February 2010 Archives

[NOTE: This post is by Karen not Frank]

I know it's snowing where most of you are, but it is searing hot here, 95F in the shade, and NO wind. That makes for some very uncomfortable days. Fortunately, the internet cafe near us (in the grocery store) and some of the restaraunts nearby are air-conditioned. We have also had to run the generator some, which enables us to run the AC on our boat. Thank goodness for modern conveniences!!!

The trip over from Aruba was eventful, but I was never nervous. Frank handled the sailing expertly and set up the sails so that we were safe from the high winds. Sailing with the wind behind us (downwind sail) and the waves giving us a push (following seas) made for a relatively comfortable trip, even if the wind was howling. The fish we caught was a real fighter as I found out while holding the pole for a while. He was quite delicious too. :)

Life in Cartagena has been enjoyable. Food prices are inexpensive and the city is a modern metropolis with well preserved historic areas. Entrepreneurship is alive here with lots of street vendors selling cell phone minutes, fresh fruit, hot coffee, lunch foods, fruit juice, ice cream, ... almost anything you can think of. Even so, the grocery
store is well stocked, even if everything is in Spanish. We're managing, just barely, to communicate with our pitiful Spanish; but, we're learning. All of the people we've met have been very helpful even if we can't always understand each other.

We visited El Centro within the old walled city one evening and were delighted with the ambiance. The streets are well lit, but not glaringly so. There are plenty of police to discourage problems and plenty of people strolling the parks to make it delightful. Colon Plaza is a beautiful at night with lighted fountains and a big statue of Simon Bolivar on a horse; he was the man who was instrumental in gaining Colombia's independence from Spain. I hope to go back during daylight hours, maybe do some shopping especially for emerald and gold jewelry. Since both are mined right here in Colombia, the prices are supposed to be very good.

We spent some time today straightening out my least favorite sail, the spinnaker. It's tidy and stowed away for an easier deployment. Maybe we'll get along a bit better now.

An interesting activity in the anchorage is the fishing. The fishermen like to surround an anchored boat with their nets and slap the water with a big stick to drive the fish into the nets. Then they haul in the nets. It seems that the fish like to congregate in the
shade under the boats. I haven't seen any big catches yet, but they always catch something.

Well, that's it for now. I hope to write again before we set out for the San Blas Islands.

Yesterday we accomplished one of our sightseeing goals here in Cartagena. We wanted to visit the large fortress called Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas. This well-preserved fort overlooks the city of Cartagena and is part of the fortifications including the huge walls which surround the city, and several other forts. The fort was first built in the 1500s and later improved in the 1700s. There are look-out towers on all the corners, tunnels open to tourists let you walk through the fort, there are small cubby-holes along the passages which could have been used to attack soldiers if they had managed to breach the fort, and today there are many scenic views of the modern city.

Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy at the start, so some of the photos do not do the fortress justice. But, there are plenty of other photos available in Panoramio if you want to see the city on a clear day.

Here is a slideshow of some of our photos:

I also took some 360 panoramas at the fort. Here is one on the SW corner of the highest part of the fort:

Castillo de San Felipe De Barajas in Colombia

After the fort visit, we made arrangements to go to a vaccination office. We needed to add some shots to make sure we are protected against tropical water dangers like Yellow Fever and Hepatitus. We ended up in the commercial district of the city which was a beehive of activity. We couldn't believe some of the shops selling and repairing hundreds of cell phones, jewelry shops, bakeries, and more. We'll have to go back when we have more time to look around.

In the evening we went to a local restaurant that caters to the boaters on Wednesday nights. We had a chance to meet some of the other cruisers, but we were both kind of tired and left early. We have been doing research on the San Blas islands as well. One thing for sure, we will be on a "vacation" from normal blogging there. There's reportedly no internet access in the San Blas islands. We will try to send out a few e-mail posts over our SSB though.

We haven't been very productive from a tourism perspective so far in Colombia. We arrived on the weekend and spent two days before we found the agent we had been looking for to help with getting our clearance. Fortunately, some friends of ours were here the first evening (but, left for San Blas the next morning) and gave us some insights on local conveniences and information. Of particular use is the local marina's guide to cruisers, which is available on their web site here. This is the best online guide I've seen by a marina to date. You may not find all the services you want here, but at least they have information on what is available.

Unfortunately, the marina - Club Nautico - is in the middle of doing a major re-construction. For some reason the local government put it to a halt at the worst possible time. So, they are operating out of a rustic shack of an office and the main facilities are in shambles - no showers, no bar, etc. And, they aren't allowed to continue construction (no building permit?). The docks are still in place, and have power and water though. And, the staff are doing their best to maintain services for the boaters.

Cartagena doesn't seem to have full-service chandleries (marine stores). There are two nearby stores, but they only have a subset of the usual items found in chandleries catering to serious boaters. I couldn't even find 3M's popular 5200 glue/sealant at the two stores, nor the usual oil we use for our engines, and I haven't been able to get the cruising guide for Panama I expected to buy here. More importantly, and this isn't as surprising, they don't have the pump we need - to replace the one that drives the water pressure on our starboard hull. I spent two days trying to determine the best way to have a new one sent to us here. We finally ordered two of the pumps (one as a spare) in the US, and are having it sent to Miami. An outfit there sends it to Colombia in the main port. Then it is brought down to Cartagena, clears customs, and is finally brought to us - where we pay the fees for the shipping, handling, and customs. If all goes as planned, it will be here by next Tuesday. We may also see if the old pump can be overhauled.

