Trish's take on Los Roques
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Sun 14 Feb 2010 23:28
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Valentines Day Sunday 14th February
11:49.23N 066:56.41W
I have been badgered to write a blog and at
last I am going to do it to get some peace from the skipper.
I was extreamly sad to leave my two babies at home
and knew I would miss them both terribly. I never cry saying good bye at
airports but this time I could not stop crying.
I think I was scared of going back and knowing that
I was going to be out of my comfort zone. We had sailed in the Caribbean so many
times and I always knew what we were heading into also we were usually as a
family together.
But this time it is all very different. We were
going back to head off into unfamiliar territory for me and I am not the big
adventurer that my husband is. I like knowing what is what, before I go anywhere
and I like knowing excactly how I am going to get there. I also don't feel
that I am experienced enought to help Stewart if things get rough out there so
it was much easier for me and my peace of mind when we had Craig and the boys
with us before now.
I hope that I can get up to speed with sailing this
boat as I truly believe she is a beautiful boat and wonderful home. (Even if
there has been some issues with things that needing fixed, Stewart seems to take
this in his stride and work through them himself or with the boat builders to
resolve them all.)
Any way I have now done the two days and
nights sail to get to Los Roques in which I really did do my night watches on my
own because Stewart did need to get some sleep. I did not like doing them. One
of my attributes is being able to sleep a lot and this made it extremely hard to
make myself get up during the night and worse still to stay awake for any length
of time. Not my favourite thing in the world. But I did do it, and only really
paniced on the first night trying to use the autopilot myself with out Stewart
there telling me exactly what to do and when to do it. Amazingly enough I found
that I could do it! ! ! !
During the day the sailing can be very pleasant
with good winds and sunshine which is what we have been experiencing, but the
night time is going to take me awhile to get to grips with and hopefully get so
that I don't dislike it so much.(my watches I mean, cause I am fine at night if
I am asleep.) It would be nice if this was the kind of sailing conditions
that I could be certain of getting, but I know that somewhere down the line it
will be very different and I will just have to cross that bridge if and when I
come to it.
When we sailed into El Roque on Thursday morning I
was relieved to see land and some civilisation. Or something like it, the town
was very nice with its sand streets, quaint little shops and no cars to
been seen, not one. The people were not overly freindly and only spoke when we
asked for directions but there is the language barrier, in that we don't really
speak their language. This is more of a problem for me than Stewart as you know
he can communicate with anyone in some way (thank goodness he is
here).
After we were skinned alive at the Customs and park
Authority ( I am sure Stewart has already told that story) we went back to the
boat and set off for a sailing tour around the islands, which are so beautiful
and remote. All like desert Islands with wonderful reefs to snorkel and beaches
to walk.
My first little memory that I will not forget in a
hurry is that we went to a beach hut bar/cafe (the only one we have
seen since) to get a drink and I nearly stood on a small lizard. Then I
noticed that there were several on them around the beach hut all scavaging
anything that we droped on the floor and they were not shy. They were pretty
much in your face about it.
My other memory that I will take away with me was
my encounter while snorkeling, with the huge parrot fish that are so beautiful
with their gorgeous tropical rainbow colours and their flamboyant sail like
fins. They seem to stay in small groups of four or five and they seemed to be
almost as big as my upper body. We also came across them while waking on the
beach.They were right up at the shore swimming in very shallow water next to the
beach, feeding on the coral with their sail like fins coming out of the water.
It was quite unexpected, and we were very close to them.
These are some of the wonders that I have come
across so far on my adventure, which I feel has only just really properly
started, now that I am out of my comfort zone. ( What other wonders will I see,
many more I am sure.)
You will notice that if and or when I do write any
more blogs that they will be very different to Stewarts blogs. Mine will most
certainlly be about scenery and the wildlife. No politics, sailing speeds,
economics or engines.
Hopefully I will become more confident about the
actual sailing of the boat (I mean me sailing the boat) and I am sure that there
are a lot more adventures out there.
So if anyone out there thinks that they could never
do this you are wrong cause if I can do a watch by myself then you could do it
too. Just make sure that you have a brilliant husband like the one I am so lucky
to have, and who will take care of you and keep you safe.
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