Willemstad, on the Island of  Curacao, is said to be the most cosmopolitan city in the Caribbean, it is the most populated. We have sailed to in four years. We visited here many years ago while on vacation, it sure has changed. Sometimes, two cruise ships dock early in the morning, their passengers here for one thing ….Shopping.

We are anchored in an area known as Spaanse(Spanish) Waters, in the southern part about 10km from town. There is a bus which comes by every hour except for 2 hours at noon. The coaches are large modern vehicles with a capacity of 50 persons. they are equipped with comfortable seating and on board free Wi-Fi. What a great way to see the island. The bus fare is about 1.50 Canadian.

Jan Thiel beach, a place we have dived at on our trip here 20 years ago when we were here was proposed to be a park. When we now visited we were surprised to find a new upscale residential area. This European style beach is situated beside a large open Bay. The beach is relatively small,  compared to what we have come accustomed to. Those days of walking for an hour from town back to our anchorage seems so long ago. A number of resorts back onto the bay,where their guest have a view of the water and the setting sun to the west. Servers, deliver food and drinks to the loungers so not a minute is lost sunbathing. For those with fears of creatures in the ocean, there is  a infinity pool. A raised area with a concrete floor co covered with sand where the water flows through before cascading over the rocks back to the bay.The sun warm the water to the point where to the point where algae grows around the edges, with the colour of the water in the pool, we passed on a dip.

An area we preferred is further south, used by the locals on weekends and even has a fort from the 1700s. Instead of white sand the shore is covered with rock, but the water is the same aquamarine colour, with good snorkeling.

                                  (Available in cans)

 Mistress on the mooring, just off shore)

Getting ready to leave an island entails numerous chores before the boat is ready for the upcoming passage. Our next stop, Curacao, the “C” of the ABC islands, is situated only 32 nm away, but it still took us all day. Remember, we’re on island time. Afterwards, we walked to our favourite bar, The Diver’s Diner, owned by 2 brothers from Dominican Republic, who serve up great meals for only $10. The large portions can fill both of us, along with Happy Hour 2 for 1 beers made us a regular. On our walk over, just behind the sailing club, we would stop to talk to a senior, Ismael Soliano, who was working on his 90 year old boat, Eihiene, sitting in his front yard. I don’t know how much work gets done but he was a very interesting man to talk to.

The main activity on Bonaire, is scuba diving but this island has many things to see and do. During the high season, at least 2 cruise ships visit every week, sometime 2 in the harbour together. From our anchorage we were either watching ships, or listening to the bubbles of divers under our boat, sometimes late in to the evening.

Starting out from the motorcycle club on our island Harley (150cc Moped) we headed to the southern tip. We had completed the northern portion previously, with the shoe tree at our back off we went.

When we arrived at the eastern and windward side we stopped for lunch at Jibe City, known for it’s superb windsurfing. Many people come to take lessons or if experienced to sail across the clear shallow bay.

If you ever visit Bonaire, you will see donkeys wandering around the streets. Donkeys have been living on this tropical island for hundreds of years. The animals were originally brought over in the 17th century by the Spaniards to use for hard labour. In modern times they were left to their own devices. Unfortunately, the donkeys did not fare well with their “new found” freedom.

Many donkeys die from starvation, dehydration, or as a result of illness. More over the donkeys on Bonaire regularly fall victim to human abuse. An even greater danger is the traffic

In 1933, two Dutch nationals established a sanctuary here. Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire does not only give help to donkeys in distress, but strives to offer a protected life to all the donkeys on Bonaire.

Sick and wounded animals are nursed in the sanctuary with love, care, and great knowledge. Orphaned foals are raised with a baby bottle, fed every 4 hours. Bags of carrots can be bought at the gate before entering the park by car, but was not recommended since were on a moped, cause you could be overwhelmed very quickly.I kind of thought it would be fun being chased by the 650 resident animals.

www.donkeysanctuary.com

Bonaire has been a dry dessert like oasis, we have really enjoyed our stay here. The underwater scenery has been fantastic.

There is no public transportation system here on Bonaire, something we got so used to on the small island of Carriacou. With a population of 16,000, we are amazed how everyone get around. There really are not a lot of cars.

This island is known as “ Diver’s Paradise”, and it really is. The shoreline is dotted with dive sites,marked with yellow stones. Divers and snorkelers, don their gear, then slip into the calm, clear blue water. Bonaire is a dream true of great visibility, lack of current, and, warm water temperature, the lush reefs and dazzling marine life are found right at the shoreline.

