Sailing on 5.7 on the north shore, Dominican Republic
It was windy this morning and I was on my 5.7 in the bay. I caught a few waves but they’re not too big. I got some good jumps and loops entered my mind but I didn’t try it yet.
A helicopter flew over me as I was sailing.
I’m in D.R. now
Sunday the 10th was another great 5.0 to 5.7 Bonaire day. I had a good morning trying new tricks. I spent the afternoon packing up for a 2 week trip to the Dominican Republic. I am here now and it looks windy this morning so I’m going out! It’s a surprise, I wasn’t expecting wind.
Before we left Sunday we saw a contingent of NY sailors arriving at Jibe City. All the regulars, including Mike Burns. Hope they’re still there when I return.
We had a layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico, so we took a quick taxi tour of the old town and forts.
Great wind in Bonaire
Thursday, Friday and Saturday were windy, I’ve been sailing on a 5.0 or 5.7 and been overpowered some of the time. I’ve been having a great time doing vulcans and trying flakas, free willys and shove-its, now, too.
Friday we caught some pictures of Bjorn Saragoza (Jurgen’s brother) throwing some tricks.
Jim watching the pro kids.
Saturday a huge cruise ship was in port, the Queen Mary 2. It holds about 5,000 passengers. You can see how small it makes everything around it look, it makes the island look like a play toy.
Good wind since Tuesday
Sunday and Monday were NO wind days. Monday morning Kathy went on a bike ride on the southern loop of the island.
Here she is just before getting to the salt pier where ships get loaded with the salt.
The salt mine and stockpiles on an exceedingly calm day.
Here’s Kathy just after going under the conveyor.
I already posted for Tuesday, my first vulcans!
Here is Jurgen (he is a son of Constantino ‘Patoen’ Saragoza , one of the owners of Bonaire Windsurf Place) showing off with a gekko. He’s talented and cute. This was yesterday, Wednesday.
Wednesday I sailed on a 5.7 sail. At times a 5.0 would have worked but I didn’t change sails. I had a great day, quite a few willy skippers and many vulcan attempts but none completed. I also hurt my ankle slightly so I took a day off on Wednesday to let it rest. It was a windy day, too. Darn!
Vulcan success!!!!!!
Today promised wind and what a day it was for me! I began the day with my 6.5 but within 45 minutes got blown off the water. I went to my 5.7 and came real close to doing a vulcan the first hour and a half. In the afternoon I nailed my first two vulcans! 
I’m starting to LOVE this Chilli board, the F2 Chilli 107. At 53, I feel pretty good about doing the vulcan. I know now that it IS possible for someone over 50 to do the move. What a successful day!
No Wind Saturday
No wind today so we toured the island and saw a few interesting sights. This is the Piedra Bonaire, or Rock of Bonaire. It is a sacred rock in their folklore and it is connected to the mother of Bonaire by an umbilical cord into the center of the earth, as shown in description below.
The soil around the rock is sacred and people who move away from Bonaire can take a handful of the soil, put it in a bag, and wherever they are they will be near their homeland, Bonaire.
We also went to see a gravel crusher. Of course, if Jim isn’t sailing he is interested in something like a gravel crusher. Click here to see the photos.
Bonus Day
Thursday was a bonus day. It was only supposed to blow in the morning but it blew hard enough all day for me to be on my 5.7 and having fun. I’m getting closer on the vulcan – Kiri sailed with me and helped me with some tips. It was cloudy most of the day but I still didn’t need a wetsuit. Life is Good
Friday and Saturday were very low – the wind was almost nonexistent.
The weird thing was that the wind was coming from the ENE which I hadn’t seen before.
The blades on the windmill are usually facing parallel to where i’m standing taking the photo.
