Just One Night in Aruba ….. April 2012

04 – 07 April 2012

We had seen and done all there was to do in Curacao and  the best weather window so far this year was forecast for us to move further west, firstly to Aruba then onto Colombia.  Several cruising friends had done this journey within the last 6 weeks, and all had experienced very high winds and up to 5 metre seas, and it is reputed to be the 5th worst area of water in the world.  Yes - we really were looking forward to this one!!! 

However Jimmy Cornell's cruising bible “World Cruising Routes”,  recommends the passage should be made in April, May or November – it was now April, the forecast looked steady with nothing over 20 knots and 2 metre seas.  Fingers crossed.

Still in company with our kiwi friends on Bandit we lifted anchors at first light. Skipper was happy to raise our mainsail after having it in semi retirement for many miles now, we poled out the headsail then pointed towards Aruba, around 70 miles away, it was going to be a long day.  

A long day it was, but it was the most comfortable sail we have had since sailing from Morocco to the Canary Islands, that was way back in October.  We had steady winds and current with us and we rounded the southern end of Aruba with daylight to spare.  The entrance to our chosen anchorage at the bottom of the island was squeezed between an oil refinery and some tiny islands fringed with sandy beaches and turquoise waters, what a contrast! 

We came to Aruba on holiday nearly 20 years ago and weren’t too impressed with it then  - this time the adjacent oil refinery, a slight chop overnight in the anchorage, the requirement for having to berth at a yacht unfriendly dock for checking in and the continuance of a settled weather window all swayed our decision – it wasn't going to be a weeks visit again this time, it was just a one night stand!  The fastest rise and drop of a courtesy flag in Balvenie’s voyage so far, 14 hours. We were on our way to Colombia.

We went back to our normal downwind sail plan of headsail poled out to windward and staysail poled out to leeward, it worked well for the first two days with winds around 15 knots from directly behind us.  The sea was quite flat most of the time but we got long periods of adverse current which slowed us down, and even with the light winds chopped the seas up.  We could certainly see that it could turn into a nasty piece of water with strong winds fighting against the current and were grateful for the conditions we had.

Day turned to night, back to day, back to night.  The full moon was just magical, almost bright enough to read by.  Even with peaceful conditions we both struggle to sleep on these short passages, there was a reasonable amount of shipping to keep us alert, and we needed to make two course changes to avoid container ships.  You really have to wonder in these days of AIS if there is any watch kept at all by eye - they just steam on, heading straight for us, still it is much easier for us to see them than the other way round, so we always change course and keep a very good watch, especially in busy coastal waters. 

Needing all the sails up in light winds approaching Santa Marta

Day three dawned and the wind dropped to below 10 knots, time to play with Big Red again, he needed the cobwebs shaken out as it has been too windy to fly the MPS (Cruising Chute) for months.  The sea breeze arrived as we were making our final approach, it made for quite a challenging drop of Big Red, rather a handful to douse as the wind gusted around the headland to 22 knots.  So now we are tied up in the new marina here in Santa Marta, Colombia – who’d of thought we would ever sail to Colombia!!!!

Colourful Cocktail of Curacao ….. March/April 2012

24 March – 02 April 2012
 
We are in the area of the Caribbean known as the Dutch Antilles or the ABC’s.  Having spent an enjoyable 9 nights in the “B” island of Bonaire, snorkelling every day and slotting easily into the very laid back atmosphere of the island we knew it was time to move west and on to the next letter of the alphabet!, and so, along with our cruising buddies on Bandit, we were headed for the “C” island of Curacao just over the horizon.  We had a very pleasant sail, blue skies, 15 – 20 knots from the east, 1.5 metre seas. We both made the comment that had this been in the Mediterranean we might still have considered this a sporty days sail, but after the seas and winds we have become accustomed to in the Atlantic and Caribbean it was positively lovely. Bandit once again took line honours…(Skippers note…more blatant use of  illegal sized headsail…sigh !!!)   

