The Arrival of Sanikolas

Saturday, November 29th.
Today saw the arrival of Sanikolas. As per tradition in the Netherlands he arrived by steamboat (tugboat) from Spain (Klein Bonaire) to greet the children of Bonaire. He was accompanied by a troop of Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) and his ship was escorted by a fleet of little sailboats captained by children. There were booths set up in the park where the children could get their faces painted or participate in games of skill. Some of the children were dressed as Zwarte Piet and others wore red bishop’s mitres like Sanikolas.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, Sanikolas is Papiamentu for Sinterklaas who is the Dutch Saint Nicholas. On Bonaire they celebrate Saint Nicholas Day which is December 6th. Sinterklaas has a long white beard and wears a red bishop’s dress and red mitre (bishop’s hat) and carries a gold coloured staff with a fancy curved top and sometimes rides a white horse. Except for the white horse this is what the Sanikolas on Bonaire looked like. Zwarte Piet is Sinterklaas’ helper.

On December 5, children leave their shoes at the front door with grass or carrots for Sinterklaas’ horse. Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet visit the children and leave presents. Zwarte Piet comes down the chimney and that is why his face is black. We found it interesting that even though the portrayers of Black Peter were already dark skinned, they all had “black face” make-up on.

Typical Sinterklaas candy is a chocolate letter of the child’s first name, a chocolate Sinterklaas wrapped in aluminum foil and chocolate coins.

In days past Zwarte Piet was known to leave salt or sticks for children who were ‘bad’, but that part of the tradition has been left in the past.

The kids here, like kids anywhere, were awed by Sanikolas’ arrival – waving at him even before the boat had reached the dock. It looked like there may have been some children that were chosen to walk down the dock with Sanikolas. It took him some time to walk from the dock to the park area, a distance of maybe 25 yards, as he stopped and talked with children along the way. There was music playing which we could only assume were Sanikolas songs since they were in Papiamentu.

One thing that amazed both of us was the tugboat. Before pulling into the dock it came into the area of the bay where we dock the dinghy and did a 360 degree turn, pivoting around the boat’s centre. This was done in a space that was just a little bit wider than the length of the boat.

Although we didn't stay past the arrival and greeting of Sanikolas, we could hear the celebrations continue for about 3 hours after we left. There was music and entertainment on the stage that is at the centre of the park by the town pier. We were both extremely grateful that we were able to watch and learn more new customs as we have so often during our voyage.

Changes and Flexibility

Well, for those of you who read Castingoff's blog, you already know a bit of what I am going to tell you but for those of you who don't, here is the latest skinny on our tentative plans for the next little while. First I guess I better rehash a little of what our plans had been. We are in Bonaire at the present moment and intended - and still intend - to go to Curacao. We had planned to meet with Rob (son Rob) at a place we had agreed to share for Christmas. Hopefully this will still happen. In the meantime, the Perrys and Artemo were to sail down to Curacao as soon as their boat was complete. After Christmas we (Artemo and Mystic Journey) were going to head for Cartegena, Columbia, then the San Blas Islands of Panama and then to Panama. In actual fact Cheryl and I had agreed that this particular journey was to be taken "one step at a time" in that if we got to Cartegena and decided not to go further west, so be it. This was to hold true for all the ports we landed in and in fact still holds true for this whole adventure we have embarked on. Julie et al were aware that we are not committed yet to going out the canal and that we are decision making as required when required.

So now - there are a couple things that are part of our new decision to stay in the Caribbean for a while longer. First, when the Perrys made the decisions regarding their plans that they did, both of us - the Perry's and the Thomas's - were aware that if we (Cheryl and I) held to our plan of continuing west we would lose our chance to sail together, something we had all been looking forward to. Julie, in examining their options, came up with the suggestion that we postpose our trip, meet up with them somehow, and spend time exploring the Leeward and Windward Islands next year. They had really not had a chance to do this when they brought Artemo from Antigua to Grenada due to time constraints and although Cheryl and I had taken some time when we came down, there is still lots we had missed. A second aspect of the decision was in part due to a bit of caution on our part. As I said, we have not committed to passing through the canal and heading for the South Pacific. Cheryl has said all along that she would be happier with a bit more "mariner experience" before heading out for a 3-4 week voyage that will put us in a place that, although beautiful and tropical and exotic, would be extremely hard to take a bus home from.

So this is now our plan for the new year. We will be in Curacao until at least the 26th of December. That is when Julie, Graham and the kids head back to Grenada to put the finishing touches on Artemo and set sail for northern climes to meet us. If Rob is able to make it to Curacao, he has said that he too will likely leave on the same day. After that we will head northeast towards the British Virgin Islands or the US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico or St. Kitts or wherever the winds are most favourable to take us. I will put a proviso in there.

