Thursday 11:14 pm Hugo Time, Polamar Margarita Well we waited 1 extra day for Phil to get his quota. Me , 9 cases of rum, 1 of gin and 2 of Sambuca was enough....... but Phil wanted his extra 4 cases of Tres Caronas..... so we waited till this afternoon for the final delivery. Guess Phil won the Rum war but with our cases of gin and sambuca 1 and 27 cases of beer, I think we won the booze war, Total ballast included an additional 2 cases of rum.....the Lady is sitting a little low in the water with a 2-3 deg list to starboard . Joyce.... in difference to my back has been the longshoreman in charge of loading and stowing this precious cargo. Joyce put it well.... when something is cheap and available...buy all you can afford...well we have more than a
2 years supply ..depending on my back, of booze aboard. Must remember that Joyce only had 2 bottles of this lemon stuff included in the total. I would have left this am.. but Phil want his quota... so we lift the hook tomorrow am ...rum and beer quotas filled,
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Isla Margarita Shopping
Just a few pictures of the area first....
From the anchorage...looking at the mainland of Venezuela...
For those who may not know what this is....this shows the heeling or degrees off of center that the Lady H is sailing under...the thing is we are currently in the anchorage not under sail...
And, THIS is Hugo...Paul's new dingy...and yes, partially responsible for the list (lift and lock is the rule here - or you won't have it)!
And this is twelve of the 27 cases of beer that have been stowed on board...better known as ballast...
And I won't bother to count how much is in this picture...but this too is only a part of what has been very carefully stowed as ballast. So on to - the shopping - it is very much like shopping for cruising...or shopping in Mexico for that matter. When you see what you want on the shelves...you buy as much as you think you will want or need...because tomorrow it may not be there! I find the prices here in B's (their currency) high. So in order to buy the good things...a Venezuelan would need to be making a pretty good salary. Really, the only reason for us as Americans prices are so good here is the "black market" on the USD! Bank exchange is $2.1146 B's to the dollar...on the black market it is $5.8 B's to the dollar. 
Rattan produce isle...And, then Paul in Rattan 
showing how all of the items are taken out of their cases and put on the shelves one at a time...
job security for someone...I thought you might enjoy pictures of the bus trip to Sigo...
land pictures...
The REAL local market....
the licor area in Sigo...
The Sigo bus...
We are one more Margarita sunset delayed...the Captains (of Delphinus and Lady H) found the rum that brought them to their current relationship (and respect for each other)...Tres Coronas...and with one more day they hope to gain a few mas cajas!!! Tomorrow Juan Greigo...then to Isla Blanquilla.
From the anchorage...looking at the mainland of Venezuela...
For those who may not know what this is....this shows the heeling or degrees off of center that the Lady H is sailing under...the thing is we are currently in the anchorage not under sail...
And, THIS is Hugo...Paul's new dingy...and yes, partially responsible for the list (lift and lock is the rule here - or you won't have it)!
And this is twelve of the 27 cases of beer that have been stowed on board...better known as ballast...
And I won't bother to count how much is in this picture...but this too is only a part of what has been very carefully stowed as ballast. So on to - the shopping - it is very much like shopping for cruising...or shopping in Mexico for that matter. When you see what you want on the shelves...you buy as much as you think you will want or need...because tomorrow it may not be there! I find the prices here in B's (their currency) high. So in order to buy the good things...a Venezuelan would need to be making a pretty good salary. Really, the only reason for us as Americans prices are so good here is the "black market" on the USD! Bank exchange is $2.1146 B's to the dollar...on the black market it is $5.8 B's to the dollar. Rattan produce isle...And, then Paul in Rattan showing how all of the items are taken out of their cases and put on the shelves one at a time...job security for someone...I thought you might enjoy pictures of the bus trip to Sigo...land pictures... The REAL local market....the licor area in Sigo...The Sigo bus...We are one more Margarita sunset delayed...the Captains (of Delphinus and Lady H) found the rum that brought them to their current relationship (and respect for each other)...Tres Coronas...and with one more day they hope to gain a few mas cajas!!! Tomorrow Juan Greigo...then to Isla Blanquilla.Sunday, April 19, 2009
Rum, Beer, Diesel and Dinks
Sunday Ap 19th 10:31am Hugo time . Polamar Margarita. Well it has been a busy 4 days here in Margarita. Shopping here is an experience. On our arrival Wednesday evening we dinked ashore to see Juan...the local "Boat Boy" and get the latest info. There are only 45 or so boats in the anchorage....down from the 50-60 last yr at this time . I explained to Juan that it will get worse as Obama and his pals take the worlds economy down even further. Juan got on his soapbox spouting the wonders of socialism here in Margarita. He explained how the vicious producers were screwing the country. Seems Hugo price fixed the price of white rice here in Venezuela. 90% of the rice consumed here is white rice, the rest...par-boiled, brown, flavored etc in not controlled. So the producers all changed their plantings and produced the exotic rices where they could make a higher profit. Result....no white rice on the shelves. We were here last yr when the rice fiasco was going on. If the producer could not make a profit at the fixed price...well.....why plant it? I have been reading on the news that Hugo and Obama are buddies now....so you people back home get ready to see our government screw with capitalism.
