A CRUISER'S VIEW OF BEQUIA - Caribbean Compass

NOVEMBER 2008 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 18
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DESTINATIONS
fter a family visit in Europe, my wife, Yvonne,
returned to our boat in Venezuela. While she
was away, I was busy servicing the engine,
generator and heads, as well as doing some interior
varnishing, readying Chaser II for an imminent departure.
Marina TechMarineOriente is a nice place with
agreeable staff, and Bahia Redonda also is pleasant
although busy, but by now marina life was beginning
to get a little tedious — as usual after a few weeks.
We decided to head off for some nearby exploring,
and try and get into some water where one can swim
and snorkel. Lo and behold, only a few miles from
Puerto La Cruz (PLC) is Isla Chimana Segunda, which
fortunately is a safe, ideal place to stop. I say fortunately
because our propeller was obviously heavily
crudded and we could only manage three knots with
the motor. There must be something in the water at
PLC — I’ve never come across such fast growth of
worms and barnacles.
Anchored safely in Chimana Segunda, we entered
the water with masks, snorkels and scrapers to
remove the offending debris. It took a couple of hours
but we got the job done. After lunch we snorkeled
around the cliffs in lovely clear water, before going
ashore for a coldie later in the afternoon at the barrestaurant.
We had a nice calm night, up at dawn as
usual for a leisurely departure to our next anchorage.
Occult Bay, according to our guidebook, is a good
overnight stop. Having spent nearly eight weeks in PLC,
one gets paranoid with all the talk of pirates in
Venezuela, so we too were a little nervous about
anchoring in this lonely albeit beautiful bay. There were
two other sailboats in the anchorage, so we anchored
away from them in order not to intrude on their privacy.
After a swim, we dinghied over to ask if they were staying
the night. A lovely couple with their young children
living aboard Cavalo Mariño said they were, so we did
too. It is a scenic area, as are so many of the islands
and bays surrounding Puerto La Cruz. In the morning
the park rangers came past to ask if all was okay.
We moved on early in the morning to Mochima, a bay
cut deep inland with a charming village at the bottom.
There is so much space to anchor! Near the village the
water is a little murky (it is three miles from the sea),
but in any of the preceding bays the water was good.
Mochima town is a bustling village with restaurants,
bars and small shops and many posadas (guest houses).
It is a tourist village and many local people come
here by car to be taxied out by pirogue to one of the
gorgeous beaches nearby. It was such a treat to be
able to jump into the dinghy after dark, motor ashore
to a small dock, then walk the streets and dine in the
restaurant Puerto Viejo, overlooking the bay and
Chaser. Prices were good too. In fact, throughout our
travels in Venezuela, the only place we have come
across where it is deemed unsafe to walk around after
dark are the streets adjacent to the marinas of PLC.
The following day, we explored some of the other
bays within the Mochima area. We anchored near the
head of the bay, tucked behind a small island where
there is room enough for just one boat.
—Continued on next page
Venezuela —
The Big Country
by Phil Chapman
HART & STONE