Bonaire to Colombia

Well the Olsen's are home (they departed Bonaire 10/22/11, we left for Curacao on 10/26, we/re getting close to being in sync almost as it is now 12/22/11) and we are once again alone, well as much as one can be alone with numerous other cruisers about. While we still hide from the westerly winds within the marina, I pause here to take a moment to praise the folks of the Harbor Village Marina in Bonaire; should you ever have the occasion and or the need they are great. Now back to us; while we are saddened by the departure of Gretchen, Harvey and Jake we are inspired by our neighbors at the marina to rejoice in the time honored tradition of happy hour, so off we go to "Happy Bird" where Roderick and Yvonne treat us to a wonderful evening aboard their Jeanneau 40DS. Yes, "Happy Bird" is a sister ship to "Boto". Their's is a 2003 while "Boto" is a bit older at 2001. Joining us is the crew of "Gypsy Blues", Rene and Cheryl (remember them we'll meet again) yet another Jeanneau, albeit an older pre-Benatteau model. "Gypsy Blues" is a beautiful boat. There are several others present but as so often happens names and boats mingle and merge and fade into the myst of the ocean. Suffice it to say we have a wonderful evening aboard "Happy Bird" where we are educated on many things Dutch. Roderick and Yvonne are wonderful hosts and as we bid them good night we are more than sated and ready for a good nights rest.
Well, it seems that it is always time to travel, so while Hurricane Rina pounds the NE we look for a good weather window to head west. What that usually translates into we have found is, no wind, no waves and very warm temps. So on Wednesday October 26 we depart Bonaire for Curacao, a wopping 38nm trip, with no wind we end up motoring the entire trip at 6 kts and the wind never gets above 8kts (from the wrong direction). We drop our hook in Spanish Water's, Curacao by 2pm and are ready to relax, of course we must clear customs and immigration in Curacao, now there's a story.
Spanish Water's is a very popular location to say the least. Apparently twenty years ago there were very few cruising boats here, however over the years the destination has gained popularity and the boats now flock here. So much so that the locals have had to establish anchoring zones (which we were in violation of our fist day, but we shortly re-anchored without issue). Now, to checking in. First, a visit to customs, which is actually easy, take the bus in to town and look for the large white customs building along the water way. Other than the computers being on strike the process was painless. Then there is immigration. The directions are simple, cross the bridge and follow the walkway until you spot the large yellow building, (make note the week we arrived they were painting the immigration building, it was no longer yellow). Anyway, I (Ed) go in search of the yellow fable, I spot one up the hill and per the map (hah!) it is under the bridge so let's get 'er done. Up the strange road, under the bridge and what do we find, several rabid dogs out for blood, welcome! A brick or two does nothing to deter them, so back down the road with various missiles at the ready. Ah, the immigration office is on the warf, so here we go. Finally, presenting our boat papers along with passports, the officer asks, "Where's the Missus'?"; why she is still on board as is appropriate as we have yet to clear into the country and only the captain is allowed ashore. Dumb! Sorry, you must bring the entire crew to our office for inspection, NEXT!
Back to the boat, cocktail. We'll go in the morning. We do so, both Vicky and I and the wonderful immigration folks do not even look at her, but they stamp us into the country, onto the Port Authority for our anchoring permit (if you want an exercise in bureaucracy, visit the Port Authority office in Curaco), we finally had our permit, of course if we wish to move to another location we have to come back and get another anchor permit and pay another $10 (in discussing this with the Port Authority, authority, we are reminded of Abott and Costello's "Who's on First"). WOW! Suffice it to say upon our departure we simply settled for the customs stamp and forgot about immigration and Port Authority; yep we're pirates, AAARRRGGGGHHH!
Curacao as an island is lovely, for boaters it is a little difficult to get around as the anchorages are very far from town, fortunately the public transport system is excellent, so we avail ourselves and see the sights. Also, we take our daily dinghy ride with Chula and in this fashion we meet Annemieke and Timo.
Let us return for a moment to the Venezulean island Ave de Sotovento, where we encountered the wreck of the "Blue Marlin", washed ashore during a wind reversal and sunk. While we were there the ocean and rocks were finishing what the scavengers had left behind. We managed to salvage what turned out to be a farewell gift given to the crew of "Blue Marlin" upon their departure from Holland. We learned that the "Blue Marlin" was not only owned by Annemieke and Timo but that Timo had also built her, making her loss doubly hard, our deepest sympathies go to them. Upon our arrival in Curacao we went in search of them armed with the knowledge that they lived on a "house" boat somewhere in the middle of Spanish Waters. Luck was with us and as we headed towards the shallow reef in our dinghy, Annemieke came out on the porch to direct us to safer waters. When we inquired as to the owners of "Blue Marlin" she confirmed that was they and we had a dinner invitation, ah hospitality.
