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Larry's LogMonday, October 25, 2004 Our first day back in Bonaire was busy running errands - of course the first was clearing in. Before that though, we had to launch the dinghy and get it ready. There were lots of cruisers we know here so we talked to a few before and then after going to Customs and Immigration, but the process itself was very easy and free. Finishing with Immigration around 11:30, we went around the town a little and then ate lunch at a nice restaurant called the 'Lost Penguin', a little expensive but the burgers were excellent. We saw Blanca and Leo there so we joined them. After lunch, we went back to the boat and quickly went to the marina to check in with them. We then walked to an Internet place about 15 minutes walk away. He was offering unlimited wireless access for 50 guilders per month while the place in town was $50 US per month for the same service. The difference was the walk in the hot sun and there was air conditioning at the place in town. We had some ice cream on the way back but we'll have to think about web access. Finally, on the way back to the dinghy, we stopped at the Wanna Dive shop and signed up for air refills again. The owners remembered us, and they were very nice so we had decided to us them again. Their dock was still there and it had cleats and fenders now but there had been a little damage - a side railing had fallen into the water but that didn't affect the dock's use. We went back to the boat around 5 and the wind had calmed down so we didn't get wet on that ride. We just relaxed the rest of the afternoon although I put up the wind scoop and the small awning that goes over the foredeck. Hopefully that would keep most of the rain out. I put the large awning on deck and we'll put that up tomorrow. The next day, with no wind overnight and not a lot of sun the day before, I had to run the engine for about 3 hours in the morning. Part of that was caused by having to run the watermaker also which soaks up 17 amps per hour but the batteries had been quite low anyway. Ingemar had come over early to invite us to go diving with them on Dolphin Street since they were taking the boat to Klein Bonaire. We thanked him but had to pass since we still had errands to run. The morning turned out to be very rainy anyway. I had started putting up the big awning when it started and it came down pretty hard at times. Diane took the opportunity to do some hand laundry - the awning caught rainwater pretty well if you didn't mind getting wet yourself so with three buckets she did the settee slipcovers and the cockpit chair covers. We needed to go in to shore to order the new regulator and luckily, it stopped raining and the batteries were charged by a little after noon. After we ate, we went in and made our call. Hopefully the part will arrive early next week. After that was done we walked around some more and while I browsed through the local chandlery, Diane went shopping for some fresh veggies at the market nearby. Back at the boat, we were both pretty hot so we went in swimming around the boat but with the masks and snorkels. Although the mooring was in sand, the drop off right behind it was very steep and was where the reef began. The sand had some small coral formations also though and we just looked at those. For a place where snorkeling is not touted, it wasn't bad although obviously not as pretty as a coral reef. A little later, Leo and Blanca came over for drinks and snacks. We had never had them to the boat although we had talked about it since meeting them in Puerto La Cruz. I found out Leo's saga with his watermaker (not too dissimilar from mine) and also the problem he just had with his water muffler. Boats, its always something!! Well, we almost got diving the next day. The morning was a little busy with Diane taking the dinghy to go shopping and me monitoring running the engine and watermaker and putting the slipcovers back on the settee cushions - not as easy as it sounds. Diane got back about 11:30 and for lunch we had a ceviche made from the mackerel that she traded for with a fisherman while in the Aves. It was really pretty good since the citrus removed all traces of any oily taste from a naturally oily fish. After lunch we were going to dive just from the boat so I got out everything; BCDs, tanks, regulators, etc. I tested the air in the tanks since it had been in there for 9 months and it seemed fine. I put the new tank boot on Diane's tank, put the BCDs on the tanks, and loaded them into the dinghy. We were about to put the rest of the gear into the dinghy when I noticed the sky was getting very dark. I suggested we wait a bit and sure enough, we had a pretty hard squall come through. Not much rain but some wind. We waited for the squall to pass but by the time it did, it was really too late to dive since