Spanish Waters, Curacao, February 2009

         Spanish Waters anchorage

Enjoying sundowners.                                              

                                                                          

      Sunset scene from our "front porch."

Yes, we're still here in Curacao. Who'd a thought???? Why are we still here? Weather and work. Or maybe I should say work and weather. We are having our mainsail and one of our trampolines mended. In addition, Mike has installed one new turbo on our starboard engine and cleaned the other. Major jobs! Many thanks to our recent visitors, the Dariens, for lugging the two turbos from Colorado. We also had our genoa rigged so that it will rollerfurl, which should make a wonderful improvement when sailing in light winds.

And it's Mardi Gras time.

Party boat with rockin' music.

  

           Mardi Gras decorations spring up at the dock.

As time has slipped by, our plans have changed. We had hoped to go west to Cartagena, Colombia, then on to the San Blas Islands. However, there just isn't enough time to enjoy that area and get out of the hurricane zone by July 1, as required by our insurance. Oh, well. Next year!

Meanwhile we are planning to head to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Of course, depending on the weather, we're not sure if we'll be able to go directly there or have to backtrack a bit then go up the island chain. Time will tell.

In the meantime, we're enjoying the cool weather here in Curacao. Because there is so much available in Curacao, we are taking advantage and frequently ride the bus into town ion search of goods. It is almost always a full day by the time we take our dinghy from the boat to the dinghy dock, wait for the bus—often late, walk many blocks to our destination, then ride the bus back to the bus station to board the bus for home. Of course, we often stop at a favorite local lunch spot called Plasa Bieu. It is a series of restaurants under one roof like the food courts in the U.S. That's where we had some delicious chicken satay, which Mike has been trying to replicate at home. We have also had a roti, a combination lunch of green beans, chicken, stewed meat, plantains, and salad placed on something like a tortilla. We sit at picnic benches covered with checkered vinyl cloths. The food is relatively inexpensive and delicious. Our favorite place in Plasa Bieu is called Gracias de Dios. After lunch we wait for the bus which sometimes comes and sometimes doesn't.--at least on time. The other day, for example, after rushing to get to the bus stop, the bus was over an hour late. Apparently the bus driver had had an accident, but of course, there's no replacement bus. By the time we get back from town, the day is usually over for any worthwhile work on the boat. In the evenings twice a week there's a happy hour at the local sailing club, Asiento. On other nights, we often have happy hour on others' boats or our own. Everyone takes their own drinks and a snack or dish to share. Lots of fun! Plus we make lots of new friends.

Here in Curacao, so many people are from other countries. Most speak English so we get by quite well.

We think a weather window might be coming up by the first of next week, so hopefully we'll be off.

 

Above are Esther, Baby Elmot, and Camille of Dutch S/V Al-Um.   They brought us homemade butterbiscuit, a Dutch shortbread, for  assisting them one night at 2 a.m.  They had come into Spanish Waters anchorage under sail hoping to get to their dock, but their engine would not start and they could not sail in.  They radioed for help realizing that maybe no one would hear their plea.  Fortunately, we did and were able to guide them safely to their slip.  

Wow! Wahoo for sale at fisherman's dock.

Fellow boater takes his dog for a "walk."

Curacao, December 23, 2008- Present

We have been in Curacao, the next island after Bonaire, since just before Christmas. It's another beautiful Dutch island in the West Indies. We anchored in an area called Spaanse Water—Spanish Waters. It's a very international community with many Dutch making this their home. We have met sailors from Germany, Australia, Tasmania, Sweden—the list goes on. One can get most anything here from boat parts to food to other supplies which is one reason it's such a popular place. Also there are competent people who can help diagnose and repair boats, a constant issue for boaters.

We celebrated Christmas and New Years with our good friends Jason and Karen on YOLO. Trying to get started on the boat issues was futile as most people were on holiday. We did, however, have one stroke of luck when we ventured to town riding various busses and walking distances between them—the usual routine--in search of “Carlos” who we learned could test our fuel injectors. Although the business looked closed, a walk to the back of the business turned him up, one of about three people working that day. He not only tested the equipment for us, but did it for free since no one was in the office to tell him the charge. A lucky day!!

On January 9th, our friends the Dariens from Marble, Colorado, arrived. We had rented a car from Imke, a fellow who does many things for yachties, by merely telling him our name and giving him $25. No paperwork. No need to show insurance or driver's license. Just the money and a promise to fill the tank to its present capacity. Oh, well. It worked for us.

This was Larry's and Dana 's third visit on the boat so they knew the drill. When the windy weather settled down, we sailed up the coast to Groot Knip. However, anchoring was not permitted there nor were there any mooring balls. (We had had to make a trip to the harbormaster to outline our travels and get permission to go where we intended. However, the harbormaster did not know about whether there were mooring balls in Groot Knip.) So back down the coast we went until we got to Santa Cruz—a lovely beach. Our YOLO friends joined us later on their way to Aruba. We all snorkeled a bit there and visited another nearby beach with a friendly little beach bar. A few days later we moved down to Santa Marta. Another pretty beach beckoned us, but we would have had to pay to use it. It was part of the resort there. We stayed a few days and were lucky enough to find a fisherman who gave us—yes, gave—us four Wahoo steaks. They were delicious. Despite our efforts to get fish, it has been relatively uncommon to find and be able to buy fresh fish. We learned that there are lots of fish 400-600 feet deep, but of course, we don't fish that deep so we don't catch any.
A return to Spanish Waters on Friday, January 23rd, allowed us to have dinner at the highly touted Equus restaurant. It's only open on Fridays! We all loved it—skewers of melt-in-your-mouth steak or chicken with garlic bread is the entire menu, of course, with wine or some other drink. We now knew why our friends insisted that it's one of the best restaurants in Curacao.
Before the Dariens left, we rented the car again and toured the island. True to the ABC climate,

the island is arid with lots of large cactus covering it. It too is a haven for flamingoes. We decided not to visit the normal tourist places and just enjoyed driving around the island.

The bananaquits are plentiful here and the oriole is the national bird.

The Dutch influence is charming and most prevalent in Willemstad, the capital, where old buildings are being restored and painted bright colors.

The Venezuelan floating market in Punda was a draw for its fresh, delicious vegetables.

Now, we are waiting for sail and engine repairs hoping to move on within the next couple of weeks.