November 15-27, 2003 -- Cayo de Agua, Los Roques
November 15 was my birthday! Mike tried to let me sleep in, but I woke up at 7:30 am. We went over to Blind Date so we could take a closer look at the damage, and then took a quick look around the edge of the island in the dingy. We spent a quiet day. Blind Date came over to help celebrate my birthday. We had Surf and Turf and a salad, followed by cheesecake and way to much champagne. On November 16, While Mike went over to help Ashley rig a temporary backstay, Carol came over and we repaired flags. Ashley and Mike were done before Carol and I were! Carol and I finished up, and then we all spent a quiet rest of the day. On November 17, Mike and I started the day by repairing the bow lifting eye on the tender. Over the last 4 years, it had gradually weakened and was pulling loose from the fiberglass. Then, We went up to the beach to wander around a little bit, and to see Cayo de Agua's light house. It was a fun morning, though with the fine powdery sand on the beach, we were ready for a nap by the time we returned to the boat. On November 18, we spent a quiet day followed by a great evening on Blind Date. On November 19, Carol and I went snorkeling while Mike and Ashley stayed aboard. We saw a couple of turtles and the reef that forms one side of the anchorage was phenomenal. On November 20, Carol and Ashley left for Peurto La Cruz while the winds were still down. We set up a radio schedule with them in case something happened with the backstay. This way, someone knew their position, course and speed within 4 hours in case anything happened, since if they lost their mast they would loose their antennas also. On November 21, we started our maintenance cycle. We did lots of the little jobs that we have been letting slide for the last few weeks. In the afternoon, I tried making hamburger buns with one of our favorite bread recipes. Unfortunately, it was the wrong type of bread and the buns were really bad as hamburger buns. However, as individual serving loaves for garlic bread, they were pretty good. Between November 22 and 27, we continued our maintenance cycle, working on various projects to help keep the boat in good working order. We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner, which was a nice ending to our time in Cayo de Agua.