Our dinner with Annemieke and Timo is a wonderful evening of good food, good wine and good music (some of which was supplied by Timo on guitar) and as so often happens we discover that our paths have crossed before in the form of mutual friends, Christopher and Geraldine of "Scorch of Essex" as well as Rob and Lauren of "Arita".
Well, once again it's time to travel, for us that means looking for a weather window to head to Colombia. We stage ourselves off the northwest coast of Curacao to give us a good heading to land at Aruba. Before we depart in the company of John and Darnell aboard "Celtic Dream", we take one more snorkel trip to the caves. There are numerous caves along the coast and we swim into one, barely having to dive below the surface before entering into the inverted fishbowl of the cave. As luck would have it we are pulling up anchor within an hour of this trip, otherwise we would have taken the time to harvest the lobster which were hiding in the depths of the cave; yes, of course they were all five pounders, and yes there were easily a dozen of them. Oh well.
A short six hour day has us arriving at our Aruba anchorage just before sunset, we'll not be checking in here (Aaaarrrrggghhhh Pirate!) as the procedure is tiresome and we are required to tie up at the commercial docks (concrete, not good for fiberglass) and we're only catching a nights sleep before departing. We're sure that Aruba has wonderful things to offer, however from our point of view along the western coast of the island there isn't much. The refinery, airport, cruiseship and commercial docks coupled with the islands landfill site, too sleep we go.
Oops, we depart Aruba on a Friday! The weather forecast for our 140nm trip from Aruba to Colombia is NE/SE winds at 15k with 5 foot seas. The winds will continue to decrease in strength through the weekend as will the seas, as we get closer to the Colombian coast wave height will decrease to 2 to 3 feet. All we can say to this forecast is, LIES, all LIES.
Departing Aruba at 0630 on Friday November 4, 2011, we make our way into the Caribbean Sea and set our course for Colombia. We are lulled into a false sense of security as the winds are gentle and the swell of the ocean is off our starboard quarter we are making 6k of boat speed under sail. Although the sky's are grey we are comfortable, we even hook a Mahi at 0800 although we will not land it as the fish spits the hook after a brief battle. Other than a brief rain shower at sunset we have a nice sail/motorsail into Ensenada Huaitcheru. For those following us on the seas this is a good stopover to break up the 260nm trip to Santa Marta, Colombia or the even further 400nm trip from Aruba to Cartagena, Colombia. We arrive in Colombia at 0700 on 11/5/11, dropping our anchor 10 feet of water off of a fishing village, time for some sleep. Other than a reunion with Alex of "Pacifica" we intend to get some rest as we depart for Santa Marta in the morning. But first a little barter with the locales, we give fishing line, well it wasn't really barter, more like a payoff, here's some fishing line make sure no one bothers us.
Sunday, November 6, 0800 we're off for Santa Marta, the forecast remains optimistic (liars). We sail/motorsail for most of the day, until at 1430 we hook Moby Dick's cousin. After an hours fight and much boat maneuvering we land a 40ish pound Wahoo (we're still eating the last of this fish a month later, thanks to our Engle freezer (shameless product plug)). The nice thing about cleaning a fish while under way is that the "cleaning" brings the dolphins to visit.
We continue under sail until sunset, when the first squall, I mean SQUALL comes through with rain, thunder, lightening and winds gusting to 57k. Oh, visibility is reduced to zero. Lot's of fun this sailing. We're still in the company of "Celtic Dream" who at the onset of the squall is ahead of us, they radio to inform us that they are turning around in order to drop their sails, this means they are heading back towards us and we can't see them. This is fun. Things calm down a bit and we spot "Celtic Dream", this is at 1830 hours. Lest we get too comfy another storm cell whacks us at 1930 hours, then again at 2015 hours once more at 2155 hours (we keep a logbook with all the interesting tidbits in it), oh then again at 2300 hours. Fortunately, all the lightening makes it easy to see the other boats around us as well as the large seas coming from every direction, gosh this is fun. Let's just say that the squalls continue until sunrise, as we make our way into Santa Marta, Colombia and the wonderful comforts of the marina there, by 0700 Monday November 7 we are secured to the dock and ready to crawl into bed. It's hot showers, cold beer and YES airconditioning! We've made it to Colombia with hardly a scratch, more to come. Hey, we're almost up to date!
Disclaimer, as we are posting these updates from the wonderfully remote San Blas Islands in Panama, those of you who long for pictures will have to settle for our words until we reach the next internet connection, until then use your imagination, that's what we do.

