CaribSeek Books | The Magic of the '60s | The Adventures of Captain Don by Donal A. Stewart

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The Magic of the '60s

Spring 1962. It was a clear afternoon when I found this enchanted island lying just over the horizon from the mountains of Venezuela. A small, sparsely populated piece of land, crescent shaped and barely 30 miles long.

As a buffer against the trade winds that stream from the east, the island had turned its massive humpback into the wind, making the western shore a protected lee.

It was here I found the glasslike bay, flat and calm, displaying an extraordinary spectrum of shimmering blues. Near the center lay the small, flat island of Klein Bonaire.

To the south the hills sloped gradually down to end in a flat spit of coral-rimmed beaches. And there, spread beyond to the far edge of the world, was a very special sea. Magnificent, with bright shafts of afternoon sun reflecting through it. This is what I came upon that afternoon in May.

I set my schooner at anchor in the roads of Kralendijk, a former outpost of the Dutch West Indies Company. Under my keel were coral gardens the likes of which I had never seen before. I sensed that here lay the future for this small island. And maybe for me.

The '60s in Bonaire were magical years, when everything yet unborn was on the verge of reality. There was an excitement here that never stopped. Every day new packages of surprises jumped open. I loved it. And I somehow knew I had been born to be involved in it.

While the rest of the world drowned in hippies, wars, assassinations and worse, the magic of the '60s war ours to dive into. It was the era of our first loaf of sliced bread, a second ice machine and more than two planes landing a week.

Things were happening fast. The airport was expanded, three hotels were operating, two of the most powerful radio stations in the hemisphere were built and a new tourist road to the north cut through.

The tourist trade had just begun when I joined over 2000 other visitors to Bonaire in 1962. Everything seemed to be happening then as Bonaire was emerging from its cocoon. The history pages now turned quickly as the island moved forward to accept its new karma.

This little island would soon become a world leader in reef ecology - a drawing board for conservation while at the same time becoming one of the world's top-ranked scuba-diving destination.

At the Kunuku
In 1988, Don moved away from day-to-day management of Habitat and, with First Mate Janet Thibault, founded Island Grower N.V. at their kunuku (farm) on Kaminda Lagoen. Here, Don and Janet continue their nursery business and have designed many of Bonaire's most natural gardens.

But before that happened, those early days saw my ruthless spear fishing as a way of life, robbing the reefs of the small tropicals and ripping away living corals to sell as souvenirs. We were all raping the reef without concern for future impact. Until, one day, the penny dropped. I began to realize that the reef wouldn't last if we continued at this pace. I began to see that this was a no-go way of life.

The spear guns went into the landfill, and indiscriminate destruction of our reefs came to a halt. I made sure that all those within my influence joined in these protection efforts.

In time, good sense won out as the magnificent bay and its surrounding seas were designated the first totally protected island in the world.

I've set down a few of the fun stories from that magical era, both for your knowledge and amusement.

These yarns are at least 85 percent true, which leaves the rest to my imagination. Exactly which 15 percent that is, I leave for you to decide.

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