South/West Caribbean « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Making up for our lazy day

by steve, on November 2nd, 2009 (Bonaire)

We certainly didn’t have a lazy day yesterday but nor did we avoid fund and relaxing. Although it took us till 7:30 to drag ourselves out of bed we went to work. Helen cleaned the decks while I stitched the section of flapping sun cover onto the head sail. We both wished we’d started earlier because it became hot very quickly. The lack of wind here makes the days heat quite stifling.

We then decided to take the hookah out to one of the nearby official dive spots called “Something Special”. After the previous dive I had organized all the gear so that just the stuff we needed was ready to put in the dinghy. This made getting there and setting up very easy.

A lot of the dives here in Bonaire are similar in that you have a sandy bottom at 30ft right off the beach which then falls off on a 45 degree living reef down to about 90 feet. We decided to go down to 60 feet on the reef and swim on parallel tracks rising 10ft on each turn. The same spot of reef just a few feet higher looks totally different so although we didn’t venture far we saw a lot of variety. We later learned that this dive site is included in the REEF organisation’s “Top 10 Sites for Species Richness” along with 7 other Bonaire dive sites.

Then came the middle of the day where the will to be busy is non-existent. It rained a few times which helped cool things and further wash the boat.

In the afternoon I decided to move the genset starter battery. It is positioned a long way from the generator and the voltage drop along the cables is enough to cause problems at times. The house bank can push enough through it but the starter battery (even the new one) struggles at times. A lot of 420s are having this mod done so I’m not being original in this move.

First step was to remove the battery and cables running to the isolation switches. It looked like these cables were laid in first and all the rest laid on top. This involved a lot of wire tie cutting and wiggling the cables through awkward gaps.

Next I rewired the remaining cables so that the long cables already in place from the switches to the genset could still be used to power the genset from the house bank if required.

Finally, I installed the battery case, straps, battery and cables into a nicely available space on the far side of the genset. This involved squeezing myself through a gap slightly too small over the top of the generator and working for some time using my back muscles to support my top half. I emerged from this task dripping with sweat, aching and with a few scratches.

Everything worked perfectly which was pleasing. The job is not complete as I really need to out isolation switches between the battery and the generator. For that I need to cut the cables and put new ends on. I won’t be able to do that here. Perhaps in Cartegena.

A beer was in order to cool down and soon I was back in the water washing off all the sweat. The aforementioned reef is continuous around the island so I was cooling down looking down on one of the most spectacular reefs in the world. Nice way to refresh.

It’s possible today that our tanks will be returned from their inspection. It would be nice to dive with them instead of the hookah. Both have their plusses but the tanks give more freedom. We have a refill card giving 21 fills. We’ll use the last four to depart with full tanks. The rest we plan to use here.

Plans Evaded (updated)

by steve, on November 1st, 2009 (Bonaire)

Yesterday was a day where we had plans to do some chores and fixings. We successfully evaded them all. I did make a couple of trips into “town”. The first was to Budget Marine for a Bonaire courtesy flag only to find I’d lazed around too long and it had closed for the day. The second was for some fresh milk. I succeeded here and managed to pick up ingredients for making Margaritas.

Helen did catch up on emails as well as finishing her one year retro – hope you liked it. Now that she’s finished I can be naughty again without fear of being mentioned. I did some research on Panama. I’ve discovered that due to the global recession, commercial traffic through the canal is reduced. This means it only takes a few days for a pleasure boat to get a slot and that sometimes they’re sending them through without a commercial ship in the lock. The more we think about it, the more we like the idea of transiting the canal around the third week Sam is with us – in January. This means missing out Bocas del Toro (this time around) but it does give us more opportunities with them aboard.

In the evening had margaritas and fried up half of the barracuda we caught recently. We ended up with nearly a pound of fish each. It was delicious but very filling.

Maybe today we’ll get on with stuff. The winds are still light. The sun cover on the headsail needs to be stitched on at one point. Good to do this while we can.

