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Diane's DiaryOctober 25 Tuesday The refrigerator compressor seems to be running a lot- much more than normal so I'm glad we're here in the marina since we are using up lots of amps. The wind is east about 10 knots so we would have to run the engine if we weren't in the marina. Hurricane Wilma hit Florida yesterday with lots of destruction. Today we have Hurricane Alpha forming near Honduras - hope we don't get any waves or west winds from this one! This is the first time we have ever had to go into the Greek Alphabet during hurricane season as they ran out of the regular alphabet- it's been an unbelievable year. Anyway, Wilma is now heading up the east coast and is going to collide with a Nor'easter- just unbelievable- I've never seen the weather this bad in a long time. Since visibility wasn't that great, we headed over to Klein Bonaire and went to Lenora's Reef on the north side. I decreased my weights to 10 lbs and this was far to low as I couldn't descend and had trouble staying down. I wish I had brought some extra weight with us as I definitely would have used it. It was a bad dive for me as I felt like I was going to surface the entire dive. So, I know either 11 or 12 lbs is the correct weight for me- 12 is a little heavy as I need more air in my BC. With 11 lbs, I go down slower and have a little trouble at the end of the dive from being underweight but I can control it and don't feel like I'm going to surface. I'm going to continue with 11 lbs in the future. Water is very expensive here at .13 a gallon so hopefully we won't have to buy any. We need to be inside the boat around 6pm as that's the time the mosquitoes come out in droves. If you don't have bug spray on look out- they are fierce here! We watched network TV last night- we actually get lots of channels from the US. I'm enjoying watching CNN domestic again. In Venezuela all we have is CNN International! I want to know what's going on in the US more than I care for International stuff! October 26 Wednesday I had a headache this morning that started last night. I'm not sure if it's a migraine or what but I also had a sick stomach. I did hear a few other cruisers were sick so maybe it's just a bug. Normally, I probably would have just dived anyway. But in reading some dive magazines, it said not to dive with a headache so I won't. I just lay down in the am and finished my book # 24- The Jester by James Patterson. I like this author and the book was a lot different from anything else he has written. It was overcast and cloudy the entire day so I was glad we didn't dive anyway. In the pm, I felt a little better after I had taken some Imitrex so we went for a long walk down to Divi Flamingo to look for new dive boots for Larry. We couldn't find any but the lady boat driver we had met was there and told us where some seahorses are at Petrie's Pillar so we'll have to go find them. After we got back I walked to Sand Dollar to get some ice cream for after dinner- it's much cheaper than just going to the ice cream store. We must have walked at least several miles today but it was good exercise and it wasn't to hot out since it was cloudy. October 27 Thursday We went diving at 10:30 am this morning to try and find the seahorse at Petrie's Pillar since we had good instructions to find it. We found it! It was black and somewhat hard to spot but Larry found it. This is the first seahorse we have seen this year and I was glad to find one. I really enjoy seeing them and I think they are my favorite fish to see. We got back to the boat around 10:30, had lunch and I washed some more clothes. I am washing whatever is starting to smell- the rest will have to wait till we get back to PLC. Sending the clothes to the laundromat here is ridiculously expensive so the rest will have to wait until we get back to PLC. We took a swim in the pool, shower and at 5pm left to walk into town for Wanna Dive's weekly party with free rum drinks and chicken satay. We always try to go, as it's really our only night out. I enjoy going to it besides all the free food and drinks! It's about a 20-minute walk each way so we certainly are getting our exercise! October 28 Friday This has been an unbelievable Hurricane season - now we have another hurricane brewing. It's TS Beta that will probably turn into a hurricane tomorrow. It's near Honduras so hopefully we won't get any effects of it here. Hope that is the last storm for this season! We both got a bad night's sleep last night as we were up and down closing the windows with lots of rain. I didn't have my buckets out to catch rain so we only caught a little in the am. I use the rainwater to wash the dishes. I returned Freestyle's DVD's and asked Geri if she wants to walk down to the Warehouse to go shopping. It's probably a half hour walk from here. But she said she's going to go shopping tomorrow by car and I could come if I wanted so yes, I will go with her. October 29 Saturday At 9:30am, I left with Geri and Sharon from S/V Makai to go food shopping. We stopped at another boat first so didn't get going until almost 10am. I didn't know it but Freestyle has a car here. It had been in the shop getting repaired but she never told me they had one. They are also applying for residency here on Bonaire. I don't