Meanwhile, we have gone to a few restaurants. We even went to Centro - the old part of Cartagena - and had a nice dinner and walked through the scenic area one night. Cartagena is a beautiful city, and we look forward to seeing more. Karen has been a bit out of commission having consumed something that didn't agree with her. We're hoping she'll be well enough today to do some sightseeing. There is a wonderful grocery store with nice Internet cafe nearby that has been our favorite haunting ground outside the boat.

We have a couple of candidates for crewing on Tahina for the upcoming long passages. If you think you may meet our criteria/dates, please contact us soon.

There is a young married couple, who are photo journalists, with whom I've been communicating with for several months now on the chance we could get together. Turns out they are in Colombia right now. They may be joining us for a couple of weeks as we depart Cartagena and go to San Blas in Panama. Then they would leave us when we reach the Panama Canal. We hope to pick up some traveling tips from them as they have done two round-the-world trips (not by sailboat). And share some photography tips as well.

The weather here has been hot and muggy. It hasn't been helped by the lack of wind the last couple of days (and more still air the next few days). We have actually been running the A/C while charging the batteries with the generator the last two times (something we never did in the windward islands).

Today I thought I would highlight some Google products and tips sailors should be aware of to enhance your ability to share your experience, enhance your productivity, or even help with your cruising kitty. For years now, I've been writing a blog all about Google Earth - and have a fair bit of experience with a variety of Google products. Here's a few of my favorites, why they can be useful for sailors, and some important tips:

1. Gmail - Fantastic e-mail! It allows you to consolidate multiple e-mail accounts into a single account, manage your contacts, very accessible, powerful search and filtering, great SPAM control, and much more. Important tip: Offline use (set it up through the "Settings" mode). Offline lets you download your E-mail and then still use Gmail to read, search, and respond while you don't have a connection. Not only that, but it enables a very handy "Flaky Connection Mode" that is invaluable with weak WIFI connections sailors often encounter.
2. Google Earth - Fantastic way to research places you are going. Turn on the Geographic Web layer to see pictures and important information about places you want to visit. There are many other layers in Google Earth that can open a wealth of information about locations. You can even see the undersea surface in 3D now - so, you know what its like underneath your boat while on long passages. Google Earth is also a great way to document your travels. Show your passages (GPS tracks or just draw approximate routes), show your photos tied to location, or just put placemarks of significant places or events during your travels. Just read this blog and look for Google Earth content for examples of what you can do. Important tip: Google Earth can be used when you don't have an Internet connection using a local cache on your computer. The application remembers the last few places you visit. Simply peruse your next destination area and zoom in to view the imagery you want to remember. You can use Google Earth without the connection and still view those places! Very handy on a passage. You Google Earth content can also be viewed with Google Maps. Read Google Earth Blog for many, many tips. There's a special category dedicated to sailing-related stories.
3. Google Maps - when you just need 2D maps, Google Maps is another great mapping tool for looking or sharing information. Your same Google Earth KML files can be viewed with Google Maps as well, and in some cases is a better way to view them on your web site. You can also use what's called "My Maps" to create and share maps. Very handy tools.
4. Picasa Web Albums - Your free Google account entitles you to a free amount of photo upload space on PIcasa Web Albums. You can also upgrade the space for a modest fee. You can place slideshows of your photos on your blog or web site and create galleries of your photo albums.
5. Picasa - a really great free photo processing tool that runs on Mac or Windows. It can help you store, manage, process, and organize your digital photos. It also has integration with Google Maps/Earth, and Picasa Web Albums. It does a great job of dealing with large numbers of images.
6. Panoramio - Another free photo service from Google allows you to upload photos and map them. Your photos are then viewable by anyone using Google Maps or Google Earth when users turn on the photos layers (your photos have to be approved first - usually takes less than 1 month - they prefer only scenic shots - not people shots).
7. Mobile Phones - Many of Google's applications can be used from your smart phone. You can access your Gmail, check your calendar, do Google searches and more. If you have a smart phone like the iPhone, you might be able to use applications like Google Earth and Maps to help you find your way around. I use Google Earth on my phone to have a hand-held way to check on aerial photography of places we are sailing for visual reference.
8. Adsense - if you have a really popular web site or blog, you can actually use Google's Adsense program to place ads on your site which can earn you some money - at least to help pay for some of your online expenses. If you have thousands of visitors a day, it could amount to a noticeable amount of income. You have to insert snippets of code in your web site's pages to allow Google to place ads from their huge advertiser market place. Google automatically chooses ads based on the relevant content of your pages. So, ads are mostly of interest to some of your readers. Only a small percentage of your readers will click on ads, but Google pays competitive rates for legitimate clicks on ads. Just don't click on the ads yourself or tell others to do so. That's against the rules of being an Adsense partner and your account can be shut down.

Google is constantly enhancing tools and data which are helpful for travel related experiences. If you are technology oriented, you will especially enjoy learning about some of these products and trying them out. But, even if you aren't, you can really make use of these free applications to help you learn about places, and share your experiences with your friends, family or more.

We have some long passages coming on Tahina, and would like to have some additional crew to help us with the sailing. The need for a constant watch 24-hours-a-day is more challenging with only two people on board. When we left North Carolina in November, we had our friend Wilson join us for the 7 day passage to St. Martin.

