Willemstad... Curacao

Curacao is the largest of the islands in the Netherlands Antilles and lies off the coast of Venezuela between Aruba and Bonaire. The national bird is the Oriole

We anchored in Spaanse water which is a large natural harbour with only a small channel entering the sea. The plus side of this is that we do not role like we did in Bonaire and it is very protected. The down side to such a harbour is that it does not flush as the tide is only 300mm and as a result we don’t swim or enter that water as it is not clean. It is very fresh at the moment due to all the heavy rainfall and this added with all the nutrients in the water is a haven for all those nasties that wish to grow on the bottom of the boat. In Bonaire the water was so clean we could easily see the bottom in ten meters and when we left gave the bottom of the boat a wipe down with a sponge. After one week here we can see the growth already.

We took a bus into Willemstad the capital, where the main shipping harbour is. The entrance between the port and sea forms a lovely waterfront.

 The entrance was defended through the ages and the forts at the entrance thatvwere expanded to accommodate



the expanding town. Today they have been modernised and contain parliament, hotels and shops. Along the front you find some beautiful old buildings

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that really show the Dutch architecture. These building are absolutely beautiful with their gables and their stucco artwork.




 Many of the old building that had been neglected over time are now being restored to their former beauty and the whole down town area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are of course some old survivors that just go on till they too get their facelift. But they do have character


To cross the river you can walk across the Queen Emma Bridge. Built in 1888 it is the world’s oldest floating bridge and also the world’s longest swinging bridge. It hinges on the one side and swings open when there is shipping traffic, which takes around two minutes.

 Just a little further up from the entrance is a newer bridge that has been built to take traffic across the canal that is 57meters tall to allow large tankers through that take crude oil to the refinery high up in the harbour.
The harbour itself is the seventh largest in the world. It is a pity though that there seems to be a lot of oil spilt in the harbour and all the sides are coated with a gooey layer as well as any of the boats that are in there.

Guess what time we were in town? Yes it was very accurate!