the people here, like most Venezuelans are very friendly,  the village depends on tourism, accordingly they are more concerned than most that security is good, they wouldn’t want to lose their good reputation or their business, the restaurants are excellent too, watch the sun go down over your boat while dining in one of the local eateries like restaurant Puerto Viejo, fresh Red Snapper or a mixed seafood grill, excellent!  

Please remember I’m not suggesting Venezuela is a ‘safer’ place than Antigua, St Lucia or Trinidad, I’m just expressing my opinion that it is no more dangerous.

Sorry that the photos are a little local but I haven’t had chance to visit all the anchorages to replace my stolen photos of the area, but you can see more on our blog site, just Google Phil and Yvonne.