Crossing the Caribbean Sea – from Puerto Rico/Greater Antilles to Bonaire/Netherlands Antilles

May 25th – 28th 2024

Hurricane season is approaching, and it's time for us to leave the Greater Antilles. We have a crane appointment in Bonaire at the beginning of July, and we also want to explore the ABC islands. After a month in Puerto Rico, we've explored the country extensively and feel ready for future adventures.

We've been keeping an eye on the wind forecast for weeks. The wind is consistently blowing from the east, often shifting to the south. We were hoping for a north-east wind, which would be good for the southbound voyage. So we decided not to sail all the way to the western end of Puerto Rico; we could clear out easily in Ponce.

Customs and immigration are located in a building right next to the harbor. After clearing, we have 48 hours to leave the country, so that evening we sail the 8 nautical miles to Isla de Muertos. There we moor, sheltered from the wind, on the island's beautiful sandy beach.

There seems to be a lot to discover on the island. A jetty, abandoned buildings—which look quite intact from a distance—a lighthouse, and hiking trails. But we can't make it ashore. There's always something to prepare for a multi-day crossing, so we make Joline seaworthy. We stow and secure everything, and check the engines one more time. By evening, everything is ready, and we can set off with a clear conscience.

The weather models all predict strong south-east winds and waves of 2 to 3 meters. There are also thunderstorm warnings, although the weather models don't agree on when and where we'll be hit.

Our 48-hour deadline expires on Saturday morning, so after breakfast, we raise anchor and begin our crossing, just the two of us, from Cayo de Muertos Island in Puerto Rico across the Caribbean Sea to the ABC Islands – Bonaire. We have about 400 nautical miles ahead of us.

In the morning, the wind is still somewhat light. Nevertheless, we initially decide to use reef 1, meaning we don't hoist the full sail, but only a portion of the total area. Towards the afternoon, the wind steadily increases; the decision not to hoist the full sail was clearly the right one.

The first night is calm. The waves are constantly coming from the side, the wind from a slight angle. Three squalls pass through during the night, but we manage to avoid them all. On the one hand, we have moonlit nights, and on the other, the radar shows us the exact direction of the squalls.

The second day passes without any particular incidents. Our daily distance—the distance we cover in 24 hours—is 116,5 nautical miles. That's not bad, but not really much either. The further south we go, the stronger the wind becomes. By the afternoon, we're already consistently over 30 knots, and the waves are getting stronger. Since we're in no hurry and prefer to arrive in daylight rather than at night, we decide to further reduce the sails. So we head out into the night with reef 2. The weather has stabilized. We're the only boat for miles around.

Our daily distance for the second day is 129 nautical miles. As expected and predicted, the wind shifts more to the east the next day. We had previously steered a course of 170 degrees to avoid fighting the currents in the Caribbean Sea. This gives us room to move westward. Combined with the shifting wind, we can now steer our course so that the waves are now coming from behind, diagonally behind us. This makes the rest of the journey quite comfortable despite the increasingly high waves.

We arrive in Bonaire at dawn. As we round the western tip of the island, we are greeted by a pod of dolphins that follow us for quite some time. Petra sleeps through the welcoming ceremony, and it's still too dark for photos and videos. So this encounter remains only in my memory.

The last few miles are motored past Klein Bonaire to Kralendijk. We report to the marina on channel 12 and are greeted by a marina employee upon arrival at the buoy. The docking maneuver goes smoothly. We are asked to register with customs and at the marina – everything as usual.

First, we have breakfast and a hot shower. Then we head to customs—the entire crew has to report to Bonaire. After lunch, I register us at the marina and then book a spot at the dinghy dock.

All done. In the evening we enjoy a sundowner and dinner at the Divers Inn.

Our crossing through the Caribbean Sea took 383 nautical miles, and on the second day we completed our 10.000 nautical miles since the start with our SY Joline. 2021 have cracked.