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.

Welcome to Fort Beekenburg

This was our last bit is sight seeing before leaving Curaçao. And since it is a stones throw from Spanish Water where we are anchored, it would be silly not to see it.

After a bit of Internet research as this fort was not listed in any of the tourist information we have, we found out that it was originally built in 1703 and is named after Director Van Beek who planned the city defenses during that time. It was meant to ward off the pirates as well as the French and English fleets protecting the entrance to the Spanish Water lagoon. It is apparently one of the best-preserved forts in the Caribbean.

Well, Rumeli Hisari it is not!

Is it really Spring? Then it must be Segwun time for us...

The word Segwun means spring time and right now it feels rather appropriate. Our Facebook friends in the northern hemisphere are all rejoicing the fact that Spring seems to have arrived! Hurrah! One of my favorites is the garden center sign that Karen posted saying "It's Spring. We're so excited, we wet our plants.".
And for us in the Caribbean, it is a time of change as well. Not for the weather, which is fairly constant here with lows of 25 and highs of 30c, but because we'll be sailing on our own for the first time this year. Yesterday we said a sad farewell to Eric and Liz as they headed off for a couple of weeks in Costa Rica. The boat feels a bit empty without them. It was so nice to see their smiling faces every morning and we will really miss their work in the galley. We had some terrific meals, delicious cakes and we often indulged in their evening snacks. Eric and Liz enjoy their sweets and salty snacks and of course, so do Jens and I. Hey, who ate the rest of the Cheetos? (inside joke...Eric and Liz will be laughing at this one)

The winds have been fairly strong here and were predicted to calm down today, which they have. We will go into town on Monday and do the clearing out process for Curaçao. This means a visit to the Customs office, across the bridge and a visit to the Immigration office. We plan to head to Aruba on Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.

Our Dinghy Has a Name

When we bought Segwun last year, we bought a brand new 10 foot Zodiac dinghy with a 6 hp Nissan outboard motor. We have been warned about dinghies being stolen and since ours was brand new it was a good target. Someone even suggested that we should mark it up with spray paint to make it look less attractive. We just couldn't bear to do that so instead we have invested in a lock for the outboard motor and and a lock and wire so we can lock it up to the dinghy docks whenever we go to shore. And every night, we hoist it up in the davits. Hopefully this will deter any thieves, but we know if they really want to steal it, they will.
We thought we should put the boat's name on the dinghy but that idea was quashed. Apparently, thieves will see that you are ashore and then they just have to find your boat in the anchorage, and help themselves to your stuff while you are away. Hmmm.
Taking the cue from Anastasia, We decided to come up with a cute name for her and after a bit of back and forth we decided on 'squirt'. It's now official! Today she has had her name painted on. She had her maiden voyage sporting her new name when we took our little 'squirt' on a tour of Spanish Water. Spanish Water is a large protected lagoon and is a favorite for cruisers visiting Curaçao as it is well protected. The locals use it for water sports such as sailing and wind surfing. From our anchorage we have a view of the old fort. See next article for pictures.

Unfuzzy versions of previously posted photos

I dont know why the last post uploaded my pictures as fuzzy. I try again here.

A typical fishing boat here in Curaçao. We saw this guy on the North West coast in swells of around 10 feet. He came in with three wahoo each weighing about 15 kilos.

The North West coast. Very rough coast line with the Caribbean sea crashing into the shore.

The beautiful town of Willemsted

A cactus flower

Eric and Liz ... Lunch at Jaanchies.