08/08/2012, Worldwide
Hi, Can I please have a :
2 Cheeseburgers, (hold the onions and pickles)
Large fries
Chocolate thickshake
Gill's favorite questions have been answered in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. It has been a few months since I found a Maccas (last at Cape Town in January) and Curacao has lots. I will count them down on this blog soon.
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Comments [2]
08/03/2012, Spanish Waters, Curacao
Hi all,
Tropical Storm Ernesto has well and truly passed so it is time for an update. We sailed from Bonaire on the 31st July at about 0700. We were going to go direct to Curacao but the evening prior to departure Netherlands friends Hanna and Nils from "Pelagic" told us about Klein Curacao (Small Curacao) so we decided to sail there and spend a few hours before completing the last 12nm into Spanish Waters.
24nm miles in 12 t0 15knots tailwind saw us anchored there under Genny alone by 1030 and it is truly a delightful stop. Nothing but beach and more beach with wonderfully clear water that rivals Bonaire. Klein Curacao is a small sandspit of a coral outcrop that hosts a lighthouse and a few wrecks. Food for thought when we saw a beautiful sloop wrtecked on the eastern, windward side. Our few hours turned into two nights and days as we swam with turtles, looked at their nests on the beach, explored the lighthouse and wrecks and generally trudged over the island.
The weather reports became a cause for some concern as we watched TS Ernesto develop into a fast moving storm heading rapidly for Grenada and the Windward Islands from the mid-Atlantic brewery. It was never a serious threat to us but we decided to sail for Curacao and anchor in the good mud of Spanish Waters and watch for developments. Our Hurricane Plan was enacted and a course planned for the Venezualian coast but it never developed into a Hurricane so we decided to sample the hospitality here and met up with Onno from Sogno D'Azul who we first met in Cocos islands and again in Africa.
Onno has showed us around the various authorities as well as the shops and marine stores and we are truly grateful to have him as a friend. We have been looking for a Rocna anchor for a few months but at the moment they are also out of them here. Had the pleasure of watching one set at Tobago Keys in sand/weed and when compared to a CQR they stand out in the crowd as the pick to set. Also have been looking for Gill's first ride and he will get a dink and outboard while we are here so he can escape us all and explore on his own.
Curacao is a nice place with about as much as anywhere to offer. It appears as the Netherlands tropical paradise and the backpackers are out in force here. Just noticed a web site that needs boats to host backpackers in the San Blas and offering good money but I doubt if anyone aboard CH (except Gill and I) would appreciate the near nakedness of these Dutch teenagers.
We have also decided that we may as well stay here and leave CH in a marina while we visit the East Coast of the good ole' USA and that will probably be about mid to late September. Disneyland and the abundance of Maccas seems to excite the kids and the airfares are cheap so what the heck; "you might as well live while you are still alive".
Our friend Adam will come and visit in a few weeks for a fortnight or so and we plan lots of sailing and diving for him along with the obligatory beers and fish BBQ's. We will hopefully visit Curacao spots as well as Klein Curacao and Bonaire if we can survive the beat of 40nm with 35k headwinds.
Adam will be our first guest aboard and the first to take up the offer of free sail travel and accommodation. We will only be out here for another few years so don't miss out. Book your sail now!
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07/27/2012, Bonaire
MY TRIP TO BONAIRE by Gill
My family and I left Grenada at lunch last Monday week after clearing out of Customs and Immigration in Prickly Bay.
The sail to Bonaire took two days and was nice which was not how I felt. (BWWAAAGG)
When we were almost there we passed the south part of the island with huge white huts but on closer inspection they were HUGE piles of salt !??
When we moored close to the wharf our friend Eric of "YELA" was right behind us with his cat Lucky.
Once we found Customs and Immigration and checked in we found a hole in the wall bank (ATM) and got some green backs, then went back to the boat after icecreams and had dinner with Eric but without Lucky. Sad thing though is that Eric left the next day at 6am so I did not get to say goodbye because I only get up at 9am.
The next day we found another icecream place with free WiFi and then went to a marine shop and bought 6 new house batteries to replace the old ones and Dad and I fitted them the next day.
We got into the dingy the next morning to have a snorkel at the other island and as dad was saying "keep your eyes peeled for bommies" we hit one. Everything was OK though and we had a nice snorkel and walk on the beach.
