BONAIRE

We have been on Bonaire since late April, playing tennis almost every day, melting ( a nicer word for sweating) on a hot court. Our tennis rust is slowly peeling off.

Bonaire tennis court

A visitor interrupted our game 

Cheering section

Bonaire national bird is trupial, oriole family, it's nest swinging in the wind. After trupial's offspring find their own life away from home, saffron finch settles in it's hanging nest.

Saffron finch

Bonaire differs from other Caribbean islands, it is flat with the exception of the north part. There is only one large natural beach, enclosed in the lagoon on the east side. The island is surrounded by coral reefs, that attract thousands of divers every year. I joined their force last week by going through somewhat unpleasant tests. Well worth for enjoying the beauty of the silent world.

My instructor Chris Verstappen, who was said to have gills

As we drove the bumpy road across the island, we noticed the difference since we sailed here seven years ago. The desert is slowly giving in to green shrubs, though the forests of tall cacti are still dominant. The prickly plants are also widely used for fences.

Try to climb over this fence

Or try to stand on it

Kralendijk , the Capitol, is a charming small town with many souvenir, craft and jewellery shops, but also large supermarkets. There you buy what you recognise, most labels are in Dutch. You like the variety of foods? There are plenty of restaurants, from French 'Bistro de Paris', Argentinian, Polynesian, Chinese to the excellent fish treat in 'It Rains Fishes'.

Karelsbar on the Kralendijk's waterfront

There is no anchoring here. To protect the coral, mooring
blocks were put in the sand close to the shore

On Sunday locals come to catch small fish in a shallow water

Sunset over Klein Bonaire, the bird sanctuary 

FROM MARTINIQUE TO BONAIRE

Sunday, April 15th we left Martinique in a light E wind, blowing into the stern all the way to Bonaire. We sat up whisker poles and sailed wing to wing. The wind almost never exceeded ten knots. It was an easy passage, that took 96 hours. The second day it rained, but the following day the sun dried out our wet clothing.
Our fishing luck returned, we caught a large dolphinfish (mahi-mahi).

Dolphinfish 

A FEW IMPRESSIONS OF LE MARIN, MARTINIQUE

Bus stop

Ready to leave 

The street up the hill

The street down the hill to the marina 

SPRING IN ST. ANNE, SOUTH MARTINIQUE

The sky is soft blue, painted with white clouds, the picture changing every minute in the light spring wind. In the town pavements are already heating up, the shady sides of the streets are crowded with walkers.

It is not to hot on the anchorage, once it becomes, we jump in the water and cool off. This is the best time for sailors. The daylight is long, the wind steady from the east. Ripe mangos are making their way to the breakfast table in the cockpit.

'NADA' crew

St. Anne Bay

St. Anne church

A modest shrine

One of the streets

The town coast line

New fruit: abrigot (apricot),  the taste is between a mango and an apricot

St. Anne in bloom

FROM ST. LUCIA TO MARTINIQUE

The short distance of 20 NM from Rodney Bay to Le Marin on the south end of Martinique has always been a small challenge. Sailing there early in the season in the ENE wind we ended up at the Diamond Rock, 8 NM west of Le Marin entrance and had to tack to our destination. This time leisurely E wind took us straight to Le Marin. The channel is well marked by buoys and by the boat, stuck on the sand banc, a reminder to sailors, that like to take shortcuts through shallow waters. As we were approaching the first set of buoys, to the right of us, a spray came out of the water surface and then the whole massive body of a whale came straight out in the air, splashing back into the water. Wonderful, but too close. Too close! Our sailboat can not compete with the king of all seas. I stirred away. The whale curved his body through the surface, puffed ones, twice and he was gone.

Diamond Rock

   

THE JOKE WAS ON MY FISHING

I was sitting on the back step by the ladder, soaking my feet. Ouch! Something bit my big toe. I looked down and saw a fish snacking on me. It was a sheepshead, about fifteen inches long. When later I dived under the boat, I noticed, that two of them made the bottom of our boat their home. They live on barnacles, they have three rows of teeth on the top and two on the bottom jaw. They should have brought all their friends to our boat and stick to the barnacles for their food.

BACK ON ST. LUCIA

Rodney Bay became another home for us. Sailing into the anchorage, we try to spot familiar boats, sailors we became friends with the past six years of our Caribbean sailing.
The greetings begin, sunset drinks, Mexican train dominoes, exaggerated sailing and fishing stories. We came here to spend a week and we stayed two.
The bay is thinning out, though, spring is here. North is warming up and sailors are getting their boats ready for a rest on dry land. There are some, that are full time sailors, most of them retired people, that sold their houses and reduced their comfort into a small floating space. The healthy life on the water agrees with them. When the hurricane season starts, they leave the East Caribbean islands and sail south to Grenada, Tobago, Trinidad, or to the West Caribbean.