First Splash in Bonaire

by steve, on October 31st, 2009 (Bonaire, Jackster)

Our first order of the day on Friday was to take our tanks to the nearby dive outlet to leave them to have their hydrostatic test performed and to obtain our tags/induction. To our surprise, the woman performing our induction, Caroline, we instantly recognised as our dive master in the BVIs back in July 2007. We learned about the rules and regulations here. Most of the dive sites are accessible straight from the shore as the island drops off to a reef all along the west and north coast. Markers are placed along the coastal road where the dive sites are. We should be able to reach many in the dinghy and move Dignity to the established moorings when we want.

After our induction to the marine park and obtaining our tags we headed off to the marina to pick up some gas for the dinghy and to pay for our mooring. Next we went into ‘town’ to explore some more. There isn’t much to it but it is definitely more European than the English Caribbean. I picked up a SIM for my phone as we need to stay in touch with the dive outfit for our tanks and I needed to receive a call from the US.

Back on the boat we had lunch. Our plan was to use the hookah off the back of the boat in the afternoon so I checked it out in advance. I found the engine seized up. I pulled on the starter cord as hard as I dared but it wouldn’t turn. So began the task of dismantling the hookah to get at the innards. Once I had the engine out of the box and the pull cord off (among other things) I was able to get a wrench onto the shaft and turn it using greater leverage. This managed to turn the crank and once moving it eased up. I turned it over this way for a while adding more oil too.

Once I felt it was turning easily I put everything back together and fired her up. The engine ran but arhythmically. I checked the oil again and realized I had over filled it. Draining the excess out appeared to put things right. Then came the task of clearing up the deck of spilled oil and general mess.

After about 2 hours of work I had everything going. For our first dive we were down for about 30 mins. We started shallow so we couldn’t go too deep. We soon exhausted the accessible reef where we were so came back up and stowed everything away.

We then moved the boat a little further north to be away from the Friday night loudness and to get a better internet connection.

In the evening we went ashore to eat out. Our preferred restaurant, serving Indonesian food, was not open for business so we ended up having ribs.

In amongst all the days activity I was emailing Sherri from Trinidad to arrange the order and shipment of our wind generator and spare part for Jackster. We have settled on the AirBreeze unit which meets our preferences of robustness, noise and output. Thanks to all who helped on this.

No real plans for today bar checking with the dive shop for status on our tanks. There is only one guy on the island who does this and this is done at the weekends. But not every weekend. It depends on what else is on. We don’t yet know if he’s been able to do our tanks. If not, hopefully we can work something out.

Bonaire

by steve, on October 30th, 2009 (Bonaire)

As planned we left the Aves before 7am. The wind, again, was right behind us so we rigged and flew the Code Zero right from the beginning. As we rounded the southern tip of Bonaire we did a pretty good job of furling it, turning the boat into wind, raising the main, turning north and unfurling the head sail. The seas behind Bonaire are flat as is the land (being part of Holland no doubt) so we had good wind and good sailing the last 10nm.

I found a couple of internet connections as we sailed and managed to get hold of our emails and log our position on the fly. We tied up to a mooring ball as required but soon realized our position had a very nasty odour. We were right in front of a sewer outlet. We therefore shifted a short distance. That waters may be crystal clear here but a fine layer of turd is not our thing.

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I went ashore and checked us in. I visited the local Budget Marine store on the off chance they had a 12V AirBreeze wind gen which we’re interested in. They had a 24V one but no 12V. The guy made no attempt to source one for us so I figured I’d find someone who wanted to make the effort. I also learned where we could drop of our tanks for the hydrostatic tests we need done.

Back on the boat I eventually manage to find an open internet connection albeit quite flakey. Helen and I spent the evening catching up on things. All our recent photos are now uploaded and the past blog entries amended to include the albums. Easiest way to catch up will be to click on our Venezuela category.