Next day hired a car and got it the day after and then went to look at the huge piles of salt and pink lemonade lakes. The we had lunch at "Jibe City" on the other side of Bonaire which was the last place I wanted to be. But then we had KFC and went to a hardware store and finally went back to the boat to sleep but only after having Pizza at a different pizza place than we were going to.
Woke up this morning and got straight in the car to another snorkel place for an hour. It was OK but not as good as Cocos.
We will be leaving Bonaire soon for Curacao which means in a few days.
| The Crew |
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07/25/2012, Bonaire
Kralendijk
(pronounced Krall-en-dyke) is the main centre of Bonaire which is a pretty little place off the beaten track in the south central Caribbean. It is a town that caters for tourists and tourist divers and is exceptionally clean when compared to all other places in this part of the world. It is about 40nm to the east of Curacao and with the strong easterly winds here it is a hard sail if going east.
We will attempt it soon when Adam visits and if we fail we can always stop at Klein Curacao till the Coastguard arrives.
Bonaire is very dry and full of thorn bushes, cacti, pink flamingoes, euro tourists and crystal clear water. All in all a delightful stopover and one we recommend. You must use a mooring at USD$10 per day or go into the marina but you can swim off the boat and enjoy the lovely weather and town.
We hired a car and toured the island on the wrong side of the road. It is easy actually till you get to the roundabouts but that is another story. The tour took about 3 hours at dead slow and is really not worth the effort as it is all bush, pink flamingoes, cacti and more cacti. There are 3 supermarkets and it takes awhile to discover the one the locals use where food is still relatively good and cheap. The ice-cream stores are cheap and excellent and have WiFi but the fuel is expensive as is the water if you need to buy it. As with Curacao all water is produced by Reverse Osmosis and is a luxury.
| The Crew |
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07/17/2012, Caribbean Sea
It has been 18 hours since we left Grenada and we have only done 120nm. The wind has been a bit iffy and dead astern which is not our best point of sail with the strength alternating between 12 and 25 knots so we have not even flown the Code Zero yet. Thunderstorms marked our departure from Grenada at noon Monday the 16th July 2012 but this mornings sunrise was spectacular. Yesterday started well.
Keely and I cleared Customs and Immigration with Keely giving hugs all round to the officials and a great big hug for Kim at "De Big Fish" bar and restaurant where we had spent a few hours having lemonades and hot chips over the last few weeks. We scrubbed the anchor chain as it came up as growth at Grenada is huge. The hull and props had been scrubbed a few days before. By lunch we had begun our exit from Prickly Bay. Keely was excited, Jo had a headache and Gill and Tizer the HOP decided that rest was the order of the day with several movies to help relieve our batteries of their precious power. They both rest for the first 24 hours and both recover their sea legs during this period. Tizer will be looking for his fresh fish shortly but no luck on rod and reel nor on deck catches. It was a great sail for the first 12 hours with winds in the showers and storms around 20 knots so we slid along quite nicely but it has since died down to around 8 knots so motor sailing is the norm once more. We should be able to raise the new sail today as there are no heavy clouds on the horizon in any direction and the winds look steady. Last night was odd with a fair amount of shipping starting at about 2300. The first ship was on a direct collision course with us when we picked it up on the AIS at 10nm. I had just finished my watch so no rest for awhile. Altered course to starboard by 20 degrees and they passed 1nm on our port side 13 minutes later. It looked like they were on their way to Trinidad and in a slight hurry. They did answer the radio and also altered course to ensure safety. Just after they were clear a light was spotted about 3nm to port moving rapidly with no AIS signal and we could not even identify them on radar. They eventually did a full 360 degree circle around us at the same distance so I can only guess it was a plastic warship or high speed fishing boat. Pirates would not tend to do this I guess and leave their lights on.Many ships later the AIS alarm went off a few hours ago at 0415 and it was a repeat of the first but as he was going a tad faster we had to get a real wiggle on. The AIS is a great bonus to have and I would hesitate to sail the seas again without it. At 0430 I checked the fridge and it had defrosted. The powere levels of the batteries were down to 11.95 volts which is virtually flat. Most appliances will cut out at a certain voltage and when you account for voltage drop the fridge is the first to go. We have been suspecting that our batteries were sus but this has confirmed it so I hope Bonaire has some ready for us. It has just hit 6am and I can hear stirrings below as tummies grumble and Tizer looks for an exit from Gill's cabin so will post this off now.
