Los Roques

February 10, 2009
Caya de Agua, Los Roques, Venezuela
coordinates 11 50.386N,066 55.623W

We've just rounded out an incredibly peaceful week in the islands of Los Roques, Venezuela. Without any true guidebooks and charts that were measuring a consistent 1/2 of a mile off to the north, the navigation was interesting but worth the effort. We entered the archipelago at the southeast entrance and snug ourselves in behind the reef at the Sebastapol anchorage. Small spits of soft white fine sand surrounded by old piles of coral and light blue waters. You can walk forever in the water up
to only your knees. No palm trees to be seen but green patches of salt wort, a low lying succulent of sorts, cover parts of the tiny island bits. Piles of conch shells are left behind with the distinctive hole cut into their side where others have made a tasty meal out of them. Shelled creatures of the smaller size, specifically hermit crabs o' plenty here. Once you sat on the beach and let your eyes adjust, you would see the entire sandscape come alive as the hundreds of tiny critters were busily
going about their business, walking to and fro across their own horizons. The only other living creatures we spied were the occasional day trip boats coming out to view the islands and then head back to the main island of Gran Roque. We spent 4 wonderful days there filling our mornings with school and boat projects and afternoons with swimming, exploring and hermit crab races. The ideal spot with calm flat shallow waters, consistent 15-20 knots of winds, made this location perfect for kite boarding.
Our challenge for the moment was a misbehaving alternator we thought. We changed it out with the back up only to find out it is the regulator instead. Changed it out again with the back up to the back up that happens to have it's own built in regulator. Though not as efficient, for now it will do fine. The great winds and bright sunshine are keeping the batteries topped off nicely, but no rain to speak of.

Since we are officially checked out of Venezuela, we are technically treading illegally in Venezuelan waters. They have created a system that makes it nearly impossible for sailors such as ourselves to visit these islands legally. The only place to check out of the country is back at the mainland and to sail back there would be too great of a challenge. So people do as we are and simply avoid the main island of Gran Roques just a stones throw away. The locals we have met thus far have been very
friendly and cordial, letting us know that we are safe to continue on as we go. Very rarely the coast guard will do a sweep of the islands at which time we would likely have to pay a fine and head on our way. So until then, we continue to play ignorant and apologize after.

Next stop was the island of Francisqui in the northeast corner just beside Gran Roque. The few happy tourists that are visiting here are brought over in water taxi's each day to enjoy the same shallow waters and simple beach. Again a great location for kite boarding though we are spoiled now with having the anchorage all to ourselves and perfectly flat waters. We lasted only two nights here before moving on. Further west, the island of Crasqui was our next stop for one night. Anchored in 10 feet
of sand we spent the time watching the pelicans scoop up their fair share of the plentiful fish. Sometimes soaring from high above to dive bomb and capture their prey but just as often, here they simply sit in the water, dunk their heads in and scoop up a mouthful. We have also noticed the green cloud phenomenon that we've seen on one or two other occasions. As the low cumulous clouds roll over the widespread shallow light blue waters and green islands, they reflect the green colors off their bottom,
giving your green clouds as plain as St. Patty's day.

Last stop, Caya de Agua, the farthest point west in Los Roques. Again, anchoring in only 10' of sand after negotiating our way around some coral reefs. This island seems to be home to hundreds of small black and brown lizards and to the thriving population of Brown Boobie birds. Dozens of their nests dot the shoreline set back up in the grasses. The mommies are all protectively sitting on their clutches of 4 or so eggs. No babies have hatched yet that we can see. After our experience in Isla
Isabella, Mexico, we know that you don't mess with a Bobbie mama and her babies. They'll chase you and go straight for your toes and ankles to keep you away.

A lovely anchorage, we stayed 3 nights. The waters here are a bit more choppy and rolly, and the waters not quite to clear close to shore. We took a quick snorkle at a nearby reef to find little coral and a few fun fish but not much else. The locals seems to come up with some great goods of lobsters, large fish and conch shells every time they go down. We'll have to see if we can go with them next time.

Isla Margarita, Venezuela

Saturday January 31, 2009
Porlamar, Isla Margarita, Venezuela
coordinates 10 57.075N,063 49.916W

We had more motoring than sailing on our way to Venezuela than we had hoped, so now we really did need to stop for fuel. We were understandably unsure and apprehensive about staying long at this destination due to the overwhelming reports that came out regarding the increased physical violence along with the armed robberies that had been occurring here. The bay itself does not have a lot of redeeming values to it though the water is clean enough to swim in. The skyline of shore is surprisingly
tall with hotels and office buildings. We did not expect that. The shoreline itself has much the feel of a very run down barrio and the down town feels like a bustling once upon a time tourist destination. The taxi cab drivers we met were extremely helpful, friendly and were happy to let us know that they loved living there, it was better than the main land. Safer for them but not for tourists, too many guns. That little hand signal for gun is universal. According to all of them Chavez is crazy
and Obama is great.

