After setting our course for Bonaire on Friday, 5th April 2024, we enjoyed a great start with winds as forecast, giving us a SOG (Speed Over Ground) of 7 Kts. It helped that Elaine’s back was also feeling better after she’d hurt it while in St Anne’s and could enjoy the passage.

Unfortunately at about 20NM out, the wind petered out leaving us to crawl along at barely 5 Kts, exacerbated by the tidal current against us.

By 1100 the winds had picked up again, much to our relief, but then lightened from every direction, prompting us to change our sail plan from wing-on-wing to a broad reach. Unfortunately a terrible side swell kept knocking us around too and flogging the mainsail, but, by 1300, the consistent 15-20 Kt winds we expected kicked in and we settled into a groove, scooting along at a SOG of 8.5-9.5 Kts.

We did, however, have a more challenging night as the wind backed to east-northeast, which was less preferable by putting us on a course that was more southerly, although speeds remained in the 15-20 Kt range. The persistent side swell, though, was a stark reminder of our Atlantic Ocean crossing, except then, we had a swell hitting us on either side at different intervals.
On the upside, being a pitch black night, we had the most magnificent starry sky and we were delighted to see the Southern Cross again. Throw in a shooting star or two and it was simply perfect! Elaine, however, missed her partner in crime, Justine, on her watches. There was no one to stargaze with or have her in stitches of laughter about whatever silly thing happened.

With a beautiful crescent moon making its appearance at around 0400, daybreak followed soon thereafter and our second day at sea commerced.

When Roy surfaced for his morning watch, we jibed yet again and changed the sail plan back to wing-on-wing, which placed us on a far better course, one that was more comfortable too. Over breakfast we tuned into Chris Parker’s SSB/HF radio net for the latest weather briefing, pleased to hear the forecast had remained as expected.

A further change of the sail plan was required when Elaine surfaced around mid-morning, jibing and putting Paw Paw back on a broad reach, allowing us to continue at a SOG of 6.5-7.5 Kts, with winds out of the east-southeast at 10-15 Kts. These sail plan changes became a pattern over the course of the passage as the wind veered and backed.

By noon we had 276NM to go; we’d passed the 1/3-way mark, but we’d only had one cargo ship for company the entire time.

By sunset we reefed the mainsail, since we were expecting stronger winds overnight and, given that there was no moon, we didn’t want to be faffing around in the pitch blackness. It was, however, the current that was brutal, setting northerly at 2.7-3.6 Kts and creating an astronomical leeway angle, forcing another sail plan change at midnight to put us back on a wing-on-wing configuration. We were on the downhill run, though, having passed the 1/2-way mark just before 2000 and we had another clear, pitch black starry night sky to enjoy.

At 0600 on the morning of Sunday, 7th April 2024, we changed the sail plan again, jibing and then back on a broad reach as the wind veered. Thankfully the brutal current had dissipated and stayed that way for the remainder of the passage.

When Elaine came back on watch at 1000, Paw Paw was surrounded by sea birds of every description. Roy had been watching them feed for hours. It was lovely to see an abundance of sea-life again, including some rather large fish jumping out of the water, after years of being in populated areas devoid of this, except for the odd turtle or dolphin. We’d completely given up on snorkelling because there was precious little to see.

Under sunny clear skies we were still scooting along nicely on a double-reefed mainsail and a half-reefed headsail, given that the winds had picked up to 18-22Kts. Bonaire was in our sights with less than 67NM to go by 1700.

However, by the time Elaine came on watch at 2100 and Paw Paw had reached a SOG of 14 Kts  wing-on-wing, our slowest point of sail, as the winds hit 25 Kts, the executive decision was taken to drop the mainsail and proceed on a reefed headsail alone. This was no easy feat in 25 Kts of wind, lumpy seas and on a pitch black night; the exact situation we’d  tried to avoid by reefing the mainsail early the previous night. Regardless, it was the safest option all things considered, even though we’d both had a cardio workout by the time matters were back under control.

Having had plenty of time to reflect during her watches and having looked back on our very unpleasant and challenging Atlantic Ocean crossing, there was a reason Paw Paw wasn’t sold as we had expected and that that wasn’t to be our last passage. It occurred to Elaine that maybe there was a reward to be had for our tenacity in completing our circumnavigation against the odds. This thought had started to formulate with each “favourite” spot we revisited over the past few months and all the new places we thoroughly enjoyed seeing in the Windward Islands, as well as the unplanned and wonderful encounters which materialised with cruising friends of old, including spending time with Anne and Stuart, off Time Bandit, and the very special event of being able to see Rowena again, meet the family and participate in Richard’s sendoff, then being given the opportunity to return to Bonaire, through circumstances beyond our control, a destination still on our all time favourite Top-3 List after sailing all around the world. We indeed had seen the best first during our first hurricane season on Paw Paw and it suddenly seemed very fitting that we got to return to this underwater paradise ten years later.

These thoughts solidified with each passing day of this passage, a passage full of nature’s wonders. It was all reward enough, but we still had plenty to look forward to and we’d managed to shave off an extra day at sea.

When Elaine surfaced on Monday, 8th April 2024, it was already 0530 and Paw Paw was already sailing up the leeward coast of Bonaire. Roy had allowed Elaine to sleep through her early morning watch which was very naughty of him, but greatly appreciated. By 0700 we were tied to a mooring ball, surprised to see so many yachts here already this early in the season. Either that, it was hello again Bonaire!

And on that note, we’d like to wish Roy’s brother Len, a very Happy Birthday and hope that he had a fabulous day.