Venezuelan avocados

Went into the capital Willemstad today to fetch some fresh fruits and veggies and that's where the floating market comes into the picture. Venezuelan fishing boats have traveled the thirty-fourty miles there is between their coast and the one of Curacaos'. Side by side they've tied up to the dock by the boardwalk and sell fruits, vegetables, juices and what else typical Venezuelan there is, right off the boat towards the street, hence the name "floating market". We got a couple of those enormous avocados (have you ever seen them that large before?), a water melon, bananas, dulce de leche as well as some guava jelly. Speaking of Venezuela, we did spend a night there on our way to the ABC islands a couple weeks ago. I have yet to tell you the whole story. Some weeks I have all the time in the world to ramble here on the blog several times a day about all kinds of nonsense, and some weeks, like now most recently, I have barely time to reply to emails. We still have a lot of sailing to do, and some island exploration of course. As well as the necessary boat work and other important job that keeps us busy, but all should slow down a bit very shortly. We love this island by the way, Curacao reminds of Europe in many aspects, mixed with latin and carib flair, and it's all very busy and bustling. Totally not what we had expected. Will show you more of it shortly.

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Hydrating drink

It's not always and in every place possible to get a hold on fresh coconut water directly from the coconut itself, so a canned version is occasionally a good option. A nutritious way to keep yourself dehydrated.

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Hello Curaçao

We stayed another night in Bonaire and left towards Curaçao early this morning instead. Glad we did as we had the most perfect conditions, steady 18 knots of wind from the E and very comfortable seas. We are currently docked at Curaçao Yacht Club and shall be staying here a few days to have our sail repaired, engine checked into again and some other necessary maintenance before we can continue West. 

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Time to leave

Goodbye beautiful Bonaire. We weren't expecting anything as wonderful and beautiful as what we have had the pleasure to experience here these past eight days. Bonaire now belongs to one of our favorite Caribbean destinations, for many reasons which I will tell you all about one of these days.

We're setting sail towards Curacao this morning, and as soon as a good weather window appears, we'll sail the three days it'll take to get to Cartagena. It's a passage that is notorious for strong winds and high seas, there's regularly gale force winds between Barranquilla and Cartagena, and those are what we gladly would like to avoid. Had enough of 30+ winds on our passage to Bonaire which I also will tell you all about soon I promise. 

Before Colombia, we will also pick up our friend Michael in Aruba, who returns to the boat from his short visit back home in cold and snowy Boston. Has been a pleasure to have him onboard and he obviously seem to think so too as he will be staying with us for another couple weeks. Nice!

Hasta luego amigos, I hope you all have a lovely beginning to the new week.

P.S: We have almost reached 5000 facebook fans which is simply amazing. Feel free to share and spread the word if you think your friends would enjoy our journey as well. Click here to get to our Facebook page.

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Villa Karibuni


Lazy mornings - Snorkel right off the terrace - Burning skin and mesmerizing sunsets 
Healthy food homemade in elegant roomy kitchen - Wine, wine, wine
Reading books - Planning on next adventure
Two arm lengths long iguanas sunbathing on thatched roofs
Rum cocktails -  Brilliant views - Palm trees and coconuts - Fruit platter in mind blowing colors
and .... more long lazy mornings.

It's an understatement to say that we had an amazing time in the beautiful Karibuni villa, designed by Piet Boon - one of the Netherlands most interesting and best known interior designers. It is always a true pleasure to enter a room, home or a house where careful thoughts have been widely distributed on the total product, that there is a soul behind the sleek and polished surface. Piet Boon has designed twelve villas in various sizes here on Bonaire and many more houses and apartments worldwide. Our particular villa which is one of the larger ones on this island was probably a tad bit too big for just the two of us. But we still managed to make use of it the best we could, and changed bedrooms once, only to quickly return to the one which was located right next to the pool on the ground-floor - perfectly positioned in front of the early sunrise above that sparkling blue sea. Besides sailing on the open sea, I can't think of a better way to wind down and disconnect from it all than spending some slow time in such fine and peaceful environments.

Click here if you're interested in renting the same place, which would be an absolutely perfect vacation house for a group of good friends. Or here if you're curious about the other villas Piet Boon offers in Bonaire.

Many thanks to Piet Boon for being able to organize so efficiently and on such a short notice!

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Back on the boat

After five days in a tranquil and stunning environment of a private villa, we are now back home on our boat in Harbour Village Marina. We have a few days of work before us before we can leave again. Image editing and sending to different locations. Boat preparing and looking into the engine problem we have. And then hopefully we shall be off towards Colombia again. We were not originally planning on staying here on Bonaire more than a night or so but since our engine broke down, we figured why not stay here and make the best out of it and so we did. It has been like a real vacation for us, staying in that beautiful Piet Boon villa for almost a week, as well as visiting every part of this special little island. I have around 1000 images that I need to sort out and when that's done I'll share the best moments from Bonaire with you. 

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Morning

A great breakfast consists in my humble opinion of either a plate full of fresh fruits in all shapes and colors or having them mixed into a creamy smoothie. Another favorite choice is a bowl full of natural yogurt with accompaniments. This one is made of milk from the goats that we visited yesterday. Served with crunchy granola, slices of fresh papaya and a dash of subtle sweetness from the acacia honey. Imagine the day when you have all these things available in your own garden or land. A few goats to milk for your yoghurt, cheese and the nutritious milk obviously. A couple papaya trees or maybe some other fruits or berries that are in season. And fresh honey from your own (or your neighbors) apiary. A dream not too distant nor impossible. Living on a boat far from it all gives you time and peace of mind to really figure out what you want to do with your life when you grow up. One of our future goals for the time when this sailing journey is over, is to have a little house by the water and still be as free and self sufficient as we are today.

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Back from the farm

We've been all around Bonaire today. For example did we visit a goat farm with more than 100 goats where a lovely young woman lives with all her animals and makes delicious goat cheese and goat milk yogurt. Like always, I'll tell you all about that and much more as soon as I get a chance. We are currently trying to squeeze in as many Boneairean experiences as possible in as little time as possible so not much time for photo processing or hanging by the computer at the moment. 

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Morning

The plunge pool is located a couple steps from our bed on the first floor, and the brilliantly turquoise sea a few steps from said pool. Though we live on a boat and on the water, I don't think we have swum this much in a very long time. Today we're going for some excursion around the island and hoping to get to see those pelicans finally. First stop: the Kitesurfing beach.

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