Yesterday’s sail to Curacao was a bit rough, but only took 6 hours with Pitufa making around 7 knots all the time (still slow for a bicycle, but horrendous speed for us). The waves were also building up and actually rushing along Curacao’s (supposedly leeward) east coast. We were headed for “Spanish Water”, a very protected anchorage, and we could see it clearly on the chart plotter, but not when looking along the coast. The entrance was a bit adventurous with high waves lifting up Pitufa and we didn’t feel so well surfing down a wave towards rocks on the left, a sandbank on the right and a very narrow channel in between… This channel then opens into a large bay, with little islands and plenty of yachts in several different anchoring areas. There are more of these natural harbours on Bonaire and Curacao and they seem like geological miracles: a very steep coastline all around the islands and then suddenly a small entrance to a completely protected bay like custommade for yachts or ships…
Today we went to the capital Willemstad to do the check in and also some sightseeing. The old town centre looks suprisingly Northern European with colourful facades, waterways in between the different parts of town that reminded us of Stockholm and lovingly renovated houses in colonial style. The people are also “colourful”–the population is a mixture of many cultures. We liked Willemstad at first sight and will try to see more of it and the rest of the island.
