Diving Bonaire

Bonaire is a small Dutch island about 50 miles north of Venezuela. The cruise ships pull in and out almost daily, bringing in tourist dollars, but scuba diving is what puts Bonaire on our #1 dream destination list.

We were dive certified before we started cruising last year, but didn't have much experience. As fate would have it, our buddy boat friend, Jamie Dryden, is a dive instructor, so diving with him was such an awesome learning experience! We did 20 dives in 30 days, including 2 night dives, which Danielle did not like.

Needless to say, my pictures don't come close to capturing the beauty and colors underwater. After spending lots of time in the water, I realize that even though the ocean is huge, most fish have a home and living radius that's relatively small. Each species of fish have a different personality. Some are shy, while others are very aggressive. It's a fascinating world that's fun to observe. Here are a few of my best photos.

It looks like a snake, it slithers like a snake, but it's a rare Sharptail Eel, accompanied by a Spanish Hogfish.

Turtles are shy, but Danielle followed this guy long enough for a photo.

Danielle hovering among the fish.

The Greater Soapfish. named from the soaplike toxic mucus is secretes, often appears dead, just resting on the sand or against coral heads.

A large colony of Brown Garden Eels wave their heads gracefully, but withdraw to their sand burrows as we approach.

Can you find the very poisonous Scorpionfish camouflaged among the rocks and coral in this photo? Puncture wounds from stepping on him can cause severe pain and illness.

This tiny goby sits in the beautiful coral heads.

French Angelfish are beautiful and very friendly.

My, what big eyes you have! A pair of squirrelfish are happy to pose for a photo.

Spotted Trunkfish are a lot of fun to watch. We often see them just meandering all alone in shallow water.

A pair of large Grey Snapper just look at me.

A fabulous Spotted Drum!

One of my favorite fish, the Queen Angelfish. See her crown?

Black coral

Ricky waves "HI"

Jamie blowing air rings underwater. He's very talented!

SEA YA!

RICKY, ROBIN AND DANIELLE

Pleasantly Surprised by Curacao!

We've all heard of Aruba, and now that we're scuba divers, we hear a lot about Bonaire. But have you ever heard of Curacao? Pronounced "cure a sow," this beautiful Dutch island is the "C" when you refer to the ABC Islands.

After spending a week catching the bus and looking around the old historic capitol of Willemstad, we fell in love! Business looked good due to the cruise ships coming and going, bringing loads of tourists ready to see the unique sights. We anchored for a week in a huge lagoon named Spanish Water along with about 200 other sail boats. Simply delightful!




Here's a group shot of us with the other two boats we have traveled with from Cartagena. Third from left is Emily, a cute, spunky 24 year old new to sailing (crewing with Jamie), then our Dutch friends Inge and Pieter, 17 year veteran sailors aboard Baerne, and far right is Jamie, the captain of 401(k), and a dive master. In fact Jamie can do just about anything, including repairs to everything we break. And girls, he's single, too!

Inge had Emily and I exercising daily, and she was hard to keep up with. She will be 70 in January, but who would ever guess? "First we do the walk, then we do the swim. That's a good plan, no?" She and Pieter are dear friends whom we will miss when we go our separate ways.



Downtown Willemstad is such a fun place to wander around. Great restaurants, great shopping, friendly people, and interesting Dutch architecture. Don't you just love all the bright colors! It makes you feel happy!





Fort Amsterdam dates back to 1635, and is now the governor's palace and a museum. Look closely at the upper left corner to find a hole left by a cannonball fired by Captain Bligh's troops.

We sat outside on a small private veranda for dinner at this very nice restaurant named De Gouverneur.

Just one of the old buildings with designer shops in downtown Willemstad dated 1708.

Meet Sully, the young pilot whale that washed up on Curacao's beach during the summer. Volunteers rescued him and trained him to follow a boat so when another pod of whales was found in the area, he could be returned to the wild. We were fortunate to see him because he left a couple of days later.

The ruins of Fort Beekenburg at Curacao Bay dating back to 1703.

A large pod of dolphins greeted us as we approached Curacao, probably 40 or 50!

Sea Ya! Ricky and Robin (Danielle was home visiting family and friends)

Aruba, One Happy Island!

