|
Home Port Our Logs The Crew Calendar Favorite Links The Boat Photo Album Route and Charts Miscellaneous Stuff |
Diane's DiaryDecember 1 Wednesday More clouds, very overcast and low wind so I know we will be running the engine again later! We took a month service on the Internet; the time is up tomorrow so we have a lot of things we need to finish up before than. Like ordering Xmas presents for people. So we are going to dive Something Special as it's near the boat so we can have plenty of time to spend on the Internet. Larry thinks he saw a new species of fish today so he was very excited about that. He's going to contact REEF with the finding. We got back to the boat around at 1:30pm, had lunch and were then off to the Internet café. We got back around 5:30pm and luckily I had spaghetti sauce all made - I just had to make some pasta so we could have a quick dinner. December 2 Thursday We had an East wind about 10 knots but gusty and about 50% cloud cover. We decided to dive at Jerry's Reef as Diane from Lady Diane volunteered to be our spotter. That means she just sits in our dinghy and at the end of the dive picks us up in the boat if the current is too strong for us to get back. This site is known for lots of current plus the mooring is in deep water so it's hard to see the boat to know where to surface. Fortunately, we had zero current, which was great. I really liked this site a lot. Larry trailed an orange float above us so Diane would know where we were at all times. Unfortunately, Larry also lost his snorkel so we need to go buy another one - we have one backup snorkel but it's not great. Anyway, we saw 2 huge lobsters- right out in the open too! They were about 8lb so they were the biggest lobsters we have ever seen. Wish we could have caught them but it's forbidden to take anything in the Marine Park. The orange sponges we saw were the hugest I had ever seen and were very pretty. We also saw some beautiful soft green coral that was just beautiful. I really liked this site a lot and visibility was good enough so we found the dinghy on our way back - I think it was just luck though. I'd like to dive this site again before we leave. After lunch, we went back for our last day on the Internet. We couldn't access Omaha Steaks and they only have a toll free number so we will ask Eric if he would put in the order for us. We got back to the boat around 5:30 and I made a wonderful dinner of Steak Au Poivre- excellent! December 3 Friday The fan on the refrigerator compressor went out so Larry needed to fix it this morning. I wanted to go food shopping but couldn't go. The stores get their food delivered on Friday most of the time so it's a good day to go food shopping - weekends are too crowded with locals. Larry finished the work around 11am and we went into town - he to Budget Marine and I was going to go food shopping. I stopped at the tourist office to ask if the supermarkets close for lunch - I go to 2 different stores. Anyway, one closed for lunch so I decided not to walk the 15 minutes down there for just one store, I'll just go Monday instead. Fortunately, we had the walkie-talkies with us but when I called Larry he didn't respond- he had not turned it on! But I saw him walking so got him as I waited in an area where he would pass by. We walked down to the Carib Inn so Larry could buy another snorkel and we got a few other things also. After lunch, we dove Something Special, as it was already late in the day. We took Diane from Lady Diane with us. She was less experienced than us and had not been diving in 6 months. So I actually did not enjoy our dive as much since I was worried about her. It's hard to dive with other people as we are used to diving ourselves or with Sally, who as a dive master takes care of herself and dives by herself. Larry found the same fish species as before- it was NOT the new species he thought it was. December 4 Saturday We have some sun but the wind is still low from the SE. Larry wanted to go out to the south side of Klein Bonaire but I wasn't too sure of this since I thought it might be too breezy for the dinghy. But off we went anyway. The dive site the Forest was actually opened- this is the first time we had ever seen it opened so Larry wanted to go on it. The dinghy was really bouncing around in all the wind though. I thought the site was OK but it was cloudy in shallow water. I did enjoy all the hills and valleys but as far as I am concerned it's too long a dinghy ride out here. We got back to the boat, had lunch, and at 3pm went into town. Larry went to buy dinghy gas- 18.36USD for 5 gallons- OUCH! In VE, we would have paid less than 1USD! I went to the