We have two long passages to consider:

1. The passage from Panama to the Galapagos Islands - an approximately 7-10 day passage. This passage can have variable winds (mostly light, but also in direction). We would be leaving near the beginning of April for the Galapagos.
2. From the Galapagos to the French Marquesas - a two to three week passage. Two boats identical to ours completed this passage in 15 days in 2008. This passage can have some variable conditions at the beginning, but is typically a nice downwind (with following seas) ride for most of the days during the time of year we are going. We would be leaving the Galapogos about 10-14 days after we get there. So, approximate departure would be mid-April or closer to the end of April.

Our goal is to have crew who have experience with blue-water passages, and are not prone to sea-sickness. Prior experience crewing with similar passages is a big plus. If you have the time flexibility, and enjoy our company, you would be welcome to stay several days beyond the passage to see the sights at our destinations. These are long passages and everyone has to live together for many days and share responsibilities including sailing, cooking, and cleaning. Read our about page to learn about our backgrounds. Ideally two additional crew would be nice, but we will do fine with one extra crew.

You need some flexibility in your time commitment to crew with us on these passages. We don't have an exact date yet for departure, or especially arrival (which is somewhat dependent on weather). You will need to have a valid passport and possibly some vaccinations.

Tahina is a beautiful 50' catamaran with 4 queen-sized staterooms (see photo gallery). We have plenty of room for crew and many comforts including: watermaker, icemaker, fridge/freezer, generator, TV with DVDs, and have at least basic (text-only) E-mail access. We also have a satellite phone when calls or Internet connection needs to be made (costs are high though). Our boat is rigged very well with electric winches, and most lines led to the cockpit. Although, going on deck is rarely a problem since we have plenty of room. We also have a spinnaker to help with the downwind sailing.

You can read about us on our about page. If you are interested in making one of the passages, please contact us by E-mail as soon as possible.

I've uploaded a bunch of photos today. First we have an album of photos from the passage to Cartagena (which I also added to yesterday's long write-up about the trip). In this album are photos of our big fish catch!

Also, I've published a very short video clip of one of dozens of clips I took while watching the Carnival Parade in Aruba (see photos from this post):

And finally, here is the last of the 360 panoramas I took during the Aruba Jeep Tour we took which was such a great experience. This one was taken at Wariruri Bay on top of the natural bridge there:

Wariruri Bay, Aruba in Caribbean

For several weeks, we've been keeping an eye on the weather between Aruba and Cartagena. There's an area just north of Cartagena that is notorious for strong winds. A river comes out to sea near Barranquilla and the contrary currents and temperatures apparently churns up some wind. We've regularly seen gale-force (> 30 knot) winds appearing in this area in recent weeks. Our package finally cleared customs in Aruba on Tuesday afternoon (Monday was a holiday). We picked up our new anchor light, but it was too windy to go up the mast to install it. But, the weather forecast for Cartagena was looking pretty good for the next day. There were still some 20-25 knot winds in the forecast, and it was all following winds and seas. NOTE: this is a long post! We decided to stay well offshore to avoid risks of piracy sometimes reported out here, and to reduce the risk of weather effects closer to Cartagena. Check out the map of our GPS track below.

Meanwhile, another boat in the anchorage, named m/v Antipodes, came over and invited us out for drinks. Jim and Lara's boat is a motor trawler live-aboard, and they have come from San Diego to Aruba in the past few months. They plan to attempt a circumnavigation as well. Only 18 motor trawlers have ever made it apparently. Their boat is registered in North Carolina, so naturally we had to meet them. They also have worked in the information technology business as well. And, the most amazing coincidence is that they know Pat and Ali from s/v Bumfuzzle (an amazing couple who I followed on their web site when they circumnavigated a few years ago). In fact, they met them in person a few times. I really enjoyed hearing their first-person accounts of what they are like.

I spent the rest of Tuesday preparing a route and planning our arrival in Cartagena. We got up Wednesday and first sent me up the mast to install the light. That went very smoothly and it worked perfectly. Next I drove Coconut down to Barcadera port and cleared out of customs. One more trip to town to take in trash and get some cash. Then we got the dinghy up and prepped for departure. We weighted anchor at about 10:30 and headed out. Shortly after we left, we had two dolphin swim over and join us at the bows a bit. I always consider it a good thing when they visit us on a passage.

As part of our Jeep Tour last Friday, we visited the Bushiribana Gold Smelter Ruins. The fort-like ruins were built out of stone in order to protect the property from potential pirates while they were processing gold found in Aruba. I managed to take a 360 panorama from the top of the fort which you can view here:

Bushiribana Gold Smelter Ruins in Aruba in Caribbean

On Sunday, our friends Andy and Aliza prepared to catch a flight. We moved to the marina the day before so they would have an easier time getting luggage off the boat and going to the airport. We also took advantage of the amenities of the hotel (as marina guests) and went to their private island beaches (see photos from yesterday's post). Sunday was not only Valentine's Day, but also the last day of Carnival here in Aruba. They had a big parade coming right between the hotel and the marina. Around lunchtime we went for a walk down the street lined with booths for people to wait all day for the parade. Some of the booths were dressed up like fixed floats, others had all the comforts of home (couches, chairs, lights, bar, etc.). Many of the booths are sponsored by local businesses. The parade starts several miles away and lasts several hours.

Andy and Aliza left at 2 PM and took a taxi to the start of the parade. They managed to get a good glimpse thanks to a cooperative taxi driver. They caught their flight and got home with only one piece of luggage going errant (but, later retrieved).

