Once again we cast off the dock lines and started on our way to Isla Margarita, a Venezuelan island off the coast. Before we left Charlie and Jerry had switched out the port engine starter motor in an attempt to fix the starting problem with that engine. However, the problem was apparently caused by water vapor lock, not the starter. We decided to turn the water off to that engine and continue on to Margarita and Trinidad.

We had no sooner left Puerto La Cruz than the heat exchanger cap on the port engine blew and we lost all our coolant. However, Charlie was able to fix this problem and replace the coolant when we anchored at a small island just outside Puerto La Cruz.

Next day the engines behaved themselves and we sailed to another island, encountering hundreds of dolphins on the way, a sight that brought an instant smile to my face. It seems that whenever we see these playful guys, we always have a great sailing day with no problems. We again anchored out that night.

On the third day out of Puerto La Cruz we arrived at Isla Margarita and spent lots of time anchoring because our CQR anchor refused to dig in. We finally threw out our second anchor, the trusty Danforth, and then we were secure, which was important in this crowded anchorage. that night we had an excellent dinner at a French restaurant with 2 other couples we'd met in Curacao.

The following day we did a major provisioning, especially for wine, beer and liquor, because, being a tax-free zone, Margarita has even cheaper prices than Puerto La Cruz. We went to Rattan, a huge store that sells just about everything.

Speaking of cheap prices, diesel fuel and gasoline are cheaper in Venezuela than just about anywhere else in the Caribbean. Last time we filled up fuel was going for approximately 10 cents a gallon. The next cheapest place to fill up is Trinidad where diesel goes for $1.00 a gallon.

Unfortunately due to the impending general strike, we didn't have time to tour Margarita; instead we left at dawn on December 9 with 4 other boats all headed to Trinidad. Lots more boats left Margarita that morning but were going straight to Trinidad; we opted to take a slower route which allowed us to anchor each night at different points along the northern Venezuelan coast. This turned out to be a fortuitous choice because currently there is such a problem with piracy on this coast that cruisers avoid it at all costs, a shame since it's one of the most beautiful areas we've seen.

To be continued.