Category Archives: Bonaire

Back to the USA (to sell the beloved Tusen Takk II) — May 22 – September 20, 2019

We have sold Tusen Takk II.

When we moved aboard in July, 2005, it was with the agreement that we would stay on the boat only so long as we both wanted to.  After 13 glorious years during which we both felt like we were indeed “living the dream”, one of us decided that she was ready for something else.  I resisted.  When that didn’t work, I begged for just one more season.  That was granted, and completed in May, 2019.  And so we readied the boat for the anticipated sale and for the long cruise back to the USA.  Among other things, I spent a huge amount of time painting all of the bilges and surfaces in the “downstairs compartments”, and a considerable amount of time revarnishing interior surfaces “upstairs”, including the saloon table.

Our very good friend Bill (nee Dolce Vita) offered to join us for the passage, and we accepted at once;  he arrived several weeks before our planned departure, the better to enjoy Bonaire one last time and to help with the preparations and to be present when a weather window appeared.  Even before his arrival, I had begun preparations by opening up the middle fuel tank in order to see if it needed cleaning after our 14 years of use.  It was remarkably clean, presumably due to our habit of always running the built-in fuel cleaning system whenever we were underway.   When he arrived, we prophylactically took apart the stabilizers in order to check the condition of the trunions supporting the hydraulic cylinders.  We replaced the John Deere serpentine belt, and I changed the JD oil and filter.

It was windy when Bill arrived, and it stayed windy, with no prospect for improvement, causing our minimum standards for the passage to Puerto Rico to slip a bit.  We decided to depart on May 22, knowing that the first half of the trip would be somewhat bumpy.  We planned on leaving around midnight to effect an late morning / early afternoon arrival at Puerto del Rey Marina in Puerto Rico some days and 425 nautical miles later.  Just as the sun was about to go down, I expressed regret that I wouldn’t be able to see Bonaire as we were leaving.  My crew mates were sympathetic, and so we made a hurried departure.

All of our careful calculations about arrival time were soon scrambled. During the initial 12 hours we experienced numerous uncommanded resets of the stabilizer system with the stabilizer system deciding to occasionally turn itself off, sometimes raising an alarm that required a manual reset, and other times just resetting itself. The sea conditions were pretty rough in 4-5 foot seas with 6 second intervals at about 60 degrees apparent. There was also an unfavorable current varying from .5 to 1.0 knots.  We were only making about 6 knots SOG instead of the anticipated 7.5 knots.  Worse, the starboard stabilizer began squeaking so noisily that we decided to remove it from service.  

We arrived at Vieques on 5/25/19, and proceeded to Puerto Del Rey Marina on mainland Puerto Rico the next day. We contacted TRAC about the reset problem, and they sent us a new servo box and an associated control panel.  While we were setting the appropriate parameters in the control panel, it froze.  TRAC sent us another.  While waiting for the parts, we drained and replaced the hydraulic fluid for the stabilizers.  We drained the coolant for the JD and genset and removed and cleaned their heat exchanger cores. We replaced the JD thermostats. We replaced coolant and seawater hoses.  We took the opportunity to get rebuilt two hydraulic cylinders for the stabilizers, and commissioned the removal of broken locking screws in two extra stabilizer yokes. We replaced the zincs on the rudder. We cut a new through hull and rerouted to it the stabilizer heat exchanger sea water line. We replaced the windshield wipers. We replaced an anchor roller on the pulpit. We replaced a defective hi-pressure gauge for the stabilizer hydraulic system. And when the parts finally arrived, as I have said, we replaced the stabilizer servo box and control panel.  And then replaced the replacement control panel.  Whew!

 On our penultimate day in PR we used our rental car to do some exploring along the southeastern coast.  We found for lunch a restaurant (Vinnies) in Naguabo that specialized in seafood.  Later we stopped at a charming little shop (La Casita Amarilla Café, in Humacao) for coffee. We observed many signs of the devastation of hurricane Irma, including many damaged homes and the universal damage to all wind generators. 

When we left Puerto Rico on June 14, the stabilizers were strangely ineffective.  In fact, the boat seemed more stable with them off than with them activated.  We double-checked all of the parameters, and found nothing wrong.  The starboard stabilizer once again got noisy and we deactivated and pinned it.  We had a very rough night on June 16 between Turks and Mayaguana.

