Sailing into Curacao

July 9th

Spanish Waters

As “Land Ahoy!” echoed through Quercus, our sailboat, a flock of neon pink flamingos flew past us headed back to Bonaire. We had sailed out of Kralendjik, Bonaire, earlier that morning and after another quick down wind sail we were rounding the southern tip of Curacao. The wind was 20-25kts with the waves around 5-7ft and we were under full genoa and main. Our destination in Curacao was Spanish Waters, one of the most protected natural harbors in the Caribbean. A perfect hurricane hole outside of the main hurricane paths. Curacao actually has two such natural harbors, and ever since Columbus’s scout “discovered” Curacao there has been a political tug-of-war between the Spanish and Dutch over the island. In the 1800s Dutch finally gained total control and it has remained a Dutch island for the past two hundred years.

The entrance to Spanish Waters is a very narrow channel no wider than 50-75ft at the most. It is extremely difficult to be certain exactly where the entrance is just by eyeballing it from the rolling ocean for the first time. As we neared the marked spot on our charts Mom and I went forward as look outs and John and Captain manned the helm and sails. Just as we were approaching this critical point in our trip I spied a Coast Guard cutter steaming full speed at us from our rear. While we had to contend with a stiff breeze and choppy seas this ship’s wake was twice as large as the waves in the ocean, some 9-11ft! As it continued toward us at that reckless speed I could see that it would cause wet and rough trouble for us.

I started waving frantically to get them to either slow down or to move away from us. They seemed to get the message about their wake and slowed down at the niche of time but inched closer to our boat and began calling out to us on their megaphone. After a few minuets of chaotic gesturing, while we were also busy trying to lower the sails, not run aground, spot the entrance, the captain finally was able to get them on the radio. The Coast Guard then proceeded to ask for detailed information regard the people on board, passport numbers, saftey equipment, ship documents, all the while we are trying to stay oncoarse. Unlike when you get pulled over in a car, on the ocean, especially when so close to shore you can’t just stop and sit still. The boat keeps moving. Thus by the time the Coast Guard were satisfied and turned to go chase down other ships we had already passed our entrance by several miles! Heading around and clobbering upwind we finally were able to turn into the channel. The weather was slightly overcast and the visibility through the water was nearly zero. Even with depth sounding equipment, the best practice on board when entering new and shallow harbors is to keep a sharp eye out. As we wound our way up the narrow path and avoided running aground some very shallow patches the channel opened up wide and revealed Spanish Waters.

Anchor down, coffee water boiling, and we are finally safe and sound in Curacao. Looking around there are more sailboats anchored here than we had seen in the past few months. There are ships of every shape and size anchored, windsurfers racing around the boats, and tiny little sailboats with white sails roaming around the bay. The first thing we noticed was that the color of the water was brown. After being spoiled by pristine ocean waters filled with color and life, we were a little dissapointed by the pond like water in Spanish Waters. With only the small channel connecting this body of water with the ocean, the water is stagnant and still. We were rather surprised when we threw out some moldy bread over the side and there was no mob of fish devouring it. The sad pile of bread crumbs just floated away. We have found that just a few min. walk over the spit of land reveals the pristine waters we left behind so we are still able to swim and snorkel, just not as easy as jumping of the boat had been! Oh how spoiled indeed we have become. Another thing we noticed coming around the bay was that this was a major island, the bay was lined with summer homes, and at night we are surrounded by the twincle of the city lights. Boy have we entered something different!

Photos From Spanish Waters:

Quercus at Anchor

Windsurfers

Spanish Water Summer Homes