On route to Bonaire...

Monday 25th August
Bob woke me at 6am to take the morning watch while he grabbed a few well-deserved hours of sleep. Storm clouds lay heavily behind us, but fortunately the direction we were headed looked promising. I could just glimpse the Islas de Aves on the horizon. Barlovento and Sotavento are two archipelagos separated by about ten miles of deep water. They got their names from the large number of birds that make them their home. The larger of the islands have dense mangrove forests. There wasn’t a chance in a million that I was going anywhere near those areas, after my experience in Los Roques with all the mosquito’s.
The water was quite calm as we motored along, but we still had the South Westerly wind making it impossible to sail. We were however making a steady 8 knots.

A school of bottlenose dolphins swam alongside and behind the boat, one of them leapt out of the water right alongside me. I will never cease to be excited each time I see these magnificent creatures in their natural environment. We found a flying fish on the deck, it was dead so Daniela and I decided to use it as bait, we put the fishing line out, and after about an hour we managed to haul in a beautiful Tuna. “Yeah we both exclaimed excitedly, sushi for dinner”. We had to haul the Tuna aboard as quickly as we could before the gathering flock of Frigate birds circling the boat above us swooped down and stole it. We were quick to kill it by pouring vodka into its gills, and then pack it in ice to keep it fresh. All tuna quickly deteriorates, especially once cut into steak portions, refrigerate immediately, preferably whole, cover with crushed ice and use within 1 day.

A comical group of three flamingos flew past and I couldn't’t help but wonder where they were headed, so far from land. They always look as though they are in such a panic when they fly, as if they are about to crash at any moment, but it was lovely to see them.
As the sun came up and the heat increased I fixed a blanket up behind the helm to protect us.
Bonaire appeared through a misty haze on the horizon around eight am. Approaching from the east the high land is well in the north, reaching a maximum of 238m. The southern part of the island is very flat with little of the land no more than 2m above sea level. As you approach the island the water shallows tremendously to twenty feet very quickly. Both Bonaire and Klien Bonaire (little Bonaire) are surrounded by continuous fringing coral reefs from the shoreline to depths in excess of 70m. The entire coastline of the island has been declared a marine sanctuary, preserving local marine life.

We motored around the west coast of the island to Kralendijk the capital of Bonair, where we picked up a mooring and headed ashore to visit customs and immigration. The coastline of Bonair is absolutely beautiful, brightly painted condos and houses, beachfront restaurants and bars all bustling with people. Palm trees and colorful plants line the roadside along the coast.
After customs and immigration we walked around the town a little then sat and had a cocktail on the pier before returning to the boat for dinner. At dusk the mosquitoes swarmed the boat so we had to shut up quickly and put on the air con. We had a quiet evening watching television.