Late on June 17, we decided to stop for some rest and to check our fluid levels at Atwood Harbour on Acklins Island in the Bahamas.  While snorkeling to check our anchor, Barb got a scare when she noticed a big shark.  It didn’t take her long to get out of the water.  Later, a local fishing guide stopped by. Barb asked him if he would use our “lookie bucket” to check our anchor.  When he returned with good news, she rewarded him with my last bottle of rum!  He later returned the favor by gifting us with three lovely lobsters.

We spent 6/19 working on both stabilizers and got our first clue as to the cause of their continued misbehavior; there was excessive play on the shaft of the starboard stabilizer and that was causing excessive wear.  Bill got advice from TRAC and learned how to tighten a nut and eliminate the wobble.

We departed on June 20, and quickly realized that the stabilizers, although quiet,  were not providing stabilization.  Fortunately, the seas becalmed and we could continue with them pinned and deactivated.  We stopped briefly at Highbourne Cay to do some reprovisioning.

We spent the night of June 21 in Nassau at the Yacht Haven Marina, where we had a great Snapper dinner at the Poop Deck.

On June 22 we left Nassau and travelled through perfectly calm seas, arriving at Bahia Mar Marina in Ft Lauderdale 23 hours later.  On June 24, the East Coast head of TRAC service came to the boat. He reviewed the parameters in an effort to find an explanation for the ineffectiveness of the stabilizers.  His initial puzzlement vanished once his attention turned from the parameters in the control panel to the servo box itself.  As he smacked his palm against his forehead, he explained that on most boats the servo box is mounted to a forward or rear bulkhead.  On our boat the servo box was mounted on a side panel to starboard.  Inside the servo box is a gyroscope that senses roll.  But with the servo box mounted 90 degrees off from the usual orientation, our gyroscope was sensing hobby-horsing rather than roll.  No wonder the stabilizers weren’t able to counter the roll we were experiencing while underway!  The solution was easy:  the gyroscope within the servo box could be remounted within the box to be oriented correctly.  It took only a minute.  Then, we spent some time discussing optimal parameter settings to minimize wear, and perhaps most importantly, received an admission that the official admonition to not lubricate certain parts in the stabilizers is an instruction that neither the West Coast nor Each Coast service managers follow.  They strongly recommend the use of a suitable lubricant in order to prevent wear (and the accompanying squeaking that had plagued us).  

We ordered new parts to replace the worn parts and made the parameter adjustments.  When the parts arrived, we rebuilt the stabilizers with the new parts one final time, lubricating liberally.  But each major repair of the stabilizers required the setting of a certain parameter to enable the use of a special device to adjust the orientation of the sensor that informed the system of the position of the stabilizer fin.  When we had completed the repair we needed to return that special parameter to its original value.  Somehow in performing the reset we “stepped on” a different parameter, although it was not immediately recognized.  The result?  As we left, the fins barely moved at all, providing no stabilization!

There were some tense moments, and some invocations of “sailor speak”.  But then a careful review of ALL of the parameters revealed the existence of the grotesquely out-of-spec parameter,  We made the correction, and for the rest of the trip to Brunswick, GA we had lovely efficient and smoothly working and blissfully quiet stabilizers.

It was  June 26 when we left Ft Lauderdale and proceeded up the coast toward Brunswick, GA.  We arrived at about 6 am on June 28.  We found Brunswick Landing Marina to be a very pleasant place, as was the village of Brunswick.  The Marina has a very nice Yacht Club which is the site of Monday, Wednesday and Friday “happy hours” that last from about 5:30 pm until about 8 pm or later, and which feature snacks and nibbles provided by the marina guests and free wine and beer provided by the marina.  Furthermore, the keg of beer is open to guests 24/7!

On August 3 we welcomed our first (and only!) visit by a potential buyer.  They professed to be very impressed.  A few days later they made an offer, and by August 15 we had settled on a mutually-agreeable price.  The sale was completed on September 13.  We are sad to close out that part of our life, but are pleased that our beloved boat will be in the hands of enthusiastic new owners that will take good care of her.  We hope they enjoy her as much as we did.