We timed our arrival for sunrise Monday morning, hoping that we could check in, get fuel and check out potentially in a days time. Oh well. There are 50+ boats anchored there at any given time and some look like they have been there for 50 years. It is a good place to "lose" yourself if so desired. Try to explain that concept to your kids. Though we never felt threatened ourselves, we never felt relaxed either, especially at night. It is recommended that you lock yourself in and bring all items
inside that might grow feet. Not in our entire travels have we ever been told to "lock yourself in". Usually we sleep with all the doors and windows open. On shore you can meet Juan of Marina Juan. Full of information and well spoken he offers a wide variety of services from propane on tue/thur, laundry 5 bolivars/kg, free shuttle mon/wed to town for a shopping experience and provisioning. There is a huge selection of books for trade and he'll gladly do your check in/out for you for a fee.
Approximately $290 Bolivars in/ $250 Bolivars out for the four of us. Or you can do it yourself at the Coast Guard just down the beach for much less. We checked in with him and then realized we could check out on our own saved about $120. Taxi cab rides are 12-15 bolivars and they'll take you right down town for your shopping or money exchanging needs. At the bank the exchange rate is 2.5 Bolivars to 1 USD. At the little clothing store "Ellos" across the street from the BP fuel station you can
safely get the black market exchange rate of 5 Bolivars to 1 USD, which everyone recommends you do. Don't change money on the street by solicitors as they will likely run off with your money. Following everyone's advise we went to the clothing store to get the most bang for our buck but are still have questionable feelings as to whether or not we just contributed to some underground drug ring.

We did eventually get our fuel. Though we made appointments for him to come Monday afternoon, then Tuesday morning, how about Tuesday afternoon, he finally appeared Wed at 4pm. That is island time. Happy to help, he drove his panga (fishing boat) up beside us and let his partner hand crank the 300 liters into out tanks. It was worth the wait at 40 cents/gallon. As Bruce says, what fuel crisis.

Lastly, no trip to Venezuela would be complete with out some discussion of the booming plastics industry. A whole new lesson in anatomy, it is apparently very common and very cheap to have breast augmentation done here. We heard stories that it can be a right of passage for many 16 year old girls. Easy to say we have never seen so many big boobies in all our days. Grandma, mom, daughter, right on down the line, everyone was wearing them. The boys seem remarkably unaffected by the anatomy lesson,
mom and dad were still flabbergasted. We debated, fuel ??? new boobs ??? fuel ??? new boobs ???. OK, this time we needed fuel more.

Happy to have the company of the pelicans and frigate birds again we are moving on to more remote waters. Currently under sail and half way to our next destination of the atolls and islands of Los Roques and Aves before heading onto the ABC's. Though it was tough to unplug from the internet we are very excited to seek some more peaceful settings and get our feet wet.

until next time,
your Ohana Kai crew
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Merry Merry Christmas!

December 25th, 2008

Holiday greetings and love to all. We truly hope that you are surrounded by all the love and warmth you can handle this day, enjoying all the gifts that life can give.

Christmas in Martinique is unique thus far. It is certainly tropical and green for a good reason. Refreshing rain showers and squalls run through about every hour. You can see them coming, wash over you and roll on their way in minutes. It is much like being in an automated car wash. It helps a lot to break up the humidity and heat. The energy and livelihood of the people rings through even in their Christmas music. We've only gone ashore so far really for grocery shopping and a bit of internet.

Christmas Eve we had a fun get together with our two pal American boats, Don and Anna on s/v Redwood Coast II and the Kelly's on s/v Moorea. It is always fun to see how resourceful people out here can be with home made gifts and impromptu pot lucks. Generosity abounds. Santa found his way the boat between rain showers and the family has enjoyed a quiet and comfy Christmas morning. The boys are already engrossed in a crystal making set, pirate costumes, new books and a game boy game. Oh yes,
and there's plenty of chocolate to keep us going for a while.

Christams day activities include our continued tradition of cleaning all the goose neck barnacles that hitched a ride across the Atlantic on the bottom of the boat.

Blessings to you on this joyous day, remebering the reason for the season. The truest gift of all, life everlasting.

Racing Santa to the Finish Line!

