Kralendijk

We put the sails down at 02:30am last night and motored into a dark mooring field off the town of Kralendijk. We want to do some diving while we are here in Bonaire, but our main goal is to learn how to pronounce Kralendijk. It was a good passage. Did 424 miles through the water over 58.5 hours. Nice downwind trades. It would have been ugly going the other way, but downwind its pretty pleasant. Mostly 16-25kts of wind, with a few times where it stayed up at 28kts. We're getting the dinghy ready now to go in and clear Customs and Immigration and hopefully take our mandatory movie screening of how to protect the marine environment.

Water temp is 89*F.

Paul

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Approaching Bonaire

WE did about 160 miles today. In the early AM the winds picked up to 25-28kts, so we put in a 2nd reef in the main. It mellowed back out this afternoon. We are about 20 miles north of the Venezuelan islands Aves. WE should show up in the mooring field in Bonaire about 3am or so. Just after the moon rise. Alls well.
Paul


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1 Day Out of Grenada

We did about 165 miles today. Nice downwind sail. Dark night with a bright Southern Cross. Got visited by 2 dozen dolphins for some bow wake playing. Somehow the end of the autopilot drive rod managed to unscrew itself. I noticed this when the boat decided to to round up into the wind. Quick repair and all is well. Crew is behaving.
Paul


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Bye-bye Grenada

We cleared out of Grenada at the Port Luis customs and immigration office this morning after a 5 week enjoyable stay. This afternoon at about 3:30 or 4pm we will head off for a 3 day downwind sail to Bonaire. We’re really looking forward to some of the great snorkeling that Bonaire is supposed to have.
The plan is to sail on a starboard tack WNW, then gybe and head WSW to Bonaire. This keeps us off the Venezuelan islands by about 25-50 miles. That should be enough to stay out of trouble. We know of a number of boats that have headed west to Bonaire, but only one that has decided to stop off at the Venezuelan out islands. They are there now, and are probably having a great time. But????
Paul