Meanwhile, Karen and I waited in the comfort of Tahina for the parade to reach our area. Around 4 PM we went to the balcony pool above the street, along with a lot of other hotel guests, and took lots of pictures. I've taken a small sample of the 250 photos I took (I also got some video and will process later). Check out the colorful costumes, floats, and interesting spectators here:

I've also processed the first of several 360 panoramas I took during the jeep tour written about yesterday. This 360 panorama was taken at the Alto Vista Chapel in the northeastern part of Aruba. You can see the tour guide talking to the south, and our jeeps in the parking lot to the west. The chapel has bench seats outside. More photos of the chapel are in the photo album:

Alto-Vista-Chapel-Aruba in Caribbean

We've had a wonderful time with Andy and Aliza here in Aruba. On Friday we took a "half-day" jeep tour (that actually turned into most of the day). We left the boat at 9 AM and got picked up at the hotel near the dinghy dock. Then, after signing the standard waiver of all liabilities, our group loaded up into three Landrover jeeps. Our group consisted of one couple from Richmond, Virginia (Matt and Sarah - Matt drove our jeep), the four of us all from Raleigh, NC, and a couple from Oriental, North Carolina! Amazing that we all came together in Aruba! We all had a great time together - ours was the best jeep group.

We started with our tour guide - whose name is Ivo and is a local Aruban with diamond-covered teeth - taking us to his favorite beach on the north side of the island. Next we went to the lighthouse on the northern tip. Then, to the very nice little chapel on the NE side with outdoor seating. Next Ivo took us on a tour of some nice houses (a real estate tour?). Then we were on dirt roads along the eastern, windward, side of the island where the rugged coastline is beautiful. We also visited an ostrich farm where we had lunch.

Along the eastern coast we saw waves crashing along the shore, a natural bridge (called "Son of a Bridge" - they used to have a bigger one, that unfortunately broke down in a storm surge recently. Fortunately, they had a smaller backup!), donkeys, a goldsmith building that was also a fort (to protect from pirate attacks), a cave (where we saw bats), wind generators, kite surfing, and a visit to Baby Beach on the SW tip of the island.

You can see pictures of the entire jeep tour, plus some other photos showing us eating at a restaurant, Tahina at anchor, raising anchor to move to the marina, and more. Check out the entire album here:

You can view the entire trip GPS track, along with the geotagged photos, with this file file in Google Earth.

Our friends Andy and Aliza arrived on Tuesday for some fun in the sun and a taste of living on Tahina. Since North Carolina has been having an unusually cold winter, they are really loving the warm weather down here. On Tuesday evening, we sat at anchor just south of the main port in the most convenient anchorage in Aruba. We had a really nice sunset since there was dust in the sky from the winds. We found out that evening it can be fun to watch all the ship activity here. We watched a cruise ship depart just a couple hundred meters behind us. And lots of cargo and tanker vessels at anchor just a few miles southwest.

On Wednesday we relaxed a bit in the morning and then just before lunch took Tahina for a sail north. We were looking at the other potential anchorages. There are some nice beaches and hotels all along the coast here. Lots of water sports in the main area north of Oranjestad. We had to watch out for wind surfers, sailboats, fishing boats, parasailors, kitesurfers, etc. We eventually found a nice spot that has lots of snorkeling boats. The snorkeling was ok, but most of the coral was dead. The fish were plentiful, but obviously people have been hand feeding them (part of the reason for the coral dying). But, our guests enjoyed the views.

We sailed back later in the day and motored by the 3 cruise ships in port back to the main anchorage. We decided to go out for dinner and a movie. We got to try some local seafood at a place called Driftwood Seafood, which was really good.

Thursday we relaxed all morning on the boat. Andy and Aliza spent some time soaking up some sun and improving their tan. In the afternoon, we went shopping on shore, got ice cream, and enjoyed seeing the town. We had a nice dinner on board and another beautiful sunset. I got to spend some time setting up the new Nexus One smart phone Andy had brought with him. Google was kind enough to provide me with an evaluation unit. Lots of nice features, and I've been downloading some handy applications from their marketplace. We watched a movie while charging up the boat batteries.

Today we're doing an island tour. Andy and I will be doing some photography during the tour (he's a real shutterbug). I'll have lots of photos to process in the coming week.

As mentioned the other day, we had a nice sail to Aruba on Sunday (see GPS track in the link). After a good sleep in the marina, we got up and worked all day Monday, and Tuesday morning, getting the boat cleaned up and ready for our guests who arrived on Tuesday afternoon. We took advantage of the access to water at the marina to give Tahina a thorough washing. She was covered in dirt from the desert-like environment of Bonaire. And, lots of salt as we hadn't had rain since we left Grenada and had three salty passages to get to Aruba. She was gleaming like new by the afternoon.

In the afternoon on Monday, I climbed the mast to investigate putting a new anchor light on Tahina. But, after looking closer I decided we needed to order the same anchor light we had before and have it shipped here. It would be the easiest way to get it installed. While up the mast, I took some photos of the really nice little port with the marina. In the series of photos I took below you can see the hotel, mall, restaurants, bars, shops, and cruiseship dock (complete with just one cruise ship in port).