December 22, 2008 7:30 pm local time
coordinates 14 26.127N,060 53.238W

WE MADE IT! 22 days and 4 hours but whose counting. The wind filled in fantastically for us on the last four days. Ohana Kai really hit her stride and we flew in just under the radar to beat Santa to the finish line. We dropped the anchor in St. Anne's Bay, Martinique, just as the sun was setting. Picture Perfect. The anchorage is chock full of boats coming from all directions. The land looks lovely, very green and lush from the water. The hillsides are dotted with cows. It smells like a
warm summer day after the lawn has been mowed, with a dose of sea weed mixed in. The shallow waters around the southern tip of the island are canvased in fishing nets marked only by clear and small water bottles. Friends ahead warned us of these traps but even as we were looking for them it took all our concentration to dodge them. Best to stay in deeper waters.

Tomorrow we'll head to town to check in to the country. Martinique is governed by the French, so it is a little funny to hear yet another new language on the radio. We'll stretch our legs on shore, look into laundry, produce, internet, chandleries and begin to clean up Ohana Kai.

Christmas is coming, the crew are sleepy heads, pleased to sleep the whole night through in their "not moving" beds. (Must sing that last line with a melodious tune)

Most of all, thanks so much to everyone for all the words of encouragement, positive thoughts and prayers. They help more than you know. We aren't doing this alone.

500 Miles to Go!

December 19, 2008 2:51 AM
coordinates 14 32.314N,052 22.933W

Being able to click off another hundred miles each day is the best Advent calendar we could ask for. It is extremely slow going right now but any progress is good progress.

Day 16 - Another day of bright blue skies we decided to take advantage of it and send Tristan up the mast. Matthew helped tail lines and also managed to do a bit of photo journaling of the event. We had a leader line threaded through the mast previously in case we ever needed to run another halyard. We put him in his harness, strapped him tightly to the front roller furling and hoisted him away. It was quite a task at hand as the boat with no sails up now, pitches to and fro with greater force
when there's nothing to stabilize it against the swell. In addition, he had to pull the line out, wrap it around his arm and cut the line. What's that old saying about not running with scissors, what decent mother would send her child up 52 feet into the air with scissors. Mission accomplished with amazing strength and fortitude, alas the halyard is not run to fit our needs for the head sail or spinnaker. In the process though, we do discover that the genoa halyard, since not in use do to the
torn sail, will fit the bill. We have been flying the spinnaker successfully ever since with little to no chaffing. We pull it down every 5 hours to assess it's strength and hoist it right back up again. We are like a finely tuned Indi pit crew at this point in our routine. At night we motored due to the unpredictable winds and squalls so the water tanks are full and the batteries are topped off.

Day 17 - Under grey skies we hoist the spinnaker again at sunrise and fly it until sunset. We had a consistent 20 knots of wind and made great time. Again in the evenings, the winds drop too much to sail with the main and staysail but too unpredictable for the spinnaker, motor on. After one quick wet squall and the moon had broken through the clouds, Bruce woke us up to show us something we had never seen before - a moon rainbow. Complete half circle across the horizon ahead of us was a shining
white moonbow.

Day 18 - Sunny skies and VERY light winds. 5-10 knots out of the E-SE and we are making speeds of 3-4 knots accordingly. It is forecasted to continue this way for the next 24-48 hours. We have only 4 days worth of fuel left at least 6 left to get there at this pace, so we are trying to avoid starting the motor at all costs. The seas are nice and calm with the lack of wind and not a squall in sight. So we are taking our chances and flying the spinnaker all night. Our course is a little off at
this point and it looks like we're heading for Barbados rather than Martinique on the charts. When the winds fill back in on Monday, we'll get back on track then.

We have officially passed the mark as well for the longest time we've spent out on the water. It took us 18 days to cross the Pacific. We still feel very lucky to have only 5 or 6 days left to go out here. We know quite a few people who spent the better part of a week bobbing around. So let's sail on!

Wear and Tear

December 16, 2008 3:30
coordinates 15 11.128N,046 37.446W

It is nothing if not exciting out here. The last two out of three days have been continually plagued by squalls and ever changing winds. We have a new cheer, Reach to the left, Reach to the right, Up wind, Down wind, Fight, Fight, Fight, Gooooooo Ohana Kai!
We were beginning to think the little black rain cloud was following us. If you look on radar you don't see it anywhere else.

