Friday, October 13, 1995 - Venezula, Las Aves

Got up at five a.m., ate breakfast, and took off for Barlovento. We were able to sail for the first hour or so, but then we had to turn more into the wind, so the rest of the way was by motor. We lucked out on the weather once again. It was calm and beautiful. This is the way I like to cruise -- short, peaceful day-hops, followed by two or three days of rest. We'll have one more day-hop to Los Roques, but then we have to do an overnighter to Isla Margarita. Dropped anchor at Barlovento around 11:30. The sandpile here is larger than the one at Sotavento, but it's still pretty small. There are a lot of mangrove trees on it, though, and no palm trees. There are a great many birds here, including some that look a lot like boobies but more intelligent and far more adroit. They build their nests on the ground, the way boobies do, and lay one or two eggs, the size of hens' eggs, with shells that are blue or white or pale green. We saw scores of them sitting on their nests. They have large webbed feet like boobies, but they have no problem getting airborne. To our surprise, a small airplane flew over, circled around, and then landed. We wondered if there was a runway on this deserted pile of sand and if so, why? Several people got out of the plane with a lot of bundles. A dinghy took them to a cabin cruiser, which was the only boat besides ours anchored here. After a couple of hours, two people returned to the plane, and it took off. Roy and I paddled to the lovely beach of the same soft sand as at Sotavento. We walked over to the ramshackle huts and looked around. No one was there. Walked to the other side of this narrow island and could see across the lagoon to another island. Then we returned to the Royaks and paddled along the coast for about a mile. Landed again and walked some more. We could see where the plane had landed, but there was no runway; it had simply landed and taken off on the wild grass and pickleweed. Returned to the boat and snorkeled. Roy had to rearrange the chain, which was wrapped around two coral heads. He saw a lot of small fish but none big enough to eat and no lobster. Even though we're somewhat south of the ABC islands, it's slightly cooler here. Both the water and the air are cooler, especially in the evening. It's hard to believe we're in the tropics.