We are having email discussions with someone very special to us who is considering coming to meet us in Antigua and stay for 10-14 days. We are praying for that to happen. I won't tell you who it is because I don't want to pressure these special people. (Well, actually I do but won't!!) If they can make it to Antigua, it will likely be around the 3rd of January so if that is the case, we will leave Curacao in time to make a 5-6 day sail to Antigua and meet them. Otherwise, we will be leaving in time to meet the Perrys in the northern Leewards - likely Antigua but possibly St Maartens, sometime in January. If we are up that far anyway, we might as well do some boat parts acquistion in the cheapest place possible.

Now, what does this all mean to you?? It could mean - so what, but it could also provide an opportunity for all of you we spoke to about visiting us during our travels. We have relatively firm committments from some people to come down and visit, BUT there is still a lot of time and a lot of room on our boat. So for those of you to whom we extended an invitation to visit and who haven't thought of taking us up on it - last opportunity to do so in the Caribbean in 2009. The invitations are genuine. We would love to see you and have you share a small part of this adventure.

Home Again

Well I've been back home now for 2 days. I can't begin to express how glad I am to be back on the boat with Griff. The flight(s) back was exhausting. I left Calgary, in a snowstorm, Tuesday at midnight MST and arrived in Curacao Wednesday at 8PM AST. That included 3 hours in the Toronto airport and 3 hours in the Miami airport. I was happy, excited, relieved and much more to see Griff in the Flamingo Airport Thursday morning at 9:30. (I had stayed overnight in Curacao because of availability of connecting flights.) It did rain a bit as we were dinghying back to the boat.

Then it started to pour as we were emptying the suitcases. Griff said that the process of opening the suitcases was like Christmas. In a way it was since my kids had sent our Christmas presents back with me and they were unwrapped, a Nintendo DS and the Stargate SG1 DVD series. Debbie had also sent our gift but it was wrapped so we will wait for Christmas for that one. I had bought a Golf game for the DS so now we can play golf against each other with 2 DS machines.

I decided that since it was pouring I would put up the rain collecting bottles. As usual, shortly after I put them up the rain stopped. This was Thursday morning and now it is Saturday morning and it still hasn't rained since it stopped Thursday afternoon. Of course it threatened all day Friday so we were reluctant to start painting the boat but we were able to finish the cockpit sanding.

Griff didn't take any pictures of sanding or priming the boat, but of course I took some when I got back. For some reason I was expecting the coach roof primer to be grey so I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was still white. Griff has a tarp over the windshield area to prevent the rain from going into the cockpit since the windshield needed to be removed for painting. In the cockpit the wheel is off, the table and cup holder are down and the instrument panel is completely taken apart. As I said, we spent some time yesterday finishing sanding the primer coat in preparation for painting.

In the afternoon we took some time and went snorkelling around the area of the boat for about 30 minutes. We saw some interesting fish. One flat fish that buried itself in the sand - if we hadn't seen it doing that we would not have been able to see it at all. Then there were two fish that were swimming together in an underwater ballet. A third fish tried to join in, but they would not allow that. We saw some fairly big parrot fish and some others that we don't know the names of. Of course there were the yellow and black striped fish and some angel fish as well as the pale white fish whose colour blends in with the sea bottom. We'll figure out how our new waterproof camera works and post some pictures.

Today we got the first coat of paint on the coach roof and so far it has only rained for about five minutes a couple of hours after we finished. Hopefully, that will have been long enough for the paint to have dried. The water beaded on it so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Now we are heading ashore to pick up a few supplies.

