The B’s: Bariloche, Buenos Aires, Bonaire, and the British Virgin Islands

Wow, what a busy few weeks. Even I can’t believe I was in Bariloche, Argentina three weeks ago, and am now in the British Virgin Islands. Just to give you an overview, I flew from Bariloche to Iguazu Falls to Buenos Aires for maybe 30 hours then on to the Twin Cities for 48 hours before setting off to Bonaire, where I spent five days, then jumped ship to sail to the BVIs. And now I’m to jump ship again today, and staying in the BVIs for two and a half months.

Three weeks ago I was enjoying the “Lake District” area in Argentina—Bariloche, a wonderful little city in the mountains. I could have luxuriated in this area longer, yet was looking forward to seeing the third largest falls in the world, having seen Niagara Falls in New York and Victoria Falls in Africa. Interesting to note that these three falls are all along country borders. Wonder if that’s just a coincidence. Anyway, Iguazu was nice as was Buenos Aires. There I visited the cemetery to see the tomb of Eva Peron and others buried in the city’s most esteemed cemetery, probably missing much of the local customs by not taking a tour to know how deep underground these tombs descend. You could see through some of the broken glass in the doors to the stairways going down to numerous wooden coffins. Others tombs were in immaculate order, though I had to laugh when I saw the cleaning supplies off to the side, or in some cases feather dusters left carelessly on the alters.

On my last day in Argentina, I actually escaped the big city for a day long bike ride through the small village an hour train’s ride northeast of the city. Having negotiated the Monday morning traffic to the square in which we were to meet the bike company, I was very glad I was not doing the city tour. Some of the main roads in the downtown area are easily eight or ten lanes wide. I spent the day on a perfectly adequate one speed bike with our guide and two charming young women from Brazil, who were excited about escaping Brazil’s Carnival and their first international vacation. Afterwards I visited a book store, not just an ordinary bookstore, but one of the top ten in the world according to the locals. It’s in an old theatre, like the State or Orpheum in the Twin Cities. Books are stashed everywhere, even in the side alcoves. The coffee shop is on stage.

It’s been such a whirlwind of travel I don’t even remember the flight back to the Twin Cities, other than running into Rudy Maxa of Savvy Traveler and PBS fame in the BA airport. Back in the Twin Cities, I had a list of things to do, primarily going though mail, getting my 2008 taxes done, doing laundry, picking up scuba gear, dropping off a broken camera lens, getting a well needed hair cut, doing grocery shopping and packing for the next three months—including a wish list for my cruising friends in Bonaire.

Off to the airport again, and some sleep. Luckily it was an early flight out—before the ten inches of snow fell in the Twin Cities. By that time I was in Bonaire with my friends Tom and Rose on Sojourn. Bonaire—land-based in 2008 and sea-based in 2009. The itinerary is in reverse this year—Bonaire, then the BVIs, though I’m spending much more time in the BVI’s this year—some sailing, though mainly I’m here for an internship with a local dive shop, and yet another course--to get certified for scuba instruction. After this, I’ll have no more excuses for not studying Spanish.

I’ve spent more time out of sight of land the past three months than in my entire life before that. Several stints on the Antarctic trip and now what turned into a five day crossing from Bonaire to the BVI’s via the southern side of San Juan and the Spanish Virgin Islands. We had a narrow weather window, that narrowed even more after we’d set out from Bonaire. The winds and waves picked up, mounting to an estimated twelve foot swells (though when we arrived we heard the seas had been forecasted to at least 15 feet). Nothing earth shattering, but it did make for a rocky passage, saving fresh water along the way because it was too bumpy to cook and take showers. The crew fell into the rhythm of the four-hour overnight shifts and on short days a two hour day shift. We had sails up the whole time, reefed of course, and unfortunately the motor was on much of the time to help push us through the waves. We left Bonaire on Wednesday, not realizing we wouldn’t see land again until Sunday. I was at the helm long enough that last night to see the dim glow of the distant lights of San Juan but succumbed to sleep before being able to say “Land ahoy!”

We cruised into Ponce, Puerto Rico for a day of rest, enjoying the local Sunday afternoon fest ivies by the water, the local fishing tournament and a very nice yacht club. We then overnighted to Vieques are in the Spanish Virgin Islands, and overnighted again to Sopher’s Hole in the BVIs. And after all that time at sea, or maybe I should say all that rocking and rolling at sea, I only had a few minutes of rocking and rolling in my head when stepping foot on land. Maybe it was that first ice cream that settled me down for being land based.

We had just enough time for a dive at the Indians before our farewell dinner at Pirate’s Bite off Norman Island. Today we head back to Tortola. I was glad to have been sailing on a monohull for this crossing. It was also comforting knowing we had the experience we needed for such a crossing--the owner, a fellow Wayzata Yacht Club racer and the owner of Northern Breezes, the sailing schools I teach for in the Twin Ciites, were both on board. During those overnight crossings, when conversation waned, thoughts crept into my mind as to whether we’d actually see land again. I wondered who would be able to hear us on the radio if we did make a mayday call. Were we too far out to sea to be heard? Well, luckily I didn’t have to know the answer to that question. We arrived safe and sound and I still had another week of sailing and diving, on a catamaran this time.