Category: Life On A Boat

We Made Our Boat Nicer To Live On

After almost two years sailing and anchoring in the Caribbean, Sava and her crew needed some TLC. Sava moved to Curaçao Marine for bottom paint and more while we moved into an apartment in town. We only took two weeks away from the boat, but it made a world of difference! During that time, we made our boat nicer to live on, which is good for all of us.

Improving S/V Sava

We’ve done a lot of work on Sava over the years, but we didn’t focus on cosmetics. Fixing the engine, batteries, watermaker and everything else was more important, but since we know how that stuff works now, we can make life on Sava better! While in the yard at the marina, we prettied her up inside and out! Since we made our boat nicer to live on, she’s like a new boat to us and we love her all over again.

S/v Sava
Sava didn’t look terrible when we took her out of the water
Getting a new coat of bottom paint on our sailboat
But the new bottom paint on S/V Sava is an improvement!

Cleaning Sava

We rented a one-bedroom apartment while Sava was in the yard, which meant a thorough boat clean. First on our list was emptying the boat: we took out all the food, defrosted the fridge and freezer, and scrubbed all the cupboards and storage lockers. We vacuumed the boat multiple times since we had shore power and did such a good job cleaning Sava I was almost sad to restock her!

Staying in An Airbnb

While Domino took a few days to get used to living on land, she eventually made herself comfortable.

Domino our cat on the pillows in the airbnb
Domino liked the bed in our Airbnb
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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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