Aruba! Aruba! Here we come!

We spent two lovely weeks in Curaçao. It started to feel comfortable and familiar. We knew our way around with the buses and got into a routines for our shopping expeditions (namely groceries and spare parts) Veugenhil, the large grocery store on the East end of the island, provides a shuttle bus service from the Fisherman's Wharf and back, which was perfect as Budget Marina is just around the corner.

Small island town of Willemsted overshadowed by the visiting cruise ship.

We met some really nice people during our stay. The Dutch couple in Angelique II anchored next to us, Dia and At have been sailing for more than eight years and are now thinking of heading home to Holland. They shared some incredible stories of their journey with us. They have experienced a sinking boat and losing engine, sail and steering during a storm off the coast of Africa. They are both so cheerful and positive and you can plainly see the love between them.

Karen and Richard aboard Snowaway as we leave Curaçao.

We also met up with a couple of Canadian boats. Trillium Wind with Cedric and Janet from Oakville who plan to head over to Bonaire for a while before returning to Curaçao where they'll leave their boat for the summer season. We tried to talk them into the journey to Panama with us, but they plan to do that trip next year. In the meantime, we met up with and are now traveling another Canadian couple, Karen and Richard on Snowaway. Their plans nicely coincided with ours so we are journeying together.

Monday morning we took advantage of the shuttle service one last time and stocked up on groceries. We cleared out with Customs and Immigration that afternoon and made the boat ready to leave before heading over to Trillium Wind for cocktails. Janet had such a delicious spread that we didn't have room for dinner that night.

Tuesday morning we sailed out of Spanish Water around 8am. We decided to do the trip to Aruba in two sections, covering the first 25 miles along the South coast of Curaçao to Westpunt on the first day. Richard and Karen had done a recon on Sunday and recommended a good anchoring spot in the small bay. It was a very nice sail, calm waters, and good wind. Jens spotted a small flock of flamingos in flight. Really amazing sight! They were just a little too far to get a photo even with my zoom lens. We were anchored by early afternoon, napped and then snorkeled the reef before dinner. What a wonderful day.

Wednesday 3:30 am and the crew of Segwun and Snowaway are up and about getting ready to go. We want to arrive to Aruba in good light and we have about another 56 miles to go. We set sail immediately and sailed the whole distance. Jens put out the fishing lines and almost immediately got a bite, but it was a sharp snap and whatever it was made off with our brand new lure. I think the fish are winning these days. Just as we were coming to Aruba we got another bite and then another one. This time we pulled in two nice small tuna. Our first tuna ever.

Aruba is an island with two very different sides to it. Arriving from the West the coast is industrial with the whole south eastern tip covered by a huge oil refinery. Not the most beautiful sight particularly with all the pollution billowing out. Sailboats have to clear in at Barcadera which is a working pier and to make it worse it is right next to the island's garbage dump. Another unsightly and smelly place.

The Aruba flag is hoisted and we are now ready to find an anchorage for the night.

But travel a little further up the coast and you see miles of white sand beaches, palm trees and resorts. We decided to anchor just off the beach along the resort strip.

Tomorrow we'll go to shore and explore the island. Time now to filet the Tuna and have an early dinner.