Aves de Sotovento

by KC2RIY, on October 29th, 2009 (The Aves)

The big question we’ve kept asking ourselves recently is whether or not we should rest up a day or two or press on to Bonaire and extend our stay in the ABCs. The weather forecasts have been a strong influence on us in this respect. Ironically, had we had more time we would certainly hang around each location a little longer. With limited time we’ve tended to move each day which has caused some tiredness. Yesterdays wind forecasts stalled the lowering of the wind speeds for another day so Helen suggested we cut the distance to Bonaire some by moving the boat to Aves de Sotovento. This was after a leisurely morning when we read followed by a dinghy trip to photograph some of the hundreds of nesting birds.

So after snatching an early lunch we headed out of the easternmost Aves heading for the NW end of the western Aves taking advantage of an easterly wind to put us on a broad reach. Once we’d cleared most of the reefs, but not all, I threw out two trolling lines. Shortly after passing the western island of Aves de Barlovento I checked the lines only to find we caught another Barracuda. It was bigger than the previous one weighing in at 5lb. We hauled it in and gave it the rum spray. This time it didn’t go out peacefully. The gills bled out from the rum so I had to finish it off with the rolling pin on the top of the head. The fish was big enough to create some steaks and fillets – enough for 3-4 meals.

Once we’d cleaned all the mess and I’d had a shower I decided we had enough meat and it was not worth catching any more fish so I brought in the lines. On the second line I discovered we had caught a similar weight black fin tuna. Our thoughts of barracuda fritters were now instantly replaced with tuna sushi and seared tuna steaks for dinner. So in came the tuna and more mess on the stern transoms. Another clean up and another shower and we were done.

We made Aves de Sotovento on a single reach and rounded the NW end finally anchoring behind an island called Lighthouse Island on our chart. Probably due to the lighthouse on it. I fired up the the grill to make it very hot and munched some thin strips of the tender tuna meat removed from the back of the head with soy sauce and wasabi. Then on went the tuna steaks but not for long. Helen cooked up some stir fried vegetables. It was a delicious dinner. We still have four tuna steaks remaining so we can look forward to them – and the barracuda meat.

We have no intentions in staying in Aves de Sotovento. We have about 40nm or so remaining to reach Bonaire so we plan to leave here shortly after first light. In fact, we’ll be on the move by the time I send this blog out. I’d like to get a few things on the go before the weekend so sorting out an internet connection today will be important. Hopefully we can manage this from the boat. I want to complete our research on wind gens. We’ve had some useful information sent to us by family and friends and I’ve been able to use the saildocs service to send text versions of review websites. Once I’m online I should be able to make a decision and order before the weekend. I also want to get our tanks into a dive operator to have the hydrostatic tests done and then filled. We probably won’t get them back until after the weekend. If we want to do some diving over the weekend we can use the hookah.

Out guideline schedule for the rest of the year has us leaving the ABCs mid-November direct to Cartegena – a four day sail. We’ll spend the bulk of that time in Bonaire visiting Curacao and/or Aruba only if we need to – perhaps to break the trip down a little.

Finally, give or take a day, this is our one year anniversary from moving aboard Dignity. As always time has flown but looking back we’ve come so far. Our main aim, to spend the first season in the eastern Caribbean prepping ourselves and the boat, has been met and we are already transition into our next phase. We’ll always have more to learn and there will always be more to do with the boat but we have come so far. We also have so much to look forward to. The next twelve months will dwarf the last in terms of distance as we set our sights on crossing the Pacific. Plans could easily change and problems could beset us so it really is open as to where we will be a year from now. That’s all part of the fun.

I’m leaving Helen to write the one year look back. She’s started but probably won’t finish for a while as she’s had less practice writing. I think it will be interesting to see her perspective on all this. I’m not allowed to look at what she’s writing so I’m looking forward to the finished piece.

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Making up for our lazy day

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First Splash in Bonaire

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