Hello From Bonaire

Well, Cheryl sent a blog at the beginning of her visit to Canada so I will send one as her visit winds down and let you know what has been going on here - work, work, work, and now rain, rain, rain.
End of Blog
Actually, it has been an experience being here by myself. Unfortunately, there has not been a lot of exciting things done but I learned stuff. First I learned that I haven't changed in regards to taking on more than I should. I am hoping the reasons behind this type of behaviour has changed though. In the past it was, I think, so that people would be impressed with my wonderfulness and talent and stuff - and then people would like me. Now, I think I do it because old habits die hard and I sometimes measure what I can do by what I used to be able to think I could do. Confused yet - well, a simpler explanation may be that I am getting older and slower - lets go with that one!!
What this is about is my decision to "fix" the coach roof portion on the boat. The coach roof, to save you looking it up in Wikepedia, is the portion of the boat that is above the deck and covers the fore and aft cabins as well as the salon. It starts in front even with the deck and then raises up to about 3 feet above the deck, becomes the sides of the cockpit and and then goes back to cover the aft cabin. The mast goes through the coach roof (and through the salon to the keel) and it also holds our windshield at the front of the cockpit. Although most of the cockpit isn't part of the coach roof because the cockpit mostly sits over the motor compartment, it is part of it at the front because it has part of the salon roof and has the companionway as part of it and at the back the seat back behind the steering seat becomes the aft cabin roof.
The reason for all this explanation is as follows: when we had our teak removed from the deck, in order to put awlgrip on the deck they had to tape the edge of the coach roof. When the tape came off, so did a lot of the paint. We had noticed this before when we had tried to use masking tape on the roof - when it came off, so did the paint. The boat had been re-painted at one time, apparently by inept amateurs (unlike yours truly - an ept amateur!) because it appears as if they either didn't put enough primer on (if any) or they used a very poor paint.
Okay, I'm getting there.
I thought while Cheryl was in Canada, it would be a good opportunity to re-do the coach roof and cockpit. Now comes the part about taking on too much. The process was to first thoroughly sand all of the working surfaces. This meant taking off the windshields (there are three pieces), removing our cockpit table, taking out all the instruments from the "dashboard" and removing as many lines as I could without dropping the rigging.
Next steps in sequence after initial sanding - wash everything down with soap and water and then clear NON-seawater. Apply one coat of primer. Sand all working surfaces lightly. Wash down with clear water. Apply 2nd coat of primer. Sand all working surfaces. Wash down with clear water. Apply first coat of Awlgrip paint - sand, wash, and apply second coat of Awlgrip.
Then reassemble instrument panel, windshield and cockpit table.
Was I thinking it through step by step while considering this - obviously not. Did I get it all done - NO! But in my own defence, I would have gotten it mostly done if, 5 days ago, it hadn't started raining. While this was not okay, it did give me a chance to repair the mess I made of the inside of the boat while working on the outside. Hey, who woulda thunk that the paint that came off would be carried downstairs on my feet and then stick with the power of gorilla glue to the floor. Who woulda known that brush and roller cleaner would eat away the finish on a big spot on the dinner table. Who woulda believed that the people who cut the new plexiglass pieces for the windshield (2 out of 3 of the ones that came off had cracks) would refuse to drill the necessary holes. Incidentally, for those of you who use drills for work while on water, news flash, the key that fits the chuck that allows you to change bits DOES NOT FLOAT. And as clear as the water is here in Bonaire (I was able to retrieve my socket handle!!) it is really difficult to see something that small when there is rock and sand on the bottom. Further, in case you are ever here - they don't sell chuck keys anywhere.
So where do I sit now? Well, I have repaired the table finish (oh and the porthole screen I forgot to mention that got shredded), most of the floor has the white specks removed and I have marked the holes in the new windshield and have figured out how I am going to change bits.
I have not gotten any Awlgrip applied as it needs at least five hours without rain and sixteen hours before you can apply the second coat. As a result I also don't have the instrument panel or the table back together and the windshield is not in BUT, my honey is coming back and she promised to help me without any complaints about taking on jobs that are too much and no "I told you so's". What a sweety!!
One last thing, for all you people in the throes of fall/winter. I can also tell that winter is here - there have been 9 cruise ships visit Bonaire in the last 11 days. Oh, the temperature here - around 30 during the day!!
Caio

Hello from Canada

Well I am half way through my trip back to Canada. Thought you might be interested in how I have found it. After 16 hours of travel, between airtime and layovers, I landed in Calgary in light snow. Fortunately Leila picked me up at the airport and the car was nice and warm. The weather has been warmish for this time of year and the wind has been blowing as normal. The only thing I am having a hard time to adjust to is the dry air. The humidity is much better for my breathing and skin.

Saturday was my mom's birthday party and it was great seeing all my siblings and their kids and grandkids. My aunt and her family also were there. The highlight of the evening for my mom was when my nephew Travis walked in. He has joined the army since we have been travelling and his arrival from Edmonon was a surprise.

This week I have been seeing the doctor, dentist and getting tests done. In between all that I have been trying to fit in visits with friends. Some have been short and sweet while I have been able to have meals with others.

I did stop in at our acreage and saw Katie dog. She is doing well and seemed happy to see me, although Leila said she gave me a dirty look when I got back into the car without her.

Saturday I head back to Calgary to spend some time with my kids and to see Griff's kids and grandkids. Then on Tuesday at midnight I head back to Griff.