On Thursday P&J, Joyce and I took a cab into town ($ 3 dollars) to change some dollars into B's. We were directed to a men's clothing store,very upscale where we waited for the owner to get off the phone. Was more than happy to get our dollars at the black market rate of 5.5. Remember back in the Testegios...4.5...and last year 3.3 to 1 dollar. The "official rate is 2.15 B's to the dollar. Armed with a 1000 or so B's we started to do our shopping recogniscence. Our mission was to find which store had the cheapest rum, beer and meat. We cabbed from 1 store to the next checking out all the prices. Some products are price controlled, while others are more competitive. Meat for example, is price controlled. If you can figure out what cut is what , you can get some great buys. We stopped at Vemesco the local boat stuff store on the way back. I had tried to buy a dink here last yr, but the number available was zero. AB and Carib were based here in Venezuela last year. The boats are of high quality and very expensive back in the States. I had been in contact with Vemesca for the last year. They had emailed me in November that they had several boats available and did I want one. Hell yes I did, and had to pay for it then...on the spot at 3.3 B's to the dollar...came out to $2200 USD...about 1/2 the US price. Vamesca had only a few boats to sell and since mine was the last they will ever get(AB and Carib have since left Venezuela for a more capitalistic country Colombia) we have named the new dink Hugo. Well they promised to deliver the next day. Friday AM the 2 J's went in on the bus to Sigo's while P and I stopped at Vemesca to change some $'s into B's and then cab bed to catch up with J and Joyce. I was still price comparing the rum, but Phil went on a rum orgy and bought 49 bottles. I bought 3 cases and a few others to sample...no beer Sego was too high. So back to the boat to store our prized rum. Vamesca delivered the dink at 4pm on Friday afternoon.. .damn we missed happy hour at Juan's .18 cent USD for a beer..DAMN.. .Right in the middle of this...the diesel boat appears, we took on 175 gallons of diesel and 10 gallons of gas....total price 72 USD.... would have been over $500 back home. Now if we could make it to the fuel dock... 5 ft draft, we could buy the same for $ 13.00 USD . Damn
Our New Dink
Now we had 2 dinks and 2 outboards...and have to get them both out of the water at night. (theft prevention) We had planned fajitas with P&J but postponed till Saturday night...too much to do. We planned to make a beer run on Saturday AM. Joyce P and I left about 10:30 stopping at the Central Market to check their prices...too high ...so we went on to Rattan an upscale Walmart type store. While I checked and bought a case of Gin...$3.09 a bottle, Phil started filling his cart with beer. He was really pissing off the beer guy. P and I had had a beer tasting the day before. He had about 10 cases, I went for 6 each of Polar Ice and Solara. We then headed for the meat dept. Last year Rattan had a meat dept with butchers taking care of customers. This year all the meat was packaged like the US. Phil starts piling his cart with various packages of meat...remember he is a Brit...they will eat almost anything. meanwhile I found some fillets that were prepackaged 2 in a vac bag. They were about $4.10 a package...a little over 1 pound for 2 fillets or $3.22 a pound. The hamburger was fantastic...we will buy and suckie bag some next week before we leave. About this time Phil finds a scanner where you can find the price of an item. He had the beer guy get all of this kind of beer, well now that Phil found out that it was 30% more, he was putting 4 cases back for the less expensive.We took our overfilled carts and checked out. While Pill is ahead in the rum race, I'm ahead on beer.
