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Larry's LogSaturday morning Diane went shopping with Geri again, since they had a car temporarily, so I was left on the boat. I ran the engine a while since the batteries were pretty low and worked on the PC. The weather forecast was predicting some southwest to west winds in a few days, meaning that the mooring would probably become a little uncomfortable, but the winds were predicted to be very light, only 5 to 10 knots, so it would likely not be too bad. There wasn't much room in the marina right now because of the regatta so we might be stuck being out here even if we didn't want to be. In the afternoon, after Diane got back, we went diving just off the boat. I wanted to scrape some barnacles off the bottom of keel so I brought my scraper and gloves with me inside the BCD. The dive was pretty good although the coral wasn't very pretty; there was a big sand fall just south of the boat where the fisherman dock was but it wasn't bad. We saw some large Tarpon that seemed to be loosely following us and several large morays. I also found a large Spotted Moray that had just died and was lying on the coral. It must have just expired because the body was in perfect shape and fish hadn't started to pick at it yet. When we got back to the mooring, I got out my scraper, put on the gloves and got rid of the barnacles on the bottom of the keel. That was the only spot where there was any growth so I have to assume that either I missed doing there (it was where the keel rested on the wooden blocks while on the hard) or the paint had washed off after I did it. I think I remember painting there just before we launched so I assume that the paint hadn't been able to dry enough before being placed in the water. Still, that was pretty good and the rest of the hull looked fine - of course, the fish here come up and pick at the boat hulls so growth is kept down anyway (nicely trained fish!). After the dive, we went back to the shop where they refilled the tanks for us and we rinsed off the gear and ourselves and went back to the boat. The wind had died overnight as it usually does and it got very hot. Strangely, the wind picked up before daylight so it was comfortable for a while. We got up at 8am (late for us) and it started to thunderstorm just after we got up. It was a wind reversal so the wind picked up to about 25-30 knots for a few minutes from the west and caused us some concern since the shore wasn't that far from the stern now and the fisherman dock was also pretty close. The wind didn't last long though and the rain stopped shortly after that so we were left with overcast skies and zero wind, and hot. Unfortunately, while the rain stopped and the wind almost died, it still continued from the west. The skies also remained totally overcast. Since we didn't feel comfortable leaving the boat in those conditions, we just stayed on board and read most of the day. The Bonaire Regatta was scheduled to start and we also now had a start line nearby and boats were going around us all day. Eventually, the wind came from the northwest but the waves were still west, so we started to roll a bit. Still, it wasn't as bad as last year when we were basically forced into the marina but it was starting to get uncomfortable. There was a little rain overnight at about 1:30am but it stopped quickly and although we were still facing west, it wasn't too uncomfortable - there was a breeze and not too much rolling. Monday morning, the Bonaire regatta started even though the wind was very light, about 5 knots from the northwest. The larger boats were supposed to do the around Bonaire race and although they started at about 8am, I wondered if they would all make it in time - usually there is a time limit. The weather report indicated that this weather would continue for at least another 48 hours; west winds and then shifting to light and variable - not fun. Listening to the radio though this morning after watching the start of the race, we heard that some friends of ours, on a boat named Key Lara, a small catamaran, had a very bad experience - it seemed they were leaving Curacao and anchored in a small bay up close to the beach. Unfortunately, there was a squall and wind reversal that night and although they got their engines started, it was too late and they went up on the beach and had suffered a lot of damage. We were really upset to hear about it - they had been our neighbors at Bahia Redonda in PLC for some months last year. In the meantime, we were having our own bad luck although not nearly as bad as that. The wind had died and the boat was now rolling badly in the southwest swell. We called the marina but there were no slips available now - all the ones that had been empty were taken now by boats that came in for the regatta. I had a feeling we should have gone into the marina when we first got here but ... Of course, there was no sun either, so the batteries were getting very low and I had to run the engine in the morning. We would have to run it in the evening as well, probably. We didn't leave the boat all day since the weather was threatening although later in the day the rolling let up. They did have the regatta races and since we were very close to the start/finish line, we had good "seats" for that. We didn't do much except read and watch the races. Tuesday was very calm overnight but it didn't rain so we slept OK, although it was hot. The morning saw some blue sky until a thunderstorm started up - there was some rain, thunder and lightning but not much. We listened to the weather and it seemed it was going to take at least another day or 2 to clear this out. It rained lightly until after noon. Then, we saw a clearing sky and the wind shifted to the southeast. We waited some more and decided to go to shore and walk to the dive shops and find some dive boots for Diane - hers were falling apart. They also got some races started although the wind was very light; I felt bad for the racers since I knew from personal experience how frustrating that kind of light wind can be, especially during a race. We went to shore and tied up at the 'green' dock nearby and walked to several shops. Diane found some good ones but it seemed that there might be a problem getting them in her size - they were sized 'unisex' and most stores didn't have a pair small enough. We walked around and then started back to the dinghy. On the way, I heard my name called out - it was Ray, our friend from Precocious Gale and the guy who taught us diving 2 years ago. He was on the island to help a friend bring his boat back to PLC. We talked for a while and found out the news on Ashley, his daughter, and Gail, his wife. They were still in the States and Ashley was going to college but planning to get married (to her boyfriend that she met while in the Caribbean, who is Dutch). We made some tentative plans to get together and maybe go on a dive. The weather had turned very nice and the wind was now light but steady from the southeast, normal for this time of year. We got back to the dinghy and I think that some kids must have been playing around since there was a lot of water inside and the outboard throttle was turned full on, something