Chikungunya

We've been in Curaçao for more than a week, trying to complete our chores list so we can head for Bonaire.  The process has been slower than we planned, because Curaçao is experiencing an outbreak of the viral disease Chikungunya. This is a mosquito-borne disease that causes very high fever, and intense muscle and joint pain.  The fever generally is over within a week, but the muscle and joint pain can last for weeks or even months.

Many workers in the boatyard have suffered from this disease, so the yard has been very short-handed.  We had a refrigeration expert, Louis, working on installing a new freezer system for us.  He came down with Chikungunya with the job half completed, so we are stuck with a not-quite-functioning freezer for now.  Not sure how we will sort this out, since we expect to leave for Bonaire early next week.  Louis actually came to the boat to let us know his status.  We appreciated the gesture, but he looked very ill and you could tell he was mentally not up to par yet (from the fever, I assume).

There is no vaccine, and no treatment available.  The only workable approach is prevention -- which means lots of DEET-containing insect repellent and diligent use of the screens on our hatches and companionway.  According to the Center for Disease Control, Chikungunya hasn't (yet) reached Bonaire.  If we can hold out for a little longer, we should be OK.

We celebrated Thanksgiving by launching Callisto and moving her the short distance to a marina slip.  We had been living aboard while she was still in the yard, and found the nights very hot for sleeping.  Maybe things would be a bit cooler when we were in the water?  Nah, just as hot and more humid.  Oh well, only a few more days.

Heading South

The days in Switzerland are getting short, and even at noon the sun is low on the horizon.  Lots of fog, and many rainy days.  Time to head south!

We fly to Curaçao via London and Miami.  Our flight out of Zürich leaves before dawn, so we are spending a night at a hotel near the airport.  We have an extra bag with us, full of fishing gear for our trip to Patagonia in February.  We'll see what the excess baggage charges come to.

I think we will be in Curaçao for about two weeks, perhaps a bit less.  We have the usual list of commissioning chores, plus we need to install our new wind generator and new freezer compressor.  We are planning several days in a hotel while the boat is still in the yard.  When Callisto is launched, we will spend some time in the marina before heading to Bonaire.

The plan so far has us sailing much less this season than we have in the past.  There is the trip from Curaçao to Bonaire, and then the trip back in March.  Period.  I guess it is possible we will do some daysailing just to keep our hands in.

We have guests committed to join us in December (Gretchen's niece and her friend), and in January (our old friends the Antals).  There are a couple of "maybe's" as well.  So we'll be entertaining a fair bit.  Should be fun.  We are also looking forward to seeing which of our boat friends are back on Bonaire this season.  We are excited about seeing Jill and Rod Hearne, who will be arriving in January.

Since we will be in one spot for so long, we are going to be looking to see if we can buy a couple of used bicycles.  Kinder on arthritic knees than running, and a chance to explore more of the island than we could on foot.

We'll post again soon to talk about the commissioning work list.

Windsurfing

This post is out of sequence, calendar-wise, but I wanted to make sure it is included on the blog.

Bonaire has a remarkable venue for windsurfing, called Lac Baai.  This is an inlet on the windward side of the island.  The winds are steady and strong there.  The bay is protected by a reef, so the waves are small.  The water is only 3 feet deep, which is great for beginners since the shallow water makes it easy to climb onto the board.  You have to climb onto the board many times when you are a beginner.  Once per fall.

Gretchen and I went for lessons, along with our friends Rod and Jill.  Jill ended up chickening out, but she was a great videographer, recording the event.  Rod had some recent windsurfing experience.  Gretchen and I tried it out when we were first married (30 years ago!), but never made much progress.  The technology has changed a lot -- for the better -- since then.

Anyway, the three of us signed up for a beginner's lesson.  Our teacher clearly had a ton of experience with novices.  We started out on a demo setup on land, and he quickly explained the basics of getting on the board, bringing up the sail, and starting to move.  It is easier to gybe a windsurfer than to tack it, so he also explained that maneuver.

