Bonaire

Our blogging frequency has been way down the past three weeks.  Blame it on unusually poor internet connections on the boat.  We can often get a strong wifi signal, but the data speeds are often excruciatingly slow.

We spent about two weeks on Bonaire.  It was an unusually busy time for us, with lots of socializing and time off the boat.  Together with our friends Rod and Jill from s/v Lookfar, we rented a car for a couple of days to explore the island.  More about that in a bit.  We also took advantage of the superb diving that is available on the island.  Anchoring is prohibited on Bonaire, so you have to tie up to one of about 40 moorings.  This small number means that the cruising community is small, and that leads to a lot of time sharing "sundowners" on various boats.

With the unusual availability of a car, we enjoyed driving around the island and into the national park. 

On the first day Jill picked up the car late in the morning (it was supposed to be earlier, but the rental company was very late picking her up).   Jill's friend Lee was with us. We drove in the direction of the park, and had a very local (and very tasty) meal in the town of Rincon.  This sleepy little village was once the main habitation on Bonaire.  There were too many thieves and pirates on the coast, so the population moved inland.  Anyway, by the time we got to the park it was after 2:00pm.  The ranger advised us strongly that we would not have enough time to see the park before it closed at 5:00pm, so we decided to come back the next day.  We then drove to the south end of Bonaire.  This is a huge area where sea salt is produced commercially by Cargill.  The evaporation ponds were different colors, many of them bright pink.  Salt has been produced on Bonaire for hundreds of years, and we visited a site where the island has preserved huts where slaves stayed while loading salt into ships.

We returned early the following morning.  Bonaire is relatively flat, and extremely dry.  The vegetation is desert-like and the most common critters you see are lizards and iguanas.  The road through the national park is gravel and fairly rough but easily manageable with our 4-wheel-drive vehicle (a reasonable front-wheel-drive car would also be OK).  There are many places along the road to stop and explore.  Bonaire is known for its flamingos, and we saw large flocks in lakes and ponds.  We had been told we would only see them from a distance, but we were able to get pretty close to some of them.

We saw some very old petroglyphs on a sea cliff, and a very cool blowhole where the surf sends spray flying high into the air.  After about 3 hours, we drove to the east side of the island, at Lac Bay.  This is a large and quite shallow bay, protected by a reef.  It has flat water and strong winds, and has become a very popular windsurfing site.  We stopped for lunch at a beach bar, and really liked seeing the many colorful sails skipping along in the water.  You can take lessons there, and there were many novices on the water, but also some very experienced board sailors who could do awesome tricks. 

Bonaire has some of the best scuba diving in the world.  Our diving experience so far has always been with a Dive Master or Instructor as a guide, but on Bonaire it is usually a much more independent experience.  You rent equipment, including air tanks, from a dive shop, and then you can just walk into the water from shore, or dive off the back of your sailboat.  There are dozens of dive sites, and it seems that all of them are beautiful and interesting.  We did take a dive boat out to the island of Klein Bonaire one day, and sampled some sites that were too far to reach by dinghy.  Because you are diving independently, the cost of diving here is pretty reasonable.  We are looking foward to more dives when we return.

Our watermaker developed a serious leak, and we were lucky to find a technician on Bonaire who could help us with it.  An important part of the high-pressure pump was cracked, and it had to be sent to the manufacturer for repairs.  It wasn't possible to get the part back before we had to leave for Curaçao, so we will return to Bonaire to have it installed.  Luckily, with our large water tanks we can go for a few weeks.

Passage

After three and a half seasons in the Eastern Caribbean, the islands have become familiar and comfortable.  We see familiar faces in most anchorages, either locals we have interacted with or cruisers we have met.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with “familiar and comfortable,” but it is perhaps a sign that it is time for new adventures.  Our good friends Rod and Jill on s/v Lookfar made the hop to the ABC islands last year, and have raved about them – so we decided to visit them as well.

ABC stands for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.  All three are associated with the Netherlands, though the political arrangements are a bit different for each.  They really should be called the BCA, since that is the order you encounter them as you travel from East to West.

