We set off from Hogg Island in light winds but within a half an hour we headed for the West with our twin headsails set. We had done all the preparation for this before leaving harbour. For the first 48 hours we made slow progress in the 10kt easterly wind but finally we hung onto our coat tails and stormed along in 20+ knots to arrive in Bonaire at midnight on our third day. Mooring up was not fun in one of the darkest nights, luckily we woke a couple of Americans with Amelie’s bow thrusters and they secured us to the buoy.

We’d seen plenty of birdlife including Boobies, Gannets, Frigate birds and Tropical Terns. We were entertained by Dolphins and there was evidence of fish around although none were tempted with our squid lure. We had skipped visiting Venezuela’s island's because of security issues off the coast, which was a shame as they are meant to be beautiful.

Bonaire and her sister islands, Aruba and Curacao (ABCs) escaped the brutal colonisation that was rife in the Caribbean. This was mainly due to the dry climate which did not favour sugarcane production, therefore the Arawaks were left to their normal daily lives. The Spanish called the islands, “ islas inutiles” (useless islands) because they lacked gold. The Dutch colonists were looking for wood for their ships, salt to preserve their food and a military presence in the Caribbean. The ABCs were forcibly taken and apart from a few decades, have been Dutch since 1636. Goats and Donkeys were introduced to the islands as a source of food, haulage and could withstand the long dry seasons. Today they continue to freely roam around the countryside and towns.

During the first morning, Stephen was enjoying his first coffee and cigar in the cockpit when a local cycled up to the seawall, threw in his hook and pulled out a decent sized fish, chucked it in his bucket and pedalled off. Oh if we had found fishing this easy. 

Bonaire is famous for it’s diving and both Stephen and Debbie got their dive kits repaired and serviced.

Bubbles had been in port for a couple of weeks prior to our arrival, so they were getting the hang of the best bars and where you could get yacht supplies.

We enjoyed a jazz evening with Leo and Karin at the Zazu marina bar with great food, music and for the boys…….views!

We went further afield to listen to a steel band but then ended up on the beach dancing to lively music provided by a talented tribute band.

Stephen & Leo
Stephen & Leo

Leo’s friends, Arie and Loes, arrived from Texas to celebrate Leo’s birthday. Amelie provided lunch with snorkelling off the back of the boat, party crowns, flags and a light lunch of chicken kebabs. That evening we were taken to Chez Madeleine by Leo, a French/Belgian restaurant, reputably the best on the island. The choice and quality of the food was amazing which added to doing justice to celebrating Leo’s birthday.

Amelie is moored outside the marina and a number of the boats had got together to enjoy a burger evening. Our new made friendships were short-lived as three of the boats sailed to Curacao in the course of the next few days.

We finally got our act together to go diving and were amazed that the diving was so spectacular, literally just off the back of Amelie. The marine park have provided mooring buoys which leave the yachts safely floating over the fringing reef. The quality of the water and the marine life and coral makes Bonaire a very special place.

Salt Pans
Salt Pans

We were also landlubbers for a day on the south of the island, visiting the salt flats and slave huts where in the days of slavery, the salt mine workers lived six to a hut. The West India Company in the 17th century exploited Bonaire by sending many slaves to work in the natural salt pans. The gruelling work on the salt plantations was used as punishment and became a penal colony. Originally the slaves made their own shelters from leaves but the building of the slave huts was the West India Company’s answer to improving a slave’s lot! Salt mining continues to this day but is almost entirely a mechanised process. Further on from the salt plains we were entertained by the flamingoes, the first that we have seen in the wild. We watched elaborate courtship displays, trying not to get so near that we would frighten them away. The Bonarian flamingoes are the New World species and technically known as red flamingoes. The chicks are huge, fluffy and grey.

During the course of discussion of cruising plans, Leo was keen to celebrate his next birthday in Vancouver and was enthusiastic about  Amelie sailing to Canada as well. After much deliberation and research, we changed our original plans and are now sailing up the West coast of USA and Canada in 2016, with a visit to Alaska. See the updated diary in our future cruising menu on the website. Anyone who fancies cruising in Canadian waters, book your berth with us now!