IT'S A WHOLE NEW WORLD AFTER ALL

APRIL 28, 2014

COMPANY ON THE DOCK

Arrived on Friday morning after 3 1/2 days and 550 sea miles from Grenada to Curacao.  We blew right past Bonaire on Thursday night and decided to move on to Curacao before sunup.  We averaged better than 7 knots with following seas and winds 25 to 30 and more.  We are quite impressed, everything went great and we arrived with a smiles on our faces.

RESTING ON 16 PONTOONS THE "SWINGING OLD LADY"
PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE FROM THE DECK OF
IT'S PERFECT

We called for an opening of the
Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge at the entrance to the harbor in Willemstad the capital of Curacao.  This is a pedestrian bridge and we were soon through and tied securely to the dock in front of the Customs building downtown.   We pulled ourselves together and off we went to check in.  Clearing into Curacao is one of the easiest we have had.  Customs here is paperless.  They looked us up, we are already in the file and put in the necessary info.  Like magic we were finished and off to immigration.  After filling out a couple of forms we were finished.  Absolutely no fees to clear into this country.  One more stamp for the passports.

IT'S PERFECT ON THE DOCK IN WILLEMSTAD

FLOATING MARKET

We spent 2 days on the dock for free, catching up on our sleep and taking a look around town.  The Venezuelans have fishing boats tied up just around the corner from where we were docked.  On this side canal is the Fruit & Vegetable Market & the  Floating Fish Market and Fruit & Vegetable Market.  Very friendly and helpful vendors with almost anything you could want including spices.  This will be one of our favorite stops while in town. 

Curacao is a independent Netherland territory.  There are many museums, gardens and historical buildings within the historical downtown.  Before our departure we plan to see many of the sights.  Anchored in Spanish Waters it is a 10 min bus ride to downtown and the bus stops right by the dinghy dock.  Very convenient.  We have not yet caught up with boat chores or sleep since we arrived.  Tomorrow we will begin to get to know our new temporary home.