On the way to Puerto de la Cruz
Gaviota
Thu 5 Jun 2008 00:02
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10:21.787N 63:28.071W
Isla Caracas del Este
So no rush, we just sailed gently down to Cubagua ..
about 11.5 miles ... populated by a few fishermen .. and thats about it... oh
yes and a customs post. So as we sailed into the anchorage... (10 deg 50.002 min
north 64 deg 09.687 min west) saying that's another Hylas anchored
... we were approached by what looked like a local fishing boat (a pirogue) but
with armed guys in it ... glad to say it was only the local customs
guys!
So we had a chat with Sandy and Stu the
Amercicans off the Hylas 54 ... and a few bevvies of course ... and next day got
up and walked across the salt flat and to the end of the island to inspect the
archaeological site where the first European town had been in the whole area ...
built as the major pearling centre of the Caribbean .... It was big ..had
wide roads made of oyster shells ... and must have been enormous in those days
(circa 1525 ish). So back to boat and a peaceful evening ... Till we are woken
up at 3am by a large diesel engine obviously going at full tilt, then a suitably
sized wash to really wake us up ..... and low and behold by the time we are on
deck there is a proper(Grimsby)-sized trawler between us and the beach... all
lit up and heeling over about 25 degrees ... very obviously aground ...
we never did find out why.. (difficult when you don`t speak
their language) so we just left at 8 am for Isla de Caracas del Este .. about a
36 mile jaunt downwind .... not ... Started fine but light breeze so going slow,
round the end of the island (Cubagua) and 10 mins of exciting sailing before the
wind drops and heads us so we now need to tack to get here ... when it
eventually dropped to 2 knots we started motoring ... and thats the way it
stayed till about 2 pm when it slowly increased from astern and off we sailed
again ... So after 9 hours we eventually dropped the anchor in a really quiet
and peaceful bay between islands (we can`t even see the open sea) and dived in
to really clear water for a long awaited swim before the sun lost its
power.. Nowt here though and no mobile signal at all!
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