Klein Curaçao 🇨🇼
29 januari, Curacao ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
We arrived at dusk, had supper and went to SLEEP! So grateful for a safe, and relatively quiet passage. We had a few rigging things to adjust and fix (our errors), but otherwise, we rested!
We were concerned that we may have dropped anchor too close to the tour boats (9 in total showed up), but they all maneuvered around us. We set to shore, and enjoyed walking around the island, seeing the lighthouse (1850) which we observed sailing towards the island and actively flashing through the night.
As we swam to shore, we noticed that an anchor was tangled in containers/mooring, so Brian set about finding the owner. We chatted for a few minutes to owners/ captain of Aqua Azul business and adult son Jacob…. Who had placed the anchor on purpose.
With all the people and the boats I expected an increased noise level, but it was just a humm on the boat, and enjoyable to people watch after we swam back. We also worked on getting all our charts in order, syncing with the chart plotter and updating active captain and Navionics app. This met Brian had to reach out to his ex-wife for the Apple password in order to do a much overdue update. She graciously obliged and I don’t think we will have any glitches with Active Captain again…. and we now have charts on Navionics and the Chartplotter for the rest of our journey through South and Central America.
At 4pm the last boat left and all was quiet again. The anchorage was a bit more rolly in the evening…. But we were still grateful to sleep in bed! 🛌 Only some music and a dog wandering (must be the caretakers) were signs that someone was still on little Curacao!
After two nights, before the Mermaid and other tour boats arrived, we hoisted the anchor and headed to Spaanse Waters, dropped the dinghy and headed for Customs & Immigration (after I filled out Sail Clear and our Digital Immigration cards online).
Christel is in Miami and returning to Curacao on Friday… and we will use her car, and then figure out our time on the island. It feels so strange to be here on Lorena, to share this Alice of heaven with Brian (and hope he loves it as much as I do)! My 4th time here since 2023.Meer informatie
Goodbye Curaçao
11 februari ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
It has been a jam packed time in Curacao…. And I’ve enjoyed every moment!
Christel gave us her car, and much was amazing!! Although I used it to get to and from the Studio (Movements Yoga and Pilates: https://www.movementscuracao.com/). I went to Christel’s Power Yoga class on a Sunday and taught the following Sunday. I taught two classes on Monday (Feb 2nd and 9th), a Yin in the morning and Flow in the evening, was a second set of hands for Christel’s waitlisted Yin and Sound on Wednesday night (which is how we started 3 years ago), I helped with an influencer event on Friday night and had a meeting with Edward and Kim (Kura Botanica and Spa 8) about running a retreat in October. Sadly I didn’t attend any classes (but also taught my regular Wednesday and Friday morning classes for RWW).
With Brian, we went snorkelling to Tug Boat Beach and to Mambo a couple times. We also drove to Piscetera (but didn’t swim), and swam also on the last day at playa Caracasbai, with Joeny, Wouter and Christel. We swam often around the boat, however, the current was really strong!
Friends came to visit the boat: Diana and her two daughters, Ingeborg, Michelle (Christel’s mom), and Wouter, Joeny, Christel (and their friend Dave). As that crew was leaving (they swam/ SUP to the boat), Coast Guard decided to board us (but Brian was taking Wouter back to land as he was starting an on call shift. We had the papers they asked for, although it was blowing hard that day and I was upset that their boat may have scratched Lorena.
One of our days was spent trying to get our yellow fever vaccination, make sure we had the “card” and see if mine could be updated (as I had the card but it says in expires after 10 years, but Doctors now say it is lifetime). Luckily we ended up at Dr Allard office. I knew both his (Chris) siblings (Harry, whose house I stayed at when Christel was pregnant, and Eline who helped us build the website for Movements). It took the whole day, but we were grateful to get it done…. Although we are no longer in need of it, as Santa Marta (our original plan for Columbia) is now off the table due to weather and we are heading to Cartagena.
I got to show Brian the two yoga studios, Peitermaii and Otrobanda, and both bridges. We actually got to see the Queen Emma Bridge opening.
We went to La Reina and the Nut Boise for gluten free treats. We went to 4 different grocery stores while on the island and of course Budget Marine (and Freedom Marine).
The last day, our outboard stopped working so we took it to Yan Tuk and not only did he get it to start spitting water again (the thermometer was gone), he taught us how to do it and how to change the impeller! He was very very kind and we were grateful… although we still ended up rowing back as something else seems to have gone wrong.
