As we rounded the south end of Aruba the very first thing to be seen was a large and very ugly oil refinery. Not a very auspicious start to our visit as far as I was concerned. As we sailed past the stink became a bit overwhelming. Fortunately the breeze was strong enough to get us past the odiferous area in short time. After passing that particular blight on the land the scenery became a little more pleasant. It is about 12 miles on up to Barcadero where we planned to check in and we had good wind on the beam with flat seas and were running about 8 kts. That's a real good sail for us and we enjoyed it all the way. Arriving off Barcadero we called Aruba Port Control and asked permission to enter and check in. It was granted immediately and we turned into the channel with coral reef visible on both sides. There were several Venezuelan vegetable boats already tied to the dock so eased around the corner and Linda prepared to do her cowgirl act with the dock lines. Just then 2 crewmen from the Ven boats hurried over to catch our lines and make life so much easier. In a couple of minutes we were secure to the dock with an offshore breeze holding us off the BIG ugly black tires used as permanent fenders on many docks. While they are no problem for large steel hulled power boats, they are hell on fiberglass yachts. I thanked the lads with smile and a cold beer. A customs officer eventually wandered out to the boat to approve our arrival and send us up to the office to complete the paperwork. Then over to immigration and we're done. We motored another 2 miles up the coast to the north airport anchorage and dropped the hook among 5 other boats. To the north about half a mile was the cruise ship docks and downtown Oranjestad. Towering over us, even at half a mile, were 3 crise ships. On the other side of us was the west end of the main runway at the international airport. There are an amazing number of arrivals and departures each day. One plane every 10 to 15 minutes. Still, the holding was good and the location convenient. Besides we had no intention of staying any longer than it took to get a wx window for the run to Cartagena. We met some new friends in this anchorage, Mike and Ineka on Conari, and were invited to tour the island with them in their rental car. Naturally we accepted and of we went to see the wizard. Aruba is the smallest of the ABC's and it didn't take long to see most of what there is to see. The southeast end is where most local people live, however most work in Orajestad and the hotel strip north of there. This is where Ft Lauderdale south comes in to the picture. As you drive thru the hotel strip you begin to see familiar names on the hotels and restuarants. Care to stop at Hooters for calamari strips? How about Tony Romas for ribs? In a hur? There's always Mc Donalds or Burger King. There are 50 more familiar names, but I think you get the idea. There is an excellent IGA supermarket where almost anything you could buy in the states is available. Not cheap, but available. We did some serious provisioning there. Never got out the door for less than $300!!! Anyway, it was very much like driving the east coast of FL near Ft Lauderdale. We got very lucky soon after this drive as a long comfortable wx window suddenly appeared around us and it was time to go while we still had a couple of bucks in the bank!

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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.

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After David and Nikkie headed for Ca we had about 3 weeks to hang out and prepare for a visit from Linda's mom. She arived on the 16th 0f Dec at about 8pm. we rented a car and went to meet her at the airport. She arrived tired, hungry and happy to be there. We drove back to the fishermans marina at Spanish Waters and loaded her into the dinghy and puttered out to the boat. There was time for a little conversation before the snooze monster attacked and sent us off to bed. Since we still had the rental car we decided that the first order of business would be to show Elsie the island and Willemstad. After playing tourist we decided to head out to Klien Curacao for a night on the way to Bonaire. Once again the wx cooperated nicely and we had a very pleasant run out o Klien. We anchored in the same sandy spot as last time and were soon snorkeling in the clear waters above the coral. Next, Linda took Elsie ashore to visit the lighthouse and the wrecks on the windard side. They had a long walk on the beach and then called for the taxi (me) to pick them up. The next morning we pulled the hook and raised the main sail and heahed off to Bonaire. We had a very nice sail about 3/4's of the way and then had to motor in the final couple of miles. We picked up a mooring at the end away from the bars and then went ashore to show Elsie the town. As is usually the case she liked Bonaire far better that Curacao. It has a quaint relaxed atmosphere that is very soothing. Elsie spent some time sitting on the sugar scoop feeding the sargent major fish that tend to swarm around the boats looking for a handout. After 2 days and nights it was time to head back to Curacao so Elsie could catch her flight home. This time it was a downwind run all the way so we shook out the spinnaker and took off. About 6 hrs later were were entering Spanish Waters once again. It was a good trip and every one enjoyed themselves, and Elsie can truly say she's done a spinnaker run in open water.

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