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! 

New Year

Well its a new year and the rain is falling and the wind is blowing... pretty much as expected according to the grib files. Well last night was something else. Leading up to midnight the explosions boomed on and the colours fell from the sky. Noisy and beautiful. Now there seems to be no restrictions on fireworks here, so the more money you spend the more you can light up the sky. Well we have seen in a few new years with firework displays but nothing absolutely nothing coulds compare with midnight here.... The sky erupted. You had to talk very loudly to someone next to you. Being in the middle of Spaanse Waters we had a good view. We were surrounded by some of the most spectacular displays we have ever seen. 360 Degrees of glowing sky. It went on for ages. For the first 30 min it was truly a jaw dropping expierence. At 1am it had toned down a little ...just a little and by 1.30 we finally gave up to go sleep. At four the rain arrived and the last of the die hards fell silent so we could have a quiet lie in. Hope that you all had a good time too.

Bonaire to Curacao

Well we left Bonaire at about 08:15 on Thursday after a night of rolling around the bunk as there was a fair amount of swell rolling into the bay. The wind was 15 kn in the lee of the island and as we got further away it picked up to 25 kn from the E - NE and as we were headed west we had a great romp accross. The passage was a total of 37nm which we covered in under six hours. We were running goose winged at 6.5-8 knots and surfing down the waves at 9+ knots. What a great sail.. Midway we came accross some flamingoes headed for Bonaire. The beautiful pinky orange against the deep blue waves was stunning. Our camera was not on deck and so we just sat and enjoyed the sight. We could  not troll a lure as after 6 - 7 knots there is not too much around with the speed to catch the lure. Wahoo with their great speed would get it, but at that speed and ours plus their 20 - 30 kg weight we would just loose our gear.
Spanish Waters is a lovely natural harbour that affords one a very protected anchourage. The entrance however is very narrow and winds all the way in but is very pretty. Once we were anchored the couple on the dutch boat Zeezot came over and offered us a ride into Willemstat to clear Customs and Immigration. What a lovely couple... we keep meeting all these wonderful people out here cruising. Juust passed them was a little yacht that seemed familiar. We got out the binoculars to see that it was the yacht Monica that we had met with up the Guadiana river (on the border of Spain and Portugal) at Alcoutim. She is if I remember only 28 feet and Paul her owner sailed down the coast of Africa then crossed over the Atlantic to Brazil and has slowly headed along the coast to here.We will have a lot of catching up to do.

Trip to Rincon ...Bonaire

 Well we were going down to Curacao today but due to too much socialising yesterday we did not prep the boat for the trip or get to customs and immigration and if we don’t run around too much again today we should be off tomorrow. The next day being Friday won’t work as we don’t go on Fridays. So then its new year so we may as well stay for that. No moving over the weekend for now as there is a little front with some high winds showing on the grib files with lots of rain. Now this area does not usually get much rain even though it is now its wet season, but so far this season they have had tons of rain. The park up on the NW corner has been closed due to the gravel roads becoming too soggy. We were hoping to go up there but could not hire a car anywhere as the place is full of holiday makers for the festive season. The locals here enjoy letting off crackers at this time of the year....... maybe I should say small bombs!!!! When they go off along the shore you get one hell of a fright. This goes on all day and most of the night. At night you see the flash and count anything up to nine seconds before the boom hits you. That would place the explosion around two and a half kilometres away. We caught a local “bus” out to Rincon which is the oldest settlement on the island. This area was settled first because there are springs there that the people could use to get fresh water from. Well the trip out was interesting as the driver poured himself a beer into a mug for the trip.

 This was consumed on route to Rincon. The island as I said was very green at the moment but would usually be dry and brown. The scrub is mostly Formosa type of thorn trees and massive cacti (great for a cowboy movie).




There are a few interesting limestone rock formations that we saw on the way to Rincon, but as this was no brochure tourist trip there was no slowing for photos. The bus dropped us in the middle of nowhere ... I mean in the middle of Rincon, but talk about laid back.


Well the locals stared at us and us at them we said hello to the few on the veranda of the bank and headed off down the side street that looked the most interesting. Now it does not appear that anything ever happens here and there is not much to see.
 



 There are some lovely old buildings, some well looked after, but far too many that have been left to nature as here in the tropics nature claims back quickly. There is little money here amongst the locals so renovating these buildings is just not a priority.