While Joyce stowed the beer I put Herbie our 15hp outboard on the new dink. Damn...would not start. I putzed with it for an hour before I found the loose connection...we took a quick ride..too cool. P&J came over at 6:30...I went to fire up the grill and busted the gas connection.... now I had to go to plan B. I had never made fajitas on the stove...but my titanium pans came through.
After dinner we had a scientific rum tasting. We had 6 different priced rums including the 2 lowest price which Phil had 49 bottles stowed in his blige. I had gone for some mid range which I had purchased last year. We tasted and rated the 6 rums. Amazingly we agreed for the most part on which we liked and which we didn't. The lowest rated...well Phil has 49 bottles of that in his bilge. Me...going to take the bus in tomorrow and buy more of the good stuff before Phil snags all of it. Tonight we are having another rum taste test...Joanna thinks the balsamic vinegar I use in my marinade caused the cheap rum that Phil has 49 bottles to fail the test....We will see....
On Thursday P&J, Joyce and I took a cab into town ($ 3 dollars) to change some dollars into B's. We were directed to a men's clothing store,very upscale where we waited for the owner to get off the phone. Was more than happy to get our dollars at the black market rate of 5.5. Remember back in the Testegios...4.5...and last year 3.3 to 1 dollar. The "official rate is 2.15 B's to the dollar. Armed with a 1000 or so B's we started to do our shopping recogniscence. Our mission was to find which store had the cheapest rum, beer and meat. We cabbed from 1 store to the next checking out all the prices. Some products are price controlled, while others are more competitive. Meat for example, is price controlled. If you can figure out what cut is what , you can get some great buys. We stopped at Vemesco the local boat stuff store on the way back. I had tried to buy a dink here last yr, but the number available was zero. AB and Carib were based here in Venezuela last year. The boats are of high quality and very expensive back in the States. I had been in contact with Vemesca for the last year. They had emailed me in November that they had several boats available and did I want one. Hell yes I did, and had to pay for it then...on the spot at 3.3 B's to the dollar...came out to $2200 USD...about 1/2 the US price. Vamesca had only a few boats to sell and since mine was the last they will ever get(AB and Carib have since left Venezuela for a more capitalistic country Colombia) we have named the new dink Hugo. Well they promised to deliver the next day. Friday AM the 2 J's went in on the bus to Sigo's while P and I stopped at Vemesca to change some $'s into B's and then cab bed to catch up with J and Joyce. I was still price comparing the rum, but Phil went on a rum orgy and bought 49 bottles. I bought 3 cases and a few others to sample...no beer Sego was too high. So back to the boat to store our prized rum. Vamesca delivered the dink at 4pm on Friday afternoon.. .damn we missed happy hour at Juan's .18 cent USD for a beer..DAMN.. .Right in the middle of this...the diesel boat appears, we took on 175 gallons of diesel and 10 gallons of gas....total price 72 USD.... would have been over $500 back home. Now if we could make it to the fuel dock... 5 ft draft, we could buy the same for $ 13.00 USD . Damn
Our New Dink
While Joyce stowed the beer I put Herbie our 15hp outboard on the new dink. Damn...would not start. I putzed with it for an hour before I found the loose connection...we took a quick ride..too cool. P&J came over at 6:30...I went to fire up the grill and busted the gas connection.... now I had to go to plan B. I had never made fajitas on the stove...but my titanium pans came through.
After dinner we had a scientific rum tasting. We had 6 different priced rums including the 2 lowest price which Phil had 49 bottles stowed in his blige. I had gone for some mid range which I had purchased last year. We tasted and rated the 6 rums. Amazingly we agreed for the most part on which we liked and which we didn't. The lowest rated...well Phil has 49 bottles of that in his bilge. Me...going to take the bus in tomorrow and buy more of the good stuff before Phil snags all of it. Tonight we are having another rum taste test...Joanna thinks the balsamic vinegar I use in my marinade caused the cheap rum that Phil has 49 bottles to fail the test....We will see....
Saturday, April 18, 2009
A short Margarita update
The Margarita lighthouse...
Delphinus sailing "wing and wing" behind us....
a rock off of the beaches of Pampatar...
and then to Porlamar and Marina Juan's. 