We really wanted to visit St. Lucia, Dominica, and the Saintes one more time before departing – it could be a few years before we are back in the Eastern Caribbean.  We therefore decided to start our passage from the Saintes.  This means a trip of about 475 nautical miles, which for Callisto in the trade winds takes around three days.

It is certainly possible for two people to sail that distance on their own.   Even one person can manage.  But it is a lot less stress if there are three people to share watch-keeping duties.  Three hours on and six hours off is much more comfortable than four hours on and four hours off.

We advertised in the sailing forum of the Seven Seas Cruising Association for someone to join us as crew, and were lucky to make contact with Jonathan Caldwell.  Jonathan is about David’s age, has quite a lot of sailing experience on his own boat and on others, and turned out to be a very pleasant person to spend time with.  He flew into the airport on Dominica, and we sailed to the Saintes to enjoy a couple of day’s recreation before departing.

We estimated that we could average about 7 knots sailing downwind in the tradewind zone.  Callisto is certainly capable of faster speeds, but sailing faster would require more careful attention to conditions and more frequent sail changes.  At 7 knots, it takes about 66 hours to cover the distance.   It is sensible to plan arrival for around noon.  That way, if you are a few hours early or a few hours late, you still arrive in daylight.

So, on January 24 just before 6:00 pm we set off.  The weather forecast was for 15-20 knots from the East-North-East, and for waves of 5-7 feet.  This time of year in the tropics, weather forecasts are quite accurate looking out three days.  Once we rounded Terre-de-Bas, we set the sails on Port tack for the long trip to Bonaire.

Our trip went very much according to plan.  We initially sailed a bit south of our optimum course, working to keep the headsail full as we headed nearly downwind.  We made this up on Sunday, gybing onto Starboard tack for a few hours.  When we gybed back, we decided to sail on the genoa alone – no mainsail.  We lost a bit of speed (maybe a knot), but could sail our optimum course directly and didn’t have to worry about a wind shift causing an accidental gybe.

The rhythm of long passages takes a while to get established.  We were just really getting in the groove when we reached the end of our journey.  David made a wisecrack: “We should  keep going until we reach Panama!”  But it was really only half joking.

Monday morning, as we got nearer and nearer to Bonaire, we began to look for signs of land.  David and Jonathan both caught sight of Bonaire almost simultaneously.  As you approach, the more mountainous northern section is visible first.  The southern section of the island is very low (in fact it is made up of salt flats; Bonaire has a large commercial salt extraction business), and we didn’t seen the southern point until we were within a very few miles.

Our arrival was at 12:30 pm on January 27, almost exactly as planned.  The entire island of Bonaire is a marine sanctuary, and no anchoring is permitted.  They have very convenient and well-maintained moorings, though, and we tied Callisto up without any excitement.

Rainbows

In the tropics, and in the winter, the rain storms tend to be frequent but short-lived.  One of the consequences is that we see a lot of rainbows.

Today we made a passage from Martinique to Dominica, about 35 miles.  The weather was pretty wild -- 25 knots of wind, 10 foot waves.  We sailed on a beam reach, making 9 and even 10 knots through the water (a knot less over the ground due to adverse current).  The only downside was the intense rain showers that we sailed through.  The waves were on our beam, so we had a few memorable rolls. 

We really enjoyed Callisto's ability to handle these conditions.  Never felt unsafe, never really uncomfortable -- only wet.

We saw at least 3 rainbows, all of them at least partial double-rainbows.  Very beautiful.

Here is a short video that gives a bit of the feeling of the day.

Christmas 2014 – Bequia

We returned to Bequia for Christmas, anchored out along Princess Margaret Beach.  The anchorage was “rockin’ and rollin’, so much so that Gretchen had to move to another berth to avoid landing on the floor in the night.

We had problems (again!) with the outboard motor for our dinghy and called upon Kerry, the best mechanic we have found in the Windward Islands.  He quickly diagnosed our problem, fixed it and then provided a spare part from his “stores” in case the problem recurs beyond repair.   He noticed how much we were rolling and recommended a reputable mooring close into town managed by “Phat Shag”.  The Dive Bequia staff also gave a good review, saying that he regularly dives on his moorings and does appropriate maintenance.  

