After midnight, we were hit with several squalls that agitated the seas, so the ride became even more lumpy and no fun. There still was virtually no moon, so we enjoyed the luminescent stars in between the storms. It was still rough at dawn. It was a bit hazy out, so even though we were close to Bonaire, we couldn’t actually see land until 0745.

We approached from the southeast side of the island. Kralendijk, the main city on the island and the only place boats are allowed to moor (anchoring is prohibited in Bonaire waters except under special circumstances), is on the west coast, in the center of the island. We rounded the bottom of the island at 0945 and headed north on the west coast. The minute we were on the west side, in the lee of the island, the seas instantly flattened out. We were so happy.

The ride along the coast was pleasant. We saw a nice rainbow. We saw several schools of flying fish leaping along the water in unison. One school in particular was absolutely enormous. We watched a few people kite surfing.

The southern side of the island is flat and low and the northern end is hilly. The town seems to be right where the hills meet the flat land, in the center of a nice bay. From what we could see, it looked like neither the north or southern ends of the island had any buildings on them whatsoever. So, as we headed up the coast, at first it was empty land, then eventually there were a few buildings that looked like residences along the water, then some buildings that looked more like hotels, then the town center. There are no big high rises at all. There was a cruise ship in port. Just a few miles west of town, in the bay, is the low, flat island of Klein Bonaire, which is apparently vacant land. Near Klein Bonaire we could see what looked like a smaller cruise ship waiting to pull in. However, we had eavesdropped on a conversation between this ship and the port captain on the radio and knew it was not a cruise ship at all, but one of the largest private yachts in the world, called Octopus. Apparently, Octopus is so big the only place they fit is in the cruise ship terminal, so when cruise ships pull in, Octopus has to vacate the spot.

At 1030 we were ready to make our entry into the mooring area, so we went up top to bring the paravanes in. At that moment, the wind decided to pick up to 18 24 knots right on our nose. Sigh. The bay was a bit lumpy, suggesting that the wind has been blowing this hard in this spot for a while. We brought the fish (weights that drag in the water) in with no problems, however, the arms were much harder. We actually got them up just fine, but we couldn’t get them properly secured because the wind was blowing the necessary cables away from us. So, we left the poles partially secured and headed in. While Eric was messing with the starboard pole, he managed to burn his leg on the exhaust elbow for the blower. It hurt.

We could see the neat line of sailboats moored in light blue water, paralleling a concrete quay. As we got closer, we started searching for an empty spot. We chose one that looked to be central to town and angled for it. Christi assumed the mooring position, hanging as far off the forward starboard edge of the boat as far as she could, with the boat hook dragging in the water. Eric guided us next to the mooring ball and she caught the mooring line with the hook. But, it was too short to reach all the way up to Kosmos’ deck. In a repeat of Stromboli, Eric steered us just a little bit too far forward before she could get the line unhooked, and the hook fell in the water. Grrr. This was looking bad. We grabbed our other boat hook and were about to try again when a knight in shining armor came riding up on a white horse and rescued us. OK, the knight was actually in a t-shirt and shorts and riding a dinghy, but the valiant and altruistic heroism was the same. He rescued our boat hook and then tied our lines (there are two lines per mooring) onto the mooring, then quickly rode off into the sunset. Well, actually the mid-day sun. Thank God that guy came. We don’t know how we would have attached without his help. Unfortunately, our knight had gotten the mooring lines crossed when he tied us up. Eric did a little switch-a-roo with our lines and all was fixed.

The top of mooring block is in only 8 feet of water, which made Eric nervous. Of course, we drifted back into somewhat deeper water, but there is the fear of the wind changing and pushing us into shallow water. There were lots of sailboats around with drafts just as deep or deeper than ours that seemed to be fine, so Eric decided to relax. Once we were sure we were well situated on the mooring, we turned our attention back to the paravane polls. We got them secured, but with the wind still blowing just as hard, it wasn’t too easy. By now, Eric’s burn had totally blistered up, so we took a minute to tend to it. Then we got the dinghy down and went to shore.

The waterfront is lined with a concrete sea wall. Above the wall is a narrow, one way road. On the other side of the road is a line of cheerful buildings. It is a mix of small apartment complexes, houses and commercial. There is a variety of architectural styles, some bungalows, some plantation style, etc. The tallest building is 5 stories, and most are lower. Most are colorfully painted with pitched red tile roofs. All are neatly maintained.