Addendum Friday 20th July
Well we arrived at Bonaire after about 54hours of sailing. We slowed down once again on Wednesday night as the wind picked up to 30knots and we wanted to make our normal sunrise entry.
We caught several Dorado on the way and landed one with the rest devouring the lures and breaking lines. I suspect they were actually nuke subs or large Tuna or maybe even a marlin. We saw several of these jumping astern at one stage of the crossing.
Lots of shipping and always at night to increase the adrenalin levels and a few flying fish to assist Tizer the HOP in his growth patterns.
We arrived here and moored directly in front of Eric and Lucky on "YELA" who we had not see since May in Grenada. He left Friday morning for Curacao and we will see him again in Santa Marta.
Bonaire is lovely and clean. It is a real change after Grenada and the water is even clearer than Tobago Cays. Will snorkel in a few days after we have installed the new batteries. I think it is my fault. I had the inverter on while running the engines and left the battery charger on at the same time. This appears to have destroyed our 6V battery bank. They can be cgharged but remove the charger source (sun, wind and generator) and they immediately begin to lose the charge at a rapid rate. While sailing our batteries were down to 11.95V after a night with them fully charged at 14.2V at sunset. The autopilot uses a fair bit if juice so it was not noticed as much in Grenada. Luckily Budget Marine stocks them and they will be delivered tomorrow morning and I will install soon after.
More to come but after we have experienced it.
The crew
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07/15/2012, Grenada
Setting Sail from Grenada
Hi all. It's time to go and we are ready to set sail from Prickly Bay, Grenada for Kralendijk , the Capital of Bonaire which is at about 12deg 10min north latitude and 68deg 17min west longitude. It is about 400 nautical miles to the west of Grenada and we expect to have a great sail getting there. The trades are here and the breeze is about 15 to 20 knots so we will have a pretty good downhill run all the way and I anticipate 48 hours for the sail unless the wind dies (it always does) so it may add another day and more opportunity to catch another Dorado or Mackeral.
We were going to visit Islas Los Testigos (the witness) on the way but the increase of Venezualean piracy makes the stopover a bit questionable. A few boats have reported armed robbery at sea to the west of Testigos on solo boats so we will now leave it south of our track and go direct to Bonaire for a few weeks before tacking the trip to Curacao which is a further 40 nautical miles westward to pick up our friend Adam Gollow who is quite keen to come visit and see one of the three top dive destinations in the world.
The boat is packed away for sea. The engines serviced, and all systems checked. We just have to pack away the washing machine, stow the genset, dump the rubbish and clear customs and immigration, hoist the Code Zero and navigate our way out of the slightly crowded anchorage of Prickly Bay. To prepare ourselves for this great adventure Jo got in a bit of exercise yesterday with a Hash run to celebrate Bastille Day while Gill, Keely and myself sat and watched a couple of movies during the daily thunderstorms.
We have made some great friendships here and it will be sad to leave them behind but as always there is the option of catching up again and we truly hope this happens. "Avatar" may well join us in the western Caribbean Sea and "Shiloh" may not be too far behind us and anticipate leaving in September/October I think. We even think we may see Eric, Lynne and the boys of "Amarula" in Santa Marta and look forward to that as well. We tend not to say goodbye but rather "see you down the track". It is lovely to look through our visitors memory book and recall the different personalities that make up this lifestyle. Gill is also rather proud to have lost his virginity here. He is going to talk about it on his Facebook page so watch out for it.
This sailing business is really not about the countries you visit. Beaches, animals, trees and dirt are similar all over this piece of wet rock. It is actually the people and differing customs and civilisations you come across as well as the like minded people from the other cruising yachts. While we lived in Darwin, Northern Territory we hardly even knew out next door neighbours and had a relatively small circle of friends. At anchor here everyone smiles and waves as they dingy past on there way somewhere and then stop for a chat and introduction to become new friends. There are all sorts of people and boats to stop and talk to and look at, admire and question and discuss. It was probably like this on land before we all had to work so hard to earn a crust and became quite insular. Saying all that a lovely deserted beach and a fresh Coral Trout does take some beating !!!!!
Goodbye Grenada and Hello Bonaire !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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