bank to withdraw some USD- we want to make sure we have plenty of cash to bring back to VE. But we can only get $1000 day and only $500 each time- in $20 bills also! I walked from the green dock into town and back so it was a nice long walk. S/V Papillon asked us to pick up their spear gun at customs - they had forgotten it. I thought customs would give me a hard time but they were as nice as could be and gave it to me right away just as long as I promised we wouldn't use it here on Bonaire! Spear guns are not allowed to be used anywhere in Bonaire waters so we will of course abide by their rules. Lady Diane had invited us over for drinks and dinner at 5pm so off we went. She made pizza and all had a good time. They had wanted to thank us and the other boat Serendipity that helped them but Serendipity had already left Bonaire. December 5 Sunday We met Sally at 9:30am and took the 2 dinghies to a dive spot up north. We wound up going to Witches Hut which was OK but it took 30 minutes to get up there and I didn't think the dive site was worth using all that dinghy gas up. Visibility was not that great in the shallow water. We did see another lobster though not as big as the previous one. We didn't get back to the boat until 2pm and had lunch. We are going to do a night dive tonight so wanted to take it easy until then. I broke my tooth eating lunch so Larry thinks I'll need a crown. Getting it done here will take a few weeks and will be more expensive than VE so hopefully it will just wait until we get back to PLC. We are also having problems with the refrigerator- the compressor won't shut off so I am just turning it off for several hours a day. I thought we had been having some problems with it but confirmed it when the temperature decreased while we were out diving. Hopefully, we'll just make it back to PLC with it and than get it fixed there, as it will be a lot cheaper. Larry has finally agreed to go back to PLC on the next good weather window. However, the wind is up to 20-25 knots with seas as high as 7-9 feet until Thursday so we'll just stay put and leave at the next good weather window. I hope we can make it back to PLC before Christmas! Larry doesn't care if we do or not but I found it very depressing not knowing anyone here last Christmas and not celebrating it with anyone. We did a night dive tonight. It turned out much better than the last one although I got really cold at the end of the dive and started shivering. We didn't see as many fish this time but did see the seahorse again. December 6 Monday Larry had to do some more work for his friend Joe Demers on the website he designed for Joe. We had already finished our month on the Internet and had to pay $10USD as a daily rate using our own computer or $8USD per hour so we just used our own computer. I walked to the supermarkets but the shelves were bare. I spoke to the manager, as I knew him from last year. He said people had just gotten paid since it was the end of the month so the store was shopped out. Also, people were food shopping for the holidays already. He said he expects another food delivery Friday morning so I should come back Friday afternoon for the best selection. In the pm, we took Diane from Lady Diane diving with us to Front Porch. Visibility was terrible in the shadows so she discontinued the dive, she was nervous with the low visibility. We knew the visibility has been bad in the shallows but is better deeper so we just continued. There was quite a bit of current and we couldn't find the seahorse again so it wasn't a great dive. We got back to the boat around 4:45pm. S/V Delphinus came over to give us the reef ID fish test - Larry passed but I didn't. I didn't know the family names of the fish and was too tired to concentrate anyway. My mind was on making dinner so I was preoccupied. I made shrimp wrapped in bacon and cheese with couscous and cucumbers- delicious! December 7 Tuesday The boat was rolling a lot during the night so I really didn't get a great night's sleep. Today we have an East wind about 20 knots with about 50% sun. We went diving up to Barcadera this morning on the advice of Bob from the dive shop. Larry wanted to go back to Klein Bonaire but Bob said he thought the wind would be up even more when we finished our dive and we would have a difficult time returning. We were glad we went to Barkadera and liked the site even though it took us about 20 minutes to get up there by dinghy. We saw a huge school of boga fish that was all around us that was just fantastic and just loved it. It was one of the best things we have seen diving here in Bonaire! We got back to the boat around 2pm, had lunch and went