He offers a check-in/check-out service, free bus service to one of the Sigo's (supermarket chain), and is just an all around nice and helpful guy...if not a little misguided...it's a "rice story" and I hope Paul will blog on that, the "rum race", and his new dingy)...!
There are only forty boats here...last year, same time, over fifty. Porlamar is not unlike any other large city that I have seen in Mexico.
I would imagine that some days one could forget that they are on an island...pretty much all you need can be found here (within the government price control limitation issues) with the mainland of Venezuela close enough to see on clear days. I suppose the exception is that fishermen are (and therefore fish is) more plentiful here...
and the fishing villages have had the cities build up right behind them! Safe here?? Tell me...is it safe in downtown Baltimore at night? Paul got his new dingy late yesterday (pictures will follow)...and not to be outdone...I ordered mine too...
here is a picture of the one I ordered!! I love these boats! One small issue is that Paul does not want to tow mine behind Lady H (too much drag) and there is no room on the Lady H for it!! Hmmmm...I need to come up with a plan...any suggestions??
Delphinus sailing "wing and wing" behind us....a rock off of the beaches of Pampatar...and then to Porlamar and Marina Juan's. He offers a check-in/check-out service, free bus service to one of the Sigo's (supermarket chain), and is just an all around nice and helpful guy...if not a little misguided...it's a "rice story" and I hope Paul will blog on that, the "rum race", and his new dingy)...! There are only forty boats here...last year, same time, over fifty. Porlamar is not unlike any other large city that I have seen in Mexico. I would imagine that some days one could forget that they are on an island...pretty much all you need can be found here (within the government price control limitation issues) with the mainland of Venezuela close enough to see on clear days. I suppose the exception is that fishermen are (and therefore fish is) more plentiful here...and the fishing villages have had the cities build up right behind them! Safe here?? Tell me...is it safe in downtown Baltimore at night? Paul got his new dingy late yesterday (pictures will follow)...and not to be outdone...I ordered mine too...here is a picture of the one I ordered!! I love these boats! One small issue is that Paul does not want to tow mine behind Lady H (too much drag) and there is no room on the Lady H for it!! Hmmmm...I need to come up with a plan...any suggestions??Thursday, April 16, 2009
From Porlamar, Margarita
Paul has said that you have to go out of your way to miss Islas Los Testigos from Grenada...and so since we were starting from Grenada...we didn't go out of our way...we stopped. It was 88 miles at 6 knots over 14 plus hours of sailing and that would be if we could keep up the 6 knots with wind directly on the stern and fairly light - 12-15 knots - thankfully there is also a 1 - 2 knot current to help us! P&J knew that they might be a little slower than we were so they were planning on getting a very early Easter morning start. Since I get up early usually...we just figured we would be a few hours behind them for awhile. At 11:30pm...we get a call on "our channel" they can't sleep...they are going to pull anchor. I wake up and respond...waited about 45 minutes to try to get back to sleep...Paul rolls over...wakes up a little and I tell him P&J have already lifted anchor...and, well, the rest is water behind us. Another saying that Paul has..."It's a race"... We got into a comfortable sail with the pole out, a bit rolly but we put the mizzen out to help a little with that. 5 - 7 knots is what we got..thank you current!!! P&J were motorsailing, equalizing their batteries, and staying 2 miles in front of us. Both Paul and I tried to sleep again off and on...for me...just too much roll...
BEAUTIFUL EASTER SUNRISE!!!
Isla Los Testigos (The Witnesses) is a grouping of 16 islands of different size. They are inhabited...
first and foremost by a HUGE colony of Frigatebirds and then by solemente hablamos espanol personas...yes, how fun for me...not only do I get to practice my Spanish...but I get to watch Paul, his hand signals and his amusing LACK of espanol! We passed Isla Noreste...went inbetween Ilsa Rajada and Isla Conejo
renamed by Paul the frigatebird island, 
around the corner of Testigo Grande and 
anchored for the night in Balandra Bay. Since it was Easter evening...we relaxed...caught up on sleep...and decided to go to the Coast Guard Station on Isla Iguana on Monday morning. A little sprinkle in the morning...
then this rainbow... 
