Day 96, Year 1: Make New Friends, But Keep the Old
Date and Time: Saturday, January 21, 2006, 2200 AST
Weather: Non-stop Sunshine
Air and Water Temperature: 82 degrees F
Location: Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Laurie and Lionel aboard Sea Whisper left late this afternoon for Trinidad. We had snorkeled together this morning and then Laurie, Mark, and I headed into town while Lionel stayed aboard Sea Whisper to prepare for their afternoon departure. Mark and I went to pick up the underwater pictures we had taken with a Kodak “reusable” (but eventually disposable, underwater camera. Our first attempts at capturing the underwater beauty here with a disposable camera were not great, but the woman who developed them had lots of good suggestions for us. We purchased a different type of camera and will try again before we leave here to capture some of the unbelievable diversity of fish life that abounds here.
At noon, Lionel came into town to join us and we had lunch together. We all then headed to the internet café to check e-mail and do some web research. At 1400, Mark and I went to the RCI office to do one of the time share tours. If ever there was a place that I would consider purchasing a time share, it would be here. We probably won’t do this, but it is very, very tempting.
Around 1530, we headed back to the boat to make sure we got there in time to say farewell to Laurie and Lionel. Somehow this afternoon they had met a couple who are moored just down the beach from us who are headed to the South Pacific. As soon as we found that out, we headed out to find them. Eagle’s Wings is the boat and the owners are Ken Cone and Beth Van Zummeren. We introduced ourselves and invited them over for cocktails. We agreed with Lionel that they looked like they might be 35 tops, but they are actually in their early 50’s. They look much, much younger. We were ecstatic to meet someone headed our way and enjoyed our evening together on Windbird. Tomorrow evening we will go to their boat for dinner and continue our conversations about where we are headed.
Tomorrow will be a day of preparation for leaving here. Neither of us wants to leave, but the Pacific calls. Tomorrow Mark will work on the leaky water maker, again, and I will go into town to take those pictures I had planned to take today. We’ll work in a snorkel at some point and then head to Eagle’s Wings for dinner. I think we will not leave here until Tuesday, but it could be as early as Monday. All will depend on how much we accomplish tomorrow.
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| 060121 Day 96 Caribbean, Bonaire–Make New Friends |