In the afternoon we took laundry downtown to be done for us. We discovered there was a movie theater, a Taco Bell, Subway, Haggendaaz, and other reminders of home here. Not only that, but Avatar was showing. So, Monday night we went to watch the movie at last! We loved the movie! We also treated ourselves to Taco Bell. And, you won't believe it, but it tasted really good here. They must have Aruba or Venezuela influences because it was really tasty with a much different spice compared to the US.

On Tuesday morning, we continued the cleaning on the boat. Karen went to the grocery stores to do a big provisioning project, and I went to get the laundry later. Karen had me a bit worried when she was nearly an hour late, but thankfully our neighbor in the marina (s/v Lucid - an American owner who's been down here for two years) offered to check on her and managed to pick her up and bring her to the marina with her huge load. We were ready to leave at noon and checked out of the marina. But, the marina dockmaster suggested we just stay until our guests arrived - no charge.

We took a bus to the airport and Andy and Aliza arrived pretty much on time with all their luggage - including a load of stuff we had ordered and a bunch of our mail. First thing after we got back, we left the dock and went to a nearby anchorage for the night (next to the airport). Andy, while wallowing in the wonderful warmth of Aruba, was kind enough to pull out our goodies from his luggage. It was like Christmas! New spare parts! Hardrives for backups! Engine filters! Wow!

More photos to share - here are photos from our excursions from Bonaire to Aruba. Including photos from our brief stop at Curacao. We traveled there on the same day as "A Small Nest" with the family from Belgium. We had their kids over cupcakes and ice cream and to play Wii on Saturday afternoon. You can also see some of the ships we had close encounters with during our passages. And, there's a shot of Captain Frank washing Tahina in there as well:

While we were visiting the Washington-Slagbaai park in Bonaire last week, we managed to get a nice 360 panorama of one of the beaches. You can view the panorama below (After, hitting the "Play" button, I recommend the "FULLSCREEN" mode, then use the arrow keys or the mouse to turn your view). This is a very immersive experience that will let you see what it was like to stand on the rocks above the beach. To the west is the beautiful blue caribbean waters, the south the nice beach, to the east is the tallest point of bonaire (which is also inside the 13,500 acre park), you can see the desert vegetation, and the road and parking area for the beach. Check out the marker directly beneath your "feet".

360Cities.net is a partner of the Tahina Expedition and has the best collection of 360 panoramas around the world. It also has the best interface for view panoramas in their geo-spatial context (IMHO). You can view panoramas in Google Earth or Google Maps as well. Check out other Tahina Expedition panoramas here.

Karen and I rented a truck at the airport and drove around Bonaire. Our main goal was to visit Washington-Slagbaai National Park on the northwestern part of the island. And, I mean the entire northwestern part of the island. It's a 13,500 acre park and it takes several hours to drive through the park - and that's if you don't stop very much.

The roads were paved until you get to the park, but the park is mostly dirt roads with a few concreted areas in washes. It's an arid desert-like environment, but with plenty of cactus and other desert vegetation. It's also surrounded by beautiful coastline, especially on the western edge which is popular for snorkeling and diving.

There are blow-holes on the northern coast, a lighthouse on the northwest tip, iguanas, many salt ponds, lizards, lots of bird life (including parrots), and a nice restaurant on a beach on the southwest part of the park.

Another big highlight is that the park's salt ponds provide one of the only active breeding grounds for pink flamingos. We managed to find a large flock of them in one of the ponds.

Check out this gallery of photos of the park. We had a great time there - even the driving was fun!

On Friday we left Bonaire to make our way west to Aruba. My friend Andy and his wife Aliza are flying down for a few days of warm weather and sailing on Tahina. We had made the arrangements weeks ago, and were slowed down for repairs and a new computer back in the Grenadines and Grenada This is why we had limited time to stay in Bonaire.

We did manage to stop in Curacao for a quick look. Curacao is much more developed than Bonaire and has a sizable, and growing, population. You could see construction trucks and cranes all over the island. There are many more cars than buses on the roads. They have a huge bridge over the main port entry - big enough for ships to go under. We were enjoying looking, and taking pictures, of the island so much, that we passed the entry to the anchorage called Spanish Water. We ended up having to turn around and motor against wind and waves to get back to it. In our defense, the entry is almost impossible to spot from offshore.

We stopped in Curacao partly because there was a chance to get a new anchor light at the Budget Marine chandlery. I tried to catch a bus to the store, but it didn't show up when expected. I was told it was only 2-3 miles, so I started walking, but fortunately a boater drove up and offered me a ride. It was at least 5 miles.

Earlier in the morning, I went to take a shower in our guest bathroom (so I wouldn't wake Karen). The shower drain pump stopped working. Uh oh! So, I checked out the wiring and found there was 12V going to the pump. So, I removed the pump assuming the pump was bad. While at the Budget Marine, I managed to get a suitable pump replacement (it turns out two spares I had bought back in the US were not the right size). Back at the boat, I spent a few minutes setting up the wiring, and then put in the new pump. Nothing happened - but, I noticed when I pushed on the wiring it would sometimes make a slight noise. Our friends on A Small Nest also came to Curacao on the same day. We invited their kids to come over for Wii and ice cream we had bought. When their father Willem brought them over, he offered to help diagnose the pump problem. We did some testing and found both of the new pumps worked. The problem seemed to be the 12V power wire. It had slightly less voltage than the other wires. I went to pull on the wire to get a closer look, and a 6 inch piece of the wire came right out. On the end was green gunk - the wire was corroded! We had found the problem. We soon had a new power wire in place, and the pump worked perfectly. I'm a bit perturbed about the corrosion though. Good marine wire shouldn't do that, and this wire was put in by the boat builder.