we had company coming again tonight. After an hour in the water, then going to the dive shop to rinse off the equipment and drop off the tanks, coming back to the boat to get dressed, etc. would have taken too much time since it was already about 3pm - oh well. David and Terri from Sylvester came over about 6. We knew them from PLC and they were very nice people - we had never invited them over before. We enjoyed visiting with them for a few hours as they were planning to leave to go back to PLC tomorrow if the weather cooperated. We finally got our first dive in the next day, Thursday, but first we had to run the engine and watermaker for a while. The day promised to be overcast and perhaps squally but it didn't rain until after we got back to the boat from the dive shop, later in the afternoon. We got all our equipment in the dinghy and dove right near the boat. It took a little while to get the equipment setup right but we would certainly get used to it again. We got in the water about noon but Diane had a problem at first after we tried going down. She finally realized that her wet suit wasn't zipped up - there was probably an air pocket in it. We straightened that out and started our dive. She was still a bit nervous but I was pretty much fine. We didn't go far but we did see some nice fish and the coral where the boat was now seemed to be better than where we were last year. Overall, it was a good refresher. We got our stuff back to the dive shop and they refilled the tanks immediately for us; that was very nice. We saw Ray, Gail and Ashley, from Precocious Gale, come in to get their tanks so we talked for a while. After showers, we went back to the boat, got our equipment on board and then at about 5, we went to shore to go to the little party that WannaDive now gives every Thursday at their shop in town. We stopped at Promesa to say goodbye - they were leaving tonight, Sylvester with David and Terri had left a little while before and Windborne 3 had left yesterday. It seemed everyone we knew was leaving (of course, Honalee and Dolphin Street were still here but both also planned to leave in a week or so.) Anyway, the party was good and we had a nice time there - they had an excellent rum punch and barbeque ribs that were very good (and I typically don't like ribs). We got back to the boat around 7:30 and had a little snack before our typical evening routine of reading and email. Last night was again hot and windless. Its supposed to be like this for the next few days and it makes sleeping uncomfortable. We do have some small fans that help but I still wake up in the middle of the night sweating. In the morning the wind picked up a little to about 5 to 8 knots so at least it was a little cooler, although that much doesn't make any significant electricity and I had to run the engine again this morning. About 11, we went on another dive, this time to a site close by called Front Porch. We had been there several times last year and although it wasn't pretty, there was a lot of fish diversity there. I was looking specifically for a Batfish that the WannaDive staff told me about but I didn't find it. I did see a new species though - a Pearly Razorfish - in the sand flats where the Batfish was supposedly lurking. Well, at least I saw something new. We went back to the shop, did our routine of rinsing and washing, got the tanks refilled and went back to the boat for lunch. Around 3:30, we went in to shore again to call UPS about the voltage regulator that was supposedly on its way. The guy I ordered it from in the States sent me an email saying it was sent out and should arrive Friday (today) or Monday. We finally got someone and he said he would look up the tracking number and to call him back. So, we walked down to the Carib Inn, where we bought most of our equipment last year, and Diane bought a new snorkel and some mask anti-fog drops. By the time we walked back to town, it was late enough to call UPS back - sure enough, the part was in Curacao, and hopefully it would get to Bonaire on Monday. Back at the boat, we just relaxed and had a few drinks - it had been a long few days, especially with the uncomfortable nights. We were up several times during the night again with some rain, but not much wind, so we got up late Friday morning. We listened to the SSB net (there is no local radio net here) and then spoke to Blanca on Promesa. They had arrived in Curacao and their engine was OK but the wind generator broke. Leo had spare parts and had fixed it before so it wasn't a big problem but they had been experiencing a lot of breakdowns recently. Hopefully that was their last. We also spoke briefly to Walt, on Cop Out, who was in Cartagena. Promesa was following them soon and so we spoke to them for a bit and relayed some messages. Cop Out was anchored in the Cartagena Bay but going into the marina