Bonaire 12:09.0N 68:23.0W
Seaflute
Sun 26 Feb 2017 17:51
excited about visiting the island of Bonaire which although located just off
the coast of Venezuela, is part of the Dutch Antilles. The passage to
Bonaire was just under 500 miles and took us three days. Notably this was
Rachael's first serious offshore experience and I was very concerned when we
had a horribly rolly sea for the first 24 hours. Fortunately the wave
pattern became more orderly and the boat motion settled down for the rest of
the trip. The coast of Venezuela has sadly become quite a dangerous area
for cruisers due to the rapidly deteriorating political and social situation
in the country. With this in mind we were extra vigilant on watches looking
for any sign of vessels coming towards us or acting erratically. We even
turned off all our conspicuity gadgets to ensure we couldn't be tracked by
anyone other than Oyster....and you of course! During the last night at sea
we came upon a cargo vessel drifting, but fully lit, right on our track
line. Our imaginations ran amok figuring this could be the mother ship for
pirate raids of passing cruisers. Needless to say we gave it a wide berth
and passed with all our navigation lights extinguished.
We arrived in Bonaire late in the afternoon and because most of the south of
the island is essentially a big salt flat it's not visible until you are
three miles away which makes it seem like you are sailing to a point in the
middle of the ocean, miles away from the part of the island you can see.
As we rounded the island the sea immediately becomes flat but because of the
low lying land there is no shelter from the wind. The combination of the two
produces the most sublime sailing conditions possible, twenty knots of wind
and not a ripple on the water. We were soon doing ten knots of boat speed in
complete silence, almost eerie, but amazing, (Jack I'm flying!) We arrived
at the marina in Kralendijk just before dusk and were obliged to tie up at
the fuel dock until the marina office opened the following morning. There
were already a number of Oyster Rally friends there, so they were able to
give us the gate codes and welcome us with a cold beer as always!
Well, Bonaire in Dutch means "A happy discovery" and that was certainly the
case for us. Our original intention was to stay a few days before moving on
to the San Blas Islands. In the end we stayed ten days and Bonaire is
certainly near the top of our must return list, even despite events that I
will describe later!
The first day of our stay didn't start too well with the Marina denying all
knowledge of our booking despite having an email from me with all the
details on it?? Their first stance was; there was no room for us even though
the marina was only half full. When I enquired what we were supposed to do
to ensure a booking beyond confirming it by email, he was at a loss to
explain what else we should/could have done. The long and the short of it
was that the email booking had not been transferred to a day book and had
been lost. When I finally made it clear I had no intention of going anywhere
until he allocated me a berth, and "by the way, my sixty foot yacht is
currently blocking your fuel dock", the duty manager suddenly became quite
creative and found us a berth for the duration of our stay. As id dropped
the tender off the davits the night before, I elected to motor round to look
at the berth before we moved the yacht. It's a good job I did, the berth he
had allocated us was actually half a metre narrower than Sea Flutes beam!
Back to the office and a conversation that now included the managers manager
and miraculously a suitable berth was found for us. Our next challenge was
clearing in and after my recent experiences with immigration staff I was
keen to ensure we ticked all the appropriate boxes. A two mile walk into
town delivered us to the customs office where we filled in the necessary
forms and were then told the immigration official was away from the office
and would not return until 3.00 pm when we would have to return. Not the end
of the world as this would give us time to get some lunch and hire the
mandatory Toyota Hilux twin cab pick up with dive bottle rack in the back!
When we returned at 3.00 pm the official was not there but was "expected"
any time soon. 3.45 she arrived without apology and duly stamped our
passports. Day one gone! You see it's not all fun and frollicks, this
cruising lark.
Bonaire is a quiet, charming and spotlessly clean island with a population
of just 12,500 people. The main town is picture postcard pretty with pastel
coloured buildings lining the sea front. The whole island is ringed with a
coral reef, accessible by just walking off the beaches at any point. Add to
this, crystal clear water and the most robust environmental policy I've come
across and this provides some of the best and easiest diving we have ever
done. To dive there you must first obtain a permit to the marine park at the
lofty price of $25! This then entails you to snorkel or dive at any site on
the island. You simply just drive your pick up onto the beach, walk in and
dive the reef. When you've finished you drive to one of the numerous drive
through bottle fill depots and off you go again.
It was an ideal opportunity for Lindy to reacquaint herself with the wonders
of the underwater world having not dived for twelve years. Rachael was also
able to have her first "try dive" under the tutelage of Tom the Dive master!
With direct flights from Schiphol on KLM, I'm amazed more people don't come
here for the diving alone.
If all this wasn't good enough, the quality of the restaurant's is
exceptional and extremely good value. I can honestly say we had one of our
best meals ever here in a restaurant called "La Cantina" (not the most
auspicious name for a culinary experience) which is tucked behind the
Brewery on the main street.
Unfortunately for Tom and Rachael two days before we were due to leave, they
were robbed by two youths with guns walking back to the marina at night. We
had all been lulled into a false sense of security given the laid back
environment there. Even the local police were genuinely shocked as this has
not previously been a common occurrence. What seems to be happening is that
recent immigrants from Venezuela are finding it difficult to live in Bonaire
which is relatively very affluent and the cost of living very high for them.
Fortunately Tom and Racheal are made of stern stuff and hasn't let this
dampen their enjoyment of the island.
The time came all too quickly to leave and the night before we were due to
go we were invited by James and Tiggy Nathan the owners of Miss Tiggy, to an
Ozzy BBQ on board. A great night was had and I think they currently hold the
record for the most people aboard an Oyster 575.
Nursing hangovers the following day we waved goodbye to Bonaire and set sail
for Santa Marta in Columbia 500 miles to the west.
Catch you all soon
Skipper Peds
