For the next 12 days it was all about showing David and Nikki the islands and diving and snorkeling. Oh yes, let's not forget the shopping. In the evenings it was cocktail time on one boat or another with good friends and good times. We got David back into a scuba rig for the first time in 20 years and he made a dive with Linda along the wall where the boat moorings are. They kept it to about 40ft as you can't get into too much trouble at that depth and it had been a long time. Nikki and I snorkeled along the upper edge of the wall above them as they cruised the face of coral with a thousand varieties of fish all around them. Back in the dinghy after the dive a cold beer was necessary to wash the salt from our throats and give us time to talk about the dive. It was a little bit difficult for David to talk about it as his grin kept getting in the way. After about 8 or 9 days we headed for Curacao with an overnight stop in Klien Curacao
(little Curacao), a small desert island about 6 hrs away from the anchorage at Spanish Waters. There is a very impressive old lighthouse in the exact center and several shipwrecks on the windward side to remind sailors to remain vigilant while passage making. One wreck was a 50 ft sailing sloop that now sits high and dry on the rocks. Wish I knew the story behind that one. We spent the day snorkeling and visiting the wrecks and lighthouse, then a BBQ in the cocpit while the sun turned a fiery red and then was extinguished by the ocean far to the west of us. Next morning we pulled the hook and sailed for Spanish Waters. David and I managed to get the spinnaker up for the downwind run. However, I soon found myself alone as every one else was sound asleep in the shade of the Bimini. That's OK, as the hiss of the hulls cutting through smooth water and an occasional passing ship are sufficient company for a while. Next Curacao.

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A couple of days after we were back in the water we took off for Bonaire again. More diving and friends arriving. My best buddy and his wife were inbound from the LA basin and we needed to get back there to meet them. Luckily, we caught a nice day with small waves and moderate winds as we were going against the grain. Our friends on Dragonfly made the trip with us as they are avid divers and wanted more time on the reefs of Bonaire. We both found moorings toward the north end of the anchorage which kept us well away from the loud music at Karel's Beach Bar downtown. Since it was Sunday and we had been underway in the morning we held our Bloddy Mary Sunday gathering that afternoon. Life is so much better when you can share it with good friends ( See picture below). Then a swim in the sparklng waters of Bonaire to cool off. This is tough work, but someones got to do it! David and Nikki were due to arrive on the evening of the 28th of Oct, but thanks to the usual incompetance of AA they arrived late in Puerto Rico and missed their flight. The next flight was not until the 30th so with no other recourse we went diving and waited. I laid on a taxi for that evening and headed to the airport to pick them up. The flight was due in at 8:30 and arrived at 9:00. We gathered up the bags and headed to the dinghy dock for the short trip out to the boat. After getting them settled into their cabin we retired to the cockpit for drinks and conversation. It's good to catch up on the lives of old friends when you haven't seen them for a year or more.

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With the excitement of Omar behind us we headed into Willemstad and Curacao Marine to be hauled out for the annual bottom job. The haulout was well and professionally done. By the following Fri we had new bottom paint and the hulls had been compounded and polished. Linda had polished the salon top and cockpit area as well. The old girl looks better than she has since we bought her. By fri afternoon we were back in the water and headed back to Spanish Waters. We had about three days to get organized again and then we would need to head back to Bonaire to meet friends flying in from CA.

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