soon. They also told us how Bud and Judy on Gonzo II was doing. Gonzo was going to the western Caribbean as well but had severe engine problems on the trip to Colombia. We had heard the priority call on the Security net about a week ago - they sailed/drifted between Aruba and the Colombian coast for 2 days in almost calm conditions before asking for help. Several boats contacted the Columbian authorities and luckily, the Colombian Coast Guard towed them into a town called Santa Marta and had a mechanic waiting to help. Unfortunately, the engine couldn't be fixed (or replaced) there so they waited for a weather window to sail the rest of the 200 miles to Cartagena. Walt said their engine would probably have to be replaced - a big expense but at least they would be in a beautiful city. When we spoke, they were still 60 miles out and had experienced everything from calms to 25 knots, making from 25 miles in 12 hours to 7 knots over the ground. I know they will be glad to have that passage behind them! Meanwhile, we had a very overcast, rainy day in Bonaire. After running the engine again, we didn't do much although Diane kept busy in the galley while I worked on the web site. The afternoon was still dreary so we just finished doing the stainless steel around the boat - at least that was done now. Sunday the weather still wasn't cooperating; it was again very overcast and raining all morning. We stayed on the boat and except for running the engine and watermaker again, didn't do much at all. There were some thunderstorms mixed in with the plain rain so we didn't feel it was a good idea to go anywhere. At times, the boat was pointed west although we still had plenty of water below the keel. The afternoon was pretty boring also. Since tonight was Halloween, some of the cruiser kids were going to do a 'trick or treat' for the local animal shelter, so at least that was something to look forward to see. As it turns out, they didn't come until about 7:30. There were about 6 kids, all in some kind of costume, with a Jack O' Lantern sitting on the dinghy seat with an electric light inside - it really was very amusing. The following day, Monday, the morning was great and the afternoon sucked. After doing our now routine morning chores, running the engine and watermaker, we went diving just from the boat. We went south in the direction of our mooring last year and it was just OK until we turned back and went to look at a clump of brown Rope Sponges. We had found a seahorse in some last year and Ray had told us he was still around. After looking at the first clump for a while, we went on and saw another large clump. We looked there and were just about to leave when I saw one at the bottom. I went to have a closer look and then saw the second seahorse about 5 inches from the first. Diane and I both watched them for a few minutes and then started back to the boat again. We had swam a fairly long way and weren't sure how long it would take to get back without running out of air but chances are if we wanted to see them again, we could go back and they would be there. Once we brought the equipment and tanks to the dive shop, rinsed everything and got back to the boat, it was about 1:30 so we had lunch and went into town. We wanted to check on our package delivery and sign up for the wireless Internet at the local store. We got to the store and while I worked on getting things connected with the guy there, Diane went to make some phone calls. I was using the new wireless, USB remote antenna that Steph had brought back for me from the States. The store used them also so that was a good sign. Unfortunately, after trying for 2 hours to get connected, it never worked. The guy was very good about helping and he even got someone else who was supposed to know more. They seemed to feel that if I upgraded from Windows ME to XP the problem would go away. The loaned me a Windows XP CD to look at (I would have bought a copy if I did the upgrade) and we left the store after being frustrated for almost 3 hours. To top it off, Diane had called UPS about the replacement voltage regulator delivery - the guy thought it had gone to Aruba. After dinner, I did a data backup to a CD and then looked at XP. Microsoft provides a utility to test the existing hardware and software for compatibility with the new operating system so I ran that. It took about 20 minutes and showed that several of my existing pieces of hardware and lots of software would either have to be reinstalled or upgraded. Since I couldn't do that, I decided to skip the upgrade. To try to get the wireless to work though, I went through the online instructions and tried uninstalling the drivers and then reinstalling everything. When I connected the card, it seemed to be working but of course, there was no access point to connect to. We'll have to see what happens at the store tomorrow. |