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Old 10-11-2010, 15:30   #31
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That's right! You should get all of your information off the internet, preferably from some random guy who lives on a dilapidated boat.....
WOW....!! Does this mean I've now got a Fan Base....
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Old 10-11-2010, 15:54   #32
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I think thats coz Bush n Obama got 'pissed' when Hugo Chavez 'pirated' the oil..... LMAO big time..
You can mess wiv drugs... but 'Hands of the OIL'...
We cruised most of the Caribbean and spent 3 years going between Panama and Cartagena, Colombia and then spent a year in Venezuela. Most cruisers in that part of the Caribbean will tell you that Venezuela is much more dangerous for the average sailor. There are way to many areas that are off limits due to serious crime. Most of Colombia's beautiful cruising gounds are much safer and they have a professional Coast Guard. It's about time insurance companies realized it
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Old 10-11-2010, 16:13   #33
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Lol... Sorry Barboak I've 1st hand experience of neither... just remembered back in the 90's just about every old steel boat I met in the Med was heading over to Venezuela to get their boat fixed up.... seemed the costs out there made it feasible... one guy was heading there in an old 60ft fishing boat... the plan was to weld some steel fuel tanks in the hull then cruise the Carib selling diesel to cruisers at a discount... undercutting the marinas etc..
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Old 10-11-2010, 16:29   #34
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But then I read accounts such as this and I wonder if its just another case of 'Chinese Whispers'...
Venezuela - Don't Believe the Rumours!

Created by sue. Last modified on 2010-03-01 18:14:07
Countries: Venezuela

Received 2009-12-30
My family arrived in Caracas with their 9 month old baby last month. We met them at the airport in Cumana and sailed up the Golf of Cariaco. We spent a week there, in or near Medregal Village haulout yard.
From here we sailed to Mochima, spent a night there, then on to Isla Tortuga a beautiful island where if you are lucky the fishermen will come and barter with fresh fish or lobster. Three days later we sailed to Los Roques, beautiful lonely safe anchorages, before returning to Marina Caraballeda near Caracas. We went in the Marina and were greeted by friendly staff. We could have anchored out, but we felt it unwise to anchor a “Yacht” in front of 5000 poor people living in slum conditions.
Our family then flew out of Caracas leaving us in the Marina for a couple of days. Our plan was to return to the Golf of Cariaco. We sailed, sometimes motor sailed, from Caraballeda to an anchorage outside Higuerote, a lovely spot near the mangroves. Next day we sailed to Islas Piritu and then on to Puerto De La Cruz. Having stocked up at some of the local stores, we moved onto Cumana to fill our fuel tanks before sailing onto Laguna Grande in the Golf.
The point of this story is to say we were not “lucky” to have survived this trip. So much bad propaganda is being placed on or in cruising websites or magazines. Some I know to be fabricated by businesses in the competing Grenada and Trinidad. Cruising throughout the Caribbean Venezuela can be said to be as safe as anywhere and safer than some. Chinese whispers turn people away. Rumours, such as those regarding Seniat, the tax office, banning foreign flag boats from leaving, or paying a 1% tax on entry, are simply not true.
I won't go into details, but these stories get passed on from one to another by people who have not even been to Venezuela. Hopefully people will read this note and come to visit this beautiful country where you can sail 365 days a year without the worries of Hurricanes.
If you do come, there is certainly no need to travel with sails down or without nav lights, like some idiots suggest. Such actions can only cause confrontations by experiencing near misses. Molitov cocktail classes in Grenada can also be ignored. Avoid any known trouble spots - of course there are a few - and see the real Caribbean, how it used to be.
Happy New Year to all from Chaser ll.
Our thanks to Phil Chapman for this report.
Received 2010-02-24
The "Golfo de Cariaco" in Venezuela is a very beautiful, quiet and still a safe place to go sailing or spend the hurricane season.
We left our boat for 3 months (Sep to Dec 2009) in the anchorage in front of "Medregal Village". It´s very quiet, cruisers are scared to go there because of security reasons, business owners are struggling to survive, but it is a safe place right now. We don´t know about Cumana itself, but inside the golfo there are no known of problems.
Via the "cruisers net" on VHF channel 71, (cruisers can get) laundry service, trips to the market or to get fuel, fill dive tanks and you are able to get WIFI.
The climate is very dry (no mould inside the boat!), the place is very well protected and the bottom is also very good holding.
The whole golfo offers plenty of anchorages, Laguna Chica, Laguna Grande, Medregal, Guacarapo, Muelle de Cariaco and others.
From Muelle it´s easy to get to the big market in Cariaco, to Caripe and the Guacharo Cave (a must do, closed on Mondays) with local transport.
We can just recommend to go there, we will be back in July or August to leave the boat and fly home.
It is easy to get to Margarita from there, there is a ferry service from Carupano directly to Porlamar, the whole trip takes only about 3 hours.
Clearing in and out is very easy in Porlamar, Isla Margarita. You can do it yourself as everything is in one building but it can take very long.
Hannes & Christine
S/Y Pukuri

