Aruba Arrival

After a week of high winds while sitting in Curacao, the Starship has finally made it to Aruba. The weather gods are not with us at this time and after picking up another crew member Daniel who needed a ride to Panama we managed to find a short window across to Aruba before the heavy tradewinds set in. Now we are anchored off the airport in front of a delightful beach bar called Nikky's and the wind is howling 25-30 knots and predicted to continue for the next week. 

Daniel is from Argentina and an avid hunter gatherer. After a few days of sitting around and watching the wind blow he and Mike trolled in the dingy and brought us some fresh snapper and small barracuda to snack on. 

Aruba is known as the Las Vegas of the Caribbean, complete with cruise ships, casinos, health spas and high end resorts with corresponding high end prices.
An Aruba Arriba and a beer set us back $16.00 and we are already searching for the local market hopefully with some prices more fitting to our budget.    

As per our usual routine we rented a car to tour the island and tried to locate a laundry and a propane filling station. Aruba reminds me of a large glittering ice cream cake and it is very pink. The beaches are beautiful yet crowded, and every water sport is available. Windsurfing, snorkel trips, day sails, kiteboarding, scuba diving, and every restaurant you can imagine from Senor Frog's to Burger King to Hooter's.

A trip to the windward side to check the seas and wind just reinforced to us the need to stay put until things calm down and the weather forecasts are to Don's liking.

So we will wait and do what the sign says....Chill! I wonder how much a couch costs???

Curacao and heading West

Red skies at night....a sailor's delight appeared the night before our departure from Bonaire to Curacao ensuring a delightful downwind sail. All company has gone, dive gear is stowed away and water and fuel topped off for the next leg of our journey west. Our good friend Mike has joined us as crew for the passage around Cabo Vela to Colombia and all are anxious to get underway once again. Bonaire has been a fantastic stop and the diving incredible but Don and I are ready for new horizons. 

Curacao, also a Dutch Island, is part of the ABC island chain made up of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao which are known as the stepping stones from the Eastern to the Western Caribbean. This passage along the top of Venezuela is notorious for heavy winds and seas and Don is monitoring the weather daily, hourly. We jumped on the early morning open window with 15 knots of wind at our back and gentle following seas and arrived in Spanish Waters well before the afternoon winds set in. A twenty minute bus ride into town, Duone and Immigration duties taken care of and a walk about the capitol city of Willemstad was in order as well as a recon on groceries, beer, and the all important ice bags.

Curacao has been an important trading port for centuries with its natural harbor and ideal tradewind position. Although lacking many amenities necessary for colonization, because of its location, Curacao became the center of the slave trade for the Dutch East India Company as well as a hotspot for commerce and piracy. Hence the city was fortified with large stone walls and cannons, some of which can still be seen today. Now a major cruise ship and tourist draw, the waterfront has been renovated and renewed, and the traditional Dutch prevalence for color is everywhere.

Curacao architecture blends Dutch and Spanish influences and Willemstad is on the UNESCO world heritage list due to its many historic buildings. The Dutch have a penchant for yellow/orange for government and other important buildings, a nod to William of Orange. Duty-free shopping, sidewalk cafes, colorful alleyways and murals all made for great walking and exploring.

Being a tourist mecca there were street musicians, trinket hawkers, and many places to stop for the all important rehydration with water, we are at 12 degrees and the sun is almost directly overhead.
Overheating is very easy in town as the concrete seems to radiate as much as the sun, and despite hats and a full bottle of sunscreen it is HOT!

Curacao is very close to the Venezuelan oil basins of Maracaibo and a large oil refinery is located here. On any given night there are numerous tankers anchored off shore, their twinkling light marking a visual pathway all the way to the Venezuelan coast. This also makes for excellent fruit and veggie shopping as everything comes in fresh on the colorful Venezuelan trading boats to the famed floating market. So here we wait for another weather window to continue on to Aruba, but it is blowing 20-25 knots and gusting higher, time to read another book!

Dia de Rincon in Bonaire

It has been almost a month and Don and I are still enjoying the beauty and diversity of the incredible coral island of Bonaire. The Starship is ready to head west though, we have a craving for corn tortillas, arepas, and pupusas! After our next set of guests we plan to make the break from the Eastern Caribbean back west. The transition weather month of May approaches and moving around this very contrary sea becomes somewhat more manageable so Don is watching the weather carefully.

Old friends from Santa Cruz Barb, Curtis, and Matt have joined us and brought the Captain a new autopilot to install, some snail mail to peruse and other goodies. Guests are like Christmas, send a message North, supply beer and snacks, and packages start arriving! As we have learned Bonaire has much more to offer other than the world class diving it is so famous for. Curtis, being an off-road enthusiast and sand railer guided us to the Washington Slagbaai National Park on the north tip of the island.

A Nature reserve since 1969 this sparse and dry park is home to multiple species of birds, wild goats, and iguanas, as well as cacti and rocky yet beautiful beaches. Hawks, brown pelicans, bananaquites, hummingbirds and flamingos all made an appearance.

Later a beach combing expedition on the east facing windward side left us with awe at its beauty and dismay at the waste that so frequently ends up on these remote spots. 
This coral strewn beach has sadly become the final resting place for an old discarded computer with keyboard and of course many, many, many, plastic water bottles. But Bonaire is also attempting to harness Mother Nature in a positive way and these tradewind turbines are always turning. 

The second largest town on Bonaire is Rincon and is also the oldest, established in the 16th century by the Spanish. Dia de Rincon was being celebrated and a day was spent watching parades of brightly costumed women and children, live music, harvest celebrations and traditional dances. 
This is a day that celebrates the kunuku lifestyle, better known as those who farm or ranch on Bonaire. At sunset all were dancing traditional Simadan, the harvest dance that gives thanks for a good harvest.

One last dip and dive........and a shout out to the great folks at Yellow Sub Dive Center, we had a blast! For all your Bonaire diving needs....http://www.dive-friends-bonaire.com/ys.html