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Larry's LogToday was almost a carbon copy of yesterday except it turned out a little better. We went diving in the morning after charging the batteries, picking up the tanks first. The 'Something Special' site was occupied so we went to one called the 'Cliff.' We had been there last year several times and it was a nice wall dive. The visibility was pretty good at the beginning and we saw some large Tarpon, grouper and snappers. Again on the way back we saw the most interesting thing, a large Tiger Group (about 3 feet or 20 pounds) being cleaned by small fish. The grouper was resting near the bottom, had turned very dark and had his mouth open. The small cleaner fish, gobies and a juvenile Spanish Hogfish, were going over the gills and scales picking off parasites. Most interestingly, as I swam over the darkened grouper, I could see the small parasites moving around on the body trying to avoid the cleaners. Going back there was a current and the visibility got bad so we actually swam past the dinghy. We surfaced and got back although my dive computer said we ascended too fast for the last 10 feet. We went back to the dive shop, rinsed the gear, dropped off the tanks and went back to Destiny for lunch. Diane called the marina, at 2pm, and there was still no delivery for us. We went to the Internet place again about 2:30 and while the technician and I started trying to get the wireless working on my laptop, Diane went shopping and made more calls. She came back about an hour later and we still were working without much luck. She came in and said that she called the marina again and they said our delivery came so she would go pick it up and come back for me. We kept trying to get my card working but eventually, the technician suggested that we try one of their cards, just to see if it works. I removed the software for my card, rebooted, installed their software, mounted their card and it worked immediately. Although I was very happy to have it work, what was wrong with the card I bought? Well, I continued to use theirs until Diane came back and the store clerk and I worked out a deal whereby I could use one of their cards until we left Bonaire. It was a very nice thing to do, especially after the technician and I spent so much time on trying to get my card to work. I quit after only 30 minutes since it was almost 6 and Diane wanted to get back to the boat. Still, at least I knew I could get Internet access now though. I could also install our new voltage regulator tomorrow morning. Wednesday I learned that I am not an electrical engineer (of course, I knew that already but it was reinforced). I started installing the new voltage regulator and it was easy enough. After I took out the temporary system of 2 light bulbs, I just removed the old one and put the new one in. They were the same model so the wiring and even the mounting holes were the same. I hooked up the wires and turned on the engine - no charging. The regulator gave the same error as the old one, "Can't turn on (alternator) field." Since the alternator was definitely all right and the regulator was new, I started looking at other, and what I thought were very remote, possibilities. I had checked all the wires before when the problem first occurred but I checked them again and continuity was still fine. Then I looked at the wiring diagram that came with the old regulator and that I had followed closely when I installed it. Besides the regulator itself and the wires connecting it to various places, there were 2 fuses. One was to the solenoid that controlled the charging of the starter battery and the other was in line from the battery positive distribution bar to the regulator's B+ terminal. I hadn't tested that one before and sure enough, after climbing over the engine to look, the fuse was blown. I replaced it and everything worked fine. I even put the old regulator back in and that worked fine also. I just couldn't understand why a fuse not connected in any direct way to the alternator's field terminal or wire would have blown because the wire vibrated off the alternator's terminal. In any case, the batteries were charging normally now and I had a spare regulator. The only sad part was that we cut short our stay in Las Aves to get to Bonaire to order the replacement. Maybe we'll go back to PLC through the islands if the weather is good. After lunch, (it had taken all morning to find the real problem), we decided that it was too dreary a day (again) to go diving so I went to the Internet place while Diane stayed on the boat. I had no problems connecting (they let me use their card once more) and I did a fair amount of upgrading, updating and checking things over the web. I got back around 4:30 and we just relaxed the rest of the day. Finally, we had some decent weather the next day - I wouldn't say sunny since it was still 50 percent overcast but at least it only rained a little overnight and there were patches of blue in the sky. Still not much wind though. After running the engine in the morning, we went diving at a site close to the boat, called Something Special. We had been there many times last year but we still liked it. We went fairly deep, about 80 feet and saw lots of interesting species; one of my favorites, a Cherubfish. We