VIEQUES

Puerto Patilla was our last stop on Puerto Rico. To leave the bay we had to wait for the daylight, as there were many fish pots around the entrance into the bay. Winds and waves were unavoidable on the passage sailing east to Vieques. The wind was ENE, we were able to motor sail the 36 NM to Bahia de Chiva on Vieques. In this large bay we were in the company of just another sail boat. The bay is on the east side partly protected by the coral reef, not enough to prevent the swells. we were rocked to sleep at night. A small hydroplane landed in the bay and it was pulled on the beach, after lunch it left again. What life!

Miles long beach in the Bahia de Chiva on Vieques

 

SALINAS AND PATILLA, PUERTO RICO

Entrance into the next bay, Salinas, is shallow, our sailboat draws seven feet and the depth sounder was showing five feet. We never touched the sandy bottom, so we proceeded slowly, until the bay opened into the beautiful round anchorage, filled up with many sailboats. We spent one night there in a calms in an area, well protected with high mangrove. Salinas has a small marina with a bar, it's deck extending over the water. A lovely spot to have a beer and a chat with other sailors.


 

Salinas anchorage, high Puerto Rico mountains in the background
 

Blooming mango tree
 

21 NM sailing east from Salinas we anchored in Puerto Patilla, a large open bay by the small village
Patilla. The anchorage is protected from the swells by a mile long coral reel. The beach is volcanic, dark grey. A busy road runs along the shore. Instead of a music we got used to from Karel's Bar in Kralendijk, we hear the trucks and the blasting sounds from the cars, driven by the deaf people (or soon to be)
We stayed two nights as the day was rainy and misty, strong wind swept over the sea. By next morning the storm was over and we were ready to rise our sails again.



Puerto Patilla

An early start rewarded us with a beautiful sunrise

 

LEAVING BONAIRE

Sailing by the north end of Bonaire, the image of the island changes. Charming Kralendijk is replaced by rocky coast, only here and there white spots indicating small beaches.
Only here, in the north, the mountains rise high above the water, making the island visible for sailors from a distance.

 

The tall cacti, hidden among yellow blooming thorny bush, will in a month or two, when the rainy season ends, reclaim the lowlands and the hills of this desert island.

The three days sailing from Bonaire NE would have been uneventful but for a good catch of about 20 pounds tuna, two wahoos and a cero. Coming within the sight of Puerto Rico, we hooked two large barracudas. We were able to save one, we unhooked it and let it swim to life. The other we couldn't.

Skipjack tuna

Wahoo

But how uneventful is it really, when you we are sailing in a light of a full moon, reflecting off the sail fish, escaping the bow of our sailboat? When the only sound  we hear is the song of the waves against the boat?

The unfortunate wind direction from ENE brought us to Boqueron on west side of Puerto Rico, about 120 NM west of our intented landing. We slept a few hours, then motor sailed 40 NM to Ponce. There we reported to US Customs and Immigration and had another near unpleasant encounter with the US authorities. We got away with a written warning for disposing trash in the marina trash container. The fine for that is $5000. We didn't know about this regulation. We thought we were so good saving all the waste until we landed and not trashing the beautiful Caribbean Sea.

Slowly we were tacking and motor sailing east, leaving the anchorages before the daybreak to avoid high winds and waves.

 

BONAIRE, ONE MORE LOOK

The surroundings of the tennis courts come to life, when the sea grapes start ripening. The love birds, so called by the Bonaireans, feed on them from morning till dark, spitting the pits onto the tennis courts.

Sea grapes

Love birds

Rough start 

Bonaire marina, surrounded by condominions

Patrice and Claudia took care of us in a nice French restaurant
'Bistro de Paris' within the marina

Salt fields

A mount of salt

The content of salt is high in the lagoon, where salt is colected.
Only one type of algie grows here and it is red. Bonaireans will
tell you, that flamingoes are pink, because they feed here. Should
those, that feed in a muddy lagoon across from the marina,
be brown?

Astrid and Chris, my diving instructors



Klein Bonaire in a sunset

BONAIRE REVISITED

  

The island is so small, one never gets tired of it. Walking the streets and the roads we meet the same people every time, until one day they start greeting us in Spanish, Dutch or English, the three languages spoken on the island.

It feels like summer here, endless summer. It is spring for the birds. In late December they are gathering building material for their new homes. And what a better place than a Christmas tree in the church.

 

 

 

In December cruise ships start finding their way into the bay, staying a day, docking in the Capitol Kralendijk. Tourists scatter, signing up for water activities, fishing, swimming, sailing, taking rides on the pirate ship, rain or shine.

Sorry looking pirates

Flamingos are tirelessly feeding in a small pond, attached to the sea by a narrow man made channel.

Late in the afternoon, when the sun is gentler, Polde and I dinghy into the marina and from there we walk by the shore on Kaya Playa Lechi, checking the moorings for the newcomers, hoping to spot old sailing friends.
Beautifully paved walkway is a main promenade for morning joggers and evening walkers to Kralendijk for a treat of ice crem or a beer in Karel's bar

Trees are precious on this desert island. This one was preserved by building the walkway around it.

One of the attractions on Bonaire are flamingos

 

Everybody has a different recreational idea

  

Lost and found

 

Calabash tree

 

Bonaire is divers' paradise

Sailing school building



A touch of Dutch style



Cordia tree



Cordia blossom

Christmas in a cacti country

 

 

 

 

Karel's Bar

 

 

The sun setting behind Klein Bonaire

 

SHORT DISTANCE, LONG WAY

 

Curacao Marina is squeezed into a mosquito hole at the end of Willemstad commercial port. November 24th we left it, glad to feel the open water breeze again. Going east we had to motor sail to Klein Curacao, where we anchored for the stormy night, dragging the anchor a few times on the stony bottom and ended up drifting along the island until the first day light, when we raised sails again. We tacked in the ENE wind all the way to Bonaire, storms passing over us almost every hour. In a short break of foul weather we picked up a mooring along the Kralendijk shore, happy to be on one of our favorite islands again.

First sunset on the open water

BACK TO CURACAO

The first Caribbean sunset we watched through the plane window promised us sunny days ahead. We needed them for work. Dry boatyard is also giving us an advantage of not bringing mud on the boat with our sandals. It is hot. The first two days we drink a lot of water without using boatyard facilities, then our bodies adjust and besides work our exercise is climbing up and down the steep ladder to use the powder room. Once or twice a day a cloud floats by in a light breeze, that dies down in a total calm. Mosquitoes enjoy. November is a quiet month, if we left Curacao now, we would be motoring. Sailing starts in December.

An animal shelter nearby is our vocal entertainment. After a short solo, the rest of the dogs join in, competing with workers' radios playing wrap music.

We can rest our ears by going into the grocery store in a complimentary mini bus, that comes to the marina every morning except on Sunday, and brings us back in an hour and a half. Otherwise, how would Polde survive without the beer in this heat?