Off the grid

Here we are in Los Testigo's. It is such a strange feeling. Feels like we are in the middle of nowhere. There are about 6 little islands and they are fairly low lying. Looks like there are almost no people living here, just a very small fishing village. We are anchored in front of a small gap between two of the islands and we can see the waves breaking in front of us. There is a beautiful white sand beach that goes on for a while on one side of the gap and the water looks crystal clear. We spent the afternoon there today. Late last night one other sail boat appeared. They have a website written on the side of it (www.sailselah.com). We went over and met them today and Amelia made them a bracelet with their boat name on it. We invited them over for happy hour and ....THEY SAID NO??? We are missing our friends Dave and Cheryl from Aries, big time!

A few fishermen rowed out to us today and asked in Spanish for what we thought was a camera. I said, "No but we have hot chocolate chip cookies". They looked at me in confusion. I said the only Spanish I know, "Une Momento". I gave them a big plate of hot gooey cookies that Alex made and they seemed happy. Turns out that they were looking to borrow a snorkel mask to clean the bottom of their fishing boat. Makes more sense! ha.

There are HUGE jelly fish in the water here. They are about the size of a basket ball and they have a red rim. I am not a big fan of swimming with jelly fish. The fishermen say they are harmless....?

Everyone on Artemo is very happy. We have tons of wind, so we can play the WII now! Today the kids woke up and hit the cook books. They have been really enjoying cooking. Last night they made sushi. Dave and Cheryl from Aries managed to make it to Grenada to meet us before we left for Venezuela and they gave us a few speciality items that we have been enjoying. Sushi seaweed wraps being one of them!

Today Graham rigged up a pole that will keep our Genoa sail way out to the side on our down wind overnight sail tomorrow to Banquilla. I am soooo happy. This will mean no flapping head sail. I hate the sound of flogging sails. Now our main and Genoa will be wide open and we should get the maximum amount of push we can get from the wind. We are going to head off before the sunset this time. We are hoping this will help us get settled before the darkness sets in.

We are all suffering from internet withdrawal, hence yet another blog post from me. It is strange not being able to see you all online. Funny how a little green dot next to your names on google talk, an email or a quick skype call can make us feel closer.

Thinking of you while we are off the grid

Julie