And so we are boatless and homeless and living in our 2011 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40′ RV diesel pusher.  We expect to stay that way for the foreseeable future.  We spent some time parked west of Flagstaff on the property of our friend and benefactor Bill.  We are now in Phoenix, where we will store the bus and join Bill and Colleen on an extended trip to Spain and Italy.  We depart on September 30.  In addition to sight-seeing in Madrid and Granada, we will all spend about a week helping our Norwegian friends Lars Helge and Tove with their almond harvest near Itrabo, Spain.  Then on to Florence and Matera.  Then on to Rome, where we will begin on November 1 our return to the USA on a Celebrity cruise on their latest ship (Edge) that will take us from Rome to Florence/Pisa to Provence (Toulono) to Palma de Mallorca to Tenerife (Canary Islands) followed by a week at sea before landing at Ft. Lauderdale on November 15.

This is how we counter my grief at no longer living the dream aboard Tusen Takk II !

 

 

 

 

Catch Up: Late February – Late April, 2019

While I was in Bismarck visiting Mom and Zona in late February, Barb stayed aboard Tusen Takk II to hold down the fort.  Not that “holding down the fort” is a chore.  The new Magnum inverter/charger is so efficient that we seldom need to use the generator; the thousand-watt array of solar panels coupled with the 1680 AH battery bank keep the domestic-style GE refrigerator cooling just fine.  Our sailing friends have learned that we always have ice cream in the freezer.

Good friends Bill and Colleen and Buck arrived in Bonaire for a month-long visit.  They stayed at the home of Paulein, where they kept themselves busy with a number of major projects on her home.

Here are some of the activities Barb and our friends indulged in during my absence:

When I returned, the ‘gang’ participated in the annual Bon Doet day, an island-wide day in which teams of volunteers work on worthy projects.  Our project turned out to be so large that it took two days to finish:  painting the roof and exterior walls of a community park and playground.

Barb’s sister Audrey and brother Tim came and spent a week with us, and we kept them busy with social gatherings. Audrey arrived in time to help us with our final day of Bon Doet painting (which happened to also be on her 70th birthday) and got her photo in the local newspaper.  Tim’s arrival was delayed a day or two since a blizzard in the Great Plains prevented his departure. 

 

On February 21 Tom & Gigi, residents in the building directly ashore from our vessel,  showed us a lovely hiking trail with some unique trees in the Sabadeco area.

We were thrilled that daughter Nellie and her husband Michael (who visited us at the end of December) had such a good time, that they came back for another visit in April.  They spent a great deal of time snorkeling and now know lots of the fish by name.

We had to say goodbye to a number of friends on the island who were leaving and we don’t know when or if we will see some of them again.  The mooring field is beginning to feel lonely. 

Back in Bonaire (Under Water) — January 7 – February 23, 2019

Here are some of the underwater photos taken so far in 2019.

Back in Bonaire (Part Two) — January 17- February 9, 2019

Erik Robb and wife Cindy came to visit for a week in the middle of January.  They had planned on doing a substantial amount of diving (Cindy having gotten certified on their last visit) but Cindy arrived with a cold that persisted for their entire stay.  So the two of them had to mostly be content to snorkel, which they did a lot of. Coincidentally, I had a cold as well, so it was Barb who finally took a dive with Erik when it became evident that Cindy would never be able to make bubbles.  Barb reports that Erik, despite his relative lack of underwater experience, did a fine job.

The couple make lovely guests.  Relaxed, helpful , appreciative and adventurous. For example, near the end of their stay we all went to Jibe City where Cindy took windsurfing lessons.  On another occasion, Erik and Cindy dove and jumped off the top deck of Tusen Takk II.

When a Disney Cruise Ship was in town, Megan and Murray Zook spent a few hours with us.  Megan is the daughter of Barb’s cousin Tom, which makes her a cousin once removed, if we understand the labeling scheme.  It was nice to meet for the first time another relative.

For the third consecutive year we participated in the annual Lora Parrot Count.  This year we were assigned to the Fontein rookery which was near Rincon.  My partner was Laura Koop, since Barb was suffering from an irritated Achilles tendon that prevented her from ascending to the dramatic observation point.  Michael & Roberta (with whom we shared a ride aboard Wanda the faithful pickup) were assigned to an observation point nearby.  Barb had to observe from the back of Wanda.  We counted an amazing 250 parrots, the highest number in the survey.  The total count for the island was a whooping 1,153 – the highest in the 24 years they have been counting Yellow-shouldered Amazon Parrots. 

