We’ve done a few dives around Bonaire in the past couple of weeks. We still didn’t have a working underwater camera, though, so a picture of the kids standing at the top of the 1,000 Steps dive is as close as we could get to scuba pics. 1,000 Steps is really only about fifty, but when you’re a skinny nine-year-old kid it definitely feels like a thousand. The dives have been nice. Lots of big coral, soft and hard, with plenty of life in and around it. Nothing overly exciting (like sharks, manta rays, or other “big” stuff) for kids who have spent their lives in the water, but still really good outings.

Lowe wrote a book in his mind, and had me transcribe it over a few nights while he was swinging off the boom after dinner. Then his sister typed my chicken scratch out on the typewriter. The boy has really learned how to delegate.

The past couple of weeks have been brutal on the swim platform. Our list of things that need fixing this off-season continues to grow. We haven’t hauled out in three years, and are in need of a good bottom painting. Swim platform needs a lot of love. Rails need stripping and varnishing. Hot water heater needs replacing. Oven needs repairing (stove works, but oven died two weeks ago). The list goes on.

We are the only non-sailboat cruisers in Bonaire. I figured there’d at least be some big Nordhavn trawlers, or something similar bobbing around out here, but no. When a local asks what boat we’re on, they immediately know us when I tell them we’re on the trawler.

Lac Bay is an incredible place. About two miles by two miles, behind a barrier reef, only a couple of feet deep, and with the steady trade winds, it’s about as perfect a spot as anywhere in the world to learn to windsurf. Turns out windsurfing is also one of those sports that is super easy to get started in. The hard part is getting really good at it. The kids had a lesson, were up and going within ten minutes, making turns ten minutes later, and spent a couple of hours zipping back and forth.

We finally got our hands on a new DJI camera for the water. I’m hopeful that it will be a good one so that we can avoid GoPro cameras from here on out.

We don’t go anywhere without food scraps/leftovers.