also saw the same colony of Brown Garden Eels as last year and although I almost expected to see the same huge Green Moray, he had moved on of course. We then went along the reef and finally into the shallow sandy area and I saw my first Diamond Blenny, on a small coral head near an anemone. We also had our picture taken underwater by another cruiser that we had shared the dive mooring with. It was a very enjoyable dive with lots of diversity. After lunch, I put new insulation on the door of the refrigerator. Some of the old stuff was falling off so I got out all my weatherstripping and gasket material, cleaned the area of the old glue and dirt and put the new stuff on. I used slightly thicker material so when the lid closed, it really sealed the box. I don't know how long it will last since it now rubs against the sides of the box but we'll see what happens. I have more of the narrower stuff if that doesn't work out. The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed until the party started at the WannaDive shop. Tom and Pat from Ismael also came and brought a Norwegian cruising couple, Knute and Lev. They were interested in learning diving so we though they might enjoy the party. There were a lot more people than last week but it was still nice to get off the boat. Friday, we finally had a nice day - although it rained a little at about 6am, it cleared up and by the afternoon it was sunny with a nice breeze of 8 knots from the southeast. It had been almost 2 weeks since the sun was really 'out.' Unfortunately, we had to go to shore in the morning and clear in with Immigration again. We had been in Bonaire almost 2 weeks and, for some reason, needed to go and check in again, but only with Immigration not Customs. It was a relatively painless process and we had no further forms to fill out - the clerk just looked at our passports and check-in papers, stamped our passports again and we were set for 3 months now, until January 25. After finishing there, Diane went shopping and I went to the Internet place again. There were several downloads I wanted to do and it took quite a while. Diane came back around noon and we went back to the boat and had lunch and put everything away. We went diving at a site called Small Wall. We planned to go to a recently reopened one a little further north but there was a dive boat on it already. It was a nice dive except Diane didn't inflate her BCD enough and when I went to take it off the line that held it near the dinghy, it sank. She had called my attention to a large Tarpon that was swimming past so I wasn't holding it as I usually do. Well, no damage - I just finished getting my gear on, went down, inflated it so it floated to the surface and waited below while she got her gear on and joined me. We went along and saw nothing extraordinary but it was a pretty site and we enjoyed it. I did go a little deeper than I anticipated, 92 feet, but only stayed for a minute (a large Tiger Grouper got my attention). After dropping off the tanks and rinsing the gear, we went back to the boat and ran the engine and watermaker again. It was sunny and a little breezy but not nearly enough to generate the power needed on a daily basis. Saturday there was a large swimming event planned so all the dive sites within about 2 miles of us were closed until 1pm. We saw some swimmers in the water but not too many - the long distance ones had a kayak accompany them so they wouldn't be run down by boat traffic. Since we couldn't dive in the morning, Diane did some hand laundry, and I changed the engine oil and oil filter and the fuel filter as well. It all went without a problem and I finished around 11:30. We ate lunch and went diving at Something Special again. The dive was very good although there was a strong current in the deeper part near the marina entrance. We did see though, 2 flounders having a fight - it was fascinating, fish that are ordinarily very frightened of divers just ignored us completely, concentrating on their opponent instead. We saw the Brown Garden Eels again and then some other new fish once we got to the reef. I found a nighttime fish, called a Bigeye, under some coral overhangs and also some that we had only seen once or twice before, like a Balloonfish. It was a very nice dive but we'll have to expand our horizons. Sunday, for the first time since we've been here this year, it didn't rain at all overnight. I had gotten up at 5am and looked outside and saw some lightning to the south but none over the island. Sally, from Zahi, stopped by around 9:30 and gave us a diskette with the 2 pictures she took of us while diving at Something Special a few days ago. We thanked her - when we looked at them they were pretty good! In the late morning we went to a site called Petrie's Pillar. There was a dive boat still on it but we asked and he said no problem to tie up next to him. He was actually very nice and filled up our water bottle also. The dive itself was very nice and we saw a Loggerhead Turtle and a Pederson Cleaner Shrimp. The coral formations were beautiful and there was also lots of soft coral; gorgonians, etc. We got back around 3 and after going to the dive shop, we just went back to the boat, hoisted the dinghy (to prevent growth) and relaxed the rest of the day. Monday morning we went to Klein