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| Passages leaving Curacao - taken by Deanne on sv/Pleiterik |
Curacao and Aruba – plans change quickly.
There have been a few times since the last blog
post, when we have felt we are going one step forward and two steps back. But
then that is life on a boat – Maintenance on the water or paradise.
It is Monday 10 November as I am writing this
blog entry and we are STILL waiting for the stainless-steel tradies to start
work on modifying our arch. We would dearly love to leave for Aruba on Thursday
as there is a good weather window. So, it is the same in most countries –
‘Hurry up and wait’ for tradies to appear.
In between waiting, we have once again had issues
with the fridge – it is so frustrating as Mel regularly checks and maintains the
refrigeration system. Our microwave also went on the blink but that has been
fixed and is ready for collection sometime today. While Mel has been trying
desperately to sort out all the mechanical issues, I have been cleaning and polishing
and doing some sewing. I finished the courtesy flags for the three countries we
will be visiting, plus I am trying to reinforce our bugs nets on our porthole
screens. The “no-see-‘ems” are the worst as their name suggests, you cannot
easily see them but boy as I am sure many of you know and have experienced, you
sure feel the little buggers.
It has not been all work and no play, as like
most things in life, when you have a problem or a tricky situation to deal
with, sometimes walking away from it for awhile gives you better clarity to
deal with the situation.
We decided to travel to the most western point of
Curaçao. Along the way, we stopped off at Hofi Mango.
It is a nature park with mango trees over three hundred years old. It is set in a valley, so the vegetation is quite different from the rest of the island. It is lush and green. It is always lovely to be able to walk around in amongst the vegetation. Unfortunately, like most places within the Caribbean, this was once a place where slaves worked in the sugar cane industry. However, the sugar cane industry in Curacao was not successful due to the arid conditions found on the island, although there is a small rum distillery in Hofi Mango. We enjoyed a lovely leisurely brunch after walking through the gardens.
As in many parts of the world, tourism is the
main money earner in Curacao, and the government officials are expecting a huge
increase of tourists to visit Curacao over the next few years. Many companies
and restaurants are trying to prepare for this increased influx. Hofi Mango is
one such place as while we were there, we could see the construction of the new
Zip Line.
After Hofi Mango, we took a leisurely drive
further NW to the bay of Santa Cruz. We wanted to check this bay as our sailing
plans were to check out of Curacao, then sail along the coast to Santa Cruz,
where we would spend the night anchored and leave early the following morning
for Aruba.
Mount Christoffel through the
gap.
Unfortunately, in Curacao, you must physically
check in and out at Customs and Immigrations. No online formalities like in most
Caribbean countries. This is a pity as while we were driving along the coast
(Leeward) we stopped at one or two lovely places where it would be magical to
drop anchor and spend time there.
It is always fascinating to see how the
vegetation quickly changes from lush green to once again the dry desert type vegetation
as we approached the western point and drove along the west coast of the
island. The main national park of Curacao is the Christoffel National Park,
where the highest point of the island, Mount Christoffel (370m) can be seen. We
stopped off for a late lunch/bite to eat at an appropriately named restaurant,
Daniel. (FYI – my maiden name was Danielsen and our nephew in law’s, name is
Daniel).
While we were waiting for the stainless steel to be done, and the last bits of our woodwork to be completed, we decided to visit the Jewish Museum and Synagogue in the main centre of Curacao. The
Mikve Israel- Emanuel Synagogue is 350 years old and is the oldest synagogue to be in continuous use in the New World. While we were there, a young guy and his family were preparing for his Bar mitzvah.
Mikvé
Israel-Emanuel – , where ancient Jewish history and ritual meet in the Dutch
Caribbean
During this time as well, Monica and Dave from
the sv: Evy arrived back in Curacao from Canada, ready to start preparations
for the sailing season. It was lovely to see them once again but bittersweet,
knowing they are going north towards the BVI’s while we were going west towards
Colombia and Panama. We met up with Monica and Dave, several times before we
left Curacao.
The vibrant and colourful floating vegetable and
fruit market.
As I mentioned earlier, we were waiting for the
stainless-steel tradies to complete the work we needed on our arch for our
dinghy. Well on Tuesday 11 November, by 4.30pm, everything was completed and we
were chuffed. It meant now we could focus on preparing for the start of our
sailing season and start heading towards Aruba, Colombia and eventually Panama.
One of the
challenges for this season was the sail to Colombia and the well-known and
documented Katabatic winds that howl down the slopes of the Sierra Nevada
mountain range and a persistent Low-pressure system over the Caribbean coast of
Colombia. There are a number of places throughout the world where if you get
the wrong weather conditions, you can have wind against current which leads to
standing waves. These waves can have dire consequences and challenging sailing
conditions. This is not a situation we wanted to find ourselves in. One of the
main reasons for leaving Perth a little earlier this year, was to sail to Colombia
by the end of November, before the Christmas winds set in. We are always
looking at the weather and accessing what
the best conditions are for sailing. While we were preparing Passages
for our sail to Aruba, we looked a bit further than the forecasted 7-day
weather and noticed that the weather from Thursday – Monday was perfect for
sailing to Santa Marta, Colombia. After that, the weather did not look great
for at least another 10 days. If we went to Aruba, we would be stuck in Aruba
for almost two weeks, with an uncertain window after then. We weighed up the
pros and cons. Yes, Aruba would have been nice to be anchored off the main
town. However, the checking in and out of the country is tedious and
challenging. Aruba’s bureaucracy is not encouraging for yachties to visit them.
They would prefer the BIG cruise ships, with masses of people and people on
planes. Plus, it would have been extremely expensive as the American ‘Thanksgiving’
weekend was fast approaching.
We decided to still check out of Curacao, on Thursday
13 November, sail up the coast to Santa Cruz and spend the night there. Early
Friday morning, 14 November, the anchor was up, and we headed to Santa Marta, Colombia,
sailing past Aruba. I will elaborate more in our next blog post, but it is safe
to say, despite all the concerns etc., we had one of our best and fastest sails
to date to Santa Marta, Colombia.
Hence the late blog posting……..
So, until next time…..
Take care, keep well, and stay safe.
Best wishes, always
Mel and Caryn
Hofi Mango
Mikve Israel- Emanuel Synagogue
Sights of Curacao.
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| This is the opening of the Queen Emma bridge - we did exactly the same thing as this tug on our arrival and departure in Curacao. |
