We left Bonaire early in the morning and sailed off our mooring hoping not to wake anyone. We hoped to make it to Curaçao before three o clock so we could check in with customs. It was a good passage and the sea was relatively calm till we reached the bottom of Curaçao and made our way up the coast. We managed to sail most of the way using just the Genoa with the wind behind us blowing 20 to 25 knots. We were aiming for Curaçao Marine where we had booked a slip so that we could investigate a creak that seemed to be coming from our boom.
As we turned into Willemstad we had to alert the Queen Emma Bridge control (VHF Ch12 )that we were on our way in and needed them to open the floating pontoon. It seemed an age before they responded but in truth I think they were having a bit of trouble with the engine ....but after ten minutes or so a gap appeared at one end of the pontoon and we slid through. There was a large cruise liner in and we were the subject of many photos taken by cruisers as made our way through the floating pontoon. The floating pontoon is quite a site....and once open the ferries immediately take over so that it is always possible to get from one side of the bridge to the other. We eventually found our slip at the Marine having decided to go to Customs the following morning.
It is about a 25 minute walk from the Marina to Customs and we had not realised that they use the SailClear system here so we could have done all the bureaucratic form filling in on the Net before we arrived but never mind....Immigration is a walk or a ferry ride if the bridge is open over on the side of the town. Formalities completed we wandered around Willemstad and took in the sites and a couple of beers. Just outside Customs there are a number of Venezuelan boats that sell fresh fruit and veg every day and it seems like this is where everyone gets their veggies from. They appear to live on the boats and have an abundance of fresh fruit and veg for sale which is kind of ironic considering that we are led to believe that back in Venezuela people are struggling to put food on the table.
The following day we went to the slavery museum....well worth a trip and packed full of information. Curaçao was once the centre of the Dutch slave trade but the museum references all the 'players' in the trade with artefacts and information. There is also a garden with a Sculpture Garden for you to wander through.
John has hopefully managed to sort the creak....this involved boiling the gooseneck in oil, using one of my best pans of course! And then immersing it in ice cold water to free it up. I thought it was going to be a mother of a job but with a bit of swearing, a lot of banging and of course some skill the seized part became free and John was able to replace some of the bolts on the boom so now hopefully all is well (fingers crossed!).
We are now waiting for a weather window to make it around top of Colombia ....it always seems to be blowing there and to meet up with our friend Ben there.....he's not Italian he's from Rome!
As we turned into Willemstad we had to alert the Queen Emma Bridge control (VHF Ch12 )that we were on our way in and needed them to open the floating pontoon. It seemed an age before they responded but in truth I think they were having a bit of trouble with the engine ....but after ten minutes or so a gap appeared at one end of the pontoon and we slid through. There was a large cruise liner in and we were the subject of many photos taken by cruisers as made our way through the floating pontoon. The floating pontoon is quite a site....and once open the ferries immediately take over so that it is always possible to get from one side of the bridge to the other. We eventually found our slip at the Marine having decided to go to Customs the following morning.
It is about a 25 minute walk from the Marina to Customs and we had not realised that they use the SailClear system here so we could have done all the bureaucratic form filling in on the Net before we arrived but never mind....Immigration is a walk or a ferry ride if the bridge is open over on the side of the town. Formalities completed we wandered around Willemstad and took in the sites and a couple of beers. Just outside Customs there are a number of Venezuelan boats that sell fresh fruit and veg every day and it seems like this is where everyone gets their veggies from. They appear to live on the boats and have an abundance of fresh fruit and veg for sale which is kind of ironic considering that we are led to believe that back in Venezuela people are struggling to put food on the table.
The following day we went to the slavery museum....well worth a trip and packed full of information. Curaçao was once the centre of the Dutch slave trade but the museum references all the 'players' in the trade with artefacts and information. There is also a garden with a Sculpture Garden for you to wander through.
John has hopefully managed to sort the creak....this involved boiling the gooseneck in oil, using one of my best pans of course! And then immersing it in ice cold water to free it up. I thought it was going to be a mother of a job but with a bit of swearing, a lot of banging and of course some skill the seized part became free and John was able to replace some of the bolts on the boom so now hopefully all is well (fingers crossed!).
We are now waiting for a weather window to make it around top of Colombia ....it always seems to be blowing there and to meet up with our friend Ben there.....he's not Italian he's from Rome!
SENATVS POPVLVSQVE ROMANVS
ReplyDelete(as is written anywhere in my city)
You are absolutely right ! I am from CAPUT MUNDI..although I've left her so many year ago...
Excellent blog, guys, keep up the good work !