We spent two weeks enjoying several different anchorages in Las Aves de Sortavento. Even though there were up to a total of eight other boats around we were all so spread out that we really felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. We had our own little desert isle that we were anchored behind and spent Claudia’s birthday ashore on the beach under the lone palm tree … just like in a cartoon. A couple of days were spent anchored in Mangrove Bay where we could dinghy across the crystal clear water and snorkel an unlimited number of coral reefs. The last week we were anchored in the open behind the outer reef where the water was actually the calmest of all the anchorages. We did have a little luck in the fishing department on the way out of Mangrove Bay when I managed to catch a nice Yellowtail Snapper, just big enough for that evening’s meal. On the way to the outer reef we hooked a much bigger fish although I assumed it to be just a barracuda. However, when I got him up beside the boat I could tell by his broad body that it was something else … just before he shook the lure out and swam away. When we got anchored we got the dinghy down and I went back to same spot hoping to re-catch and even land him this time. Sure enough, I got him (or one of his good friends) again but the exact same bad luck reoccurred and off he went. Well! We decided to stop wasting dinghy gas with such vain attempts (since we’re 100 miles away from the nearest filling station) but a couple of days later I had to try one more time. So off we went, trolling in the dinghy again, and this time I actually landed him.

“Gee, he looks like some kind of jack; a horse-eye jack I think. I don’t think they’re good to eat so let’s go back to the boat and look at the fish book.”

We put him in a five gallon bucket (well, half of him in, half of him out) and went back to the mother ship where we found his exact match in our fish book … a horse-eye jack (Caranx latus) “… like its cousin the crevalle jack, the horse-eye jack is not much good for anything except to make a nuisance of itself, getting hooked when an angler is fishing for something else … the fish is undesirable for food”. So we dumped him back into the water and had grilled pork chops for dinner that night.

A few days later we were ready for a change of scenery (only because we hear that it keeps getting better as you go east). The Barlovento Aves is only about 20 miles to windward and we made it in two easy tacks. The largest island in this group, Isla Sur, is known for its birds and there are thousands of them there, mostly various species of boobies. Even though we’d been trolling the whole way, the reels remained silent until we were almost there. As we approached Isla Sur the port-side reel started humming. However, my visions of tuna-on-the-grill quickly vanished when I turned around and saw this incredibly stupid booby bird flying around with my lure hooked in his mouth. And to top that there were several other boobies trying to steal it from him! I called for Claudia to bring me the pliers as I started slowly reeling in the bird. In retrospect I wish I had asked her to bring the camera instead. I brought him on in and he made a perfect two-point landing on the poop deck. Luckily, only one of the six barbs on the two treble hooks had hooked him and I was able to remove it with no problem. He just stood there looking around for awhile before waddling over to the rail and taking off again. I quickly brought the other line in and started trying to remember what we had left in the freezer.

Yes, it is even more beautiful farther east! After zig-zagging our way around the shoal coral reefs we dropped the anchor in twenty of the most clear and blue feet of water that we’ve seen in a long time. We probably won’t leave this spot until hunger forces us toward civilization. Which reminds me that since we left Curacao we haven’t spent a penny because there has been nowhere to spend it which has been very good on our budget. Since we’ve been here it has been demonstrated yet another way to save money. The Canadian couple on the only other boat anchored here apparently does not spend any money on laundry … they stay quite naked.

We listen daily to weather reports and have been following the path of hurricane/tropical storm Joyce. Twice a day we hear the forecast about how she will turn toward the north but she isn’t paying any attention to those forecasts and continues to bear 270 degrees west. After hearing the 11 am advisory from the hurricane center this afternoon we decided that it’s time to move to protected waters, so while the light was still good to do the zig-zag thing again we left our beautiful swimming pool and are now anchored at the western end of Isla Sur. We will leave this evening for an overnight sail to Morrocoy National Park on the mainland of Venezuela. So next time you hear from us, we should be on the South American continent (well, hopefully anchored just off of it).

David and Claudia
aboard Ma’alahi
Saturday, September 30, 2000