Dive Bonaire!

The passage from Grenada to Bonaire is 400 Nautical Miles almost due West.  It was finally time for the glorious down wind catamaran sailing we've been hearing about with following winds and seas.  Our sources predicted fair weather for the passage and honestly, it was a bit too fair for us.  Light winds of no more than ten knots the whole way meant it was going to be a super comfortable sail but it would just take longer.  It was time to break out the Code Zero and Asymmetrical Sails, which we had repaired in Grenada, finally, and check out their performance in these light winds!

The Code Zero was impressive!  Easy to deploy, tack, and furl plus it gave us the equivalent in speed made good to wind, although we strongly suspect that the deficit was made up in push from the swells, so we were doing an average speed of 5.5 knots and a brief maximum speed of 10 knots which is exactly what the wind was doing and we made it to our destination in just under three days.  We even caught a small tuna for dinner without slowing down!

Code Zero is a light wind sail made of parachute like material.

It is used in place of the Genoa for down wind sailing and broad reach in up to 15 Knots.

The colorful Assymetrical sail

It has a very large sail area and looks pretty but not as easy to handle.

Dinner!

Night passages are our favorite!

Having bought ourselves two brand new SCUBA tanks in Grenada we were ready to dive Bonaire!  The entire island and its reef lined coast is a National Marine Park, rich in diverse biology and protected habitat.  There is no anchoring allowed here and we were lucky to snag one of the last two moorings available that day.  There are only about 40 of them fringing the picturesque town of Kralindijke and aligned on a narrow shelf in about 25-30 feet of water which immediately plunges to an average depth of 100-120 feet.  Dramatic seascapes create beautiful wall dives right from the stern of the boat and a front row seat to the active waterfront.  Our mooring was directly across from the fishing boat pier, equidistant to Karels, our favorite bar with a dingy dock to the south and the Friends Dive Shop to the north.  And if that weren't enough, we watched spectacular sunsets behind Klein Bonaire, the small island where we would spend a lot of time diving, off our stern less than a mile away.  And if that weren't enough, in addition to doing a few dives with Friends (name of the dive shop), they allowed us to rent gear and fill our tanks to dive on our own off the stern of India and out with Tuk-Tuk!  That gave us a splendid opportunity to get it together as dive buddies and get used to handling the equipment on our dingy so we will be ready for the South Pacific diving habitat!

We joined the Friends dive team for a couple of delightful boat dives and an awesome night dive from the shore.  It was David’s first night dive and we were both very eager for the experience.  I think night dives are more fun in a group and this dive was on the popular site of the Salt Pier.  There were a couple of other groups diving that night also and exciting to watch all the hand lights in the water.  We saw plenty of nocturnal creatures such as crabs and a rock lobster but there were some giant Tarpon hunting alongside us.  Apparently our underwater lights attract their prey.  The highlight was an eight foot Green Morrey Eel that made a sudden appearance slithering under us so we could glimpse his whole form, he was even a little aggressive snapping at small fish along his way.  Most of the dive was spent swimming around the support beams for the pier which was eerie and almost ghostly.  There is something very thrilling about being in the water on a dark night!

David and I did at least one dive everyday and I am so proud of his burgeoning abilities below the surface.  I am relieved that he is cautious like I am and attentive to nature and as excited as I am to explore the underwater world.  I was a real advantage to have this time together to develop our communication and technique.   We loved Bonaire so much that we extended our stay through the weekend.  We rented a scooter and toured the island in search of the pink flamingos and did a little shopping in town like real tourists.  Bonaire has great shopping and restaurants right on the waterfront so easily accessible.  We loved the coffee shops and homemade gelato and even had some Frikadellen (Dutch fast food) and an incredible Indonesian feast one night.  We also indulged in some of the best and most affordable European groceries we have encountered since Martinique and lamented that we were trying to run down our supplies for our upcoming U.K./ USA trip and would not be able to stock up provisions here.  And then, a few days before we left, we were reacquainted with Frans and Rosalie on their Lagoon 450 named LOCURA.  We met them in West Palm Beach at the Cracker Boy shipyard.  We met again in Miami before we each left for the Bahamas the same morning only they sailed south to Curacao through the southern Bahamas and we took the northerly route and island hopped south.  It was a chance meeting in a 24 hour window and we had them over for sundowners before they headed east to the Leeward Islands and we headed west.  All in all it was an extremely enjoyable time spent here and the people were super friendly.  Bonaire certainly has my vote for favorite island visited on S/V India in 2019.

Flamingo made of flotsam!

Karels Bar on the waterfront

Amazing sunset at Karels

Indonesian Rijstafel (rice table) in town

David and I with Frans and Rosalie

Kids on boats!

Hilarious fun to watch!

Holiday makers in paradise