Yesterday, Sunday, we left before dawn and made our way slowly out the Spanish Water entry in the dark. We soon were having a nice downwind sail to the NW along the Curacao coast towards Aruba. It was about 80 miles to the main port of Aruba and we wanted to arrive well before dark. We had a great sail and made good time. There was only a brief period where the winds died down and we ran a motor to keep our speed up. Once we got to Aruba we had a great run in the lee up the coast making 11-12 knots on a beam reach!

We called Aruba Port Control on the radio several minutes before getting to the port. But, they didn't answer until we were entering the harbor. They told us we had to go back to the Barcadera commercial port to clear into customs. So, we turned around and sailed 4 or so miles back. Once there, we found a small ship dock with 5 boats already parked - and no room for Tahina. There was more dock space to the west, but it was behind a fence and the water was shallow. A coast guard boat came by and said we should wait for a boat to leave. We waited for over 30 minutes trying to hold position with the wind. Finally I called the port again. Fortunately, the local marina listened in and told us that although the water was shallow, if we would move in close to the dock on the closer end it would be deep enough. He was right, and we were soon docked. Customs and immigration were speedy and I was in and out almost as fast as I could fill in the forms. That was nice!

We motor-sailed back up to the main port and called the marina. They told us where to dock, but explained they were leaving for the day. So, we tied up ourselves. The ironic part is that the water was even shallower at the dock, and I'm sure we touched sand in the process. As we were arriving, the sound was incredible. It turns out the first Carnival parade was going on at the street next to the marina. But, as we were finishing tying the end of the parade went by and was followed by a series of trucks that picked up all the pedestrian barriers and the parade was gone.

As we were cleaning up and having a late dinner, the Superbowl had started. They had it projected on the side of a nearby hotel, and loud enough we could hear the commentary. But, we enjoyed seeing a taste of good ole US of A. We're glad to be in Aruba with a couple of days to clean up the boat. And, we've now completed a brief visit of the ABCs. I would definitely enjoy being able to spend more time at the other two islands. But, hopefully we'll have a chance to see a lot of Aruba during the next week.

We have been having a wonderful time in Bonaire. This has in-part been due to our having met some nice cruising families on nearby boats. But, the larger factor has been the wonderful island, people, culture, and amenities of Bonaire. Today I'd like to share some of what Karen I have enjoyed here.

Bonaire is part of the Netherlands Antilles. As with many Caribbean islands, the people here have organized and asked their government to allow them to separate politically and form their own self-governance. The Netherlands have come close to agreeing to this, but the approval has been postponed for many months now.

The main languages here are Dutch and English (as they mostly are in the Netherlands). Although, given the close proximity to Venezuela, there are also many who speak Spanish as well. Official currency is either Dutch Gilder or US Dollar. The culture here is very international, and you are likely to hear many other languages as well. Cruise ships also visit the main port every few days, and this of course can greatly impact the local culture (for a few hours). Yesterday the Caribbean Princess arrived and nearly doubled the local population since it carries as many as 3100 passengers!

Kralendijk is the main city, and is the home to the main ship port. Here you will find numerous restaurants and shops that both cater to the cruise ships and many other tourists to Bonaire. The population seems to be increasing quickly now. We spoke to some regular tourists who say there are many signs of growth - new housing developments, condos, and hotels. We rented a car and drove around the island and saw much evidence to support this. Like we saw with French islands like Martinique, there is much evidence of modern regulations and infrastructure. Well-designated roads, trash is well maintained, water seems safe, no evidence of a sewage problem. The island seems to be safe - we felt secure everywhere we went.

The main draw in Bonaire for other tourists is the local diving conditions. The local Bonaire government was smart, and has treated their environment as a precious commodity. They have treated their coastline and off-shore marine environment as a national park. No anchoring is allowed except in very strict locations. All diving activity is monitored and fees are charged which go toward supporting the park service. The result is that even in the main port, the coral life is nearly pristine.

There is a large wind-generation project on the northern coastline under construction. It looks large enough to potentially supply much of the island with electricity. This is a big change from most of the islands of the Caribbean which mostly use diesel/oil to supply power.

We have been diving right off the moorings where Tahina is parked near the main city. Although there are signs of pre-park abuse (tires, bottles, cans, and other trash in the deeper water), the coral reef and marine life is recovering nicely. The water is beautifully caribbean-blue clean with fantastic seeing conditions. There are many other designated diving sites all around the islands here.

It's a shame we need to continue moving west. We would love spending more time in Bonaire. We hope Bonaire controls their growth and, if they are successful in their political changes, that they are able to maintain the infrastructure, environment, and culture they have developed thus far. We have noticed many of the west indies islands (which switched to self-governance many years ago) have experienced many challenges in maintaining the quality of their citizens lives, population control, their environment, and the necessary infrastructure to make self-governance a success.

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we're having a great time here in Bonaire. We have met up with two other boats: Sunboy from Australia, and A Small Nest from Belgium. Both have kids on board, and cruising kids are always a lot of fun.

I've had the VideoRay ROV out two days now and have explored around behind and underneath Tahina. That's been a lot of fun, and I've captured some nice video. I'm working today on copying some of the video taken of the kids swimming around the ROV and giving it to their boats on DVD. It's a shame good Internet is so hard to find in these islands. It makes it impractical to upload video to YouTube. Although, I find the process of making videos very time consuming, so that adds to the difficulty.

