Margarita report

From: Jerry Gardner (jernmar@flash.net-DeleteThis)
Date: Wed Mar 18 1998 - 18:09:28 PST


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From: Jerry Gardner <jernmar@flash.net-DeleteThis>
Subject: Margarita report

I just got back from Margarita late last night. I sailed fourteen of
fourteen days. 3-5 to 5-5. I'm light (140#) but, as adverized, it was windy.
The last day was the the weakest, not really sailable until late (although a
few people were out on 6.0 and bigger). At 4:00 it came up and was 5.0 for
over an hour.

3/3--Arrived about 4:00 pm. Getting there is a pain. We spent the night in
Miami, flew to Caracas, then to Porlamar. I was expecting a tropical island,
but this looks like Baja. Sailed 4.5 on an 8'7" Pro Tech for an hour. Hard
to judge the angle of the wind and swell on the outside.

3/4--4.7 on 8-6 clam. Good all day, a bit up and down. Came up even more
about three, but I was exhaused. I rented equipment from The Loft, because
they had Clams. Not the cheapest, but this turned out to be a good dicision,
as their sailor/equipment ratio is excellent. I heard a lot of complaints
about other locations--especially a lack of small sails and short boards.

3/5--4.2 on 8-6 clam. Could have gone smaller. Good swell, with port ramps.
The swell was never as big as I thought it would be--four foot max. Despite
my wife's questioning look, I had packed duct tape, which came in handy when
I tore the callouses on one hand.

3/6--5.0 on 263 Pro Tech in am, 4.0 on 7-10 clam in PM. We were mistakenly
overbilled $10 at dinner, but did not realize it. While eating ice cream at
a store on the other side of town (two blocks) the waitress found us,
explained the mistake and returned the money. Food is not as cheap as I
thought it would be, $10 to 15 for dinner. But there is a lot of it (too
much) and its good. Beer, however, in small 8 ounce bottles, is cheaper than
water. We started eating out every other night, trying to eat light the
other time.

3/7--"Rest day." Waited until late (3:00) to go out. 4.0 then 3.5 on 7-10
clam. Gusty. Supposedly a gust of 39 knots was recorded on the beach. My
guess would be that it was 20 to 40 outside. Slog and scream.

3/8--4.2 on 263 early, 4.0 on 8-0 clam late.

3/9--4.7 on 263 early, 4.2 on 8-0 clam late. Best session yet. Good swell.

3/10--5.5 on 274(?) Fanatic early. Took pm off. All you can eat Bar-B-Q. All
you can eat _______ seems to be popular here.

3/11--Clouds! 5.5 on 274(?) Pro Tech. Practiced fin first sailing and clew
first water starts. There is a lot of shallow water for this sort of thing,
but it tends to be crowded. 5.0 in pm.

3/12--Real clear. Its possible to see three sets of mountains on the
mainland. Big swell. Light in am. 5.5 to 5.0 in pm.

3/13--5.0 on 263, 4.5 on 8-6 clam, 4.0 on 8-0 clam. Nothing to complain
about here. I could get used to not having to rig sails.

3/14--4.5 on 263, 4.0 quickly to 3.5 on 8-0 clam. Filled in and strong.
Sailing well and feeling hot, I suffered a hugh slam landing a downwind
jump. Nothing hurt but my ego.

3/15--4.7 on 263. Excellent early, dying in pm.

3/16--Last day. Not much wind. A few people out on 6.0 and bigger, but why
bother. At 4 it comes up and I sail 5.0 on 263. Light inside, but great outside.

3/17--Getting home is a pain. Porlamar to Caracas to Miami to Denver to
Oakland. 18 hours. There was some sort of security event happening in
Caracas. Everyone went through the metal detectors, had their luggage
searched quite well (I even saw an old lady have her cane carefully
examined), then past a hand held wand. Finally, after going down the ramp
and just before you got on the plane, everyone was patted down (men on the
left, women on the right).

There are only two drawbacks to Margaita--not much to do except windsurf
(but I can live with that) and no direct flights. There are direct flights
from Chicago, New York and some other places, mostly one week charters.

So next year, do I go back to Margarita or go to Costa Rica? I guess I've
got time to think about it.

Jerry
 



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