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We left Los Testigos early in the morning. Together with the Norwegian boat ANA (Bjorg & Jan) and Bjarne the Danish Solosailer in his MALOTT. The sail to Isla Margarita is about 50 Nm and should take us about 10 hours with normal winds. Unfortunatly the wind dissapered after about 4 hours so, we had to motor in the last few miles. During the whole trip we were only a few hundred meters away from the other boats.
For the first time the engine started when it was supposed to and kept going all the the way, nearly all the way that is. When we came into the anchorage harbour in Porlamar. This time we knew it was our own fault cause we had simply run out of gas. We searched every gas can we had for a liter or two but with no luck. But, to our good fortune this might be the best country in the world to run our of gas in. The price for gas is rediculous here, you get 50 (yes fifty) liters of gas for 2 canadian dollars or 10 Norwegian kroners. We threw in the anchor and decided to stay where we had reached. We are among the big ships who anchor way out but in the harbour. We have a fast dingy into shore which is no problem with our 8 h.p. motor, most dinghy´s have 2-5 h.p. So, it is only two minutes to the dock.
Here in Margarita we will try and stock up on food and maybe get fuel for the cooker. We got on the morning Net(VHF NET Among Cruisers) today and got a tip from another boat of where to find it so we keep our fingers crossed. Although, the local cuisine is very tasty and easy on our wallets.
Included in one of the pictures is a sunkes sail boat, we dont know what happend to it but it used to be a $20 million US Whitbread racing boat. Now, the kids are using it as a diving board and they seem to enjoy their expensive toy a lot. In the background on the same picture you can see a big hotel. It is the first landmark you notice as you approach Porlamar about 15 nm out. The story goes that the Hotel Concorde Resort was the Island´s biggest attraction with many tourists enjoying it and its private beach. Then, 10 years ago, there was a fire during a wedding reception and the Bride, Groom and many guests died as a result. The hotel has never reopened and now it sits dormant and the locals have claimed their beach back.
Fortunatly, it is not only the gas that is cheap here. Last night we sat in a little beach bar and had two plates (pic) of oysters and more than a few beers without managing to pay more than 3 dollars each..
Someone has probably noticed that we somtimes put the wrong date on these letters, that is because we simply never know what day it is, or what time it is for that matter. We are so close to equator so, it is easier for us to use the Sun as a watch, the sun gets up at 6 and down again at 6 at night. When it is right above us it is noon. For a date we have started to use tha Mayan moon calendar. Last night was a full moon so it was the last day of month number four. (there are 13 full moons in the Mayan calendar). This calendar is more accurate and you can see on the moon what day it is. ;-)
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