The hardest part of the trip was being here without Griff and knowing he was probably pushing himself trying to get the coach work finished before I get back. We are very thankful for Google Talk which enabled us to talk each day as long as I could be somewhere I could access the internet.

Touring Bonaire

CORRECTION - CORRECTION - CORRECTION
Some research from a better source than our primary (after we drove so far on the tour we figured something was wrong) tells us that Bonaire is 112 square miles with a population of 14,006 as of December, 2006. Sorry for the poor info before


As promised, our "Tour of Bonaire" blog. Actually we didn't tour the whole island, just part of the north. We picked up the car at 8:30 and took the West coast road to begin our journey north. We hadn't really intended to do any more than sightsee on the way to the Washington Slagbaai National Park. Our intended agenda was to go to the park and do one of the walks and then go to the historical town of Rincon to explore. As it turned out we had not gone too far before I had to stop so we could take pictures. As mentioned before, there are 67 dive points around the island proper and most of those are accessable via road. Sure enough before long we began seeing small rocks by the side of the road painted yellow with names on them like Jeff Davis, 1000 steps, Ol Blue and so on. The road was quite narrow but there were always parking spots at these named points. The vegetation along this road was quite lush and green. likely because of all the rain they have been getting. Their rainy season is "moistest" in November.

Eventually we turned away from the coast road at a junction that had an old plantation house there. It had been neglected so we didn't stay long but turned up towards Gotomeer, a brackish lake that is also a pink flamingo sanctuary. The options at the turnoff are to go up to Gotomeer or go into the oil refinery and deep sea port where all of the oil used on the island comes in. Of course that isn't open to the public so our choices were limited.

We arrived at an observation point for the flamingo sanctuary but there was little to be seen as Gotomeer was quite distant so we hopped back in the car and drove down. There was an island with a path built up so that is could be accessed from the road and we thought we would be able to see the flamingoes better from there. As it turns out an old islander lives there and the only thing there was a herd of goats behind a fence made of branches and cacti. The land looked like it had been plowed and planted with grass but if it was, there seemed to be no way for the plow to get over there so that will remain one of the great mysteries of life. We were able to get fairly close to the flamingoes a little further down the road and when we were finally able to get them one of them to take it's head out of the water we were able to get a few good pictures.

Eventually we arrived in Rincon and stopped to pick up some drinks but we didn't stay long as we wanted to get to the park, which, about 30 minutes later, we did. There are a number of ways to see things in the park but because of the amount of rain, we decided not to drive into the park but to take one of the self-guided walkng tours. The vegetation at the north end of the island, at least in the park, is much more desert type of plants, notably cacti. We set off on the tour which the literature said would take 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. It was quite interesting and very well marked and laid out. We came first to a cactus observatory point where the signage described the common cacti seen on Bonaire. The path led from there to a well that had been dug by two people and it must have been one heck of a job to do it. It was about 15 ft in diameter and probably 40 feet deep. It had been a usable well until the late 60's but a severe drought left is arid and it has remained that way ever since. After following a small cliff line we came to a fence that had been constructed when the land was part of a plantation. The sign described how it had been built by 16 men using hard labour only. It is built of coral blocks and was used to keep the animals on the plantation.

Next stop was another well, slightly smaller and constructed to take advantage of the rain rather than getting the water from underground.

The path between all of these sites was over limestone that was extremely hard on our sandals and quite difficult to walk on but it also showed a great deal of industry as it was marked with rocks over all of the flat portions.

We then reached the ocean where we saw an incredibly impressive blowhole. You can see it on the video so suffice to say it is formed by the action of the waves which along this portion of the coast are very strong and very consistent.

We were then on the homeward leg and although there was supposed to be a flamingo observation post on the way, it was so far away from the lake that we could see nothing so we headed back to the entrance. Before we left we visited a small but quite well done museum where we found out some interesting factoids about some of the animals and birds of Bonaire, including lizards, iguanas, flamingoes and I can't remember what else. One that stood out for me was about the lizards - do you know that when lizards feel really threatened, they can dislodge/throw off their tales. The really weird part of this is they do this because the discarded tail LIES THERE AND WIGGLES so it distracts whatever is threatening the lizard and they can get away. Who woulda thunk it!! They can then grow the tail back but they can't discard the second tail. We can only hope they learned their lesson on where not to go the first time!!

Since the agenda up to that time had taken a lot more time than we thought it would, we had to head back and turn the car in so we couldn't visit Rincon. Oh well, other days, other visits.

The answer to the road sign question is slow down speed bump as some of you guessed. Speed bumps here, however, are huge. They extend completely across the road, are as high as the curbs and are probably one compact car in length. So you definitely have to slow down for them.