Day 98, Year 1: Bad News, Good News
Date: Monday, January 23, 2006
Weather: Very Windy
Air and Water Temperature: 82 degrees F
Location: Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles

The plan was to leave here today. And then the plan was to leave here tomorrow. Now the plan is to leave here Wednesday or Thursday. The bad news is that it is windy out there and when we checked in with Herb this afternoon, he told us to sit tight for at least another day. He thinks we can then move to Curacao on Wednesday and maybe on to Aruba by Friday, but then we will need to sit tight until the gale force winds off the coast of Columbia settle down. When we leave Aruba, we head for the San Blas Islands in Panama, and the stretch of water between Aruba and there can be really treacherous. So we will do whatever Herb tells us. So the bad news is that we don’t have a weather window right now, but the good news is that we get to stay here at least one more day.

Mark continued to work on the water maker today. He was successful in stopping the leaks, but we still have salty water. So tomorrow we will order new membranes. If we have those shipped to Curacao that might mean another delay, but that is to be expected in the sailing business. You lose time in one place and make up for it by skipping another stop or cutting a stay short. Mark also got the lazy jacks fixed and I did the laundry and went to the store. Somehow these jobs took the whole day and we didn’t get to snorkel. So that will go to the top of the agenda for tomorrow.

Bonaire was a busy little place today. A very large cruise ship came in mid-day today but it left at sundown. All is back to normal in Kralendijk. It is late and Mark and I are in town at the internet caf�. It is time to pack up and head home. I’ll check in again tomorrow with a weather update and a report on our snorkeling adventures.