And so it was, with engine repairs (salt water pump replacement, new alternator and other smaller issues) completed earlier than expected (now that's a change in the Caribbean - but the ABC's while in the Caribbean are heavily influenced by European, really Dutch culture, i.e. few dreads and little loud reggae music) we cleared out on 21st January for the 54 mile downwind sail to Oranjestad the capital of Aruba. Because it was later in the day before we completed the time consuming immigration and customs clearances we opted to sail 18 miles northwards required course for Aruba and reduced the passage distance the following day. There was one other yacht at anchor here and after dropping anchor ourselves it was overboard for a swim - a delightful experience given the last 6 days in a boatyard. Also gave us a chance to clean the waterline of vegetable garden type growth during the boatyard stay.


Sunset from the boat at Renaissance Marina, Oranjestad

On the 22nd we motorsailed for a few hours en route for the southern end of Aruba until the wind picked up and then had a good sail under main only, running flat off and then a broad reach up the western coast of Aruba. The most notable feature of what was an uneventful passage was passing about 20 metres from a huge whale lazing on the surface blowing an occasional water spout.


Whale lazing in the sun (hard to see)

The first sighting of Aruba was a mass of chimney stacks which as we got closer in we could see was part of what is now a huge disused oil refinery - an absolute eyesore! The west coast has a number of reefs along its fringe with resulting lagoons behind. Oranjestad is one of these and we dropped sail outside and motored in through the marked channel having called up the Aruba Ports Authority for permission to enter the lagoon (there are one or two cruise ships in every day and the lagoon is restricted in area). We were directed to the industrial quarter and tied up alongside a commercial wharf (black tyres and all) and two cars pulled up alongside. We then completed over an hour of formalities, including me being taken away to the Immigration offices, and a Customs officer searching the boat (and not taking her shoes off - fortunately they were not clogs!) before being released to move to the very upmarket Renaissance Marina, part of a huge hotel complex in the middle of town.


View from stern of boat

There are not many berths here and most are occupied by local power boat owners (appears game fishing is big time here) so we got the only remaining berth! This was very lucky as the other option is anchoring quite a way off in what is called the airport runway anchorage - for reasons that were very apparent. Aruba is a huge tourist destination and is not set up to cater for visiting yachts at all well. Having said that the dockmaster at the marina was very friendly and helpful. The northern west coast of Aruba is covered in large hotels and the volume of air traffic is significant - Aruba is definitely the most favoured tourist destination of the ABC's.


Main street - Oranjestad, Aruba

Oranjestad is quite an attractive town (population of Aruba 109,000 compared with Curacao at 150,000 and Bonaire at 21,000) and as the economy is dependent upon tourism with cruise ships daily and flights arriving every 10 minutes or so, it is good to see that they are reinvesting quite heavily into infrastructure - street are being paved, great palm tree planting, double decker trams running around the town etc. Aloe products are made here and a large range to cover all ailments is available - apparently the soil on the island is conducive to producing aloe with special qualities! All the big name brands are in Oranjestad - Gucci, Louis Vuitton etc in very upmarket premises, plus some big casino's - maybe the Macau of the western Caribbean is a good description? Not really our scene and not great for yachties but we are pleased to have visited.


Part of Renaissance Shopping Centre on waterfront

Friday the 23rd was a day off so we played tourist in the morning and in the afternoon took the hotel ferry (departing right next to our berth) to the "hotel island" where there are bars, a restaurant, a family beach and an adult beach. We relaxed at the latter and had a few swims before catching the ferry for the 15 minute ride back to the hotel.


Pam drives the ferry


Driving role ends

Friday night we had dinner at the Trip Advisor number one restaurant in Aruba - a Portuguese restaurant called Gostoso. We were disappointed.


Pink flamingos at the Renaissance island


The adult beach - Renaissance island

Departing Aruba involves a reverse of the same sequence as when we arrived - taking the boat back around to the industrial port and an hour or so later we were cleared to depart and they stay and watch you leave - in our case heading to Santa Marta, Colombia! Kiwi John is great to have on board and the fact he is with us certainly makes the passages easier and he is excellent company.

For our part we concluded Bonaire was the preferred island of the ABC's (most friendly for visiting yachties and a very laid back atmosphere), Curacao was lovely with excellent facilities available (a couple of stores to rival Bunnings and Caribbean Fasteners where we reckon every type of fastener (or tool) ever manufactured by mankind could be found (really useful for boom repair bolts and heli coils). Boys always like shops like this! Aruba a case of take it or leave it but the Renaissance Hotel/Marina set up is very impressive and very reasonably priced at USD53 a night for us - which gave us card access to all the hotel complex facilities, we suspect much cheaper than the room rates.


The passage to Colombia is notorious for big seas and high winds and a departure on the 24th hooks us into what appears to be a favourable weather window, based on what Bruce Buckley has advised and also our own review of the weather files. This passage is called the Cape Horn of the Caribbean by the locals and is regarded as one of the five roughest passages in the world. (posting this from Santa Marta - good passage)

Cheers for now
Pam & Keith