Passage to Bonaire

Passage to Bonaire

While this will include our stay in Bonaire, the title is a thank you to the 2012 blog from Mar Azul that helped us plan our crossing.  We had read many accounts of this two-and-a-half-day trip but none were more helpful and full of useful data than Bob’s. I feel like I know him since his blog was recommended by our good friends on Hobo.  These two boats met back in 2012 in Bonaire! 

Back to the crossing. The trick is to guess the westward current boost so arrival is in the daylight.  Our normal speed should have allowed a late day departure for two nights and then an early morning arrival. However, numerous bloggers told of having to slow down or circle waiting for daylight.  We opted to depart in the wee hours of Jan 1, 2020 – pulled anchor and were on our way out of Prickly Bay, Grenada before 4 AM.  Since we had arrived there in the dark and had entered and exited several times, we had clear tracks to follow.  This dark exit was not a stressor.  Like many previous boats we experienced a swell and somewhat rolly seas for the first 12 hours or so.  From that point on, it was manageable and ever calmer (although never flat!) The first quarter was slower than expected and we began to doubt our planning, but true to predictions, the current kicked in and we flew – for us – averaging 7.8+ across the 450+ statue mile trip. These calmer conditions also made fishing a little easier and like the folks with Mar Azul, we caught a freezer full of Mahi and a sail fish that was released to fight another day.

We came into sight of the harbor in Bonaire just after 1:30 PM and were tied to the dock and off to customs and immigration shortly after 2PM. The checking in process in Bonaire is free and relatively painless – we walked into town from the marina to stretch our legs and then sat and waited for the officials to do their magic. A short line and few officials, did result in a wait, but we were legally entered before 6 PM. The customs and immigration offices are in the heart of the old town and provided a nice entry to this quaint little community.  The cruise ship and its mobs were still wandering the square so the vendors were also out and flogging crafts and local specialties like the famous Bonaire Salt!  I was drawn to the glass artist and her hand-blown beads!

Bonaire’s waters are protected and no anchoring is allowed so we opted to book a few nights in the marina to “recover” from our overnights on watch, and then we hoped to move to one of the state park moorings in the harbor.  Since we could see many were available, we made the move early Monday morning.  Steve did go out in our dink and reserved one with a fender. In the end this one turned out to be rather close to a local boat. As a result, we practice hooking up to a mooring again and moved a little closer to the dinghy dock at Nautico Marina – made for easier trips into town and no worries bumping into other boats. These moorings cost $10 per night and all the funds go to the park system who maintains the rigging. Steve still dove ours to double check.

There is a courtesy van twice a week that picks up boats and takes them to the wonderful Van den Tweel grocery store where amazing Dutch treats and all manner of fresh and packaged goods are available. There is also a Tops grocery story a short walk from the dinghy dock that has essentials but much fewer fresh items. Restaurants abound in this tourist town as do cute shops with tempting goodies – mostly aimed at cruise ship passengers.  In one shop I noticed some handmade sea glass jewelry and offered to bring the artist some of my stash.  In return for some of my pickings of sea glass, she kindly made me a necklace and earrings set which nicely match one of my few dresses!

dive site marker

The big draw in Bonaire is the diving, and Steve took advantage – giving his gear and tanks a constant workout. He managed to visit by dinghy some of the most highly recommended and well buoyed dive sites on the leeward side.  With a dive guide recommended by our son, Paul, he also made one trip to the windward side – before the winds kicked up and made diving over there dangerous. (I held the fort and continued to knit on a very frustrating “twisted stitch” project!!!! – besides the ever-present chores!) To be fair, Steve also had a few little fixes to attend to that required several trips to the local Budget Marine and Kooyman’s Hardware stores. 

Besides underwater park dive sites, we rented a golf cart and bounced around on the so-so roads. One stop included a couple mile walk in the national park.  This was especially a treat since for most of the walk there were no people to be seen. Finally, as we paused to view the impressive blow hole – blowing violently due to the extra strong trade winds, we noticed a few cars off in the distance.  Unlike the rest of the island, the park was peaceful and mostly empty.

Seeing a small break in the prevailing and extra brisk trade winds, we revisited the fine folks at customs and immigration and got our “zarpe” to depart. We were hoping to spend a night at Klein Curacao on our way into the anchorages of Spaanse Waters (Spanish). Fingers crossed – it can be a rough spot when strong winds blow.

Trinidad I and 2

Trinidad Part I

Now that we are here, we can report on an uneventful crossing of the somewhat treacherous waters between Grenada and Trinidad. The area is a little controversial since it borders the currently somewhat unstable Venezuela. An isolated incident occurred last April that frightened some boaters thinking of heading south from Grenada. (Many here have speculated that a lot of the negative hype is encouraged by the yards in Grenada who want to keep boaters up there?) With an abundance of caution, we followed all the instructions from the Trinidadian Coast Guard and the local yacht services group and made the trip overnight with out any problems.  Some boaters have opted to travel in groups or wait until they have a large enough convoy to request a Coast Guard escort. However, since there had been no further incidents, we traveled on our own when the weather and our cat papers permitted. 

Our first stop was Crews Inn Marina – with Customs and Immigration on site. The check in process here requires multiple sheets of carbon paper, but was all accomplished quickly and efficiently – even including the required vet visit for Teddy – much of that was thanks to the coordination of Jesse James a local boater’s advocate and all-around great man. We rewarded ourselves with lunch in the marina café after Steve backed us into our slip. The first dock since St Kitts – many months ago.

