After filling our fresh water and diesel tanks at the Grenada Yacht Club dock, we set sails for Bonaire from Grenada with our friends from Contrails. Though this was to be the longest passage (approximately 400 miles) that we as a family had made together since coming down to the Caribbean, we were not as apprehensive as we thought we would be mostly due to the fact that we were accompanied by another sailing vessel and, also, our expectations for good weather and seas.

Indeed the weather and the seas were good. We sailed the entire passage save for when we got out of the marina and when we got to the anchorage in Bonaire when we took our sails down and motored right into a mooring ball. The winds were moderate, blowing 15-20 knots for the entire passage. However, the waves produced a strong rocking motion (left-right right-left forward & backwards) in Kikuyu, with bigger waves hitting the boat every 10-seconds, making it very difficult to rest and sleep. Kim and Maria got very little sleep for the 3 nights, perhaps averaging 1-2 hours of sleep a night (mostly on the third night) and 1-2 hours of rest per day. We did notice that toward the third day our bodies were getting used to the routine though we were exhausted. We are told by other sailors that it takes 2-3 days to get adjusted to a routine of little sleep while sailing.

Two events happened during our passage. First, we finally caught another fish! This time it was a black fin tuna which is perfectly eatable and delicious. We were talking on the VHF radio with Contrails who was reporting to us that they had just caught a 12-lb tuna, when Kim checked our fishing line and noticed that something had caught it. Immediately, we all got into action getting the fishing gear out - the gaff, the bottle with rum to spray the fish's gills for a humane death, the newspapers, etc. However, as Kim pulled the fish out of the water we realized that after filleting it we would be left with little meat - it was a small tuna. We took the hook out of its mouth and through it back in the water. The tuna did not seem hurt, at least we hoped, as it quickly swam away from Kikuyu. We did get to taste this delicious fish as Contrails invited us for dinner the first day we arrived to Bonaire. The second event we describe in the following entry.

Prior to sailing these long passages, we wondered if we would get bored after a few days into a trip. What we have found, however, is that we are so busy that boredom does not even cross our minds. When sailing, every minute of our days is occupied keeping the boat and all its systems running, cooking, eating, trying to rest whenever we can, trying to fish but, mostly, we spend much of the time sailing Kikuyu and enjoying the wonderful never-ending-views of the ocean and the horizon, with the earth's roundness "caving down" on the distance. Seeing birds and the occasional fish (mostly flying fish) that we spot here and there, provide us with entertainment and wonder. Shipping traffic and sailing close to other vessels, particularly large ships, also always produces a lot of excitement in us. We can now see how people adapt this lifestyle for years of their lives, as the family we met in Martinique who had sailed for 30 years and had raised all of their 4 kids on their boat.