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Old 11-11-2010, 06:22   #35
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Medegral Village is a wonderful and safe place - new place - but the problem is getting there and transiting waters that are documented to be not as safe as other places in the Caribbean basin.
- - Occassionally you will get zealots on both sides of any fence who scream this or that and ignore confirmed reports. You can usually spot them by their claiming some outlandish conspiracy against their favorite whatever.
- - And, it is all up to your own personal standards of risk assessment. Some folks live in dangerous areas of big cities and have no problems and cannot understand what all the fuss is about. Others get hit repeatedly.
- - There are too many variables to absolutely, definitely, say one or the other as it is all personally part of your Karma, Luck, skill or whatever. You can only look at cited reference links in earlier posts and make up your own mind based on your own level of risk acceptance.

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That's right! You should get all of your information off the internet, preferably from some random guy who lives on a dilapidated boat.....
Actually that statement is truer than most realize. Wiki, forums, advertisement, news articles, blogs, whatever, are all really just somebody's opinion of the world as they see it. The annoymous aspect of the web makes things that are maybe true or maybe outlandish indistinguishable from each other. So what is that old saying "caveat emptor"
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Old 11-11-2010, 08:42   #36
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We spent some time at Medrigal Village and it is a good place to stop while in the Golfo de Caraico. The golfo is beautiful but the problem is getting there, too many places are not safe including the whole area around Margarita. I know many people love it and stay there for long periods, but if you stop in the wrong place it's dangerous. A friend on s/v Chill was killed on isla Boracha (sic) right outside of Puerto la Cruz a few years ago. Look at noonsite about a couple who were pirated between Los Testigos and Margarita 2 weeks ago. By the way we usually travel alone and are comfortable almost everywhere. Will not be going to Venezuela while Chavez is there
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Old 11-11-2010, 09:06   #37
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[serious question - How do you re-size an inserted graphic and get it to stick?]
You can't easily because the insert aplett puts in a % wherever there is a space and you need a space to put the width and height
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Old 11-11-2010, 09:39   #38
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We spent some time at Medrigal Village and it is a good place to stop while in the Golfo de Caraico. The golfo is beautiful but the problem is getting there, too many places are not safe including the whole area around Margarita. I know many people love it and stay there for long periods, but if you stop in the wrong place it's dangerous. A friend on s/v Chill was killed on isla Boracha (sic) right outside of Puerto la Cruz a few years ago. Look at noonsite about a couple who were pirated between Los Testigos and Margarita 2 weeks ago. By the way we usually travel alone and are comfortable almost everywhere. Will not be going to Venezuela while Chavez is there
That was a copy/paste from Noonsite that I'd read....
And lets face it the Internet and the random guy is the only way I'll get information about places I've never been to... but may need to go to at short notice, however biased it may be from personal experiences...
But.. as Oris' says... it allows one to form an acceessment of places from comparison and based one one's individual level of risk acceptance.
I can tell you loads about where I've been... and in that telling... you should be able to access whats cool with you and whats a step to far... any and all info is filtered.... never taken at face value
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Old 11-11-2010, 13:07   #39
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So I am in Grenada fro 24 hours.
My only experiences and feelings are that it is a wonderful, magical place. The people are warm and friendly - expats and locals.