Today we hope to rent a car and do an island tour - including the national park of Bonaire which reportedly has some beautiful sights and wildlife. The park has one of the only breeding grounds of pink flamingos in the Caribbean, iguanas, blow-holes on the sea, and interesting vegitation. There's a bay on the southeast side of the island that is supposedly the top wind and kite-surfing destinations in the world. And, we'll do some shopping at a grocery store we heard is good on the other side of the town where we're moored.

Yesterday afternoon, Karen did some repairs on our spray dodger (some of the threads are breaking apart in the UV of the sun). She also repaired the bosun's chair that was damaged slightly while I was up the mast last week putting up the jib sail. (I forgot to tell that story, it was kinda scary at the time - I heard a rip as I was being brought down - it turns out I had left the spinnaker halyard attached to one of the straps of the seat and the halyard was still locked as I was coming down - fortunately it was just a join - not the strap itself).

Depending on weather, we'll leave as early as tomorrow for Curacao. Here are some photos showing the mooring area, the VideoRay ROV we're using (thanks to our partnership with VideoRay), and a shot of Karen working on our spray dodger:

We are having a great time in Bonaire so far! There is great diving conditions right off the back of our boat in front of town here. It goes from 30-250 feet deep within a couple dozen meters to the west of our mooring. Yesterday we drove the ROV and took some video, and we went on a dive as well. Fantastic conditions for diving! We also had some kids, off two other boats we've met (Sunboy from Australia, and A Small Nest from Belgium), come over to play on our Wii. And, we've even gone into town and done some shopping/eating.

Today, I wanted to share some pictures - so I spent the morning processing the last several days. And, here is the GPS track from our passage between Grenada and Bonaire. NOTE: if you visit the album you can see the locations in Google Maps. And, I always recommend viewing the full-sized slideshow for more detail.

First up, we have Google Picasa web album of our passage from Grenada to Bonaire. There was a sailing race regatta going on as we departed Saturday morning. Later you'll see some shots of us sailing under spinnaker, and how fast we were going. And, then what it was like as we arrived at Bonaire:

And, here is an album showing some shots of the underwater scenery behind our boat from our dive yesterday (and one photo of the kids playing Wii on board):

(Pictures will be added when I have a better connection)

This is a long tale describing our two-day adventurous trip from Grenada to Bonaire. We left Grenada on Saturday morning. It was a shame we weren't able to stop in some of the islands of Venezuela like Los Roques. Especially unfortunate because we had hoped to link up with some American friends of ours (Sid and Manuela) who have been staying on their boat (called Paradise) in Venezuela for the past few years. Unfortunately, they were not ready to leave in time for us to link up.

The winds were going to be a bit strong at the start of our passage, but it was all going to be down wind with a following sea as well. We planned to leave after 10 AM so we wouldn't arrive too early in Bonaire. When we left Prickly Bay, a regatta race was under way so we went around the race area. The winds were especially strong (near 30 knots) near the island. It's common for the winds to be accelerated around the ends of the islands. But, once we were a few miles away, they calmed down to around 20.

We had been flying the mainsail only with the stronger winds, but they started slowing down to less than 15 knots by lunch. So, after lunch we raised the spinnaker. Karen and I have only raised this one a few times. It can be challenging at times to manage this sail. But, we raised it without too much difficulty. Because the winds were not real strong, we went ahead and lowered the main. We were soon going 8-9 knots. The winds picked back up and soon we were doing 10-11 knots and surfing on waves up to 15 knots!

We had a nice afternoon sail, but as evening approached we decided to drop the spinnaker in case the winds picked up at night. So, we first had to raise the main going downwind - which we haven't done before. By using the reefing lines, I was able to get the sail between the jacklines and we got it up. We then used that to block the spinnaker's wind. The chute came down ok, but we forgot for a few moments it was best to tied down the chute line and had some difficulty holding on. Then lowering the sail without the bottom portion fly out was a challenge.

Since we were pretty much directly downwind, we had to keep an eye on the wind to make sure we didn't jibe. We had one accidental jibe which makes a huge racket and really shakes the mast.

I turned on the tricolor (with our new LED light bulb) before dark. Karen cooked up a nice meal, and we had dinner. We were still making 8-9+ knots with just the main. I looked up to check on the new light, and it wasn't on! So, I tried turning on and off the switch. No luck. At first I guessed maybe the bulb (which was a bit wobbly when I installed it) was loose. So, I turned on the anchor light to make sure it was still working. Uh oh, it wasn't on either! Now I was really worried. I remember when I went up to install the light module that the locking ring was hard to get to lock while at the top of the mast. But, it seemed pretty firm when I pushed on the module. But, I remembered that jibe and how hard the mast shook... So, I got out a spotlight and the binoculars and looked up at the top of the mast. My worst fears were realized - our entire light was gone off the mast. A quick look around the boat (including the sail cover) showed there was no sign of the light. I imagine that hard jibe slingshotted our light right off the boat. Our light was in Davy Jones' locker. Argh!

To some, this might be funny. But, after I spent weeks looking for those new bulbs, and hours climbing up the mast and custom installing the bulbs (and lets not forget lots of money), the loss of the light was particularly painful. And, now we'll have to buy and install another one! Captain Frank is not a happy camper.