Our ABC Island Cruising Guide mentioned the entrance to our chosen anchorage of Spanish Waters as being deceptively small…. well there was no deception there – it is very small (and no channel markers)!  Add to that the fact that the Hyatt Hotel has popped up since the guide was written and “built” a beach with swimmers happily paddling around as well as installing some docks with large boats tied up, then there are the shallow spots to avoid and, as luck would have it, a stream of large power boats out enjoying the sunny Saturday afternoon and they all wanted to pass – at speed.  Oh well!,  there was nothing for it but to breath in and hope for the best.  As is often the way all went without incident but it sure kept us on our toes for a while.

We thought in Bonaire there was a touch of Holland, well in downtown Willemstad  the capital of Curacao you truly could be forgiven for thinking you were in Holland.  Our first day trip into town was to complete Customs and Immigration procedures, all straightforward but we got in plenty of exercise walking from one to the other, then we didn’t quite time it right for the Harbour Authorities lunch break so had to go off and have our own lunch break and return to them later.  We normally allow a day to check in to a country,  if its quicker then that is always a bonus.  

Wandering around Willemstad is a very colourful experience.  Candy coloured buildings line the harbour on both sides. Cafes with umbrella shaded outdoor tables serve a blend of Caribbean, Dutch and American food.  Venezuelan vendors run a floating market on a nearby canal – their stalls were overflowing with fresh produce of all shapes, sizes, flavours, colours and prices.  Both sides of the harbour are connected by the unique swinging, floating Queen Emma Bridge.

Then there are the people - what a diverse cultural blend.  Initially, way back in the year dot the Arawak Indians lived here, then along came the Spanish in 1499, followed by the Dutch in 1634. Both tried to do what the Europeans were so good at doing during that time of new world discovery …. attempt to wipe out the indigenous race and steal anything worth stealing!!!  So not many Arawaks survived which created a manpower shortage duly solved by shipping African slaves to do all the work.  Curacao then became a major port for slave trading for many years.  More recently you need to throw in a few Venezuelans, well it is just down the road and major oil refineries were built here for processing Venezuelan Oil, hence importing Venezuelan labour.  So all in all it is somewhat of a melting pot culturally speaking, and if you sit back and people watch you would never ever guess what country you were in.

We spent a day out and about exploring by hire car, we shared it with Brenda and David from Bandit again.  The island is much bigger than Bonaire, but the vegetation and landscape are very similar.  We found some wonderful sheltered coves on the northwestern coast, the water so clear, the sand a brilliant white, the surrounding colours so sharp they almost didn’t look real.  We stopped at Playa Knip for a picnic lunch, followed by a snorkel and swim, the clarity of the water was outstanding, there were some lovely corals and a good selection of tropical fish to entertain us for quite some time.

Across on the windy east coast at Shete Boca National Park it was an entirely different picture.  No shelter from the 25–30 knot trade winds here. We visited an impressive natural bridge carved and shaped  by the relentless ocean waves crashing onto the rocky shore line.  The surrounding landscape felt weather beaten and raw, only cacti and thorn bushes thrive here. It seems everything comes with sharp edges in such a hostile environment.  What a contrast to the sheltered western coastline just 10 miles away.


We ended our sightseeing day with a little luxury, Curacao cocktails on the terrace of the Hyatt Hotel.  Brenda chose a Blue Curacao Margarita while I opted for a Roman Crush with Orange Curacao as an ingredient.  Well …. when in Curacao it would be downright rude not to drink Curacao (the liquor)!  They were both excellent.  Luckily for the budget David and Mark stuck to beer.

We have enjoyed our time here and will move on in a day or 2, we plan to have only a short stop in the “A” island of Aruba before heading to Colombia.  We have a relatively settled weather window coming up and want to make the most of it, hopefully getting to Colombia for Easter.  

