Day 99, Year 1: Delayed in Bonaire One More Day
Date: Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Weather: Rain Overnight, Very Windy
Air and Water Temperature: 82 degrees F
Location: Kralendijk, Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Darn. We have to stay here one more day. The weather around island is very windy and Herb says we should wait. So we will wait.
During the night last night, the boat was rocking and rolling on the mooring. And then it rained a real rain, not just a drizzle. By the time we got up the rain had stopped-but just for a short time. We actually had rain on and off all day today. We listened to the morning weather and then took off for a snorkeling expedition. My hope was to use the new underwater camera to try and catch some of the underwater beauty here to share with you, but the unsettled weather has stirred up the water and taken away some of it’s clarity. We revisited some sites we had been to earlier, but the water was cloudy and there was not the variety of fish today. I guess I’ll have to try again in Curacao as I don’t expect the seas to settle tomorrow.
After snorkeling, we made arrangements to have the new water maker filters (membranes) sent to Curacao for pick up there and then we took a taxi to the Warehouse Supermarket to stock up on fresh veggies and other provisions. It was then time to head back to the boat to listen to Herb on Southbound II. After that, we headed back into town to do some research on the internet but stopped by a neighboring boat on the way to give them a weather update. George and Becky Dunn aboard Sirius are waiting to head east along the Venezuelan coast and they have had a hard time hearing the weather reports. Becky had some great information for us about Curacao and we delivered the news that they too need to wait until Thursday to leave. Their boat is named for the constellation, not the satellite radio network, but that started a radio conversation. We discovered that George is past chair of the public radio system in the Cleveland, Ohio, area and does actually have Sirius radio so he can listen to NPR. He and Becky are also good friends of an NPR Foundation member that Mark knows well. Small world.
By the time we got into town, it was sundown and the daily cruise ship visiting in port was ready to leave. We did our internet research and then had dinner in town.
Tomorrow we will visit the two marinas on either end of town to check out future possibilities for staying here for longer periods of time. I really do hope to get back this way. I also want to walk to the hardware store which is a mile or so out of town to try and buy some plastic containers. If there is anytime left and if the water has cleared, we’ll also try to get in a snorkel. There will be snorkeling in other places for sure, but somehow I don’t think we will see the same diversity of sea life that abounds here. I’m hoping to make a list of all of the different varieties of fish we have seen here and will share that with you when it is completed.
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| 060124 Day 99 Caribbean, Bonaire–Last Day |
