For the morning smoothie

A day always starts off well with a fresh, perfectly ripe mango delivery. $0.25 per fruit isn't such a bad deal.

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Weekend

 No matter if you'll quietly celebrate yours with a coca leave tea
or choose to go all in with a proper techno slut... we wish you a very merry weekend.
Maybe a little something like this to kick it off.

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How to deal with longing

Having spent two months in the marina, I am immensely looking forward to get out sailing again, though there always seem to add up so many tasks on the last few days before leaving port. Add at least a week to your set departure date and you are probably short already. Earlier, before I had gotten used to this lifestyle, I used to get stressed and anxious to throw away the bowlines or weigh anchor and I would add my share of pressure to the already busy and tensed situation that a much longed for departure is when having been tied to the dock or dug to the ground for a longer period. 

These days I'm thankfully acting more calmly when we realize that we have to wait it out a few more days or weeks. The extra job that is getting done is anyway always for a good cause and there really is no need to stress through life. It is fascinating being able to follow ones own progress to the better. And very fascinating too how those new changes adapts in other areas in life. I'm comfortable and very pleased with the calmer, more harmonic and better balanced version of myself that has grown out of this journey. But still, dying to get out there.. it is a necessity and a very addictive drug for your soul, being able to travel freely on water.

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Aletta's goat farm

Another inspiring person we've met while on Bonaire a couple months ago, was Aletta van Beeck, a physical therapist born in the Netherlands. Without any prior background in farming but with a lifelong dream of living self-sufficiently and in close connection to nature, farmland and animals, she today lives in Bonaire where she manages her own "Kunuku" - the local name for a farm. Aletta is strongly committed to her daily work with lots of love, care, attention and affection for the nature and her beautiful group of animals.

Her farm is literally off the grid on the inside of the island. A jeep is much recommended for transport through the brushy cactus scattered road that leads to her land. The farm has no electricity, all is obtained by solar power, and water is collected off the roof. Aletta cares for about sixty goats today and she has no other help than from the occasional volunteer who picks up extra tasks like bottle-feeding babies and clearing cactus, as well as family and friends who occasionally visits from the Netherlands.

At 4.30 each morning she wakes up to call for her goats to feed them breakfast and to milk the females. Twice a day for a period of five months after they've given birth, the female goats are milked by hand. Besides concentrated goat food the goats are provided with natural greens and homegrown corn for higher milk quality, and they keep themselves happy and in good shape by roaming the wide meadows. In the evenings they are called back for shelter in the open air stables. 

 Twice a year Aletta calls for reproduction by hiring male goats to keep the milk production running. She has two groups of female goats to circle in pregnancy, milk production and pausing. The little ones grow up close to their mothers and have, as part of Aletta's philosophy, their share of the natural mother milk. The goat cheese is turned from milk to cheese during a five day procedure of draining and turning in a cooling room with a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. After this five day procedure the finished cheese is ready for final control and packing.

Having eaten chevré all over the world, this was without doubt one the best ones I've ever had. To be able to see the whole process and understand how content the animals seem to be and how well taken care of they are, made the experience all that much stronger. Aletta also serves coffee with fresh goats milk which Alex said was very good, and she also produces goats yoghurt which we also had the great pleasure to try out.

The produce is sold to most restaurants and grocery stores on Bonaire. Would have been wonderful if she could export to the neighboring islands too but it would probably not be financially feasible with the expensive air transport required. If you ever visit Bonaire, which I wholeheartedly recommend you to do at least once in your lifetime, you must visit Aletta and her charming goat family. It was a true pleasure meeting someone so genuinely passionate about her land, the animals and the simple living that she so profoundly stands for.

Check out her website here.

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New cockpit

Teak was removed, cockpit sole was redone, planks have been glued back in place and teak is now prepared for caulking. Feels more firm and steady already and leak should be gone after this is finalized. So thankful that it never rains here in this city. This is the last blue tape on the boat by the way and it is nowhere to be found in Cartagena. Glad (not only for tape reasons) that we're soon getting visit from the US of A.

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News

A couple new bags in store. These are a finer version of the traditional Wayuu, they are also hand-woven, but with only one thin cotton thread at a time, making them lighter, tighter and finer in texture and takes a longer time to produce. They are incredibly well made and I love the beautiful detailing of them both. The bracelet I'm wearing is in store too, earrings coming up shortly.

