Diesel Duck spent a couple of wonderful weeks in the Aves islands. (See PUP 23 Nov.) The Guarda Costa (Coast Guard) came by once a while to make sure we were save and sound and for a little chat. Maybe a cold beer too! On November 17, DD left the Aves de Sotavento after breakfast for Bonaire. After a good sail we picked up one of the town moorings at 15:00 hrs. Bonaire is known for being a divers paradise with wonderful reefs and a spectacular underwater world. Anchoring is prohibited and there are town moorings for $10/day along the shore sitting in shallow water with a sand bottom. Right behind the moorings there is a sheer drop to a couple of hundred feet. If you don't like the mooring, the other option is to tie up at the marina. The next morning, after a peaceful night, all four of us went into the Caribe RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) to go onshore. We tied up at the Karel's dinghy dock and hit the town for the tourist thing. While being in a diving store called Dive Retail Outlet, it started to rain which then turned into a biblical flood. Soon we had 4 inches of water in the dive store and I suggested to the sales manager to hand out scuba tanks and regulators to the customers so that they would be able to get home. Barefooted we got back to Karel's dinghy dock, but Karel's restaurant tables were right in the open for the Caribbean sunshine, which was liquid at this time and we badly needed a good lunch. Across the road was a dry place serving good smelling food. Here we were feasting on chicken nuggets flushed down with a few Heineken. In the meantime the rain pelted down and it got windy. After the second beer I decided it was time to bail out the Caribe RIB and I went barefoot over the road to Karel's dinghy dock. Holy Moses, there were four foot waves coming in from offshore and I realized with shock that we were experiencing the "famous feared Bonaire wind reversal." I frantically bailed out the Caribe RIB and waved to Marlene, Jutta and Harald to come and hurry up. It was very difficult to board the Caribe in these wave actions and even more difficult to pull up the dinghy anchor, get the outboard started and then slowly motor to Diesel Duck without sinking the four persons loaded up 9 ft. Caribe RIB in this driving rain inferno. Diesel Duck was madly bobbing up and down on the mooring, jerking on the provided two short 12 ft. long 5/8 polypropylene mooring lines. I had a battle plan worked out in my mind and was giving instructions while underway in the dinghy: 1. start the main diesel 2. remove the window sun shades 3. tilt up the Caribe's motor and remove outboard fuel tank 4. tie the Caribe to DD's stern 5. remove and tie off the boarding ladder 6. drop the mooring lines 7. get the hell out into the open sea And this is what we did. Harald, my brother, went to the bow to check the mooring lines and came rushing back with the alarming news that one line was splitting apart. One strand was already broken. (Harald, a just retired professor from Goettingen, Germany, owns a sailboat and is also a sailing instructor) On my shout "go" Harald dropped the mooring lines and we headed out into the sea to take cover in the lee of Bonaire's little sister island "Klein Bonaire." The whole moored fleet went into panic and mooring lines were dropped everywhere, when one boat of a local, the "Sea Star" broke the mooring and went onto the beach. There are horror stories ghosting around about when these "Wind Reversals" happen at 2 o'clock in the morning hours. We found protection in the lee of Klein Bonaire at a dive mooring which is normally occupied by a commercial dive boat during the day and we used it for the night. Next day we checked out with customs. It was peaceful again and if it wasn't for the beached sailboat, nothing reminded us of the previous day wind reversal shocker. We had a pleasant sail to Curacao. Pictures complimenting this posting can be viewed at: http://www.sailblogs.com/member/dieselduck Fair winds to all Benno and Marlene on Diesel Duck