Paul picked up P&J on Little Bit...they hopped aboard the Lady H...but not before I had a little fun on the "phone" with mentioning putting our ladder down and waiting for them to swim over...really...it was funny!!
This is the little village where most of the locals live.. 
Once ashore we walked up the hill watched by a Coast Guardman. He turned out to be the highest ranking officer on the island (at 25 years old) and a wonderful young man...he escorted us up to his office, P and Paul started the paperwork of "checking in", and I wandered off with camera! I asked if I could take pictures (in espanol of course) and each young man that I asked said of course...but I was very careful not to take any of them.
I went out to a knoll behind the Coast Guard station took this picture....when I started to turn around a young man came over to me from behind the generator area and was a little apprehensive of what I was doing...so I assured him I was only taking pictures of the scenery...not of the Coast Guard station. I did however sneak this one in...
of their "barracks"...where they sleep...
We then walked down the village beach..
Paul with the Lady H anchored behind...
An "alley" shot of this little fishing village!
And one of the wonderful boats that I like so much...they are called a Peneros. It would be soooo fun to have one for a dingy! 
Far to the left in this picture there was a young gal walking a pig across the street...she took him down to enjoy the water...
she said it was mucho color!! 
And a beach shot of the fishing village...pig and all! Back to Balandra Bay then J and I went ashore to walk up the sand dunes!
I wore shoes...good thing the sand was so very hot...
and the hill was very steep! The dunes are the ones that we could see sailing in on the other side of the island...walked across...
took pictures... My opinion...the leeward side was prettier...
the Lady H and Delphinus anchored. After lunch we moved anchorages across from the reef and closer to the restaurant where we were going to have dinner. P&J and I snorkeled on the leeward side of Isla Langoleta...visability was not very good...
but there was some beautiful large brain coral colonies...
and I found this spotted moray... 
Then this picture of Paul, P and my new puppy...Paul says yes we can have her and we will be picking her up on our way back to the Testigos (understand that the Testigos are not on our way to Blanquilla)....then a wonderful lobster dinner at Casa Verde - Paul's blog below....
An additional sunset picture from the dinner table of the Lady H and Delphinus at anchor. I also must add this note...Paul says that the previous times he has been here there were 20-30 boats anchored here. This time there are only five...the antics of the U.S. government (I specifically name Pelosi, Reid, Frank) in governmental control and destroying capitalism and prosperity (except for their own - did everyone know of the "earmark" Pelosi put in the last bill that continued prosperity for her husband's firm - AND how much of the taxpayers money she spends to keep up her elite lifestyle...why do we allow it????) are having an impact as far south as Los Testigos...yes, the liberal Senate and House truly know how to control. Rather than have the owner of Casa Verde be prosperous here...I wonder if they would rather he go to the U.S. (perhaps illegally) and live off of the U.S. government...because once in the U.S. they would have more control over him...then more votes to keep them in control...does anyone else see the crazy circle here? Sadly...it is already happening!! My "note" is over...
The next morning I was watching the turtles feed next to Isla Langoleta where we were anchored...
and oh, how I tried to get pictures...but until I have a bigger zoom...I need to learn to just relax and watch...I finally did give up on taking pictures!
Then Paul and I motored over to Playa Real (Royal Beach). 
Beautiful clear water here and beautiful beach! We took the dingy ashore...walked on the beach and 
I walked over the rocks to the other side (windward side...it wasn't much of a walk)
and took more pictures...
we watched the birds...
relaxed...
back to the boat...and then motor sailed back for dinner on P&J's boat! Wonderful lasagknee (as they call it), salad, garlic bread and brownies for desert! Early night... Wonderful sail the next day to Margarita Venezuela...again started out slow, rolly AND motorsailing (the batteries did need the charge anyway) but got better as the day went on. We stayed close to Delphinus for the 48 mile 7 hour sail. Now the race indeed begins...who can ballast their boat the fastest with the most amount of rum...Paul or Phil....