We had scouted the location during daylight several days earlier, since on the day of the survey we were required to be on station BEFORE the sun came up.

Pat had a number of us over for the super bowl, during which we enjoyed an extended “Mexican” meal. 

In Other News …

Back in Bonaire — November 5, 2018 – January 16, 2019

It has been an unusually busy time for us in Bonaire this year. On our trip over to Bonaire from Curacao we discovered that our auto pilot had stopped working after performing flawlessly for us since our purchase in 2005. Careful checking of connections revealed no explanations. Attempts to reinitialize the flux gate compass (by navigating in circles while in setup mode) were unproductive. We ordered another compass and had it sent to my nephew for a delayed delivery when he and his wife would come to visit in January.

I spent a number of days restoring the varnish on the cap rails after an unavoidable period of neglect over the six months while we were on our RV in the States over the summer.

My 99-year old mother developed serious health problems that required virtually 24/7 attention. My sister Zona, with whom Mom lives in Bismarck, North Dakota, was understandably feeling stressed-out and overwhelmed. So Barb caught a series of flights and spent 10 days lending a hand. She left only when some of Zona’s children were able to serially arrive from Minneapolis to help Zona celebrate Christmas, and perhaps more importantly, help with Mom. Barb had not purchased round-trip tickets due to the uncertainty of when she could return. When she attempted to get the tickets she found that there were no immediate flights available to Bonaire because of the volume of holiday travel. She was finally able to return on Christmas day to Curacao where she could catch a puddle jumper back to her lonely husband.

Mom’s condition has been somewhat of a roller-coaster ride. Periods of improvement followed by setbacks that leave her too weak to get up by herself at night. So she is sometimes in her own room in her own bed at night, and other times sleeping in Zona’s room.

While Barb was gone I celebrated my birthday at lunch with friends Paulein & Gary and Jason & Laura at Donna & Giorgio’s, one of our favorite Bonaire restaurants. No German chocolate cake this year (but I did have two desserts).

Our Dutch vegetarian friend Paulein – keeper of our pickup Wanda when we are not on the island – had us over for a Christmas turkey, prepared by Canadian omnivore Gary. Roberta & Michael (Celilo) – co-owners of Wanda and Laura and Jason (Blue Blaze) – were also guests. Originally planned as a mid-day meal, our hosts graciously delayed the feast so that Barb could attend.

On December 30 daughter Nellie and her husband Michael flew in from Atlanta, joining us for a week aboard Tusen Takk II. They became enthusiastic snorkelers who pored over our fish ID books to learn the names of the creatures they had seen. Of course we also did a tour of the south end of the island, stopping at Salt Pier, the Slave Huts, Kite City, and Jibe City. And we watched New Year’s fireworks from the superb viewing station that is the upper deck of Tusen Takk II, enjoying 240 degrees of fantastic pyrotechnics for well over an hour.

In other news Barb and Roberta and Laura all participated in a  Clean Coast Bonaire “beach cleanup”.  Three beaches have been chosen, and once a month volunteers go to one of them and pick up all of the trash. The purpose is not so much to clean the beach (although that happens as a consequence) as it is to meticulously count and categorize the litter with the goal of monitoring trends of pollution. 

We continue to use Wanda to go out to lunch or dinner and to attend the monthly wine tastings, and we often find ourselves at Gio’s gelateria.

TT2’s Xantrex Freedom 25 inverter/charger failed one day, continuing to invert but no longer charging.  So we had a new Magnum Pure Sine Wave inverter/charger sent in.  I installed that, and subsequently realized that I also wanted the remote control, and so had that sent in.  And then realized I wanted the battery monitor to get full information and control, and had that sent in.  We are now happily monitoring and controlling our inverting and charging. The new inverter seems to be much more efficient than the old, so we are quite pleased.

Below the Sea (Part One) — 2017-2018 Season in Bonaire

All photos ©Charles Shipley 2017-2018, please do not use without permission.

Here are some of the underwater “fish” photos I took during the 2017-18 season in Bonaire.