think I would want to live here. We got a late start food shopping so didn't get back to the boat till around 12:30. We also stopped to get fresh cooked ribs and chicken. At 2pm, we left to go diving and went to Front Porch right in front of Wanna Dive to see the wreck there. I surfaced earlier than Larry as I saw some people hanging onto our dinghy. No problem we don't care if they hang onto it at a mooring, as they were probably tired. However, I saw 2 kids and an adult so watched them for a few minutes. Sure enough, the kids went into our dinghy. I surfaced and told them to get out of it. The adult was their mother and said they are just kids. I said I don't care that's our property and you shouldn't let them go into it. She started yelling at me and I was yelling back. She seemed to think our property is theirs also! She didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with her kids going into our dinghy. So maybe we should just enter her car or house and start playing with things and see how she likes it! October 30 Sunday We got up late this morning as we were up during the night opening and closing the hatches. I called my friend Linda Liberi on the Skype phone. I haven't spoken to her in a long time so it was nice to hear her voice. I started doing the dishes and hadn't finished them when Sally from S/V Zahi came over. Larry was on the Skype phone talking to his friend Tony. Anyway, Sally stayed until 1pm. We hadn't expected her to stay so late and we actually wanted to make other phone calls this morning. The weekends are a good time to get a hold of friends in the US. Anyway, we went diving just to Something Special as the dive shop told us conditions weren't that great today- visibility was very limited. The current turned during our dive and was pushing us north towards the dinghy but still I couldn't control the quick movement. I tried to hang onto some rocks, as we were getting swept by. I was afraid the current would actually push us past our dinghy. I didn't like this swift current. For us diving off the dinghy is a lot different than a boat dive. On a boat dive, if you surface past the boat and can't get back they just pick you up. But for us, we have no such support so have to depend on ourselves. So we have to be more conservative with our diving than the dive boats. October 31 Monday Happy Halloween! We were up late again last night opening and closing the hatches with the rain. At 10am we went to the dive shop to get our tanks so we could meet Sally at Jerry's Reef on Klein Bonaire. Our tanks were not ready but the dive shop just let us borrow theirs, which was very nice of them. They were very busy but didn't have to lend us their tanks - they could have said just wait till they get a chance to fill it. Sally was already waiting for us at the dive mooring. We had asked her to come to the dive shop but she said she didn't want to waste the extra gas and would meet us at the dive site. This is the problem when the two dinghy's don't go together- we couldn't tell her there was a problem with our tanks as there was no way to get in contact with her. Anyway, the current was way to strong at Jerry's Reef. This site normally gets a lot of current so it is sometimes difficult to dive it. So, we went to the south side of Klein Bonaire and went to Bon Adventure. We had never dove here before and I liked the site. The wind was from the east and was about 15 knots so it was a little difficult coming back with the dinghy directly into the wind but we managed it. At 2:30pm, S/V Amorita came over and we gave them all our information on Los Roques and Las Aves. They stayed for about 2 hours. They were very nice to show us the batfish and they had located a rare find, a zebra sole. So we felt we would help them out since they are heading east and give them our information. We tried our first night dive tonight. The usual flashlight we have hanging off the dinghy had broken so now we were down to 3 flashlights. We hung one off the dinghy so we would be able to find the dinghy on our way back. Normally we just dive off the back of the boat but this time we went to the dive site Something Special so it was harder to see the dinghy compared to the big boat at night. This site is located right outside the marina entrance so we figured we couldn't get too lost. Anyway, as we were diving, I thought I saw Larry's flashlight getting dimmer so at 1800PSI I signaled to him to turn around. I would rather stay closer to the boat on a night dive but Larry always wants to dive so far away from the dinghy. He is always pushing the envelope while diving while I am a much more conservative diver. I don't feel the need to go far from the dinghy or dive deeper but he does. Larry dives much faster than I do when I just want to take it easier. November 1 Tuesday I wanted to vacuum seal the 5 lb of shredded cheese I had bought, as it doesn't last long once the package is opened. I had a difficult time with my vacuum sealer and thought it was broken, as it wouldn't work. I happened to call Freestyle and she reminded me there was different electric here in Bonaire - its European- 50 cycles instead of the 60 we have in the US. As soon as I started using the inverter, the machine worked so I was glad. I froze a few packs and vacuum sealed the