into town. Larry bought a new dive slate as he lost this also (last time he lost his snorkel). I also did a little food shopping. We got back to the boat around 4:30pm and I made some homemade brownies. We wanted to give our dive shop a little present for all their help so will give them some. I made spaghetti carbonara for dinner and it came out great as I have a good recipe for it. December 8 Wednesday We met Sally at 9:30am and went to dive at Jerry's reef. She has an underwater digital camera so we took pictures of each other. I really like the huge orange sponges at this site. We had a fair amount of current so didn't dive very far from the dinghy. We took some pictures. We saw a turtle swimming that was great to watch as it swam. We got back to the dive shop at 12 and to the boat at 1pm. We had lunch and just relaxed as we are going to do another night dive tonight so wanted to relax before that. I tried to take a nap but couldn't sleep. We had an early dinner than started our dive at 7pm, last time we descended just after sun set around 6:15pm. We actually didn't see as many fish this time as the last time. I didn't enjoy the dive as much. I started to get really cold on our return- the water temperature is decreasing as it's winter now and we have increased our dive times considerably since we first arrived. So since we are in the water longer, I am just getting colder since we are down longer. We are now getting about 70 minutes of air on each tank diving at around 60 feet for the first half and returning at around 40 feet. I think we are just getting more comfortable diving now. I don't feel as nervous as I first did night diving either. December 9 Thursday UGH- we had maggots on our kitchen counter and in the garbage this morning so something must have gone bad in the garbage. I cleaned it all up and we got rid of the garbage in the marina. We got some more dinghy gas at the marina- $1/liter or almost $4USD per gallon! Ouch! Anyway, we stopped to see Sally and give her a blank CD- she promised to make a copy of the underwater pictures we took yesterday. We went diving by ourselves to Something Special. We saw a gray French angelfish, which is rare here. Even though this is not a pretty site, it's close to the boat and we always see lots of great fish here so we always enjoy the site. We saw a turtle on the surface before we started our dive and I saw him again at the end of the dive swimming in the water. Larry had already left the water so he didn't see the turtle. Ray from Drivers Wanted came in just as we were finishing lunch so we helped him get on a mooring. We took Diane diving with us this afternoon- we probably would not have gone since it was about 3pm when we got in the water but we had promised her we would take her so felt we should go. Her dinghy motor didn't start and we had to tow her back to the boat from the dive shop. By this time I was totally wiped out and didn't feel like having any company. We stopped by Ray and asked him to come over tomorrow night. December 10 Friday Today is our last dive in Bonaire and we wanted to do it by ourselves. We were going to go up to Barcadera but saw a dive boat on it. Petrie's Pillar was open so we just went here instead. It's still cloudy and overcast out with some wind but it's definitely decreasing. The water visibility is still not great though but we enjoyed the dive anyway. We both are getting very comfortable diving; it's just too bad we're leaving now. I am still having problems with my right ear- think we have just been diving too much and I may have a slight infection. My tooth also hurts trying to suck in air at the deeper depths so I just turned around earlier and ascended to a shallower depth and it seemed OK. We wound up doing a total of 33 dives while here this time and have dived a total of 70 dives now. It rained on and off all morning but cleared up in the pm. Lady Diane is still having problems with their dinghy engine - they also have a lot of other problems with the boat. Larry dinghied them to shore this morning so they could pick up the mechanic to work on their dinghy motor. They were trying to row to shore but even though it's not to far, there is a current, which makes it difficult. Inflatable dinghies don't row that well anyway. Anyway, in the pm, I went food shopping and took Lady Diane with me. We were fortunate to find the supermarket van in town and asked him to drive us to the supermarket, which he did. We had Ray and Ramona over for drinks but they could only stay for an hour since they had guests flying in and had to go meet them. We wish we had a longer time to spend with them though as we enjoyed their