Farewell to the Kirbys

Monday 25 April

We had to get a few chores done as we start our passage to Colombia first thing tomorrow morning. Rowan wanted to pick up a few things from the Chandlery shop, which is like a sweetie shop for him, he also had to go to customs and check us, and the boat out of Bonaire. Frustrating on both accounts, the chandlery had nothing he wanted and customs insisted I went to the check out. Normally only the captain goes so I had stayed behind to tidy up the boat and get the laundry done. I went back with him to customs and after a lot of form filling we were released for departure tomorrow morning.

With the Kirby’s all packed we went for a last snorkel in JeldiJeldi, we decided to go up the side of Klein Bonaire we hadn’t done before. Quite a bumpy long ride but it was worth it. Even though it is the windward side the coral was fantastic, great gardens with a huge variety of coral, from thick purple tubes, to vases, enormous mounds of brain coral, feathery and fan coral, it was stunning all against a white sandy bottom. The only sadness was that it was a little cloudy, bright sunshine would have made it even more vibrant. We saw plenty of a fish and finally a turtle for Stella who had missed the last few sightings. A great way to end the holiday with them.

We headed back to PolePole for a quick shower and then headed into town for lunch at a highly recommended restaurant called Between Two Buns. We were lucky to get a table, full of enormous Americans stuffing themselves. We had a very good lunch, then headed back to get Matt and Stella to their taxi at 4:30. Sad to see them go, but lots of excitement for us heading to Colombia, the last leg of this trip. We plan to take a few days to get there and have booked into a marina at Santa Marta, where PolePole will remain for the next 7 months. We plan to spend most of the month land based.

The evening was spent getting everything set for our passage, early to bed for our early departure. Kylie leaves tomorrow too, but they are doing smaller hops, a dive first on Klein Bonaire then overnighting in Klein Curaçao. We have decided to press ahead as there are some strong winds brewing and there is a notoriously rough cape off Colombia near Venezuela that we want to avoid in strong winds.

Last night with our fellow yachties