Then we were off to the water.  The beginner's boards that they gave us were more like barges than surfboards -- almost 80 cm wide.   This was great for us as we learned our balance.  The sails were also quite small (3 square meters for me), which also helps to keep things manageable.  So, while the experts were zooming back and forth, we were plodding along.  But we did manage to get the boards moving, and to stay on top of them long enough to make some progress.  Here is a video of one of my tries:

We had an hour with the instructor, and another hour to practice on our own.  But we all tired out before the time was up.  By the end of the time, I was able to gybe pretty consistently, and to sail upwind to a degree.

It is a truly beautiful spot, and we had tons of fun.  I am sure we will take more lessons when we return to Bonaire next year.

Callisto is out of the water (and we are too)

We miss the sea life already!!!  We left Callisto yesterday at Curacao Marina for the season.  This is the first time we have left the boat outside the hurricane zone, so our to-do list was a bit shorter than normal.  www.curacaomarine.com   The yard manager is quite young, but has lots of years of experience and everyone at the yard is on the go, hustling onto the next job.

Our last sail from Bonaire was lovely, downwind, traveling at about 7 knots, including one knot of current.  About halfway to Curacao we saw three flamingos headed east.   We were both startled when we suddenly saw pink off the starboard side.   I surmised that they had gone to Carnival in Curacao and were headed home...  We were impressed to see them flying dead upwind, low to the water, like pelicans.  Bonaire is home to many flamingos, who feed on crustaceans in the big salt marshes on the island.

Now for the boat bits part...we ordered a new AB 9 ft aluminum dinghy and a new refrigeration unit from Budget Marine.  They will be delivered in time for our late fall 2014 launch.  We also bought a D400 wind generator today, also to be installed in the fall.  And then we had to go to Kooymans (like a Lowe's) (twice) to get the parts for the faucet I broke showing David how not to use the faucet!  She's a boat.

We went to dinner on Sunday night at Fort Nassau.  The Fort was commissioned in 1796 and now serves as the control tower for the harbor.  The old historic part of the fort has a restaurant which is quite fine. I had a lionfish served with head and mouth open, looking very ferocious. 

The meal was delicious with, of course, great views at sunset.  I think there was a Japanese "research vessel" next to the port authority office.  Dolphins and whales beware!

Last night we tried a neighborhood Surinamese restaurant recommended by the hotel owner/manager.  The young restauranteuse is a native Israeli and the food was indeed eclectic and well-prepared.  There are only three tables plus four chairs at the bar, with quite a bit of take out and locals enjoying an evening out.  Today we visited Kura Hulanda which we thought was "just" the slavery museum.  It is so much more.  The man who was responsible for the restauration of the buildings and associated hotel, also had a large well documented collection of artifacts from the cradle of civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates.  The exhibition on slavery pulled no punches and was the other side of the story we learned about in Ghana at El Amina.  The remaining part of the "triangle" for us is the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England.   

Our next stop was the maritime museum, which is a bit unfocused, but does have a few unique displays.   

Tomorrow we will take a rental car and visit the national park.  There are supposed to be spectular blow holes and heiroglyphics from the indigenous people (who originally came from South America).

We leave Thursday am (7 am flight) for the US to visit children, and then soon after HOME!

Watermaker Blues

We love our watermaker -- the device that takes salty seawater and turns it into sweet drinking water.  It is economically crazy.  The cost to buy and operate the watermaker is higher than the cost of buying water from marinas, etc., in the places we've cruised.  But the convenience factor is hard to beat, since we don't have to plan trips into the dock to tank up.  And there is value in the feeling of security that we'll always have plenty.

Our watermaker is made by a company called Spectra.  It is designed to use the least possible energy.  Since electricity is always scarce on Callisto, this feature is very worthwhile.  However, it means that the watermaker is pretty complicated, and that means maintenance.

A watermaker works by pumping seawater to about 850 psi (60 bar), and forcing it through a reverse osmosis membrane.  Unfortunately, the high pressure pump on our unit developed a tiny crack.  But big enough to spray seawater all over the place.  So we had to get it fixed.

Now come the challenge of cruising in out-of-the-way places.  To repair the unit, a big chunk needed to be sent to the manufacturer in California, worked on, returned to Bonaire, and installed.   This is obviously not a cheap proposition.  Most of all, it takes time.

The original estimate was 4 days to get to California, a week on the repair bench, and then 4 days back to Bonaire.  A bit over two weeks.  Guess what?  Its been three weeks, and still no confirmation that its left California.

