OK, we’re back on the water

Curacao on the way out

After spending 10 great weeks in the great US of A, we are back in the water. We watched TV and took long hot showers while in the US. I’m pretty sure that the hot-shower thing is going to catch on – might even go viral. I just need to find a start up company to invest in so we can take advantage of this new fad. As for TV, I doubt it will         catch on. Mind numbingly boring. I did like the the drug company advertisements.  Especially the one that shows a side-by-side graph of the drug they are selling versus the placebo. The drug they are selling out performs the placebo by a few percentage points. Ask your doctor for one today!
We spent a very hot, sweaty week in the Curacao Marine boat yard. New bottom paint, a waxed hull and the rudder re-installed. Glad to have it done and be out of there. Don’t get me wrong, they’re a good yard. Rocky, the yard manager and tractor driver is very careful and helpful.  But Chris kept hearing the Cole Porter song It’s Too Darn Hot floating in her overheated brain. Being continually bathed in sweat (literally) is just not her idea of a good time.
After the boat got launched, we waited a few days in a slip – getting the canvas and sails back on and cleaning up. We did get in some sight-seeing while we were in Curacao with Maria and Maurice, our friends on Cattiva. They’re heading off to Santa Marta, Columbia, soon and we hope to catch up with them again in the San Blas Islands, Panama, for Christmas celebrations.
Mostly we were  waiting on some light weather to make our passage back to Bonaire; the trade winds seem to be relentless here… We still have a month’s worth of small projects to do on the boat. Doing them in Bonaire means we can invest a few hours a day on projects and still get in a snorkel or dive. It’s also a lot cooler in Bonaire– the wind blows through the boat nicely when we are on a mooring, and the water is clear and inviting right off the stern of the boat for a quick cooling off with the fishies. 
We left Curacao Marine in Willemsted at about 6am. Got hold of the Port Authority on the VHF 12 and requested that they open the floating bridge for us. A 15 minute wait and they swing her open and we off for a 7 hour motor sail into 12-15kts winds to Bonaire. We grabbed a mooring on arrival (anchoring is prohibited here to  protect their reefs) and headed into Customs and Immigration for a quick check in. Then back out to the boat for a snorkel.
Its good to be back in Boniare.
Paul