Sunday, 7 October 2019, Eagle Beach, Aruba
When vi woke up on Monday morning 'Artemis' had already sailed away in the direction of Santa Marta in Colombia. Vi took the dinghy in to the beach and went to 'Superfood' to do some shopping. This is a really big supermarket with, for example, its own stroopwafel stand. Ten newly made stroopwafels for 4 USD. No way! We bought a little bag of 'kruimels (crumbles)' which are left-overs from making stroopwafels for 1 USD. Just as delicious. Back on the beach we took a swim before taking the dinghy back to the boat.
Our plans are to stay on Aruba another week or so and repair the cockpit. The sikaflex between the teak planks is getting sticky and messy. We have been repairing this for a while now but there are always new patches to fix so we decided to paint the sitting-area in the cockpit white after fixing the sticky bits.
Tuesday morning we took a long walk on Eagle Beach again. This time the other way. It is a very long beach. We just managed to get back to Bengt before a large thunderstorm past us. The wind veered to the south-west and the rain poured down. Eagle Beach is an open anchorage with no reef protecting it so waves build fast. If necessary we have to move back to the Airport Anchorage which has both a reef and a little island giving some protection against south and westerly winds. The wind was cold and the raindrops were huge. Elisabeth took advantage of all the fresh water pouring down from the sky to clean both cockpit and deck. The wind disappeared; the sun came out but the swell remained some more hours. Bengt rolled and rolled.
Wednesday saw the wind back in the east even if the night was horrible hot and humid. We didn't sleep well. Again we took the dinghy in to the beach to shop at 'Superfood' and to find a Wifi hotspot. All hotels and restaurants have a log-in on their Wifi and the free Wifi from the tourist board didn't work. In the end we took a coffee in Superfoods café to get 'free' Wifi. To get access one needs to 'like' them on Facebook. Smart! At last we could check our mail and make some calls via WhatsApp. Nothing from Budget Marine. Elisabeth spend the rest of the day planting grass she had taken from the side of the road. Our cat never goes ashore so he needs to eat some grass once in a while for his wellbeing. She also replanted our two pot plants in new fresh earth (all the way from Holland) bought at the supermarket. I started with the cockpit and removed all sticky sikaflex and used a filler to fill all holes and dents.
Later in the afternoon we went ashore again to take a long walk on the beach. Usually nothing interesting happens but sometimes you pass a baptising ceremony with dip in the ocean or, like today, a wedding. Lots of long dresses, white shirts and many different skin colours. We saw both very black and very white people with all colours in between. After the ceremony people started to throw things in the ocean. Since the wedding was held in Dutch I asked a lady who was walking around with a basket with shells why people were throwing them in the water. The very friendly lady answered that you cast a shell and make a wish for the couple being wed. After thanking her we continued our walk on the beach looking for small pieces of glass for Sue. She makes small things with them. We got, for instance, a little Christmas tree when we said goodbye to them last year on Nevis. When we stroll along the long beach like this we can long back for Lovers Beach on Nevis and the long walks with Lawrence and Sue. Back at the dinghy I was in the way for a passing gull who emptied himself on my back. Splash! Swim and clean.
Thursday 3 October was my 61 birthday. Already at half past three in the morning the telephone rang. My mother had forgotten about the time difference. I was celebrated with breakfast in bed, a birthday song and balloons. As a present I got a little 'Wim' complete with OCC hat, paréo and neckless with a little shell. Unfortunately the weather was to unstable to paint the cockpit after sanding since the teak dries slowly after a rain squall.
Elisabeth had baked a yummy lemon cake which was served with fresh whipped cream. Since we didn't go ashore we could not check our mail or read about Lorenzo's path over the Azores. We send a mail to 'Sabrina', currently in the Canaries, and asked about how the Azores had faired under Lorenzo. It seems the islands didn't suffer major damage but the harbour on Flores, the most westerly island, was destroyed.
We had a real 'Dutch' dinner consisting of 'Vlaamse friet', kroketten and a nice salad. Elisabeth has starting reading books about the Pacific islands and is not even looking at the ones about Patagonia. 'Maybe not such a bad idea to visit the Pacific islands before the rising ocean level makes it impossible' Mmmm! Lighting and rain all around us.
The night to Friday brought wind so we slept very well and had no unwanted visitors in the form of mosquitos. After the rain passed and the sun dried the cockpit I painted it twice with the same paint we used for the table. Looks nice!
Saturday was cleaning and washing day. A long walk on the beach in the afternoon. On Sunday we went ashore to Superfood's café to phone Alice, Elisabeth's eldest dotter, who had her birthday today. Monday we move ...
Until next week!