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Diane's DiaryOctober 25 Monday We had a peaceful night sleep finally! No storms! However, it was hot with zero wind and a few mosquitoes. I woke up at 3:30am when I was hot. Then the low voltage alarm went off so I got up. I finally got back to sleep. In the morning, Sylvester and Hona Lee stopped by. We got the dinghy down and finally left at 10:30 for customs. Many of the docks suffered damage from Ivan - the fisherman's dock has been half destroyed and most of the others suffered damage. We used to always put our dinghy at Karel's Bar but a lot of the boards are gone and there is only one good spot now. If you don't get it, the dinghy goes under the dock- not good! So from now on, we'll just use the small marinas docks as they are well protected and in good shape since they were repaired. We finished with customs and headed to Immigration - they were closed for lunch even though it was only 11:30 so we got to check in at the police station, which is much easier. We went to 3 of the dive shops and looked around and then went to lunch at the Lost Penguin restaurant. It was expensive at $22 for 2 burgers and fries (Larry had 2 beers but I just had water) but it was nice to eat out again as I was definitely getting tired of cooking! We got back to the boat around 2pm and the wind had picked up again - we were back to NW but it wasn't too bad. It looked like it was going to rain so we waited a few minutes but it never did. So, we went to the marina to pay our bill- we paid for a month now. We also walked to a new Internet café that has a skybox account in the US- we could receive our mail this way. We got back to the boat around 5pm both exhausted. I took a quick snorkel and shower off the boat. Oh, I forgot to say our mooring is definitely not as close to the other boats as the one we had last year. Last year we were so close to the next boat we felt "can you pass the Grey Poupon"! October 26 Tuesday Another windless night - we haven't had much wind in over a week now so have to run the engine every day to charge the batteries. We put up the awning this morning as we are going to be here for at least 6 weeks. Just as we finished putting it up, it started to rain. With the awning up, I was able to catch lots of rainwater although I need to stand out in the rain to maximize how much rain we are getting into the buckets. I had 3 buckets out collecting rainwater. It rained so hard I washed the 4 chair cushion covers and did all the slipcovers plus a few other things. I hung them out on the line even though it was raining as it gives them an extra good rinse. We finally got into town in the pm when it stopped raining and ordered the part from Jack Rabbit. We had them ship it here via UPS so hopefully we'll get it this week although they said they would not ship it out until tomorrow. We then walked over to Budget Marine and the supermarket and I bought a few things. We snorkeled late in the day just right off our boat as it was very humid out and we were hot. I was able to take an overboard shower as it uses up much less water. We had sv Promesa over for drinks around 5:30 and they stayed until 9pm. We had a good time catching up with them. They are going on to Colombia so we won't be seeing them anymore- too bad as we will miss them. Very nice folks! They had stayed in Margarita when Ivan hit and after hearing their story I'm glad we weren't there with the storm. Things were not so good there although not nearly as bad as Grenada. October 27 Wednesday We have no wind and no sun so we need to run the engine again today to charge the batteries. Larry stayed on the boat running the engine and I went into town to do some shopping. I used the "green" dock - the one we used a lot last year. However, Ivan has damaged a lot of the dock so I don't think I'll use this one again as it hasn't been repaired great. Anyway, I had forgotten the stores don't get their food deliveries till Friday or Saturday so the store was pretty empty. I only bought 6 limes and a loaf of bread. I made some ceviche with the mackerel we got from the fisherman- it was excellent! I also made a peanut butter dip with it that was a good but the dip was way too salty- we couldn't even eat it as it was too salty. Anyway, we were going to do our first dive off the boat today and got all the stuff into the dinghy when a storm came in- lots of wind gusts but very little rain so we decided not to dive until it was over. By the time the storm was over it was after 3pm and to late to go diving as sv Sylvester was coming over around 5:30 and we didn't think we would have enough time to dive and get back to the boat. I had a headache so decided to lay down until they came over. We had a good time visiting with them although it was 10:30pm by the time they left- we are usually in bed before then! Anyway, we had a good time catching up, as we haven't seen them since PLC. October 28 Thursday We're still not getting enough wind or sun so needed to run the engine from 9-11:30 to charge the batteries. If this keeps up we'll have to buy diesel here