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Kitesurfing, Windsurfing and Sailing: Trip Report
Bonaire Talk: Kitesurfing, Windsurfing and Sailing: Archives: Archives 2007 -2009: Trip Report
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Trevor Hibdige, Lac Bay Villa (BonaireTalker - Post #62) on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - 3:18 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

We are just off on a new trip so I am re-posting our December expedition to whet your appetites...

Thought you might like our trip report for December. Plus a BIG apology in that I just posted this as a reply to a Plaza Resort report. Moderator - could you perhaps delete that one... And also the use of the vernacular is not intended to offend !!!

Just got back from the best sailing ever in the bay. We are updating the gallery and website with new stuff but I thought you might like a personal update.

The tides over the December period were super. Not one low one enough to touch bottom but by the end of Dec we were seeing some signs of sea grass tufts on max low. However it was late afternoon by the time that was reached and we were sailed out by then.

Temperatures were 29C day and 27 night but by the waters edge in late afternoon, it was getting cool enough to put on a dry shirt if you had just come off the water. A sign of only being a half tourist I guess.

Mozzies were non existent. Whereas the previous year had had excessive rain in November resulting in an explosion in the insect populations, a relatively drier November meant one or two only. We never sprayed the rooms. We never burnt coils and we sprayed ourselves once at a restaurant on the leeward side in the evening to stop the ankle biters.

Wind was superb. Constant 4/5 easterlies with maybe the first week being a bit lower. Carole on my 6.3 and me on a new Naish Redline 7.0 took care of all but two days when we went to the Washington Slagbaai and did some plumbing.

The last ten days were 5/6 weather with Carole on Sam's 4.6 for a couple of days and me (Fat Shadow) on her 5.3 !!! I lost 4.5 kg over the 3 weeks so it was well worth it. The first time I have been under 85 kg for a long time.

Long Distance runs were the order of the day this trip with blasts all the way from the south side of the bay to the mangroves in the north. At just over 2km on one tack, it certainly made the legs ache.... The swell in the deep blue areas was quiet excessive at high tide times with the break at the coral on the bay's east side clearing the barrier easily and carrying on in to the bay. And with the high tide came a vicious chop that made Spooning not possible. Carole switched to the HiFly Move which was much more suited to the chop than the out and out razor sharp rails of the Spoons.

The boys got their Christmas presents on arrival - a Starboard S Type 72 litre for Sam and the Evo 63 for Nic. Both are now sailing with the pros and Tonky Frans and Kiri, World #3 and #4 sailed with them to add to their excitement. Nic is in to freestyle and Sam in to speed so they did not compete to viciously with each other which made for less fighting over all.

Pinacolada competitions were held amongst a bunch of us with new ideas being added and a new recipe is available for testing when you make it back there. It has been improved noticeably.

The upstairs at the villa has been inhabited at last with a TV corner being created opposite the top of the stairs using the marshmallow sofa and moving the TV upstairs with a DVD Player. The futons that are kept for overspill by the door to the sun deck have finally been successfully folded in to two chair type things and all in all the effect is to create two new lounging areas upstairs which the boys adopted immediately. The addition space created on the breakfast bar by the removal of the TV and satellite box is very noticeable and makes for a much less cluttered bar at that end.

The broken sun loungers outside downstairs have finally been ditched and a couple of proper chairs and a plastic wicker little table make sitting outside more pleasurable.

A watering system has been made operational around the plants and life is creeping back in to the flower bushes which the iguanas and birds and parrots seem to love and we are in the process of landscaping the whole plot, making a proper hedge of the sea grape that grows along the border with Kontiki and clearing out the massive sea grape undergrowth that proliferated on the north side of the villa between us and the yellow villa next door.

Detailed Sailing
With the bay offering such a safe expanse of flat water, we tend to favour heavily cambered sails. Naish have long been a favourite and the Camber Quiver now includes

7.0 Naish Redline 2006
6.3 Naish Mana (2001)
5.8 Naish Mana (2001)
5.1 Sailworks Race (1998 ?)
4.1 Sailworks Race (1998 ?)

The blue sailworx 5.5 has finally died and been binned. It had reached the stage where the mylar was cracking somewhere new everyday and so it was laid to rest with a salute. For a freebie it had done well.

When the chop is heavy we have started to use the more manoeuvrable Naish Nalu (2000 and no cambers) and it highlighted the major drawback of the cambers. With triple cams there is only one way to jibe fast without being ripped off the front whereas with the Nalu you can play much more at the expense of instant acceleration and a slightly less top speed. Also they waterstart easily. Not that we can remember how to do that !!!
It was interesting to sail with one of the local speed boys who only had two sails. 7.0 m cambered and 6.6 m cambered. Everything else was too slow for him !!! Mind you to prove a point he did completely out sail us on a 4.8m crap Gastraa while I was on my 6.3 !!! Hmmm. Need a faster board and a smaller waistline..... Oh and a better technique.

Sam and Nic have mothballed their 3.0 m World Sails in favour of some OLD (but relatively unused) Gun Sails that we took out from the UK.

4.6m Slalom Speed RAF for Sam
4.2 Wave Slalom RAF for Nic
Both Sam and Nic seem to be able to hold on in outrageous conditions and were out there with us when we were fully (and I mean fully) powered on the 5.8/5.3 for me and Carole.


Others 'cos they are there
6.6 Gun - crap
3.8 Ken Black - it has to be very very windy to rig this
3.0 World Sail (X2) - junior light wind kids/beginners rig

As you can see we are starting a private sailing centre !!!

Boards have increased and we will add to this on our next trip....
In order of volume

Lightwaves 2.85 134 litre speed slalom. Ancient and very forgiving. Nicknamed the Smooth Rider...
Aerospoon 2.54 104 litre carbon speed. Ancient and very unforgiving. Tablespoon for short. 5 kg if that.
HiFly Move 95. 2004/5. Now back in favour after a 30cm fin stopped it spinning out. Carries the 6.3 with aplomb.
Aerospoon 2.44 90 litre carbon speed. As above. Teaspoon for short. 4.5 kg if that.
Starboard S-Type 72 litre. Pro Kids 2006. Perfect for Sam.
Starboard Evo 62. Prokids 2006. Perfect for Nic.

Coming soon if we can ship them out...
Mistral SLE 78 Pro Funboard. 2001. 5 kg. 2.78m. 100 litre ? Carbon. Frightening. 24 quid off E-Bay and almost no marks. Tuttle box. Going to be the weapon of choice to fight over.

Lightwaves 2.65 1991 Slalom Speed. Designed for Carole and heavy chop with a more forgiving floaty tail. Still weighs at the original 6 kg. Kevlar and Carbon. Could be a competitor for fastest disappearing projectile. The SLE should just have it but in a blow the 265 will handle the chop better.

Lightwaves 2.72 80 litre classic wave board. Has trouble staying on the surface. Nic will sail it and no doubt snap it in half eventually.

Restaurants
The island has seen huge changes over the last 6 months for eateries. There is a lot of building development going on in Kralendijk and new restaurants are springing up and old ones changing hands and names. One of note is that Casablanca (Argentinean Meat Orgy) is still going but the Owners have opened a new one in the Harbour Village (the fake lighthouse up by the roundabout north of the town). It is call Patagonia and serves a more personal Argentinean fare with less hustle than Casablanca. On top of our list.

 


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