We rented mopeds to explore and see some of the sites. High on the list, was to find the mascot, the pink flamingos. In the north, there is a national park, and a lake, where they are supposed to hang out, so off we went. The flamingos get their colour from the  red carotenes in their diet, the rosy brine shrimp are abundant on the salt flats where they live.

The road travelled along the water overlooking the shore then through the small town of Rincon before along the east side to the main town of Kralendijk, and back to our mooring. We finished off by stopping by Bachelor’s Beach, just south of Flamingo International Airport and having lunch. We will leave the southern section for another time.

Honeycomb Cowfish                                French Angelfish

Yellowtail Damsel                                   BlueTang

Four eyed Butterflyfish

Stoplight Parrotfish                               Spotted Filefish   

Spotted Moray Eel                                 Porcupine fish

Great Barracuda

Spotted Scorpion fish ( venomous)

We enrolled in a Fish Identification Program, every Monday night, so these are a sample of some of Muriel’s photo’s so far.

Location, Location, Location

Bonaire is just fifty miles north of Venezuela and is one of the Dutch ABC islands- Aruba, Bonaire , and Curacao. this prime location in the southern Caribbean places Bonaire far below the hurricane belt, and 365 days of sunny skies are almost guaranteed. To add to this perfection, Bonaire is blessed with cooling tropical trade winds that balance the warm, arid climate. A visit to Bonaire at any time of the year is delightful. With a population of almost 16,000 friendly inhabitants and only 112 square miles, sun drenched Bonaire is an uncrowded and peaceful island. Not a single stoplight disturbs the tranquility of Bonaire’s charming colonial atmosphere. Bonaire has emerged as an internationally known top diving and wind surfing destination, and through the years, has become more and more easily accessible by direct flights from the United states, Europe, and South America.

Usually, in our blog we try to tell about all the wonderful places we are visiting and about this great experience. Well, today I will write about the down side, stowaways. For all the soon to be cruisers, please read this carefully. This is even for those who enjoy a horror story.

Provisioning a boat is truly a job, you walk to the grocery store, lug the supplies back to the dinghy, load them in,transport them to the anchorage, lift them onto the boat, (usually in very rolly conditions), then put them away. I have always tried very hard to get rid of the boxes as soon as possible, just in case we have brought a stowaway aboard.

Lynn and Larry Pardey, a sailing couple who have been at it for more than 50 years, and probably the most knowledgeable sailors around, say to wash all cans. What do they know. We ignored their advice and somehow ended up with critters. We had never seen any up to this point. One morning, Tutty saw one on the countertop and squished it and threw it to the fish. We thought that was the end of it.

A few weeks later we were out late, and came home in the dark, turned on the lights and at least 6 were scurrying on the counter. While I stood there screaming, Tutty tried to kill them all. I was sure that some got away. We were horrified. How could our home be invaded without our knowledge.

                                               Compared to a quarter

These roaches were huge, they were as big as a mouse. How did we not know they hiding on the boat? All night long, I would turn on the light quickly, Tutty ready with a paper towel to crush them. It was disgusting. I would do what I thought was the most sensible thing……Scream if anything moved. I’m sure the whole anchorage thought we were having some kind of fun.

The next morning, we removed everything from the  food lockers,then washed and sprayed . Funny part, there was ne evidence of roaches anywhere. Where could they be hiding? Both of us grew up in downtown Toronto, we knew what to look for.

We jumped in the dinghy and headed off to town in search of a hardware store to buy a bomb, we were not fooling around. The salesman in Ace Hardware recommended the best selling device they had, and assured us that it would do the job. It would kill every living thing on the boat.

Next morning, we made plans to go to the beach for the 3 hours that the bomb would take to fumigate our home. We put all the food outside, opened all doors and hatches and put the container in the lowest area. We closed the boat up and went to land.

I’m amazed how successful this thing was. Never would I have believed that these insects were hiding here all along.

The United States Virgin Islands is the premiere destination for travelers from around the globe. Surrounded by some of the finest cruising waters, it’s no wonder that the Virgin Islands is recognized as the Yacht Charter Capital of the world. The dozens of islands and cays that make up the territory have an unspoiled beauty and  accessibility unmatched anywhere else.

Note the helicopter on the back deck

Since Christopher Columbus first arrived on St. Croix more than 500 years ago, the islands have been a haven for free-spirited seafarers. That spirit lives on today. It can easily be found by cruising these waters, anchoring in the isolated harbours and bays, fishing, or relaxing on the beaches that hug the shoreline.