We were very happy to be close in—although the music on the beach was LOUD, we were flat on the water and much more comfortable in the night.  Christmas Eve brought on a big surprise—major thunderstorm activity.  We have never experienced electrical storms this time of year in the Caribbean.  It rained all night and most of the morning, with lots of wind and lightning.  We were able to take a hike to Fort Hamilton and see the cannons aimed at the entrance to Admiralty Bay.  It was interesting to note that the fort was named after an American, Alexander Hamilton, although the purpose of the fort was to defend the island against American privateers and the French. 

Our next stop was Soufrière on St. Lucia, and there we found out how lucky Bequia had been during the storm.  There were nearly 20 people who died in St. Vincent and St. Lucia due to landslides and bridges collapsing.  Several towns in St. Lucia were cut off for a few days due to bridge outages and roads blocked by mud.  I am sure that St. Vincent suffered similar problems.  The unstable ground and steep terrain will make repairs very difficult, and in Soufriére, new restrictions on where construction can occur have already been put in place.   We saw at least five homes that were totally destroyed, and several more that were damaged by mudslides.   Much of the same area was severely damaged during Hurricane Tomas four years ago, and there just isn’t very good holding for soil on such steep terrain.   

But the Soufriére anchorage was lovely:

 

Mustique

Mustique is a privately owned island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.  There are less than 100 houses there, and they are owned by some pretty famous and very wealthy people.

We like visiting there -- not because of the chance to glimpse a celebrity (we never have), but because it has a world-class bar (Basil's), some interesting hikes, and a great place to go for a run (around the salt pond/lagoon).  The one downside is that you have to rent a mooring, and you have to pay for three nights even if you only stay one or two.

Normally that doesn't bother us, since three days is about right for a visit.  However, this time we were informed after tying up that there were restrictions on where visitors could go.  We could jog to the lagoon, visit the few shops, and visit Basil's (and the famous Firefly restaurant with special arrangements) but that was it.

It was explained to us that nearly all of the owners were present on the island (an unusual circumstance), and they had been offended sometime in the past when visitors took photos. 

Well, its their island, I guess, so they can make the rules.  Not very friendly, and it seriously reduced the number of visiting boats.  We thought they should have at least offered a discount on the mooring fees, since so much of the island was unavailable.

Anchoring adventures on Bequia

We had a very challenging day today in Bequia - the rode on our mooring broke while we were off the boat, and we returned from our shopping trip to find the boat in a different place than we had left it.  Some kind soul had captured her drifting in the harbor, and tied her to a different mooring.  What a surprise!

Bequia is a notoriously challenging place to anchor.  You can get the anchor down, but then drag dozens or even hundreds of feet.  Some places the sea bottom looks like a farmer's field, with long furrows everywhere.  Because of this, we chose to use a mooring this trip.  Didn't work out so well.

After the bad mooring experience, we decided we would trust our own anchor.  We had to try a couple of different locations to anchor before we could get hooked.  The first try, we just contributed to the furrow collection.  The second try, we were finally successful.  A looong way from town, but still attached firmly to the bottom.

Hash House Harriers at Momma Cannes

The Hash House Harriers is an international group (mainly British and former colonies) that organizes mad treks through beautiful scenery and challenging terrain. You can either walk or run (or a mixture of both). An important part of the experiences is the cheap beer and local foods at the party afterwards.

The chapter on Grenada is very active, and there is an event nearly every Saturday.   There are often a hundred or more participants.  We really appreciate the mix of people -- Old and young, locals and visitors, and students from the medical school.  A great chance to meet folk you wouldn't otherwise interact with.  The Hashes are held around the island, so you get to visit some rural areas and small villages.

We have joined a few times, and its lots of fun. Here are some photos from the Hash on December 7 at Momma Cannes (that's the name of a village).  This was a bit smaller crowd than usual (I think the med students are studying for finals).  The run was described as "very tough," and considering that we are still acclimating to warm temperatures, we decided to walk.  This was nice, but it must have been the shortest Hash in Grenada history, only about 35 minutes.  But the party was fun!