Now we are in South America we can call ourselves "Intercontinental Sailors"!!!!
July is time to get out of the Caribbean hurricane box due to insurance requirements, so we head south
to Venezuela and first to Margarita Island. It took us an overnighter and we were whipped around with the wildest storm we have experienced for only 30 minutes.
Of course, it was right in the middle of the night and we didn't have any real problems getting the sails reefed in but we were scurring around all heeled over.
We got into Margarita the next morning, passing fishing boats heading out. Venezuelan folks from the mainland come to Margarita because it is a tax-free island
and there are quite a few bargains there. Deisel was 20 cents at the dock and 30 cents delivered by a pump boat...that's right, only 30 cents a GALLON not liter.
And beer is cheaper than bottled water at 22 cents a can.
Eating out is cheap but beef is grass-fed and tough and almost everything is overcooked.
It all tastes OK but nothing to get excited about. We get pretty tired of chicken. too!! One strange thing about food here is that "regular canned food' is gormet expensive.
I don't think they preserve anything here in cans because they all imported. Campbell soup or tomatoes for $2+ a can!!! Some produce at
the farmers market can be really good in season especially avacados, carrots, some fish, eggs are good, but sugar was unavailable due to some strike!!!
It is quite an ordeal to check into Venezuela and we had an agent do it for us. After only a week in Margarita
we were ready to go on to Puerto La Cruz where we had reservations at Bahia Redonda Marina. We did get to party a bit and shop for some items for the bar in
Margarita and even get some perfume. There had been times when the crime rate was something to be concerned about and the locals in both locations feel that
if you leave your dinghy in the water at night you are giving it to the next person who can cut through the chain with bolt cutters. Cruisers do a pretty good job of
watching out for each other but some are just reckless or too drunk to care!!!
There is a different value system here. Cheating, scams, stealing are all just part of
life and personal integrity is rarely experienced. If it's not nailed down, it's a gift!!! Another thing we noticed...only in Venezuela, the sexism...cleavage and mid-drifts
are exposed everywhere bywomen and girls of all sizes and clothes are worn ridiculously tight in hot weather. All kinds of breasts and middles are shown
but it's impolite to ever go anywhere in even long shorts!!! Go figure!!! It's a good thing I bought some nice gauzey, cool skirts in San Juan!!!