St. Thomas Harbour

Named after a Danish Queen, Charlotte Amalie is the capital city of the U.S. Virgin Islands and a major port for cruise ships. Used extensively over the centuries as a haunt  for pirates and privateers, St. Thomas was declared a free port, thus enabling the sale of goods  acquired in honest trade or under the flag of piracy.

We are anchored on the west side of Water Island, close to the beach, where we have view of the activity, the sunsets, and the cruise ships that come and go, on a daily basis.

Mistress is just off the port side of the cruise ship, behind the yellow party boat.

Columbus discovered the Virgin Islands in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. Seeing the numerous islands, he named them “ The Virgins” in honour of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins who, threatened by the marauding Huns in 4th century  Cologne, sacrificed their lives rather than submit to a fate worse than death.

Later,the Spanish Crown determined that the land of Culebra was public property except for the areas reserved for use of the central government. When the Spanish American war was resolved in 1898 the land was turned over to the United States government with the promise that property titles given by the Spanish government would be honoured. Titled land would not be confiscated by the Military Government established in Puerto Rico. These agreements were reached in the Paris treaty and by general order number 1 of the United States of Puerto Rico’s Military Government.
In 1901 the US Military arrived in Culebra to establish an area for the military to use as a firing range and to hold marine exercises. At that time they took over the town of San Ildefonso and re-established the persons living in San Ildefonso to other areas of the island. This was in violation of the Paris agreements. Two remaining stone houses built by the military in the area of the Department of Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife are witness to that era. There is a museum in the house marked 1908.
The military stopped using Culebra as a bombing range in 1975. However, the destruction to the reefs and the psyches of the inhabitants will take decades to heal. Rusting tanks on Flamenco beach bear witness.

The are a number of small island and Cays west of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which embrace 400 sq./mi., they became known as the Spanish Virgin Islands. The two largest are Vieques and Culebra. Both, great diving and sailing hotspots. Ashore, the Spanish Virgins offer immersion in the Spanish Caribbean with the escape claim of bilingualism. This is part of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and a U.S. territory.

The people here, and everywhere we have travelled in P.R. have been extremely helpful and friendly. We have been given rides by people when out walking around looking for a location. When we got lost trying to find our way out of downtown San Juan late at night , a woman lead us for about half an hour till we were on the correct hi-way. Thank you for your great hospitality Puerto Rico.

When we sailed from Guanica to Salinas, we were trying to accomplish two things;

1)…Get here before Christmas, which we did on the eve

2)…Be in a comfortable place for our guest who were arriving on the 26th

Diane, Muriel’s sister and her husband Lloyd have spent many vacations with us , and many more trips aboard our boat came to experience the cruising life.

This time of year there are strong winds known as the Christmas Winds blowing most of the time so they didn’t see any sailing. We spent our time together visiting the many attractions that Puerto Rico has to offer. I hope they enjoyed their vacation, as we sure enjoyed having them here.

Because we missed it, and also had favourable weather, we sailed the 14 miles back west to the island of Caja De Muertos. The island resembles a coffin at sunset. Half way up one of the hills, there is a statue of Jesus where the fishermen come to pray. At the top of the highest point sits a lighthouse built by the Spanish, but it guided the U.S. troops at Guanica to take possession of Puerto Rico. This was another piece to the puzzle. One day when I have more time I’m going to read about the Spanish- American War.

Mistress at anchor , far right

Isla De Caja De Muertos is ran by the National Park Service with free mooring balls to visiting boats. There is a ferry service from the mainland, which is a favourite to the locals.

Trails lead to all sides of the island. The cactus and Chicharon lined paths lead to various beaches that are used by Leatherback turtles as nesting areas. The oily sap from Chicharon causes blisters which itch for days and may cause blindness if you get it in your eyes. It is related to Poison Ivy.

                                          John and Jac from svJacasso

We spent time hiking, caving, geocaching ( found all 5), and the most important, scrape the hull of Mistress.

As we sit at anchor, all kinds of organisms attach to our hull which turns into sort of a mini-reef. All this growth slows us down so it must be removed at least every month. When we were back in Luperon we hired our friends Papo and Pedro to do the job, but now it’s all up to us.

After a few hours stretched over 2 days, with cut up hands we both finally finished.That night, at sunset we were visited by a 6ft. shark, must of smelled the blood.  Barnacles can cut neoprene, another learning experience. Rum can soothe the pain.