12.31N 070.02W
Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Tue 7 Jun 2011 02:36
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We have just completed the first full day in Aruba
and it is a wonderful place. Thanks to my friends Stuart and Colleen Clements
for suggesting we should call in here.
Despite an eventful last day sea our arrival
yesterday was very tame with the wind dropping out completely. Today has been
calm as well and the locals here do not like it. They start getting worried
that a hurricane may form if the winds die down for too long. They tell us that
in Aruba the trade winds blow all year.
Speaking of the locals, we have found everyone we
meet to be very friendly and helpful. We have had lenghthy discussions with
several people who are interested in our journey and Australia itself. We
figured that this is away from the usual tourist haunts for Aussies and really
is the other side of the world from Australia. The locals speak Dutch and a
local dialect that includes a mixture of Dutch, Spanish and even some
English. Aruba really is a real melting pot of several different
cultures.
We are berthed in the Renaissance Marina which is
owned by the massive Renaissance Hotel over the road. As marina guests we a
provided with unlimited access to the hotel facilities and even to their private
resort island nearby. Small ferries the size of your average skiboat drive under
the road through a canal to the inside of the hotel to collect daytrippers
going to the island. Very cool!!
Adjacent to where we are berthed is where the ocean
liners dock. One was leaving just on dusk tonight and passed only 50 metres from
Mojo 2.
My son Robert arrives tomorrow to come sailing with
us for a couple of weeks and Lyn will be flying home to Australia on Wednesday.
Lyn [mum] has been on the boat since La Rochelle in France and at 73 years
of age has now done what many people half her age dream of doing.
We plan to sail to Curacau and Bonaire over the
next few days before setting a course for Panama. I have been told that there
are delays getting through the canal at present but hope the backlog has cleared
before we arrive.
In my mind I am viewing everything after Panama as
the home straight but the reality is we are facing a huge ocean crossing from
the Galapagos Islands to French Polynesia. As they say in the football, we
will take every day as is comes!!
I am really missing my 3 girls now and can't wait
to see them all again.
Andrew [Dad]
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