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We had a great Christmas holiday States-side with family and friends and returned to Venezula and the Sorrento in February 2005. Now the cruising continues .....

More Pictures of Venezula -Bonaire Leg

Los Roques, Venezula
Apr. 28, 2005

Time for an update of our continuing sojourns on the high seas. Well maybe not that dramatic.

We left Pto. La Cruz on April 9th and headed 45 miles north to Isla Margarita, where I celebrated my birthday. Dave took me to a nice beach resturant. We had a wonderful, romantic evening. We met up with cruiser friends and caught up on our various travels.

From Isla Margarita, we had a wonderful sail 50 miles north to a small fishing island called La Blanquilla. We met an interesting couple Joan & Ben on m/y Francesca. We enjoyed snorkeling and hiking the island with them. This is such a remote island, has beautiful turquoise water and white sandy beaches. We caught a hugh dorado on the sail up and b-b-qued on the beach with them.
On the 23rd we left for Los Roques, which is a about 14 by 25 miles of protected, reef-studed water, dotted with pretty little low islands. There are some 80 species of birds that either live or migrate here.

It was 116 miles and a 24hr. motor/sail with a full moon to guide us. We had light wind and low seas. On our crossing, we witnessed a sperm whale breaching, he gave us a fantastic show. We caught a good size skipjack tuna. Fish has been our main entree for the last 10 days and there's plenty left.

Our first anchorage is in Nordisqui. It is a delightful anchorage in a pool of deep blue water some 30ft. deep surrounded by coral reef teaming with fish. Dave predicts we are going to eat well. The water in the shallows is warm enough to lie in all day.

The islands are no more than a couple of miles apart a little tricky to navigate but very beautiful.
...more to follow...
Be well, Fran and Dave
s/v Sorrento
Los Roques, Ve

Bonaire, Netherland Antilles
May 18, 2005

Hi all,
Hope all is well. We had a great 6 weeks out cruising the islands off the Venezuela coast. We had grouper, snapper, conch, lobster, crab, etc. and we caught it all ourselves.
We are safe on a mooring in the beautiful Island of Bonaire. Have caught up with our crusier buddies.
The diving is fabulous here much to see and do. We will stay here thru the end of the month and head west to Curacao.
Will keep you posted.
Be well, Fran and Dave
s/v Sorrento
Bonaire, Netherland Antilles

May 31.2005

We had a couple of young friends come aboard and they really enjoyed the diving here. Ashley and Liz are from Miami. We met Ashley through our friend Polly when we were docked there in 2003. I had a wonderful experience, I was standing on shore and saw dolphins sounding. I put on my snorkel gear and swam out to them. There were two of them just playing. They were beautiful, graceful and lovely to watch. They came very close and swam all round me. They seemed curious. I dove with them and twirled with them underwater. It was fantastic. The next day I saw them again! What luck, so Liz and I swam with them again. Dave and Ashley were so jealous, but I know we will have another opportunity to swim with them.

The wind is howling at 20-25kts and the seas are 8'-12'. We will sit it out here in beautiful Bonaire.

Bonaire is an ancient coral island rising above sea level. The town of Kralendijk is the capitol and is very attractive with pastel colored buildings and red tiled roofs. It has many aloe vera plants and cactus. It is very humid here but no rain. When the tradewinds blow, it is wonderful and cool. The underwater world is fantastic, the coral reefs are like gardens with beautiful colorful fish. Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles with its sister islands, Curacao and Aruba to its west. The language is Papiamentu- a mixture of Spanish, Dutch, English and a few other languages thrown in. Salt and tourism are its two main industries. Sailing, windsurfing, scuba and snorkeling are prominent. Inland offers dry lakebeds where wild goats, pigs and donkeys roam. Flamingos, as well as 200 species of birds, have been sighted here. Anchoring and spearfishing are prohibited and fineable. We are moored over a sloping reef and can jump off the boat and see some pretty fantastic coral and sealife. The waters are crystiline blue and gorgeous. We really are enjoying Bonaire.

We have found a house! Outside main town Bonaire