We went for dinner with some other sailors (Burger Haus), went to Disboer with Christel and gang, and Nut house with just Brian and Hofi Cas Cora for bunch and a tour of the farm. We also had a meal (wraps) at Christel’s house… and swam in the pool with Joeny who is so adventurous and growing.
We climbed seru kabritu… a had a great hike with Michelle. We also explored the fort on a different day.
I enjoyed watching Brian with Joeny… he will have fun as a grandpa someday.
We stayed the entire time in Spaanse Waters and Brian seemed content there. The wind was wicked for a few days, but there was no swell and good sleeps! There was also always LOTS of activity happening: racing, wind surfing and wind foil, tour boats and more. Anglo, from the Mermaid, took us to our boat the night it died (we rowed the whole way next night). He came on board for awhile and he also lives on the boat.
Brian thought Curacao was like Southern California and loved the climate, and the bay. I was worried he wouldn’t like it… but it was magical for him too!Meer informatie
Cape Horn of Colombia
15 februari, Caribbean Sea ⋅ 🌬 27 °C
We attempted to leave Curacao early on Wednesday morning…. But in the process of hoisting the dinghy we maligned the arm of the wind turbine…. So we replaced the parts and continued onward. We went to the Curacao Yacht Club only to realize they had 5ft depth, so we back tracked to the other fuel dock… and over flowed the tank. Not a great start to the voyage, but we persisted, nearly missing the channel and getting into the shallows — the frazzled captain made the turn, put up the sail and we were OFF!
We sailed into the night, beyond Aruba, making good time under sail. We were goi g to Jib at 2-3am but waited till dawn, to move the preventer (keeping the boom from an accidental jib). Once we jibbed, it was evident that we would need the engine as we were no longer on a broad reach but full downwind.
Eventually we took the main sail down and put out the geneoa on the wisker pole. We motor sailed like this all day…. However, in the morning we noticed an odd noise coming from the rudder which was a cause for great concern. I asked Brian to check it out, and he didn’t think much of it…. But as the day progressed, and he heard it consistently, he worried. By dinner he had called his friend (Migel from Colombia) and had them put us in touch with the coast guard. They suggested we go into Puerto Bolivar (Cabo de la Vela), but it was not a lite entry and too dangerous for us. We decided to proceed toward Santa Marta. We asked our weather guru, Chris Parker, for an updated forecast — but he was slow to respond.
We took the pole down, and motored with the stay sail through the night. The next morning Brian was anxious that the Gudgeon was the problem. I had no such concern. We checked it out again and finally I put my phone in the water (with a case), and Brian stuck his head in the water…. Relieved that it was not the rudder itself. With that information in hand we decided to proceed past Santa Marta and head directly for Cartagena, aiming to arrive on the afternoon of the fourth day.
We expected the wind and swells to recede after we past Barranquilla, however the swells seemed to get bigger and the wind only backed off slightly. The highlight on day 3 and 4 were the dolphins!! 4 different and distinct looking pods visited us over a 36 hour span. The entrance to the Cartagena harbour at Grand Boca, is very narrow, and has no physical bouys, only marks on the GPS. The charts showed that we had depth to cross prior to the green, but it was wrong and we saw 4ft under the keel… and quickly motored away with me shouting “starboard.” Although we had a slip at Club de Pesca, the wind was high and we opted to anchor and try in the morning. We arrived, ate and went to bed.
Sleep was SO good!!
Today we messaged for help as we knew it would be a tight squeeze and Robe came out with his tender. Unfortunately, with an enclosed pilothouse, Brian cannot hear the shouts of Spanish, and I could not understand. After we burst a fender, I asked Brian to reverse and talk to the workers who were hollering instructions I did not understand. Once we knew what we had to do, the process went smooth and although tight, we managed to get into dock 123. Once in, and caffeinated, Brian dove the rudder again to see if it would give a clue to the noise, we then bleed the lines and tightened the stern gland. Tomorrow we have a guy coming to the boat to help us.
Afterwords, we both had a long shower and washed our hair at the marina… such a highlight. We hadn’t taken an unlimited water shower since Trinidad, over a month ago… the little luxuries!!
After getting the electric hooked up, we turned on the A/C and went for a walk in the old city, having a nice dinner at Mar Y Zielo.Meer informatie