company. We invited them to come back to the boat with their crew but the flight was late so they didn't get to their boat till after 9pm - too late for us! Ray is on his way to Colombia so don't know if we'll ever see him again. The disco was on tonight so I didn't get a great night sleep- it went until 4am too! December 11 Saturday We will leave tomorrow night with Pisces III and Lady Diane. We have been carefully watching the weather and think the weather will be OK. We won't be able to linger at any one place, as we don't know how long the good weather will hold. In CB language, we need to put the pedal to the medal! Anyway, we both woke up late for us- around 8am. The disco kept us up and them it rained twice getting us both up to close the hatches. I made bacon and eggs for breakfast. I wrote a letter to Mom and Dad as Ramona is flying back to NY tomorrow and will mail it for us. I made some food for the passage- chicken picatta and fried up some chicken cutlets. I have found it's better to have most of the food already prepared as I don't feel like cooking after a long passage. We are really low on our food supplies but I only bought some food in Bonaire that we can't get in VE- like cheddar cheese, cream cheese, feta cheese, huge cans of black olives (51oz for about $8USD). Fruits and vegetables are outrageously expensive here so it's just cans until I can go food shopping in PLC. Around 3:30pm, we went to the dive shop to take a swim and pay our dive bill- $222 for 32 tanks (1 was already filled when we got here) and 2 Marine Park tags at $10 each. It was cloudy and overcast the whole day with some rain so we're glad we hadn't planned on leaving today. We went out to dinner with Lady Diane and Drivers Wanted to a cheap rib restaurant called Bobbie Jan's. The new crewmember from Driver's Wanted paid for all of us- how nice! After we all went for ice cream. I can't remember any cruiser treating us for dinner at all so it was a pleasant surprise. What a nice gesture! December 12 Sunday and December 13 Monday We spent a busy day getting prepared to leave Bonaire. The Queen Mary 2, the largest cruise ship in the world, was in port today and it was nice to see this huge new cruise ship. Ray stopped by in the morning so we could say good-bye to Ramona as she's headed back to NY- wish we could have spent some more time with them. We also went into town to clear customs, go food shopping and see the QM2. We got back to the boat around noon and did some more preparation to leave tonight. We also went into the marina to get rid of the garbage. We had to put all the dive equipment away as well as store everything else. We raised the dinghy up on deck and probably won't take it down until we get back to PLC. It's just too much of a hassle to take it down and put it back up for just a day. So we'll just leave it on deck until we get back to PLC. We left the anchorage in the midst of a small rain shower at 6pm. The winds were at first E -NE about 12 knots with about 3-5 foot seas. We could have made Ensa Cata at this point but Pisces 3 did not have any self-steering and the extra hours steering by hand would have been difficult on them so we decided to just go for Chichiriviche. Had we been by ourselves, we would definitely have continued to Ensa Cata but that's the hard part about traveling with other boats and is the reason we like to just go ourselves. Now we are going to have to extend our trip by one day since we didn't get to Ensa Cata in one trip. However, the wind than switched due East about 10 knots with 3-4 foot seas so it would have been tough for us to continue to Ensa Cata at that rate. We really had a very nice easy passage although we were only moving along at 4 knots. Well, I would rather have it this way than lots of wind and seas! We only had the main up and Larry was asleep - he told me to wake him if our speed fell below 4 knots. Naturally it did so I had to wake him up, we put the jib up, and we increased our speed by almost a knot. We arrived in Cayo Sal around 11:30am. We found this anchorage much easier to get into compared to Cayo los Muertos where we went last year. It was also much prettier. Last year we went to see the Indian cliff writings so Cayo Muertos was closer than Cayo Sal. Lady Diane had engine problems and Don spent a lot of time in the engine room trying to correct the problems. I took a nap from 2-4pm and after we both took a swim. That evening, when opening an overhead locker a bottle of chili sauce fell right on my foot- cut my big toe and hurt A LOT! I know I'll have a huge black and blue from this! We went to bed at 8pm since we want to be under way by 7am. |