 I guess as the island becomes more popular as Aruba and Curacao have, richer people moving to the island will buy these cottages for next to nothing and restore them as holiday homes etc. This has already happened on the coast and the price of property along the coast is already fairly expensive.


We bought a cold drink from this lovely little shop. The old lady inside was most helpful and very friendly as all the locals have been.

 After a long walk around we found a local restaurant that seemed to attract a few locals and tourists alike ...a sign of good food. We had a very tasty meal that was also very cheap. Menu had five options... fish fried, goat stew, chicken stew, turkey stew or beef stew. We settle for the fish. Fresh fried with a bean and rice dish flavoured with cinnamon, a polenta and pumpkin dish, chips and salad.

After walking to the edge of town we were given a lift by a lovely couple and their two sons back to Kralendijk. On route we took a few back roads and got to see some of the island that we had not been to yet. It is a pity that we lost out on seeing the south side of the island as this comprises of salt flats in all shades from pastel green to pink depending on how long it’s been left to evaporate for. Some of the salt flats are full of brine shrimp. These brine shrimp attract the flamingos and also contribute to their amazing colour. If you get to the right place it will look like this(compliments of a placemat)

 

 but we only found a few in a flat on the edge of town where they were well spread out but still stunningly beautiful. so no group photo for us but the individual ones will do even though they were a little distant.

 

Back at the waterfront the fishermen returned with their days catch. Early  morning they catch small fish to use as bait just off the front of the anchourage and then dissappear out to sea. this lot returned with some lovely wahoo and a tuna that you will find freshly prepared in most of the restuarants. The only fish we found in the shops were farmed talapia?????? I guess if the locals want fish they just need to drop a line in the water. While on our mooring we caught two 4kg yellow tail jacks/trevalley. One on a salt water fly my last one that I lost the next night and the second on a blue/silver squid wanne bee. Well at least it fooled the fish

And to finish off with a picture of Papillon dressed overall for the festive celebrations.

 

 



The ol' Island Grog... life blood of the Caribbean

As Bonaire is a very dry island, so dry in fact that it is one of the best solar salt producers of the world. The terrain is harsh and as a result no one ever tried to grow sugar here.  Now Grenada and most of the other Windward Islands this is not so. With good rainfall over summer when the cane needs to grow and cheep slave labour the islands found their fortune waiting in sugar. When the slaves we’re freed and sugar prices declined the sugar industry all but collapsed. However there are some aspects of the sugar industry that will not go down.... well it’s because it does go down so well especially on the beach at sunset with the fruits of the tropics that it has survived. Rum is the drink of the Caribbean and where ever you go you will find rum punch waiting to wash the sweat of the day away. For the more hardy the rum heads up to 70%+ alcohol and you too can start your fire or run your car on this. All the islands have their grog shops and some more of these than any other shop. Touring around Grenada we visited one of the oldest distilleries on the island. Nothing has changed for centuries and the rum is produced in the same old traditional way. Hand cut cane is brought in and crushed in a large roller that is driven by a water wheel. From here it runs down into a building where they heat the sap to evaporate some of the liquid to raise the sugar content. Now seeing this will more than put you off rum so do not study the next photo too carefully. This grey soggy mess then gets pumped into an open vat where it is left for over a week. Who knows what all happens to fall in here but that must account for the little variation in flavour with different batches. The slop is left to be attacked by all the wonderful goodies in the air that help it to turn your stomach... I mean that helps to ferment what’s in the vat (neighbours cat and lost rat included). Now just as some would give up hope for this mix it gets pumped out into a large  copper still. Some good old fellow stokes the fire and gets the brew a boiling (not quite as alcohol evaporates at 35Deg)...  so let’s say he sets it a simmering and everyone goes to the testing side to wait on the first lethal drops of liquid. If they are not lethal enough ie you car won’t start then they send it back into the still to give it another go. Once a crystal clear pure 70%+ proof flows out of the pipe it is then placed in a holding vat to be bottled. Now you would think this was export grade, but due to restrictions on flammable goods on aeroplanes they do have to water it down to below 70% as stipulated by by-law sub section xxx of the aviation.....Yeah right! Oh well it works well on a yacht. When you catch a big fish that is a little less enthusiastic about being on your deck than you are about it... celebrate and pour some on its gills and it soon settles. Cheers!