We had a full moon during the night, so the seeing conditions were great. And under mainsail alone we made good speed and a comfortable ride. We did have to jibe a few times to make the direction we wanted. There were several ships in the area, which we had on our AIS and radar.

Sunday morning the weather was great, and I was anxious to get the spinnaker back up. I knew we would go 1.5 knots or more faster. We made another mistake with the spinnaker though. I decided it would be nice to have the spinnaker all rigged up before we dropped the mainsail. So, we got it all ready on the trampoline. We were very careful to get it set up right. Then we thought we'd quickly tack into the wind and drop the mainsail the easy way. The winds were so light going downwind, I forgot they were pretty strong. As I was making the turn into the wind, the spinnaker started to fly off the deck! I immediately turned on the autopilot and grabbed the sail. Some of it had already gone off the side. Karen helped get the sheet out of the water, but the sail was all jumbled up again. We eventually got it back in place and dropped the mainsail while Karen was lying on it. We just learned another obvious lesson about the spinnaker. This time the spinnaker went up very smoothly without incident.

We were so busy with the spinnaker that I completely forgot to call on the SSB to Grace at the time we had picked. So, I got on the SSB and sent them E-mails. We had a wonderful day of weather and sailing. We were making very good speed all day with the true winds 18-22 knots steady. And all afternoon there was not a cloud in the sky. In fact, it was so good we decided to continue with the spinnaker into the night. We were passing Los Roques by dinner time.

We were going to run the generator to recharge the batteries, so after dinner we decided to watch a movie. I had to pause every 10 minutes to check for other boats, and the winds. Things were mostly good except that the wind was starting to come a bit from the ENE instead of due east. This was making it hard to maintain our course due west which we needed to get around another set of islands. After the movie, I realized the winds were picking up a bit too. We were debating taking the spinnaker down and either tacking, or just going to main. But, I was focused on missing those islands. I found if I hand steered I could maintain the west course. So, we pressed on. But, after an hour or so, the winds started picking up more. It got to 25-30 knots true. The boat was flying at about 12-15 knots (sometimes faster).

Now we really needed to get the spinnaker down. And, we knew from past experience this would be challenging with these winds. Not only that, but the autopilot was having a hard time maintaining course on its own. I changed the rudder settings, and the winds eased just a bit. So, I got the autopilot going. First, we needed to get the mainsail up to block the wind. We turned on our bright decklights to help. In these winds, it was challenging, but we eventually got the mainsail up. I had to watch out that I didn't get thrown off while trying to coerce the mainsail up the jacklines.

Next, we got the spinnaker chute lines ready. Karen was on the deck with the lines, and I got ready to release the sheet. I got the mainsail fully out to block the wind. The spinnaker started flopping. I released the sheet, and Karen started pulling the chute down. I ran up to help. We got it down most of the way. But, the bottom portion of the sail was still blowing hard. We quickly got the bottom of the chute tied to the mast (although, my hand almost got caught in the line). Then we attempted to start lowering the spinnaker. For some reason, as we lowered, the winds grabbed the sail and started pulling it out of the chute! Now we had a big part of the sail flying in the wind and trying to go into the water! I quickly re-raised the sail. We were trying to gather the bottom portion to collapse it. It took us many minutes and a LOT of effort. I grabbed the tack and pulled it to the mast and tied it off to help block it. Then we were both lying on the tramp on top of the sail. Somehow, I managed to get back up to the mast (while holding to sail) and quickly dropped the entire chute. With the weight of the chute on top of the sail, it was finally under control! We got the sail into the bag and stowed. This entire operation must have taken well over 90 minutes as it was now 2 AM. We were really tired and a bit bruised. Thank goodness the autopilot did its job! We were still going 10-12 knots with just the mainsail up with these winds. And, during this time we were headed right for those islands (but, they were still 40 miles or so away, so I wasn't worried).

We decided to lower the mainsail and just motor a while until we got around the islands. Karen took the watch while I slept a while. Around 5 AM, I woke up and we raised the jib with a reef, and turned off the motor. Karen went to sleep. The winds eased just a touch to just 20-25 knots. This is still quite strong, and the seas were pretty strong about about 3 meters. But, it was a relatively smooth ride since we were downwind with following seas. We were still making 8+ knots with just the reefed jib. We were soon approaching Bonaire on its southern tip. I saw the lighthouse first, and at dawn I saw land. "Land Ho!" I said to myself quietly (since Karen was sleeping). We were almost to the southern tip when I called Grace and Ascension and told them our position. Grace told us some friends of theirs should be in Bonaire on a boat called Sunboy.

Once around the southern tip, the seas gradually smoothed since we were in the lee of the island. When you've been at sea for several days, you get used to pure clean air. When you approach land, you always notice how much the land (and what people do on it) smell. Yuck! But, soon your mind filters the smell of garbage and other things out - thankfully. We had a nice early morning sail up to the port. By 9:30 we had picked up a mooring and were at rest. We were just tidying up the boat, when a dive boat pulled up right behind us. A couple of scientists told us they had some instruments behind our boat and needed to collect measurements. Wow! I'll have something for the ROV to go look at! We were very tired at this point, so we decided to go catch up on sleep.

So, thus ended our adventurous sailing trip from Grenada to Bonaire. Although we had a few bad things happen (the light, and challenges with the sails), we had a successful passage of nearly 400 nm in less than 48 hours. We're really looking forward to being in one of the most-famed diving sites of the Caribbean - Bonaire!