And now …. Aruba…Bon Bini

 

Dear Friends,

It was 3 am when we left Spanish Water in Curacao and mind you, to find our way back to open sea when it is still pitch dark was kind of a challenge…. Common sense, a good flash light, Dora`s indications, and the GPS (i believe it was in this order) brought us safely back in open waters, and ofcourse, hardly any wind. At dawn got the Genaker out and that made a diference (again), this untill around noon when the wind died out almost completely. So we burned up some more diesel untill three o clock.. a nice breeze came back and the last 20 miles we could sail again. A rather un eventfull 60 mile voyage, not even a fish on the hook.

The waypoint in the free cruising guide for the ABC by Frank Virgintino was spot on with regards the entrance point to get behind the reef for clearing in and imigration etc (Baracadero Port 12Deg 28.84N 070Deg 00.62W). I called in over the radio, and i was summoned to do all the clearing even it was already 17 hrs. I was asked to tie up on the dock (you know the good old concrete ledge with those nice old hughe black airplane tyers etc). We gave that a miss, and just anchored nearby.

I dingied over, and half an hour later had done all the paper work… well not all the paper work… 5 days after clearing in, you have to ask and pay for an extension (more paperwork). It was almost dark when all this stuff was completed and so we just anchored out nearby (shallow water, a kind of dead end sea arm). The next day we actualy sailed all the way to the northern tip of the island, and after Oranje stad, it is all big Beach front Hotels. 

Anchored at what is called SurfSide Beach, ok it is just north of the airport landing strip, but it is not disturbing. Wifi signal is adequate, and there is a private dinghy dock of the Diving shop, but allowed to use it so that is great. Diesel and water wise, is a little bit more tricky… You either go south to the Varadero Yacht Club (call in advance if you want to take in diesel, and they have water). Or, as we did, go inside the Renaissance Marina basin, for diesel, well they also have water, but we didnt need that..) The only mistery is: where is gasoline? What i learned is that one actually has to haul that by jerrycan walking from the Renaissance Hotel, to the nearest gasstation (not reachable by dinghy…).. hmm remembers Buzios actually..

A former director of mine and his wife, live on Aruba and as it was her birthday, they decided to charter the Onda Boa for a Birthday Charter. We had a great day, coffee, cake, snacks, buffet and cold drinks on board, and clean water outside, plus some wind… just perfect. Herewith we want to thank Loek and Nel for this great oportunity and also for their hospitality and showing us around.

Yes, Aruba receives a good number of cruise ships, and Oranjestad has the perfect shopping malls both in the centre as well as in the High Rise Hotel Strip…Aruba is friendly, nice climate so it is ok to stay here for a month, as Dora had to back to Brazil to take care of some pending business issues. In the meantime, I will do boatstuff, web site stuff,  some dentist and medical maintenance as well, try to get a US visa (i guess will post about this seperately)  and check out this friendly island.

Be good and all the best,

Pieter