[PUP] Diesel Duck in Venezuela: Taking every opportunity to celebrate

[Georgs Kolesnikovs]

Merry Christmas and a prosperous and happy New Year to all our 
friends and family from Marlene and Benno aboard Diesel Duck.  Along 
with our best wishes for happiness and good health we would like to 
give you a little update on the whereabouts of DD.

We are now in St. Thomas, USVI, having arrived here on Monday, 20. 
Nov.  After having spent a week in Tortola, BVI, watching the 
Caribbean 1500 Rally from Hampton, Virginia to Tortola coming in.  DD 
got to Tortola after a 50 hr. cruise from Martinique nonstop (313 
NM).  It was a dream cruise with the wind out from the east and a 
course which brought the 12 knot breeze over the starboard quarter. 
DD was flying both jib and mainsail and with reduced engine RPM, we 
logged a speed of around 6 1/2 knots.  To our dismay, the wind lost 
strength after 10 hours and for the rest of the trip stayed between 5 
and 7 knots, which forced us to lower the jib and sheet in the main 
to stabilize the boat.  Still, we only burned an average of 4.8 liter 
(1-1/4 gal.) fuel an hour.  This shows us, the Diesel Duck is a very 
fuel efficient boat.  Having the belly full of cheap Venezuelan 
diesel (3000 liter) the trip cost us a whopping US $23.  Wow!

Lets pick up from our last report to you, which was sent from 
Porlamar, Margarita Island in Venezuela.
This Year's hurricane season ended early and so when our 90 day 
permit for Venezuela ran out on Oct. 14th, we decided not to extend 
it and to start moving northeast toward our Christmas target of St. 
Thomas, USVI.  First, we headed toward Los Testigos, only a 50 mile 
adventure into the wind, which blew light between 10-12 kt NE.  Our 
Duck, not being overly beamy, knives right into it and takes it with 
ease.  Los Testigos is a cluster of islands nestled 40 miles offshore 
of the Venezuelan coast. They belong to Venezuela and only two 
islands, the Isla Iguana and the Isla Testigo Grande are inhabited by 
approximately 160 people.  Mainly fishermen with family.  The bulk of 
them lives on Isla Iguana, the smaller of the two.  On Isla Iguana is 
a Coast Guard detachment with two outboard powered boats.  One of the 
boats needs serious fixing.  There are also a school, church and 
small store in addition to the modest houses on the island.  A radio 
tower on the hill acts like a repeater and beams over a dozen FM 
stations, including Gospel, down to the folks.

I've been wondering what the padre in the church thinks about his 
sheep being soaked by a la gringo gospel station.  On Isla Testigo 
Grande, which is really the largest of all the islas, some 50 or so 
people are living.  But it has a bar with restaurant named "Te 
Erotica"  There you can go in your dinghy, have a bite to eat and 
have a few cool drinks and have some... No, we are not going to write 
about this.  Consider the fact that Venezuela has a healthy ratio of 
4 women to 1 male.  Los Testigos is safe.  There is no known crime 
and the cruising sailor is treated as welcome guest.  But you cannot 
buy any fuel there, it has to be brought over from the mainland. 
While we were waiting for favorable weather conditions to make the 
crossing to Grenada, some 80+ miles into the wind and current, we 
snorkeled, swam and made friends with young fishermen who tried to 
sell us fresh fish or swap them for cigarettes.  My heart went out 
listening to the bleating goats living on the tiny speck of Isla 
Langgleta, which didn't seem to hold any vegetation but cactuses. 
Armed with the last fresh carrots from our refrigerator, I made Benno 
navigate the dinghy through reefs and sharp rocks so we could anchor 
it close enough to climb onto the rocky shore.  There I went in 
search of the goats to deliver my offering.  After chasing several of 
them around and around the tiny place, I gave up and left the carrots 
at a clearing, where one of them started to take a look as we 
withdrew.  The rest of the afternoon I spent picking cactus spines 
out from the soles of our shoes.

The trip to Grenada was relatively smooth following the advice from 
the weatherman Chris Parker, who transmits on SSB radio frequencies. 
About half way, we were approached by a French flagged warship, a 
Corvette with the I.D. number P685.  The commander asked to speak to 
the captain and then requested our MMSI number (Maritime Mobile 
Service Identity) while we were to proceed on our course.  No one has 
ever asked us that before and I believe most pleasure boats do NOT 
even have one.  Therefore, I am sure of it, the Commander was totally 
surprised when Benno immediately gave him the 9 digit number.  We 
were then advised to stand by.  Meanwhile the Corvette circled us 
three times as they were unable to slow the ship down to match the 
cruising speed of the DD, until the Commander came back on the radio. 
He compared and verified our personal info he had obtained and then 
wished us a nice day.