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Bonaire

Ah, we have finally started making headway westward. We are so happy that we didn’t bypass the Venezuelan islands. They were beautiful and no hassles what-so-ever!


We are equally excited about reaching Bonaire where time after time we have heard people describing the incredible diving and snorkeling. This is why we told our friends to meet us there because their son, Jake, wants do scuba dive…for the first time. He is 15…turned 16 while in Bonaire…and a bit hesitant. The minute we arrived we knew it wouldn’t be a problem.

After dodging another regatta race (why do we seem to enter islands in the midst of regattas?) we hailed our friends on Celtic Dream that were already in Bonaire. After instructions to not take the mooring balls (required as the entire island is a park) close to shore in case the wind backs, we are nestled in for the next few weeks. The mooring field is right on the edge of the drop off from shallow water to very deep putting our boat on the edge of the beautiful color shift that accompanies the change in depth. So, the first thing we do is pull out the snorkel gear and plunge in. Spectacular! Jake (and Gretchen and Harvey) are going to LOVE this place! We arrived a week ahead of their arrival so it is time to prepare for company, check out the cool things to do and snorkel, snorkel, snorkel!

We took a mooring ball just in front of Dive Friends Bonaire in case Jake decides to get certified. While convenient, we decided to take the bikes out and go up the coast to check out the other dive operators and of course Captain Don’s was a must see as he is the pioneer of diving in Bonaire. In his 80s you can still meet the captain when he comes to the resort on Monday evenings. The resort is beautiful and we decide this would be a nice place for Gretchen to hang out while the rest of us went scuba diving. They also offered us a ‘yachie’ discount which was $43.00 for all the gear and a half day of rental. Not bad! While there Ed captured one of my favorite pictures of an Iguana. They hang out and beg for table scraps at the restaurant!

The next day we hopped on our bikes and went to the grocery store with the dog carrier in tow. The food is lovely here with amazing pastries, pates and cheeses. We love the Dutch food!

While the bikes were out we went out to investigate the 3 hotels the Olson’s sent us. They plan on taking a hotel room for the last few days of their vacation to have some family time. We decided that Divi Resort was the quaintest of the three; old but lots of charm.

Well, it is time for our guests to arrive! We sat watch in the cockpit because they are taking a taxi from the airport that will drop them at Dive Friends Bonaire where they will get the dinghy shuttle to the boat! They arrived and the first order of business was to go snorkeling. You simply jump of the back of your boat and the scenery is spectacular. That, of course, was followed by happy hour and then dinner.

Jake should be happy because we put the blow up mattress on the settee berth (table made into a bed). He is now 6’3” tall (yes, a basketball player) and every inch in a berth helps!

The next day we hopped in the dinghy to go over to Klein Bonaire for some snorkeling. The first stop was amazing. There were turtles, tons of fish and right along the drop off edge was unbelievable coral! We stopped on the north end of Klein Bonaire for another nice snorkel. Next stop, Captain Don’s where we will sign up for diving the next day. We decided to have some rum punch and a late lunch while we were there. Yummy.



Jake taking the plunge!