Bonaire – the B in the ABC’s ….. March 2012

 
15 – 24 March 2012
Time to leave the Venezuelan Islands and head ever westward once again, next stop Bonaire.  Another brisk downwind sail in 25 knots of wind and seas around 2 metres, these conditions seem to be the norm these days.  Once we came around the bottom of Bonaire we were into flat water, hard on the wind with just the head sail up, heeled over and doing over 8 knots, Skipper was having so much fun and I was remembering how much I disliked being heeled over, and this was without the main!!  The heavens opened for free Caribbean boat wash on our final approach, we rolled in the headsail and headed for the mooring buoys off Kralendijk,  Bonaire’s main town.

You can not anchor in any of Bonaire’s waters, it is all a marine park.  Diving holidays are the main source of income on the island and the preservation of the underwater life is taken very seriously.  We had 9 nights tied up on the mooring buoy ($10US a night), tropical fish both big and small lived under the boat and in the coral patches just metres from shore.  It is a snorkelers and divers paradise, just being able to walk out from shore into waters teaming with fish and coral is wonderful.  

We found the best snorkelling on the small island of Klein Bonaire, we did dinghy excursions over there and explored the shallow waters close to shore where we could see all the fish up close, then out to the deeper waters by the drop offs where land fell away into dark depths.  The fish life was exceptional, never before have we seen so many big fat parrotfish.  The water still wasn’t that warm if you wanted to stay in for any length of time so our wetsuits came out of retirement, they also protected us from a few little biteys, which we think were tiny jellyfish. 

The stronger winds we had experienced in the Venezuelan Islands eased while we were in Bonaire, so pleasant to have around 15 knots and peaceful nights, (except for an invasion of flying fish one night which sure got our attention)  the seasons should start to change soon bring the beginning of more favourable conditions.  There was quite a  lot of cloud cover around so we tried to time our snorkelling excursions for when the skies were clear, it makes such a difference to the underwater colours if the sun is out and shining through, it wasn’t always possible but we did our best and were rewarded with more vivid colours. 


 













We hired a car with David and Brenda on Bandit  for a day and explored the rest of the island. First we followed the coast up to the northern part which is all National Park, inland was dry scrubland interspersed with cacti, home to many lizards, some of which were too busy lying in the sun to take any notice of approaching cars, its a good thing there is not much traffic!  The National Park had a small interesting museum showing the history of Bonaire, and a reconstructed skeleton of a whale that was recently impaled on the bow of a cruise ship!  There are some hiking trails through the park but the temperature is heating up and there wasn’t much shade so we gave hiking a miss. 

We moved on down to Rincon, the first area to be settled on the island as it was inland and away from the pirates.   It seems once the threat of being attacked by pirates passed its inhabitants moved onto greener pastures, there is not much in Rincon these days, not even a cafe for our much needed caffeine hit.  So it was a detour back through Kralendijk before exploring the bottom of the island.  I should add that Bonaire is a small island. 
The south is very flat and we found where all the tourists go when they are not diving or snorkelling – they are enjoying the waters in and around Lac Bay, a world famous windsurfing destination.  The sandy beach and lagoon area are protected by an outer reef, the water is shallow and flat and the wind whistles through.  Lining the beach were a few shacky bars,  windsurfing schools and hire shops.  Everyone seemed to be chilling out and having a good time.

There are salt flats down the east coast, the salt is still collected and exported.  The colours were great, pastel pink flats, hazy blue skies and snow white pointy piles of salt.  Pink flamingos wade nearby, not as many as we had hoped but great to see them standing proudly.

The last “attraction” were the freshly painted Slave Huts.  They look rather cute painted in bright white or terracotta, the grey sea and stormy sky as a backdrop, but they show a dark side of Bonaire’s past when slaves were kept here to work in the salt flats.  Up to 26 slaves were housed in these tiny structures, if you look at the photo at the top with us standing next to one you will see that they are not very big.  

Bonaire was a great stop, the moorings handy to the small town, most things within walking distance.  It had a touch of Holland to it, but not a very pronounced one yet it didn’t really feel Caribbean either, it is a unique destination.  It was time to move ever westward, the forecast promised under 2 metre seas and 15 knots of wind for our next day sail to Curacao, now wouldn’t that be nice.

For our Cruising and Tourist info on Bonaire on our Balvenies Cruising Info blog click here