Yesterday’s blog made me realise we’re in that in-between zone. Before you leave a place, you prepare yourself by leaving it mentally first. Sum up it in your head. Thank you very much. Then you’re off. It’s a protection strategy I suppose. Otherwise leaving would be too hard.

Doesn’t come natural. I could never understand people who used to make it their goal to visit as many places as possible. Though in fairness, if you are like that, it makes you look pretty cool. What do you mean, you went to 45 countries in just 6 months? That is damn cool.

Us? I wont lie that lockdown did us something of a favour. Some of us (ahem) didn’t really want to leave Barbados when we were originally planning to go. And in the end, because of the pandemic, we got to stay. Even if there was little travelling through the island anymore, we’ve still enjoyed our anchorage surroundings. We’ve made a community of friends we wouldn’t have met otherwise. We’ve been good.

Next week we’re heading off to Martinique – all things being well. We’re planning to stay in Martinique for a few weeks and then keep heading west. All this diving has given us a new direction. We have planned and prepared for it for years, but I think if we, the grown-ups on Questie are being honest, we are pinching ourselves that it has actually happened. We are diving family. Said in Russian accent just for fun. And because of this, we’ve decided to head for proper diving island in Caribbean.

We have our sights set on Bonaire, the B in the ABC islands. It is small coral island, surrounded by fringing reef. It perches out of ocean. It is about a five-day sail west, heading towards Central America. Definitely the furthest west we’ve been. At the moment, we are about as east as we can be, Barbados being the most easterly island in the chain, so it will be a little different. And it’s Dutch! Get the pancakes ready.. hehe.

Bonaire is set up as a diving industry. Its surrounding waters are a marine park: the oldest protected marine reserve in the world. It is definitely the oldest marine park in the Caribbean. There are 86 public dive sites. When we read this the other day, our mouths fell open. 86! Even if we can get to a quarter of them, we won’t be bored. And it’s open now – subject to initial quarantine.

I do feel all this Bonaire research is making us a little unfaithful to another country which starts with B. I hope this B can forgive us. It’s been a long road.