Days 103 and 104, Year 1: Hanging Out in Curacao
Date: Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29, 2006
Air Temperature: 82 degrees F
Water Temperature: 80 degrees F
Location: Spanish Waters, Curacao
Where does the time go? We arrived here on Thursday, went to town and checked in with Customs and Immigration on Friday, and now it is Sunday. We did take the shuttle bus to the grocery store on Saturday morning and we were able to pick up our copy of The Panama Guide from Budget Marine. We were able to buy most, but not all, of the supplies we need for the next leg of our journey. When we leave here on Tuesday or Wednesday, we will have a full 7 days of sailing – maybe more – before we reach the San Blas Islands. We will stay there for 2 weeks and then head on to the Panama Canal. There are no facilities in the San Blas for food, water, or fuel, so we need to be fully stocked with fresh fruits, vegetables, water, and fuel before leaving here. Mark spent most of the afternoon yesterday taking the dinghy into shore, filling our two 5 gallon water cans with water, bringing them back to the boat, and pouring them into our water tanks . . . 10 gallons at a time. We were completely empty so we knew it would take about 18 trips to complete the job. I think he has 9 trips left to go so he will finish the job tomorrow as nothing is open on Sunday, not even the water faucet!
The weather report yesterday was not good. It sounded as if we might not be leaving here for a few days. Today, however, our weather guru, Herb, said that we might be able to leave on Tuesday if we head northwest to 14 or 15 degrees North and then head west to 78 degrees west before turning south. What that means is that we will go about 120 miles further north than the direct course to the San Blas and then head south that same 120 miles when we reach Panama. In other words, we are adding 240 plus miles to our 600 mile trip because of the high winds and seas off the Columbian coast. But from the reports we have been hearing from those who have opted not to head north before heading south, I’d rather go the extra miles rather than sustain damage to the boat. The seas can be terribly rough between here and Panama, and seem to have been exceptionally so recently, so we will take the longer, but safer route.
When I check in with you tomorrow night, I will have more specific information on our exact departure time, but in the meantime, we are preparing to leave on Tuesday morning. I will head into Willemstad tomorrow to check out while Mark heads to the grocery store and Budget Marine on the morning shuttle. That will get him back here by noon so he can make sure we get our water maker parts that should be delivered tomorrow. The trip to town takes longer and I will probably not get back until mid afternoon. One thing I will do while in town is check our gmail account. There is no high speed internet here in Spanish Waters, so I will take the computer to town to check in.
For those of you who send comments to our website: We have to be connected to a high speed connection in order to check the website. The next time we will be able to do that is in Panama, so please understand that any messages you send in the next 3 weeks will not be read or returned until near the end of February. This will be the longest time that we will have gone without high speed connections, so just wanted you to know that.
Note: Today would have been my sister Margie’s 78th birthday. I can’t let the day go by without paying tribute to her. She loved the cruising lifestyle and took me for my very first boat trip when I was 13. We went on her 26-foot cabin cruiser from Charleston, West Virginia, to Cincinnati, Ohio, motoring up the Kanawha River into the Ohio. I have onboard Windbird a dried yellow rose that I kept from Margie’s funeral last spring. It travels with me wherever I go and helps me feel as if I am sharing this trip with her. Margie, I’m always thinking of you . . .
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| 060129 Day 104 Caribbean, Curacao–Tour of Willemstad |