Change of plans! When we arrived in Cartagena, we met a dive instructor named Jamie Dryden and his crew, a cute 24 year old named Emily. They invited us to tag along with them to the ABC Islands, otherwise known as Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao (pronounced cure a sow). We had intended to head west, but the weather window was unusually calm seas, and Bonaire was one of our dream destinations because of the wonderful scuba diving. So we took 10 days to hop up the coast of Columbia and Venezuela with Jamie aboard 401(k) and another boat with a very nice Dutch couple, Pieter and Inge aboard Baerne. The first photo shows the rugged, rocky coast of Venezuela.

Aruba is beautiful! The cruise ships come and go every day in Aruba's capital, Oranjested, where the architecture is typical Dutch design. The shopping is wonderful (Christmas is right around the corner, you know!). Jamie rented a car and we drove from one end of the island to the other in a few hours.

Much to my surprise, Aruba's landscape is dry and barren, with cactus and rocks everywhere. Quite a few iguanas to see, even on the golf course! Yes, Ricky and Jamie got in 18 holes!

Just one of many beautiful Aruban sunsets!

High rise, high dollar hotels and condos in the background

The divi divi tree

California Lighthouse built in 1910 stands at the island's northern tip

Surf pounded coastline of Boca Mahos

Ancients pictographs is the caves at Ayo's rock fornmations

Ricky outside the very famous Charlie's Restaurant & Bar

I love this sign! It hangs over the entrance to the bar.

Sea Ya!

Ricky, Robin and Danielle

Beautiful Cartagena, Colombia

Of all the places we hear other cruisers talk about, the historical city of Cartegena is by far the most loved. The history goes back to the fort's construction which began at the end of the 16th century, and took two hundred years to complete due to the repeated damage inflicted by storms and pirates. Everywhere you look you see beautifully preserved Spanish colonial architecture. Here are a few of our favorite pictures.

Not your normal mode of transporation!

Saint Pedro Claver's Church and Monastery was built at the beginning of the 17th century by priests of the Jesuit community. The church was restored in 1921 and the present dome was added.

The Palace of the Inquisition

Beautiful La Catedral

Busy, narrow streets that look and feel a lot like New Orleans.

(How 'bout them Saints!)

Emeralds are what everybody buys in Columbia. Here's the ring Ricky picked out as Danielle's "welcome back to the boat" surprise.

We're in Aruba now, and sail tomorrow for Curacao, then on to Bonaire.

Sea Ya!

Ricky, Robin and Danielle

Last Days in San Blas Islands

After many happy weeks exploring the beautiful San Blas Islands and meeting the Kuna Indians, it was finally time for us to move on. But here are a few last pictures to remember our wonderful experience.

This is a typical Kuna village, one hut built right next to their neighbor, with only a narrow dirt walking path between. The men fish, the women sew. One interesting fact I just learned is that the Spanish missionaries taught the Kuna women to make molas to cover their chests.

This is one example of a "tourist" mola sold by women paddling their canoes from sailboat to sailboat. Molas are bright colors and depict local animals and sea creatures.

This one is only 6" X 6" and I purchased 3 for $9.00.

This mola is more traditional with different kinds of stitches and a more intracate pattern. Several master mola makers are very well known and sign their pieces. I purchased this mola from a young man named Venancio. It is framed and hangs above our master berth. I paid $40.00 for this larger 16" X 20"size. Can you tell it's a tortuga (turtle)?

Danielle purchased Kuna beads from this woman, who had to show her how to wrap the long string around her ankle many times and tie it off.

Just look at these beautiful children! The cruisers use the small island that this family lives on to play volleyball and have potlucks, so this Kuna family is always invited as well. They speak a little Spanish, so it's hard to communicate. They are as curious about us as we are of them.

Danielle, the beach bum! She enjoys dressing up for dinners and parties on the islands with friends.

One day Danielle and I were eating lunch on the front of the boat when this little guy landed and stayed long enough for us to take photos.

Another kind a star fish, we enjoyed playing with the small brittle stars. A tiny sea urchin is pictured to the right.

This group gathered to celebrate a cruiser's birthday with good food and music.

We met new friends on the beach for snacks and conversation. It's rare to find cruising families with teens on board, and Visions of Johanna had two sons whom Danielle enjoyed scuba diving with. We also hosted a game night on our boat for this group, but the best part was all the wonderful deserts everyone made.

Bill from Another Road took us out conch hunting, then showed us how to clean, batter and fry them. Too much work, if you ask me!

Good friends from New Orleans Tom and Julie aboard Gris Gris

Sea Ya!

The Sailing Wrights