12 October Bonaire carnival

This weekend was the annual Bonaire regatta and carnival; a weekend yacht racing, parades along the promenade, live bands and ending with a massive pool party on Sunday afternoon.

Guest boats arrived from Curacao from Friday evening and we noted that there were many more power boats with families on board than there were sailing boats. The ratio was about 2:1.

The sailing club lasers and the visiting yachts raced around the cans on Saturday and Sunday morning. The motor homers partied all weekend.

Our permitted 90 day visit to Bonaire ends tomorrow, there’s no way to easily extend our visit, and we would like to very much, so we have to go to Customs and Immigration to clear out.

Oh my! First we had to find a path through the giant pool party. Here the boats and moored in a line enclosing a swim area between them and the promenade. Everyone is in bathers and has a blow up flamingo, or ring, or chair to float and sip and the mandatory rum cocktail.

In the small Customs & Immigration office it is carnage. The party spills inside as those who are sailing or motoring back to Curacao are also completing paperwork. The craziness is that everyone departing by boat has to present themselves with their passport to the officer and some boats have misplaced their crew in the melee. It’s phone calls, crowd scanning and many wet people in their swimming costumes running in and out.

David and I adopt the stoic attitude. We don’t have any other option and patiently wait for our turn. Checking in took 10 minutes. Checking out takes an hour.

Before cycling back to the marina we have to visit the Brewery for a last sunset beer and to reflect on what a great time we’ve had here. Many dives, hot and dry, no hurricanes and superb restaurants. I think we’ll be back.