When we arrived in Bonaire we realized, after talking with our families, that nobody knows where Bonaire is (hint: it’s the little star down there at the bottom next to Curacao). I forget sometimes that not everyone is a sailor with every map of the world committed to memory in great detail, along with distances calculated both in nautical miles, and in number of days at sea.
I’ve also discovered how people, cruisers included, tend to think the Caribbean is a lot bigger than it is. For sailors with a few miles under their keels, the Caribbean is considered pretty tiny. With our boat we can easily get around it without ever doing more than two nights at sea (we cover 200 miles a day). In an entire season of cruising the Caribbean we would be hard pressed to burn through two tanks full of diesel.
For example, an entire season of cruising from Florida to Grenada is only ~1600 miles. A season from Grenada to Panama is ~1400 miles. Another season from Panama to Florida via Guatemala is ~1,500 miles. Three years, six tanks of diesel, and you’ve had a pretty great circumnavigation of the Caribbean.
When I pointed this out in my Wanderer group I heard immediately, “I have to show this to my wife.” Made me think pointing out how doable the Caribbean is might be useful for some of you. I also stand by my contention that if you are only planning to cruise the Caribbean then there is no better boat than a trawler.
Donkeys used to work here on the island hauling salt, but were eventually set free when that was no longer needed. Their numbers, of course, quickly became ridiculous. You see them all over the place when driving around the island. The Bonaire Donkey Sanctuary eventually came along and started to rescue the sick, injured, and orphaned. Now I’d swear they probably show up at the front gate requesting permission to enter.
We brought along a few bags of carrots thinking it’d be fun to feed a few donkeys. Turns out there are 750 of them here, and they all have a sweet tooth for carrots. The kids lasted about ten seconds outside the car before having to flee back to its relative safety.
From the inside of the car they could have a good laugh at my expense as I was accosted.
I can’t remember the last time we all laughed so hard. We had a fun time driving through the big property, feeding and petting donkeys. There was even a baby just a few weeks old there to give a little love to.
We woke up one morning to find a mooring line had chafed right through and was floating alongside the boat. There are two mooring lines on each big concrete slab, and I’d already seen that this one was wearing thin so I had put one of my own lines on beforehand. We contacted the marina in charge of the moorings here in Bonaire and within a couple of hours a guy came by and dropped off two new lines for us. I had to install them myself, and return the old ones, but I was happy to get even that sort of service. You’ve gotta love brand new mooring lines. If we ever get a wind shift out of the west here, though, I’ll definitely be throwing multiple lines of my own back on there.
The kids are supposed to dry the dishes, but they try to rope me into their game of rock, paper, scissors to see who has to do them. Lucky for me, they are predictable.
Closer than we prefer to be to other people, but somehow the Bonaire mooring field is a really quiet place. In a couple of weeks here we’ve gotten to know the routines of what feels like half the island just by sitting up top in the morning with a coffee.
12 Comments on “Donkey Sanctuary”
Mr and Mrs Mop, lovely.
Ha, first image that pops up! Never knew.
Hurry up and get that underwater camera – dying to see your amazing dive photos. When we were in Cartagena we were hoping for an impossible lull in the winds to make it the wrong way around to Bonaire. New plan is to head from Panama up into the Caribbean and back down.
Got it! And have a nice seahorse that hangs out next to our boat.
Yes, hear the lulls are in September/October, otherwise it is a beat. Good plan.
Im really digging the miles/fuel consumption numbers. I would think you would use much more fuel and travel many more miles! Puts things in perspective!
Great. I think everyone is surprised. Break miles and fuel cost down by monthly avg. for the year and it really sounds inconsequential.
Whats your Hookah rig??
PS you know donkeys are great Coyote protection
That’s not a hookah, that’s a mooring line and buoy. 🙂
I’m putting in a request (to the appropriate authorities) to be reincarnated as a donkey on Bonaire. Just thought you would like to know. 🙂
(insert jackass joke here)
Thanks for the mapping of your routes…helpful for future consideration.
And I could see the headline for Pat’s obit….
Patrick Schulte, Bumfuzzle world traveler, died earlier today of a carrot crazed donkey attack.
🙂
haha, you just know it will end with something ridiculous like that. 🙂