BEAUTIFUL EASTER SUNRISE!!! Isla Los Testigos (The Witnesses) is a grouping of 16 islands of different size. They are inhabited...first and foremost by a HUGE colony of Frigatebirds and then by solemente hablamos espanol personas...yes, how fun for me...not only do I get to practice my Spanish...but I get to watch Paul, his hand signals and his amusing LACK of espanol! We passed Isla Noreste...went inbetween Ilsa Rajada and Isla Conejorenamed by Paul the frigatebird island, around the corner of Testigo Grande and anchored for the night in Balandra Bay. Since it was Easter evening...we relaxed...caught up on sleep...and decided to go to the Coast Guard Station on Isla Iguana on Monday morning. A little sprinkle in the morning...then this rainbow... Paul picked up P&J on Little Bit...they hopped aboard the Lady H...but not before I had a little fun on the "phone" with mentioning putting our ladder down and waiting for them to swim over...really...it was funny!!This is the little village where most of the locals live.. Once ashore we walked up the hill watched by a Coast Guardman. He turned out to be the highest ranking officer on the island (at 25 years old) and a wonderful young man...he escorted us up to his office, P and Paul started the paperwork of "checking in", and I wandered off with camera! I asked if I could take pictures (in espanol of course) and each young man that I asked said of course...but I was very careful not to take any of them. I went out to a knoll behind the Coast Guard station took this picture....when I started to turn around a young man came over to me from behind the generator area and was a little apprehensive of what I was doing...so I assured him I was only taking pictures of the scenery...not of the Coast Guard station. I did however sneak this one in...of their "barracks"...where they sleep...We then walked down the village beach..Paul with the Lady H anchored behind...An "alley" shot of this little fishing village!And one of the wonderful boats that I like so much...they are called a Peneros. It would be soooo fun to have one for a dingy! Far to the left in this picture there was a young gal walking a pig across the street...she took him down to enjoy the water...she said it was mucho color!! And a beach shot of the fishing village...pig and all! Back to Balandra Bay then J and I went ashore to walk up the sand dunes! I wore shoes...good thing the sand was so very hot...and the hill was very steep! The dunes are the ones that we could see sailing in on the other side of the island...walked across...took pictures... My opinion...the leeward side was prettier...the Lady H and Delphinus anchored. After lunch we moved anchorages across from the reef and closer to the restaurant where we were going to have dinner. P&J and I snorkeled on the leeward side of Isla Langoleta...visability was not very good...but there was some beautiful large brain coral colonies...and I found this spotted moray... Then this picture of Paul, P and my new puppy...Paul says yes we can have her and we will be picking her up on our way back to the Testigos (understand that the Testigos are not on our way to Blanquilla)....then a wonderful lobster dinner at Casa Verde - Paul's blog below....An additional sunset picture from the dinner table of the Lady H and Delphinus at anchor. I also must add this note...Paul says that the previous times he has been here there were 20-30 boats anchored here. This time there are only five...the antics of the U.S. government (I specifically name Pelosi, Reid, Frank) in governmental control and destroying capitalism and prosperity (except for their own - did everyone know of the "earmark" Pelosi put in the last bill that continued prosperity for her husband's firm - AND how much of the taxpayers money she spends to keep up her elite lifestyle...why do we allow it????) are having an impact as far south as Los Testigos...yes, the liberal Senate and House truly know how to control. Rather than have the owner of Casa Verde be prosperous here...I wonder if they would rather he go to the U.S. (perhaps illegally) and live off of the U.S. government...because once in the U.S. they would have more control over him...then more votes to keep them in control...does anyone else see the crazy circle here? Sadly...it is already happening!! My "note" is over...The next morning I was watching the turtles feed next to Isla Langoleta where we were anchored...
and oh, how I tried to get pictures...but until I have a bigger zoom...I need to learn to just relax and watch...I finally did give up on taking pictures! Then Paul and I motored over to Playa Real (Royal Beach). Beautiful clear water here and beautiful beach! We took the dingy ashore...walked on the beach and I walked over the rocks to the other side (windward side...it wasn't much of a walk) and took more pictures...we watched the birds...relaxed...back to the boat...and then motor sailed back for dinner on P&J's boat! Wonderful lasagknee (as they call it), salad, garlic bread and brownies for desert! Early night... Wonderful sail the next day to Margarita Venezuela...again started out slow, rolly AND motorsailing (the batteries did need the charge anyway) but got better as the day went on. We stayed close to Delphinus for the 48 mile 7 hour sail. Now the race indeed begins...who can ballast their boat the fastest with the most amount of rum...Paul or Phil....
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