I never do. There didn't seem to be any damage or anything taken but it was annoying. Oh well, I guess they were just jumping in and out of the water, using the dinghy to get back on the dock. We woke up on Wednesday and it was cloudy again but at least it hadn't rained. I had gotten up at about 2:30 and saw there was a large thunder and lightning storm to the west of Bonaire but fortunately it didn't come our way. We didn't do much in the morning but did finally go diving again in the afternoon. We decided to go nearby since we weren't sure of the conditions so we went to Something Special again. We got there and when I got in the water, I saw that visibility was pretty bad, only about 30 feet, at least in the shallows. Diane asked if we should just forget it and I said to just continue - it would be better as we got deeper. So we continued and went down to see the Garden Eels and then went along the reef. The visibility did improve to about 60 feet so it wasn't too bad. Actually, the dive turned into some thing really good. As I went along the reef at about 70 feet, I saw my first Reef Butterflyfish, a pair of them, just nearby. Going further, we saw several large Spotted Morays and a lobster. But the highlight was when we were going back to the mooring. As we got close to the mooring, at about 60 feet, I saw a large dark shadow coming towards us. It was a huge school of baitfish, Bigeye Scad. They were being herded and chased by several large jacks, one of which was a very large Crevalle Jack and several Black Jacks that were a little deeper. The jacks chased the school of Scad to us and the school blocked out the sun as they went by, casting a shadow on the reef. Diane and I watched, mesmerized by this amazing display. The school must have had thousands of individuals but moved as if they had one mind, the size of the school was about 100 feet in diameter but of course, the shape was dynamic as they frightened fish tried to get away from the predators. The jacks weren't scared of us - they were too busy trying to catch their dinner. Just fantastic! The school finally flowed past us and we managed to find the dinghy in the slightly murky water. We got out and commented how quiet it was - the regatta festival was pretty loud and we had the worst spot, meaning that the music and announcements were all pretty close to the boat's mooring. We just relaxed for a few minutes before going to the dive shop and a Bonaire park boat came over. They asked to see our dive tags which we showed them. Unfortunately, they were the wrong year - we had thought that they were good for a year from the time we bought them but they were only good for a calendar year so the official nicely said that we had to buy new ones. No problem except the price had gone up from $10 to $25, each. We would get them tomorrow. We went to the dive shop, rinsed off the gear, dropped off the tanks and went back to the boat and the loud music. It again continued until after midnight. We got our new dive tags the next morning, went to Makai for a quick visit and also stopped at Vamos, with a Belgian couple onboard that we had met at the dive shop. They had a very nice Privilege 44 catamaran and we visited with them for a while. They were leaving for Curacao tomorrow and we might take their mooring since the noise from the regatta was still pretty loud although not as bad as before. We went back to Destiny, had lunch and planned our dive in the afternoon. We had thought we would go to shore to go out for breakfast since it was our 20th anniversary but I didn't trust leaving the dinghy at the green dock we usually tied to - there were kids playing on it all day and I saw some of them use another dinghy there for a jumping board and also tried to start the engine. Diane had made a very nice cake and we planned to have that for dessert after dinner. We made our dive nearby at Petrie's Pillar again and enjoyed it although the water still wasn't very clear. It was better at depth but still only about 60-7o feet, as opposed to the 80-90 feet when we first arrived. Still, we enjoyed it and saw some interesting things - a Slender Filefish hiding in a large gorgonian and several morays. We had thought we would go out to dinner also but that plan was forgotten when we got back to the boat after going to the dive shop and dropping off the tanks, etc. We were both tired and the problem with using the dock still existed, so we agreed to do it next week after the craziness of the regatta was over. Friday the wind was calm early but picked up a little from the southeast by 9am so we were hopeful that the nasty weather was over. But, the wind clocked around to the south, southwest and eventually west, although it never blew very hard and there were no problems with the shore. The last races of the regatta got underway and I did manage to get some nice pictures, especially since our boat was on the mooring nearest the first turning mark and then the finish line. At least the music was not as loud as it had been and we slept OK. I heard from Allen on Honalee over the SSB in the morning and he asked if we had a wind reversal last night. I told him no and he said they had a bad one, not much rain but 20-25 knots for a while from the west. That had happened last year on Bonaire during the regatta and one boat had broken free and was wrecked. There were no problems this year - yet. We waited until the afternoon before diving and went close by again, to Front Porch once more. We had seen Ray and his friend Tim at the dive shop yesterday just after they finished their diving and Ray had told us about a small wreck of a sailboat in 60 feet of water just off the beach between WannaDive and Harbour Village marina. Diane wanted to see it so we moored the dinghy where we usually do and went down to 60 feet and swam to where the wreck was. We started to feel some current almost as soon as we started down and by the time we reached the wreck, it was pretty strong and we had to cancel the dive and go up since the dinghy was now upcurrent. Fortunately, we came up near Wannadive's dock and Diane got out of the water with her gear and I swam back, on the surface, to the dinghy. The current was still there but not nearly as strong near the shore. I got my gear in the dinghy and went back to the dock where we rinsed off everything and brought the almost full tanks back to the boat. We had only been in the water about 15 minutes but it had been very tiring trying to swim against that current. We did though, see a Chain Moray very clearly out hunting and I saw some other small unusual fish in the coral rubble near the wreck, a very pretty small angelfish called a Cherubfish and then a Bucktooth Parrotfish a little further up. We figured we would use the rest of the air in the tanks, still about 2000psi, and dive tomorrow just around the boat and then get them filled and go another dive afterward. When we got back to the boat, we watched the end of some of the races and heard, later in the evening, the award ceremony. Earlier, we thought we had seen the sailmaker from PLC, Mauritzio, on board a race boat as he helmed it to the finish. During the ceremony, we heard his name announced so I guess it was him. |