We hauled anchor around 10am after checking out with customs and immigration and buying an extra case of beer to use up the last of our Eastern Caribbean dollars and ventured out of Mt Hartman Bay. The breeze turned out to be a little lighter than we would have liked and directly behind which made the going fairly slow, but increased as the day went on. There was a 2 metre swell running and coming from a different direction to the wind making the ride uncomfortable, to the point where Angela was feeling quite off colour and was cuddling the bucket just in case. It did settle down after a while with the wind picking up to 20-25kts giving the boat a more comfortable motion, and after two nights we sought refuge in behind a sand atoll to get a decent night’s sleep. The atoll was part of a group of islands called Isla Los Roques which are part of Venezuela and not frequented by cruising sailors very much due to the piracy and crime associated with that country. We were told about it by some other Aussies who stopped there and said that they did not have a problem, so we thought it would be worth a stop. It was beautiful with clear aqua blue water and white sandy beaches and very protected from the wind and waves so we had a good night’s sleep and headed off again early the next day.
We were greeted with light winds which made progress slow and by mid afternoon we decided to put the motor on and head for Aves De Sotavento for the night, which is another atoll in the middle of nowhere. When we found a calm anchorage there was two Venezuelan yachts there and one of them came over and asked where we were from and offered us some fresh fish he had just caught – not all Venezuelans are pirates apparently.
The next day was Friday and after an early start we had a good sail to cover the forty miles to Bonaire, with the last eight miles in the lee of the island which meant no waves and a good breeze so PANNIKIN was in her element. All of Bonaire is a marine park so there is no anchoring and mooring buoys are provided at $10US per night which makes things very easy. Andrew from EYE CANDY came out to greet us and helped us pick up the mooring lines which was right next to Jeremy and Susie on JOY and then gave us the run down on the place.
Bonaire is a Dutch colony which gives a completely different feel to the previous Caribbean islands we have visited with western shops selling the things we are more used to and the supermarkets are great with huge range to choose from, even if beer is a little more expensive.
The island is a world renown dive spot with good reason, the water is clear and warm and sheltered with no monsters (as Ange says). Off the front of the boat is good snorkelling in 2-3m and off the back is good diving with a wall that drops off to 30m. There are many dive sites and they are marked with a mooring buoy to tie up to so we will be blowing heaps of bubbles here.