 Monday…today we go scuba diving. Ed dove in Grenada but Vicky hasn’t gone since the Bahamas…she can’t wait. While Jake took his lesson, Harvey, Ed and Vicky went up the coast and back down for the first 45 minutes. We came back and did another 45 minutes to the south. Jake was just getting back from his lesson with a HUGE grin on his face. He loved it and the instructor said he was a natural. He now wants to get certified when they return to Minnesota. Not a bad introduction to diving in one of the premiere diving spots!



Kite Boarding on Luc Bay



Tuesday we decided to go to Luc Bay where Harvey and Jake will take kite boarding lessons. Gretchen and Vicky sat on shore under a thatch umbrella, sipping our beverages, watching the boys try to kite board in very little wind! The world champion kite boarder (nope, can’t remember his name) live and practices in Bonaire so we were treated to one heck of a show.



Swinging on Boto



Wednesday the gang went into town to do the typical tourist exploring and shopping. It was a lazy day with, of course, more snorkeling. The hammock was even brought out from the lazarette. The Olson’s packed everything into the dinghy and off to the Divi Resort for the rest of their stay.

Thursday, Happy Birthday Jake! Jake turns 16 and we have rented scooters for the day to tour the island. We are off early as we want to see it all! The first stop is snorkeling at 1,000 Steps. Every location is unique and this spot was as beautiful as the rest!

Next we head north toward Go Meer Lake (a large pond actually) and then lunch in Rincon at the Rose Inn…awesome!



The Olson Gang on their Hogs!

After a reviving lunch we went to the museum at the entrance to the park and then along the north coast which is volcanic and rough. There were wild donkeys everywhere along this stretch.



Hundreds of pink flamingos!



Birthday Smoothie!



The next stop was the lookout overlooking the island to the south, east and west. Then, on to Luc Bay for the world’s best smoothies. Just to the west of Luc Bay is a protected area where flamingos congregate…hundreds of them. Stunning! The Olson’s continued on south to the salt flats as we had to have our scooter back that day.



Friday was going to be our sailing day. We were going to eat some

 Wahoo, compliments of Alex on our return. That is…until the

 weather turned…west, southwest. This is not a good wind direction for this anchorage at all. It was only a bit bumpy when we started seeing the ‘local’ boats start dropping their mooring balls and heading into the marina. It doesn’t take us long to decide that they probably know best so in no time we called off the sailing trip and were secure in the marina.



It only takes a second....



It wasn’t until we went to the Divi Resort that evening that we realized how happy we were to be in the marina. There were 6 boats, on mooring balls, that were rocking and rolling…forwards, backwards, side-to-side! The waves were coming in over the main road along the beach and the officials had shut down traffic. When we got to the Divi Resort the Olson’s showed us photos of another boat, by the resort, that had broken free from the mooring ball and was on shore. By the next day it was broken in half. Yep, sometimes marinas are nice to have around!

The next day the Olson’s are back to Minnesota and we will start looking for weather to head to Curacao. Come back soon so I can beat you again at Farkel!

The Venezuelan Islands

It is time to leave Grenada. It is hard to stay in one place for an extended period of time (sitting out hurricane season!) so it will be good to get underway again…shake out the sails!


We will be sailing west and then north on our next leg of our journey. Many cruisers are tentative about heading west for a few reasons. The first is that there have been a few piracy boardings of boats off the Venezuelan coast in previous years; second, the legs between the destinations become longer; third, the seas tend to build as they reach the Colombian coast and Panama requiring careful timing for a comfortable trip; and fourth, we hear that amenities such as fuel and boat parts are a bit harder to come by.

None of this seems to be a huge issue so we are ready to get underway! Alex, from Pacifica (a single-hander on a catamaran) is looking for someone to travel with to Bonaire so we meet up with him the night before we leave for brief introductions. After a few last minute errands we are on our way to Blanquilla (a Venezuelan island) for our first stop. Out of fear many boaters sail straight to Bonaire and bypass these islands. We have heard only good things about these islands from other cruisers so we decide to get the full experience along the way!

Pacifica at Blanquilla

We had a lovely overnight passage and settle in on the west coast of Blanquilla the next day. Beautiful white sand beaches, clear water and stunning marina life just peering over the side of your boat! We haven’t seen such a pristine anchorage since the Bahamas with the lovely shifts of blues and greens in the water!


