Bonaire
Salamander
Fri 2 Apr 2010 01:32
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12.09.541n 68.16.909w
We had a superb sail on 400 miles to Bonaire. The
trade winds and current took us straight to our destination. All downwind easy
sailing at 5-7.5 knots. The sea was lumpy, but only the bottom end of moderate,
so apart from the odd wave rolling us a bit it was very comfortable.
We waited to travel to Bonaire for a while as low
pressure above Colombia combines with the trade winds and can make these seas
very high and extremely uncomfortable
Bonaire is all a marine park and you cannot anchor
here. The mooring buoys are thankfully not too expensive and we are playing at
being tourists for a few days.
The island is 75 miles off th coast of Venezuala
and has a totally different feel compared to our other Caribbean stops. Maybe
its because (brief synopsis of Caribbean history - apologies to any experts
reading) the Caribbean islands were all occupied by the Arawak, but the Caribs
migrated from South America and took over most of the islands, killing almost
all the Arawaks. Then Europeans took over the islands and slaughtered nearly
all the Caribs (there are a couple of villages called Massacre in honour of
our efforts!!). Bonaire is unusual in that the Caribs didn't take over the
island and some of the Arawaks survived the Spanish conquest and mantained an
identity until the end of the C19. The island is now Dutch and they seem to have
friendly happy islands (its flat too, so they feel at home). Best of all, the
Customs and Police were charming and helpful (and free!).
Today we had to prove we were competent to be
allowed in the Marine Park, so $50US and less than 5 minutes later we had
accomplished our fin pivots and were awarded with our plastic tags. Its
reassuring to know that a dive shop employee standing on a pier watching us
(occasionally) can see the innate skill and expertise we have developed over the
last 20 years!! ;-)
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