Day 13 - The Wear: As our morning was beginning to roll along we heard an enormous snap and the unmistakable sound of line zinging through it's holds. We jumped above to assess the damage and found that a shackle had snapped in two on one of the primary blocks for the sheet on the main sail. It holds the main sail in place so without it, the boom had now swung wide to the starboard side. Without the battens in it the sail had wrapped itself around the spreader like a wet hanky. We were able to
recover the sail and much to our amazement, we didn't rip off a spreader and there were no tears or further damage to the sail. We spent the next couple of hours shifting pieces and parts around the boat managed to find a replacement and get things back in action. Voila, back on track. It was amazing to see how much wear on the metal finally just caused it to fail.

Day 14 - The Tear : Again as our morning was getting under way, Bruce had just finished the morning radio net, was brushing his teeth in hopes of a long mid day nap when he peeked up at the head sail and noticed a 6-12" tear horizontally in the upper third of the sail. We flew up top to roll in the sail. Again it happened in relatively light winds and calm seas as all our sail damage does. We decided to take advantage of the light winds and bring the sail down to see if we could repair it. Let's
just say, by the time we were done with it, it wasn't a simple 6-12" tear anymore. The fabric has grown so fragile that the tear continued on into the shape of a T or X and now likely at least a 6-12" in each direction. We haven't actually had the heart to unroll it yet and assess the damage yet. We can't say that it was unexpected. We had been carefully watching, waiting and babying the sail with possibly false hopes that it would make the crossing. The winds had since picked up and the rains
set in, so with the storm sail and the main we were still making progress. From there we have lost track of how many squalls have passed us by and from what direction. We kept moving the sails around until 2pm and were even able to take showers in the rain the down pour was so strong.

Day 15 - Oh happy day, sunshine! With light winds, we flew the spinnaker for the better part of the day. When we took it down this evening, we found a spot on the halyard where it nearly wore through. Had we not caught that one in likely another half hour we would have been fishing the spinnaker out of the water with any luck. It is a little too difficult for us to sail the spinnaker at night with these unpredictable winds and we need to find a way to address the spot causing the wear on the
halyard, so we will be forced to motor overnight. Hopefully the stronger winds will fill back in soon. We have a new neighbor tonight. s/v Gillarooo from Ireland is visible on the horizon. www.gillarooo.co.uk (I'll have to check on the spelling of that one)

There are a few silver linings to what we thought was our perpetual wet black cloud: it did decide to not rain on us during both wear and tear events, it is at least warm weather now not freezing cold rain so if one has to shower in the rain this is the place to do it, and the events happened during relatively calm and daylight hours. For all the things that could have really gone wrong, they didn't. We have been blessed.

So, here's to silver linings, Goooooooo Ohana Kai!

Water, Water Everywhere!

Saturday December 13, 2008 3:30AM

The last 48 hours have brought us plenty of rain. The squalls continue to march across the sky coming up out of the SW and heading NE. It is interesting to watch those black lines bear down on you. Luckily they have brought nice winds which keep us moving toward our goal but once they pass we are back to wallowing on our own. With all the power washing we have been receiving, it is fair to say there isn't a speck of Sahara sand left on us.

The biggest change is the noise, or lack there of. We finally took the battens out of the main sail. They are flat long fiberglass stays that slide into the main sail giving it a bit more form and rigidity. That is a great help when we are sailing up wind but it has been murder on our nerves with this rolling around. With each swell the sail would fill and unfill with a noisy crack, sending the reverberations down the mast and throughout the whole boat. With each whip, our nerves would fray
a little more at the thought of the potential damage we were doing to the sail, not to mention disturbing the precious sleep of the mate of duty. Removing them has brought an end to that noise. The extra weight that they provided in the sail actually was helping them to flog around a bit so they are even a bit more stable now on this down wind run. Best of all, that equates to better sleep, at least for Lisa. Poor Bruce is still plagued with nothing but disruptions on his daytime naps. Hopefully
that changes a bit tonight.

Day 11 brought consistent squalls, Day 12 brought something new every hour. Winds from the North, the South, the West and finally back out of the East. The final squall came around 3pm on Friday with a whopping 35 knots of wind and a torrential down pour, then they seemed to have blown them selves out for a while. We have actually settled into a steady 25-20 knots out of the ESE and are clipping right along the rhumb line toward our destination.

Spending half your nights awake and half you days asleep sort of causes the days to run together. Luckily we have our stellar crew of Tristan and Matthew to keep things in order. After school work they have started taking on new projects. Matthew entered the galley today and cooked up some delicious coconut chocolate chip cookie bars for us all by himself, and Tristan is diligently sewing some very special Christmas presents. The Christmas chain is starting to grow nicely as we count our days
out at sea. I have to say that it is much more fun to count down the last half than it is to count up the first half.
We hear that some significant weather is heading your way for many of you, so if you get the opportunity, throw a snowball or two for us.
until next time,
Your Ohana Kai crew