We were headed to a waterfront bar near the cruise ship terminal that has a dinghy dock that cruisers can use for free. When we got there, we saw the remains of what was once a dock. It looks like something bad happened to it. We back tracked to the tiny marina that is very close to where Kosmos was moored, called Club Nautico. It is the smallest marina we have ever seen, just a single dock with space for about 8 boats crammed in med moor style. The cruising guide said the harbor master charges $5.00 per week to use the dock. In the long run it is probably cheaper for us to pay the nominal dinghy dock fee than use the bar’s. We would have felt obligated to patronize the bar multiple times, and we don’t normally go to bars. We tied up, but didn’t see anyone to pay. We headed south down the waterfront road towards the customs office, passing the cruise ship on the way. The cruise ship is too big for the dock, so check out how they secure the back of the boat.

We also passed an assortment of restaurants and chose one near the office for lunch. We have learned that in many countries, lunch hours are limited and we didn’t want to take any chances at missing out on food. Officialdom could wait. The menu offerings were your standard western fare, but we do want to note that we got a hot roast beef, brie and pineapple sandwich on a baguette that was really good. Quite a tasty combo, especially with the cheese all melted.

After lunch we went over to customs, a small mustard colored building set at the water’s edge a little farther south. The road actually veers around it. In the first photo, customs is in the foreground. The tower at the back left is part of Fort Oranje, built in the late 1700’s. This fort never saw any action. The second photo is of the main government building, which is directly across the street from the customs building. You can see its fence to the left in the first photo. The main government building was originally built in 1837 as the governor’s home.

No one was at customs, but someone told us to wait. Within five minutes an official arrived. The customs paperwork was easy and straight forward, just a single form, and the customs official was really nice.

The next stop was immigration, a few blocks inland. Finding them wasn’t as easy as finding customs was. After a bit of wandering and a stop at two wrong buildings, we finally located them in an unmarked hot pink building with fun seasonal decorations in the windows. No wonder we missed it. It was much too festive looking for government work. The immigration paperwork was also easy, again a single form.

Near the customs office there was an open air market going on in the town square. On the way back from immigration we stopped by there. The vendors were selling an eclectic collection of goods. We walked back along the main drag of town, which is the street directly behind the waterfront. There are a variety of businesses, most of them souvenir shops, as well as a few restaurants. The town is absolutely adorable.

Next on the “to do” list was to pay for the moorings. They are $10 USD per day. We believe the moorings are actually owned by the Marine Park, but are administered by Harbor Village Marina. We went back to the dinghy and motored 1/2 mile north to the marina. The buildings along the shore looked to be less commercial and more residential as we headed north. It was mostly houses, but there were a few very new looking condo complexes, and one under construction. The marina is in a small cove off the main bay and is part of a large five star hotel complex. We located the marina office and paid, which was also easy and straight forward.

On the way back to Kosmos, we stopped to visit with the guys on the port side boat next to us, Nereia. They are really neat people. They told us we could get internet to the boat, we just needed to talk to the dockmaster at Club Nautico. Yipee! We went back to Club Nautico to search out the dockmaster. This time we found him right away. Hank explained that he had to raise the dinghy dock fee from $5 to $10 USD because Hurricane Omar had destroyed his dock and he had just completed rebuilding it. Omar was also responsible for the damage to the bar’s dock. We were really surprised to hear this. Bonaire is outside the hurricane belt. Hank said that the island didn’t get hit directly, it was just big seas caused by the hurricane being in the region that did the damage. Wow. They had to be huge seas considering that Kralendijk is somewhat protected from eastward swells by the small island Klein Bonaire. Anyway, unlimited wifi was available at $20 per week, which is pretty cheap compared to most other places in the world, and he hooked us up. He also agreed to receive some packages for us. Awesome.

We went back to the boat and made good use of the internet. We ordered a blower and some other small spare parts from Nordhavn and we had our mail forwarded. We know it will take at least 10 days to receive the packages, but this sounds like a place we will be quite happy to stay for longer than normal as we wait for them. At dinner time, we went to the closest restaurant to the dinghy dock, a seafood place. Everything we ordered represented a dish from a different corner of the world, with Japanese salad, Thai shrimp & scallops, Central American ceviche and a more western style salad with scallops in a vinaigrette. Yum.