Bonaire to dive at a site called Sampler, recommended by the WannaDive staff. We left about 10:15 and after picking up our tanks, went across the half-mile to the island. The wind was blowing a little from the southeast so we went to the northern side of Klein to be out of the waves. It was a very nice site, the coral formations were beautiful and the visibility was excellent, about 100 feet. I was a little disappointed with the fish life at first but at 65 feet, peering under some plate coral with my flashlight, I saw my first Candy Basslet. Its only a 2 inch fish but very colorful and quite a find since they are very shy. Later on, in the shallow coral and rubble near the dive mooring, we saw 3 Yellowhead Jawfish, a very nice find as well since they have interesting behavior. We agreed that we would have to come back to Klein Bonaire more often. After we dropped off the tanks and rinsed the gear, we went back to the boat and had a quick lunch. We then went into town to run some errands and reserve a car so we could go up to the national park here. Friends said it was worthwhile but would only require a day - we had wanted to do it last year but never got around to it. We first walked to the Carib Inn where we bought our regulators last year so Bruce, the owner, could check out a small problem we noticed this morning - a very slight air leak from Diane's regulator. It just needed a little tightening. We bought some refill pages for our dive logbook and then called around for a car. We found a jeep with automatic and made a reservation for next Tuesday. Diane wanted to call our bank about a duplicate credit card that appeared on our online banking but for some reason, we couldn't get through. She spent about 45 minutes making phone calls - very frustrating. We went back to the boat, ran the engine, (the wind was up but not enough to keep up) had a drink and just relaxed. Although there was no rain Monday night, we woke up on Tuesday to a completely overcast sky. Listening to the weather, we heard that there was another trough drifting east from along Panama to Jamaica. Over the next few days, we would have pretty light winds but the real problem was that we were on the border of possibly getting southwest to west winds. If it gets too bad, we might go into the marina but we'll just have to see. In the morning, we went in to shore to go to some stores some way inland. We walked there and although it was cloudy, it was still pretty hot. By the time I got to the store I needed though, it was 20 minutes to noon and I didn't realize that they close from 12 to 1:30. It was a large hardware store so I didn't think they would do that. Anyway, I didn't get anything I wanted to buy. I walked over to the stores Diane went to and she was also just about finished although those places remained open. We walked back to the dinghy and got back to the boat just as it started to rain. The rain turned into a thunderstorm and wind reversal. The winds only got up to about 20 to 25 knots, eventually coming from the west but it didn't last too long. Unfortunately, the rolling that followed was some of the worst we have ever experienced. We have an inclinometer and I saw it go to at least 40 degrees on each side. I had put up the dinghy to get it out of the water but we rolled so much that the bottom of the dinghy would hit the water as we rolled - and it was hoisted up at least 4 feet! There was no damage but it was fun trying to lower it in those conditions. The only real 'damage' was a box of my fasteners that fell out of the locker and opened all over the cabin sole. Of course, all the boats were rolling badly except the catamarans, but we could see that even they were having an uncomfortable ride. We started seeing boats go into the marina and we talked about it. Ingemar went into the marina by dinghy to see if there was room and passed by so Diane asked him if he would see if there was room for us as well. When he came back, he said yes but there wasn't much left. We talked about it some more and decided to wait a little. We saw Dolphin Street go in the 2 catamarans near us as well as several other boats. Eventually, it was decision time since it would soon be dark. I didn't want to make the final decision because the rolling doesn't bother me as much as Diane, and the marina was expensive. She finally said lets go in so she called the marina while I got the boat ready - put out the fenders, got out the docklines, etc. We started in about 6 and were at the dock by 6:30, almost dark. I originally thought we would be in the middle between 2 boats, near Dolphin Street, and started to go there but there was an open side-to slip just one finger pier away so they put us in there. Ingemar and Laurence helped with the lines and we got in fine. The marina staff was still pretty busy as more boats were coming in. Eventually, they opened the electrical box and we hooked up - at least the batteries would be fully charged. Our friends on Ishmael, Pat and Tom, came in late and wound up in the middle, tied next to us and another boat on the opposite finger. The only way for them to get off was over the bow but we told them they could go across Destiny, no problem. Finally, about 8, after a quick and easy dinner, we took showers and wound down from the day, in a calm marina. |