If you are wondering what a French warship was doing in front of the 
Venezuelan coast, we had heard a few months ago that a French yacht 
enroute from Trinidad to Margarita Isla was plundered along the coast 
de Paria by pirates onboard a coast guard vessel.  Yep, it happened 
and now we know why Chavez is replacing all the coast guards at that 
coast.  The French sent warships down from Martinique, sometimes a 
destroyer and sometimes a corvette to show the tricolour (flag). 
They cruise up and down the coast in front of Isla Margarita to show 
the Venezuelan officials "we are here" and "don't mess with the 
French."
During this sail, our guest, a brown booby, flew in to have a rest. 
He sat on the inflatable to sleep.  Boobies are pretty tame birds and 
quite large.  It would let us almost touch it, but not quite.  They 
are wonderful fishers and after it had flown off we were left to 
clean up.  What a job.  Just before darkness our anchor went down at 
Prickly Bay and since we had been there before, the landfall was 
easy.  The next ten days we anchored in various bays waiting for our 
cruising friends on "Dreamtime" to arrive from Trinidad.  They wanted 
to purchase our Avon dinghy.  Benno and I had treated ourselves to a 
new Caribe dinghy in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela and we had been 
traveling with both dinghies since then.  After the exchange and a 
turkey dinner onboard Diesel Duck, celebrating Grenada's Thanksgiving 
and meeting our friends again, we left to cruise the Grenadines.

A word to Thanksgiving.  DD celebrated the American Thanksgiving with 
a turkey, the Grenada Thanksgiving with a turkey and the Canadian 
Thanksgiving with a tu..., no, with BBQ steaks.  As you can see, we 
take every opportunity to celebrate.  Cruising is just wonderful.

Arriving at Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, we were soon paid visits from 
local vendors in their small boats offering oysters, lobster, limes, 
beer and wine.  Benno and I are not fans of oysters, but offered a 
FREE beer every night to the seller as he came calling in his old 
rowboat and he never missed a night.  One guy said he remembered us 
from our last visit and he still had a good supply of the Cabernet 
Sauvignon from Chile which we bought from him last time.  On shore we 
found the best bargain yet.  Double scoops of delicious ice-cream on 
a cone at the Yacht Club for 75 cents!

The Grenadines offer beautiful spots for diving and snorkeling in 
clear, turquoise colored water with teeming marine life in colorful 
reefs.  The islands (cays) have while sand beaches with occasional 
palm trees on it.  Standing by a full moon in the very early midnight 
hour in the crownest and looking down onto the water, watching 
stingrays and other larger fish cruising, is breathtaking.  We could 
spend months there and not get tired of it.

After the southern Grenadines (Petit Martinique, Petit St. Vincent, 
Tobago Cays)  DD continued on to Bequia, bypassing St. Vincent but 
stopped for some R&R in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  An easy 4 hour trip 
brought us afterwards to Martinique.  Benno changed quickly the 
engine oil and in the morning, after a good nights rest under anchor, 
we started the diesel, pulled up the sails and pointed the bow toward 
the Virgin Islands.

While swinging on a self made mooring shackled to a beefy hurricane 
chain just off Water Island, DD is waiting for Christmas and the 
arrival of a new generator to replace the original Entec gen set we 
have on board.  I am talking about the 4.2 Kw diesel generator.  From 
day one on, after launching DD last summer in Canada, the Entec 
generator was a troubled child and turned into a bummer.  It quit 
right in Toronto,  We got it finally going at the boat show in 
Annapolis with the help of the competition generator manufacturer. 
Quit 3 days later, blew two diodes on the rotor.  The manufacturer 
sent new upgraded type diodes.  Down the road new heat exchanger, 
numerous fuel control valves, more diodes and varistors popping.  The 
diesel engine really worked, but the generator manufacturer's 
modifications to the diesel's cooling system are crap and starved the 
diesel of cooling.  Nope, we've had enough.  No power for the 
washer-dryer, watermaker, deep freezer and battery charger.  So, the 
Entec diesel generator gets the boot.  As you can see, even on Diesel 
Duck we have issues and cruising is not always smooth sailing.

With our best wishes, we love you all!

Marlene and Benno Klopfer on board Diesel Duck