With Elsies departure we began a rapid provisioning of things we had been told you could not get in Cartagena, and of course anything you might want in the San Blas as almost nothing is available there. Three days and a couple of thousand dollars later we were ready to depart. It looked as though the wx was once again going to smile on us with a decent window for the crossing to Aruba. We departed Spanish Waters right after 1st light and went NW up the coast to Santa Cruz Bay, our jump off spot. It is 25 miles closer and so cuts the trip by 3-4 hrs. Upon arrival we found our friends on Katana already anchored there. They too were headed for Aruba. Santa Cruz is a small but quite pretty bay enclosed by coral and rock walls. There is a very nice beach on the east shore and clear water if you're up for snorkeling. We did not do any exploring as we were going to depart at about 4am so as to arrive by noon. We had thought to get some sleep, but we had forgotten it was New Years Eve. Even here in this remote location the locals were up setting off fireworks all night long. So much for sleep! We pulled the hook at 4am somewhat bleary eyed, but ready to go none the less. It was very dark under a star filled sky as we eased carefully out of the bay and made it to open water without incident. Lights from nearby towns twinkled to the left and right as we got further out to sea. With the coming of the light we set sails and settled in for the trip.