My Most Recent Failure

When it comes to physical activities, I am a slow learner. I need lots of practice to get adequate at most sports. On the plus side, I am game to try most anything and willing to practice. I am at least adequate at skiing and paddleboarding and more than adequate at a few other sports, but it all took work! This is a post about my most recent failure, but don’t worry. I won’t be depressing, because I agree with the genius quoted below.

“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

Albert Einstein

Regular readers of this blog know I am used to failure. Whoops. I did it again. Here’s my story about how trying to be a freediver was my most recent failure.

Let’s Freedive!

I love to scuba dive. I love the water. In fact, I used to be a pretty good swimmer but it’s so much easier with fins and a snorkel that I don’t swim without them much anymore. When I was in Utila I first noted the availability of freediving classes for the public. And that sport is growing, at least from what we’ve seen in the Caribbean. In Bonaire, you can take freediving classes from one of the world champions, and he is the real deal. In September, Brian and I signed up for the class.

The Freediving Course

We took the AIDA2 freediving course and it is amazing!

I loved the breathing exercises and worked my way from a static breath-hold of 1:20 to over 2 minutes. Once we got moving in the water, it was even more rewarding. Using the long fins made me feel so powerful and aided my 40 meter dynamic swim in the shallows! The technique wasn’t easy or natural for me, but I picked it up after a few tries and thought I was golden.

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A Night Off The Boat

We love our life on board Sava, but a 46 foot sailboat is not the most comfortable home. So for my birthday we checked in to a night of luxury! After a year of only sleeping on board, we spent a night off the boat in a boutique hotel in Bonaire. It was even better than we hoped it would be.

Bamboo Bali Bonaire

Brian’s birthday dinner at Chef’s Bonaire turned into a present for both of us when the owner gifted us a free night at the attached hotel. Bamboo Bali is one of the top rated places to stay on the island, for regular people, not just to grubby cruisers like us.

The resort is located north of Kralendijk, within walking distance of several restaurants, beach clubs, and a supermarket. Our accommodation had a front patio, bedroom, bathroom and kitchens and private outside spaces with seating and an outdoor shower.

All guests at Bamboo Bali have access to a pool, hot tub, free wifi, and a gas grill with outdoor dining. In our one night stay, we used all of these amenities! We don’t get a night off the boat often, so we took advantage. It was wonderful.

Pool at Bamboo Bali resort
The pool at Bamboo Bali
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Bonaire for Hurricane Season

Modern day sailors want to avoid hurricanes more than almost anything including wearing shoes and giving up drinking. We came to Bonaire for hurricane season and are happy we made the choice. Here are all the reasons we are happy to be in Bonaire for hurricane season.

Bonaire is Safe

Located in the southwestern part of the Caribbean, Bonaire is south of the hurricane belt. This makes Bonaire one of the best Caribbean islands to visit during hurricane season, safe from storms and with lots of fun activities.

Safety on Bonaire extends to crime. In some Caribbean islands, theft and worse crimes are common. In Martinique, we got our gas tank stolen out of our dinghy while it was locked to our boat, and in other islands, dinghies and more are stolen if you’re not careful. While we remain diligent about locking our dinghy, these crimes are rare in Bonaire, another good reason to stay.

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