From Martinique, we headed WSW 450nm to Bonaire. Running dead down wind, goose-winged, and with a favourable current, we arrived in the mooring field off Kralendijk in 72hrs. Bonaire is a Dutch island, 50 odd nautical miles off the coast of Venezuela, and is a national park, famed for its marine life and cool diving spots.
We hired the Rusty Rider for a day and drove a loop of the island, taking in the flamingos on Goto Meer, spotted some Yellow-shouldered Amazon parrots on the Dos Pos hike, had an ice cream stop in the ghost town-like Rincon, viewed some ancient Indian cave graffiti, swam in Lac Bay until we were seen off by the Caribbean’s most aggressive mosquitos, drove past the impressive salt flats and even had time for a quick Geocache.
For the four of us, Bonaire’s highlight was unquestionably the diving. Barnaby and Zennor did their first ever dive, thanks to lovely friends on SV Miles Away. They have subsequently developed a passion for all things SCUBA (their Uncle Jules and Grandad Birchenough would be proud!). Angus and I had a couple of dives, the most memorable being a night dive to check out the trippy phenomenon of the ostracods; tiny bioluminescent shrimps that perform a mating display shortly after sunset around a full moon – utterly bonkers and mesmerising.
Sailing Mowzer 