| s/v Nine of Cups Venezuela to Bonaire |
Archipielago Las Aves (the Birds) is
another group of uninhabited islands west
of Los Roques and about 45 miles from
Bonaire.
We try when we can to give something
back to the communities we visit. Rusty
Bucket suggested an island clean-up of
Curracai, the island off which we were
anchored.
After a daylong windward shore clean up,
we dug a pit, burned all the trash in a big
bonfire and celebrated February's full
moon. We picked up innumerable bags of
trash...mostly plastic bottles and shoes
which had washed ashore....finally
completing the clean up of about one mile
of beach.
Ken decided a signpost would be an
excellent way to commemorate the
project. He found a piece of bamboo for
the signpost and then collected driftwood
and proceeded to carve waypost signs.
We spent another afternoon assembling
and erecting the sign with terrific results.
Months later we were hailed by fellow
cruisers who had just seen the sign...still
standing. The beach, however, was in need
of another clean up.
another group of uninhabited islands west
of Los Roques and about 45 miles from
Bonaire.
We try when we can to give something
back to the communities we visit. Rusty
Bucket suggested an island clean-up of
Curracai, the island off which we were
anchored.
After a daylong windward shore clean up,
we dug a pit, burned all the trash in a big
bonfire and celebrated February's full
moon. We picked up innumerable bags of
trash...mostly plastic bottles and shoes
which had washed ashore....finally
completing the clean up of about one mile
of beach.
Ken decided a signpost would be an
excellent way to commemorate the
project. He found a piece of bamboo for
the signpost and then collected driftwood
and proceeded to carve waypost signs.
We spent another afternoon assembling
and erecting the sign with terrific results.
Months later we were hailed by fellow
cruisers who had just seen the sign...still
standing. The beach, however, was in need
of another clean up.
We spent several weeks traveling with
"Rusty Bucket", an absolutely beautiful 52'
Hatteras motor yacht with all the amenities.
Joanne is Canadian and taught us to play
"foine", a card game which quickly became
competitive between the male and female
crew members.
We shared many meals, camaraderie and
card games and are pleased they were
heading in our direction. We had never
traveled with another boat before, but found
Ken and Joanne to be good friends and easy
traveling companions.
"Rusty Bucket", an absolutely beautiful 52'
Hatteras motor yacht with all the amenities.
Joanne is Canadian and taught us to play
"foine", a card game which quickly became
competitive between the male and female
crew members.
We shared many meals, camaraderie and
card games and are pleased they were
heading in our direction. We had never
traveled with another boat before, but found
Ken and Joanne to be good friends and easy
traveling companions.
Our favorite anchorage in the Roques was
Cayo Elbert. The island is low lying with lots
of white beaches and sand dunes. It is
uninhabited unless you count the colony of
boobies which nest there.
We found hundreds of fuzzy, white baby
boobies in different stages of development....
from eggs, to hatchlings, to all levels of flight
training. They seem to have no fear of
humans and allowed us to get very close
without alarm.
We found young boobies to be quite tasty...
somewhat of a cross between a snowy owl
and an American Bald Eagle....Just kidding,
just kidding!
Cayo Elbert. The island is low lying with lots
of white beaches and sand dunes. It is
uninhabited unless you count the colony of
boobies which nest there.
We found hundreds of fuzzy, white baby
boobies in different stages of development....
from eggs, to hatchlings, to all levels of flight
training. They seem to have no fear of
humans and allowed us to get very close
without alarm.
We found young boobies to be quite tasty...
somewhat of a cross between a snowy owl
and an American Bald Eagle....Just kidding,
just kidding!