Boat
Charter in Venezuela, updates, history and opinions.
Venezuela relax
and have fun…
Back in the
fifties when Nicholson, a retired naval admiral of the British fleet decided to
buy a old wooden ketch, and go exploring the seven seas it was obvious that the
Caribbean with is beautiful islands climate and exotic clings was to be the
final destination. Nicholson rediscovered Admirals bay in Antigua and restored
it with his family. It was here the word charter was invented and the start of
what we know as boat and yacht charter of today.
During the sixties
and up to the nineties is was only the very wealthy and fortunate people that
could afford to spend a holiday cruising down the Caribbean, which Nicholson
started with invited friends of his that where tired of playing cricket.
Later Donald
Street helped (with his Cruising Guides to the eastern Caribbean and Venezuela )
many crazy people with there new dreams implementing good old fashion navigation
techniques and different ways of pulling your boat of a reef.
Quoted by Donald:
Venezuela beats the rest of the Caribbean seven days to Sunday…
Today enjoying a
charter in the Caribbean is possible for most people due to cheaper airfares and
less expenses of maintaining a modern boat.
It is still
possible to get to know the real Caribbean that did exists back then in the
fifties with unspoiled and deserted islands and an abundance of underwater live
as described by Christopher Columbus in his third voyages like as it could have
been a cruise of today in these same waters.
Touching the east
end of Venezuela in 1503 he wrote: this must be Eden if it still exists.
Venezuela offers
all that and with more coastline and islands compared to the rest of the
Caribbean countries and islands.
Venezuela reveals
this relatively new destination for crewed charter and with very reasonable
prices as you will discover.
Because of
government laws and environment controls only a few charter boats a given
license to do charter and this contributes to the difference.
You will never
have overcrowded anchorages with dangers of collisions because of a change in
the wind direction
Also there is no
danger of hurricanes because of the country’s southern latitude.
You will not be
harassed by unfriendly fishermen or local people that have been spoiled by mass
tourism. Examples of these incidents are common in the northern Caribbean these
days.
The famous charter
islands of US and British virgin islands has fleets of more than 2500 sailboats
all doing charter in an area smaller than as an example the archipelago of
Los Roques (one of the best cruising grounds of the southern Caribbean).
In Los Roques with
more than 50 islands there are maybe around 20 charter boats working
regularly….
Racism is non
existent due to integration of white and black people in the early days (an
example today is of cause the very beautiful women see all over this country)
when the Spanish discovered that the excess of sugar cane could be used to
produced rum (why bother about the price of sugar) today this mentality follows
the world market price of crude Oil.
Slavery was
abandoned in Venezuela long before it became the norm in the rest of the world
(The small town San Jose close to Higerote on the north coast of Venezuela was
the first place in the new world where all slaves were freed in 1595).
Rich or poor is
not an issue in Venezuela it’s about having a good time and then do some work in
between..
Relax and have fun
worries are when you get back home..
Government
instabilities has not changed since the days of Simon Bolivar and it is not a
very important issue when its vacation time..
Take it easy when
you watch the international news back home.
Enjoy it while it
lasts
by Henrik
Bratfeldt.
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