and it's $2USD gallon compared to .15 gallon in VE! Hope we can get back to a gas station in Ve with what we have!! We also ran the water maker for one hour though we are not keeping up with our consumption. I did some emails and some logs. We did our first dive of this season off of our boat around 11:30am. I was very nervous, as it had been a while since we dove and had forgotten a lot. We did read the dive book again and this definitely helped. We used the air we already had in our tanks from when we left in January and it was still fine. Anyway, I couldn't go down and couldn't figure out why so I went to get 2 more lbs of weights. Then I discovered my wet suit wasn't zipped up!!! So, I really didn't need the 2 extra lbs but used them anyway. It was scary diving after not doing it for a while as a lot can go wrong. I didn't really feel too comfortable yet and guess it will take a few dives to get back in practice. Anyway, after the dive we went to the dive shop and they were able to fill our tanks right away, which is definitely easier on us as it saves us a trip back to pick up our tanks. We got back to the boat at 3pm and had a late lunch. Sylvester stopped by - they are leaving today so guess we won't see them until we're back in PLC. They asked us to pick up their mail when it comes in and notify Spice Island Lady when Odetta gets released so they can come from PLC to get the boat. Our dive shop has a party every Thursday night with free rum punch and ribs so we'll go. A free party is welcome any time! Windborne 3 and Promesa will leave within the next few days also so there will hardly be any one we know here- Dolphin Street will be leaving shortly also! We'll have to see if we stay here for Xmas or not- last year it was very lonely as we were by ourselves so we'll have to see when we'll return to PLC- a lot will depend on the weather but at least we will probably have around 50 dives in before we go. Our breakeven point for buying the equipment is at 42 dives and we left here last time after doing 37 dives. The Wanna Dive party was very good and we had a good time. We will definitely keep going until they stop it- think it's only until the end of November when tourist season starts in earnest. October 29 Friday No wind again so we are running the engine again this morning from 9-10:30. We went diving around 11 to Front Porch as Larry wanted to see a batfish they told us about. I didn't think we would see it and we didn't. This is not one of my favorite dives- as a matter of fact it's my least favorite dive. We spent a lot of time in shallow water looking for the batfish- boring! I had a problem clearing my right ear; this didn't happen the last time we were here. I am diving with 14 lbs and think this is too much- the extra weight makes me descend too quickly so I need to decrease it. We got back to the boat around 2pm and had lunch. At 3:30pm we walked to the Carib Inn dive shop. We used to take the dinghy there but Hurricane Ivan increased the surge around the dock so it isn't great for the dinghy anymore. I bought a new snorkel and some more mask clearing drops. I called UPS - our package is in Curacao so hopefully we'll get it on Monday. We got back to the boat around 5pm. I had made a big pot of spaghetti sauce during lunch so we had that for dinner along with the canned chop meat and mushrooms. Food is very expensive here so we'll try to buy as few things as possible. We were both tired so went to bed at 9pm but did not get a good night's sleep as we had on and off showers and thunderstorms plus the Friday and Saturday night band music played on until 3am! October 30 Saturday We woke up just in time for the security net at 8:15am. We both didn't get a good night's sleep from all the thunderstorms and the Friday and Saturday night band playing till 3am! It was still raining in the am so I caught some more water for laundry and did some more wash. I am completely caught up with all the laundry! Since laundry is so expensive here I'll try to only do laundry when we have rainwater or else do as little as possible until we get back to Ve. I made some more tortillas this morning, a different recipe from Amanda Swan's cookbook. We didn't like this one nearly as much as the other one. I also made some brownies with the cocoa powder from her cookbook- the recipe is OK but brownies made with real chocolate come out much better. It was a dark and dreary day so we decided not to go diving- it's not as good as when the sun is out plus we are both tired from lack of sleep. Too bad the marina is so expensive or we would go in it for a few days. The rain stopped in the morning so since the stainless steel was not completely cleaned we decided to finish the job we had started in the Aves. We got it all finished and the boat looks really good. We listened to George's weather and it looks like the trough is still near us so we're in for some more bad weather. It'll take a few more days until this settles down. We can't wait to get some wind and sun! We have been running the engine every day, as we don't have enough sun or wind to charge the