rest. Our starboard water tank was leaking so Larry started working on the repair this morning. However, he didn't finish the repair so it'll have to wait until we're back in PLC. We also found a leak on the starboard side near our books and Larry doesn't know where this is coming from. It's possible it's one of the chainplates that he didn't replace. There is always maintenance to do on a boat. Boats are definitely a high maintenance item much more than a house or car. Anyway, Larry had to stop working on the water tank repair when the electric drill stopped- it has to be recharged and he was ready to quit for the day and go diving anyway. At 1:30pm, we went to see the batfish near S/V Amorita. It was getting late by the time we had finished snorkeling so we just went diving to a nearby site - The Cliff, because it was close. It is an OK dive site but certainly not one of my favorites. It was good today because the site is close to shore and we have been having some very strong currents lately so we knew we were less likely to have strong currents here. The wind was up to around 20 knots from the east and gusty. Since the refrigerator is using up lots of amps, we figured we would just stay in the marina until a few days prior to our leaving to head back to VE. November 2 Wednesday The wind is east - southeast near 20 knots and gusting higher. Larry wanted to go dive the Hilma Hooker wreck and do Angel City. It was a very rough dinghy ride out there and I actually didn't think we should go since it was to rough. But of course Larry wanted to go so we did. This definitely increased my anxiety about the dive, as the dinghy trip was really rough. We got 2 extra tanks from the dive shop so now had 4 tanks. It took us almost 45 minutes to get out there as there was so much wind and we had to pump out the dinghy several times as it was getting full of water. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about the tough trip. We did the Hooker first. We are allowed to wear dive gloves at this site but I found it difficult to get my gear on in the water with my thick dive gloves. Larry had on his snorkeling gloves so these were much lighter. I couldn't do my buckle on my BC, Larry had to do it but he pulled the tabs all the way open so I didn't have the dexterity with my gloves on to pull it closer so my BC was to big for me. I finally got it pulled closer so my BC felt better. Anyway, I was afraid there would be a lot of current at the site so was definitely more nervous than normal but I did OK and the current was not very strong but visibility was not too good. We brought a light lunch with us so we would have something to eat. We waited an hour or so and than did our second dive at Angel City. Both sites had very reduced visibility so the diving wasn't great. We both liked Angel City a lot. Larry had never been diving at this site before but I did it 2 years ago. His regulator had broken so couldn't dive the site then. We both thought this was one of the best dive sites on Bonaire. We didn't get back to the boat until 4:30pm and I was exhausted. I think 2 dives are too much in a short time period. I prefer just one dive a day. But we are leaving soon so Larry wants to do as many dives as possible. We had an early dinner since we didn't have much lunch and watched TV the rest of the night. How strange to see American TV after so long- we both feel like we didn't miss much as there doesn't seem to be much on. Actually, when we don't have it I really don't miss it but only do so when I get bored reading at night. November 3 Thursday We came up to Petrie's Pillar this morning to show Sally the seahorses. We had told her where they were; she got to the site before us, found them and pointed them out again to us as they had moved slightly. I'm sure we would have been able to spot the seahorses ourselves. There's supposed to be 3 of them but we only found two. We got back to the boat, had lunch and I worked on my logs in the pm. Living Aboard magazine wrote back - they would print my making bread article! The Caribbean Compass is also printing this article in the December issue. I am allowed to put articles in both papers, as the Compass owns the rights in the Caribbean while the magazine owns the rights in the US. I have to take pictures of the bread and me, and need a headshot of me also. So I am going to have to make some more bread but will just wait until we get back to PLC. Boy, I am excited about this. I will submit some of my other old articles to them also so maybe they'll print them too. Why not make some extra money out of it? You don't get paid much but its nice having my name in print. It definitely gives me lots of self-satisfaction and I enjoy writing. Years ago I took a creative writing class in high school and always enjoyed that course. I just sometimes find it difficult to actually sit down and write the article but I have lots of articles in my head! I do need to write an article about what's happening to cruisers in Bonaire. I will submit this to the CC as well as Cruising World. I just have to write it first! At 4pm we went up to the small pool for a quick dip, took showers and were off to the Wanna Dive party at 5pm. I always like this party and enjoy going to it.
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