We Are Sailing to Bonaire

After a lot of deliberation, we changed our minds and our plan. For hurricane season we are sailing to Bonaire.

Cancelling on Grenada

A few weeks ago we signed up to go to Grenada, along with our group of buddy boats. As the date approached, our doubts grew as to whether that was the right choice for us. We don’t want to do-over last summer, no matter how much we loved Grenada.

While we planned for Grenada, we were also researching the other options for hurricane season. We also talked to a few friends and authorities, and changed our minds. Bonaire is calling!

Why Bonaire

Bonaire was always our goal, Covid-19 just messed things up, just like it probably did for your 2020 plans. Bonaire is a marine park with excellent diving, and we love to dive. Plus, the island serves as a jumping off point for Colombia, Panama and the Panama Canal, which we would like to visit and cross, respectively, once we can.

Like most countries, Bonaire was closed for a period, but they are slowly and carefully opening their borders. After contacting the marina and the authorities, we have an almost-confirmed arrival of July 1st in Bonaire.

Saying See You Later

Being a cruiser, living on a sailboat, means being nomads. It seems glamorous and exciting to pick up and go where you want when you feel like it. And it is, usually.

But we weren’t built to be nomads. We value community and friends, and it’s been a long time since we have gone without that. So I am tearing up thinking about what we are giving up by going our separate way from our friends who are heading for Grenada and those who are already there. Covid-19 lockdown wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without these fine people.

Because we are nomads we often have to leave our friends which means saying goodbye, or better, see you later. Many of our buddies are back home in the U.S. or Europe.

Here’s hoping we see these fine friends again in another harbor.

Sometimes that’s the great thing about this nomad life. We do meet up with friends again. And we will make new friends in Bonaire. Brian is cheering me up by reminding me of that, but I will miss all the buddies we spent hard times with and had a blast with here in Antigua.

Getting to Bonaire

From Antigua, it’s an almost 500 mile sail to Bonaire, even further than Grenada. This will be our longest trip yet, but we were already planning for the 400 miles to Grenada, so another 100 miles to a place we really want to go seems worth it.

500 miles equals a little over 4 days sailing time on Sava. We estimate Sava averages 5.5 knots, but she can speed along at 7 if the wind is good. We prefer to underestimate, especially because you never know what will happen. The wind direction is better for a Bonaire trip than a Grenada trip, as it should be pushing us that way anyway. Hopefully sailing to Bonaire will be a breeze!

Getting Ready

During our extended down time in Antigua, we did a lot of work on Sava. We replaced her navigation lights for nighttime passages, replaced fuel filters and watermaker filters, and even got a new dinghy. Brian installed new charts for our new passage, and we are waiting on a new VHF remote so we can hear everyone on the radio.

Everyday we try to prepare for the journey. Whether it’s stocking up on food, or cleaning the deck, we are constantly readying for the journey. We know many people who have crossed oceans, so 4 days doesn’t seem long to them. But it does to us, so we want to be as ready as we can be.

Countdown

We have two weeks until we start sailing to Bonaire. There’s still time for us to change our minds again, but I don’t think we will. Yes, we are nervous, and sad to leave our friends, but we are excited for the next adventure.

Do you have any tips for the long sail or Bonaire? Share in the comments please. I would love to read them.