 

Closing Out the Season; News from above the Sea — Mar 4-May 2, 2018

This post will be a quick overview of some of our above-water activities during the last half of our season in Bonaire.

Barb and I fell into the habit of having Sunday breakfasts at La Crêperie early in the season, and continued that practice throughout our time in Bonaire. When Mike and Roberta, co-owners of our pickup, arrived “late” in Bonaire, having been delayed by the birth of their first grandchild back in Portland, OR, they joined us in crepe worship. The four of us also partook of the best arepas in Bonaire at the gazebo on Coco Beach run by Yhanni. And we continued our practice of attending the Burger Nights at Zazu.  We also went to Tuna Night at Hill Side; on one occasion transporting a gaggle of folks that overflowed into the back of our pickup. We also took the pickup to one of the monthly wine tasting events held at Antillean Wine. One afternoon we made sushi at Pat’s, whom we met a couple of years ago through Mike and Roberta. We went on a dive/snorkel trip to Klein Bonaire with Pat and Mike & Roberta and Rod & Jill and Rod’s cousin Chuck, afterwards stopping at the beach on the north side for a picnic lunch. Well before the arrival of Mike & Roberta, at the initiative of Lawrence (Phatt Cat), we began playing Mexican Train every Sunday night at the Divers’ Diner. It turned out to be a very popular event, attracting two tables totaling 12 to 16 players. Jill & Rod’s son Roddie visited for a while, during which a bunch of us celebrated Jill’s birthday at Zazu, including Kim and Doug (Gabriel). Speaking of whom, the couple again presented a series of four sessions on fish identification, this time hosted by Dive Friends at their Yellow Submarine location.  The lessons are designed to provide certification with REEF to enable citizen-based fish surveys.

On April 13, I completed my 1000th scuba dive. Diving with me to mark the occasion were Barb and Mike & Roberta.  Later, Barb threw a party for me on Tusen Takk II, attended by Roberta & Mike, Kim & Doug, Jill & Rod & Roddie, and Sherry & Lawrence. Barb was enormously supportive as I pushed to reach the milestone before we had to leave Bonaire.  We were first certified in 1991. Over 600 of my dives were at Bonaire, including about 400 of the most recent during the last four seasons. (Watch for a subsequent post featuring some of my underwater pictures.)

On April 17 we joined Roberta & Mike at Pasta e Basta, a special occasion at the restaurant It Rains Fishes: an evening of dinner and music provided by singing waiters from an Amsterdam restaurant of the same name: Pasta e Basta. For a review of the Bonaire version, click here.

We received word that my 99 year-old mother was experiencing health problems, so we pushed up our departure date from Bonaire and took Tusen Takk II to Curacao on April 23.  We worked frantically at Curacao to put the boat to bed, including putting down four coats of varnish on the cap rails to help them resist the Caribbean sun during our six-month summer absence, but on April 28, on the eve of our departure, joined Al & Maggy (Sweet Dreams) for dinner at scenic Fort Nassau.

Barb’s sister Audrey Visits — Feb. 24-Mar. 3, 2018

Audrey came to Bonaire for a one-week visit recently.  We kept her busy with various social activities, but she still found time to just read and relax.  We were invited out to a sushi dinner at Ron and Nancy’s; one of the last engagements at their “old” home before moving into their “new” larger home just a few doors away.  The ladies visited with Pat on several occasions.  Don and Pam were back to the island for a very brief visit; we saw them at Burger Night at Zazu and also got together at La Crêperie on Saturday morning.  We took Audrey to Coco Beach to introduce her to Yhanni and her arepas.  Barb and Audrey snorkeled a number of times, including one trip to the dive site Thousand Steps with Pat.  On another occasion we all went to Klein where they snorkeled while I dove.   And then the pièce de résistance: Barb took Audrey out to the Donkey Shelter!  I suspect that will become one of the must-see experiences for visitors to Tusen Takk II.

Norwegian Friends Visit us in Bonaire — January 23-February 1, 2018

On January 23 friends Lars Helge and Tove Brunborg arrived from Norway to spend some time with us on Tusen Takk II.  They were knackered after a long day of travel, first to Amsterdam from Kristiansand and then on a direct flight to Bonaire, but they stayed up long enough to partake of a glass or two of welcoming Prosecco.