batteries. The weekend disco was on and kept us awake until 3am. October 31 Sunday Happy Halloween! We woke up to thunderstorms, a west wind, lightening, rain and swells - this is not good! The anchorage is very uncomfortable. It rained so much I got 3 more buckets of water! All the laundry is done so I will save the water to do more laundry in a few days. Larry worked on the computer but with all the hatches closed, it was too hot and rolly down below for me. The storm died down around 11-11:30am but continued to rain lightly until around 1pm. I wanted to go to the marina office to give them some money in case we owe something on our UPS package but they close at noon on Sunday. So I just read my book in the cockpit. It was a little chilly out for us. (Those of you at home would probably say she's got to be kidding- it wasn't THAT cool! But to us living at 90 degrees for the past 4 years when the temp gets below 80 we are cold!) So I made a pot of just delicious soup mix. At 3pm, the rolling stopped so I was able to work on the computer and worked on it until 5pm. The kids in the anchorage stopped by for Halloween mostly all dressed up. Instead of asking for candy, they collected money for the local Animal Shelter. Great idea and we were glad to contribute to a very good cause. In the late afternoon, we finally got an East wind again but had very little wind. I made shrimp stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon. Delicious! It is definitely one of my favorite ways to have shrimp. November 1 Monday We woke up at 6am with slight rain - just enough to wake us up and have to close all the hatches. No wind so we had to run the engine again from 9-10:30am and also ran the water maker for an hour. We are taking showers at the dive shop so are definitely saving on our water usage this way. However, we still probably use around 10 gallons of water per day with the dishes, cleaning and drinking water. Around 11am we went diving right near our boat as we heard the seahorse was still around from last year. Sure enough it was still there in the same spot- under mooring number 6. It was absolutely great to see 2 of them! Unfortunately, we found it at the end of our dive so didn't have enough air to stay down for too long. I felt a lot better with this dive but am still having a little problem clearing my ears. I didn't have this problem at all last year. I reduced my weights to 12lbs and this seemed to be much better. We got back to the boat around 1:30pm, had lunch and then went into town so Larry could use the Internet. It actually worked out cheaper to buy a whole month using our own computer with the wireless Internet card though it's very expensive here- $42 for the month but that's unlimited usage. The hourly rate is $8USD so it's actually better to get the month because we're going to have to use it anyway. We couldn't get the computer with the wireless card to work correctly so Larry is very frustrated. Steph just bought us that card when she went to the US also. This was our first time using the card. We didn't get back to the boat until almost 6pm and were both tired at that time. Since I didn't have much time to cook we just had a can of the Brinkman Farms canned pork. I made it with bar-b-que sauce, couscous, and corn for dinner - a quick meal but tasty. Larry worked on the computer to see if he could get it to work correctly with the wireless card. But he couldn't get it to work at all and doesn't know what the problem is. November 2 Election Day Today is the US Presidential election. We had applied for absentee ballots to be sent here to Bonaire but they never arrived. We have no sun and no wind so we had to run the engine again today from 9-10:30am. We didn't have electric to run the watermaker also. We had some thunderstorms nearby but not too close to the boat. I made some cucumber soup, chicken Italiano, and cut up some carrots for dinner so everything was ready for tonight. We went diving to The Cliff around 10:45am. We were just going to dive at Something Special but a dive boat was already on it. It was dark and cloudy with lots of thunderstorms nearby when we finished the dive. I did not do well on the return portion of the dive- the current was against us, I couldn't move forward well due to the current, was using my hands a lot, and felt like I was rising to the top; in short, I was definitely panicking! We actually overshot the dinghy and had to swim back to it, as the visibility was so poor. We got back to the boat around 1:30, had lunch and left at 2:45pm to go to the Internet café. Larry finally got the wireless Internet working- turns out it was our wireless card! The store lent us one of theirs and it seemed to be working now. I went to make some phone calls- finally our UPS package is in! So, I took the dinghy down to the marina to get it and than returned to pick up Larry. We didn't get back to the boat until 6pm so I was glad I had dinner all prepared and just ready to pop into the oven. It definitely pays to get everything assembled in the morning before I am too tired to cook especially after diving. |