Don't miss to see the bags that are on sale.

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Bowstring

We went out to the beautiful Bowstring to get some more photos for the ones that have showed interest in her after our advertisement. Just like with old houses and any other classic wooden boat with a long trodden history and soul, this old little boat has such a special energy. Alex is in love with her of course and said, "if only Duende was done we could buy her too". You have probably guessed it already, but this is what I'm dealing with here. Won't be easy to ever get my partner to settle down with what there is, he'll always need to be hands full with tiring building/renovation projects. 3,5 years together and I have slowly but surely realized that it is the sort of ongoing challenge he needs to feel fulfilled. If it actually is fulfillment or madness that is the drive, I have yet to figure out. At least I've made him agree that the next project whatever and wherever that will be, we won't be living on it during the hardest part of the refit. Or if it is a house, then perhaps..

This boat certainly needs a proper cleanup and a lot of tlc but if you look beyond the obvious, she has such great potential to become a lovely live aboard vessel for one or a couple, or a weekend cruiser in some beautiful waters. The character of such a classic yacht with these elegant lines is so much more worth than any plastic production boat, in my humble opinion. It is almost like a living being which tells a story from the past.

Here are a few more pics if you'd like to see more details. 

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Another night in the marina

Stan(islav) and Andrey invited us over for a nice meal on their Alubat last night. Always great hanging out with likeminded people, exchanging music tips and sailing stories. Got introduced to a few new Russian producers, here are some good sets by Dima for example if you want to have a listen. This (ambient) and this (more progressive) are my favorites of what I've heard thus far.

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Street art

A bit busy wrapping up boat work, collecting quotes, writing writing writing, cleaning up the boat, reading, drinking wine with our neighbors, responding emails, editing images, downloading movies. Everyday things that probably aren't that interesting for you to join in on. This and this playing in the iPod at the moment.

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Last night

We have a couple lovely new neighbors here in the marina. Stan and Andrey from Russia, sailing on an Alubat 58. Last night we went out for some wine and dine with them and their newest crew member Laura from Bogota. Walked round town after dinner and jumped onto the very touristy horse carriage with Café del Mar as the final destination. How nice not having to walk in those high heels actually. Well there, we ordered a bottle of baileys and a bucket of ice and relaxed with the sound of chill out tunes on a Sunday version of the normally very busy lounge bar. Baileys must be the coziest liquid ever by the way. It's like drinking milkshake with a tiny sting of something toxic. I have early teenage memories from when I stole a couple deciliters from my step-fathers inventory and refilled with the same amount of water. I wonder if he ever noticed.

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The driftwood queen of Bonaire

We met so many fascinating characters while in Bonaire a few months ago. Germaine Nijdam is one of them. Born in Curacao (of Dutch descendent), now living and working on the most beautiful of the ABC islands. Germanie is well known in Bonaire and beyond for her charming driftwood art. At least a few times per week, she walks down the rugged East side of the island with her partner and dogs, in search for whitewashed bits of driftwood, fragments of old broken furniture or pieces of old sunken sail or fishing boats. Plastic toys, bottles and discarded remnants of island life washed ashore by the tides, they all are welcome attributes in her studio.

It struck me how incredibly romantic Germain's work is. How things that weren't meant to continue life in the way it was first set out to, is now being revitalized by her fascinating art and passionated interest in preserving what is found by the water. Her studio had such a winsome atmosphere. From the recently retrieved driftwood that has been washed and now drying in the sun, the many cases of collected plastic toys in all shapes and sunburnt colours to the completed artwork hanging on the walls. The lush green garden surrounding her house and the natural sunlight breaking through the jalousies bathing the studio in a crisp glim only enhanced the purity and realness of her work. 

Isn't that one of those few jobs that are so genuinely pure in a way to support oneself? Collecting what others abandoned while helping in cleaning up our nature, adding beauty through colour and an artistic vision and handed over to new happy owners who prolongs the life of the bits and pieces even further, all the while adorning their homes. Such a beautiful genuine circle.

Germaine might be best known on the island for the bright blue oil and watercolour paintings with driftwood frames and they can be found in many a restaurant and villa on Bonaire and worldwide.

Go have a look on her website for more info.

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