Howdy Yawl,
We escaped Trinidad with a new dinghy & outboard (firmly hoisted & locked in the davits), improved communications, watermaker, high output smart alternator, new batteries, jacklines, dinghy sail, sterndeck sun awning, full diesel tanks and greater appreciation for Indian food and Steel Pan Music. Even though we were robbed in Trinidad, I'm glad we went, as Gallivanter is in better shape than ever, with ALL Systems Go!
After five weeks in Trinidad, we enjoyed a delightful sail back to Grenada, where we returned for another round of fun at Hog Island and the Lagoon at St George's and ran into several good, old friends. We really liked Grenada and it allowed us to sail a safer course off the northern coast of South America.
During our five daze in G'da, we provisioned and rigged Gallivanter for down wind sailing and we ran 300 miles with the wind at our back, west, to the remote island group of Los Roques, Venezuela. The passage was completed in exactly 47 hrs (anchor to anchor) and we enjoyed the absolute solitude for several days.
Then we continued west overnight to Bonaire for some excellent scuba diving right at our mooring. 110 miles in 16 hrs!
From Bonaire we sailed five hours to Spanish Waters, Curacao... where where we are now preparing and resting for what should be a three day passage to Cartagena, Colombia. However, I'm in contact with a mob here who seem to be interested in putting me to work on their new deep diving tour submarine operation, which is slated to get underway before the end of the year... so we may be hanging around here longer than planned. But probably not... as it will cost them dearly to have me stop and stay on this Dutch island for a year. We shall see.
It's been five months since we abandoned our marina berth (of 6.5 years) in St Thomas and so far we've logged visits at 54 different places on 41 different islands under 15 different flags of the Caribbean.
And it just keeps getting better with each passage, as we get to know how to make our new old boat sail faster and more comfortably. Whisker pole and boom preventers make this downwind, wing-n-wing sailing easiest on the rigging, sails and nerves. Our new watermaker adds significantly to the comfort of the crew (as well as the aroma of the boat) and we're finally catching some nice fish!
I suggest you all abandon your career persuits, weigh anchor and come see how much nautical fun you can find out here for yourselves. And don't put it off too long, either.
If not now - when?
I'd love to chat longer - but we have some more Spanish to learn before arriving in Cartagena, next week.
Pura Vida!
Kirk ~~~_/) ~~~ s/v Gallivanter
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