There is a large and active cursing group with a daily net here in Chaguaramas and fellow cruisers quickly caught us up on what’s – what.

There are weekly BBQ nights at the big “yards” (Power Boats and Peakes), Bake and Shark gatherings  as well as regular shopping trips and dominoes. We were lucky to also catch a special steel drum event on the eve of Emancipation Day – August 1^st.

Our stay at Crews Inn was a nice break – enjoying power and water which meant AC on the boat during these hot days: it ended when we got hauled out at Peakes.  Our stay here will include a variety of “projects” – work is already underway on the bottom. Several inside teak fixes and improvements are ready for varnish, but the big jobs remain – painting the top side and refinishing the teak outside. Life “on the hard” is unique, with ladders instead of docks and buckets instead of dumping overboard, but we are not alone. The yards are well populated with other boaters and worker bees. There is security at the gates, lots of good lighting, super clean bath/shower rooms and even convenience stores handy for essentials. We, however, will take a break from the boat and return in September to finish all the work. Until then our home sits in the yard, and Teddy will guard the door.

Trinidad Part 2

Well yes, that work….what was supposed to take a mere three months morphed into almost five . 

coming through the yard

hitting the water

We finally splashed on Dec 4^th but moved back to Crews Inn where our varnish man, Abdul, worked feverishly (for Trinidad) and finished us up just in time for Christmas when our visa expired.  So, besides the weeks in the states, what did we do for five months?  I think we acclimated to Trini Time and were only productive a few hours each day – a morning shuttle shopping trip was more than enough to tax one day’s worth of energy.  I did mention that it was HOT!

For two of the months we lived in a “hotel” room on the yard with a microwave and mini frig so not much cooking and lots of take out/eating out.  Teddy, our boat cat, did NOT enjoy being on land with only a tiny window for entertainment.  He made fast friends with the ladies who came in each day to clean and gave them fits when they changed the sheets. Needless to say, he was overjoyed to be back on the boat and especially happy to be on the water again.

helping me dust?

Seriously, Steve spent endless hours keeping the “boys” working.  Crews had different areas of responsibility and coordination between them was often lax – as in the bottom painters showed up only to find that the topside guys were washing and “dripping” water all over the bottom which needed to be dry for the paint!  On and on – kind of reminded us of the house building experience – always a story, excuse, or crisis and the work proceeded at a snail’s pace.  

In the end, we were probably the last boat they had to work on so THEY were not eager to finish us off.  There were a few small issues as they reassembled after painting - spot the problem?

However, the rant is over, and so is the work.  The boat does look great – the paint sparkles and so does the teak. Now, I just have to get the dust out of the inside!

Highlights of our time in Trinidad include a few tours on the island. The local bird – the scarlet ibis put on a great show as flocks descended on their evening roost. The boat tour to the preserve and back was almost as entertaining with guide extraordinaire, Jesse James. He chopped and minced through a pineapple and other ingredients to feed us some Pineapple Chow. I think it wore him out!

Food is Jesse’s thing since he also leads his occasional Taste of Trini tours for the fortunate few.  (Missed three chances before getting lucky.) This feast of street food started early for breakfast and we ate and drank our way through 53 different local “delicacies” from “doubles” to cow heel soup. A day of fasting was needed to recover – even though we mostly just nibbled bites of each item! The total enjoyment of our tour was mostly Jesse himself and his constant banter and tidbits of knowledge about Trinidad, but our group also included some of the cruisers who originally inspired Jesse to conduct these tours.  This was their 4^th tour and their local knowledge along with Jesse’s made this a tour to treasure.

Jesse's van is a cut above

Another Jesse outting - breakfast at the local spot in POS

Shopping in the over the top West Falls Mall and even better downtown Port of Spain – Jimmy Aboud is the best fabric store in all of the Eastern Caribbean – maybe the Western Hemisphere. 

West Falls in Holiday Decor

The ride into town was a fun experience – cost about a dollar to be crunched into to a normally non-air-conditioned van with 14 or so other folks – at least there was no outrider like in Grenada who was shouting out the window and herding passengers. The driver just honked at any potential riders – basically anyone along the road as we flew by – slamming on the brakes and reversing if necessary.  This adventure took 30-50 minutes depending on traffic – which could rival Los Angeles at rush hour with much narrower streets (no freeways) and road construction abounded. Still it was a great deal of fun to run errands – just requiring a lot of energy and time. 

one of the premium maxi taxis

Trips with the regular Peakes Van driver, Ian, were by contrasts heavenly. This van was never overloaded and had magnificent AC. 

Since I was mostly only knitting and watching football,(the hotel room had cable 😊) I took almost every trip available just to get out and check out the stores and markets which included impressive selections from grocery stores like the Massy, to Price Smart (Costco/Sam’s) and the most amazing “Excellent” Store which was a truly excellent home store.  Added to the Al Khobar style stores in Port of Spain, just about everything one could ever need was available in Trinidad – for a price.  Just looking was always fun.

After our long stay, it was easy to see why folks return here year after year – some actually stay year-round. The boat yards are wonderful, the workmanship is first rate if slow, and the people are beyond helpful and gracious. We were ready to leave and because our visa was up, we had to leave but would return in a heartbeat! On Christmas afternoon, we left for an overnight run back to Grenada.

sorry - more photos are stuck on the phone :(