Next day we showed them a little of Kralendijk with a walk through some of the village.  Here they are at the waterfront near the cruiseship dock.

On the 25th we boarded our beloved “Wanda” pickup and toured the south side of the island, making our usual stops at the salt pier, the white and pink slave huts, the kite surfing beach and finally the Sorbonne Resort for lunch. Afterwards we took the side road up to the north side of Lac Bai in search of flamingos.

On the 26th we were all invited to join Mary Grace and Frank aboard Let it Be on a sailing trip down to Salt Pier, where we tied up to a dive buoy and then took their dinghy under the Pier for a snorkel. On the way back we sailed around Klein Bonaire. Thanks Mary Grace and Frank for a great afternoon!

On the 27th we counted parrots. We had been trained and assigned a territory on a previous night. We arose shortly after 4 AM in order to get to a roost just south of Rincon. The counting was from 6 AM to 8 AM. The protocol was to count a parrot only after it had risen up from the roost and flown away. Since they generally did not land again in the immediate area, double counting was largely avoided. Our first parrot left at about 6:25 AM and our last about 7:45 AM. We counted a whopping 74 parrots in all! Our results were turned in at the entrance to the Washington-Slagbai Park, where we learned that the preliminary total count was 10xx, considerably up from the 8xx count of the previous year. We were served a breakfast of sandwiches and fruit and then returned to our boats (plural because we also gave a ride to Mary Grace and Frank), stopping at Seru Largu (Papamiento translation: large hill) along the way.

On Sunday, January 28, we went into Kralendijk and had breakfast at La Crêperie.  (No photos: too busy eating).

On the 29th we took Tusen Takk II out to deep water in order to empty our holding tank. We took the opportunity to do a little motor cruising and circled Klein, discovering in the process Paul Allen’s Yacht Tatoosh anchored in deep sand west of Klein.

On the 30th we took the pickup round to Windsock Beach where we lounged in the sand under a small tree and some of us snorkeled. We also partook of sandwiches and adult beverages. For most of the visit we’ve had periods of precipitation, and this day was no exception. We were ultimately chased home by a gusty shower.

On Wednesday, January 31, Barb got up early to check out the special moon. Alas, the cloudy weather persisted. We took our pickup “Wanda” out to the donkey sanctuary and fed them carrots we had purchased on the way.  Afterwards we had lunch at the Windsock, the Beach Bar and Restaurant. That evening Mary Grace and Frank joined us at The Bistro for the famous burger night. Afterwards, we enjoyed drinks and conversation aboard Let It Be.

We have been trading visits with the Brunborgs for many years now. It is always fun to spend some time with these good friends from Norway. We are already discussing our next get-together.

Omnibus Post — Bonaire and Curaçao; March 16 – May 5, 2017

Bonaire

Our experiences and activites during our last 5 weeks in Bonaire were to a large extent an extension of those discussed in the previous post.  We attended the Monday evening fish ID classes given by Kim White.  We exercised on weekday mornings at the Bonaire Health and Fitness Club, and then usually went for a local walk in the Kralendijk area.  We took the pickup to several more remote locations for extended hikes on established hiking trails, including one to the north near Rincon and another to new-to-us areas in the east.  And although Bill and I passed, Colleen and Barb enjoyed visiting the donkey sanctuary.  And of course we continued to dive, although Barb and Bill much less so.  I did most of my dives as a solo diver at night, enjoying the challenges of learning new techniques and new creatures. (I will hold back my underwater photos for another post.)

We continued to fuss and fix the pickup, including replacing two broken rear windows after suffering a bit of random vandalism.  (Actually, it turned out to be cheaper to just replace the whole rear doors with ones obtained from a local salvage shop.)

When the 7-yr old 25 hp Yamaha outboard developed problems — it would not stay in reverse — we investigated and found worn gears and worn linkage.  Unfortunately, we could not find a replacement motor with electric start.  Barb was especially concerned.  In the end, we decided to purchase a new 30 hp Yamaha motor, manual start notwithstanding.  All of the exercise at the gym is paying off:  Barb can indeed start the beast.  Fortunately, the Yamaha dealer was willing to serve as a broker for the old motor and we got a good price when it sold “as is” almost immediately.

