Our week with the hire car was hectic and none stop, on our first day we headed south, driving along the coast road in the search of flamingos on the salt flats and visiting the historical sites of the slave huts and original salt works. There is zero shade and it is unbelievable to think how those made to work in the blazing sunshine could survived such conditions.
All along the roadside are the yellow bricks which designate dive sites and there were cars parked all along with divers and snorkelers. We checked out a few, looking forward to coming back with our gear another time. Continuing south we rounded the point and ended up at Jibe City, Lac Bay. This is an enclosed reef dominated by the windsurfers on one side, the mangroves on the other and the odd fishing charter. We stopped for lunch and then drove around to the mangrove side of the bay; you can do a kayak tour which we might try and do when we’re back in Bonaire later in the year.
We finished our first day with drive down the drag strip, thus named as it was clear the locals used it to race and past the Donkey Sanctuary, home to around 1000 of these none indigenous animals who have been on the island since they arrived as beast of burden for the salt trade. Whilst we didn’t see those in the sanctuary there are plenty of them still wild and we saw these regularly.
Day two and we spent doing a few chores, visiting the hardware stores, pharmacy and shops out of walking distance from the dinghy dock, using the car to carry heavier items and enable us to search for some of the items we couldn’t find in the small stores in the downtown area.
The National Park was one of the top places we wanted to visit, the next day we got up early as we’d heard its best to arrive early to beat the heat. There are no shops or restaurants in or around the national park, you need to bring everything with you, so I’d made a packed lunch and we had bottles of water and pop to hopefully last us for out day.
On our way to the park, we had taken an off-road route to visit the cave drawing along the coastline on the windward side of the island, which gave us our 1st experience of the bumpy and lumpy ride we’d be having all day. Glad we had a truck we bounced our way using satellite images of the island to find the roads we needed to take as there was nothing but dirt, dust and cactus to lead the way.
As we entered the park, we did a brief visit of the museum, before choosing the long route around the national parks and entering the wilderness. We’d expected to see at least some other vehicles but it was like we had the whole place to ourselves. The only life we saw was the vast array of birds, iguanas, cactus and the goats who had evaded capture. Back in the museum we had learned that the goats aren’t meant to be in the park and they openly try and hunt/capture as they are destroying the vegetation and are multiplying in large uncontrolled numbers…. Any goats captured are slaughtered for meat and as you know Blue Mist loves a good goat curry.
As our first month in Bonaire was coming to a close the weather had decided to present our first storm of the hurricane season. It was talked about with everyone we met, be it other cruisers, locals or holiday makers. It was very rare for a storm to be so low and to be likely to hit the coast of Venezuela like this one was currently forecast to do. With Bonaire being so close, it was a concern that we’d also be right in its path, but at present they couldn’t predict its path to well. Everyone was making their plans but in a direct hit to the island there aren’t many options and none of them are safe exactly.
As we didn’t know if the storm would go north or south of the island heading out to sea and running was a difficult choice, we didn’t know which direction to run in. Bonaire specifically has what is called a reversal, usually when storms off the Venezuelan coast change the wind direction to the west, driving wind and waves up over the reef which rises sharply, making the moorings untenable so we could not sit it out on a mooring.
A berth in the marina was another option but this came with its own set of risks, especially as once in and possibly rafted you would not be able to leave as there would be zero room to manoeuvre. Everyone was talking about it, but no one was saying exactly what they had planned. Our friends on Orontes II had arrived and were berthed in the marina so it looked like they would stay put. We spoke with marina team and understood that, if necessary, we can come into the marina and find any spot free. But we’d need to make a decision soon.
The storm still hadn’t been named so our insurance was still valid, even in the hurricane zone, but the moment it’s named we would no longer be insured which was another factor we had to consider. We had come to the ABC islands as they are considered outside of the hurricane belt.... proving again that the weather is and does unpredictable things.
With no weather forecast agreeing on a north, south or direct path we made the decision to go into the marina.
On the Monday before it was due to arrive on the Wednesday evening, we saw several cruisers heading into the marina in dinghies and decided we should pop back and make sure nothing had changed. It was a good job we had as now the marina were giving out specific berths and people were already paying for their slots. By this time only a few spots remained and I think we got one of the last three. Everyone else after that would be rafted on the fuel pontoon, which we had been told wasn’t the best as any waves flooding into the entrance knocked boats about.
That afternoon we tied a fender to our mooring and made our way into the marina and our berth for the storm. The marina was a hive of activity, our berth was in the middle of two local boats, one a charter company and the second a local private owner. We moored up and did our best to put fenders and lines in the most effective positions to protect us.
The charter captain had been called by the marina to tell them they had new neighbours and they came down to check us out and tell us that they had charters planned for Tuesday and two on Wednesday as the cruise ship was in and that we would need to move our boat each time as he couldn’t get in or out if we were there... not sure why we got into the space easily enough. He seemed utterly unaware of the weather and whilst we agreed to move on the Tuesday, we were clear that by lunchtime on Wednesday we’d be tied up and secure for the storm...even the marina thought it was odd he could not get in and out, or that he thought there would be guest for the charters as at present everyone on the island was preparing to close for the storm.
We popped to the supermarket, made sure we had provisions and then we walked around the marina checking in with friends and helping others secure their boats. It’s was a weird atmosphere of comradeship and apprehension.
Tuesday morning, we woke early to be ready to move the boat for the charter to find a very frustrated captain onboard her. Apparently, he had checked the engine that morning and found a major issue with the engines water pump, making the boat unusable, as the new part would need to be flown in from the US. We did feel sorry for him as we didn’t want him to lose money, but also glad we could now secure the boat and not have the worry about moving Blue Mist multiple times.
The Wednesday morning forecast all showed Bonaire as in the path of the still to be named storm. By noon, the mooring field was all but empty, apart from a few boats who had decided to sit it out and then head to Sea if necessary. Boats were rafted four deep on the fuel pontoon and every available space had a boat attached, smaller fishing boats were being lashed between yachts, extra lines and fenders being placed everywhere like a game of Kerplunk... we couldn’t have left even if we’d wanted to until the maze of lines and boats was undone.
And then we waited....
We pre-cooked some food, got out our rain gear as the showers had started and made ourselves comfy. Every hour or so, Ross and most of the cruisers would wander up and down the pontoons, saying hi and checking in. If it wasn’t for the sense of impending doom, it would have been quite fun.
Hitting refresh on the storm tracker app, we waited and waited for the wind to arrive... and then nothing, the wind didn’t pick up, by 5pm several boats had gone back out to their moorings and we got confirmation that the storm had passed to the south of the island, taking all the wind with it. Feel more than a little relived and weirdly a bit annoyed at all the fuss and stress for nothing... but I’d get over that.
Storm Bonnie was named roughly a day after she passed by the ABCs, she strengthened to a hurricane passing over Nicaragua and headed out into the Pacific Ocean. Our first hurricane season experience was a bit of a damp squib, let’s hope they are all like this in future.
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