T&T: Swan Song Cruising update

[Dave Cooper]

Gday all, as many of you are hauled, winterized, storm watching or
suffering boating withdrawal I thought Id bring you an update on Swan Songs
recent adventures.



After a couple of months of being marina bound and a haul-out for sundry
projects we cast off on November 6th for 10 days of cruising the local area
and Mochima National Park.



This whole area is south of the trade winds at N10 degrees and is much more
affected by the South American land mass. Near in there are daily sea
breezes and nightly offshore ones. Nothing of concern as they are usually in
the 10kts range tho we do see periods of 20+ kts for a bit. The seas are
typically 1-2 ft unless we have a swell coming in from the north from some
distant storm(s). Generally no rain but fro the possibility of thunderstorm
on the coast. We did see one tornado in one that pasted 1 mile or so behind
us. Daytime temps are in the upper 80s and nighttime down in the upper
60s. Some haze and some perfectly clear 50 mile visibility days. Some of
the water has 50+ ft visibility and other is 2 or less.



We had planned to go out to La Tortuga which is 40 miles off the coast but
we were delayed in getting our departure clearance as the Immigration person
was out of town for 3 days. No back-up as the Manana syndrome is alive and
well here as the rest of the Caribbean. So we headed east to Mochima NP
which consists of 20 odd islands and deep fiords on a very irregular coast
line. Many places where the bow would hit the cliff faces and yet wed be in
200 of water. The geography is just astounding. A cross between the Painted
Desert, Lake Superior or Maine coastline and deep jungle all in a few miles.
Check out Nancys website, www.missnancysjournal.com
<http://www.missnancysjournal.com/>   in a couple of days for new pictures.



In the 15 days of cruising we never once encountered an ATON. One needs to
be on top of your navigation and theres no chance of using NAV mode or
routes. Most of the time we were either 1/4 to half mile from land or well
inland according to the C-map and slightly less so on the Navionics charts.
Some older paper charts were more accurate and other less so. A bit
different than cruising the well discovered and charted bits of the world.



We went aground on a spire in Laguna Grande and this after wed checked the
area with our tender the day before. A soft grounding as I was at idle
working our way out of a delightful anchorage. Swan Song sat on top of about
a 20 ft piece of land 3-4 ft below the murky water. A quick survey around
Swan Song from on deck , a little bow thruster to turn the boat 90 degrees
and we were free. We went back later with the dinghy and this spire is
surrounded by 20-50 of water, oblong and no more than 20 long by 10 wide.
No damage was done other than some bottom paint removed. We didnt have our
forward looking PC180 Interphase on as I have a cable problem with one of
the sensors but it would have saved us from this from out past experience.
Better get that back working pronto if we are to continue to explore outside
the box ;-)



Laguna Grande is a very arid area much more like the desert surrounded by
water. Mangroves line the shore in places and are backed by cactus on the
shore. Room for hundreds of boats to anchor and we only saw three who were
clustered to avoid the pirates that abound here. They wanted to be within
shotgun range of each other to feel safe. We try to be as far from anyone as
we can. Hmmmmmm, must be different thinking and feeling on Swan Song from
the other boats.



We stopped for some fuel in Cumana but the Marina Cumanagoto was out of
diesel. This shortage of fuel is becoming more frequent here. The price is
the same, US 3 = cents gallon but the fuel is just not available. A shortage
of refining capacity in Venezuela is reported to be the fault. In any case
we have close to 500 gallons, so not a worry at this time.



We then went to Mochima and anchored for two nights in a small Bahia aka
bay, I was up at 2 AM for a head call and saw something out the portside in
the water. As I was still sleeping I went back to bed and then asked myself
what I saw. Got back up and put the big spot on and found a large, 8-10,
snake swimming around Swan Song. Appeared to be an Anaconda but didnt
really see it close enough to tell. In any case it once again reinforces the
edict we have on Swan Song.never enter the food chain at night by getting
in the water as you arent very high up on it ;-)



The next day we went to another Bahia and anchored in the usual 40 of
water. Quite windy so just hung out as the water was to rough for
snorkeling. Next day it clamed down and we found the best snorkeling that
weve ever seek in all the years of being on the water. Far better than even
Bonaire. Nothing is dead and all vibrant and beautiful. There is a bay that
has hundreds of dolphins which you can swim with if they are not feeding. We
had one family run with us for almost an hour. Awesome and only 25 miles
from a major population center..the contrasts here in Venezuela are
amazing.



We were boarded for the first time here while in the Park by a mixture of
Park Polica and regular Polica even tho none had uniforms they all had
badges and guns in their pockets or waistbandsno holsters. After working
thru the usual paperworkpassports, visas, boat papers, Zarpes, Park
Permits, two of them asked permission to search the boat. BTW, they also
asked if we had guns, sear guns or anything else that we should tell them
about. Nancy accompanied them on the search which was reasonable thorough.
She mentioned later that one of them seemed to linger longer in her lingerie
draw than others ;-)



A soft drink, handshakes all around and they left happy. Were happy as as
much as a boarding is a PITA it also helps that they know us and shows a
level of patrol that is good for the cruising community, I think.



I did notice some unusual wave activity on Thursday in the late afternoon
and mentioned it to our guests. We found out after we returned to the Marina
yesterday that there was a 7.4 earthquake just off Dominica. It certainly
did shake the sea and this is what we felt thru the waves a few hours later.
A micro Tsunami, if you will.



So to summarize the two trips and15 days:

207 NM

33 engine hours

80 genset hours



fuel used ~155 gals

Anchored out 15 days in 7 different anchorages.



Cheers



Dave & Nancy

Swan Song

Roughwater 58

Caribbean Cruise '07