We did a fair amount of socializing with a local resident of Dutch descent:  Paulien Wijnvoord.  She is keeping our pickup on her property while we are gone.

 

Curaçao

Tusen Takk II and Dolce Vita made the 50-mile passage from Bonaire to Curaçao on April 25. (Celilo had crossed about a month earlier in order to be free to accept an invitation to crew on a vessel that was going to visit Cuba.)  Long time readers will remember that we leave the boat in Curaçao because there is not suitable facility in Bonaire.  

When wind and sea conditions resulted in Dolce Vita not being able to keep up with TT2 on sails alone, she switched to motor sailing.  Alas, after a time she developed fuel problems: clogged filters due to dirty fuel.  A change of filters did not suffice to clear the problem.  This was worrisome, because the final leg of the trip to Curaçao Marine past the Queen Emma swing bridge and then down the relatively narrow channel through Willemstad could not be done under sail.  We slowed down to stay with them, and readied lines in case we would have to tow them to the Marina.  Colleen sailed while Bill spent most of the trip trying to combat the problem; there was so much “snot” in the fuel that the lines clogged as well as the filters.  He ultimately resorted to disassembling the filter assembly and to using compressed air to clear the lines.  Shortly before we neared the opening Colleen announced on the VHF that the engine was running again.  We sent DV in first, and we all held our breath as we made our way to the Marina.  They just made it!  How do we know it was “just”?  Because the engine wouldn’t start some days later when it came time to move from slip to haul-out dock.  

Tusen Takkk II also had issues on the trip from Bonaire to Curacao.  Several hours into the trip we noticed that the engine temperature as indicated on the pilothouse gauge was running a bit high.  We went down into the engine room and took direct readings near the temp sender with an infrared gun thermometer.  The readings looked fine.  So the question became:  was the method of measuring internal temp with the infrared gun flawed, or was the pilothouse gauge wrong.  We consulted with Bill via VHF and he urged that we test the system by increasing our RPMs to see if the temps would continue to rise, and if so, would they level off at some point.  So we kicked the RPMs way up, and watched the two conflicting indicators as they both rose.  We stopped the experiment when we got a “high temp” warning alarm on the console at a temp that would presumably be OK but high on the infrared gun.  Lower RPMs brought the temps down to “just slightly” high, and we continued the rest of the way without incident.  After we got on the hard I removed the heat exchanger and found that it was indeed partially blocked.  Conveniently, MRC, which has a shop adjacent to the Curacao Marine offices, was able to flush the exchanger with muriatic acid and render it squeaky clean.  I reinstalled the exchanger before we left Curacao, but will have to wait until we splash again next Fall to see if that has completely resolved the problem.

Kings Day

On April 27 we suspended our chores early and drove downtown to join the throngs celebrating Koningsdag or King’s Day, a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The date marks the birth of King Willem-Alexander.  Up until 2013, when Queen Beatrix abdicated and was succeeded by her son Willem-Alexander, the holiday was known as Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day and was celebrated on 30 April.

The streets and stores were packed — every citizen of Curaçao must have come downtown!  And to do what?  Strolling and eating and drinking and people watching and shopping at the vendor booths and stores, many of which featured special prices for the day.  (We bought a sound bar for our TV at a price better than what is available in the USA from discount houses!)

Visit to Museum Kura Hulanda

On April 29 we took another break and visited the Museum Kurá Hulanda – the museum with the largest African collection in the Caribbean.  Opened in April 1999, the museum is the vision of Jacob Gelt Dekker who founded and privately funds (initial investment $6 million) it through the Jade foundation. Museum Kurá Hulanda is an anthropological museum that focuses on the predominant cultures of Curacao. It offers a world-class chronicle of the Origin of Man, the African slave trade, West African Empires, Pre-Colombian gold, Mesopotamian relics and Antillean art.

Back at the Marina

For a number of years we have been using, with only limited success,  PropSpeed to protect our rudder and propellor from fouling.  But it is quite expensive, and so last fall we decided to try priming and then applying bottom paint.  See below for some impressive modern art.

Foggy Flight Home

We flew to Savannah on April 5.  I guess there was a lot of moisture in the air.  See below.