But, owners of an adjacent catamaran were very vocal about not going to St Martin - "get shot for 50 dollars", etc. St Baats is better. The rest of the people on my boat dismissed it. Said was probably just one incident...But everyone is religious about chaining their tenders.
Latest insurance quote automatically excludes Cuba, Haiti, Mainland Columbia...
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Old 11-11-2010, 13:16   #40
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not going to St Martin - "get shot for 50 dollars", etc. St Baats is better.
Yes, the crooks in St Barts just laugh at you if you've only got $50
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Old 11-11-2010, 13:29   #41
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Yes, the crooks in St Barts just laugh at you if you've only got $50
yea, the broker said "how can there be crime if a starter home is 4 million"
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Old 11-11-2010, 15:39   #42
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.....
Latest insurance quote automatically excludes Cuba, Haiti, Mainland Columbia...
Speaking of Cuba - I'm itching to head that direction. I've always been aware that you can easily fly into Cuba from Mexico (in other words, Cubans don't mind the Americanos. The only one who has a problem visiting beautiful Cuba are the damn politicians). How does that go for sailing? How accessible is Cuba for a sailor?
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Old 05-02-2011, 11:03   #43
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The post that said there have been no acts of piracy in several years is misinformed. It's more instructional to look for Caribbean news in the Caribbean. Below is one article from Trinidad/Tobago regarding piracy of fishermen. A previous article from August had appeared in the T&T Newsday and lamented the death of three fisherman at the hands of pirates. It also said that authorities were investigating attacks on 15 different fishermen over the previous weekend. Simply put, piracy is crime at sea ...it doesn't have to be exotic ...it can be just stealing a dinghy. Lastly, the Florida Keys are not really representative of the Caribbean, but Trinidad and Tobago are. This is all within three months of your question.

"FISHERMEN IN FEAR"

Appearing in The Trinidad Guardian in September 2010

Pirates who are stealing boat engines from fishermen have been exchanging them for marijuana in St Vincent, sources in the fishing industry are claiming. “The most amount of weed in T+T coming out of St Vincent,” the source said. “We understand these engines are going to St Vincent in return for a boatload of weed.

“These bandits are operating around all the fishing ports in the country and they are linked. “They operate out of one of the main rivers in south Trinidad.” The source said the marijuana is sold on drug blocks throughout T+T. He said while sea pirates have been stealing boat engines for years, the crime has escalated within recent times. The latest attack on fishermen occurred in the Gulf of Paria recently, resulting in the death of three fishermen from San Fernando and Claxton Bay.
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Old 05-02-2011, 11:33   #44
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The post that said there have been no acts of piracy in several years is misinformed ...
... Simply put, piracy is crime at sea ...it doesn't have to be exotic ... it can be just stealing a dinghy ...
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No, it cannot.

Why shrilly overuse, and thereby diminish the true meaning of the word, piracy?

Simply put, piracy is robbery* (not theft) committed at sea (not in port).

* The elements of the crime of robbery include the use of force or intimidation and all the elements of the crime of larceny. Larceny generally refers to nonviolent theft.

Article 101 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines piracy thus:

Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:

(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;

(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;

(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;

(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).
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Old 05-02-2011, 11:38   #45
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Thank you Gord.... 'Piracy' seems to be becoming another greatly overused word like 'Hero'... applied to any old thing...
Devalue's/downgrade's the true essence of the word...
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