Normally, a week or two wouldn't matter a lot.  However, we have our whole haul-out process scheduled to start on March 7.  That's not only the boatyard, but also a hotel and a rental car.  Changing all of that would (will?) be very complicated, and also risk running up against our airline reservation on March 13.

We still have some hope that we can get the unit and have it installed by the middle of next week, so we can (just) keep our schedule.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Snoa

One of the highlights of our first visit to Willemstad was the Jewish synagogue, known to its members as the Snoa.  The congregation was founded in 1651, making it the oldest continuous Jewish congregation in the western hemisphere.  The synagogue was dedicated in 1732, which makes it the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the New World.  It has a small but very interesting museum.

The congregation was originally named Mikvé Israel.  In the 1860’s, a part of the congregation split off to found the Reform Judaism congregation Temple Emanu-El.  This was, at the time, the only Sephardic Reform congregation in the world.  The two congregations reunited in 1964, and formed congregation Mikvé Israel-Emmanuel.  We understand there is also a small Ashkenazi congregation on the island.

The synagogue is unusual, in that it has a sand floor.  This is reminiscent of synagogues in use during the 40 years the Jews spent wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt.  It is also a reminder of the days when the ancestors of the congregants were secret Jews, practicing illegally in Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition.   The worshipers put sand on the floors of the secret rooms where they worshiped, to muffle the sounds during services.

In the museum are many interesting artifacts.  Maybe the most remarkable is the ancient Torah that was made in 1320.  Amazing that it is still legible after almost 700 years, and a trip across the Atlantic.

Curaçao

The timing of our visit to Curaçao was tied up in the Presidents’ Holiday in the US.  David’s dear cousin Elaine and her husband Andy had the first extended period without children at home in a very long time, and had arranged to fly down to Curaçao for several days vacation in the warm sunshine.  We wanted to meet them there, and show off a bit of our island lifestyle.

Unfortunately, a blizzard hit the East Coast just as they were scheduled to take off.  They tried many alternative routes, but couldn’t find one that would work.  So they had to cancel their trip.  We were disappointed, of course, but we can only imagine how much worse things were from their end.  We certainly hope that there will be another opportunity to get together in the tropics, soon.

In Curaçao, the preferred anchorage for cruisers is a large bay called Spanish Waters.  It’s a very friendly place, with lots of visiting boats as well as long-term liveaboards.  One of the latter maintains a WiFi service at a nominal charge for the harbor, which is convenient (though not very fast).  The only downside to Spanish Waters is that it is out of the way, quite some distance from the center of action in Willemstad.  There is an inexpensive bus service, but the ride is at least 30 minutes each way, and the bus runs only once an hour or once each 90 minutes, depending on the time of day.  So a trip into town is AT LEAST a half-day adventure.

Willemstad is a very picturesque town, very much oriented to the numerous cruise ship passengers that visit each day.  The buildings are painted in bright colors, and they seem to find combinations so that adjacent buildings look good together.  The town is divided by a waterway that leads to the commercial harbor.  There is a pedestrian bridge (the Queen Emma Bridge) that floats on wooden pontoons.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  When ships need to enter the harbor, the bridge swings aside to let them pass.  This happens numerous times each day, and is fun to watch.  There are free ferries that you can use to cross when the bridge is open.

Clearing in to Curaçao is something of an adventure.  The people are very nice, but there is a lot of waiting and walking involved.  You first visit Customs, where they laboriously hunt-and-peck all your details into their computer.  Once that is done, you have to cross the pontoon bridge, and walk a fair distance to immigration.  If a cruise ship is docked (normal), you have to pass through a security check to get there.  In immigration, there is another bout of data entry.  The final stop is just a few steps away at the Port Authority, where you pay a fee for anchoring.  When we were there, they were having computer problems, and we had a long wait before we could give them our money.

We enjoyed the very large and well-supplied Grocery store on the island.  The store provides a daily shuttle bus from Spanish Waters, which is very convenient for those of us without cars.  They allow 80 minutes for shopping, which is a bit much, but there is free WiFi, so the wait isn’t so bad.

After several days of finding our way around, we headed back to Bonaire.  An important part for our watermaker is being repaired by the factory, and it is due to arrive in Bonaire in a week or so.