Alex caught some Wahoo and a tuna along the way. So, we made salad and couscous to go along with the ceviche, hopped in our dinghy and rowed over for an impromptu dinner. We had a hit on our line on the trip as well. It must have been a whopper because it took the hook, line and sinker….all of it! Until we get more line in Bonaire we will need to rely on friends like Alex for fish!

The next day we are up early and head out for another overnight sail to Los Roques (another Venezuelan group of islands…a park actually). Alex has decided to spend another night in Blanquilla so we will meet up with him in a few days.

Los Roques; Gran Roques in the background

Los Roques is stunning upon arrival. There is a large grouping of rocky islands as you enter the park with tons of small, low islands scattered throughout. We debated and decided to stop by the Coast Guard to ask their permission to spend a few days because we hadn’t officially checked into Venezuela, which we hear you can only do on the mainland. Ed brought along the Spanish for Cruisers guide and managed to secure to approval to stay for a few nights. I don’t think either one of them understood each other but the concept was there!



The only problem in Los Roques is trying to decide which one of the islands you want to drop the hook at because they are all so lovely. As it turns out, only a few provide really good protection from prevailing winds so it helps to narrow your decisions.

We chose to anchor on the lee side of an island about half way into the park. We enjoyed the sunset, had a sun-downer and then a movie. Ah, and then bedtime. It is so nice to have a normal night of sleep after an overnight crossing. That is….until your anchor alarm goes off in the middle of the night and you discover it isn’t a false alarm. We were dragging anchor due to a wind switch with no option but to give it another try. The winds were brisk and the night pitch black making your senses stand at attention. Alas, we pulled up the anchor, reset it and it held. After that it was a 30 minute ‘anchor watch’ to ensure we were set. You can’t be too cautious out in these islands because assistance isn’t close at hand! At last, we went back to the sleep of the dead.

Dos Mosquitos

The next day we chose to find a new anchorage since the wind had switched more to the south. After consulting the emails from other cruisers we chose to move to Dos Mosquitos.   We had a nice brisk sail and were at our new anchorage in a little over an hour.

Los Roques is a marine (no take) park which makes the snorkeling so nice. Right under our boat Ed pulled up an enormous conch to show Vicky before putting it back. We have never seen one this big…but it wasn’t just one. It was hundreds! One conch could have fed a family of four!

And coconuts to boot.  This is the life!

Chula also got to romp on the beach after being ‘boat bound’ for 4 days! We even went over to the beach, set up the beach sunshade we got from Warren, Eileen, Abigail and Grant for our wedding and spent the day reading and snorkeling. What a great relaxing day!

Well, Alex from Pacifica has joined us and so we are off to the Aves (two more Venezuelan sets of islands). The first group is only 15 miles away so we had a nice sail and dropped our anchor close to the inlet to the mangroves. We mixed a couple happy hour drinks, put Chula in the boat and took a scenic tour by dinghy. There were thousands of birds that called these mangroves home. What a racket! And they weren’t afraid of humans so let you pull right up to them for a close photo.

The next day was the second set of islands about 15 miles away. Again, another great day of sailing. We selected an island to drop the anchor and Ed contacted the Coast Guard again to let them know we were spending the night while in transit. This conversation went fairly well. Ah, the Spanish is starting to sink in!

The beach was beautiful so we put on Chula’s life jacket, grabbed our snorkel gear and swam to shore for a walk on the beach. There was a boat wreck that we explored as well. Along the beach the mast was on shore and a bit further down we found a cute, small, decorative sailboat made out of a Dutch wooden shoe. Vicky couldn’t resist rescuing it so back to Boto it came. If you want to know the ‘outcome’ of the wooden shoe…read the upcoming blog entry for Curacao! It will show you how small the cruising community really can be!

We have had 1 ½ weeks of fantastic cruising weather…when does that happen!...but it is time to get to Bonaire before some squally weather comes in a few days. We are off in the morning for another lovely day of sailing to Bonaire…where our friends Gretchen, Harvey and their son Jake will yet again join us for a week. They last joined us in the Exumas, Bahamas.