September 20 - October 12, 2011... Catching Up in Curaçao

Has it really been a month since we updated our blog?  Don’t know where the time goes.  After our return from Ecuador, we provisioned in Bonaire and set out a few days later for Curaçao,  stopping overnight at Klein Curaçao, a small uninhabited island a few miles off the SE coast of Curaçao.  It was a pretty stop -- just us, one other cruising boat, some fishermen, and swooping pelicans.  But, towards morning as the prevailing winds died, the anchorage got rolly, so we only stayed the one night and made our way to the main island.

We chugged into Spanish Water, a large inland bay on the south side of the island and spent a good 1/2 hour trying to figure out where to anchor.  There are restricted anchoring areas established by the harbormaster, so that transient boats don’t clog all the channels used by the fishing and pleasure boats docked in the bay.  We got a spot in Anchorage ‘B’ and stayed there a week or so till we moved to Anchorage ‘C’ in Kabritenbaai, a small protected cove.  Here we wake up to the birds singing and the morning sun shining on the colossal rocks that dot the shorelines all around the bay.  

There are about 80-100 cruising boats here at any time, mostly Dutch and other Europeans, some Canadians and South Americans, but very few from the USA.  (Curacao used to be part of the Netherlands, but is now a completely independent country that is part of the Dutch Kingdom.)  Many boats spend the entire hurricane season here, leaving for Bonaire or Aruba, then returning to restart the clock on their 90-day immigration visas.  Spanish Water is a comfortable anchorage with a morning VHF radio cruiser net and the obligatory happy hour hangout near the dinghy dock.  Several supermarkets send free buses to pick up shoppers, a great convenience.  And, the bus to the capital of Willemstad is just a short walk away.  We love the kayaking and hiking opportunities here; it took four kayaking excursions to circumnavigate the bay and we still have lots of walking and hiking trails to discover.

Close to the anchorage is one of the old forts on the island.  This one, Fort Beekenburg, has been restored enabling you to climb to the top and get some great views over Caracasbaai, Baya Beach, the Caribbean, and Spanish Water.

Klein Curaçao:  11d59.207’N 68d38.779’W

Spanish Water, Curaçao: 12d04.675’N 68d51.522’W (Anchorage ‘B’)

Spanish Water, Curaçao: 12d04.316’N 68d51.556’W (Anchorage ‘C’)